ToddDubya
NES Member
I thought I'd start a dedicated ISS/Satellite thread instead of mucking up the "What Did You Do in the Shack Today" thread.
I got my Arrow antenna today, the 146/437-10. I started putting it together and the 70cm elements are very close in length. So I had to measure them with the end caps off, and of course one pair that should be 5-3/8" is 5-1/2" on one side and 5-1/4" on the other. It averages out, and I'm not sure how much of a difference it'll really make, so I'm leaving it alone.
With that sorted, I put a couple wraps of colored electrical tape on each of the elements and the boom so it's easier to assemble in the future.
In case anyone gets one of these, something to note is that the first director on the 70cm side, which is normally the longest of the directors, is not the longest. If I hadn't had to measure them all I would have just assembled it longest to shortest. But the first one is 5-1/4", then a few 5-3/8", then 5". If I had to guess it's because it's so close to the driven element.
Now that I've made an investment in this, I think I'll keep working on the ISS and then try for some satellites.
Last night after work I took a walk over to a nearby nature area where there's a hill with a pretty decent view of the sky. This picture doesn't even do it justice. You're pretty much above everything around in the foreground. It should make for a good place to get the most out of passes. I'm sure you're not supposed to be playing radio there, and I don't think they mow it except for hay, so it's going to be a short season there, with a lot of ticks. But there's a community garden area there as well that might be good enough, especially for anything to the south. Until some Karen complains.
In the meantime, I just popped out in the yard with an HT connected to the yagi to listen and it's way better than the vertical on the house. I could hear people pretty much the whole pass. Eventually I lost it to doppler and houses, but that was a successful first test.
Next I need to get the FT-817/818s programmed and figure out how I'm going to manage all of that. This feels like the kind of thing where an assistant and stenographer would come in handy.
I got my Arrow antenna today, the 146/437-10. I started putting it together and the 70cm elements are very close in length. So I had to measure them with the end caps off, and of course one pair that should be 5-3/8" is 5-1/2" on one side and 5-1/4" on the other. It averages out, and I'm not sure how much of a difference it'll really make, so I'm leaving it alone.
With that sorted, I put a couple wraps of colored electrical tape on each of the elements and the boom so it's easier to assemble in the future.
In case anyone gets one of these, something to note is that the first director on the 70cm side, which is normally the longest of the directors, is not the longest. If I hadn't had to measure them all I would have just assembled it longest to shortest. But the first one is 5-1/4", then a few 5-3/8", then 5". If I had to guess it's because it's so close to the driven element.
Now that I've made an investment in this, I think I'll keep working on the ISS and then try for some satellites.
Last night after work I took a walk over to a nearby nature area where there's a hill with a pretty decent view of the sky. This picture doesn't even do it justice. You're pretty much above everything around in the foreground. It should make for a good place to get the most out of passes. I'm sure you're not supposed to be playing radio there, and I don't think they mow it except for hay, so it's going to be a short season there, with a lot of ticks. But there's a community garden area there as well that might be good enough, especially for anything to the south. Until some Karen complains.
In the meantime, I just popped out in the yard with an HT connected to the yagi to listen and it's way better than the vertical on the house. I could hear people pretty much the whole pass. Eventually I lost it to doppler and houses, but that was a successful first test.
Next I need to get the FT-817/818s programmed and figure out how I'm going to manage all of that. This feels like the kind of thing where an assistant and stenographer would come in handy.
![[smile]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/001.gif "Smile [smile]")
. For all I know it's always been a feature.
