23CM Roving Station Final Configuration April 3, 2022

I completed the final configuration of the 23cm roving station.   I have upgraded to a very accurate slew-drive rotator.  I found that the accuracy of the Yeasu rotators was not satisfactory when the moon is at high elevation.  The station setup in the photo below is completed in 15 minutes after parking.  Thanks to several stations who called me today to help me test the updated station.  The 2.4M dish is from Sub-Lunar Systems


I have replaced the Yaesu rotators with a Sled Drive SDD3 rotator from Sub-Lunar Systems: Slew Drive 
Paul from Sub-Lunar provided all adapters and hardware needed to make the installation easy.


The rotator weighs 60 lbs.  I store the rotator in the back of the truck bed.  I screw the legs onto the base and then tip the rotator off the tailgate onto the legs.  I then drive the truck forward 20 feet.  I do the opposite when I pack the station.  So, I don't have to carry the rotator :-) 

The rotator is controlled using a Green Heron RT-21 AZEL controller: Controller

The rotator is mounted on  homebuilt tripod supported by three 48 inch long 1/2 inch diameter pipes.



In this photo the rotator is secured by three large stakes and tie downs.  Because of the weight of the rotator I may be able to use only one tie-down in the front.  No counterbalance is needed.


This is a close-up of the patch feed.  There is a Hybrid combiner connected to the feed which presents two circular polarized ports for RX and TX.  On the left, covered in white tape is the preamp isolation relay with a 5 watt dummy load.  The WD5AGO preamp is connected directly to the relay using a silver-plated SMA elbow adapter.  The preamp output is connected to a WD5AGO cavity filter using a silver-plated SMA elbow adapter.  The RX coax and +12 (preamp) and +28 (relay) cables are on the left.  The TX cable is a 6 foot section of LMR400UF connected to 20 feet of LMR600 running to the PA.  Maximum power run to the feed is currently 350W

Special thanks to Paul from Sub-Lunar, Tommy WD5AGO, and Jeff from Green Heron for their help providing the products and support to assemble this station.

I am planning to start 23cm activations in the Western/Central US starting in late April or in May.  I do not have the dates yet.  When I have a schedule I will post on MMMonVHF and on this page.

Comments

  1. UnknownApril 13, 2022 at 6:31 PM

    FB Peter. Good luck with the trip and I look forward to knocking off a few more WAS! Happy travels.

    Also using slew drive - for my 1.8m offset dish on 10GHz
    73
    David, G4YTL

    ReplyDelete

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