New DXpatrol "Groundstation" now Full-Duplex !

I have the new GS and I find ita great little all in 1 kit, although im having some TX teething problems atm it's due to my cables and connectors.

Are all the dx patrol LNB the same that will work with the GS or is the GS one thats included specifically made for the GS?

For example would the one in this pack work with it ?

https://www.passion-radio.com/…0/downconverter2-922.html

they are all the same, i have 3 of them.

Its the lo freq that sets the if downband.

There is not much spreading in NF and they should provide excellent RX, even with 60cm dish.

thanks for Clarification, the GS is very nice product, especially for portable and traveling use. It should bring alot more hams on QO-100 for its ease of use

hello,

is there a possibility to solder a backup battery for the GPS receiver ?

the datasheet for the NEO-7N-0 module says 3.6 V max and 15 µA flow in the absence of power

so a lithium battery? or a CR2032 ?

has anyone tried ?

the GPS fix is verrrry long... (8-10 minutes)

Pierre

I find that a shame for a equipement of 650 € and simplex .... Good ok 8-10 min it's time for a cup of good coffee ..... The case is nice that's all ....... I prefer my Pluto Full Duplex with SDR-Console .

Have a nice day Pierre

73 de ON1RC

Chris

i asked Dxpatrol abt the battery

here is the answer ( always better to ask dxpatrol instead of bashing)

Quote::

The battery is not needed in this case
because we are using Ublox-7N which has flash memory.
On the board we leave the battery holder in case we need another Ublox without flash memory.

The 8 to 10 minutes delay is not due to the GPS, it´s the OCXO oven Xtal oscillator that needs to heat to 60ºC and stabilize the internal temperature.
It´s a price we have to pay to have a clean stable signal in 10Ghz in any weather/room temperature conditions.

sure no harm in having a cup of cofee while waiting for OCXO.

Its a brilliant little chuck in the bag and go bit of kit, I actually purchased another one so I have two of them, one for my QTH and one for /p

I had the same answer from DX Patrol about the OCXO warming up, but it still takes ages to go from 0 to 6 satellites locked.

I'm really pleased with the GS apart from this... My signal is clear and I've had good audio reports with my IC-705.

WebSDR recordings sound good too.

i got several gps running, the GS shows 4 or 5 sats, that is inside house next to the window.

The BG7 gsp shows 8 or 9 at the same spot.

The warmup time is not an issue to me, it takes 10 min. to setup my portable system.

And i start connecting lnb to GS and switching it on. So all is warmed up correctly by

the time i get all in place.

When I cannot depend on long-term stability of the setup, long enough stable to let a GPSDO do it's thing, I now use a OCXO like https://www.ebay.com/itm/283995359041

It is a OCXO, the casing gets warm, but the thermal mass isn't big and the temperature / frequency stabilizes stabilizes in 90 seconds.

I've done tests comparing with a GPSDO, doing lissajous tests at power up, but after 90 seconds this really is "plenty good enough" for SSB use (my whole station, not DXpatrol btw, is GPS-locked).

I would recommend to put the PCB+module in an enclosure for additional thermal isolation in case of e.g. wind.

Been testing the DX Patrol Ground station for a few day's now and had the same problems with poor GPS reception.

Today the GPS suddenly stopped working. Seems that the GPS antenna is defective now.

When i connect the GPS antenna from my Leo Bodnar GPSDO the reception is a lot better than with the supplied antenna.

The fix is much faster and i receive up to 10 satellites. ( antenna inside near the window )

I run the ground station only as uplink in portable operations because it has VSWR readings on 13cm.

SDR Console/Bullseye LNB is used to check the downlink.

Intresting note about GPS antenna, so the Bodnar could be classed as an upgraded antenna

Quote from EI2IJB

Intresting note about GPS antenna, so the Bodnar could be classed as an upgraded antenna

I've just ordered a Leo Bodnar GPS Antenna. I'll report back on whether it provides a faster lock with more visible satellites than the stock GPS Antenna.

Quote from M0JMO

I've just ordered a Leo Bodnar GPS Antenna. I'll report back on whether it provides a faster lock with more visible satellites than the stock GPS Antenna.

Thank you, I would appreciate that

Quote from DH2VA

Are you using the GPS antenna indoors or outside?

Outside

DXPatrol GROUNDSTATION is a great product,

simple to use for everybody,

has good reception -even with small dish (35cm)-

output power will never trigger LEILA, if you use some meters of coax cable from groundstation to antenna and dish is smaller than 75cm.

if you hear some station calling CQ, you can just answer on same QRG and will be perfectly on frequency- no OOHLAA or whistleing needed.

Working great with WINLINK on VARA-SAT with IS0GRB.

GS is perfect fit for EMCOM emergency communication!

ok, it will take 3 mins to lock oven and GPS

but there is nothing more compact and simple for holiday-DXpeditions or similar.

I am QRV on QO-100 since the beginning and have done all the experiments with two TRX, BU500 upconverter, modified LNB myself, Bodnar GPSDO, IC-9700, and RTLdongle and PLUTO and LimeSDRmini, SDRConsole etc...

So most stations that call me OFF-frequency or trigger LEILA or have bad signals or bad behavoir in Pile-up

have been using some homebrew complicated equipment capable of full-duplex....to be honest.

So I think we should be more open and not argue for the "RULES" sake.

BTW: Germany likes RULES - except on their highways-hi