Greetings from pat n2oeq This past week, I installed two seperate magnet mount verticals on two 3.5 foot square galvanized steel sheets on the roof. For mode J, I use a two meter 3 db mobile antenna and for 70 cm, I use a new MFJ 19 inch tall dual band magnet mount antenna on a second sheet of steel. The MFJ mag mount 19 inch antenna is 3 db on 70 cm. I get great results on recieve and transmit above 20 degree satellite elevations. I paid 30 dollars for the small MFJ mag mount and 15 dollars each for the steel sheets. I recieve on the short magmount along with an ARR recieve preamp.
I was searching for an alternative to beams and an eggbeater and I remembered reading good reports from some operating the satellites mobile so I bought the small vertical and it works quite well. For satellite elevations below 20 degrees I use the old 7 element homebrew yagi canted up at 10 degrees on a cheap radio shack rotator. For matching the homebrew yagi, I used a delta match which looks like a triangle of wires on the driven element and I think it helps with high angle reception on the fixed angle yagi. I purchased the custom made galvanized steel sheets from a local heating and ventilation company. They make great counterpoises for the magmount antennas. Performance all the way up to the zenith is fantastic and rivals the signal strength of the beam. My great surprise was its performance on FO-29, better than I ever had. Both verticals are spaced about 10 feet apart and are connected to a diamond duplexer which is connected to my yaesu 8800 dual band FM rig. pat, n2oeq _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. 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
