Rebuilding my satellite system for 70 CM EME operation

In 2022 I designed, built and installed my satellite system (for LEO/MEO orbits). I have been on EME before (2M and 23CM), but never (seriously) on 70CM.

Early 2024 I decided to rebuild the satellite system with a little more emphasis on the EME capability. I wanted to do the conversion while at the same time be able to operate LEO/MEO satellites, so I needed to still have an 2M antenna in the system.

I had a lot of conversations with Goran YU1FC from Antennas&Amplifiers about this. Goran has an invaluable amount of knowledge when it comes to antennas and stuff around these!

I did some measurements and calculations on my system in the quest for verifying the performance. I collected this is a PDF document you can download here, the document will be updated when I do more tests etc:

Measurements OZ9AAR 70cm EME system.pdf

Quick jump to sections on this page:

As I wanted this new system to replace my "old" satellite system, and use the same tower and rotorsystem, I had to deal with a couple of limitations. The biggest one being the low height of the tower. The top of the rotor (where the horisontal boom rests) is only at 2.5 meters above ground. This puts some limits on the length of the antennas in order for them not to touch the ground when elevated (I needed to be able to elevate to 90 degrees because of the satellites, this is not needed for "normal" EME as the moon does not get that high on the sky here in Denmark)

Goran did some modifications of his 70 CM 23 element antenna. He changed the attachment point for the vertical boom so that it no longer was in the center of the boom of the antenna, the antennas are 5.7 meter long, and I needed the attachment point to be a little further back on the antenna compared to the "normal" position. This ensures that the back of the antennas does not touch the ground when elevated. Goran also modifed two of the antennas dipoles so that they could be mounted at the top and bottom and still have the elements on the top and bottom of the booms. The feedpoint was also done so it is mounted on the opposite side as the elements. All of this helped me make a neat and tidy installation of the antennas and routing of the coax cables.

Now, in an EME system, you need to keep the losses BEFORE the preamp at an absolute minimum. Every tenth of a dB counts ! So ideally, I should have extended a boom in the center of the array all the way out to the end of the antennas, mounted the 4 port combiner and preamp there. However, due to aesthetics, I selected to mount the combiner and preamp on the central boom.
I could have saved approx. 2.2 meter cable (and the associated loss) if I had done it the optimal way, instead I compensated with some heavier (less loss) LMR-600 coax cable. The extra loss introduced by this approach is approximately 0.08 dB for the 3.7 m LMR-600 (total loss 0.21 dB) compared to 1.5 m LMR-400 (total loss 0.13 dB). Had I instead used 1.5 m LMR-600 and the "boom to end of array" solution, the 1.5 meter cable (LMR-600) would have saved me 0.12 dB compared to running the cables along the antenna boom/H.

0.12 or 0.08 dB is not "nothing", but I feel it is still relatively low numbers in order to get rid of the "boom" going to the back of the array. Time will tell....

Thanks for input from Conrad PA5Y, Spiros SV8CS and Goran YU1CF

Equipment list for the system

Here is a partial list of stuff that I have used in this system.

The tower, rotor and rotorcontroller from my satellite system
4 pcs 70cm23DX6A antennas from Antennas&Amplifiers (Called 70cm23DXD in my case because of modif.)
1 pcs 2M8Cross 2M antenna
1 pcs 4 port 70 cm combiner
1 pcs EME3-432 Preamp with separate TX/RX lines and sense output (for sequencer) (later upgraded to a cavity preamp from WD5AGO)
Multiple brackets, boom jointers etc, also from Antennas&Amplifiers
2 pcs 60 x 60 x 4 mm Aluminium square tubes, from Amazon. For horisontal booms.
2 pcs 40 x 40 x 3 mm Aluminium square tubes, from Amazon. For vertical booms.
LMR-600 cables from antennas to combiner from McGill Microwave. (N male/N male right angle). More details in coax section below.
Using the same rotor/tower as the original satellite system
Rotor controller, this is my own design, the "URC Rotorcontroller"
Power amplifier, the system uses my 500W 70cm power amplifier

Radiation diagram of 70CM antennas

Specification of the 70CM antenna:

Number of elements: 23

Boom length: 5.7 meter

Antenna gain is 18.9 dBi (for the x4 array, approximately 24.7 dBi / 22.5 dBd)

F/B 40 dB

G/T for Tsky=27K, Tearth=1800K: +8.22 dB

Above is the radiation pattern of a single antenna in the azimuth plane.

