[amsat-bb] suitable omni antenna for FM sats?

Sun May 12 01:34:28 UTC 2019

Hi Ron

I will corroborate what John said.  I have made several hundred FM and SSB satellite contacts over the past year using a Diamond X-50A dual-band vertical and IC-9100 or FT-736r,  as well as more than 100 FM contacts using a D72A handheld and a dual-band 1/4 wave mag mount on my truck.  At least 80 grids towards my VUCC came via these antennas.  

I would expect a Comet GP-6 will do fine.  Sure, an AZ-EL yagi system would be nice, but I’m a believer in working with what you’ve got and keeping it simple.  And pick your passes, especially at the outset (though if there is a clear horizon, even fairly low angle passes will yield contacts).  My first few contacts, in fact, were overhead FM sat passes, using a half-duplex HT with a little Diamond dual-band whip.

Good luck and have fun!
geoff - W1OH

***********************************************************************
Geoff Allsup, W1OH       gallsup at whoi.edu  or  w1oh at whoi.edu
Senior Engineer (Retired)             Upper Ocean Processes Group
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution      Woods Hole, MA, USA
***********************************************************************

> On May 11, 2019, at 18:30, Ron VE8RT via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote:
> 
> Thanks John,
> 
>   that would be the easiest solution to start with.  VY0YL is s city
> administrator, not someone with a technical background.  Maybe she
> could get some help locally.  I have a Comet GP-6 dual band base
> antenna still in its shipping tube, I haven't put it up yet so I
> haven't tried it.  They advertise that it has 6.5 dDi gain on 2M and 9
> dBi on 70 cm  I was going to match that up with a TM-V71A to see how
> well that worked out.
> 
>   At this time, VY0YL has no antenna, or equipment.  As equipment that
> won't do the job may be discouraging getting the first radio operating
> the first time is important.
> 
>   Ron VE8RT
> 
> On Sat, 11 May 2019 15:11:23 -0500
> John Kludt via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote:
> 
>> Ron,
>> 
>> Everything Jeff days is true.  But some of us live in covenant restricted settings and an omni is much easier to sneak in under the radar.  I have switched back and forth between eggbeaters and various verticals.  So far 88 grids.  Three points:
>> 
>> 1) Pay attention to ERP.  You are going to need a little more uplink power to make up for the lack of Tx antenna gain.
>> 2) Always, always use a preamp at the antenna on 435 down links
>> 3) Be patient.  This is a compromise solution and you are not going to knock them down every pass.
>> 
>> If it is all you can do go ahead.  Better to be on the air working the birds as best you can than doing nothing at all.
>> 
>> John
>> 
>> Sent from my Verizon Motorola Smartphone
>> On May 11, 2019 00:34, Jeff Moore via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote:
>>> 
>>> As was stated multiple times in a very recent thread - omnis for sat work 
>>> are a poor compromise!!    Even a small beam at a 15-degree angle will 
>>> generally blow most omnis off the roof! Even better would be a pair of 
>>> beams (one for uplink, one for downlink) on an azimuth/elevation rotor! 
>>> But handheld can work almost as good!! 
>>> 
>>> 7   3 
>>> Jeff Moore   ---   KE7ACY 
>>> CN94 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Fri, May 10, 2019 at 10:08 PM Ron VE8RT via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb at amsat.org> 
>>> wrote: 
>>> 
>>>>     We have a newly licenced amateur in DP79.  Because they fell a few 
>>>> points of getting their Basic with Honours they do not have HF 
>>>> privileges, their only way to communicate with the outside world is via 
>>>> satellite.  Anticipating this possible outcome, that they may not get 
>>>> access to the HF bands, I sent them a hard copy, (no home internet, and 
>>>> its slow and expensive there if you do have it), of the current copy of 
>>>> "Getting Started with Amateur Satellites".  As we're heading into the 
>>>> time of year to do any outside work, the most pressing question is what 
>>>> is the best compromise antenna for a base station.   Keeping in mind 
>>>> their location, in order to work anyone they'll have to get into the 
>>>> satellites while the satellite is close to their horizon, otherwise the 
>>>> satellite footprint will not cover areas with any satellite operators. 
>>>> 
>>>>     Ron VE8RT in DP22 
>>>> 
>>>> -- 
>>>> Ron VE8RT <ve8rt at yknwt.ca> 
>>>> _______________________________________________ 
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>>>> expressed 
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>>>> AMSAT-NA. 
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>>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________ 
>>> 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! 
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>> _______________________________________________
>> 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: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
> 
> 
> -- 
> Ron VE8RT <ve8rt at yknwt.ca>
> _______________________________________________
> 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: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
> 