vhf brick amplifier - Satellites Forum at eHam.net

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eHam.net Forum : Satellites : vhf brick amplifier

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vhf brick amplifier	Reply
by W4CTH on August 14, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
There is a very good tutorial on FM LEO's with HT by Richard Handley, N1ASA. Google his call sign and you will find it. He recommends using a 20w brick amplifier with the handheld. I have been trying to find a source for one. The ones I have found range from $35 for a Japanese product on Ebay to over $200 for one by Henry radio. Mirage makes one for a little over $100. That is a pretty wide spread. Does anyone have any experience with these amplifiers either with satellites or not and if so, I would appreciate any recomendations or other suggestions. Thanks and 73

RE: vhf brick amplifier	Reply
by KB2FCV on August 19, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
I've only worked a few times with a Brick on VHF, but never with a satellite. With a decent antenna, 5 watts is plenty to get into the FM Leo's. With a handheld yagi I can work them standing on my front porch with an HT.

RE: vhf brick amplifier	Reply
by KO4MA on August 20, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
There is really no need for it on the FM satellites. 5, or even 1 watt is plenty. More power and half-duplex are part of the problem on the FM sats. Try it with just the handheld and you'll see. 73, Drew KO4MA

RE: vhf brick amplifier	Reply
by W4CTH on August 20, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
Thanks, James and Drew, for your replies. I have been successful in working the LEOs with just a HT. However, I found a very interesting primer from Richard Hackney, a professor at Western Kentucky University. Take a look at it at: http://www.wku.edu/ksgc/sats.pdf You will see why I am interested in the amplifier. He uses a preamp and the amplifier for the low birds. Says he gets better connectivity when they are low on the horizon and further away from the operator. I would be interested in your (or anyone else's) take on this. 73

RE: vhf brick amplifier	Reply
by KB1LKR on August 24, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
Ah, low passes -- you could also use a VHF mobile at 15-25W for the uplink (think of it as a brick amplifier w/ a low power transmitter built in) and an HT for the UHF downlink (this way you're full vs. half duplex).

RE: vhf brick amplifier	Reply
by KB2FCV on September 2, 2009	Mail this to a friend!
Ah ok, low passes.. yeah I find I'm a bit limited until the satellite hits a certain elevation. When we change QTH's I hope to change that with some better gain permanent antennas. You can really get some distance when it's low on the horizon.

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