QO-100 Up-link update

 The last few days have seen a little bit of modification and optimization to my setup. Mainly, the shortening of the helix feed. While I was monitoring my A1A signal on the downlink, I gradually cut windings of the the uplink helix. I was not sure if I could see any difference in signal strength, to be honest. Anyway, I ended up with this:

Downlink (left) and Uplink (right)

The dishes are ducked down for a reason. This is my roof deck, we often experience heavy winds in the Netherlands. With the dishes sitting low, weighted down, the positions will be stable over the course of the year.

Presently, the UL uses 10m of RG-6 cable, the original one with the hollow dielectric. This length is certainly not ideal. In the near future, I will build an outdoor unit, sitting next to the UL feed, housing the converter and the PA. This should improve my signal by some dB.

For the time being, all I heard was that my signal could be stronger, but was fine to copy... what more do you want?

73!