Wednesday, 27 April 2011

Upgrades!

Well, it's time for a little upgrade to STAC, isn't it? We've been here for a year now, and that's a long time for no changes!

There's been an Icom UX-910 sitting in my drawers for quite some time, now, and it would be a waste of a considerable amount of money if it wasn't installed. Some spare time and a bored me means it has been now!
In short, this box adds 1.24GHz -> 1.3GHz capability to the station, in terms of radio equipment anyway.

So... below are some pictures!

After removing the cover, and getting everything ready, this is what the desk looks like... Spot the prototype cubesat in the top right corner!


On closer inspection, this is the main circuit board for the IC-910H. Spot the two SSB filters and the space for the CW Narrow filter, if that's what takes your fancy. This seems to be a pretty upgradeable radio!


Unit fitted successfully! Only a Flexible Flat Cable, DC power cable and coax to the PLL unit had to be attached, then a couple of screws and it's secured!

And the end result? A lovely new frequency.



Sadly, the excitement can't last long as we have no antenna equipment to transmit with (although that may change soon), No one with a relevant license to transmit with (I've sat on my hands all year) and no one up here that we know of (yet) to test the system with.

Oh well, always something nice to do at midnight in the office!

DH

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