Above is the radiation pattern of a single antenna in the elevation plane.

Radiation diagram of 4 stacked antennas

Below is the radiation pattern of the 4 stacked antennas, vertical distance is 174 cm and horizontal distance is 183 cm.

Above is the radiation pattern of the four antennas in the azimuth plane.

Above is the radiation pattern of the four antennas in the elevation plane.

Overview of system

This shows the system mounted on the tower/rotor system of the original satellite system. The antenna in the center of the "H" is the 2M8Cross antenna for VHF (typically uplink) to LEO satellites.

Details

The 4 x 70CM antennas are stacked 175 cm vertically and 185 cm horisontal. This was verified by Goran from Antennas&Amplifiers

There are two horisontal booms, the one that is attached to the rotor is offset around 185 mm from the "true" center of the "H", this is so that the 2M antenna is mounted in the center of the "H" and so that routing of cables etc. will able to be done without problems.

All hardware, plates the connects the booms with each other, plates the attach the antennas to the vertical booms etc., are all made of stainless steel.

Instead of using square "U" bolts, Goran suggested using stainless steel flatbar and stainless steel bolts. This makes the connection very strong and easy to assemble. All bolts are M10.

The total weight of the H frame including joiner plates but excluding bolts and flatbars are 23.5 Kg

The total weight of the H frame including antennas, joiner plates and flatbars are 51 Kg
(minus bolts, combiner, preamps and cables)

Cables from antennas to combiner

The 4 cables between antennas and the 4 port 70 cm combiner are made of LMR-600-UF cable. The LMR-600-UF cable has a loss at 450 MHz of 0.056 dB/meter.

The cables have a N male connector at the "antenna" end, and a right angle N male connector at the "combiner" end.
I checked with McGill in the UK about insertion loss of their right angle and straight N male connectors, and they are both less than 0.05 dB loss. By using a right angle connector at the combiner end of the cable, I can save close to 30 cm cable (as I would have to curve the cable, radius >= 100 mm).
The cable was drawn as a 3D sketch in the CAD program and fitted on the complete assembly of the system to check for lengths etc. I also designed some 3D printed (ASA) bracket to hold the cables, whether these will be use in real life is yet to be determined.

The cable is LMR-600-UF
Straight N male: TC-600-NMH-X

Right angle N male: TC-600-NMH-RA-D

Instead of just fixing the LMR-600-UF cables to the H/antennas using cable ties, I designed some holders/spacers for the cables. The holders were printed in ASA (UV safe) with 100% infill to give them some strength.

All the holders (26 in total) are attached to the booms/antennas using 4 mm pop-rivets.

I used a total of 4 different sizes/designs (STL files in the links for each):

30 mm wide, low height for the 30mm part of the antenna boom (3 pcs each antenna)
30 mm wide, "higher" type for the 30mm part of antenna boom just before 40 mm section (1 pcs each antenna)
40 mm wide for the vertical booms of the H frame, 2 on each leg
60 mm wide double holder, for the center horizontal boom (2 pcs in total)

Measurements of cables

I chose to get readymade cables from McGill Microwave Systems in the UK (I was a bit in a hurry, and I do not have the right crimp tools for LMR-600).

McGill Microwave Systems can customize any cable for you, professionally assembled with connectors. I supplied them with the exact measurement of the cable (specified where the distance was from/to), they adapted the length to their normal "pin to pin" length. Delivery was super fast, cables was shipped the day after I ordered them!

