Well the Budget Base system has gotten out of control and now I am working on a Full Blown Satellite Base set up.
So far I have installed a Rohn 20 tower that was given to me by a friend, this will be more than sturdy enough for my Antenna and Rotator as it is bracketed to the house. Total cost $48.00, 4 bags of Quikcrete and 2 sets of mast brackets from Radio Shack.
Next I found a Brand new in the Box Yaesu G-5400B Rotator for $400.00 plus $10 for shipping. Its perfect and was still in the sealed plastic bags. I spent another $60 on the control wires as they arent included.
My wife found me a perfect piece of PVC for the cross boom, its exactly 1 5/8 outside diameter and fits perfectly. To stiffen up the boom she also found a wooden closet dowel that fits right inside the PVC.
I ordered a Gulf Alpha Easy Satellite Dual Band Yagi about a month ago and I am still waiting on it to show up $258.00 plus the $8.00 for the PVC and Dowel.
I also ordered a Fox Delt ST-1 interface for the G-5400, this will allow computer tracking of the SAT. One thing that is really nice is the AZ/EL doesnt have to rotate all the way back around for hogh passes, it will just flip the antenna on the elevation and follow along so there is no loss on the pass.
Now I am on the search for a Yaesu FT-847 Satellite rig, I expect to spend about $1000 for a used rig, I have several e-mails out right now and should have a radio this week.
I thought about the TS-2000 Kenwood but I have heard it has problems in the 70cm RX Freqs for the more popular Satellites.
I will continue to add pictures as the items are added to the station.
So far I have installed a Rohn 20 tower that was given to me by a friend, this will be more than sturdy enough for my Antenna and Rotator as it is bracketed to the house. Total cost $48.00, 4 bags of Quikcrete and 2 sets of mast brackets from Radio Shack.
Next I found a Brand new in the Box Yaesu G-5400B Rotator for $400.00 plus $10 for shipping. Its perfect and was still in the sealed plastic bags. I spent another $60 on the control wires as they arent included.
My wife found me a perfect piece of PVC for the cross boom, its exactly 1 5/8 outside diameter and fits perfectly. To stiffen up the boom she also found a wooden closet dowel that fits right inside the PVC.
I ordered a Gulf Alpha Easy Satellite Dual Band Yagi about a month ago and I am still waiting on it to show up $258.00 plus the $8.00 for the PVC and Dowel.
I also ordered a Fox Delt ST-1 interface for the G-5400, this will allow computer tracking of the SAT. One thing that is really nice is the AZ/EL doesnt have to rotate all the way back around for hogh passes, it will just flip the antenna on the elevation and follow along so there is no loss on the pass.
Now I am on the search for a Yaesu FT-847 Satellite rig, I expect to spend about $1000 for a used rig, I have several e-mails out right now and should have a radio this week.
I thought about the TS-2000 Kenwood but I have heard it has problems in the 70cm RX Freqs for the more popular Satellites.
I will continue to add pictures as the items are added to the station.