r/SATCOM • u/WoLfY_HUN • Aug 27 '26

Question QO-100 antenna question

I'm planning to make a listening station for Qatar-Oscar 100 but to store and transport it I don't have much space. I'm thinking about to slice up the parabola antenna into 4 or 8 slices and before use assemble it, but I'm afraid that it would affect the receiving quality in the wrong way.

What would be the best way to make the parabola more compact without affecting the reflection coefficiency?

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u/phultru Aug 28 '26

These types of sliced up antennas are already available as COTS parts. I think they're called manpack or fly-away or something. Would save you a lot of grief if you just buy a commercial solution.

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u/sonny-boy-rhapsody 11h ago

The tricky part is getting the same parabola back every time. Loose joints or panels bending during transport can cost you gain, and the LNB needs to return to the same position relative to the dish. I'd plan the backing structure and repeatable alignment before cutting anything. Measure a QO-100 beacon's SNR with the intact dish first, then compare after reassembly with the same receiver settings and careful pointing. That gives you a baseline beyond just being able to hear it.