High Gain 10-Turn Helix Antenna For L-Band & Receiving Inmarsat

Here we take a look at the new L-Band 10 Turn Helix Antenna from Nolle Engineering. With a combined Sawbird Filter and LNA, this antenna proves to pull in those weak signals from Inmarsat extremely well.
Purchase Antenna Here:
nolle.engineering/en/l-band-p...
SawBird Filter & LNA:
UK: amzn.to/4b2UzZG
USA: amzn.to/3K0SQYZ
SDR With Bias Tee:
UK: amzn.to/3QqjrBY
USA: amzn.to/3UDH2ll
L-Band Frequencies:
uhf-satcom.com/satellite-rece...
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#TechMinds #SDR #HamRadio

[@KA4UPW]

Nice, BUT Im going broke buying everything you show me !

[@x_CrossHair_x]

LOL 😊😊

[@bob_mosavo]

Thanks, Matt 👍

[@petermarin]

would be great to get from you an intro video of the software + decoders for use cases (please, if you do, consider not just Widows, but also e.g. Mac) :) your videos are amazing! love it,

[@mscir]

This looks like a great hobby.

[@fotografm]

I put a large heatsink on my Nooelec SDR dongle as it gets quite hot - especially when outdoors in direct sunlight.

[@x_CrossHair_x]

You should have demonstrated some of the ACARS Voice Communications (I won't tell) MUM's the Word.😉

[@digitalmediafan]

The voice transmissions on 25 deg have moved to 60 deg apparently. I can't get anything with my patch antenna on 60 deg so guess you need one of these with better gain but I'm not paying the astronomical price

[@andrewlincoln9766]

What Inmarsat satellite is that at 60 degrees, is it east or west?

[@digitalmediafan]

I use to get voice traffic a few years ago, checking just now not a peep, guess they've moved to another frequency and gone encrypted no doubt or just using other technology for transmissions ?

[@TechMindsOfficial]

I was actually able to decode some audio transmissions using JAERO and SatDump, just having to wait for the calls to appear :)

[@digitalmediafan]

@@TechMindsOfficial ah well maybe a weaker signal now but the cluster of signals i use up get around 1546.165 is dead with me all the time and it was very active once

[@digitalmediafan]

@@TechMindsOfficial Which frequency ?

[@ruperthamblin3605]

I’d be interested to know if you could receive L Band HRPT on this antenna….all be it probably with a rotator…?

[@sgtclubba1732]

I'm sure if you are willing to buy one you could specify what frequency you want the antenna for. The spacings between the loops are smaller and the loop diameter is narrower for 1.7ghz. I built my own 10 loop helicoil for around £15 and you can hand-track HRPT signals fairly easily. They are a fairly wideband antenna but best built for the frequencies you want to monitor as a 1.5ghz helicoil is weak on 1.7ghz and vice versa.

[@TheToxiss]

How is the reception when compared to RTL-SDR active L-band patch antenna?

[@TechMindsOfficial]

I didn't want to show a comparison in the video as they are both completely different antenna designs and they cost differently. However, this 10 Turn helix performs the best out of any of the L-Band antennas I have tested so far. I still have to test the other antenna I showed at the end of the video, with a dish. So we will have to wait and see how that compares. Cheers

[@maxxm.108]

Which Inmarsat do you receive and what SNR did you get on the AERO and MARINE channels? I receive inamrsat 4A-F4 using an rtl-sdr patch antenna and on marine channels I have snr from 8 to 12dB. Currently, I am building a 7-turn helix antenna with Nooelec Sawbird, a set similar to the one presented here, and I am wondering what improvement I can count on.

[@sgtclubba1732]

@@maxxm.108 I recently tested a 5 loop one I made for a friend for 1.5ghz in UK and got 18-22db SNR from 25 East and 52 West inmarsat, that antenna is giving the guy I built it for a 5db increase over the patch antenna. I use a 10 loop for HRPT and it is pretty impressive. I just ordered more wire to test how far I can go loop wise before they lose gain. The trick is keeping the loops perfectly inline.

[@simplydoge4730]

These russian pirates operate on the Inmarsat F4-4A Alphasat L-TAC transponder located roughly at 1.5528GHz. They do not transmit all the time, there will be breaks between the transmissions sometimes even days long. Depending on how they feel like you may come across spectrum painting (mostly pigs), NFM transmissions or just general transponder abuse with super wide FM signals.

[@TechMindsOfficial]

That's it! I saw some posts on the FB group that someone had captured the spectrum painting.

[@Richardincancale]

Cool! The bright orange colour should make it nice and unobtrusive for the neighbours!!

[@mikesradiorepair]

Exactly what I was thinking. Only thing they forgot was to put a blinking light on it.

[@TechMindsOfficial]

If the color is the only negative thing you can think of commenting then thank fuck 3D filament comes in different colors!

[@AdamSWL]

@@TechMindsOfficial And the neighbors can go take a running jump anyway.

[@chriswilson7493]

Not seen you tx'ing on QO100 lately, have you got fed up with that, or are you just taking a break?

[@mscir]

Too bad they don't sell a 3d printer set of drawings for that baby.