[Wswss] Request for conceptual design info--cooperative microwave effort CC-Rider

[Cliff Buttschardt]

This month many highly useful microwave, communications conferences
are in progress.  I would like to bring to your attention a long term
microwave satellite experiment that has been around since 2003.  This 
should interest the groups mentioned above and a few others as well!
      Many hands make easier work so it would seem that the first step
would be to segregate a number of small blocks composing the overall
design.  First, the eventual goal should be mentioned.  The name of
this 5.7 GHz project is "The CC-Rider" proposed for use on AMSAT's
EAGLE satellite but equally useful for point to point communications
due to the simplicity generated by the drift cancellation ability
built into the system.  Here is the conceptual URL:

http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/eagle/documents/cc-revisited_paper.pdf

If we were to allocate individual tasks, they might be these:
1)  5750 MHz local oscillator, 10 mW out with reasonable stability
2)  5670 MHz low noise preamp
3)  5800 MHz power amplifier with one half to one watt output
4)  low noise receiving mixer
5)  low IMD transmitting mixer
6)  antenna assemblies, steerable or non steerable such as a patch
7)  AFC system using a continuous received tone into a standard IF
As always there are integration tasks that hams do well developing.

Let's conclude by asking that we start thinking about simple ways of
first assembling such a system using available off the shelf components.
This might be OEM units connected with SMA connectors for both transmit
and receive.  Later, a PC board design similar to the "no tune" of past
years in which the LO, mixers and filters might be placed.  The first
step is to find simple brassboard assembly suggestions.  This note is
just that first step.      Cliff K7RR  CUBESAT San Luis Obispo, CA.