Re: HRIT and LRIT Low-Cost System
Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2018 3:40 am
It appears that supply vs demand (or possibly a new tariff) has increased the price on all major components originally listed in this article, since it was first posted. Perhaps as others find new low-cost solutions, these will be posted here. If you come across alternative viable antenna solutions, feel free to let others know. By the way, the Loop Yagi antenna in the following article can be built fairly inexpensively, if one is willing to put in several hours of construction time and has adequate skills to build it: https://www.sdrplay.com/community/viewt ... f=5&t=2674
Unfortunately, the once readily available at low cost (< $60) telescope mounts used for alt-az antenna control in the article have become a lot harder to find and when these become available are hard to get for less than $120. However, if you do not need to reposition the antenna, such as for GOES 15, 16, 17 LRIT/HRIT reception repositioning or for orbital satellite HRPT use, then the Loop Yagi antenna described in the article will work well as a fixed antenna and if built well has better performance than the ANT-GRID-24DBI antenna at 1.69 GHz.
An additional note: Nooelec now offers two versions of the SAWbird GOES LNA and one version is not the same as the original engineering prototype version applied in this article. The new version of Nooelec SAWbird GOES LNA likely has better performance, but its current draw is 180 mA, which is greater than can be supported on the Bias-T from the RSP2, so it will require an additional power source if used with the RSP2. The version with the single RF shield uses around 30mA at 5V for operation which can be powered directly by the RSP2 Bias-T port. Verify with NooElec that you are ordering the correct version for your needs, before purchasing.
Unfortunately, the once readily available at low cost (< $60) telescope mounts used for alt-az antenna control in the article have become a lot harder to find and when these become available are hard to get for less than $120. However, if you do not need to reposition the antenna, such as for GOES 15, 16, 17 LRIT/HRIT reception repositioning or for orbital satellite HRPT use, then the Loop Yagi antenna described in the article will work well as a fixed antenna and if built well has better performance than the ANT-GRID-24DBI antenna at 1.69 GHz.
An additional note: Nooelec now offers two versions of the SAWbird GOES LNA and one version is not the same as the original engineering prototype version applied in this article. The new version of Nooelec SAWbird GOES LNA likely has better performance, but its current draw is 180 mA, which is greater than can be supported on the Bias-T from the RSP2, so it will require an additional power source if used with the RSP2. The version with the single RF shield uses around 30mA at 5V for operation which can be powered directly by the RSP2 Bias-T port. Verify with NooElec that you are ordering the correct version for your needs, before purchasing.