Posts by G1INU

Hi,

If google translate has done it's job then I think I have a very similar setup to the one you are trying to get working.

I have a 1.2m offset dish, on which I have the Bullseye LNB and an IceConeFeed helix antenna.

My RX Path is from the LNB, 1.5m of coax to a bias tee, from there it feeds into RX port 1 on a Pluto plus.

My TX Path is from the TX1 port of the Pluto plus to an Analog Devices CN-0417 pre-amp. That boosts the output of the PlutoPlus to a level that will drive the 12w DX Patrol Power Amp. The power Amp is then linked to the helix by 1.2m of low loss coax.

My shack is about 15m from the PlutoPlus and the dish so I have a 15m length of Cat6 ethernet cable plugged into the ethernet port on the PlutoPlus and the other end plugged into an ethernet hub in my shack, or it can be connected to the computer via a USB to Ethernet adapter.

I control it from my computer using SDRConsole software.

It sounds like you are not getting any TX or RX from the Pluto back to the computer via ethernet cable is that correct?

Regards. Mark - G1INU

• Hi all,
  
  This must be something I am doing wrong, as I have searched the forum and find no mention of this issue.
  
  SDR Console 3.3 / Pluto Plus / CN-0417 Preamp / DX Patrol 12w Amp.
  
  When I first power up the Pluto+ and run SDR Console I can’t get any TX on voice or tone. The TX button changes colour and I am showing a modulated signal or tone with ALC in the red but I am just not putting out anything.
  
  If I go to RADIO / TX Filter and change it up or down by any amount even 1 position the SDR Console does some sort of refresh and I can TX without any issue until I power cycle the Pluto and SDR Console at which point I have to cycle TX Filter again.
  
  What am I doing wrong please?
  
  Thanks.

Hi Andreas,

Yes the PSU would be a bit overkill just for the qo-100 setup :-). I often take other commercial transceivers UHF/VHF/HF so I just take the one PSU away in the motorhome that will do any one of them.

I like the plastic cup, is that the BeerCupFeed variant of the IceConeFeed Antenna ?

On this setup I have gone for the E.Reon PowerBlast 30w amplifier from SV1AFN. It will operate with a permanent voltage of 1v to 32v to the EN pin, indeed some simply bridge across from the Vin pin. I however have added a toggle switch so I can isolate the EN pin voltage for prolonged monitoring sessions without leaving the Amp energised all the time. The toggle switch is however fed from the same 28v source as the Amp Vin pin because the EN pin voltage must not exceed the Vin Voltage. If I had fed it from one of the 5v or 12v circuits in the setup and then the 12v to 32v step up converter failed I could have ended up blowing the Amp because then the ENv would exceed the Vin.

This is it boxed up and with the PSU attached.

Hi Andreas,

Thank you for your reply. This is the setup I created today for my portable system. I have a couple of Portable Dish's I am watching on eBay.

Hi Guy's,

I have just got myself up and running on QO-100 from my home QTH using PlutoPlus, CN-0417 Pre-Amp, DX Patrol 12w Amp, Helix Antenna, 1.2m dish on TX and Bullseye LNB, Bias Tee, PlutoPlus for RX. All working very well.

I am now looking at a very similar portable setup that I can take away with us in the Motorhome (Camping-car) over the summer months as we spend 3 months in France. The AMP is a higher power 30 amp unit and the other difference will obviously be the dish.

Looking around on for-sale sites there are many 'portable' dishes available which from a space and weight saving perspective are ideal, even coming with their own mounting tripod. However, many of them are elliptical offset dishes rather than round offset dishes, much like the ones supplied by Sky. So my question is are these elliptical dishes worth considering both from a TX/RX signal perspective and from the point of view of mounting the LNB and Helical antenna?

Or should I simply get a standard round steel dish and unbolt the normally fixed LNB arm when packing it all away?

Thanks. Mark. G1INU