K5OE, Home Brew Amateur Satellite Hardware Picture Album

Home Brew Amateur Satellite Equipment
Picture Album

Dedicated to Innovation, Experimentation, Sharing of Ideas, and Fun

I hope you find something of interest, maybe even useful, here. If you have a home brew project completed or in-the-works, send me an email (k5oe@amsat.org) with a picture (.jpg or .gif prefered) and a description of your project and I will post it here. Anything goes: antennas, rotors, modems, transverters, whatever. If you thought it was worthwhile building, maybe somebody else will also. Click on the pictures for a larger image and any undelined text for links to other sites.
73,
Jerry, K5OE

Ralph, K0RFD (ex KC0MPL), has an extensively homebrewed 1991 Geo Metro with pieces from another Geo Metro engine. Inside the Geo is an Icom 2100H 2-meter rig used for uplink. On the roof is an old Hy-Gain magmount CB antenna cut down and tuned to 1.1:1 on 146 Mhz. Clipped to the window is a Yaesu VX-5R with an SMA to UHF adapter cable for the downlink.

Leaning up against the Geo, left to right, are a 6-element yagi, a 4-element Quad, and an 8- element Yagi for downlink. The Yagis, even though compact, all feel nose-heavy compared to the little quad. All are built from 1/8" bronze welding wire and PVC pipe.

"In my first month on UO-14, I've got 32 states and 56 grid squares (so far) with this abortion. It ain't much, but it's all mine."

Geoff, VK3JDG, has a home brew 60 cm prime focus dish set up for RX on 2401 MHz. Feed is the G3RUH helix design, consisting of a 2.25 turn helix at the focus. The dish has a F/D of 0.625. The down converter is a modified Drake 2880 connected at the feed, the signal is converted to 145 MHz and fed to the shack. You can see many more close-up pictures on his website.

Here is a G3RUH 60-cm parabolic dish and 2.25 turn helix feed design with a Parabolic AB Mode-S converter put together by Kevin, N3HKQ. He has it temporarily mounted on an old camera tripod until he gets the focus figured out and for better weather to put it on top of the tower. Here is a nice close-up shot of the helix feed. Kevin was been able to hear the AO-40 beacon with this setup on his first attempt.

This AF9Y 70 cm helix was built by Mike, K9QHO. He used lightweight 4" PVC pipe and 1/4" copper refigeration tubing. You can see the original AF9Y helix website for background information and you can read Mike's detailed construction guide.

This homebrew trackbox was built by Mark, N8MH (old call KC4EBR) and his elmer,KC4SA. It uses a Parallax Basic STAMP II, a Linear Technology LTC-1298 Serial 12 Bit Analog to Digital converter, and four relays that control +/- drive voltages to a pair of Orbit 360 rotors. While the development systems use inexpensive TV rotators, with minor to no modifications, you should be able to drive any az/el system that uses +/- drive voltages and a variable resistor to indicate position. Visit his website for a complete description and construction information.

Ron, W9NUP, built a 1 KW VHF amplifier using 4 MRF 141G modules with a splitter and combiner running 28v @ 60+ amps. The amp takes approx 50 watts to drive and he has the fans run all the time for safety. Ron says this is not the normal rat race type of combining, but rather based on Myat Engineering E*Star: any number of odd or even modules may be employed, making it nice for growing as can be afforded. Here is a picture of the rear, the bottom, and the top.

Ron, K7RJ, built a pair of Eggbeater II antennas and worked his first satellite with them. These are for 2 m and 70 cm. Note the all-PVC construction of the mast(s) and cross-boom. He used some novel copper splices with a screw drilled into the open slot--making for a very neat connection to the coax. Here's Ron with both antennas and a close-up of the 70 cm Egg II . Ron suggests putting an elbow on the bottom and bringing a connector out at 90 degrees--this keeps antenna from being supported on the connector when sitting on the ground. More info on the Eggbeater II antenna can be found here.

K5PK, Steve, performed one of the "ultimate" mods to his Drake 2880 S-band downconverter: he installed the GOMRF MGA86576 amplifier mod. Steve has several good resolution shots here, including the underside of the board showing the the 10 V routing. Here is a close-up of the RF amplifier showing the new HP MGA86576 (left center) and the Toko dielectric filter (upper center) that replaces the old copper foil trace stripline filter, and one shot of the IF section mods. More "basic" background information on converting the Drake 2880 can be found here.

VK5ZAI, Tony, has the whole lot, including the rotators and control, home brew. Both elevation and azimuth are driven from a pair of windscreen wiper motors through gears and chains. The 2 meter antenna is a 10 turn helix and the 70 cm is 21 x 21 crossed yagi fed through gamma matches. The reflecter measures 4m x 2m. He will be fitting a 1 m dish between the 2 m and 70 cm antennas for 2.4 gHz shortly. The auto track system a Sattrak3 unit. The system has been in use now for 8 years without any problems.

