[amsat-bb] Re: Turn off AGC when receiving BPSK-1000

[Phil Karn]

On 8/18/11 10:31 PM, Dave Guimont wrote:

> That's why the quadrifilars work so well. I measured the pattern some
> time back, and the "beam width" is about 140 degrees....

Yes, something with that kind of beamwidth would be ideal on the
nadir-facing surface of a stabilized satellite in low earth orbit. It
would be even better if the gain in the straight-down direction could be
reduced in favor of gain at the edges. Ideally you'd have a constant
power density over the entire visible earth.

You could of course use a much more directional antenna on the ground if
it can track the satellite.

--Phil