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Welcome !
New:Homebrew 360� Antenna indicator with absolute BCD Encoder:
Click on the picture for building instructions,PCB�s and diagrams
CU8AO�sVolume control modification for the FT-847
Updated ! 07/2004
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Flores island: My name is Frederic ( Fred ) , i live on Flores Island , Azores.Just in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean. Flores has about 4000 inhabitants , is 20 km long by 15 km wide , and is the Westernmost island of Azores. It is the begining (end?) of Europe, on the West side. The island is very green,with flowers, vegetation , waterfalls and small rivers everywhere.
I you plan to visit Flores and need a place to stay, you can have a look at my parent�s page. |
Activity: My interest is mostly on VHF and up, i am active from 6 meters to 13cm,on all the voice sats,and in DX by the available modes of propagation.(operational on HF too) A 3 meters dish has been on the air for about one year.I have used it mostly for AO-40,receiving every telemety block i could after the crash,and sending them to the command station, via Paul, in Bermudas . I made a few dozen qso�s , it was working great.Then,after a long period of wait, i was able to pick a 4,7 meters dish,(ANDREW),plain aluminium and hight quality(Build to resist up to 300kmh wind). WX sats: I receive Meteosat7 24hrs/day on automatic system with animation, to let me see incoming storms.I use a 1,8 meters dish with preamp at the feed,homebuilt converter at the tower, and an IC-R1 receiver in the shack,in NFM mode.As the IC-R1 is not too selective, it works just fine.Click METEOSAT for more info on how to build one... New: i made a swap , and now i have a comercial feed with integrated preamp,the converter is still at the tower, and the receiver is also comercial.Results ar just the same,it just looks a bit better, :-)
The antennas before i relocate them.The big one is 4.7 meters.See the az/el system and mechanical construction on the right. |
Antennas: -5 elements yagi for 6 meters. -10 elements crossed for sats on VHF. -9.5 meters boom long yagi for VHF 2m Dx. -18 els crossed yagi for sats on 70cm. Two T2FD that works from 80 to 10+ meters without AT,and a 100-to-1300 mhz log-periodic.The T2FD is really a great antenna, principally for RX,whitch is what i use more. Finally , after many months of work(slowed down due to a very bad winter) , my 4.7 meters parabolic antenna is ready.You can find pictures of the construction HERE ( several pictures,may be slow to load-) Everything is homebuilt,the antenna is controlled with a 0.5 degree independant controller.(no PC needed).Position indicators uses homebuilt gray-excess encoders. I bought the controller in kit form ,from OE5JFL and Marc Klein,click HERE to go to OE5JFL controller page,with a link to Marc�s.I have build the absolute encoders, you can find pictures of the controller and encoders HERE, and schematics on the OE5JFL page.I wish to thank both of them for their nice support.Marc has spent a lot of time to help me.This controller is the best i have seen , for its versatibility and price.
The shack.I joined two pictures,so perspective is wrong.....I know It�s OK.... |
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AO-40 information (too old now) |
How to build a simple
"no-loss" coaxial switch for ghz. (very
basic)
Important QSL Information |
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If you want to build a really cool feed, that is OK for deep dishes, double circular polarization without couplers, and easy to build, now you can , thanks to OK1DFC !: Search "OK1DFC SEPTUM FEED" on the net.
Here is the one i have built:
ISS Information and qso�s voice Recordings with me and others................Want a sked for on VHF / UHF / 23cm ? send me an Email
Sapphire recordings for Oscar-1 and 100 years Marconi�s first transatlantic transmition: Full pass (800kb), Short version (180kb) and PC-Sat (packet only,no msg).Hear the Sapphire one , it�s great.
I have reverse-enginneered antennas, you can find here a GPS quadrifilar , (1575 Mhz) , and some sort of slotted patch , for 400 mhz (satellite).There should be enought information to build them.If you do so, please let me know the results!
New(05/2004):Two more quadrifilar antennas, on the same page:one for 400 mhz,the other one for GPS.They are interesting as the loops are same size, but the phasing is made on the PCB ...they could be scaled for other frequencies. 400mhz and GPS Quadrifilars 80Kb -----
+747+
