VE3GHZ/b 10GHz Beacon Project


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Antenna | Internal | Return Loss | Mounting Plate





Equipment details:

Multiplier/Transmitter: DB6NT/ Kuhne MKU10 Bake Opt.1
PLL-LO Oscillator: VE2PN PLL LO - 108.004666 MHz.
10 MHz Reference OCXO: Bliley NV47A1282.
Antenna: Slot Antenna (12 slots per side) H-Pol, Omnidirectional.
CW Keyer: DigiSpark ATTINY85 (Arduino compatible) uController.

Operating Frequency: 10.368448 GHz
Output Power: 200mW
Operating Location: FN03eo just west of Toronto.


Built in early 2020. The weatherproof box was acquired from an electrical supply house. The antenna radome is made from central vacuum pipe. A central vac internal wall outlet was used to support the antenna and radome. A mast mounting plate was drawn up in AutoCad then cut out of 3/16" aluminum plate using a plasma cutter. The slot antenna was purchased as a kit from W6DFW (now SK), built then tuned for best return loss (thanks to Kevin VE3KH for the use of his network analyzer).

The VE2PN PLL LO is programmed to generate a frequency of 108.004666 MHz. A Bliley 10 MHz OCXO provides a stable reference to the PLL L.O. Board. The PLL LO board delivers a stable 0dBm signal to the DB6NT beacon transmitter. The transmitter multiplies the 108.004666 MHz signal by 96 and amplifies it up to 200 mW. The 200mW signal is fed directly into the slot antenna. A DigiSpark ATTINY85 microcontroller was programmed to key the CW message out to a 2N7000 FET which provides GND to TX keying to the final amplifier stages of the DB6NT transmitter.




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