[amsat-bb] Re: a cheap LEO tracker for single op

[Craig Gagner]

Bill, You are mistaken. The FT-847 will work fine with SatPC. I had one and
it worked great. I used a G5400 AZ/EL Rotor from Yaesu with the Easy Rotor
Tracker module from Germany. I also used the 12v voltage on the coax to
power my mast mounted Preamps. I know this doesn't answer your question but
trying to do an automated work around to the G5400 or G5500 is going to be a
real pain..

73, Craig W1MSG

-----Original Message-----
From: amsat-bb-bounces at amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces at amsat.org] On
Behalf Of Bill (W1PA)
Sent: Tuesday, May 28, 2013 10:54 AM
To: amsat-bb at amsat.org
Subject: [amsat-bb] a cheap LEO tracker for single op

Again, thinking to FD...

- My FT-847 predates bi-directional CAT  i.e. no computer assisted Doppler
- I may be the only one at the station i.e. no helper to man the antenna
(Arrow), so I may need to do everything.
- assume the transponder LEO birds

Has anyone tried this?:

1) mount a standard TV antenna horizontal
2) align the horizontal rotor axis 90 deg to the orbit 
   tilt (inclination?) of the intended bird (so if the bird went directly
overhead, a beam mounted on the mast would track)
3) but, mount the antenna on the horizontal mast such that it can be set
tilted off the mast 
   0 to 90 degs to the mast axis (from horizon to zenith, and in practice
set it to the maximum elevation of the intended pass)
4) operation: set the rotator (in 2) and aim the beam to the AOS
  point of the pass (in 3), pan the orbit remotely from the operator
position.
5) the rotator axis and angle of the beam to mast would have to be set for
each pass.

Do-able?

Bill W1PA 
 
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