Rich, KY6R, wanted to hang a doublet for 40m up as high as he could get it. So he asked me to bring my pneumatic antenna launcher over to hang the wires.
Peter, W6DEI, was behind the camera and did an awesome job (it was the first time he ever used a GoPro). The camera was a modified (4mm lense) GoPro Hero2 purchased from Rage Cams.
I recorded this right off the air using my new Quadrifilar Helix antenna from Antennas.us sitting about a foot above the ground (hi hi)outside. The one I got was with Right-Hand Circular Polarization (RHCP) and is rated for 50watts output.
This is a recording of the LUSAT-OSCAR 19 (website) CW beacon which was on 437.120MHz:
I need to mount it high up. I could tell the house was in the way based on the angle and elevation and sudden drop on where the house is. Otherwise I believe I picked-up AOS at around 15 degrees elevation, which is quite right from the ground in the back yard and with the tall trees in that direction. I’m very happy! I was using 50 watts into a 5/8 vertical for my output on 2m.
I keep coming back and updating this blog entry with more sounds I record from this antenna. What a blast this has been. It’s like someone tore open a hole into space so I can actually hear. Here’s some Morse telemetry from RS-22 (website): RS-22 20081123 0625UTC
For software, I’m tracking the satellites with Orbitron. Once I decide which bird to track, I switch over to the Ham Radio Deluxe Satellite Tracker which comes as a part of the awesome Ham Radio Deluxe suite; this I use for frequency control. I’m still mastering the linear inverting transponder for VO-52 but I have already successfully tuned-in a couple passes already; seems to be an active bird.
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