The cables used is LMR-600-UF (LMR-600-UF datasheet)

Connectors used:

Straight N male: TC-600-NMH-X (Datasheet)

Right angle N male: TC-600-NMH-RA-D (Datasheet)

The length specified was 357 cm (-0/+2cm).

The LMR-600-UF cable has a specified loss of 0.056 dB/M, so 357 cm cable has 0.199 dB loss at 450 MHz.

Both connectors was specified as having less than 0.05 dB loss each.

I tested all 4 cables on my R&S ZNLE3 VNA (in calibration. Setup calibrated with ZN-Z150).

Measured was both the insertion loss and the phase.

Cable #1

Cable #1 has a insertion loss of -0.253 dB and phase is measured at -37.96 degrees.

Cable #2

Cable #2 has a insertion loss of -0.251 dB and phase is measured at -36.60 degrees.

Cable #3

Cable #3 has a insertion loss of -0.254 dB and phase is measured at -37.86 degrees.

Cable #4

Cable #4 has a insertion loss of -0.263 dB and phase is measured at -37.50 degrees.

Comparing cables

Data for the 4 cables in short form:

Cable #1 Loss: -0.253 Phase: -37.96

Cable #2 Loss: -0.251 Phase: -36.60

Cable #3 Loss: -0.254 Phase: -37.86

Cable #4 Loss: -0.263 Phase: -37.50

Largest difference in loss is 0.263 - 0.251 = 0.012 dB

Largest difference in phase angle is 37.96 - 36.60 = 1.36 degrees

The cables are VERY close to each other and are well within specs. If the 0.056 dB/M is correct, the loss for the cable itself should be 0.199 dB, this leaves only 0.064 dB in loss for both the N connectors!

Joiner plates etc

Below some pictures of the boom joiner plates as well as DXF files for these.

If you click on the images, you will download the dxf files for each of the components.
The "U" brackets are made of 2 x 10mm bolts (stainless steel) and the small flatbars shown.

Main boom joiner, 60/40 mm joiner, 5 mm stainless (4 pcs)

Antenna to vertical boom joiner, 40/40 mm joiner, 5 mm stainless (4 pcs)

Boom 2M8 joiner, 60/30 mm joiner, 4 mm stainless (1 pcs)

Elevator plate to main boom, 6 mm stainless (1 pcs)

30, 40 and 60 mm bracket plates (for "U" bolts), 4/5/5 mm stainless

30 mm (2 pcs)

40 mm (24 pcs)

60 mm (14 pcs + 2 spares)

Pictures of antennas

Below some pictures received from Goran (Antennas&Amplifiers) during manufacturing/testing of the antennas.
Looks really nice, and same high quality mechanically as the antennas I had in my "old" satellite system.

Assembling the antennas

Antennas and joiner plates etc. arrived from Antennas&Amplifiers. Everything was packed very nicely and safe, double boxes etc. The good thing about the antennas is that EVERYTHING is very clearly marked with small stickers, there is nothing to go wrong with. Just match the numbers/letters of the elements, boom segments etc., and all will be perfect.
All the hardware are stainless steel (AISI 316 A4) and very nicely done.
First task was to assemble the booms, next up is mounting the 23 elements on each boom.
Also started on the "H" frame.

Alu tubes for the H frame. 2 pcs 200 cm long 60x60x4 mm for the two horizontal booms, and 2 x 170 cm 40x40x3 mm for the vertical booms. This is VERY strong and could maybe have been "dialed down" a bit. But, better safe than sorrow as they say :)

Tilting tower

The tower for the system can be tilted pr design, but adding the "large" H and antennas makes the complete construction somewhat heavier than it used to be. In order to be able to still tilt the system for mounting and maintenance, I designed a small "pole" with a winch that will enable me to lower and raise the tower with the antennas mounted. The pole is made of 60 x 60 x 5 mm steel.
Parts have been ordered, and it should be able to be mounted around mid-May.

