[amsat-bb] Using AR Preamps with Icom IC-9100 in Satellite mode

[Andrew Glasbrenner]

Those preamps have RF switching. If they have the RF choke in them to feed DC up the coax (see last paragraph at http://www.advancedreceiver.com/page10.html), turn the preamp power on for both bands in the 9100 and forget about them. When you transmit, the corresponding preamp will bypass as designed. If they don't have the coax power option, feed 12v to the power connector and carry on. No need for sequencers. You will need to be careful of anything that introduces a short in the feedline between preamp and transceiver, like grounded coax switches. If you short the coax, the 9100 will sense an overload and shut off preamp power. I'm not sure how many times this will work, so I try to not let it happen with mine.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that they will work -much- better mounted at the antenna instead of inside, especially on UHF. Put them in a 2nd enclosure of some sort, like a plastic NEMA box, if you worry about weatherproofing.

73, Drew KO4MA





-----Original Message-----
>From: "hdskullfire2 ." <hdskullfire2 at gmail.com>
>Sent: Apr 4, 2017 10:22 AM
>To: amsat-bb at amsat.org
>Subject: [amsat-bb] Using AR Preamps with Icom IC-9100 in Satellite mode
>
>I have two Advance Research Pre-amps on order. Both a MSP144VDG-160 &
>MSP432VDG-160 which are going to be installed local in the shack. The
>reason being is that I have 2 switchable array's. One is my M2 2M/70cm
>satellite array and the other is my 2M/70cm LFA array. I generally only use
>one array or the other.
>
>My coax runs are short and I want to keep the pre-amp inside out of the
>weather.
>
>Here is my question. I can either feed 12V to each preamp and have a on-off
>switch to manually select the one I want, or I can feed power to them via
>coax that the 9100 supplies by turning on the 144 and 432 pre-amp On-Off
>selections in the 9100 menu. I would rather go with the 9100 supplying the
>pre-amp relay power instead manually supplying separate power.
>
>Here is what I need to know, in single band operation I know that each
>pre-amp relay would activate when on a particular band either 144 or 432.
>But what happens in satellite mode? Are they both active at the same time?
>I'm concerned about relay activations. I keep hearing about sequencers, is
>this required?
>
>Let me know.
>
>Steve NS3L
>Nazareth, Pa.
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