VE6AB Technical
Advanced Receiver Research UHF/VHF Preamps
In the photo I had just added a second ARR (Advance Receiver Research) receive preamp to my satellite module that mounts on the steering wheel of my mobile when working a satellite pass.
.
The preamp at the top is a 70 cm preamp, and the one beneath it is a 2 meter preamp.
Needless to say it goes without saying that both these preamps being receive only devices, you do not want to transmit into them, or you will be doing repairs to them.
Over the years of working satellites, I have made the mistake of doing exactly that. I must say that ARR gives very good service in repairing them.
I do have bi-directional ARR preamps, but because I use two radios for working satellite, one for up-linking, and one for down-linking, I use these two preamps strictly for receive.
Depending on the satellite that I will be working, I connect my receive antenna to the preamp matching the band and frequency of the downlink of the satellite of choice on this pass.
When a satellite is about to rise over my horizon, I pull over and place my satellite receive module on the steering wheel.
I then connect up the yagi I will be using, and connect up the powerpole feed to the preamps, and I'm good to go.
Well almost, as I also have to dial in the transmit frequency of the satellite on my Kenwood D710A mounted in my radio-stack that I use for up-linking.
You may be asking yourself why I bother using two transceivers being that both the Kenwood D72 and the Kenwood D710A are capable of full-duplex operation for working satellites.
Being I spend a lot of time going down the road in my mobile, I find it a simpler procedure to use this setup, as otherwise I would have to be making temporary antenna changes to my D710A as well as other requirements before I could work a pass.
With a satellite module for receive purposes, it takes me less than 1 minute to prepare to work a satellite pass.
Using my mobile to work satellite passes is also more convenient than using my arrow antenna with my D72, and I also find that even with the vertical whip mounted on the cowl of my mobile, I can get in to the LEO's easier than using a 5 watt handheld with a arrow antenna.
The inefficiency of the vertical antenna for satellite use is overcome by the fact I can apply more power if required to get in to the satellite.
I have been asked what the FM transmitter is for mounted on the board to the right of the D72.
Although I use headphones as required when working satellites, by enabling the FM transmitter that is teed in to the headphone jack on the D72 along with my headphones, I can place a portable broadcast radio outside my mobile for the times I have others whom are in attendance, and who are then able to hear the audio coming from the satellite.
The audio from this FM transmitter can actually be heard for about 100 feet on surrounding broadcast radio.
It was originally meant to be used for receiving the output audio of a trunk mounted CD changer on your FM radio mounted in your car.
Here is how it looks in my mobile when I'm about to work a satellite pass.....
http://www.jerryclement.ca/HamRadio/HamRadio/i-MDJfgDW
Click on the photo for a closer look.....
