[amsat-bb] L band transmit setup

[Robert Bankston]

 Initial L-band testing (approximately a 16 deg eastern pass) indicated that it may not take as much power as initially thought to get into the L-band portion of AO-92.  One op, N8HM was using an Alinco DJ-G7T handheld with 1 watt and a modified Comet CYA-1216e yagi (boom drilled to accept 2m elements from Arrow antenna.  Feed line was 4' of LMR-240UF plus two adapters: BNC to SMA adapter for the HT and BNC to N adapter. Another op, N8TLV, was using an FT-104 hand held with 1 watt, fed into stock rubber duck antenna.  Again, this was initial testing and represents my personal observations.  I am not affiliated with AMSAT, other than being a member and enthusiastic satellite operator.
The Comet CYA-1216e yagi, when combined with Arrow Antennas 2m elements, appears to be a popular antenna for portable operations.  M2 Antennas, Directive Systems Engineering, and WiMo offer several antenna choices, depending if you need a tower-mounted antenna or something capable of being handheld.
Shorter, high quality coax, with no adapters will always provide a better result. LMR240 or 240UF will be fine for shorter, hand-held runs,  LMR400 for moder runs, and LMR600 + for longest runs.
As for a preamp, it will depend on your setup.  If you need a preamp to hear AO-91, then you will need one to hear AO-92.
Hope this helps,73 de KE4AL, Robert EM71


    On Sunday, January 21, 2018, 6:49:22 AM CST, Robert Switzer via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote:  
 
 I'll add that I'm interested in Antenna/feed setups being used by folks?
Rob KA2CZU
 

    On Saturday, January 20, 2018, 4:49:03 PM EST, redski at bellsouth.net <redski at bellsouth.net> wrote:  
 
 Can someone offer a little advice about the requirements for using the Fox
L-band uplinks? I have an full duplex u/V and v/U satellite station so I'm
guessing that my easiest route to L-band is an upconverter. But I've never
used anything above UHF, so any thoughts on what might be needed to get
started would be appreciated.

 

73,

Red

KC4LE

 

_______________________________________________
Sent via AMSAT-BB at amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed
are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA.
Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
  
_______________________________________________
Sent via AMSAT-BB at amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed
are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA.
Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb