Tag Archives: Portable Station

Greencube (IO-117) – A Portable Station for Activating Grid Squares

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Portable Station for Greencube

Portable Station for Greencube

We’ve been having a lot of fun with the Greencube (IO-117) satellite, so I decided to put together a portable ground station for activating grid squares. I wanted a station that –

  • Has adequate antenna gain and power for reliable Greencube operation
  • Uses solar-battery power so that it is quiet when operating in public places
  • Uses computer management for Doppler correction
  • Can provide accurate grid locator information via  a GPS receiver
  • Is easy to set up in the field in less than 30 minutes

Station Components

We already have a solar-battery power system that we build for portable operation with a 100w transceiver as well as an IC-9700 transceiver that we use as part of our transportable satellite ground station. We also have Windows and Mac laptop computers that we can use as part of our Greencube (IO-117) portable ground station. With these components in mind, here are the hardware components that we are using as part of our Greencube portable station –

We are using the following software for our portable Greencube (IO-117) ground station:

Portable Station in Pelican Case

Portable Station in Pelican Case

We also purchased a case (Pelican Air 1555) to package the transceiver and accessories.

Antenna System

M2 Antenna Systems 440-11X Antenna

M2 Antenna Systems 440-11X Antenna

We choose the M2 Antenna Systems  440-11X Antenna for our portable ground station. This antenna has more than adequate gain for use with Greencube, and its lightweight rear-mounted design makes it ideal for use with our heavy-duty video camera tripod.

Portable Antenna System

Portable Antenna System

The antenna is attached to the tripod using a Camera Tripod Ball Mount, a Handlebar Ball Mount Clamp, and a Double Socket Ball Arm. The Handlebar Clamp grips that antenna’s rear extension and allows the antenna to be easily rotated to align its polarity with Greencube’s antenna during a pass. A short section of water pipe with a cap, hook, and a 1,000-gram weight provides a counterweight to balance the antenna on the tripod.

Portable Antenna System Details

Portable Antenna System Details

A Magnetic Digital Angle Guage is used to adjust the elevation angle of the antenna.

A coax-powered LNA from Advanced Receiver Research (an available alternative is the SSB Electronic SP 70 preamp) is attached to one of the legs of the tripod and is connected to the antenna with a short LMR-240uF coax cable. a 20′ length of LMR-400uF coax connects the antenna system to the transceiver. N-connectors are used throughout the feedline system.

Radio, Computers, and Software

IC-9700 Transciver and Computers

IC-9700 Transceiver and Computers

Our setup uses an Icom IC-9700 transceiver and two computers. The IC-9700 transceiver is connected to the Windows computer via the radio’s USB port and to the MacBook Air via a CI-V cable.

The Windows computer runs the following software programs to provide the client terminal, modem, and logging functions required to operate with Greencube –

The configuration of these programs is covered in more detail here.

GPS Dongle NMEATime Software

NMEATime Software used with GPS Dongle

The Windows laptop also runs the NMEATime application and uses a USB GPS Dongle to accurately determine the grid locator where we are operating from. The grid locator from NMEATime is used to configure MacDoppler to ensure accurate tracking information for aiming our antenna.

MacDoppler Tracking Greencube and Controlling the M2 LEO Pack

MacDoppler Tracking Greencube and Controlling the Uplink/Downlink Frequencies

The MacBook Air laptop runs MacDoopler. MacDoppler is connected to the IC-9700 transceiver via a CI-V cable and controls the IC-9700’s uplink and downlink frequencies to provide Doppler correction. MacDoppler is also used to determine the azimuth and elevation of Greencube to enable manual pointing of our antenna.

Power System

Solar-Battery Power System

Solar-Battery Power System

Powering a 100-watt transceiver in a portable application during extended operating sessions can present a challenge. I also wanted a setup that was quiet as we often operate portable in public locations. For these reasons, I decided to put together a solar-battery setup that consists of the following components:

90W Foldable Solar Panels

90W Foldable Solar Panels

The solar panels are wired in series and provide about 34 Vdc in bright sunlight.

MPPT Charge Controller, NLiPo Batteries, and Power Distribution

MPPT Charge Controller, LiPo Batteries, and Power Distribution

The MPPT Charge Controller automatically determines the best balance between cell voltage and current to provide maximum power transfer to charge the batteries. The batteries provide the extra power capacity needed when transmitting. The resulting power setup can sustain the full power operation of our portable station, even on cloud days.

The laptops run on their internal batteries and are changed via automotive lighter socket power adapters between operating sessions.

Operating Using Greencube

Portable Telemetry from Greencube

Portable Telemetry from Greencube

My initial tests of the portable station were done using the station to receive Telemetry from Greencube. This allowed me to learn to steer the antenna and adjust it for the best polarity during passes. The station had no trouble hearing and decoding Greencube’s telemetry transmission from horizon to horizon.

Compass App on iPhone

Compass App on iPhone

It was relatively easy to point the antenna based on the azimuth and elevation information from MacDoppler. I used a compass app on my iPhone to set the antenna’s azimuth heading and the Digital Angle Guage to set the antenna’s elevation. Pointing the antenna to within +/- 10 degrees of accuracy was adequate for reliable operation with Greencube.

I turned the speaker volume on the radio high enough so I could hear Greencube’s signal while adjusting the antenna polarity. Finding the polarity that caused Greencube’s signal to be weakest and then rotating the antenna 90 degrees from this point worked well.

Portable QSOs with EA8ARI via Greencube

Portable QSOs with EA8ARI via Greencube

I was able to make 15-20 contacts on each Greencube pass with our portable ground station. The RSSI graph in the Greencube terminal is a good indicator to determine when to adjust the antenna’s heading and polarity to track Greencube during a pass. It’s best to have a helper with one person making contacts and the other adjusting the antenna, but it’s possible for a single operator to do both jobs and still make many contacts during a pass.

More Fun With Greencube

I am quite pleased with the performance of our new portable ground station for Greencube (IO-117). Anita and I are planning a portable grid square activation trip for later in the fall to make use of the station.

This article is the fifth in a series that we are working on. You view the other articles via the links below. This is a work in progress, and we’ll be creating additional Greencube-related posts in the near future:

You can also read more about our Satellite Ground stations here.

Fred, AB1OC

Field Day as a Mentoring Opportunity

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ARRL Field Day is upon us and I wanted to share some thoughts about the mentoring and learning opportunities that Field Day can provide. Many Clubs and other groups here in New England are planning…

Source: Field Day as a Mentoring Opportunity

Field Day provides clubs and groups with a great opportunity to engage and mentor new and less experienced hams. I wanted to share some thoughts and ideas on how we can make mentoring a part of our Field Day activities. You can read more about some successful mentoring activities that have worked well as part of Field Day operations that we’ve been involved in via the link above.

I hope to work many of our readers during Field Day 2021!

Fred, AB1OC

Plans for Field Day 2021 – Nashua Area Radio Society

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We are holding an in-person Field Day operation at Keyes Memorial Park in Milford, NH. Here’s some more on our plans for Field Day 2021. We’d like to invite you to join us…

Source: Plans for Field Day 2021 – Nashua Area Radio Society

I’d like to invite our friends here on our Blog to visit us during Field Day on Saturday, June 26th, and Sunday, June 27th. We will be at Keyes Memorial Park in Milford, NH.

Testing Our Field Day Satellite Station

Testing Our Field Day Satellite Station

We will have a Tower up with a Triband Yagi and we’ll have our computer-controlled portable satellite station at Field Day.

6m LFA Antenna for Field Day

6m LFA Antenna for Field Day

We’ll also have a new LFA Yagi for the 6m Band. We will be a 4A station with a total of 5 Transmitters on the air. Our stations will be equipped for SSB Phone, CW, and FT8/FT4 Digital modes.

We’ll also be doing training sessions on Satellite Operations, FT8 Digital on 6m, and Fox Hunting at 12:30 pm on Saturday, June 26th. If you have an HT, bring it and you can use it to hunt our foxes. We’ll also have HTs available for folks to use for Fox Hunting.

You can read more about what we are planning and find directions to get to our Field Day site here. I hope that we’ll see some of our followers at Field Day!

Fred, AB1OC

Satellite Passes During Field Day 2021

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Field Day 2021 Satellite Passes in FN42

Field Day 2021 Satellite Passes in FN42

We had some time over the weekend so we ran some Satellite Pass Predictions for Field Day 2021 for our Grid Square which is FN42. As you can see, we are going to have a lot of fun working satellite during Field Day! Field Day rules limit us to a single FM EasySat contact using but we can work as many contacts via Linear Transponder Satellites as we wish

Field Day Satellite Station

Field Day Satellite Station

We recently set up and tested our Portable Satellite Ground station here at our QTH and it’s working great! It has produced some good DX contacts into Europe from New Hampshire, USA during the past week.

You can read more about our Portable Satellite Station test here.

Fred, AB1OC

Field Day Satellite Station for 2021 – Setup and Test in Hollis

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The Nashua Area Radio Society will be using our portable Satellite Station this year at Summer Field Day. A number of members got together recently to assemble and test our Computer-Controlled Portable Satellite Station for Field Day. Here are some pictures of our Field Day Satellite Station Test…

Source: Field Day Satellite Station for 2021 – Setup and Test in Hollis

Several members of the Nashua Area Radio Society got together to set up and test our Portable Satellite Station for Field Day 2021. Our station is a computer-controlled one and enables us to work FM and Linear Satellites using phone mode and CW.

