Challenge(s) for Next Year.

 A "few" words on what should be next year's challenge.

0) The  open home brew challenge goes on. This is all about making at least one QSO on as many bands as possible, with home made equipment. This could be a kit I built, a fully home constructed transmitter and/or receiver, or modified versions of equipment not designed for amateur radio.

I do intend to get some more kits built next year, and use some of those already built for HF band monitoring. A part of the propagation study may include a WSPR and/or WRSS transmitter, and/or some WSPR/QRSS monitoring, and more bands with FT8 monitoring when I am not actively operating on the bands.

Apart from the kits, I may get to some more home construction. We shall see.

1) The primary challenge for 2023 will be all about improving the solar power system and its efficiency for the amateur radio station. 

In particular, all systems for monitoring the radio propagation has the highest priority. This includes both the improvement of the capacity of the solar panel and battery system and reducing the power consumption of the receiving systems.

More solar panels are needed for charging the battery. I expect to increase the peak "capacity" of the panels to somewhere between 600 and 900W. The precise configuration is yet to be decided. Currently I have a peak capacity of 250W and a non-optimal position for the panels.

An improved system of solar charge controllers. MPPT controllers are inherently more efficient, though they tend to be more noisy in the radio spectrum. I found some that seem to be relatively quiet, but the3y are not yet tested at full charge current. I suspect that they can be useful with good RF filtering at the inputs and outputs.

Improved battery capacity. The 12V system for the station should be updated to 400Ah capacity at 100% charge.

The aim is to provide pure solar power to the minimum requirements of the station all through winter.

This leads to the next part: Minimizing the power requirements of the station, especially the parts that will be required to run 24/7, or many hours per day, such as some propagation monitoring and monitoring e.g. local traffic on 2m.

2) The other challenge is concerned with microwave activity (above 1GHz) The aim is to make at least a first QSO on a few microwave bands. starting with 2.4GHz and 10GHz. Long ago I was active on 23cm, but I would very much like to get going on that band, too. If I can get away with making experiments on 3.4, 5.7 and 24GHz, that would be nice, too. Improving the QO100 system is part of this, too.

I am already active on the QO100 satellite. This means that I have transmit capability on 2.4GHz and some receive capability on 10GHz.

This system is rather primitive, and many improvements can be made to it, especially on the receive side.

a) Further, I located a 23cm (1.3GHz) module for the IC-910, as well as a more precise and stable reference oscillator (TCXO) for that transceiver. During the winter nights I need to make sufficient space on the lab desk, so I can get going with mounting those, and also make a fresh alignment of the transceiver. Straight forward when the space is available.

As the IC-910 is quite heavy I intend it for home operation only. If I want to go portable on 1.3GHz I will need a transverter and a portable transceiver. I could use one of the FT817s or the IC-705. Both need modifications, so the transverter(s) are not blown up if they get high power TX signals in.

I will still need to get some antenna up for 1.3GHz. This should happen some time in the spring. I expect to use a Diamond X-5000 (I think) for vertical omnidirectional (mostly FM) with a 23cm preamp, and a small yagi, like the front mounted Flexa antenna for horizontal polarization (mostly SSB/CW/digital modes). The horizontal antenna will need a rotating system that needs to be set up. Lots of work.

For portable work I still have a small 23cm yagi that can be used on hills etc.

b) While it is possible to use my up-converter for the QO100 system for transmitting on 2.4GHZ in general, the existing system will be very cumbersome, especially when going portable.

I could possibly use the up converter with the FT817 as the transmit system, and the AR8600 SSB capable "scanner" as receiver. Operating portable from a parked car could be done with this system, but setup will take time, and I am not sure I have the patience ;) 

I think that a much better system can be made with the FT817 driving a transverter from e.g. SG-Labs, and a PA. A bit of relay and sequencing will have to be made. The transverter system should be sufficiently compact for portable use, and should be easily connected to the home system.

Antennas for 2.4GHz? I have some low cost WiFi antennas, such as 16el. yagis, and some patch antennas. Both most likely have a gain of 10-12dBd gain, and can be used for the first light weight portable experiments.

