Testimonials for S-band Patch Feed ---------------------------------- From: "terryburke" To: "James R Miller" Subject: Re: S-band Patch Feed Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2002 08:01:41 -0400 Dear James, I just tried out the patch ant.with a 0.9m dish on AO-40. Please add me to the list of happy customers. The gain is better than anything else I've tried, but the reduction in noise is truly amazing. It is almost a must-have for AO-40. If my relatives were hams, I would buy them for Christmas gifts. Tnx and '73 - Terry, AA2LY ______________________________________________________________________________ From: "Kenneth Shutt" Subject: Re: S-Band Antenna System - Complete Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2001 09:41:14 -0600 James, I installed the dish on my tower. It seems to perform very well. S/N ratio is about 3 db better than 3x2 BBQ. Both antennas are on the tower, each with TSI AIDC 3733 downconverters. My next project is a WB5LUA design pre-amp (NF < 0.6db). Congratulations on such a well engineered antenna system. The antenna and patch feed are everything advertised. Mark me down as a satisfied customer. 73 de Ken - K5GUU ______________________________________________________________________________ Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2001 19:04:05 +0900 From: Bob McElligott Subject: Antenna results Just a note to let you know that I am very happy with the initial results of the 60cm dish and the patch system. As I mentioned before, I live on the 5th floor of a 15 story apartment house here in Korea. I attached it to a small tower section on my small balcony, mounted a DB6NT pre-amp and using my old Myer's Conifer down-converter successfully copied several hundred good CRCs of data from AO-40 using the AO40Rcv program. All of this was done from MA 100 to MA 150, through a solid plate-glass window with the drapes fully drawn and closed. I opened the window just for kicks, and really couldn't hear any difference in performance. I also was able to copy 3 or 4 SSB QSOs (squint angles were <10 degrees) with no difficulty during the same time period. An outstanding antenna system, which I would highly recommend to anyone, but particularly those living in an apartment like me. 73, Bob McElligott HL2/KK4UZ Songtan, Korea Grid Locator PM37MB ______________________________________________________________________________ From: WL7M Subject: [amsat-bb] It Works! Thanks!! Date: Sat, 01 Dec 2001 21:27:35 -0900 Having just finished putting together my satellite dish antenna, aiming it heavenwards, and actually hearing AO40 booming in, I want to thank the following people: Mark, N0NSV - Donating an old PrimeStar dish and arranging to have it shipped to Alaska Don, W4VQA - Helping scrounge some support arms for the dish Gunther, W8GSM - Encouragement and suggestions on design of the feed and support structure Ed, AL7EB - Encouragement and technical advice Mike, WL7BQM - Loan of a temporary antenna, and encouragement over a cup of coffee James, G3RUH - For producing a great patch feed In true Alaskan ham fashion, I didn't get everything I needed to put up the antenna until the temperature reached a satisfactory 5 degrees (fahrenheit) above zero, the wind was blowing about 20 mph and there was snow on the ground. Only then, after putting it together in my garage, I took it outside, climbed up the tower, and installed it .... I headed to the shack and fired up the rigs. Wow!! It worked!!! Not only did it work, but the beacon signal was LOUD!! Peaks were running S9. Not bad for the squint angle and slant range from Alaska. I fired up the transmitter and found my signal on the bird, then called CQ..... 73 and see you on the bird! Joe WL7M Fritz Creek, Alaska ______________________________________________________________________________ Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2001 15:37:04 +0000 From: Ken Dailey Subject: Re: Patch Feed I haven't done a conclusive test to determine the improvement to system G/T, but from qualitative testing it would seem to be optimum - raw signal strength also appears to have improved by a couple of dB as well. To summarise, the performance of the 60cm dish / patch feed / DB6NT MKU24 converter combination is pretty darn amazing! Thank you for a fine antenna combination! Ken G0RVH ______________________________________________________________________________ From: "Alan P. Biddle" Subject: Re: 60 cm Dish Antenna System Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2001 01:50:55 -0000 James, Just a quick note on the new antenna. I had been using a Myers BBQ antenna with a UEK-3000, and was getting "acceptable" results. Probably my biggest complaint was the amount of noise. A bit of DSP filtering helped, but it wasn't quite what I was expecting. I installed the new antenna [60cm dish], and was immediately struck by the reduction in noise. Something like 2 S-units on my FT-847. Combined with a nearly 2 S-unit increase in the signal, comparing the same squint angle, and listening has gone from tedious to a pleasure! All in all, an outstanding improvement on my earlier equipment. Many thanks for this, and of course all the other great work over the years. Alan WA4SCA ______________________________________________________________________________ Date: Mon, 05 Nov 2001 19:15:37 -0500 From: "Mark L. Hammond" Subject: patch "feed"back Hello James, I just wanted to say how impressed I am with the new patch feed! Many thanks to you and Freddy for designing and producing such a fine piece of hardware. I upgraded both my dish and feed at the same time; I seem to have gained about 1-2 S-units (perhaps 3-6 dB, roughly?). The dish upgrade alone would not have given such an big increase, so clearly the patch is performing quite well indeed. While I do enjoy homebrewing, the patch feed is something I could never have produced myself. I simply lack the tools and skills necessary to craft such a sturdy and polished unit. And a final thanks for making the overseas purchase so easy (and fast!) via PayPal. 73, Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] ______________________________________________________________________________ From: "K.Fritz" Subject: Re: AO-40 Dish Antenna Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2001 15:20:58 +0200 Dear James, The dish is up and running. And AO-40 is really alive now! What a difference to the 30 turns WIMO helix! You and Freddy have done an excellent design job and I am more than satisfied with the performance. Vy 73 Kurt DL1CR ______________________________________________________________________________ Date: Sat, 6 Oct 2001 06:41:48 -0000 From: "Adrian C. Dening" Subject: S-Band OSCAR 40 Although we have high winds here today, I quickly connected the Kuhne Downconverter to my new 60cm Dish from G3RUH and was immediately receiving the beacon at S9. I am absolutely delighted and would like to record my sincere thanks to you both (i) for being so honest and helpful (ii) for shipping so promptly and (iii) for supplying such high quality products. Adrian Dening G4JBH ______________________________________________________________________________ From: "Don Blachura" Subject: feed patch Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2001 23:07:30 -0400 Just wanted to say how well the patch is working with the 2 foot dish. I am amazed at how well I am copying the signals. It sure made a big difference. I thought the system was too small, but found out my hearing was the problem; getting old stinks! So put a speech enhancer on the rig and I almost fell off the chair... Thanks for a great product. Don..W2XB ______________________________________________________________________________ From: "BOB KOULOURIS" Subject: RE: 60 cm antenna Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2001 11:20:36 +0300 I just received my antenna. After 15 minutes the dish and the patch was assembled. The new antenna was installed in my balcony. I open my Nova, and point the antenna on general direction of the AO-40. The signal of the MB popped loud and clear. My observations about the system is that is a killer performance. The signal is 3 s-units more than my old commercial helix. Also now the pass band of the AO-40 looks like 20 meters with good opening in the band. Now I can hear a lot of stations. On my FT-736 I was copying the MB 4 s-units. But the qso's was very low. Now with the new antenna I copy the MB 7 s-units, and now the qso's are coming very good. The performance with one word is perfect. Also with the helix that I was using I had also a lot of noise. (Due to signals of wireless lans all over the city, and the broad side lobes of the helix). But now with dish and the patch is very quiet. So the signal to noise ratio from the transponder is better. Thank you very much for the nice antenna system. 73's de Bob SV1AWE ______________________________________________________________________________ From: "John M. Nelson" Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2001 11:44:13 +0100 (BST) Subject: Dish + patch feed Thanks for the dish/feed which was waiting for me when I got back home from holiday. On the weekend I hooked it up to a UEK-3000 at about 25 ft aimed it at A0-40 on orbit 421 and there it was. I use a TS-790, and after a little experimentation, turned the RF power down all the way - leaving about 4 watts out to a 19 el 70cms yagi and got a perfectly acceptable CW return. A quick QSO with F6xxx followed using a mighty 6 watts output. This was R5 all the way. At the time, A0-40 range was about 62000 km. Sensational..... John Nelson G4KLA ______________________________________________________________________________ From: "Thomas K. Daniels" Subject: S Band Dish + Patch Feed Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 09:55:41 -0400 The report is excellent! The first thing I noticed was how quiet the dish was as, compared to the BBQ grill with dipole feed and 1 meter of coax. The Mode S beacon was two S units higher. Assuming 3 dB per S unit on my Icom 271, I now hear the beacon, at apogee, S7 to S8 against an S1 noise floor. So abt 18 dB nominally, at times 21 dB. I can hear most everything now. Before there were signals too weak to pick out of the noise floor. The typical QSO is 12 dB above the noise. Leila seems to kick in on the 15dB sigs. I would imagine the guys with the bigger dishes hear just a tad bigger, but I suspect in most cases the noise floor must just elevate. Thanks for the fine work! Tom N3CXP ______________________________________________________________________________ From: "DL7HR (Berndt Helmke)" Subject: [ADL-FORUM] S2 Antennen Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 11:57:44 +0200 [ English translation below ] An alle (vor allem "Neue") AO40 Interessierte und Benutzer ---------------------------------------------------------- Um halbwegs ernsthaft über AO40 mitspielen zu können, muß man für den S2- Empfangszweig doch etwas mehr investieren. Das ist keine neue Erkenntnis, aber ich möchte hier nur bestätigen, daß die AMSAT-UK Lösung mit der G3RUH 60cm dish Antenne zusammen mit dem patch feed und dem DB6NT Konverter eine recht gute Lösung darstellt. Ich hatte zuvor eine SHF Langyagi, auch mit dem Kuhne