QO-100 - 2019 setup

My current setup to operate ES'hail & QO-100.

Transceiver

WIFI amplifier with small rf amplifier in line. Homemade Bias-T for the LNB. The cable from the LimeSDRmini to the amp & Bias-T are cheap Chinese patch cables

The cable from the power amplifier to the antenna is Aircell7 from SSB-Elektronik. The cable from the LNB to the Bias-T is a high quality 75Ohm TV cable.

For DC power connections I'm using the WAGO clamps 222-415 - easy to attach and remove.

 IMG 2941 IMG 2943

Antenna

Steel 80cm offset dish from eBay on a very sturdy LIDL bike repair stand -Thanks Ewald, DK2DB for this hint!

IMG 2662

PE1CKK POTY with DIAVOLO LNB from REICHELT

IMG 2662 Yes I know, the lens has still 5mm to travel ;-)

IMG 2662

IMG 2662

Software

All is driven by SDRConsole in V3.09 from G4ELI running on a Lenovo Thinkpad E590

Screenshot 2019 05 18 144951.

This setup runs completely on 12VDC - for the notebook I have a small DC//DC converter :-)

Frequency stability

To overcome the instability of SDRConsole & LimeSDRmini I'm using a cheap USB-Headset with a microphone mute button. 

I'm running the limeSDRmini in FULL-DUPLEX mode and switch SDRConsole to constant TX. When I mute the microphone in the headset - no RF is emitted.

To switch from RX to TX I simply unmute the microphone the the switch at the headset. The only drawback is, that due to the full-duplex mode, you hear yourself with a delay of abt. 1s - you have to handle yourself.