To take full advantage of the DSA815TG for antenna measurements you'd also need the VSWR bridge h/w and s/w licence - but it is good! However, unless you have other uses for the SA (and what self respecting amateur hasn't!), then it makes for a rather expensive antenna analyser.
Best 73,
Dave G4HUP
http://hupRF.com
----Original message----
>From : dj3jj(a)gmx.net
Date : 29/07/2016 - 20:54 (BST)
To : radio.ku8l(a)gmail.com
Cc : moon-net(a)mailman.pe1itr.com
Subject : Re: [Moon-Net] Antenna Analyzers
Hi Curt
Have a look at the rigol dsa815 with tracking generator
Great price performance ratio
Von meinem iPhone gesendet
> Am 29.07.2016 um 15:51 schrieb Curt Nixon <radio.ku8l(a)gmail.com>:
>
> Good Morning List:
>
> I realize I need to obtain an analyzer in order to continue my
> development in EME activities.
>
> I have been looking at the SARK 110 which appears it will do pretty much
> anything I need for a while.
>
> I am slowly moving toward a set-up for 23cm and the SARK stops at 230MHz.
>
> I plan to use a 3.5m TVRO mesh dish and build one of the square aluminum
> tube feed assemblies. What type of instrumentation do folks use at 23cm
> and above?
>
> I wonder if I should step up and get something like the SDR-Kits DG8SAQ
> VNA which covers up to 1.3GHz.
>
> Or, are there other alternatives in that cost class?
>
> Thanks for any thoughts,
>
> Curt
> KU8L
> _______________________________________________
> Moon-Net posting and subscription instructions are at http://www.nlsa.com/nets/moon-net-help.html
>
_______________________________________________
Moon-Net posting and subscription instructions are at http://www.nlsa.com/nets/moon-net-help.html
Dear Friends
After struggling with a plethora of problems during the last 3 weeks I
finish my 13cm station just 1hr ago. 3.6m dish 220 watts on the feed.
Everything works fine and I will be on the moon this Friday 04:00 UTC, due
the fact my last CW QSO in HF was 28 years ago I will attend only SSB and
JT65C QSO's, I don't feel well prepared to maintain CW QSO's, this will be
translated in less stress for you and for me but I promise CW will come in
the next month or weeks, I don't' want to be in stress due my lack in
performance in CW. Sorry for those "CW only guys" is just a matter of time.
I don't believe in the supremacy of any mode in particular but I need to
confess I will be more oriented for SSB contacts if performance allows us.
ZS6EME QSL Information: 100% via HB9Q
73 de Alex, ZS6EME (HB9DRI)
Good Morning List:
I realize I need to obtain an analyzer in order to continue my
development in EME activities.
I have been looking at the SARK 110 which appears it will do pretty much
anything I need for a while.
I am slowly moving toward a set-up for 23cm and the SARK stops at 230MHz.
I plan to use a 3.5m TVRO mesh dish and build one of the square aluminum
tube feed assemblies. What type of instrumentation do folks use at 23cm
and above?
I wonder if I should step up and get something like the SDR-Kits DG8SAQ
VNA which covers up to 1.3GHz.
Or, are there other alternatives in that cost class?
Thanks for any thoughts,
Curt
KU8L
Though I have never (yet) tried tuning a septum feed or the like with a VNWA, I do tune patches all the time. You can easily see circularity on the Smith Chart. The Impedance curve has a loop in it at resonance. The peak of the loop is the resonant frequency. If it is linear there is no loop per se, maybe a big circle.. The smaller the loop the better the axial ratio. This also means better efficiency and gain. Does this help as much as checking with our antenna ranges? No, but it is a very good start. and can be done at home, too. This also worked on cross dipole antennas though the bandwidth is wider so there are loops, not loop. BTW: I did one time check a helix I made. Due to the bandwidth being quite large, there was loop upon loop upon loop. The smaller all the loops were, the better the axial ratio.
Maybe someone else here has more information on the septum feeds. But, I doubt they are much different. The phase reversal necessary for circularity probably still shows up on the Smith chart.
