The satellite station is coming together nicely. My first attempts at a “minimum viable configuration” proved adequate, but still posed the problem of signals going from full-quieting to pure noise as the satellites tumble through the sky and the antenna polarization changes. Today I assembled more parts from John (W1AN) soldered up a couple of cables, and put the 2m elements of my two portable Arrow antennas together in an attempt to make a circular-polarized yagi. It seems to be working (SWR under 1.5), although I have no idea about the polarization. I’ll have a better idea as I try it out over the next few days. Ahhh, summer!
I did make one contact on FO-29 today, which is a linear satellite with 2m uplink and 70cm downlink. I was transmitting on the crossed arrows and received a 59 from AB1OC in Hollis, NH. I met him at Boxboro last Fall where he was demonstrating the latest version of his satellite station. You can read all about it at https://stationproject.blog/.
Wow Charlie, I think we’ve moved from minimal capability to big gun status with this setup. I hope to do some swl’ing this week on the linear sats, to be ready if needed.
Dave K1SX
Satellite Station Progress Report
After re-configuring the 2m antenna a couple of times, I think I’ve achieved something that resembles a circular polarized beam based on the fact that fading is not as drastic. I am now able to work several stations on a good FM satellite pass. 50 Watts into a beam assures a solid signal into the “bird” under most conditions. I have now logged around 60 contacts (18 LOTW confirmed) on the FM satellites over the past four days. Due to the nature of the beast, I’m sure of these are busted calls, but not bad for a few days practice.
I have also logged five SSB (1 LOTW confirmed) and two CW contacts on the linear satellites which are becoming easier to work as I learn the nuances of the software and how to tune for the inverted cross-band transponders. I have also called CQ on a few satellite passes where I was certain I was making the trip, but received no response. One important consideration is to use much lower power on the linear satellites since the transponder output power is shared proportionally with all stations across the band. 15-20 Watts is a good starting point.
My most recent QSO (with N4IQV in VA) on XW-2A (CAS-3A) lasted a whopping four and a half minutes, or about half the duration of the pass. In addition, I spoke to W03T on two different CAS-3 satellites in succession just minutes apart.
A couple of notes about the station: A panadapter would be a nice addition to be able to see signals in the 20KHz band without having to tune up & down to find them. Also, the TS-2000 appears to have the PLL Unlock problem every so often when transmitting at full power on 70cm.
So with four days of practice under my belt, and three more days until Field Day, my confidence is rising, and I look forward to demonstrating the system and training other operators who want to play with the “birds”. Hopefully we’ll complete the bonus point contact early so we can just have fun and experiment a bit.
73,
Charlie
K1ECU