|
I am currently at 96 countries DXCC confirmed on 6m and with declining sunspot activty its getting tougher to make it to 100
confirmed....My equipment I use is an Icom 756 running barefoot into a Homebuilt 5 ele Yagi on a 24ft boom @60 ft....I used
a 6 ele homebuilt yagi on a 30 ft boom before (my own design).This design made a lot of contacts even as far as Japan..I think
I will put back up my 6 ele soon..
|
| ICOM 756 Transeiver...HF and 6M |
|
| My 6 ele 6 meter antenna before |
VE3EN...His Icom 7700 Video/Audio online
ON4KST...Link to 6m Chat page
I am also active on Satellite (AO 27, AO 51, FO 29, ISS WHEN IN Crossband mode, VO 52, SO 50, AO 40 when she was active ).
Satellites are fun and it really is not all that hard or expensive to get going on them...A Dual band Fm transceiver
can even be used for the Fm birds.
My equipment for satellite is the Yaesu FT-847 and antennas are 8 element cross polarised on uhf and a modified 5 ele
cross polarised (now 8 elements)for vhf. Both antennas are made by Gulf Alpha Communications.
I also have a Kenwood TR 9000 (2m All Mode).I use this rig in conjunction with an AIDC-3731 Downconverter and a homebrewed
2.4GHZ patch feed mounted onto a 3ft Direct TV dish. The downconverter converts the 2.4GHZ signal to Vhf, and I use the TR
9000 to receive the microwave signals from AO 40 satellite.
|
| Yaesu FT 847..My Satellite Transeiver |
|
| Kenwood TR 9000...2m All mode |
If You want to learn more about using Satellite dish antennas for amateur radio use ,check out this site.. http://www.ultimatecharger.com/dish.html
I learnt a lot from this site and also how to build patch feeds for UHF+ bands.
I left the 8 element uhf antenna as it is because it has good gain and I can hear all the birds even without a pre amp inline..However
I wanted more gain on vhf so I added on more boom length to the 5 ele and with some designing using YO software ,I was able
to go from 8dbd to 11dbd with only 3 additional elements.....
|
| 8 Element Vert & Horzt. 70cm Satellite Antenna |
|
| 5 Element vert. & horzt. vhf Yagi |
In order to work the Satellites, I need to know where they are. I use a Freeware program named Satscape and it is really easy
and fun to use....Try it....Click on the picture to goto the Satscape website.
|
| Screenshot of Satscape |
|
| Satscape 3D Screenshot |
This is another Satellite tracking software called AgSattrack that I found on the net that is freeware and works pretty good...Click
on the picture to goto the webpage to read and download..
|
| AgSattrack...Satellite Tracking Software |
|
