[amsat-bb] Re: J-Pole Antenna

[Matt Patterson]

Back when I was on the FM sats I used a small yagi for 2m and another 
one for 70cm.   I built a mast out of some 2" PVC that came out to a T 
and had 45 degree elbows on it.  I then mounted the antennas on the 
elbows so that they were pointed roughly 45 degree up.  The whole thing 
was mounted to a cheap radio shack rotator.  The rotator was mounted to 
a metal fence post (t-post).  The antennas were maybe 7' off the ground 
at the highest point.   I could work just about all passes with this 
setup.  Using one radio for RX and another radio for TX.  Only passes I 
couldn't work were either real low or I would loose signal for a few 
minutes when I had overhead pass.  Do a google on my callsign and you'll 
find several recordings I made of suitesat with this setup that I have 
uploaded to Soundcloud.

73 Matt
W5LL

On 5/13/2013 1:02 PM, Werner, HB9BNK wrote:
> Thank you for your advice - very much appreciated.
>
> The beauty of the J-Pole, I have in mind, is, that it contains both 2m 
> and 70cm Systems on one mast - so I could simply attach the two cables 
> going to the IC910 directly .... hi
>
> The little yagi, I used, has a gain of 5.5 dBd for 2 meters and 8 dBd 
> for 70 cm. So, I guess, you say, investing time for the defunct rotor 
> is better spent than trying omni.
>
> Yes, I must find a solution for this.
>
>
>
>
> Am 13.05.2013 19:12, schrieb Robert Bruninga:
>>> The antenna, that I want to build, is described in a paper (probably 20
>> years old)
>>> by Dick, WD4FAB, titled 'Antennas for microsat ground stations', and 
>>> the
>> paper
>>> describes the large time, a LEO remains at low elevations - about 76 %
>> below 20 degrees -
>>> and then concludes, that this is fine for a J-Pole.
>>
>> Absolutely true with respect to the*antenna pattern* but the current 
>> batch
>> of LEO satelltes even though they are in the main beam of the omni 
>> antenna
>> at the horizon, are -too-far-away- to be heard with only 2.1 dB of omni
>> dipole antenna gain.
>>
>> So yes, those are good "satellite antennas" for omni coverage, but they
>> wont hear anything that low because the satellites are 3000km away 
>> and the
>> current crop of satliltes mostly operate in the 1/2 watt or less area.
>> The only thing you will hear down to the horizon with these antetnnas is
>> the ISS that is operating at 10 watts or more.
>>
>> You are better off simply giving up on the horizon (for an omni) and
>> increasing your gain higher up.  And a 1/4 wave whip over a ground 
>> screen
>> will give you 5.1 dBi instead of 2.1 dBi.  And then you may begin to 
>> hear
>> things above about 15 degrees or so (and 3 dB better than you would hear
>> on any antenna optimized for the horizon..
>>
>> And it is even better  to go to a 3/4 wave vertical over a ground screen
>> and then you get almost 7 dBi gain starting around 30 degrees.  You wont
>> hear the low satellites (you can't anyway on an omni) but you will hear
>> them much better when they do get above about 25 degrees... (but notice,
>> this is less than 1/4th of all passes).
>>
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