Stealth Antenna Farm K5TRA. T.Apel

Transcription

1 Stealth Antenna Farm 1

2 Preliminary Considerations Why stealth? Restrictive neighborhood covenants! Attic performance factors Location /ground elevation Longley-Rice propagation plot for VHF/UHF/mWave Attic size and height Reflective clutter: furnace/ac/ducting Roof insulation (reflective or not) Feedline routing plan Improvements Plywood flooring 120 V AC power Overhead lights CAT-5? 2

3 440 MHz Longley-Rice Plot Analysis before I purchased my home Planned for repeaters and weak-signal operation 3

4 Keys to Performance HF Balanced antennas: large loops or dipoles eliminates problems with grounding/counterpoise Lots of copper I use copper tubing for my HF loop A good balun with plenty of reserve power rating I use a 10KW, 4:1 VHF-UHF-mWave Stacked beam antennas reduce boom length Line loss management is key to performance at higher frequency bands Remote LNA establishes system NF at antenna LNA preselector filter is a MUST below 440 MHz Remote PA provides free boost to transmit power CAT-5, IP control of remote power supplies for LNA/PA works well Omni antennas are useful for local QSO s Filters are needed with co-located transmitters / repeaters Receiver desense Reverse IMD Crossband couplers reduce the number feedlines 4

5 Shack HF, 50 and 222 MHz 144, 432, 902 and 1296 MHz 5

6 Home Repeater

7 Shack Configuration HF HF 144 MHz 432 MHz 6 M 222 MHz XVTR CROSSBAND COUPLER CROSSBAND COUPLER 50 MHz 222 MHz 144 MHz 432 MHz 146 MHz 1296 MHz XVTR OMNI / YAGI SELECT 1296 MHz 432 MHz 902 MHz XVTR 902 MHz 902 MHz 440 MHz CROSSBAND COUPLER 927 MHz 440 MHz 7

8 1296 MHz OMNI 902 MHz OMNI Diamond X-50 SCALA OGB , 432, 902 & 1296 MHz STACK 222 MHz OMNI HF and Weak Signal Antennas HF COPPER TUBING LOOP HF 50 MHz 222 MHz CWS 10KW 4:1 BALUN CROSSBAND COUPLER LOOP REMOTE TUNING 50 MHz 222 MHz 50 MHz OMNI 144 MHz 432 MHz CROSSBAND COUPLER 432 MHz 144 MHz CROSSBAND COUPLER 1296 MHz 902 MHz 1296 MHz 902 MHz OMNI / YAGI SELECT 927 MHz 440 MHz CROSSBAND COUPLER 440 MHz 927 MHz 8

9 Beam Antennas 3 STACKED 144/432 5EL LP 17 ELEMENT M YAGI 2 x 22 ELEMENT M YAGI 9

10 SCALA OGB Diamond X-50 Diamond X-50 Phelps-Dodge StationMaster-II Diamond X-50 SCALA OGB Diamond X /902 MHz LINK-1 Repeater and Link Antennas LINK-1 443/448 MHz LINK-2 927/902 MHz (ALLSTAR) LINK-1 (ALLSTAR) LINK-2 CROSSBAND COUPLER 10

11 Repeaters and Links 927/902 MHz LINK-1 LINK-1 443/448 MHz LINK-2 927/902 MHz U R I U R I U R I CROSSBAND COUPLER LINK-1, LINK-2 927/902 MHz LINK-1 LINK-2 11

12 Balun Feed for HF Loop 12

13 HF Loop Tuning Capacitor Switch 13

14 WEB Controlled Power-Strip Remote PA and LNA on-off control HF loop tuning capacitor switching 14

15 Remote 902 MHz and 1296 MHz LNAs 15

16 Loss (db) Loss of LMR-400 (100 ft, with connectors) 902 MHz 1296 MHz MHz MHz 50 MHz 144 MHz Frequency (MHz) 16

17 SENSITIVITY (dbm) SENSITIVITY DEGRADATION (%) SSB: 2.7 KHz BW, 10 db S/N, 50 W CW: 500 Hz BW, 6 db S/N, 50 W Sensitivity vs NF 100% 90% % % SSB Sensitivity (dbm) CW Sensitivity (dbm) Degradation (%) 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% % NF (db) 17

18 SENSITIVITY (uv) SENSITIVITY DEGRADATION (%) 0.20 SSB: 2.7 KHz BW, 10 db S/N, 50 W CW: 500 Hz BW, 6 db S/N, 50 W Sensitivity vs NF 100% SSB Sensitivity (uv) CW Sensitivity (uv) Degradation (%) 90% 80% 70% 60% % % % % % % NF (db) 18

19 Remote 902 MHz and 1296 MHz LNAs 19

20 Schottky Detector CONTROL SENSITIVITY DOWN TO +13 dbm MHz Beacon 20

21 Mini-Circuits ZX60-P162 LNA 0.5 db NF and 20 db gain MHz Beacon 21

22 VHF and UHF Remote LNA s MHz Beacon 222 MHz ASSEMBLY 22

23 Helical BPF 222 MHz ASSEMBLY 23

24 LNA Preselector Response MHz Beacon 24

25 More Helical BPFs 432 MHz ASSEMBLY 144 MHz ASSEMBLY 25

26 902 MHz and 1296 MHz Remote PA & LNA MHz Beacon 26

27 900 MHz Remote PA & LNA MHz Beacon 27

28 1296 MHz Remote PA & LNA MHz Beacon 28

29 Modified 1296 MHz PA MHz Beacon 29

30 432 MHz 222 MHz 144 MHz VHF-UHF Remote PA & LNAs MHz Beacon 30

31 432 MHz 222 MHz 144 MHz VHF-UHF Remote PA & LNAs MHz Beacon 31

32 222 MHz Remote PA & LNA MHz Beacon 32

33 222 MHz HELICAL COLLINEAR 1296 MHz HELICAL COLLINEAR 902 MHz HELICAL COLLINEAR H-Polarized Omni s CIRCULAR COLLINEAR 50 MHz OMNI FOLDED DIPOLE 222 MHz WHEEL 33

34 Hi Q ¾ l CAVITY NOTCH FILTER HELLICAL COLLINEAR H-POLARIZED OMNI 927 MHz Notch Cavity with 902 MHz Omni 34

35 Link Radios Share Feedline and Antenna SHARED LINK ANTENNA REJECT F3 UHF Repeater Frequency 1 Frequency 2 PASS F1 REJECT F2 PASS F2 REJECT F1 35

36 Crossband Couplers (BAND SPLIT DIPLEXERS) 36

37 Some Attic Photos 37

38 Summary Location, location, location! (elevation, elevation, ) Plan before you begin Key to performance: Remote LAN with BPF Establish NF at antenna! Remote PA Filters needed for co-located links and repeaters Crossband couplers for efficient use of coax runs Link radios can share feed and antenna through cavity duplexer No rain, lightning or UV deterioration Easy maintenance 38