[amsat-bb] Re: ANTENNAS.US QFH Satellite Antennas?

[Alan]

Clayton,

Yesterday I had 25 years of antennas destroyed, including the tower, and am toying with seeing what
can be done with omnis rather than rebuilding what was essentially a P3 station.  Fortunately the
preamps survived.  An array of multiple antennas with selectable polarization would be interesting.
It almost always made a difference with beams, sometimes a dramatic one. Lots of time between now and
Dayton to ponder.  :)

73s,

Alan
WA4SCA


<-----Original Message-----
<From: Clayton Coleman [mailto:kayakfishtx at gmail.com] 
<Sent: Sunday, December 22, 2013 4:11 PM
<To: Alan Biddle; AMSAT-BB
<Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] ANTENNAS.US QFH Satellite Antennas?
<
<At the time we had SO-67, AO-27, AO-51, and SO-50 available, I owned
<one of those antennas.  I probably made somewhere in the vicinity of
<250 contacts with it from my car.
<
<For reception of all those birds, I would rate them as follows:
<AO-51 - Worked modestly without preamp, excellent with preamp, 
<even in motion
<SO-67 - Almost as good as AO-51, even in motion
<AO-27 - Didn't work very well unless I was completely stationary, even
<with preamp
<SO-50 - Barely usable unless I was completely stationary and it was
<the *right* pass
<
<I wasn't active on the linear birds at the time but I suspect it would
<work a lot better for FO-29 than any of the FM's.  I sold it before I
<added full duplex SSB to my mobile station.
<
<If you are looking for something mobile/portable, there are much more
<cost effective solutions with similar or better performance.  I have
<experimented with a number of antenna combinations over the past three
<years.
<
<If you're dead set on a fixed omni, it is hard to beat a 19" whip
<combined with a receive preamplifier.  There are pro's/con's to it.
<Personally, I almost always use a vertical for mode J uplink mobile
<and a 3-element yagi w/preamp for downlink.  For mode B, I transmit
<into a dual-band vertical on the trunk lid and listen on a 2m Arrow or
<simply use the whole Arrow out of the window.  (it can be done, albeit
<peculiarly)
<
<Please tell us the application for which you are looking into using
<the antenna...Mobile in motion?  Fixed portable ops from car?
<
<73
<Clayton
<W5PFG
<
<On Sun, Dec 22, 2013 at 1:50 PM, Alan <wa4sca at gmail.com> wrote:
<> Hi,
<>
<> I was looking for something on QFHs, and found an 
<interesting set of antennas.
<>
<> http://preview.tinyurl.com/ougah8b
<>
<> They donated an antenna to the AMSAT Symposium 2-3 years 
<ago, but I have never heard one in use that I
<> know of.  Anybody use them, or know someone who has?
<>
<> 73s,
<>
<> Alan
<> WA4SCA
<>
<>
<> -----------------------------------
<>
<> Keep Calm and Carry On
<>
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