Ham Radio Satellite Contacts on my Mini Antenna Array

In my last video I assembled a "mini-array" for amateur radio satellites. I used two Arrow II antennas phased together for circular polarization, mounted on a Yaesu G-5400 az-el rotator. Today we build the controllers to steer the antennas, finish the station assembly, and get on the air for our first QSOs with the new setup.
Check out "The Radio Artesian" K3NG's website for more details and source code for the rotator controller.
blog.radioartisan.com/arduino...

[@RichardTrowbridge-zt5wm]

Fine business, Alex. Keep up the great work. You're inspiring casual viewers to pursue another facet of amateur radio. Congratulations on your wonderful accimplishments. 73 N2YIB

[@NC0Q]

Now I have to put googly-eyes on my VFO knob. Don’t worry, I’ll give you the credit!

[@W8RIT1]

First time I've seen someone do something like that...

[@ronconnelly]

Very nice job Alex! Thanks for documenting it all for us with the videos. 73!

[@terry5089]

Alex, congratulations on a great project. The system is working great and I'm sure you will have many great QSO's with it.

[@on4mgy_radioamateur]

What a great project. Looks like you're a very technically skilled person. Enjoyed the 2 videos about this project a lot.

[@EvgeniX.]

"🚫 no whining" haha like this sign!

[@EA7LAF]

I desperately need part three 😂 … please

[@TheOpticalFreak]

Congratulations on the first contact! And that ladder trick is actually very nice! 😁👍

[@joedoe4871]

Hi Alex, thank you for sharing your adventures in this fantastic hobby. It's inspiring and so good to see. Keep it up.

[@scottdunbar4898]

Outstanding brother! Super happy for you. 73 from K1NEO, Maine.

[@n8sdr473]

Congrats on a very nice design and setup- recently started playing with SATS here extremely minimal setup, you have given me a couple ideals to try with antennas-

[@TheOpticalFreak]

Hi, i would recommend a counter balance weight on the antenna motor shaft! And a slow start stop function on the motor! This will increase the lifespan of the motor and gears a lot!! 😉👍 And it will also make it go a lot more smoother and more accurate!😁

[@dougtaylor7724]

Way to go. Congrats!

[@thecarys563]

Great explanation and storytelling and operations example.

[@rjy8960]

Thanks Alex, really interesting video. I've dabbled with satellites with a fixed white stick antenna and managed to work a few passes using an FT-847 with Doppler control via the PC. I have an antenna interface for the Yaesu AZ/EZ mount but need to spend a little more time thinking about antennae but I really like what you have set up here with the polarisation options and the harnesses. It has been.a slow burner project - it got rudely interrupted by a project to set up for the QO-100 geostationary satellite which has been good fun, but I can feel the LEO satellite itch returning! Good luck with the field day, hope you manage to post some footage :) 73 de M0SNR

[@alexjj]

Great video and build!

[@VP2EIHonAnguillaIsland]

great job Alex & nice project.. hope to hear you on the birds.. 73

[@DavidGillooly]

Great video and an inspiration to get on the sats.

[@va3ase]

Thanks I appreciate it

[@w2msa]

That's a great station Alex. Congratulations! de W2MSA

[@M0UOO]

Well excellent outcome to all of your hard work, loads of building to make a great station 😊 I am looking at similar project so you have given me some other ideas. 73

[@va3ase]

I'm glad you enjoyed it, best of luck with your project!

[@VE9ASN]

Watched the 1st and this, beyond excellent! I'm subscribed, 73.

[@BalticLab]

Hey Alex, cool videos so far! Subscribed!

[@steveedwards90]

Great setup

[@kentwinrich6595]

You did just what I want to do

[@DK5ONV]

Looks awsome and seems to work as it should. 73 de Uncle Günter 💯👌🙋‍♂

[@Ztnerg]

Fantastic Man, This is great. 73

[@KY4K-10]

Great work. I will check out your other videos. I would like to do some satellite work but at least for now it would have to be portable work. 73 KY4K

[@terrybondy5458]

Instructive and entertaining video. I like how you put in your failures as well as your successes. And do the googly eyes on the 9700 tuner knob give you extra 3DB on the signal to noise ratio?😂

[@va3ase]

Thanks Terry, glad someone else appreciates the googly eyes!