For home use I would likely use a panel antenna with about 20dB gain. Again, as with the 1.3GHz system, a rotator is needed.

c) 10GHz: 

It is possible to make some simple, mostly line-of-sight experiments with a modulated HB-100 module, a satellite LNB and a scanner receiver in the 500-700MHz range. Using WBFM this could likely provide 10-20km range without using anything but the modules, no dish antennas or horn antennas. More, if "external" horn extensions or just a dish for the RX part would be used. This is mostly for portable experiments.

A small system for 10GHz narrow band, with a transverter, is also on my list. Most likely a Kuhne/DB6NT transverter, driven by the FT817 or the IC705.

Other narrow band experiments could be a NBFM/CW transmitter used with a satellite LNB down converter.

First experiments will likely be portable, but long term I should have a small station running from home.

Am I likely to get all of this done? Not really, but the minimum will be to get going from home and portable on at least one microwave band.

On the solar power and monitoring front, at least I will get some improved solar energy and *some* "reduced power" monitoring done.

Batteries for Portable and Fixed Use.

Today I brought my hand held VX-5 on my walk. Yes, I am trying to work myself up to a daily walk of at least 2km. I thought the battery was well charged, and all was fine just operating in stand-by. Having a local chat with the highest power level ... oops! Battery died. Maybe this is because the battery is fairly old. I am now going to check the state of the battery (Li-Ion type, 7.2V)

I may have to purchase a couple of spares, because it is a nice little radio. The standard battery is rated to 1100mAh.

For now, I am thinking of making a battery pack with 3 18650 Li-Ion cells and a cord/connector, just to be sure to have some spare capacity. This way I have can always have a fully charged battery, and I can change the cells when it goes too low. The cells are used, but tested cells with more than 2000mAh, so even with full power (5W) I should have enough juice for some local chatting. I **could** use lead acid batteries, but I don't want a hole in my pocket or rucksack after all those batteries are heavy as lead ;)

I have a good supply of Li-Ion cells and battery cassettes, so I expect to use those for several portable experiments, including going to local hills with the 10GHz WBFM experiments.

In China I found 2 solar chargers with a 3-cell (18650) battery casing, and including a BMS system, possibly fine for portable work.

At home I am slowly building some battery supply, charged mostly by solar panels, but in winter time it is probably necessary to add some juice from the mains power.

Initially this is intended for very low power equipment, such as a 28200 simple beacon receiver and some other simple monitor receivers that should run 24/7, and preferably also when mains supply fails, even if that does not happen often here.

For some of the computing the plan is to use some Raspberry Pi boards. The idea is using this for both WSPR/FT8 propagation monitoring and QRSS. 

As usual, ideas a-plenty, now it is about making time to do something with them.

Slow Progress on the 10HGz WFM Project.

 The past few weeks I have been working a bit on the modulator for the 10GHz HB100 module. The modulator worked, but I needed to build it up on some prototype PCBs and that is almost there. A CW (audio) generator is under way, and then it needs to go into a box, so it can be operated portable.

I may also make myself a test TX ("beacon") with the HB100 and just a CW audio generator. I think I have found some directions where I can test the TX on top of a 12m telescopic fibreglass mast and then walk on road and path to test the path for (near) line-of-sight propagation. First tests will be in the garden, of course, with a max range of about 35m ;)

Then I will have to take some walks, I suspect that I have found a possible distance of about 600m, and maybe one of about 1.6km. 

This will all be using the HB100 with the built-in dual patch antenna on the PCB, and the LNB just with the integrated feed horn. Not a lot of gain, but some people have claimed the range of such a simple arrangement to be 8, maybe 15km. The distance to a fellow amateur who is interested in participating is less than 10km, and we suspect that we could possibly make a line-of-sight contact from garden to garden.

Initially I just build a single TX and RX, but having made one set it is not too difficult to make another.

For longer distances some improved antennas or higher power is needed for WFM contacts.

I hope to be able to make the first one-way tests in my garden this week end, and hope for some decent weather to make the tests on longer distances.

I will need the weather to be dry and not too windy for these experiments, as the HB100 module(s) need to be in the open air, or at least with very low loss material in front of the patch antennas.

Now we start the idea box:

Improved antennas can be the following:

- mounting the HB100 and the LNB (or just the LNB) on a dish. Not easily portable if I need to up a steep road to a hilltop, or up a narrow staircase to a watch tower or the like. Also, for the dish a tripod is needed, and it should not be too flimsy.

