Moonraker Aerial

[Anmer]

OK, so you got the preamp kit at £129.95 plus the antenna at £54.95?

There was a known problem (which I mentioned in my review) with the preamp which Kinetic said was fixed.  Basically, the preamp wasn't working in some situations which sounds like your problem.

Call Kinetic tomorrow and ask to speak to Chris Taylor.

[shakysen]

 Hi Again mike. Its is the pre amp with it connected  cambridge,south.newcastle north, liverpool west, east poor. same with it disconnected
                                                           
                                                                                                                  Billko

[Anmer]

You may have the problem that Kinetic was fixing but the LAM stock may be old?  Call Kinetic tomorrow.

[shakysen]

 Will do Anmer .Im I asking to much from it Mike? 200 NM?

                                                            Billko


                                                                                       

[Anmer]

If you have a good horizon, 260nm should be possible, it's what I get

[shakysen]

Hi All .Put Toms ground plane idea up today increased range Upto luton

                                                               Billko

[Anmer]

During my testing, if power to the preamp was removed for any reason, the preamp didn't kick in again when power was restored.  The only way the preamp would work was to remove and reconnnect the antenna at the preamp.

This was reported to Kinetic who said it was fixed in the "production" kit.  But others have reported similar issues:

[shakysen]

 Morning Mike. yes They said they had fixed it.Will I beable to reset from bias tee?

[shakysen]

 Hi Again. Im 4 miles n.west from the Ottringham Transponder. Would you settle for range upto Luton, Edinburgh?. Mike

                                                                                    Regards Billko


                                                                          B

[Anmer]

Hi Billko

If an antenna is located in a good position and the coax is suitable and the run is short, one could expect a range of, say, 260nm or further.  The addition of a preamp won't necessarily improve the range but should deliver weaker signals and, consequently, more contacts.  That's my personal experience, both with the Elad preamp and the Kinetic kit.

Unless you can easily get at the preamp, it may be a challenge to test that the Bias-T is powering it.  I was able to run successive tests and powering down the pre-amp reduced the contacts.  Powering it back made no difference until I removed and reconnected the antenna at the preamp which is OK for testing but not for a "production" setup.  That's the problem I reported and KInetic says is fixed.

The Kinetic kit represents good value and as long as everything works to spec, it should extend range and contacts for those still using the supplied magmount.

Do a simple test.  Remove the Bias-T power and see if your contacts reduce?  Then apply the power again and see if they increase.  If they don't, something's not quite right.

[shakysen]

Hi All.  Had enough of playing with antennas!!. The reviewed Items are in situ antenna 40 ft.Gatwick to the south, aberdeen to north, irish sea,west, coast of netherlands east. When i find out How to do a plot will post

                                                                                                         Billko

[Anmer]

When i find out How to do a plot will post

Download and install SBSPlotter from jetvision.

Unzip the files, read the readme.txt file and start building a plot.

Any questions, please ask.