Yep. I have another video on that. I didn't know that at the time for this one.

If you have a 3d printer. Helical antennas are very easy to make. If not, it's a little bit harder but RC Model Reviews had a video from a number of years back before these became COTS items. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nISafn6PoLCBY6M

Video Aerial Systems makes some crazy antennas that's for sure.

They are for sale on Etsy, Ebay, and other platforms via Maker Chamber. www.etsy.com/listing/1293499404/3-in-1-die-wrench-for-lee-precision

Por favor se podrá la transición en español para poder aprender y copiar sus abilidades y experiencias

Glad to hear you find them helpful. The NanoVNA and TinySA are great starter pieces of test gear if you want new stuff.

Type 20HT-S05E00 Thinkpad 11e

I have like 100ft of LMR-400 with no pre-amp for this. RS-44 definitely seems to have good days and bad ones. The transponder power is probably varying based on it's battery charge state for that day. It may also be a good idea to have selectable polarization for your wimo x-quads. If you can get a setup a switched phasing harness to quickly jump between vertical/horizontal and RHCP/LHCP that would give you some additional flexibility during ops. The eggbeaters have served me well, but I think directional antennas and rotators are a better tool in a lot of cases if only to not be taking in environmental noise from other directions. There's a ham around here (FN20ish) i spoke to once who has radomed QFH antennas that weren't too expensive. Those have much better weather resistance than my setup. I've had to go up there and sand off corrosion on wire contacts for the UHF eggbeater antenna a couple of times now.

I received my MiniKits UHF masthead pre-amp kit, and after assembling and installing it, it's made a HUGE improvement. With the gain adjusted to about +25db, I went from only being able to copy when the pass was directly overhead, to starting to copy at <10-degrees and making 5-6 solid SSB QSOs per pass. Considering the AU to USD exchange rate, if you don't mind doing a little SMD work to assemble one, it's a real bargain and highly recommended. @@RobertResearchRadios

As an update, I've got my masthead preamp kit built and installed, and I also discovered my azimuth was off by almost 20 degrees. Since then, RS-44 comes booming in now, and even IO-117 (Greencube) squawks give me S9+ meter deflection. So the X-QUADs turned out to be an outstanding investment, I couldn't be happier with them. Can you work IO-117? I've only recently tried making QSOs over it since the news of it's planned decommission was announced a few days ago, but I've had tons of success with it so far. @@RobertResearchRadios

I don't have a setup for IO-117. Looking to build a setup capable of that some day even if GREENCUBE does decommission before then, but mostly just running the satnogs station and then working linear birds with voice/CW out of a camera bag on my hip and using an arrow antenna lately. Got 6 or 7 QSOs in one pass as W0NT on FD in 2023 that way.

Haha since it's "unrelated" I suppose I don't have to express condolences, but that's a tough one. I'm not the best one to ask about stripped screws, but I would try torx bits if it's too stripped for hex or see about cutting a flat head shape into it. Worst case you could sacrifice the plastic cover piece by breaking or melting it off the screw and then turn the screw out with a pair of vice grips/pliers. You might try ebay for replacement parts. Best.

@@RobertResearchRadios I tried every non destructive trick as well as super glue and then the super glue + baking soda powder combo. Not only did that not work, but I nearly cemented the screw to the inside of the breech. I literally just had to buy some grabber drill bits and bore out some of the screw and then extract it. I also bought the only 4x48 screws that my local hardware store had available. They were flat pan head gun screws about 5 times too long, but the head was about twice as thick as the original breech screw. After cutting it down down and getting it to fit the larger head actually worked better than the original screw since it was taller and essentially replicates the washer mod that prevents pellets from jamming. Also, it's a slotted screw, so it won't strip unless I really mess it up somehow

There's a few on amazon and on ebay, they both look the same

Hey, do you use LNA or filters?

I epoxy'd mine on there after I was completely happy with it.

I epoxy'd mine on there after I was completely happy with it.

Hmm maybe a connector with a bad contact? I have no intuition for insertion loss on cavity filters so didn't notice it might be broken, but I can't see broken loops from the video at least. Maybe I'll take another look inside it someday. Not sure where it's gotten off to, but the insight of a "simple tailor" is appreciated good sir.

Hi, I'm in the process of considering a couple of the M2 antennae. How are you getting on with them? Are you pleased with the results? 73 de M0SNR

I actually tried to get data out of the OBDII port on the TPMS sensors. I leaning towards the idea that it's a separate system from the ECU or that the data is not reported there (no codes were pulled when the lower pressure light light was on either). At least in my experience my Bluetooth scanner and Torque Pro couldn't see anything. Let me know if you have any success with that. Spoiler Alert but I'll be integrating a KrakenSDR into my Mazda in the next few months, so stay tuned for RDF shenanigans :)

SatPC32 is receiving direct development support for current Ham Radio birds, and the community keeps updated doppler files around that were ready for use with RS-44 on FT-4. I'm using SatPC32 to do doppler correction on my IC-9700 and G-Predict to do doppler correction on my SDR panadapter. I prefer the user interface from GPredict for getting an idea of what's going on inside and outside the amateur radio constellation, but GPredict is not receiving updates or support since 2018, so I'd rather use the maintained dedicated Ham Radio software to drive my radio. I don't know if I could drive multiple radios from G-Predict, but this division of labor between the computer programs leans into their strengths and away from their weaknesses. It's just my way of doing it I guess; one integrated solution would be great, and I look forward to what can replace G-Predict for hobbyist use with >5000 satellites of interest now in the catalog. It's starting to lose its edge as a tool for general situational awareness when trying to render 5000+ objects with >20 overhead at a given time... I'm not sure how G-Predict is going to handle running out of NORAD SATCAT ids, but it's already clear it can't handle that many birds.

@@RobertResearchRadios thanks for your response. Does the AFC on the ic9700 not manage doppler for you?

To my understanding, and I caveat this with that I've never needed/wanted to use the AFC, the AFC only works for FM signals and to track the carrier center freq for you during like ISS repeate passes where 6 or 20kHz doppler shift over the pass is less than the FM deviation of 25kHz. The frequency control required for FT4 is so much more precise than what the AFC is meant to do when just following an FM carrier freq as it is observed that with SSB modulation for FT4 (MFSK in the 3kHz AF) you really need a computer to do it with precise orbital elements from the interwebs and software to back out the doppler. Also, Hot take 🔥 but IMO the 9700's AFC and Autotune features are mostly a meme for satellite ops. They're more useful for saving you time in center tuning to a fixed transmission.

@@RobertResearchRadios ta, I am thinking of buying an ic9700; I looked at the egg beaters and discounted them because of the low gain, I was looking at the Leo sat cross yagis, but discounted them because I didn't want to fork out an extra thousand pounds for a rotator that did elevation. At the moment I am thinking rotating horizontally polarised yagis fixed at 15 degrees and accepting the fades as and when they occur.. Do you have any advice?

Will be my first radio and I would like to experiment with other comms not just exclusively satellite; I live next door to a two story building that I will struggle to clear which will block out half of the horizon below 15°