- The second option involves more work: Horn antennas. In this case both the HB100 and the LNB need to be "connected" to horn antennas. For this some coax-to-waveguide transitions are needed. I have one.

It may be possible to "glue" a horn antenna in front of the LNB. I will have to test how efficient that will be.

The HB100 *could* be mounted inside a "horn". I do not know how efficient that will be, so modifying a HB100 with a connector/coax to the coax/WG transition.

- The other option for keeping the size/bulk of the equipment low also involves more work: Going narrow band. This could be NBFM as we use it on 2m and 70cm, or it could be a CW transmitter, to keep it as simple as possible. Both would likely involve generating a much lower frequency, and using frequency multipliers to get to 10GHz. Much more complex electronically, but still relatively simple mechanical construction.

We shall see what we will do, but first some short range tests will be done, likely this autumn.

Spectrum Analyzer Extender Using the HB100 Module as Down Converter.

Tonight I made a test of using the HB100 module as a down converter, so I should be able to "see" 10GHz band signals on my (low-cost) Tiny SA spectrum analyzer.

I have a few of the modules, so here goes:

With a previous test I had used a LNB with a more expensive spectrum analyzer I had access to. I tuned some HB100 modules to different frequencies, so I had some simple signal sources on frequencies from 10300 up to 10500MHz in 25MHz steps. I also made one for 10368MHz (narrow band) and for 10489MHz (QO100 segment).

Today I wanted to test how the HB100 module did as a simple dowm converter. Because it has been used with (broadcast) FM band receivers I am aware that it can be used as a general down converter, and sure enough, using a 10450MHz HB100 and a 10375MHz module, connecting the spectrum analyzer to the IF output of the module produced a 75MHz IF output. It does work as I expected.

However, I do not know the RF or IF) bandwidth of the module, so I have not checked that.

The base bandwidth of the Tiny SA is 350MHz, so I tested with a 10300 module and a 10600 module, and got a nice 300MHz signal. Using the modules is a bit tricky because the apparent output varies a lot when tuning.

Using a 10600MHz module should make "seeing" 10300 - 10900MHz with a small gap around 10600 (zero IF). Not too bad for a $5 module. For the putpose I also made a 10500MHz module (10200 - 10800MHz coverage) a 10300MHz module can be added for coverage all the way down to the 10000MHz band edge (10000 - 10600MHz)

I am well aware that I do not have any image rejection, but as long as I can calculate expected frequencies I should be able to estimate the spectrum of an oscillator or a transmitter.

The Tiny SA has a base bandwidth of 350MHz (LOW input), but also has an extended coverage up to 960MHz, so it should be possible to see more than 1800MHz with a single module. The question is how much IF bandwidth the module can provide. 

SM6WHY estimates on his blog that the IF bandwidth of the HB100 might be up to 2GHz. I have my doubts, but if that is the case I might try using my Chinese 35 - 4400MHz (primitive) spectrum analyzer which uses direct conversion to sweep the band. If I recall correctly, only 350MHz can be displayed at a time, but the 10500MHz version then might be able to cover 8500 - 12500MHz with a small gap around 10500.

Even if this is far from calibrated, it is much better than not being able to see anything.

For the initial test I just used the modules lying on the desk, with the antennas there. I do think that removing/disconnecting the antenna(s) and adding connectors, and put the module in a stable casing will improve the set-up considerably, both with respect to stability and reliability.

What do you think? a spectrum analyzer extender to the 10GHz band for about $5? Not bad. 

10GHz HB 100 Test With Modulation.

 Today was an active day with the soldering iron.

As the very first test I just connected the HB100 modules, preset to 10375MHz and 10450MHz on the desk, just to see if I could hear the carrier with my LNB mounted outside the house, and pointing away from the house. This is the LNB I have used for beacon monitoring, so I know that it works.

A primitive modulator using the LM386 PCB module with gain control (from China) connected to the 5V power supply (yes, 7805) was tested, making sure that the peak voltage would not be too high for the transistor in the HB100 module. This initial test was done with a 150 ohm "DC-dummy-load" in place of the HB100, and the LM386 input was connected to the earphone/headphone connector of a transistor radio. The voltage swing was about 50mVpp, so well within the limit.

Time for an on-air test. I connected my QO-100 base radio for TX, without RF output, and used the CW side tone to modulate the system on 10450MHz. When the HB100 was in an optimal position the wideband FM modulated CW signal was loud and clear in the receiver. Not very strong, but with significant quieting and a clear CW. My callsign has been sent out on 10GHz.

