Budget Base set up

[W1MSG]

Nice work- you didn't waste any time getting that set up. Let us know how it works out. If I get a chance I'll try to work the evening pass.

Well the SO-50 pass was horrible, I may need to change a couple of things maybe verticle instead of horizontal and maybe a few more degree's..

AO-27 is coming by shortly so we shall see.

 

[N3KDJ]

Phones

You're probably doing better than I am...I looked for instructions online to change the foam on that Heil Proset...nothing. So I gave it a go...tought to do...almost had it...and SNAP I broke off the left earpiece from it's gimbal mount. Bummer. Oh well- they have a service called "Heil Hospital" for $65 where they refurb them...still cheaper than a new set and I'll send the pads and cups along and hope they charge me less for sending the parts and a note.

 

[W1MSG]

Ok Part 2, antenna orientation changed, gonna try the AO-51 in a bit and see if its any better..

 

[W1MSG]

Its a Bust, so maybe I need more elevation on it or its just a crap antenna. SWR is pretty low on the TX side for both elements, 2m and 70cm but so far the RX is Horrible.

I'll try to find an adjustable mount for the antenna so I can add more angle without bending the pipe anymore.

 

[Qwazyone]

You might want to look into the ramsey preamps and possibly an equatorial mount for the rotator

 

[W1MSG]

That would kind of kill the budget thing a bit. I'm gonna find an adjustable clamp for the antenna to mast and see if 30 degree's or so makes any difference. After changing the orientation the local 2 meter repeater comes in awesome now, with it the original way I was only getting maybe an S8 now it pegs the meter. So I'm thinking its the elevation.

 

[Qwazyone]

That would kind of kill the budget thing a bit. I'm gonna find an adjustable clamp for the antenna to mast and see if 30 degree's or so makes any difference. After changing the orientation the local 2 meter repeater comes in awesome now, with it the original way I was only getting maybe an S8 now it pegs the meter. So I'm thinking its the elevation.

The ramsey preamps are cheap($14 plus shipping), but come as kits, I think Moleculo built one. They do need a RF Sense relay to bypass them when you tx. There are some manufactured units for around $100.

An equitorial mount can be pretty simple(and homemade). It can be as simple as bending the mast pipe below the rotator, but then you would have to turn the mast pipe to match the heading of the sats max elevation each time

 

[Hutch]

How far is your cable run and what cable are you using?

 

[W1MSG]

How far is your cable run and what cable are you using?

Its about 35 feet of RG8X...

The new Rig (IC-7000) has a Pre-Amp built in so I will give that a shot tomorrow when it gets here and see what happens, might need to add a few more degree's to the bend.
I did make a contact this morning and he said I was 59, I just cant RX for crap.

 

[W1MSG]

The ramsey preamps are cheap($14 plus shipping), but come as kits, I think Moleculo built one. They do need a RF Sense relay to bypass them when you tx. There are some manufactured units for around $100.

An equitorial mount can be pretty simple(and homemade). It can be as simple as bending the mast pipe below the rotator, but then you would have to turn the mast pipe to match the heading of the sats max elevation each time

I can accomplish the same thing by adjusting the antenna on the mast in relation to the bend, been playing with that today but still need a bit more angle maybe 30 degree's at the highest point, but it doesnt seem to make a difference as its week even at 10 on the horizon the sat starts the pass.

I ordered a Ramsey kit and need to do the RF sense thing as well, I suck at building electronics so I amy end up buying one instead if the Rig doesnt do the job.

 

[Qwazyone]

An equatorial mount is a bit different than what you are doing

I took some pictures of my elk antenna using a camera tripod

Now if I used the tripods axis to rotate the antenna I would have fixed my elevation at about 45 degrees, but if I use the bolt that holds the elk onto the tripod, a quite different result

I haven't tested it yet but there was a post a while back on qrz about a guy doing about the same thing with good results. I don't see it as a perfect solution, its bound to be off a little at AOS and LOS.

I found Moleculos ramsey post http://www.worldwidedx.com/home-brew-mods/35101-ramsey-pr40-440mhz-preamp-kit.html
Who knows, maybe he's willing to sell it

Good Luck

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Its about 35 feet of RG8X...

The new Rig (IC-7000) has a Pre-Amp built in so I will give that a shot tomorrow when it gets here and see what happens, might need to add a few more degree's to the bend.
I did make a contact this morning and he said I was 59, I just cant RX for crap.

FWIW you're losing about 3 dB on RX with that cable. LMR-400 will have about 1.0 dB loss. Two dB may not sound like much but with a low S/N ratio it can make quite a difference.

 

[W1MSG]

Ok attempt 1 did Ok with the preamp on but I could only work the AO-51 and RX wasnt the best even with the preamp on ..

So now Attemp 2 !!

Antenna : Elk Dual Band SAT antenna

Mast is made of all PVC stuff with set screws holding everything in place, I am starting off at 17 degrees as thats what the local Sat Guru recommended as a start point. He also said to set the antenna orientation at 45 degree's as that seems to be what has worked best for him with the hand held Elk. The good thing is this will be extremely adjustable remove a screw, adjust and insert the screw.

 

[W1MSG]

BINGO we have a winner !!!!!

Well I finally got it up on the rotator this afternoon and it works amazingly well, I worked the SO-50 bird and I can start picking it up as soon as it gets in the radar screen on the Orbitron Software.

Next I was listening for the ISS and at 22:55 UTC I made contact with the ISS, even had my sound recorder running. I couldnt believe it as it wasnt all that great a pass. So my QSL card goes in the mail tomorrow !

Anyway, the Elk antenna boosted the price by almost $50 so the total was like $218.00 for antenna and Rotator then less than $10 more for the PVC stuff.

Still a pretty good deal if ya want to work the Sats in bad weather.

Now I need to figure out how to use the HRD Satellite tracker and see how that does as it is constantly adjusting the freq for doppler..

73

Craig

 

[Qwazyone]

Congrats on the ISS contact.

All you may need to do to get the HRD Sat Track working is go to the tools menu in HRD and select IP server, click on start with HRD and same pc connection only. Then in sat tracker, click radio pane if its not on the window, click options on the radio pane, it should have localhost for server and 7809 for a port setting. Then its just a matter of selecting sats and the correct frequencies. Most of the frequencies are saved for each mode of the sats and the ISS, you just have to click on the tuning dial button on the sat page(you could even call it a window or tab) and then click on FREQ. Here's a screenshot of mine: