Hi folks,
So I have a pair of 14 dbi flat panel "Wi-Fi" antennas, complete with pigtail
and N connector. I assume they're linearly polarized. Satellite downlinks
really ought to be circular, if possible.
For satellite use, could I simply mount the two on my Az/El rotor boom, with
one rotated 90-degrees from the other, and with a 1.23 inch shim behind it (for
the 1/4 wave offset, if I did the math right), then combine the two antennas
with a simple "T" connector? The impedance would be wrong, but for Rx only,
probably irrelevant. I'd be feeding it into a Kuhne preamp, and from there to
the Drake downconverter.
As a receive setup for the likes of AO-40, this probably wouldn't be all that
good. My 30" screened BBQ Grill with helix feed, after all, was barely up to
the job. But for AO-51's V/US mode, I'd think it would be fine, offer a whole
lot less wind resistance, and weigh a whole lot less too.
Since AO-51's 2.4 ghz antenna is linearly polarized, it probably doesn't matter
whether the result is left-hand or right-hand polarized, so it doesn't matter
that I forget which "hand" rule to use for figuring it out...
I've also heard that these panel antennas may have great numerical gain, but
also have a lot of loss (cheap PC board materials), so maybe this isn't too
good of an idea. What do you think?
Greg KO6TH
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