What I need to do now is getting the system into a box with switches, a tone generator the modulator, likely an electret microphone and a bias tee for the LNB, plus connectors for getting signals and DC out to the LNB and HB100, and the IF signal in from the LNB, and I should have a working system.

Right now I do not have any stations to test with, but a local amateur has a HB100 module and LNB somewhere, so he might be available. Otherwise I may have to build another system, so I can get some tests done.

The transmission distance tested right now is about 8m, so there is plenty of room for improvements.

First HB100 Tests on 10GHz. Simple Low Cost Field Strength Meters.

 The first experiment with very simple equipment, using the low cost HB100 Doppler radar module has been completed: A simple field strength meter (FSM). The idea comes from F6HCC's website http://f6hcc.free.fr/10ghz.htm .

A non-functioning HB100 (with no output when supplied with 5V supplied) was modified according to F6HCC. Another as yet untested HB100 module was used as a source.

But the initial test was done by using a 2m/70cm hand held radio near the module's receive antenna. The "IF" output of the module uses a 10nF capacitor (non-critical, F6HCC uses 22nF) as decoupling for the RF to the meter. The meter used is a low cost digital multimeter (DMM) from the local DIY (home improvement) store. 

The reading with 10cm distance from the source (TX antenna) to the sensor (FSM RX antenna), and the reading is a modest 5mV, clearly seen when changing the distance.

Because most hams do have a DMM this provides for a low cost method of testing the functioning of a 10GHz transmitter and/or antenna. The HB100 module can still be had for less than $5, and the modification is simple and well described (with images) by F6HCC. Admittedly, the sensitivity of this meter is low, but it does work.

On the same page F6HCC also describes a more elaborate FSM for 10GHz, involving a diode inside a wave guide, and an amplifier for an analog meter.

However, for a much more sensitive FSM I would likely use a low cost (surplus) low noise block converter LNB, usually used with a satellite TV receiver dish. This has lots of gain, and you can probably salvage one from a discarded satellite dish. The signal on 10GHz is amplified and converted to a much lower frequency, usually around 250 - 750MHz, where a diode detector is much easier to make. Also a simple multimeter (analog or digital) can easily be used in this application. 

For measuring close to the lower band edge (about 10.0GHz) it may be a good idea to modify the LNB with an external DC supplied, not via the IF cable, but directly through a hole in the casing, and disconnect the DC "RF-choke" on the PCB from the IF connector.

Further, if there is a filter on the 11-12GHz side, it may be an advantage to by-pass this for greater bandwidth.

The gain in such an arrangement may be rather high - too high - but reducing gain in a system like this is easy. Just put some RF (microwave) lossy material between the LNB and the signal source...

There is, of course, the possibility of bypassing the RF (10GHZ) amplifier and the RF filter in the LNB, and connect the sensor antenna directly to the mixer via a piece of coax (semi-rigid coax will be the best choice), thereby reducing the gain.

If you do this, you might salvage some useful GaAsFETs, if you can avoid destroying them with static electricity.

Microwave Parts and Modules, Part 1: Old 10GHz Stuff.

Lately, I have purchased a fair amount of microwave components and (PCB) modules, as well as some stuff I have had for a long time, before I moved back to Denmark.
Unfortunately I may not have brought everything (I now want to use) with me, so it was time to take stock of what I have available.
I have already written some posts about the 10GHz HB100 module, and that should result in some wideband FM equipment at some stage.

Last week I ordered some surplus boards from rf-microwaves.it .
Along with that some bonus parts were in the package, some of them not yet identified, so I have more to sort out.

First stage was a box with some old 10GHz parts. Some of those were not really suitable for 10GHz, waveguides (WG) too big or too small, but here is a list of some useable stuff:

Two small horns (probably 15dBi) and a slightly larger one (probably near 20dBi) fit a WG17/WR75 waveguide, as does a slightly larger one. Both appear to be made from PCB material, and all have a WR75 flange.
Two horn antennas (probably about 15dBi) with WR90 flanges.

A bit of WR90 waveguide material, e.g. some twisted WG with flanges.

a DRO with a WR75 flange. This is built into the casing for an older LNB, and there could be enough space for building a 10GHz power amplifier, up to a few 100s of milliwatts.

