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{
    "url": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/email/D3XCNC2UY4L54QOLPDPL2SYBGICNXJV2/",
    "mailinglist": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/",
    "message_id": "001001c9e843$31cb7500$6701a8c0@sysoffice",
    "message_id_hash": "D3XCNC2UY4L54QOLPDPL2SYBGICNXJV2",
    "thread": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/thread/P74NN22725RVV3EP4UJITXNIFCY6VZOI/",
    "sender": {
        "address": "hkowall (a) shaw.ca",
        "mailman_id": null,
        "emails": null
    },
    "sender_name": "Howard Kowall",
    "subject": "[amsat-bb] Re: Another satellite-receiver option",
    "date": "2009-06-08T14:12:44Z",
    "parent": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/email/P74NN22725RVV3EP4UJITXNIFCY6VZOI/",
    "children": [],
    "votes": {
        "likes": 0,
        "dislikes": 0,
        "status": "neutral"
    },
    "content": "Hello to All\nYes and also if you just want a small inexpensive all mode portable receiver\nThe Yaesu VR-500 can be bought at a reasonable price theses days\nHoward\nVE4ISP\n----- Original Message ----- \nFrom: <[email protected]>\nTo: <[email protected]>\nSent: Monday, June 08, 2009 8:07 AM\nSubject: [amsat-bb] Another satellite-receiver option\n\n\n> Hey everyone,\n>\n> Over the weekend, I had a chance to do some more testing and \n> experimenting – this time, with a Kenwood TH-F6A HT.  My sincere thanks to \n> Ed, N4ALE, who loaned me his TH-F6A for the weekend. I picked it up Friday \n> afternoon and returned it Sunday afternoon, giving it a pretty good \n> workout in the interim – well, part of it.\n>\n> I can’t tell you how it performs on AO-27, AO-51 and SO-50 because I never \n> tried it with any of our FM satellites. In fact, I never keyed the radio’s \n> transmitter. Instead, I focused on its receiver.\n>\n> The TH-F6A proved to be a capable receiver for use on AO-7, FO-29 and \n> VO-52. If you have an all-mode radio that will operate in CW and SSB on \n> the UHF and VHF bands, you can use the HT as your receiver for a \n> full-duplex station that will work our linear-transponder satellites. For \n> the record, I believe the current-production all-mode transceivers that \n> are NOT full duplex include two Icom models (IC-706MKIIG and IC-7000) and \n> three Yaesu models (FT-817ND, FT-857D and FT-897D). Anyone with one of \n> these rigs and the Kenwood can do what I did last weekend. Just add \n> antennas, or a duplexer and a dual-band antenna. There are plenty of \n> workable options, including a good number of homebrew antenna designs to \n> consider.\n>\n> I started out Friday evening just listening because I discovered I needed \n> an adapter to connect my headphones to the receiver jack on the radio, \n> which takes a 2.5 mm connector. Full-duplex contacts in SSB wouldn’t \n> happen until I had that, so I connected my Elk and configured the radio’s \n> B-Band to receive SSB in the 2 meter and 70 cm pass bands. It’s easy to \n> set up, and the fine-tuning feature permits tuning steps in CW or SSB as \n> low as 33 Hz. I chose 100 Hz, which worked well.  Switching from CW to SSB \n> took only a few seconds. Through the evening, I copied AO-7 on multiple \n> passes to the east and west of my location, and had reception below 4 \n> degrees at the end of the passes, which was encouraging.\n>\n> Just before 03:00 UTC Friday evening, I had a VO-52 pass that reached a \n> maximum elevation of about 70 degrees here. I copied practically the whole \n> pass, hearing K8YSE work AA5PK and KB1PVH, and also clearly copying CW \n> from W8IJ. Here’s the fun part about that pass – I was standing in my \n> driveway, using a Diamond SRH-789 telescoping whip for an antenna. Having \n> the ability to copy pretty much the whole pass with just a whip helped me \n> to see that the TH-F6A probably would do OK as a satellite receiver.