Gary WE9Y
--------------------------------------------
On Fri, 7/29/16, Edward R Cole <kl7uw(a)acsalaska.net> wrote:
Subject: Re: [Moon-Net] Antenna Analyzers
To: "Nando Pellegrini" <i1ndp.nando(a)gmail.com>, moon-net(a)mailman.pe1itr.com
Date: Friday, July 29, 2016, 12:30 PM
I used 5w into Tx port and directional coupler with HP432 as
indicator. With that I determined my return loss >30 dB
and
isolation was 23 dB on my W2IMU feed horn.
I used sun noise for optimizing feed position and found
little change
over about +/- 10cm of the focal point on 1296. I did not
check
circularity as feed was already built and tuned when I got
it (estate of
K1RQJ).
Not QRV 23cm as still working out bugs on digital encoder
display since
installing it in my control panel (wiring faults??).
73, Ed - KL7UW
At 07:48 AM 7/29/2016, Nando Pellegrini wrote:
Hi
All,
Imho i would not spend money for a network analyzer and if
you really
want there are cheap solution with a noise generator and a
directional
coupler.
I believe that the main problem for achieving good result
with a dish and
for EME purposes is to provide the right illumination of the
dish surface
which means choose the proper feeder for a given F/D
ratio.
The network analyzer does not help at all and it is not
useful also if
you try to check the circularity of the polarization once
you built the
feeder.
A good swr meter will give you results on proper impedance
matching while
i used a fixed signal from a nearby linearly polarized
beacon and
then checked the variance of the signal by rotating the
feeder connected
to a spectrum analyzer.
Nothing more than that.
I wish you good results and hope to catch you out of the
moon.
73,nando i1ndp
On 29.07.2016 16:14, James C wrote:
Hello all,
Great question that I've wanted to get opinions on
myself,
If you're planning to respond, Would you mind replying
to Curt's email on
the reflector or CC me to it? Thanks you, .-James
KE7KQA
On Fri, Jul 29, 2016 at 6:51 AM, Curt Nixon
<radio.ku8l(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
Good Morning List:
I realize I need to obtain an analyzer in order to
continue my
development in EME activities.
I have been looking at the SARK 110 which appears
it will do pretty
much
anything I need for a while.
I am slowly moving toward a set-up for 23cm and the
SARK stops at
230MHz.
I plan to use a 3.5m TVRO mesh dish and build one
of the square
aluminum
tube feed assemblies. What type of
instrumentation do folks use
at 23cm
and above?
I wonder if I should step up and get something like
the SDR-Kits
DG8SAQ
VNA which covers up to 1.3GHz.
Or, are there other alternatives in that cost
class?
Thanks for any thoughts,
Curt
KU8L
_______________________________________________
Moon-Net posting and subscription instructions are
at
http://www.nlsa.com/nets/moon-net-help.html
_______________________________________________
Moon-Net posting and subscription instructions are at
http://www.nlsa.com/nets/moon-net-help.html
_______________________________________________
Moon-Net posting and subscription instructions are at
http://www.nlsa.com/nets/moon-net-help.html
73, Ed - KL7UW
http://www.kl7uw.com
"Kits made by KL7UW"
Dubus Mag business:
dubususa(a)gmail.com
-----Inline Attachment Follows-----
_______________________________________________
Moon-Net posting and subscription instructions
are at http://www.nlsa.com/nets/moon-net-help.html
Dear friends,
I am looking for a 7/16 DIN Tee (well, two of them). The only ones I have
found online are from Pasternack @ $200/ea. Anybody know an alternative?
73,
W9IP
Personally, I have not attempted EME above 13cm but have a lot of interest in current discussion as I am planning on deploying a 4-5m dish soon for higher bands.
Tilt errors could be accounted for in the raw encoder readings. They could also be accounted for in an extended lookup table by the tracking program. In RazTrak, I currently support two speeds for both Az/El motors but this could also be expanded to have a much larger range of speeds to account for non-linear movement over the range of motion. In the case of A/C motors, I suppose duration of running the motors could be added based upon Az/El and current delta to desired position.