3 old single band LNBs with WR75 flanges. those could most likely be used as a preamplifier for a separate receiver. If the DRO in it can be frequency locked, it may be possible to use it as a simple converter for narrow band, maybe for an experiment with a "local rain scatter" monitor with a horn pointing up into the sky.
Maybe, with another PCB, it could be used as a 30-50mW amplifier for a transmitter.
If nothing else, it may be used as a coax-to-WG transition. A bit of matching with a screw or two may be needed for that.

If I got it back to Denmark at the move, I may find some more old 10GHz stuff, like:
- a simple tiny WG/horn with a Gunn oscillator, another small horn with a detector diode
- some Doppler Gunn modules with a tiny, tiny horn antenna.
- some Gunn oscillator/detector with small horn antennas, probably 10dBi
- one or two Gunn/detector modules without  horn antenna, but with a flange.
- I seem to recall a small double-horn Doppler module.
Some of this would probably be useable for making coax-to-WG transitions, if I can find it.
All this may have been discarded at the move, but it may also be inaccessible at this time, due to a major reorganization (well slowly tidying up) in the big shed.

I am - slowly - finding more radio stuff after the move, so I may still find this, exactly.

Vaguely 10GHz Related: Leaking Alkaline Batteries.

How is leaking alkaline batteries in any way related to 10GHz?, you may ask.

Here goes :

For my wideband 10GHz experiments I need a portable receiver. For the initial experiments I plan to use a portable scanner capable of receiving the IF from a LNB, and it needs to be wideband FM capable.
My old AOR AR-8200 is such a beast, and it has been lying with old batteries for a while, so the battery casing was full of leaked potassium hydroxide - nasty stuff. What to do? Of course, googling a bit does help, and I found that using vinegar should neutralize and make the residue removable, so I tried. Indeed, that helped, but vinegar is somewhat acidic, so in order to avoid further corrosion it has to be washed. The idea is to start with isopropyl-alcohol, then demineralized water, and then let it dry.

I did test that the radio worked with an external power supply, and it is alive, indeed. The best thing about the AR-8200 is that it also receives SSB, so tests can be made with narrow band reception in the field, too.

Next:
I have an old ICOM R3, only AM-FM-WFM capable with a totally dead battery pack. That one has a different power connector to the other radios I have - and runs on 6V only, so I have not yet tested if it is alive.
I hope so, because then I can set up two receivers on 10GHz, and make a WBFM transmitter or two, testing the range of the HB100 module, and possibly make a two-way QSO on 10GHz with those.

You may say that I could "just" use a standard FM receiver, but that requires a second converter after the LNB, and I want to start the simplest possible way. The other way would be using the HB100 module as down converter, but then the sensitivity will suffer in a significant way, probably about 20 dB worse, maybe more, than the LNB system, thereby reducing the possible range, by a lot.

Well, in any case, with a set-up of a single modulated HB100 transmitter and the LNB receive system, I can, at least, test the range of the HB100 module as it is.

Well here is to getting the AR-8200 cleaned and ready for action, and getting a modulator made for the HB100.

Uses for the HB100 Doppler Radar Module 10GHz Experiments.

The HB100 module is intended for use as a Doppler radar motion sensor, e.g. for door openers. Could be used as a primitive speed meter, like the speeding detectors used by the traffic police.

The price of the module itself is somewhere around $3

After testing that the modules with the tuning screw could be tuned down to about 10300MHz without serious degradation of the signal, I can now see several uses of the module, some already described by others.

Here is preliminary list (other uses may be added):

1) simple 10GHz signal generator, using the module as it is, with its PCB patch antenna, tuned to a specific frequency. See also the previous post on this blog where I tested the usefulness myself.
A signal generator for 10GHz for $3.

2) Simple 10GHz WBFM (wideband FM) or FM-ATV TX, using the module as it is, but modulating the power supply. A relatively simple modulator/power supply on PCB (or experimental board) is needed. Some people have already tried this, and a Google search will reveal several ways to generate the modulation.
The modulator could probably be made for $5-10.

3) Simple RX down converter for WBFM and FM-ATV, using the module as it is, and adding a receiver at the IF port. Poor sensitivity, so very short range as the module is.
If used as receive converter only, the TX signal should be terminated in 50 ohm or similar in place of being connected to the TX patch antennas.
$3 and a bit of work.