VK3JED, Tony, Has two antennas, originally developed for ham radio use on trains and trams, but also serve as excellent antennas for SO-35 (and have Rx'd OPAL and the Fujis on the 70cm whip). The left most antenna is a commercially built 477 MHz (Australian UHF CB) whip, which is modified to bring it down to 70cm, by stuffing in a short length of RG-58 coax into the top of the antenna. This antenna provides excellent results for both terrestrial and satellite work. Maybe not so much "home brew" as "home hacked" :-)
The second antenna (the telescopic whip) is a home brew 2m 1/4 wave with counterpoise. It consists of an old telescopic whip from a walkie talkie which has been soldered into a BNC - SO-239 adaptor. The addition of a counterpoise (to make up for the lack of ground on a typical handheld) makes this an excellent antenna where space is confined (e.g. on a train). This works well on SO-35's downlink, and has been used during some attempts to work this bird from a train. More info on my train and tram satellite work can be found here.
Want a little more gain for your LEO work? Try this new, unique handheld beam for modes B and J.

K0SU, Rick, has combined a Moxon Rectangle for 2 meters with a 70 cm Yagi-Uda to create a unique AO-27 antenna. The Moxon was described in QST (Jan. 2000, p.60) and the 3-element 70 cm beam can be found here. Visit Rick's Ham Radio site here.

XE1MEX, Alex, built a "real man's" AO-27 antenna. This "little" baby is 8 elements on 70 cm and 4 elements on 2 meters. Alex used the venerable DL6WU Yagi-Uda design as his starting point. Visit his website for a complete description and construction information.

KA2UPW, Douglas' original satellite station was a Tempo S1 two meter HT, a 5/8 wavelength magmount, a homebrew quagi and a handheld scanner. He improved upon the original quagi and replaced the scanner with a preamp, a downconverter and a Uniden HR2600 10 meter transceiver. The whole station fits neatly into the trunk of the car, and easily sets up in less than five minutes. When necessary, everything except the quagi boom and 5/8 wavelength antenna can collapse down into a backpack or carrying case. The entire station runs off of batteries, which allows him to operate from just about anywhere. Visit his website for a complete description and construction information.

KC6UUT, Erik, has a fine looking 13-turn helix mounted on a 10 foot piece of PVC pipe. He used a 8' wooden rod (coat hanger rod) inside for stiffening, a 2" steel receiver hitch for the counterweight, 1/4" Cu tubing for the element, and 1/4" "rabbit wire" for the reflector. He used 4 bookshelf brackets and automobile hose clamps to connect the reflector to the boom. Visit his website for more pictures.