[@user-bh2lb1gn7r]

Alex! I was skipping around looking at videos about doubling up on Arrows on the same boom, and guess who I heard loud and clear as your first QSO with your X-pol pair? ME!!! I'm gonna email you and get a convo going, I'm setting up a mobile unit somewhat based on AG7NR's outstanding unit, but I have a pair of Arrows I want to mod, so thanks! 73's de Chris W7BMD

[@TerryZW]

keep it up

[@thomasmanson1119]

Now that I see it again (as you are moving it around), I think I misjudged the sizes and what you have looks right to me now. 73 Tom kC3QAC

[@TomTalley]

Thanks for the video. I'm stumbling along with Arduino and satellite as well. Trying different experiments along the way. Learning a lot about the Arduino IDE? Matlab/simulink with simscape. I have a yaesu rotor head but no control box. So, am planning an h bridge with pwm and driver off a mega. Have some motors that are geared down to 5 rpm. Want to model it in simscape first...then just map the rotor controls and return position signals back into the software as actual azel. Anyway...learning a ton. Love the ladder idea... Have a 3 meter dish or two and thinking of eme...but that's down the road. de Tom, W5XTT...73

[@ChannelofRichPierik]

Thanks Alex. Rich VE1RPX

[@garylanders1470]

I will be using a Computerized GOTO Tripod & Mount used for telscopes to achieve what you are working towards. With load capacities between 20-45 pounds they are ample for the task. And are already computer controlled.

[@tekspeditionplanet9109]

Alex, great job putting this together. I've been wanting to modify Arrow antennas much as you did for a few years. Some questions. 1) does it make any difference whether you drill the holes in front of the existing cross beams or behind? 2) I'm assuming you made a 90 degree phasing harness; any specific plan you used? 3) any unique problems you experienced reconfiguring the Arrow antennas? Thanks & 73! Jeff, WK3U

[@rogerp5816]

Very nice video. I'm going to go and watch part one now. I'm just starting with the K3NG rotator controller software. Would it be possible to create a video showing what you went through to configure and load the software. The Nextion part has got me a bit confused at this point.

[@va3ase]

Thanks for your feedback! I wasn't sure how much detail to go into with the K3NG controller but sure I'm open to making a video focused on it. One tip is to google VK4GHZ as his website has updated Nextion files and more information on the configuration.

[@stephanshemenski6348]

I use the Fox Delta rotor controller. It works well except that the Yaesu wiring diagram has the wiring on AZis backward

[@UOttawaScotty]

If I understand this correctly, are you using a satellite as a repeater station ? How far away was your first contact. Dont have my ham licence yet, but currently studying.

[@nerdgizmos]

Alex, how did you do at Field Day this year with your new setup?

[@AlGordon]

Hi, Alex. I’m going through some trial and error to build out a portable satellite station. Thanks for posting these videos! I’ve definitely learned a few things, and am excited to make some changes to my station setup that should hopefully make it more viable going forward. Quick question for you: With the IC-9700, how crucial are the external LNAs, especially if the feed lines are kept short (10-15 ft. or less)? Do you have any operating experience using the 9700’s pre-amps rather than the external LNAs?

[@va3ase]

Glad the videos have been helpful! I need to finish editing the final installment in the series. I do find the external LNAs make a pretty significant difference, especially with these little antennas. If you use larger antennas with higher gain (which I'll recommend) and low-loss feedlines the LNAs are less critical. Put simply, you'll make contacts without them. However the LNAs are indeed a noticeable upgrade, even with short feedlines. I'm fortunate to have these expensive ones from SSB-Electronic, but Mini-Kits offers similar LNA kits at a more reasonable price if you're comfortable soldering / building. That's probably what I'd get if I was starting from scratch. Hope that helps!

[@kf4hzu]

This is awesome! I have antenna envy 😁 Have you thought about selling kits with all the parts needed for this? Looking forward to more videos like this. 73 de kf4hzu

[@va3ase]

Thanks! That would be a fun idea, but the Yaesu rotator is the most expensive part which I think is a deal breaker for most people new to satellite. If I was going to sell anything I think it would be better to design lower cost rotators (probably 3d printed).

