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First amateur radio in geosynchronous orbit

Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News' started by W0PV, Dec 24, 2015.

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  1. WB2VUO

    WB2VUO Ham Member QRZ Page

    No problem there, Rich. The YF is WB1GVL, and Anne is well aware of what the gear cost (and how fast the price drops when used!)... de WB2VUO
     
    WC3T likes this.
  2. KV6O

    KV6O Ham Member QRZ Page

    I have an old Hughes net (IIRC) dish as when I bought my house in 2006 that's what was installed. Switched to terrestrial microwave based internet, but kept the dish and uplink hardware/PA as I figured I might find a ham use for it someday. Hopefully I can press it into service!

    Steve
    KV6O
     
  3. KC7NOA

    KC7NOA Ham Member QRZ Page

    Have you found how to switch from Rx to Tx with the Hughesnet harware? --
    I think its a difference between 12V and 24V on the coax ..... 24khz on teh coax will switch between the low oscillator to the high.
     
  4. KE8AKW

    KE8AKW Ham Member QRZ Page

    I think we plan on using some old Dish network satellite dishes lieing around to use for direct use of 5ghz and 10ghz. Only problem is where are you going to find a 5 or 10 ghz radio? I suppose there will be some out there by the time it launches. From what im reading this is going up 100% if so thats great!
     
  5. N4CVX

    N4CVX Guest

    Please permit me to add to the discussion, again. I've done more research and found the following:

    1. The Hughes TVRO Dish and similar small dishes are well-suited for 5 and 10 gHz use. The ARRL Antenna Handbook gives plenty of guidance on calculating the focal length and situating of the feed horn. Using a small TVRO dish with a Gunnplexer horn will provide plenty of output power. Why do I keep mentioning the Gunnplexer? It is cheap and easy to find; the antenna? Use a cookie sheet, tin-snips and solder the four sides together for the horn antenna, put the Gunnplexer feedhorn and device at the front door of the horn, connect it and prepare to cook hotdogs with it.

    2. Using the existing TVRO dish's feed horn mount is a matter of unbolting the existing feed head and substituting with a 10mW Gunnplexer, then adjusting for the difference in focal length.

    3. Word of warning: do NOT stand in front of the dish antenna when you are powering your 5 or 10 gHz device. You will cook your eyeballs into a gelatinous mess similar to soft scrambled eggs. If the urban legend is to believed, it was an Army communications specialist who had a Hershey Bar in his breast pocket and walking in front of a radiating RADAR antenna. Ergo, chocolate melted and Microwave Oven was born. I had only two close calls when I was an Army Communicator, one, a Second lieutenant thought she was going to walk in front of a radiating UHF jamming antenna as a short cut to the port-a-pottie. I explained to her gently, as only a Chief Warrant Officer could do, that if she was planning to have children she should take the long way around the antenna system. Ovaries, etc. Finally the light went on in her brain. The other time was when I accidentally grabbed a vertical UHF full-wave whip antenna on the back of an M-151. Still have the scar on my palm 50 years later. Glad it was my Left Hand, if you know what I mean :)

    4. The use of a transverter is also applicable. Again, QEX and ARRL have many back issue articles on construction of strip-line devices. Strip-line construction is simple as long as you get the dimensions correct down to the last portion of a millimetre. One great rig for a Transverter exciter is the Kenwood TS-700 multi-band 2 meter rig -- out of production for years but still seen at hamfests, eBay, etc.

    5. I continue to talk about the Gunnplexer, since it is available both as a kit and assembled.

    6. As with any stationary orbit satellite, you just point and shoot. No AZ-EL mount needed.

    7. An older digital HF rig will work fine as the front door for a transverter, BTW. Lots of them on eBay due to hams who want the latest and greatest and get rid of last year's technology.

