Last week the Hinckley Amateur Radio & Electronics Society (HARES) paid a visit to Bletchley Park and the RSGB’s National Radio Centre (NRC). An excellent day out for any one who has an interest in the history of World War 2, and what went on in secret here in the UK. It was at Bletchley where Alan Turing and his team “cracked” the German Enigma machines coding. This is shown throughout the parks museum and grounds. The NRC is in a small building attached and shows a history of Amateur Radio with a station set up to demonstrate our wonderful hobby. Using the call GB3RS we were allowed to have a go on the air, and myself I had a go on the QO-100 station they have set up.
QO-100 is a geostationary satellite over Africa, and has a footprint that covers from Brazil and the Caribbean across to Thailand (see image). I have long wanted to have a go at making contacts through this satellite and now from this have a go on air I am determined to get a station set up at home.
The first part has been reading and studying on how to get on the air with the minimal of cost. I have decided I am going to use the DX-Patrol LNB (Low Noise Block) and their helical antenna on a 1.5M dish I have kindly been given by one of our club members Tony, G7FSD. This dish needs a little work to clean it, remove some light rust, and then give it a coat or two of paint to make it look presentable. I have also bought an old Icom IC-371 (IC-471 in Europe) 70cm multi-mode transceiver to use as the transmitter into a DX-Patrol 13cm transverter I have yet to buy, maybe return from Friedrichshafen with this.
But for now I will just receive with the LNB and SDR receiver, getting to see how it works and the protocols of satellite operating.