[amsat-bb] Fox Telemetry antenna?

[Stephen E. Belter]

Kevin,

I'm in West Lafayette, Indiana, so no salt water.  My antennas are M-squared medium size antennas, 2MCP14 and 436CP30 with polarity switches, so not overloaded.

Mark N8MH, has had similar experience with his Yaesu's.  Since he is a dedicated telemetry collector like you, and since he is a control operator for the Fox satellites, he replaces his rotors when they fail.  He had a volunteer to repair his broken rotors, so I transported 6-8 rotors from his garage in North Carolina (not near salt water either) to Indiana.  Half were elevation rotors, half were azimuth rotors.  I thought I was just having bad luck until Mark shared his experience.

The last time mine failed, it was the azimuth rotor.  Pointing the Yagis south just above the horizon worked a little better (long term) than an omnidirectional antenna.  Since it failed while I was on a 3 month trip, I couldn't replace the rotor.

I still recommend the G5500 rotors for normal operators, but they may not be the best choice for 24x7x365 telemetry collection.  (I'm glad they work for you in that mode.)  I've since switched to an AlphaSpid rotor with a Green Heron controller.  You can buy the AlphaSpid rotors without the controller (my recommendation for heavy duty use) and use a Green Heron instead.

Still:  YMMV

73, Steve N9IP
-- 
Steve Belter, seb at wintek.com
 

On 10/6/20, 3:53 PM, "AMSAT-BB on behalf of Kevin via AMSAT-BB" <amsat-bb-bounces at amsat.org on behalf of amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote:

    Steve,
        What are you doing that is wearing it out in 4-8 months? overloaded? 
    near the ocean with salt? something has to be wrong as mine go for years.

    73 Kevin WA7FWF

    On 10/6/2020 10:21 AM, Stephen E. Belter via AMSAT-BB wrote:
    > Roy,
    >
    > In my experience, using the CP antennas with the G5500 will help you collect and decode about 4-6 times more packets than an omnidirectional antenna.
    >
    > But tracking the Fox satellites using the Yaesu rotors will wear out the rotors in 4-8 months. Replacement rotors are about $250 each (you won’t need to replace the controller).
    >
    > YMMV
    >
    > 73, Steve N9IP
    > --
    > Steve Belter, seb at wintek.com
    >
    >
    >

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