Hi Ed, Drew's reply covered it well. The 435-IF would be my first recommendation, and his thought about putting a preamp outside, downconverter inside is a fine one.
73! Mark N8MH At 10:12 AM 1/11/2011 -0900, Edward R. Cole wrote: >In the process of re-building my wind-damaged satellite antenna array and got >thinking about the mode-S sats. > >I will be installing a 8dBic (RHCP) patch antenna (bought from L-Com) and have >two different Drake downconverters to chose from depending on what the uplink >band is. I am guessing that AO-51 is the only S-band sat available, >currently. I have 435 and 123 MHz IF's for S-band converters depending on >whether the uplink is VHF or UHF, respectively. > >So the question is whether mode-US or mode-VS is the norm on AO-51. I can >install both downconverters with a coax switch and run two IF coax lines, but >it would be simpler to have only one. Especially, since installation is at a >current +3F temperature. > >I am installing a downsized array from what I had up: using 2/3 of my 436CP42 >which I call my "436CP26", a M2-2m7 yagi, and the patch. I am not >re-installing the 33-inch S-band dish or the 1268 loop-yagi this winter. The >dish was probably what caused the support mast to bend over (65mph winds get >some credit). > > >73, Ed - KL7UW, WD2XSH/45 >====================================== >BP40IQ 500 KHz - 10-GHz www.kl7uw.com >EME: 144-1.4kw*, 432-100w*, 1296-testing*, 3400-winter? >DUBUS Magazine USA Rep [email protected] >====================================== >*temp not in service Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] _______________________________________________ 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
