[aprssig] APRS Satgate Antenna page

[Robert Bruninga]

> One question,what constitutes a large ground plane?
> Is it 12"or 12'? Is it a multiple of the vertical whip?

Good question.  Most people think that four 1/4 wave radials make a ground
plane.  But if you model a 1/4 wave vertical over 1/4 wave radials, all you
get is the exact pattern of a DIPOLE.  The radials are just providing a
"groundplane" to complete the electrical part of the antenna and give a good
match.  They do not affect the pattern at all.

I modeled verticals over 6' or larger ground planes and only found that  you
get the added "reflection" gain when the ground plane starts getting that
big or more.  I wish I had time to use EZNEC to show the added gain
(skyward) versus the size of the ground plane.  And how "radials" (above
actual ground) have nothing to do with the "pattern".

SO, the bigger the better.  It should be worth 2 to 3 dB if you could make
it very large...

This is the page in question:
http://aprs.org/aprs-satellite-igate-antennas.html

Bob, WB4aPR


On 6/19/2015 3:57 PM, Robert Bruninga via aprssig wrote:
> Subject: APRS Satgate Antenna page
>
> Since the ideal APRS Satellite IGate OMNI antenna is exactly the opposite
> of
> the typical terrestrial IGaate antenna, I prepared the following WEB page:
>
> http://aprs.org/aprs-satellite-igate-antennas.html
>
> It shows how a vertical ¼ or ¾ wave VHF omni equals the performance of a
> full OSCAR class array (over half the sky) but does it with no moving
> parts.
> It makes up for the weak-signal horizon part of the sky by there simply
> being more omni-IGates.  The APRS-IS cloud with all of its IGates is
> probably one of the largest spatially distributed satellite receiver
> system
> in the world (?).
>
> But with people used to the 10W transmitter on the ISS, just a few IGates
> can capture just about every packet from the ISS horizon to horizon on a
> whip.  But with the 14 dB weaker signal from PSAT, we need more SatGates
> to
> make up for their smaller skyprint.  For the USA we need more than a dozen
> such Omni-SATgates.
>
> To see the significance of the weaker downlink from PSAT, look at the
> successful IGates on the http://pcsat.aprs.org page compared to the IGates
> that hear the ISS packets on http://ariss.net   Both are listening on
> 145.825 and passing along every packet they hear.  But only TRACKING
> IGates
> or good vertical gain satgates hear PSAT. And since we want these running
> 24/7/365, we do NOT expect people wearing out motors when an omni will do
> fine (if we have enough).
>
> The page also shows how every SATgate with a HIGH and terrestrial type
> antenna actually creates a DEADZONE around it, effectively blocking any
> nearby user heaerd direct from appearing on any of the APRS-IS cloud
> satellite web pages.  Hence, Omni-satgate antennas should be low to
> everything surrounding it w hile still seeing the sky above 30 degrees.
>
> If your TH-D7 HT is just sitting there, not in use 99% of the time, then
> just hook it to a vertical whip and let it be an IGate.  With the low
> antenna it will also probably be safe from all weather lightening too.
> Put
> the UHF side on 435.350 and turn up the speaker.  When PSAT PSK31 comes
> into
> view, you can watch the PSK31 activity as a bonus!
>
> Bob, WB4APR
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