My first 1.2GHz project was to house the transmitter and receiver, as they come as just the bare bones boards .The box I used for the transceiver came from Maplin, Cat no.1FO8J. I bought the entry level type and the one for the receive I had in stock. It is a die-cast Eddystone type and these are available from Maplins also, Cat no. N93BQ.
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These would be classed as prototypes and I could get away with murder if I was asked to show them.
As you can see by picture-1 there was not a lot of room for error in the size of box for the transceiver.When I started to mark out the box I knew I would not have much room and while talking about this toTony EI4DIB ,we hatched a plan,I went over to his home and after some tea, we got a piece of cardboard and cut it down to A4 size. We cut some holes in it so the phono sockets and power sockets came through and then placed it on his printer/scanner and scanned it, and then I had a template for marking
my boxes. I repeated the process for the Rx board as it is bigger than the Tx board.
The boxes are made from aluminium and so are not hard todrill and to file out to the correct size if you do not have the right size drill bit, but be careful because a good file can chew the metal fairly quickly .
As you may have noticed I did not make a hole in the top of the box so that I could adjust the dip switches.This was not needed as for the occasional time I would need to
change frequency I could easily remove the lid to adjust the Tx or Rx frequency.
On another 1.2GHz project I used waterproof plastic boxes for portable use as I had a few close calls with the metal ones in the rain . I did buy some waterproof metal boxes from Maplins and at some of the rally’s over time . As with some things in life you never get the size you want , just buy them , as you never know when you will need them .As a wise man once said “it is better to be looking at them than looking for them.”
10 GHz.
My first 10 GHz Tx was made for me by the late Dermot EI2AK.
It consisted of a Solfen head from an old electronic door sensor,and a Gunn modulator board. They were housed in the case of the door sensor. Connectors were put on the back of the unitfor dc and av.I went portable with Dermot and we did some experiments with mark EI9FX receiving our signals.
At a rally in England I was introduced to Bob Platts G8ZDP and Stewart Marshal
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PICTURE 2 |
G0ABC by Michael EI5GG.Money changed hands and I came awayfrom their stall with parts for a 10 GHz Rx and Tx, horn aerials, relays, transitionsand severely malnourished pockets.Also purchased at the same rally was a parabolic dish for 10 GHz and some more project boxes.In picture 2 you can see how I placed the modulator board, and themSolfen head in the metal box and the DC and AV connectors and how I connected it to the dish.The dish support was made for me by Mark and the penny feed by Michael.I now had my 10 GHz dish for transmitting, my modded LNB for receiving and with a 12 volt powered satellite receiver purchased
surprise, surprise, not from Maplins but Lidl .I was then told about a circulator, also in picture 2, and how that could be connected to the dish first and then the LNB and
Tx connected to it and I would have a tidy setup and I could always house it in a box (another excuse to buy one) .I purchased a tripod a while ago and my plan is to mount the 10 GHz Rx/Tx unit on it . I will have some photographs of that in the next issue of Echo Ireland.
Cameras
Cameras come in all sizes, and my first one was a Sony camcorder
and it still is my main shack camera. Others I have bought were old security cameras at rallies, car boot sales and Maplins.Most of the cameras I bought use 12 volts, and they are great for portable use. I have bought black and white cameras as well as some infrared ones. Some have sound but Maplins have a small audio module that works off 12 volts (cat no, KJ44X) and the people that have heard the audio say that it is as good as the Sony camcorder I use. As one of the infrared cameras is waterproof I placed it beside my aerial and it gives a great view of where the aerial is pointing and something else for the receive station to look at even if you think you are a lookalike for Mr.or Mrs. Pitt. I also bought a couple of pan and tilt units for my cameras.These also work off 12 volts and can be great fun when you are showing off your shack for nice steady shots. One of the pan and tilt units was for an outdoor camera and worked off 12volts and as a result of that I bring that out portable with me where I bolt it to the roof rack on my car, or on something higher.This would depend on the lengths of the DC and AV cables but more importantly for safety sake as you do not want to cause any harm to yourself or to any visitors or members of the public who just happen to walk by.
As those who have set up /p have found out , as well as attracting DX, aerials can lure people so be careful.
Thanks to the photo studio of Thos EI-2-JD for taking the pictures for me.
In the next Echo Ireland : 10 GHz dish, and some fittings .I wish you and your family a happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
73's Pat EI2HX.
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