In the video he says the Pluto uses the Ethernet for data transfer not USB

Thank you 😊 at 28V and a 15mW input I was getting about 8W out of the PA which is capable of 20W. You can only output as much power as the satellite will handle. If you drive your signal higher than its beacons it (the satellite) will give you an audible warning on the downlink

Hi there, as the ground station is literally next to the dish I am simply using two very short runs of RG6 just because I had it in the shack. It's quite lossy so if you need a longer run I suggest a better cable

Hi Jack - no I didn't need any heatsink. The amplifier is already housed in quite a chunky aluminium casting and I was only Txing about 8W when the amplifier is rated at 20W so it wasn't really stressing it too much

Thank you for that. I am planning a build and your's seems straightforward and is so well documented. @@dave68cat

I have more or less completed the build thanks to your great series of videos David, just waiting for the SG Labs Amp to arrive, it was forecast as a 3 week lead time when I ordered on 12/01/24 so should be here soon. The one thing I am still unsure of is setting up the TX line for the correct power without blowing up the pre-amp or worse the Amp. The only test equipment I have is my 'normal' SWR/Power meter's which are useless at these frequencies and a NanoVNA-H4. If I understand it correctly I should feed the AMPv3 with 28v and set the output power of the PlutoPlus in SDRConsoleV3. Are those the only 2 things that will effect the power from the Pluto to the pre-amp and from the pre-amp to the AmpV3, which in combination will determine the final output from the AmpV3? @@dave68cat

@@jackofalltrades1206 yes correct the only thing that sets the final output power are the DC supply voltage and the level that drives the pre-amp from the Pluto+. The Pluto+ output is controlled from the SDRConsole output power control. Another way you can check is monitor the PA DC current which wil be 1.6A at a 20W output. You are not going to need 20W so start with the SDR console power output at it's lowest level and increase until you get say 500mA current into the PA. Remember you will need to Tx a tone in order to generate some Tx power - just keying up on SSB won't result in any Tx power.

What is the maximum INPUT that power that the CN0417 can handle Dave? if the output of the PlutoPlus SDR is 5 to 6 dbm and the output was driven to its full by SDRConsole could that overload the CN0417 input?

Hi Richard, that's great very pleased you liked my selection of videos on the QO-100 access. The pluto is in pluto+ mode which provides the ethenet port. The two main reasons I went for the pluto+ were the integrated ethenet and the much improved oscillator performance. Hope everything goes to plan - Dave G7IYK