[amsat-bb] Getting Back Into Satellites

[Kenneth P Alexander]

I posted a request in a recent blog looking for a volunteerr to host a
remote ham station that I could operate remotely from here in Thailand.  I
was very pleased to receive two responses, one is conveniently located in
the Toronto area and the other is further afield.  The Toronto location is
more appealing because the owner is there every day.  The other location is
at a friend's summer cottage, which remains unoccupied for months at a time.

I'm thinking of building a circularly polarized crossed Moxon array as
described in this article:
[Link to Moxon Article]

Any thoughts?  Has anybody built and used one of these systems?  *[By the
way, please spare me the stern admonishments about what a compromise
antenna/dummy load this is.  **I'm well aware of the limitations.  **I
don't have the money for yagis and rotators, including yagis at fixed
elevations and I also don't want the complexity.  OK?  'Nuff said.]*

I'm in the market for a used Icom IC-910H if anyone has one in good
condition for sale.  The 1.2 GHz adapter would be nice but is not
critical.  What is critical is that the radio is 100% functional.

Other transceiver options...maybe an FT-818 or IC-7100 with a separate SDR
receiver.  I'd be happy with an 818 but the 7100 offers more horsepower to
overcome transmission line loss and the shortcomings of the antenna system.

I've been keeping my eye on the new RigPi device [https://rigpi.net/] for
interfacing to the internet.  I like what I see, but the documentation
seems to be lagging, so I'll wait a little.

Any comments or suggestions are most welcome, and if you do have a 910H in
good condition for sale please let me know.  It'll be nice to work
satellites again!

Ken Alexander (still VE3HLS)
So Phisai, Thailand
Blog:  bueng-ken.com