[Mep-dev] Don't forget this coming weekend

[Michelle]

Hi Grant,

It was a programmable oscillator from a ham radio friend in order to get the station completed by the range test. 

We used it knowing that the phase noise would be bad, but we were not expecting it to be *that* bad! One more learning opportunity checked off the list  :+)  

The OCXO kit from W6PQL (http://www.w6pql.com/vhf_ocxo.htm) arrived today, and I'll put it together in anticipation of the crystal arriving in three or so weeks. I'll take photos of the spectra of the two oscillators and post a brief compare/contrast report, when the OCXO kit is completed.

 -Michelle W5NYV




----- Original Message ----
From: Grant Hodgson <grant at ghengineering.co.uk>
To: mep-dev at uppermeadow.com
Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2009 1:33:15 PM
Subject: Re: [Mep-dev] Don't forget this coming weekend

Michelle

What was the noisy external oscillator?

regards

Grant G8UBN


>
> 
> Hi James and the list,
> 
> I'm in the process of putting together a 10GHz rig here (I blame James for the inspiration!), but will miss the upcoming weekend's contest due to having an insufficient oscillator. The phase noise of the programmable external oscillator I used (at the last minute before the range party at Kerry Banke's QTH) was too high for the rig to work. I might be ready by September, since I ordered W6PQL's OXCO kit already and have a 106.5MHz crystal on order as of... today, with a three week lead time. 
> 
> How high was the phase noise? Well, AD5T calculated that the carrier from the DB6NT transverter was at best 40dB below the noise. 
> 
> Here's a spectrum of the oscillator used at the range party:
> 
> http://mustbeart.vox.com/library/photo/6a00e3989d138d0001011017f2fdf9860e.html
> 
> We were able to tell that there was a received signal in there when other people transmitted at the range party - it was just about 150kHz wide. Heh.
> 
> The 10GHz rig is going to be used for both narrowband activity as well as MEP experiments for 10GHz.
> 
> There's been a lack of updates from me over the summer. With three children home from school during the summer, the opportunities for proper documentation of efforts tend to be less than there are during the school year. All three of my kids will be in school, for the first time, this coming school year. The youngest will be in preschool and the oldest in third grade.
> 
> The SBMS tranverter, which is the bridge design between now and when uWSDRs arrive, is entering second-edition territory. 3GHz and 5GHz boards will be a parts-list change. The intent is to have a quad-band design. Orders are not being taken quite yet, but we'll get enough to construct two MEP stations. 
> 
> 
> More soon,
> -Michelle W5NYV
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