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Friday 27 July 2012

1.2GHz transverter project

Recent GQRP posts were talking about mixers at HF and it made me remember I had a transverter project for 1.2GHz on the back burner. In the mad first year of being a licencee I bought a number of things I either used once and put to one side or never got around to using as the QTH didn't suit. One group of things were a couple Comtech RX and TX setups for 13cm and 23cm ATV. Including a pa module for both and a controller (G6ALU). Anyway other than a very brief play did nothing with them since and they were stored in a nice plastic box in the shack, with a couple of de-humidity bags.

In 2005 I was at the mic of the CDARC 'B' station, never was allowed to operate in the 'A' station tent, during VHF field day and we had a brief play on 1296MHz SSB with an FT290 (mine) and a home brew transverter. Anyway I remembered the occasion and always thought it would be fun to put one together.

Looks like I'll have a couple LO options...using the Si570 I have (it is the version that will go to 1.4GHz), a G4DDK LO at 1152MHz, a completely homebrew thing that I am trying to get to 1256MHz (so I can use 28MHz) a couple RX side 1.2GHz RX amplifiers and a Mitsubishi brick 18W PA.

Anyway as I get further along I'll post details.

The antenna will be a yagi using 6mm Ali tube for the elements and a square section for the boom. I will probably clone the DL(>forget rest of call right now) design and it will be about 5 foot long. I have enough Ali to even stack two of them... I also have a 30 foot length of LDF450 and connectors to N-TYPE I can use to feed it.

I have a small dual port directional coupler (and bits in a bag) that I think I was intending to make into a strip line VSWR meter for 1.2GHz with some 50uA meters.

I must figure out where I can get some RG316 and some SMA connectors, and work out how to make them up.

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