Fun with Microwaves ... or Running the Flex 6500 on 10 GHz

Simon Lewis

So I got my new tower up the past few weeks and finally my 10 GHz transverter on the mast.

This is a Kuhne G3 10 GHz unit, with the locked PLL, a Kuhne 0.7 dB preamp, 10W PA and built into a waterproof mast mounted box.

Down in the shack I have one of the Flex 6500's connected into the Kuhne TR144 transverter to take 144 from the 10g tvtr down to 28 MHz.

First run Sunday was a bit abortive due to some wrong IF gain settings

Today I reset them and once the tower was back up the ZL2VHX beacon was loud!

Not only that but a wave of weather moved through giving some rainscatter and enhancement on the sigs from the beacon which is some 370 Km away in Wellington.

Pretty cool for a Flex 6000 series and def a huge benefit with the pandapter



if you want to hear spread sigs on 10 GHz here u go

https://soundcloud.com/simon-lewis-11/zl2vhx0930utc4oct2016

Cheers

Simon ZL4PLM

EA4GLI

Very cool. Is there a way to do the transverter configuration so the panadapter reads the correct frequency?

Jim W3IPO

Good work on ideas for getting onto microwave.
Your website  http://zl4plm.com is great.
73,
Jim W3IPO

Simon Lewis

yes you can easy to do and setup in the transverter page

Simon Lewis

thanks Jim - I'll be posting plenty more info as I develop the site more - keep revisiting

Simon Lewis

http://zl4plm.com/index.php/2016/10/05/first-steps-with-10-ghz-from-the-new-qth/

there you go Jim you can read a bit more on the 10 GHz fun

Simon Lewis

https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DwfEeOgM0csA&h=hAQGwVB...

some great scatter tonight with some storms around

The 6500 is really an awesome took for 'seeing' whats going on

At VHF and up its a MUST

Simon Lewis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwRNjHHDGdU

More fun!

last night ZL2VHX was really wide and spread due to rainscatter.

Check out the broad beamwidths a weather front bring

Note - I am not moving the frequency of the VFO - the tone changes due to the change in path and phase on the rain front.

I was moving the dish off its normal direct path of 043 degs - I moved the dish to 017 and then back to 060 degs then finally back to 043 degs

Some fun experiments in microwaves

And all visible due to the awesome waterfall and panadapter of the Flex 6000 (6500 in this case)

Cheers

Simon ZL4PLM

Ken - NM9P

Very interesting. I never heard anyone tune their rig with their antenna rotator before! Nice demonstration of Doppler shift, too. You've got the beginnnings of your own weather radar, ha, ha! Ken - NM9P

Tim - W4TME

Very cool.

George KF2T

Any Flexers out here in he Southwest USA doing 10 GHz?

Simon Lewis

just gotta turn the rotator quick enough!!!