SBS-1 & SSE 1090SJ any experience with a preamp?

[jakems]

Hi

I am thinking about getting a mast head preamp for my SBS-1 and was wondering if anyone had any expereince with an SSE 1090SJ aerial and an SBS-1. My setup is as follows:

SSE 1090SJ aerial 45 feet above ground level
35m Westflex 103 with special N plugs
0.5m cable to SBS-1

I am 10 NM west of LHR in Maidenhead, the aerial is on the roof of my block of flats so has no obstacles round it and there are no significant hills nearby, yet the very furthest aircraft I get is never more than 150NM.

[viking9]

How high is your antenna above the roof?

[Anmer]

35m of Westflex is a very long run?

Do you need it that long?

[mhm]

the aerial is on the roof of my block of flats

[viking9]

the aerial is on the roof of my block of flats

OK again - just for you - how high is the antenna ABOVE THE ROOF

[mhm]

Should have put Anmer question in a a quote there Tom.

35m of Westflex is a very long run?

Do you need it that long?

The aerial is on the roof of my block of flats. Explains why so long

[jakems]

Hi.

Firstly, yes the cable does have to be that long, it use to be half that length, but lower down, but politics with the management committee meant it had to be moved. It was about a foot off the large flat roof but the lift motor room was to the west of it. It is now on the roof of the lift motor room about 6 inches above that roof, I won't be allowed to raise it any higher. The only other thing is a 10 foot pole with a TV aerial on at this level.

[viking9]

It could be the closeness to the lift motor room roof that's the problem, in which case an amplifier should help, especially as the  SSE 1090SJ is a 0db gain antenna.

[viking9]

Should have put Anmer question in a a quote there Tom.

35m of Westflex is a very long run?

Do you need it that long?

The aerial is on the roof of my block of flats. Explains why so long

Sorry 

[jakems]

Hi Tom.

Yes, I thought that a preamp would help. I emailed Chris Taylor and asked about the preamp kit he sells, but he said he had no experience with it and the 1090SJ. I was hoping that someone would have a similar set up, probably not with such a long cable, who might be able to guide on which preamp to buy.

[viking9]

Anmer would probably be the best man to advise you on that.

[Anmer]

I'm surprised at Chris' comments as I reviewed his kit for him some time ago and its available to read here.

I have a masthead pre-amp but with a 10m Ecoflex 10 cable.  I get approx 10% more contacts  and I found the same when testing the KAL kit supplied by Kinetic.

There are some who frown on preamps as the cost, together with a Bias-T and power supply, isn't small.  But mine has been working fine for over 6 years and I am pleased with the extra aircraft I see, pulling in weaker signals.

Or you could save the investment and join our data sharing network for free.

[jakems]

Hi Anmer

Thanks for your reply. Chris did mention his experiences with his set up, he just said that he had not tried it with the 1090SJ. The article is very informative. I was just hoping that someone had the same aerial as me and could say they had bought X preamp kit and it worked for them but I needed to buy Y & Z to make the kit work with this aerial. It looks to me from the article I would need an extra lead from the base of my aerial to the preamp input. I have to get permission and keys etc to get on the roof and so also wanted to make sure that I had everything I needed before I got up there.

[viking9]

You might drop an email to Jim at SSE and ask him if he has any experience of using preamps with it. He's a very nice guy.

[Anmer]

You'll need a short run of coax from the preamp to the antenna and similar from the Bias-T to the receiver.

The preamp will have N-type connectors and the Bias-T N-type/BNC

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