Assembly of 70 cm antennas

Did the final assembly of the 70cm antennas, and also did a testfit of the small VHF antenna (typically used for uplink to satellites).

Mounting of antennas

Mounted the "tilting tower helper", seems to work just fine. Makes it very easy to lower the tower for work and installation tasks.

First I removed the old satellite antennas and cables.

Attached the center plate that will connect the H frame to the bracket on the rotor:

Mounted the H frame to the center plate:

All four 70cm antennas mounted, using square tubing makes it VERY easy, no alignment like on round tubes/booms:

Initially I was a little bit in doubt if I should use my 3D printed (ASA) cable clamps for the phasing harness. I'm VERY happy that I did! Makes a really tidy look I think.

Mounting of preamps

I mounted the preamps for 2m and 70cm, these are so far, the same as I used for the satellite system. The 70cm preamp will be changed to a preamp from Antennas&Amplifiers once my PA for 70 cm is ready as the SSB Elektronic one is not capable of handling the high power.

Cabling on tower for PA and rotor connections

Next job is to finish and install my 70cm 500W PA on the tower.

I have a 16 wire multicable running from the shack to the tower, this cable carries encoder signals to to the Az and El rotors as well as control signals to the PA that will be mounted and signals from the sequencer in the shack.

Below are a list of signals and wire numbers, this is mostly for my own documentation, it will probably be (very) different in your own system.

Interconnection antennas/LNA/PA

Below is a schematic of how the system is connected up. I use my AS1 sequencer. The AS1 sequencer will be available soon (around Aug 2024) from Antennas&Amplifiers.

I use an internal addon board I made that generates negative 4.5V, this is fed to the ALC input of my IC-9700. As soon as the PTT input is triggered on the sequencer, the ALC goes negative. This prevents the IC-9700 to output any RF. Once the sequencing are done, the negative ALC voltage is removed. The IC-9700 will then output RF after approximately 80 mS (internal delay in IC-9700).

Finished

Last bits was installed, cable tied etc, and the tower was raised again. A "non event" with the winch and helping tower :)

Upgrading of preamp

NOTE: I changed the preamp to a silvered Cavity preamp from Tommy WD5AGO as I could see from calculations that the gain (20 dB) of the preamp(s) I had used so far, was far from enough. See explanation below this section.

Initially I used the SSB Electronics SP-70 preamp in the EME system. This was the preamp used when the tower was housing the old satellite system.

This preamp has been changed to a EME3-432 preamp from Antennas&Amplifiers. This preamp has separate TX and RX ports, this makes it easy to connect it to the tower mounted PA (more info on that below). The MX-72N diplexer I had mounted because the SSB Electronics preamp could not handle the transmit power from the 2M antenna (uplink for satellites). The diplexer had an insertion loss of 0.68 dB, and this was in front of the preamp!

Below is a schematic of the RF path in the tower (will be updated in the future).

The EME3-432 preamp from Antennas&Amplifiers works perfect in my setup. The severe de-sense I had when using the SSB Electronics preamp are completely non-existent on the EME3-432 preamplifier.

Upgrading preamp to cavity type

(New preamp installed 2024-09-20)

When calculating the cascaded noise figure on my system, it became clear the the 20 dB gain I have had in my preamps so far, was not enough. I ordered a silver plated cavity preamp from Tommy WD5AGO. Tommy makes some very nice preamps and have done so for many years (I remember his products from when I was last active on EME some 30 years ago).

The preamp has a noise figure of 0.27 dB and gain is 37 dB (I measure NF 0.35 dB and G 37 dB on my own NF meter N8973A, which is very close to Tommys measurements).

The first stage is using a "Avantek 334" (no longer in production) and second stage is a MMIC PGA-103.

I used a CZX3500 relay in front of the preamp, this relay has a measured loss of 0.09 dB on 70 cm.