Since my consulting work at Broadcom ended at end of May, I have been working almost full-time on RazTrak tracking and MABMPU firmware development (and a few amplifier projects). Just as an experiment, I ported RazTrak to Windows (WinTrak) and Android (AndTrak) (Samsung Galaxy 10.1 tablet).
Here are some screenshots running on Android. Possibly a smartphone version (without hardware control) upcoming.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/aoese14l497jpgl/AAD_iWbykofkBKpHrCEZCZ9qa?dl=0
Gary, N8CQ
Hello all
For an upcoming expedition I am looking for a HF402 Coax Relais.
Is there someone having one in good condition and is willing to sell it.
Please send me a mail
73 de Michel
HB9JAW
hb9jaw(a)bluewin.ch
Dear Friends
Finally!! Today starting at 04:00 UTC I mange my first 4 initials and total
6 QSO's. HB9Q, as usual was copied with and impressive 57 in SSB and -7 in
JT. Dany gave me a 55 in SSB and -9 in JT, listening the records he send me
I'm astonish about the good signal I place. After that I did contact with
OK1KIR in SSB and JT and just minutes after with IK3COJ and SP3XBO also in
JT. Thank you guys for be my QSO partners, really appreciated.
My 3.6 dish and 250 watts are performing over my expectations. For sure
minor things need to be corrected on the station but the main elements are
working well. I will travel to Switzerland August 8 for 5 weeks means I will
be active more regular after my holidays.
For the "CW guys only" I'm a little disappointed for some comments and
direct emails I receive about my decision to perform only QSO's in SSB and
JT. As I mention several times my last CW QSO was 28 years ago means try to
do CW in EME is like a complete fresh start for me. I will not regret CW
QSO's, is just a matter of time until I feel confident to manage a properly
random CW QSO's, means be patient, try SSB or learn how to do JT are the
only options you have if you are desesperate for South Africa EME in 13cm,
what I need is a compressive QSO partners for the CW part, its coming, I
promise I would do my best.
South Africa allow me to work (TX and RX) from 2300 to 2450 MHz, the legal
power limit is 400 watts measure at the antenna according the local
regulations, due the fact my new DB6NT G4 transverter has all 13cm sub
segments and I'm allowed to operate directly in your band, you will not
need cross band operation, the feed perform very well in all bands, just SWR
go from 1.08 to 1.4 at 2400 where additional the PA deliver only 150 watts.
Would be very easy to work you in your own segment without complex cross
band operations.
73 de Alex, ZS6EME (HB9DRI)
Hi Mike,
There are a number of sellers on eBay from China who offer 7-16 DIN
connectors. They're usually advertising straight male or female DIN connectors,
but if you contact them directly, several do offer T connectors as well. I
got a 7-16 DIN T connector, as well as a couple of bullets and barrels, from
China RF, or one of their direct competitors, and (as of a few years ago)
the price for a T was about 1/10 what Pasternack is asking, and freight was
cheap, too. Best bet is to put together a shopping list of all the 7-16
DIN connectors you need and ask for a quote. The quality seemed OK, too,
but I never put them on a network analyzer, just used them directly out of
the box.
Steve Gilbert
K1SG
K1SG(a)AOL.com
In a message dated 7/29/2016 6:37:30 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
moon-net-request(a)mailman.pe1itr.com writes:
Send Moon-net mailing list submissions to
moon-net(a)mailman.pe1itr.com
To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
http://mailman.pe1itr.com/mailman/listinfo/moon-net
or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
moon-net-request(a)mailman.pe1itr.com
You can reach the person managing the list at
moon-net-owner(a)mailman.pe1itr.com
When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
than "Re: Contents of Moon-net digest..."
Today's Topics:
1. 7/16 DIN Tee? (Michael Owen)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2016 06:33:38 -0400
From: "Michael Owen" <nlsa(a)nlsa.com>
Subject: [Moon-Net] 7/16 DIN Tee?
To: <moon-net(a)mailman.pe1itr.com>
Message-ID: <001e01d1e984$ab516c50$01f444f0$@com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Dear friends,
I am looking for a 7/16 DIN Tee (well, two of them). The only ones I have
found online are from Pasternack @ $200/ea. Anybody know an alternative?
73,
W9IP
