Satellite station overview & radios

Station overview

My satellite station consists of the transceiver, the PC, and the control box (antenna rotator system).

The transceiver and converters are described on this page. Antennas and the antenna rotator system is described here: Satellite antennas and rotators.

Radios

Yaesu FT-847

2m and 70 cm transceiver
My 2m/70 cm transceiver is the Yaesu FT-847 satellite transceiver. It runs on 13.8V DC and delivers 50 W output on 144 MHz and 432 MHz.

Kenwood PS-30

Power supply
Kenwood PS-30 is a 13.8 V DC power supply delivering 15 A continuously and 20 A intermittent. It runs 100% noiseless - there is no fan inside!

70 cm preamplifier

70 cm preamp
My 70 cm preamp is mounted close to the antenna. It is manufactured by SSB Electronic and has adjustable gain (10-20 dB). It employs a helix filter and works between 430-440 MHz with NF 0.9 dB. The preamp is powered from the transceiver via the antenna cable (Ecoflex 10 double screened coax).

23 cm transmit converter.

23 cm transmit converter
My 23 cm transmitter is the MKU 13 OTX up-converter from Kuhne Electronic in Germany. The leftmost SMA-connector is the 144 MHz IF input. The SMA-connector to the right is the 1268 MHz RF output. The power level at 1268 MHz is about 1 W.

Physical dimensions are 55 mm x 75 mm x 35 mm (connectors not included).

The converter is connected to the IF radio using Aircell 7 double screened coax cable.

You can find the circuit diagram here .

13 cm receive converter.

13 cm receive converter
My 13 cm receiver is the MKU 24 OSCAR down-converter from Kuhne Electronic. The leftmost N-connector is 13 cm input. The other N-connector is the 2 m IF output.

Physical dimensions are the same as the 23 cm transmitter described above.

The converter is connected to the IF radio using Aircell 7 fitted with N-connectors. Aircell 7 is a flexible, double screened coax cable.

Written by OZ1BXM Lars Petersen. Latest revision 11-April-2010.

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