2022 station maintenance log

• Mar 31 - I tried out the new satellite preamp, which made a huge difference. Signals on RS-44 that were previously S1 or S2 are now S8 or S9. I previously could not really ever hear myself but now my signal is as strong as any others.

• Mar 30 - We tested cable routing on the satellite mast. I had to pull extra rotor control cable up and through all the zip ties to give it enough room to rotate through the full 360 degrees without binding up anywhere. With this, everything outside on the preamp is done.

• Mar 27 - We tilted the satellite mast down and I installed the new SHF 432-VOX preamp, weatherproofing all coax connectors. Tilting the mast down is a two person job so it had to wait for both good weather and for Sarah to be available to help me with it. Now I just need to test it and install the bias tee inside.

• Mar 20 - We made a lot of progress removing trees in the back yard with the hand saw and chainsaw. While the main purpose of this is to just make the back yard look better, a side effect is making room for me to install a new dipole. We also spent some time removing the previous antennas and feed lines, all of which have fallen down.