4) Simple down converter for spectrum analyzer/frequency counter. Using the module as in (3), with the IF port connected to Analyzer/Counter.
$3

5) Very simple WBFM transceiver for *very short range* communication, using the module as is, with a modulator and an inexpensive 80-108MHz FM receiver, Chinese module, can be purchased as a simple kit for around $3, and a cheap audio amplifier, also an inexpensive Chinese module.
I estimate that the complete transceiver could be made for about $25, depending on the  external circuits used

5a) The very simple transceiver can, most likely, be enhanced by a low gain "preamplifier" between the IF output of the module and the FM receiver.

5b) Some experimentation with mounting the HB100 inside a "horn antenna", using the module's patch antennas as "illuminators".

5c) The simple TRX can, of course, be mounted in or near the focal plane of a dish antenna.

6) I have a defective HB100 (No oscillation, and high power consumption, most probably due to reversed polarity of the power supply). Experimentation should be done to see, if it can be used as an up converter with a local oscillator suited for narrow band transverters.
A simple test would be trying to insert a low level RF signal at the IF port of a functioning HB100, and check the resulting spectrum radiated from the RX patch.

6a) The mixer could also be used as an RX down converter mixer, in the receive chain of a NB transverter

It should be noted that  the very simple WBFM TRX, or the module used as a simple down converter, has poor RX sensitivity, due to the loss in the passive mixer.
However, some people have made QSOs up to 200km LOS (line of sight) when using parabolic dish antennas, interesting what can be done with just a few mW. True QRP with extremely simple and inexpensive equipment.
Some experimentation with a TV-LNB followed by a WBFM RX, would probably result in enhancing the sensitivity by 10dB or more.

I can see that the is room for experimentation, and I need to try out some of the above ideas.

If you can think of other uses for the HB100, feel free to comment.

10GHz Testing, HB100 and LNB.

Today I got my first test gear for 10GHz up and running.

I have a spectrum analyzer (SA) covering up to 1.5 or 1.7GHz. Not much to see on 10GHz with that one. So, as a test I fed the SA with the down converted signal from a PLL LNB.
I chose the cheapest one I have, a Goobay that I discarded for use with OSCAR 100, because it has more local oscillator phase noise/jitter than I like. For this purpose, and for experiments with wide band FM (WBFN) it was expected to work nicely. It certainly does for the test equipment.

So how to test the system. I have a pile of HB100, cheap ($5 or so) Doppler radar modules. Some with a tuning screw, some without. 5V to the HB100, and a nice signal appears on the screen with the LNB about a meter or two away. The system clearly works. Increasing gain of the spectrum analyzer (well, reducing attenuation) shows the noise floor of the LNB, and some spurious outputs of the DRO, some 40 - 50dB under the main carrier.
A thought: This spurious response could be due to the PLL local oscillator of the LNB, and probably not from the DRO of the HB100 module. I consider this the most likely explanation. Maybe I should try with another PLL LNB, or maybe with an older DRO controlled LNB. More to try out.

Next step was creating some signal sources. What to use? HB100 modules, of course. I tested the tuning range of the modules, and found that some of them went down to 10275MHz without any problems. So, now I have some wideband signal generators covering 10275MHz - 10500MHz in 25MHz steps. Further i tuned one for 10368 (narrow band segment) and one for 10489MHz (The transponder downlink for QO-100.

What are the limitations of this, you may ask. The stability of the DRO and the rather critical setting of the tuning screw makes it difficult to adjust within less than +/- 2MHz of the wanted frequency. This makes the test system more suited to wideband system tests,  but a crude spectrum analysis of narrow band equipment is feasible.
All this with some low cost accessories for the existing test equipment that I have.
The LNB should also be useable as a converter for a frequency counter, this will have to be tested later

This does not mean that I do not want a bit more 10GHz test equipment. I am thinking of making a narrow band signal generator for somewhere around 10368MHz, either with a 24MHz crystal oscillator and a series of multipliers, or with a ADF4350/4351 synthesizer and a tripler. This will have to be later.

I think that the next step in test equipment should be a MMDS down converter with the bandpass filter removed, so I can see signals around 2400MHz. Using the LNB for 10GHz provided me with a proof of concept for the idea.