[@kf4hzu]

@@va3ase Makes sense. Well do what you find fun and interesting 😊

[@rolfrobertson6404]

Can I use a directional uhf /vhf tv antenna ?

[@robcarnaroli269]

True about the signal report and there's very little time for that during a pass. Seems like every pass is a pileup. Does the k3ng version give feedback to the satpc32 rotor control daemon? The w9ke code I used does not and required a ton of modding to get started.

[@va3ase]

Some of the passes can get pretty intense, especially on FM birds. Yes the K3NG connects to SatPC32 using the GS-232B protocol. The position feedback and output control works very well in SatPC32 or PstRotator once configured. The hardest part with the K3NG project is enabling which features you need in the code and then getting the feedback calibrated. It isn't very intuitive, but I haven't had to do any real code modifications at least.

[@NA12495]

How are you balancing the weight of your antennas? Looks like most of the weight is towards the front. I like the use of a ladder as a tripod. Do you think you will build a case for the original rotator equipment and to include all the new stuff?

[@beak85]

Excellent? Where you using a circular polarization for this contact? I was thinking about building with just a circular polarization rather than switchable or fixed horizontal/vertical with a switch as some do. Have you ended up just using one setting over the others since yours is switchable? is circular the way to go for satellite to avoid switching?

[@jamestudehope8310]

Nice. I'm wondering what preamp model and what else it is you have mounted next to your rotors. 73 KL7QR Jim

[@rogerp5816]

Would you be willing to to share the 3d printer files for the control box you designed and you configuration files for the K3NG software?

[@va3ase]

Sure I can post stl files for the boxes if you'd like. The K3NG code is pretty much straight from his GitHub repository with only my features enabled. The Nextion display files were downloaded from VK4GHZ's website with no modifications. The more confusing part for me is the settings and calibration which you input through the Serial Monitor after downloading to the Arduino.

[@no5x937]

Does the 9700 have 1 or 2 antenna inputs? Is each antenna connected to separate RF connectors?

[@va3ase]

It has seperate ports for each band. Each antenna is fully independent with its own feedlines, preamps and polarization switches. The 9700 actually has a third antenna port for the 23cm band I'm not using presently. It's a great radio but pretty specialized.

[@user-gr4oq5bi5j]

What size of the horizontal tub are the antennas mounted on?

[@va3ase]

I'd have to measure to be sure but it's around 4-5ft long. There is probably an ideal or minimum seperation distance you can calculate, and I'm guessing mine is technically too short. For my application I was more concerned with keeping the setup compact for easier transport and setup with minimal disassembly.

[@ricardoaliasdelatorre6836]

How you modified the arrow antennas?in order to have polarized,.

[@rogerp5816]

Go back to the previous video, it's all explained there.

[@va3ase]

I'm using a set of polarization switches from a company called Mini-Kits. They seem to be working well. I explain more in my previous video.

[@ricardoaliasdelatorre6836]

@@va3ase thank you Alex , my callsign is EA1IFD, usually I work AO-91 & ISS, but it's time to pass to linear sats RS-44...and your sat combo looks & works great. Minikits it's a great hardware from Australia😀😀

[@va3ase]

@@ricardoaliasdelatorre6836 Thank you, I hope to work you on a linear satellite soon! I agree that Mini-Kits makes excellent hardware. I'm very happy to support companies like them.

[@user-fx9bf7tc6c]

Здорово. Эти приводы дорого стоят

[@christianknight2905]

I'm putting together a g5500 right now and the EL moves with just finger pressure...is this normal? The az is locked solid but even mild back pressure from the cables causes it to move.

[@va3ase]

No, the internal gears should prevent you from moving the AZ or EL rotors by hand. Make sure the mast is not slipping, it can be hard to clamp securely without crushing it.

[@csntechnologies2296]

You need a SAT tracker

[@va3ase]

They do look cool but I've been pretty content with my laptop-based setup. I would still be curious to test a SAT Tracker out and make a video for it (I could return it afterwards). Send me an email if that sounds interesting.

[@thomasmanson1119]

You know more about this than I do Alex, but to me your 2m elements look reversed. Shouldn’t the reflector be larger than both the director and the driven element? To my eye, your director looks larger. 73 Tom KC3QAC

[@alessandroconcas]

Great build & setup, congratulations, 73 de iz3qvb