[amsat-bb] Any experience with low-cost 433MHz transverter from transverters-store?

[Joe]

I'm working on a 2 meter one of those units here.

Now the only somewhat negative thing I have heard about the 2 meter 
version, ( so do not know if it applies to the 70 cm one ) Is if you run 
it near it's rated max output it gets kind of dirty.
https://youtu.be/w8JQ0SIUlI8

Joe WB9SBD
Sig
The Original Rolling Ball Clock
Idle Tyme
Idle-Tyme.com
http://www.idle-tyme.com
On 2/1/2016 11:06 PM, Eric Wolak wrote:
> Thanks, guys! It looks like the transverter kit includes an attenuator
> board to interface with a radio, so I'm set on that. These transponders
> work both ways, right, so if I can TX on 2m and RX on 70cm (through the
> transverter), then I can hear my own transmissions full-duplex, and I
> can make contact with someone TX'ing on 70cm?
>
> Are there any attributes that might be lacking with such a low-cost
> option, e.g. frequency stability or harmonics?
>
> On Sun, Jan 31, 2016, at 03:12 PM, John Toscano wrote:
>> The transverter itself can cover the satellite portion of the band.
>> The specs say it covers 432 - 442 MHz. The issue is that your IF
>> radio, the Icom IC-706MkII is what I believe you meant to say, can
>> tune high enough on the 10M band and above for RECEPTION at the
>> appropriate frequencies, but will not transmit above 30 MHz and
>> therefore, through this transverter, will not transmit above 435.0000
>> MHz. I know this from experience with my 222 MHz transverter.
>> Fortunately, on that band, 28-30 MHz -> 222-224 MHz, and the portion
>> of the band above that (224-225 MHz) is mostly FM repeater OUTPUTS,
>> which the radio will happily receive through my transverter.
>>
>> What you would need to do is defeat the 10M band transmit limits on
>> your IC-706MkII. You can probably find mods to allow that.
>>
>> Your other issue, which I also had to overcome with my 222
>> transverter, is that the transverter needs (accepts) only a very low
>> RF power signal on transmit (1-100 milliwatts) and your IC-706MkII is
>> happy to transmit 1000 times as much power, up to 100 watts. So you
>> will need to carefully interface the radio to the transverter to
>> insure that the transmit power is nice and low. In my case, my
>> transverter interface includes a source of negative voltage to feed
>> into the ALC input of the radio, which can drop the power low enough.
>> Interesting (=undesirable)  things happen if this ALC circuit fails,
>> or more likely, gets accidentally disconnected. I was fortunate, when
>> I transmitted 100 watts into my transverter by accident, I only fried
>> a 50 ohm resistor in the input circuit, and after replacing it, all
>> was good again, The same may or may not hold with this transverter.
>>
>> Good luck in your search for a solution.
>>
>> John Toscano, W0JT/5
>>
>> On Sun, Jan 31, 2016 at 12:46 PM, Eric Wolak <ag6ie at wolak.net> wrote:
>>> Hi folks,
>>>
>>> I'm trying to get on the air with the linear transponder satellites,
>>> and it looks like I need 70cm SSB capability to really get on the
>>> air. My Icom IC-796MkII can do SSB on 2m, but not 70cm, so I'm trying
>>> to find an affordable way to get 70cm SSB transmit.
>>>
>>> Does anybody have experience with these $100 transverter boards from
>>> Ukraine? It looks like they're tuned for the weak-signal/SSB end of
>>> the band and might require a bit of work to get up to 435MHz for
>>> satellites. Is 3-4W enough to be heard?
>>>
>>> http://www.ebay.com/itm/221871269275
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> _______________________________________________
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> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
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