As you may have read, my satellite yagis with fixed elevation bit the dust. See Push Up Mast Becomes Pushover for all the sad details.
Since that time, I’ve been contemplating how to get back on the satellites from my ham shack versus as a rover with portable rig and Arrow in hand. I did listen a few times with my attic 2m and 70cm omniangles. But, of course, they don’t work all that well for satellites.
While I’ve thought about az-el yagis or perhaps the same fixed elevation yagis, my small yard, with tall house and trees, doesn’t really lend itself to a tower or even a reprise of the precariously perched push up mast. That’s the big reason behind my rover work in VHF-UHF contests. There I can make something happen and have fun during the contest away from the house at lots of grids from suitably high locations.
Even with all that, the internal drive to work satellites from home continues. So, for Christmas — that perennial time of hope over reality — I opted for an M2 Eggbeater Sat Pack. Here’s the rest of the story.
The overall packaging was fine. The antenna quality is superb. And assembly went very well. While I would always prefer a few more instructions and illustrations, the curse of working for over a decade at Heathkit, I put it together correctly after close inspection of the parts breakdown. You can see some photos in the gallery below.
I then mounted the antennas in an alcove in the room that’s allocated for my ham shack. This is a new location for the shack — blog post later on that. I also have ARR preamps on both antennas along with a relatively short coax feed to my IC-9100.
I figure that the alcove works better than my attic which is filled with air conditioning units and vents. The alcove is directly under the roof on the second floor of the house. Outside would probably be better, but I don’t think it would make all that much difference.
The results match what most have already said about any omnidirectional antenna used for satellites. Hearing my own signal is typically a challenge unless the elevation is above 20 degrees. FO-29 works reasonably well. I’ve also made a few QSOs on XW-2F and XW-2C, plus received the weather satellites. SO-50 is ok with a bit of desense even with the duplexer for filtering. And, I’m finding that very low power CW on FO-29 works pretty well, even at lower elevations.
There you have it. I can make a few QSOs and copy telemetry — but only at fairly high elevation passes. Not sure this is the way to go if you have any other alternatives. But, at least I’m back on the satellites from the home QTH — without going outdoors.
After a few more days experience, I have to say that this is a very versatile antenna. I can easily copy all the local repeaters and the local SSB nets. That means it does pretty well regardless of the polarization of the transmitting antenna. I’ve also added the scans of the frequency response to the gallery.
Update May 2019. I’ve now worked WA3GWK in Fairhope, Alabama, EM60, using the 2 meter eggbeater with SSB 100 watts. He was using a 7-element beam. Nice tropo opening over 565 miles. I can also work FO-29 to about 10 degrees elevation using CW. I will note that I’ve moved from 8 elements in the ground plane to 4 elements. Perhaps this helps at the horizon.
Update December 2019. Worked KO4MA and WB4OMG on 2 meter FT8. KO4MA on 70 cm FT8 – 923 miles. Great tropo opening and very surprising to work them with eggbeaters.
The 2 meter antenna also covers the NOAA weather satellites down to 135 MHz. This adds one more aspect to their versatility.
[…] New Year holiday was spent moving my ham shack and getting the satellite eggbeater antennas all set up. You can see the driving location above. You can also find a full gallery of photos and […]
[…] This time I’ve added the NOAA SAWbird 137 MHz filter and LNA from Nooelec to go with their NESDR SMArt receiver. All that is operated by SDR-Console including their satellite window which handles the doppler correction and tracking. The amazing thing is how little this all costs with free software, $30 SDR, and $43 LNA. Well, then there is that fairly expensive antenna, the M2 Eggbeater Sat Pack. […]
I’ve visited your post above a couple of times, as I edge closer to purchasing a SatPack for myself. I have been using Arrow/Elk arrangements for satellite work, and I really want to come indoors without having to spend several thousands on a proper AZ/EL system with circular-polarized yagis, etc. Where I am (NE of New England) I have a fairly decent horizon and an FT-847 with decent power. My expectations are not through the roof on this, but the option to stay indoors and operate all year long with close computer connections for doppler, etc. is very attractive.
Hi Brent, I’d want to be indoors as well. You might also give consideration to an azimuth rotator and simple vertical polarized yagi’s for 144 and 432 at roughly 15 degrees fixed elevation. That is a winning setup. But many are also very happy with their eggbeaters. Good luck and have fun on the satellites. 73, Jim, K5ND
I recently bought the SatPack from M2.. great setup, and I am also seeing that high passes are ideal. I was, however, surprised to make a CW qso through RS-44 when it was down to 12 degrees way out over the Atlantic (I’m in Pennsylvania on a hilltop at 840 ft ASL.. I was thinking about mounting the egg-beaters to an Azimuth rotator above my roof level.. that way I could take advantage of the ground plane rods as reflectors toward the horizon and it would follow the sat. Then I would be getting the 6DB gain in all directions instead of just overhead.I would use that until I could upgrade to circular polarized yagis.. or maybe I wouldn’t need them if my idea would work! Any thoughts? -Brian, W3ATT
Congratulations on working RS-44 at 12 degrees. Sounds like you already have great antenna coverage. Good luck with your rotator concept.
73, Jim, K5ND
Brian did it work, I tpp am looking going this way
I finally got around to testing this idea.. unfortunately, aiming the antennas toward the satellite made little or no difference! I’m perplexed. I had a perfect opportunity at 1 in the morning with a low pass of CAS-4B. Max elev. was 25 deg. I set up my keyer to send strings of cw v’s and put on some wireless headphones so I could hear myself coming back while I was at the antenna.
Funny thing is… no matter which way I turned the antennas, there was no appreciable difference in RX signal strength of my signal coming back – even pointing directly away from the satellite! Even spinning the antennas completely upside-down!
I don’t get the claim from M2 that there is a 6db gain straight up – I just didn’t hear it. So, there you go.. we can put this to rest. Just hang the egg beaters and forget about them if that’s the route you choose. For more gain, a yagi setup is the only way.
[…] M2 Eggbeater Sat Pack […]
Jim, I understand that you use a TS-2000 for satellite work. How do you manage to get the voltage to the “egg beaters”?
I mean…what means do you use to get the voltage to preamp{s} connected to the “egg beaters”?
For satellites, I used an Icom IC-9100 or IC-910H. They can provide power over coax to the ARR preamps I’ve used. The power can also be provided via a separate set of wires using a sequencer to move the preamp out of the way during transmission. This works will all antennas since the antenna is in line after the preamp. Hope that helps.
I’m interested in ordering your egg beater antenna sat pack for the weather sattelites. How well does it work for low elevation passes? Can the antenna be used outside or is it only for indoor use?
Thanks,
John W7YX
For weather satellites, the 2-meter M2 eggbeater picks up the satellites on 137 MHz but not all that well at low elevations. It works both outside and inside. It’s very sturdy. It’s also very versatile, covering the full 2-meter band as well.
Here’s the link to DX Engineerings listing of just the 2-meter eggbeater https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/msq-eb144rk2m
You might also be interested in a QFH antenna made specifically for 137 MHz weather satellites. Here’s the link https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-016157
I haven’t tried that antenna, but it looks interesting. Of course, there are a few plans online on building your own QFH, which I’ve tried and failed…
Hope that helps.
Good luck,
Jim, K5ND