Newbie to SATCOM

[Canyouhearme987]

I am interested in listening to SATCOM and I am trying to find out if my current antenna will work OK or would I be better off buying a better antenna with a dedicated scanner.


I am using a Diamond D130J wideband discone antenna and a BCT15X.


Thank you

 

[wheelerg]

I to was hoping for an answer to this question..... seems like a interesting topic to monitor.

 

[rbm]

I can't talk specifically about how the discone would work but.................

You don't need the fanciest antenna to pick up SatCom transmissions.

Here are SatCom pirates received using an ST2 Scanner Antenna, with a Preamp, and a USB dongle running SDRSharp.

I do get better reception using a home built $20 X-Wing antenna with a preamp.

Milsat Satcom Satellite SDRSharp with Eztv668 SDR dongle e4000 chip - YouTube

Rich

 

[XD45man]

PreAmp

What type of preamp are you using when doing SATCOM. I am looking for one and want to know of some options.

 

[rbm]

I use an LNA-1000 preamp on four of my five ST2 antennas. (and on a few other types as well)

On my home made X-Wing antenna I use an LNA-580 preamp which has a lower noise figure and doesn't cover 800 MHz.
This thread has links to the Monitoring Times article.
http://forums.radioreference.com/sa...8-mt-magazine-uhf-satcom-antenna-project.html

One of those ST2 antennas feeds 32 scanners including my Broadcastify.com feed.
Here:
http://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/381
By the way, that antenna was also the one I was using when I made the YouTube video in my previous link. So that was just one of the 32 outputs.

If you're in a strong RF area you could have problems with overload so it's best to have a variable attenuator in the line to adjust the level to where everything is clean and stable.

Alternately, you can use antenna splitters as 'fixed' attenuators.
A 2-way splitter has around 4 dB loss
A 3-way splitter has around 7-8 dB loss
A 4-way splitter has around 9-11 dB loss
Those numbers vary widely depending on manufacturer so you have to check the specs.

Rich

RF Bay, Inc
10-1000MHz Low Noise Amplifier, Model Number: LNA-1000 with SMA Female Connector. This unit is design for provide flat frequency response from 10 - 800MHz (-3dB at 1000MHz, usable to 1500MHz)

Frequency Range: 10-1000MHz;
Noise Figure: 2dB at 500MHz
Gain: 30dB at 1GHz
P1: 11dBm
IP3: +23dBm
DC Voltage: +9 to 15V
SMA Female Connector

Full specs are here:
http://www.rfbayinc.com/upload/files/lna/lna-1000.pdf

Buy it here:
10 1000MHz Low Noise Amplifier LNA 1000 30dB Gain SMA | eBay

 

[rbm]

This may be TMI, but ...........

For future reference, here are some screen captures.

The first two show four different ST2 antennas facing East, West, North, and South from Upstate NY.

Keep in mind that they only show 'relative' signal strength because all antennas are feeding other radios also.

Also, three screen captures showing the homemade X-Wing antenna with no preamp, with an LNA-580, and with just increased RF gain on the USB dongle.

Rich

ST2 SatCom reception

Fleet Channels


Narrowband Channels


X-Wing antenna

No preamp


LNA-580 preamp with same RF Gain setting


No preamp with an additional 17 dB of RF Gain on the USB dongle

 

[XD45man]

Thanks for all the info, I am currently in the process of building the homemade X-wing antenna from the MT articles posted in the forums. It looks like I will definitly need the preamp to boost signal strength to get the most out of the antenna.

 

[prcguy]

If your receiver is reasonably sensitive and your feedline run is low loss the X-wing will work fine without a preamp.
prcguy

Thanks for all the info, I am currently in the process of building the homemade X-wing antenna from the MT articles posted in the forums. It looks like I will definitly need the preamp to boost signal strength to get the most out of the antenna.

 

[Canyouhearme987]

Thank you all for the great information.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[mancow]

I have one of the seven element or whatever Saatchi antennas on a run of lmr400. I don't even use a preamp. The sdr dongle still works great with it.

 

[airwolfbell222]

Check out these, they're brand new and a decent price.

Trivec Avant UHF Satcom Satellite Communication Antenna AV 2040 2 Brand New | eBay

 

[Canyouhearme987]

Thank you. They look pretty nice. Does anyone have any experience with the AV 2040-2?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[airwolfbell222]

They work really well, they also work great as a directional antenna on the airbands.

 

[PACNWDude]

Trivec AV-20XX-X series antennas.

I have used pretty much all of these antennas. Everything from the "beer can" sized ones to the 7 foot long ones. They work very well for directional UHF, satcom and hold up well in deserts and harsh environments. The anodized aluminum holds up well, but will turn a purplish color over time.

The military classifies these as throw away items, but they are repairable. But many of the parts are under spring tension, so wear safety glasses. The radiating elements may also crack the circuit board after weathering in the field. I always had my crew slowly open the "fins" out to prevent damage. On the larger models this is not as much of a problem as they are physically larger and more durable construction.

 

[krokus]

I have used D&M made antennas that were similar. They held up well.

Sent via Tapatalk

 

[PACNWDude]

I have used the D&M ones as well, they are good antennas too. Usually I saw those painted with green or tan CARC and at command posts.

There were some troops using the Trivec AV-2090 X-wings in their backpacks. They always complained when the wings broke off. These broken ones seem to be showing up on auction sites now. They can be repaired, but are a little harder to do well.

 

[PACNWDude]

My personal satcom antenna is a Trivec AV-2040-3 that was made from a lot of parts collected from auction sites. Total cost was about $100 and I even have some spare parts for it.

 

[prcguy]

I've used most of the UHF satcom antennas on the market and even the tiny fold up models with telescoping elements and no directors will give you a very good signal on a scanner using a short feedline. The bottom of the second post here has some of my satcom antennas from a few years ago: http://forums.radioreference.com/pi...le-setup/36798-antenna-pictures-anyone-2.html
prcguy