[amsat-bb] Fox Telemetry antenna?

[Gary]

I am curious do they stop turning or do they quit indicating?

The Alpha Spid looks cool and reliable, but at a completely different price point.

Thanks and 73,
Gary "Joe" kk0sd

-----Original Message-----
From: AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb-bounces at amsat.org> On Behalf Of Bob Hammond via AMSAT-BB
Sent: Tuesday, October 6, 2020 4:00 PM
To: amsat-bb at amsat.org
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Fox Telemetry antenna?

So, can I just park my LEO antennas south just a bit above the horizon for dedicated telemetry collection when not using them for sat ops?

Bob W7OTJ

On Tue, Oct 6, 2020 at 1:49 PM Stephen E. Belter via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote:

> 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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