Microwave experiments

and

Phase 3D

I've been playing around a fair bit with this lately. Partly to bug people, and partly because I want to be ready for AMSAT's Phase 3D satellite when it goes up.

Here is the abstract of the paper I presented at the AMSAT Symposium in Toronto in October 1997:

They Never Told Me Not To
an innocent is seduced by centimeter waves
Laura Halliday VE7LDH

Microwave communications on Phase 3D promise unprecedented performance and ease of use, but to the vast majority of radio amateurs, microwaves are totally mysterious - even irrelevant. La satellite Phase 3D nous promettra des communications à micro-ondes des performances élevées, plus facile que jamais à utiliser. Mais selon le plus grand nombre des radioamateurs, les micro-ondes sont des choses mystérieuses, sans grand interet.

This paper is the story of how one amateur learned a bit about microwaves, from 1296 MHz to 10.5 GHz, with the help of new and used components, classic designs, straightforward application of modern components, and, for good measure, the occasional stupid design. Voici l'histoire d'une radioamateur, et comment elle a appris un peu des micro-ondes. En effet, toute la gamme de 1296 MHz jusqu'à 10,5 GHz, assistée par des composants neufs et d'occasion, des montages classiques, des réalisations simples des composants moderns, et bien sûr, de temps en temps, des montages stupides.

Here's an on-line copy of They Never Told Me Not To in PDF. If you find the information useful, please make a donation to AMSAT. Better yet: join.

Please do not distribute this file without checking with me first.

Here's a new file to download: a talk on AO-40, what it does, why it matters, and so on. Grab it here.

More Microwaves

There will be more.

Like many AMSAT folks, I too have a couple of Drake 2880 MMDS downconverters lying around. They are easy to convert.
I wish people wouldn't stress so much over getting them. There are other options. Down East Microwave are an excellent firm and have all kinds of goodies. Another nice converter (that I haven't tried yet) was done by G0MRF.

Experiment!

Other stuff I have lying around includes no-tune transverters, Frequency West brick oscillators, miscellaneous bits of waveguide, various goodies from Mini-Circuits and Down East Microwave, even a couple of 10 GHz Gunn oscillators.

While many will insist that WBFM is Just Not Done Anymore, I don't care. We have a band occupancy problem, and I'll take what I can get.

Back to Laura's web page.

Microwave communications on Phase 3D promise unprecedented performance and ease of use, but to the vast majority of radio amateurs, microwaves are totally mysterious - even irrelevant.	La satellite Phase 3D nous promettra des communications à micro-ondes des performances élevées, plus facile que jamais à utiliser. Mais selon le plus grand nombre des radioamateurs, les micro-ondes sont des choses mystérieuses, sans grand interet.
This paper is the story of how one amateur learned a bit about microwaves, from 1296 MHz to 10.5 GHz, with the help of new and used components, classic designs, straightforward application of modern components, and, for good measure, the occasional stupid design.	Voici l'histoire d'une radioamateur, et comment elle a appris un peu des micro-ondes. En effet, toute la gamme de 1296 MHz jusqu'à 10,5 GHz, assistée par des composants neufs et d'occasion, des montages classiques, des réalisations simples des composants moderns, et bien sûr, de temps en temps, des montages stupides.