    8. DownEast Microwave's web site is a good starting point as is the ARRL QEX publication.

    9. Go to the German-language Ham Sites -- the DARC (German equivalent to our ARRL); loads of advertisements in their on-line magazine for microwave stuff. Also the RSGB (Radio Society of Great Britain) web site. The RSGB is the mother of all microwaves in my opinion, British Hams developed the first effective RADAR systems back in the late 1930's.

    10. The Hack-A-Day web site sometimes has articles on crazed ideas such as modification of a microwave oven's components. As they say "Hey Kids! Don't try this at home! You'll Put Yer Eye Out!". Experiments for the very few who are either fearless or incautious. Or on drugs.

    I've been active on AMSAT since OSCAR 6 and RS-10/11 and worked many contacts on CW and SSB back in the day. Since then I've used several of the more modern FM Repeater birds with success using a set of egg-beater antennas for 2 meters and 70 cm and a dual mode FM rig - FT-8800 to be specific. Use a set of 2m and 7cm GasFet preamps with a RF current switching device. All purchased on the cheap from Hams who got tired of what ever they were trying to do with them.

    Sometimes we tend to think too hard about getting on a specific mode or band of operation, that's a first point of failure. If you are a tinkering guy as I am, you'll just try what other Hams have done and make it work. It may not be perfect the first few times, but you will eventually get the scattered bits and pieces off of the workbench and packaged.

    Axiom: Go to Hamfests! If you can go to Dayton or the Huntsville HamFests, you will see many wonders, Huntsville especially -- surplus NASA stuff mostly.

    Your Mileage May Vary, but experimenting and tinkering is one of the great joys of Ham Radio. I recognize, that is not for everyone, but "it is what it is", to paraphrase an ancient Persian Proverb.

    I am already preparing for a 5-10 gHz HEO AMSAT bird. I got a nice 24" dish complete from a neighbor who had given up on TVRO services. The company never asks for them back when the client cancels service. I pulled out 4 lag bolts and carried it home. In the shack/shop now ready for modification.

    Best 73

    Dave NCVX
     
    KF4ZKU, K4BAD and KA0HCP like this.
  6. KC7NOA

    KC7NOA Ham Member QRZ Page

    Dave NCVX?

    Did you look at the HughesNet internet hardware?
    Already set up for Rx/Tx @1W(2W too)
     
  7. KC7NOA

    KC7NOA Ham Member QRZ Page

    Dave NCVX?

    Did you look at the HughesNet internet hardware ?
    Looks like it can Rx/Tx as is with 1W(2W too)
     
  8. W0AAT

    W0AAT Ham Member QRZ Page

    Gunplexers are only good for FM... not linear modes!
     
  9. N0SYA

    N0SYA Ham Member QRZ Page

    Alright, where's the cheap 5/10GHz transverters?
     
  10. KC7NOA

    KC7NOA Ham Member QRZ Page

    Id like to know if its going to be used "any time" by competent hams or only for emergency com's on long haul for first responders?
     
  11. K6CLS

    K6CLS Ham Member QRZ Page

    yeah, my question too - the entire EMCOMM angle is oversold I think - is that really the primary function of this satellite?
     
  12. KO4MA

    KO4MA Ham Member QRZ Page

    Any time, except possibly during times when needed for disaster comms.
     
  13. KC7NOA

    KC7NOA Ham Member QRZ Page

    I certainly hope so ....

    I would think that narrow mode digital would prolong the life .... PSK31 or maybe digital voice.... before SSB ...

    What's the expected life time .... and also how to mitigate illegal use ....
    iv heard of Mediterranean unencrypted birds being used for criminal/pirate communications ...

    Don't get me wrong .. i would love to chat it up from Canada to Mexico ....
     
  14. KO4MA

    KO4MA Ham Member QRZ Page

    We are a small part of the larger satellite. Battery depth of discharge is not a concern.

    We have a plan for dealing with unauthorized use, although C/X equipment is going to be harder to come by than Alinco 220 mobiles as used by pirates on the Navy milsats.
     
  15. N4CVX

    N4CVX Guest

     

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