IC-9700 SSB Preamps for 2M/70cm (AI4Y)
Вставка
- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
- IC-9700 SSB Preamps for 2M/70cm - AI4Y
www.qrz.com/lo...
You can read many details of my Satellite station & LEO PACK configuration on my QRZ page
Preamps used in this video :
2M SP 200 Preamp Switchable 145 MHz - SSB-Electronic GmbH 1032-NF
70cm SP 70 Preamp Switchable 435 MHz - SSB-Electronic GmbH 1037-NF
I am running 100 foot of LMR400 into the preamps, which in turn feeds into 12 feet of LMR400 UltraFlex into the M2 Leo-Pack
Note - The internal preamp of the IC-9700 is NOT automatically turned off just because you enable the EXTERNAL preamp power. You must make sure that the IC-9700 display does not have the "P.AMP" illuminated. You can press the P.AMP/ATT button OFF & ON on the front of the IC-9700 to see when it illuminates so you know its off when using EXTERNAL preamps.
Great demonstration of LMR400 feedline loss.
Thank you for showing this very useful feature of the 9700.
Awesome video Richard, you nailed it Good Job informative and to the point
Thanks for posting the video
Keep them coming
Great setup, very jealous
Pretty impressive difference! I have experienced similar results with good pre-amps. Not a necessity but IMO they make a big enough difference to justify the costs if you really want to get into working various satellites and modes.
Thank you! For now I have Eggbeaters, but I've added these preamps and I hope it helps. It sounds like it will. We shall see. 73
Thanks,
Simple and straightforward!
If you ever do a follow-up would be nice to include the IC-9700s internal preamp for an A-B-C comparison, also if you have an SDR many will provide a signal-to-noise ratio meaaurement for a fair comparison including any extra noise the preamp may introduce.
However its clearly more readable with the preamp and thats what we want !
Thank you Richard for share !
Fascinating - am just getting into sats with the 9700 having just used it for local and SSB QSO's, i'm looking forward to working the birds. I dont want to upgrade the entire antenna system, so a pre-amp for the bands looks a good compromise on the Yagi's i currently have.
Thanks for your excellent QRZ page - have stuck to ordering the 70cm pre-amp - am looking forward to making QSO on the birds with my eggbeaters!
Hello from Raleigh! Didn't know we had a satop with a ground station in FM05!
I will be setting up a similar station soon.
I live off Jones Franklin road near Crossroads, so not far from you.
73, John Brier KG4AKV
Btw, great video! For 100 ft of coax a preamp is obviously basically required for some sats.
Hi John, that’s great. I subscribed to your channel recently and have learned from some of your videos. Once life becomes more normal and COVID-19 is better managed I’d say we meet. If there is anything I can help with regarding your sat base station let me know. Shoot an email to my QRZ email. 73 AI4Y
Richard
@@richardcreasey401 Yes meeting would be cool! Thanks, I will let you know if I need anything. 73!
Thank you very much, From o noise to s5 just like that. lol We will see, Your video was helpful. :)
it didn't create any noise. Sure the reference is higher with the amplification, but the signal to noise floor gets better, lowering the noise. The S units are a relative indication. You can drop it down again by lowering the gain.
Thanks great info
They should have made that 9700 with 6 meters and also be module based such that you could add another module, like 220 .
Richard, did you set any additional TX delay to account for the preamps? I realize that even with it set "off" there is about a 9ms delay. But I was curious if you have an opinion if I should increase the TX delay to 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30ms to help protect the preamps, without complicating working Sats.
I set a 30ms TX delay for both 144M and 430M, which is probably an overkill.
@@richardcreasey401 Many thanks for the tip. That is what I will try. Better to be safe, if it works ok.
When you tx will it switch the power off the rx side because that needs to be on.
Is the tube between the Yagis made of aluminum or GRP (GFK) or so? I'm asking because you have mounted the Yagis in the middle of the boom (not at the end) and so non-conductive material should be used as far as I know.
Thanks for the video. Waiting for my IC-9700. Can you tell me if there is a visual indication/icon on the main display that you have the external preamp on? Or we need to go to the Function menu to check.
Sorry, there is no visual indication the external power is being driven to the preamp. It only shows when the internal preamp is enabled. Once you enable the external preamp it will remain enabled. It only turns off temporarily when you transmit.
Wow rich! That made a huge difference. Maybe I should focus on the pre amp and not better antennas. Hey I’ve been working with satpc 32 and would like to get you to tell me if I’m on frequency. Jerod
Always antenna first, amplifying noise is still noise.
I’d recommend the antenna first. Preamps may not be needed for you if you have antenna with good gain, quality feedline and short as possible runs
Richard Creasey 8 element yagis with lmr 400 to the g5500
So when you use the external preamps, you don’t turn them on or off with the preamp/att button on the front of the radio, but rather via the function button and menu? Curious how they perform on the fm birds. Also with these coax powered preamps, you have to use compatible lightning arrestors I’m pretty sure. What about coax termination at antenna mast/tower?
@@5x9dev the preamp button on the 9700 is to turn on/off the internal preamp. If you are using external preamps then you should not use the internal preamp.
Richard,
After two years powering the SSB preamps have you had any issues with the bias-t power from your IC9700?
Is it a simple matter of lowering the SSB preamp's gain to avoid potential problems over drawing the alleged IC9700 bias-T 200mA rating?
Any opinions using SHF (100mA) preamps Vs. SSB (300mA)?
Thank you.
I presently do not have my LEO-PACK setup at my new QTH due to subdivision restrictions. I only ran mine Pre-amps for ~6 months with gains set to minimum without any issue. I have no experience with the SHF pre-amps. 73 AI4Y
I searching now to buy a preamp .I have a v/u antenna from Serbia with a separate 2 N connectors for each band .Is it safer to buy also a sequenser for 9700 or not ? I see you have from ssb preamp ,what about other company's
My question is i have s 2m ssb electronics preamp and the other day i was up on roof doing maintenance and had my radios on , i had no intention of messing with the 2m ant but i had to disconnect the feed line from 2m ant and reconnect it , i later discovered that my sequencer wasnt power on , so my question is by unhooking the feed line while it was on can that have burned out the sequencer ???
Hi Frank, I don't run a sequencer myself and rely on the 9700 to stop sending 13+ volts to power the SSB preamp when I transmit. Sounds like you may have toasted your sequencer. Good luck!