Last Updated: 11-Feb-2001

	Ralph, K0RFD (ex KC0MPL), has an extensively homebrewed 1991 Geo Metro with pieces from another Geo Metro engine. Inside the Geo is an Icom 2100H 2-meter rig used for uplink. On the roof is an old Hy-Gain magmount CB antenna cut down and tuned to 1.1:1 on 146 Mhz. Clipped to the window is a Yaesu VX-5R with an SMA to UHF adapter cable for the downlink. Leaning up against the Geo, left to right, are a 6-element yagi, a 4-element Quad, and an 8- element Yagi for downlink. The Yagis, even though compact, all feel nose-heavy compared to the little quad. All are built from 1/8" bronze welding wire and PVC pipe. "In my first month on UO-14, I've got 32 states and 56 grid squares (so far) with this abortion. It ain't much, but it's all mine."
	Geoff, VK3JDG, has a home brew 60 cm prime focus dish set up for RX on 2401 MHz. Feed is the G3RUH helix design, consisting of a 2.25 turn helix at the focus. The dish has a F/D of 0.625. The down converter is a modified Drake 2880 connected at the feed, the signal is converted to 145 MHz and fed to the shack. You can see many more close-up pictures on his website.
	Here is a G3RUH 60-cm parabolic dish and 2.25 turn helix feed design with a Parabolic AB Mode-S converter put together by Kevin, N3HKQ. He has it temporarily mounted on an old camera tripod until he gets the focus figured out and for better weather to put it on top of the tower. Here is a nice close-up shot of the helix feed. Kevin was been able to hear the AO-40 beacon with this setup on his first attempt.
	This AF9Y 70 cm helix was built by Mike, K9QHO. He used lightweight 4" PVC pipe and 1/4" copper refigeration tubing. You can see the original AF9Y helix website for background information and you can read Mike's detailed construction guide.
	This homebrew trackbox was built by Mark, N8MH (old call KC4EBR) and his elmer,KC4SA. It uses a Parallax Basic STAMP II, a Linear Technology LTC-1298 Serial 12 Bit Analog to Digital converter, and four relays that control +/- drive voltages to a pair of Orbit 360 rotors. While the development systems use inexpensive TV rotators, with minor to no modifications, you should be able to drive any az/el system that uses +/- drive voltages and a variable resistor to indicate position. Visit his website for a complete description and construction information.
	Ron, W9NUP, built a 1 KW VHF amplifier using 4 MRF 141G modules with a splitter and combiner running 28v @ 60+ amps. The amp takes approx 50 watts to drive and he has the fans run all the time for safety. Ron says this is not the normal rat race type of combining, but rather based on Myat Engineering E*Star: any number of odd or even modules may be employed, making it nice for growing as can be afforded. Here is a picture of the rear, the bottom, and the top.
	Ron, K7RJ, built a pair of Eggbeater II antennas and worked his first satellite with them. These are for 2 m and 70 cm. Note the all-PVC construction of the mast(s) and cross-boom. He used some novel copper splices with a screw drilled into the open slot--making for a very neat connection to the coax. Here's Ron with both antennas and a close-up of the 70 cm Egg II . Ron suggests putting an elbow on the bottom and bringing a connector out at 90 degrees--this keeps antenna from being supported on the connector when sitting on the ground. More info on the Eggbeater II antenna can be found here.
	K5PK, Steve, performed one of the "ultimate" mods to his Drake 2880 S-band downconverter: he installed the GOMRF MGA86576 amplifier mod. Steve has several good resolution shots here, including the underside of the board showing the the 10 V routing. Here is a close-up of the RF amplifier showing the new HP MGA86576 (left center) and the Toko dielectric filter (upper center) that replaces the old copper foil trace stripline filter, and one shot of the IF section mods. More "basic" background information on converting the Drake 2880 can be found here.
	VK5ZAI, Tony, has the whole lot, including the rotators and control, home brew. Both elevation and azimuth are driven from a pair of windscreen wiper motors through gears and chains. The 2 meter antenna is a 10 turn helix and the 70 cm is 21 x 21 crossed yagi fed through gamma matches. The reflecter measures 4m x 2m. He will be fitting a 1 m dish between the 2 m and 70 cm antennas for 2.4 gHz shortly. The auto track system a Sattrak3 unit. The system has been in use now for 8 years without any problems.
	VK3JED, Tony, Has two antennas, originally developed for ham radio use on trains and trams, but also serve as excellent antennas for SO-35 (and have Rx'd OPAL and the Fujis on the 70cm whip). The left most antenna is a commercially built 477 MHz (Australian UHF CB) whip, which is modified to bring it down to 70cm, by stuffing in a short length of RG-58 coax into the top of the antenna. This antenna provides excellent results for both terrestrial and satellite work. Maybe not so much "home brew" as "home hacked" :-) The second antenna (the telescopic whip) is a home brew 2m 1/4 wave with counterpoise. It consists of an old telescopic whip from a walkie talkie which has been soldered into a BNC - SO-239 adaptor. The addition of a counterpoise (to make up for the lack of ground on a typical handheld) makes this an excellent antenna where space is confined (e.g. on a train). This works well on SO-35's downlink, and has been used during some attempts to work this bird from a train. More info on my train and tram satellite work can be found here. Want a little more gain for your LEO work? Try this new, unique handheld beam for modes B and J.
	K0SU, Rick, has combined a Moxon Rectangle for 2 meters with a 70 cm Yagi-Uda to create a unique AO-27 antenna. The Moxon was described in QST (Jan. 2000, p.60) and the 3-element 70 cm beam can be found here. Visit Rick's Ham Radio site here.
	XE1MEX, Alex, built a "real man's" AO-27 antenna. This "little" baby is 8 elements on 70 cm and 4 elements on 2 meters. Alex used the venerable DL6WU Yagi-Uda design as his starting point. Visit his website for a complete description and construction information.
	KA2UPW, Douglas' original satellite station was a Tempo S1 two meter HT, a 5/8 wavelength magmount, a homebrew quagi and a handheld scanner. He improved upon the original quagi and replaced the scanner with a preamp, a downconverter and a Uniden HR2600 10 meter transceiver. The whole station fits neatly into the trunk of the car, and easily sets up in less than five minutes. When necessary, everything except the quagi boom and 5/8 wavelength antenna can collapse down into a backpack or carrying case. The entire station runs off of batteries, which allows him to operate from just about anywhere. Visit his website for a complete description and construction information.
	KC6UUT, Erik, has a fine looking 13-turn helix mounted on a 10 foot piece of PVC pipe. He used a 8' wooden rod (coat hanger rod) inside for stiffening, a 2" steel receiver hitch for the counterweight, 1/4" Cu tubing for the element, and 1/4" "rabbit wire" for the reflector. He used 4 bookshelf brackets and automobile hose clamps to connect the reflector to the boom. Visit his website for more pictures.