Konverter, und kam kaum über S4-Empfangssignale. Nun, mit dem G3RUH Antennensystem höre ich (seit gestern) die MB mit deutlich besseren Lautstärken, natürlich auch die Stationen. Empirischer Unterschied zwischen Yagi-System und G3RUH-System ca. 15 dB. das sind "Welten" aus dem Kosmos, hi. Ich kann dies dish system nur den "noch zweifelnden oder unzufriedenen" empfehlen. James, G3RUH schrieb mir im voraus dazu.. an amazing difference can be expected.., so wars dann auch. vy 73 Berndt, DL7HR, München-Pasing, JN58RD - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To all (mainly newcomers) AO40 interested and users --------------------------------------------------- To participate with real chances and success via AO40 you have to put to the S2 receiving part higher attention, resp. to invest somewhat more into this. That's not a new finding, but I want to confirm here that the AMSAT-UK antenna solution using the G3RUH dish, along with the new patch feed and the direct connected DB6NT converter form a real satisfying solution. Formerly I used a SHF long yagi (horizontal), also with the direct connected Kuhne converter, but I received the S2-MB only with up to S-4 signals. Therefore a possible QSO-level was in the area between 12 db above, down to the SAT's, noise level. Thats poor and frustrating, especially along with QSB caused by polarization and squint angle. Using now the improved system from G3RUH, I can hear the MB, but also the HAM'S, with markedly better signal strength. The empirical difference between the both antenna systems is abt. 15 dB, these are "worlds" received from the space, hi. According to my first results, I can recommend this G3RUH dish system to those who are just planning (or frustrated from former tests) for an effective AO40-S2 antenna. James, G3RUH wrote to me in advance: ... an amazing difference can be expected..., so it happened. vy 73, Berndt, DL7HR (Former BARTOB-manager.( explaining this to the younger HAMs), this was the "Pre Satellite Phase", where in the MUNICH - and HANNOVER - area 2m/2m and 70cm/2m transponders where launched on balloons, up to 32km height, enabling in that time QSO's between UK and YU, HA, I4, etc.) ______________________________________________________________________________ From: "Rick Vidmar - K9KK" Subject: Patch Feed Results Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 16:27:00 -0500 James & Freddy I got the patch feed mounted yesterday on my screened 99cm x 84cm f/d=.325 BBQ. It was a test of my patience. but I finally got it... WOW, the results are just stunning. I am seeing a tremendous improvement. I'm not talking about a 3db improvement or a 6db improvement I'm talking about a really BIG improvement. I had arm chair copy on stations at apogee. I even heard a LOT of stations. I use to think that there were only 3 or 4 stations on the bird. There were stations all over the transponder last night With the linear feed I could not copy at apogee. HEY GUYS -- THANKS for coming up with a WONDERFUL patch feed. I could not be happier !!!!!! Thanks again Rick K9KK ______________________________________________________________________________ From: RDGYNN@xxxxxxxxxx Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 04:15:12 EDT Subject: Re: Patch Hi James Had a good squint on the bird last night and the Patch and new UEK-3000 performed brilliantly. Beacon was S9 +5db on the IC-910, my own signal running 75w up on 70cm was between S8/S9 and I worked stations I had worked before giving them at least Two S points extra - so it's working very well. Many thanks for your help and assistance. Keep up the good work Dave G3SBP ------------------------ More: 2001 Sep 22 I was going to drop you a note as last night I worked a whole bunch of stations including one VK6 and of course told them all I was using the G3RUH patch. Everyone had read about it, one was awaiting his in the post, several said they would like it but couldn't afford it at this time and one was actually using it. It has made a great difference to me. I now switch in the attenuator on my IC-910 and listen with some comfort to the majority of contacts whilst before I was struggling against the noise to hear anything much. Congratulations on a great product 73's Dave. ______________________________________________________________________________ From: "Georges Mathgen" Subject: Dish test Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 01:46:41 +0200 Hi James, Just to tell you that the dish+patch produces spectacular results as compared to my old helix. Quod erat demonstrandum. Georges Mathgen LX1BB ______________________________________________________________________________ Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2001 22:00:36 -0400 From: "Stacey E. Mills" Subject: WOW! Dear James, After dinner, I took my new dish with patch and downconverter outside and C-clamped it to a camera tripod, pointed it in the general direction of AO-40 and fired it up..... WOW!!!! About 3 "S-units" (whatever that is), better than my other dish with the same setup. ....very very nice!! 73 Stacey W4SM ______________________________________________________________________________ Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2001 08:18:49 +0000 From: Graham Ratcliff Subject: Patch Arrived Safely Hi James, The patch feed is operational and is copying telemetry with 4 degrees elevation almost due east over Mt Lofty and 64000km+ range which is pretty impressive - so my first impression is WOW!!! Once again many thanks..... 73 Graham VK5AGR ______________________________________________________________________________