The setup uses an M2 Antenna Systems LEO Pack Antenna System on a Glen Martin Aluminum Tower that is set up to be portable. Feedlines use 100 ft lengths for LMR-400uF and LMR-600uF coax cable for the 2m and 70cm bands. The rotator is an Alfa-SPID Az/El unit. The antenna system also uses coax-powered preamplifiers from Advanced Receiver Research. The station uses an IC-9700 Transceiver, a Green Heron RT-21 Az/El Rotator Controller, and a MacBook Air Laptop running MacDoppler and MacLogger DX.

This setup is an updated version of the portable satellite station that we built for an ISS Crew Contact that a local school did with us some time ago.

You can see how the portable station goes together in the article above. You can learn more about the design and construction of our Portable Sation from the series of articles that begins here. We hope to work some of our readers on the birds during Field Day this year!

Fred, AB1OC

6m LFA Yagi for Field Day and Mountain Topping

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6m LFA Yagi for Field Day and Mountain Topping

6m LFA Yagi for Field Day and Mountain Topping

Our 6m Field Day station will be a portable setup and features a new antenna – a 3-Element Loop Fed Array (LFA) Yagi from InnoVAntennas…

Source: 6m Field Day Station – Nashua Area Radio Society

We’ve been wanting to try a Loop Fed Array (LFA) Yagi on the 6m Band. The Nashua Area Radio Society’s 2021 Field Day operation presented us with a good opportunity to do this. We choose a lightweight 3-Element LFA Yagi from InnoVAntennas and used a fiberglass mast to get it up 25 ft (about 8 meters).

The LFA Yagi performed very well! You can read more about this antenna’s performance and our upgraded portable station via the link above.

Fred, AB1OC

Getting Started With Amateur Satellites (and Progressing to Linear Birds)

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Get Started with Amateur Satellites

Get Started with Amateur Satellites

We get quite a few requests from folks to explain how to get started with Amateur Radio Satellites. Requests for information on how to build a computer-controlled ground station for Linear Satellites are also pretty common. I recently got such a request from our CWA class so I decided to put together a session on this topic.

We covered a number of topics and demonstrations during the session including:

  • How to put together a simple station and work FM EasySats with HTs and a handheld antenna
  • A recorded demonstration of some contacts using FM EasySats
  • How-to build a computer-controlled station and work Linear Transponder Satellites
  • Fixed and Portable Satellite Station Antenna options
  • A recorded demonstration of some contacts using Linear Satellites
  • How-to work digital (APRS digipeater) contacts
  • How-to receive SSTV Transmissions from the ISS

About 30 folks attended this session and there was some good Q&A throughout.

Getting Started With Amateur Satellites

The presentation was recorded and can be viewed above. Here’s a link to the associated Powerpoint Presentation.

There are lots of articles about building and operating Amateur Satellite Stations here on our blog. The following are links to several articles and series on this topic:

I hope that you find this information useful for your Amateur Satellite projects!

Fred, AB1OC

Winter Field Day 2020 Final Station Test

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Source: Winter Field Day 2020 Final Station Test – Nashua Area Radio Society

Winter Field Day 2020 is almost here! A few weekends ago, several of us got our QTH to complete the final station test for our planned 5O operation in Winter Field Day (WFD). Activities including setup and testing of a new, Portable Networking Pod and three of our five planned Winter Field Day stations. We are planning to use the N1MM+ Logger in a networked configuration this year…

This article covers equipment and networking aspects of the Nashua Area Radio Society’s planned 5O setup for Winter Field Day 2020. All of our stations will use the N1MM+ Logger to support SSB Voice, CW, and Digital modes.

Fred, AB1OC

Winter Field Day VHF+ Preparations

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Jamey AC1DC with Completed WFD VHF+ Mast

Jamey AC1DC with Completed WFD VHF+ Mast

We are continuing to make progress on our preparation for VHF+ Operations at Winter Field Day (WFD) 2020. We had a lot of fun on the VHF+ bands at WFD 2019 and we are planning to add some more bands for our operation this year. We’ve assembled a portable mast system to put us on 3 new bands…

Source: Winter Field Day VHF+ Preparations – Nashua Area Radio Society

We’ve been busy with preparation for Winter Field Day 2020. My part of this project is to increase our participation in operations on the VHF+ bands (6m and above). We are accomplishing this with a 30 ft push-up mast, some new antennas, and using Transverters for the 1.25m and 33cm bands. You can read more about our preparations and the equipment that we will be using on the VHF+ bands via the link above.

Fred, AB1OC

AMSAT 50th Aniversary Celebration – W3ZM/1 Activations in CT and RI

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Source: AMSAT 50th Aniversary Celebration – W3ZM/1 Activations in CT and RI

We continued to test our Portable Satellite Station 4.0 as part of AMSAT’s 50th Anniversary Celebration WAS Activations. You can read about the activations and our station’s performance via the link above. Overall, we were pleased with how the portable setup performed. The weakest link was the downlink performance of our antenna system. We are working on some ideas to improve this element of our setup – more to come on this project…

Fred, AB1OC