\n>\n> After picking up the headphone adapter I needed Saturday morning, I \n> started working passes. Using an SMA-to-SO239 adapter, I connected the HT \n> to the Elk using a Diamond duplexer. I used either a Yaesu FT-857D or a \n> Yaesu FT-817ND as my transmit radio. The earliest afternoon pass of AO-7 \n> hit 3.8 degrees maximum elevation here, but I heard my CW signal and \n> called CQ a few times with no answer. The next pass of AO-7 was well over \n> 30 degrees here, also to my east. I worked N3TE in CW, then switched to \n> SSB and moved up the pass band for a voice contact with K3SZH. By then, \n> AO-7 was descending to my north, so I switched back to CW and started \n> calling CQ – primarily to see how long I could hear myself through the HT \n> on the downlink. I was thrilled when K4YYL called me. When we finished \n> that contact, AO-7 was at 2.6 degrees elevation according to the computer.\n>\n> I should mention here that I was manually tuning for Doppler throughout \n> the weekend, which also gave me a chance to use various software packages \n> as my “guides” for finding myself at the start of a pass.  Ham Radio \n> Deluxe’s Satellite Tracker, Orbitron and SatPC 32 all proved very helpful. \n> After launching one of the programs and getting the Doppler tuning on \n> screen, I just followed their lead and found myself quickly, then stayed \n> where I needed to be – evening tuning up and down the pass band to call \n> others I heard.\n>\n> On the next pass of AO-7 (the last of Saturday evening for me), I worked \n> K4YYL again – this time in SSB, and this time using an FT-817ND at 5 watts \n> out for my transmitter.  Think about that – a fully functional all-mode \n> satellite station that I could fit in a day pack with room to spare!\n>\n> FO-29 later Saturday evening was frustrating only inasmuch as there weren’t \n> many folks around. The first pass here hit less than 20 degrees maximum \n> elevation to my east, and I called CQ in CW without a contact.  The next \n> pass was about 70 degrees maximum elevation, and I talked to myself for \n> the first 2/3 of the pass before switching over to VO-52, which was also \n> in range at about the same time. K9QHO and I had a nice contact in SSB.\n>\n> Sunday morning, I only wanted to get some contacts on FO-29 because I \n> promised to return the radio that afternoon. I worked Dave, W8IJ, and Leo, \n> W7JPI, in SSB. Seven contacts in all, covering all three CW/SSB satellites \n> and both modes, and all of them using the Kenwood HT as my receive radio. \n> I could have made additional contacts if the satellites – especially \n> FO-29 – had been busier on the passes I worked.\n>\n> A lot of AMSAT members do demos for radio clubs and other groups from time \n> to time, and I decided to post this report on the TH-F6A with that in \n> mind. I know that many who do demos often schedule them to coincide with \n> passes of the FM LEO satellites – and there’s nothing wrong with that. But \n> AO-7 and AO-51 often make evening passes, for example, that are within \n> 30-40 minutes of each other. It occurs to me that letting folks hear \n> satellite contacts in CW and SSB over a satellite that has completed more \n> than 156.000 orbits might be pretty cool – especially when you can note \n> that anybody in the group who has an HT like this one and an all-mode \n> VHF-UHF radio can work AO-7 with the right antenna(s) and a little \n> practice.\n>\n> I looked around on the Web after returning the HT to Ed, N4ALE, and \n> learned that Alinco, AOR, Icom and Yaesu all offer HT-style receive-only \n> radios that are all mode, like the TH-F6A. I suspect any of them could \n> serve as an all-mode satellite receiver, too, although I haven’t tested \n> any of them.  I hope to have that chance moving forward. I like the TH-F6A \n> because it also can double as a full handheld station for the FM \n> satellites, albeit in half-duplex. I know that’s not the recommended way \n> to go, but I and many others are, collectively, proof that it can be done \n> effectively and without totally wrecking a pass. I hope all the \n> manufacturers soon will have at least one full-duplex-capable HT in their \n> lines – and that those radios will have all-mode receive on at least one \n> band, like this Kenwood.\n>\n> In the meantime, I encourage those of you with this little radio to \n> experiment with it as a receiver for AO-7, FO-29 and VO-52. I suspect you’ll \n> be satisfied with its performance.\n>\n> 73 to all,\n>\n> Tim – N3TL\n> _______________________________________________\n> Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.\n> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!\n> Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb\n> \n\n",
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}