Thanks for the information! (I also got several personal emails from folks with information. This list is great.)
Before I looked at these antennas I was actually going to make my own beams, but with work, the honeydo list and less free time than ever, I figured I'd just bite the bullet and buy the rest of my setup. Point taken on the circular polarization. I heard about the switching relays but didn't give it much thought. On Sat, Mar 29, 2014 at 2:03 PM, Kevin M <n4...@yahoo.com> wrote: > Could someone tell me what the "top 10" SSB/CW (non-FM only) birds are that > are operational and most popular these days? > Sorry, but it doesn't get to 10.... there are only four operational. > > > FO-29 - JAS 2 > > Uplink: 145.900 - 146.000 MHz > Downlink: 435.800 - 435.900 MHz (inverted) > Beacon: 435.795 MHz 12WPM with CW message > > AO-7 - OSCAR 7 Mode B > > Uplink: 432.125 - 432.175 MHz > Downlink: 145.975 - 145.925 MHz (inverted) > Beacon: 145.972 MHz > > VO-52 - HAMSAT > > Uplink: 435.225 to 435.275 MHz LSB/CW > Downlink: 145.875 to 145.925 MHz USB/CW (inverted) > Beacon: 145.860 MHz 12WPM with CW message > > AO-73 - Funcube-1 > > Uplink: 435.160 - 435.140 MHz LSB/CW > Downlink: 145.950 - 145.970 MHz USB/CW (inverted) > Beacon: 145.935 MHz > transponder active when in eclipse > > > My recommendation would be to spend less on the beams and more on feedline > and preamps. Those are circular polarized antennas... without wiring up > relays to switch directions, you are better off just having a single > polarity. It's my understanding from ops that DO have switching CP that you > won't know from one pass to the next whether the bird will be RHCP or LHCP > relative to your location. > http://sv1bsx.50webs.com/antenna-pol/polarization.html > > I am about to put up a couple of used Cushcraft beams and I consider it a > bit of overkill myself; an A430-11S and an A144-10S. I plan to mount one > vertical and the other horizontal to help with desense separation. I was > originally working AO-7, FO-29 and VU-52 with a couple homebrew antennas > tilted about 20 degrees on a TV rotor; 7 elements on UHF and a 2m 'IO' > antenna... and NO preamps. The extra gain of the Cushcraft antennas will be > nice for low horizon passes, but I will definitely need the AZ-EL rotor > with that much gain... and with the preamps, I should be able to hear about > anything. > > I would recommend Davis Buryflex 9913F or maybe LMR-400 for feedline... > However at 50 feet, if you have preamps, RG-213 would be just fine. I plan > to mimic the preamp installation of KB5WIA... I got one of those cases > cheap from MCM Electronics and picked up some used ARR preamps like he has. > (25 watt transmit limit, but that is PLENTY! In fact, it's probably TOO > much.) I also got a couple of MFJ diplexers to add to each feedline before > the preamp to filter out the other band. But if you do add preamps, go with > Davis Buryflex between the antennas and preamps... that is where you will > lose receive signal. > > > http://kb5wia.blogspot.com/2011_01_01_archive.html > > Good luck with the frankenrotor... that looks pretty cool! I was lucky > enough to find a used 5400B... I just hope it doesn't have any problems. > Feel free to e-mail me for any details like the case, homebrew antenna > plans, etc. > > 73, > > Kevin N4UFO > n4...@yahoo.com > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > "Control is the need of the fearful mind. Trust is the need of the > courageous heart." > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! > Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb > _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