I still need to change a cable to an angled connector etc, but so far it does indeed look like the new preamp made an improvement to my system!

The day after installation, I worked a station with 2 x 25 element cross yagi's running only 50W !

Still more testing to come, but so far it looks promising!

Installation of 500W PA at tower

When I upgraded the preamp, I also mounted the new box for the 70cm 500W amplifier.

The PA module was mounted, everything sits on a steel backplate. When/if somethings goes wrong, it is just a matter of removing 4 screws and unplug some connectors and the PA can be put on the bench to be diagnosed.

Still need to do some tidying up of the cables inside. So far everything seems to work just fine. The loss from the output of the PA to the feedpoint(s) of the antenna(s) is 0.65 dB.

Operations, echo testing etc.

2024-08-02 14:27 UTC - Echo testing

Did my first echo testing today after working 8 initials (one on CW). I had temporarily connected my PA in the shack (still waiting for the last pieces so I can tower mount it), this gave me around 200W at the feedpoint (maybe a little less). Echoes did look ok and as expected:

2024-08-03 11:10 UTC - Echo testing

Testing with approx 200W at feed, Azimuth at 190, Elevation at 58 deg:

2024-08-02 - My signal received by Nic G3YEG

2024-08-02 my signal was received by Nic G3YEG. The interesting thing is that Nic uses a single Yagi mounted in his attic (inside!) and has to "look" thru the roofing! Nic tells me that the antenna is the first 9 elements from a 24 year old Tonna antenna with 21 elements. The boom length is 132 cm, Nic estimates the gain to somewhere around 11 dBd!

I was running maximum 200 Watt to my antennas feedpoint at the time.

Link to the antenna: Tonna 21 elements

Nic has 1 meter of cable from antenna to a SSB Electronics SP70 preamp, feeding the signal to a IC-9700. By optimizing the settings of WSJT, Nic was able to pull out my signal and get a decode on it!
Nic was using "max drift" set to 0 Hz and FTOL as low as possible.

You can find Nic G3YEG on QRZ with lots of background information.

Below a screenshot of the actual decode and a pictures of Nic's antenna in the attic.

2024-09-06 14:10 UTC - Echo testing

Testing with approx 400W at feed, Azimuth at 187, Elevation at 23 deg, degradation -2.5 dB:
(click on image for fullsize)

2024-09-20 05:02 UTC - Echo testing

Testing with approx 400W at feed, Azimuth at 241, Elevation at 38 deg:

2024-09-20 19:10 UTC - Echo testing

Testing with approx 400W at feed, Azimuth at 76, Elevation at 9 deg:

2024-09-23 07:50 UTC - Echo testing, CW echoes heard

Testing again with approx 400W at feed, Azimuth at 260, Elevation at 39 deg. This time I was able to hear my own echoes on CW also. The echoes in WSJT of -17.6 dB are the strongest so far I have detected:

2024-09-24 08:15 UTC - Echo testing, strongest so far

Testing again with approx 400W at feed, Azimuth at 253, Elevation at 45 deg (degr. 2.0 dB).

The echoes in WSJT of -14.8 dB (-14.1 seen right after the screenshot was taken) are the strongest until now I have detected:

2024-12-11 21:15 UTC - G0JDL (2x14 ele, 160W)

Worked John G0JDL. John is running 2 times 14 element antenna from Antennas-Amplifiers, a 2 way 1/4 lambda combiner from Antennas-Amplifiers, a SP70 preamp from SSB Electronics, a IC-9700 and has 160W at the feedpoint of the antenna. The temporary stand for the antenna is a bicycle repair stand. John is currently not using a rotor (planned update), aiming using a Android phone on the frame.

Worked John the following two days also, just to prove it was not pure luck the first time :)

This proves you don't need a gigantic setup to work stations on 70cm EME!

Data for my station (Home Station) and G0JDL (DX Station).

Calculation done in my SimpleCalc.

Carsten Groen's (OZ9AAR) personal place