Hello All
I have two SG Labs transverters (23cm and 13cm) intended for UKAC and SOTA.
To keep losses to a minimum I intend to mount them on the mast with the aerial.
Whilst keeping weight light, bulk to a minimum, and protection high, has anybody any ideas or pointers other than plastic bags and bubble wrap?
Not sure for completeness if I should mast mount the battery in the same enclosure - keeps things simple, but adds weight to the mast.
The SG labs transverters are less than wx proof on their own, any pointers folks?
How about a plastic clip lock box similar to the pic. A couple of holes with rubber grommets should be ok for the cables. Widely used for geocaches for their ability to keep the contents dry.
Edit. Do SG Labs have a price list or is it just a matter of emailing them? I’m interested in getting on 13cm.
Just email. The prices don’t fluctuate much (around 200 euros) but availability and wait time depends on where in the batch you land. Hrystian should be able to give you a pretty good projection of how long you’ll be waiting.
This is how I have packed mine for SOTA. The box contains the Xverter and a LiIon batt (2.6AH). This is to minimise the cables and connectors to be manipulated on the summit.
The box is fairly waterproof
The picture shows an FM handi but it also works fine with a FT-817.
The antenna rotates in the socket to do either H or V polorisation.
Morning Steve
Thanks, yes, this looks like it could work well, and you could see the indicator lights through the box. The engineer in me was way over complicating things, the reason I started this thread!
Re the SG labs 13cm xvert - 210 Euro plus 8 Euro shipping (September 2019), mine took around 3 weeks from order. I also ordered the 25w 23cm PA at the same time, arrived a week later. The xverts and PA were in stock at the time I placed the order. Hristiyan is very helpful and responds to e-mail quickly. All the units I have from him are well made and reasonably priced. Catch you 13cm s2s sometime next year.
Hi Andrew
Thank you for the pictures, this is the kind of thing I am looking to do with mine.
I use a 6m telescopic fishing pole for my activation’s, was hoping to make use of at least 4m of it for the SHF kit. I have all winter to come up with something Thanks for the ideas.
73
Tim
G4YTD
A point to note for anyone wanting to contact them is that the company and website name is SG-LAB, not SG-LABS. Requesting SG-LABS for a quote won’t get you a price. They are a software developer.
Noted on height above ground. I wanted to be as far as possible away from 25w of 23cm energy hence getting things higher.
The idea is to mount the transverter at the mast head with the minimum of connecting cable.
Good to hear that lower height above ground can still achieve the results though, thanks Andy.
Thanks Andrew,
Just seen your thread re VK activations, I also have the Arrow antenna, use it in the camper van for sat QSO’s.
Your setup looks tidy, but we swapped sunshine for rain, frost and snow here so may need a little more wx proofing for use in the UK
Thanks for the ideas.
