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{
    "url": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/email/NONJCMCWJJHJA2TRQXQXROLD4MDZWE4E/?format=api",
    "mailinglist": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/?format=api",
    "message_id": "[email protected]",
    "message_id_hash": "NONJCMCWJJHJA2TRQXQXROLD4MDZWE4E",
    "thread": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/thread/NONJCMCWJJHJA2TRQXQXROLD4MDZWE4E/?format=api",
    "sender": {
        "address": "amsat-bb (a) wd9ewk.net",
        "mailman_id": "21664df01bef4757931b7cdb42a9e768",
        "emails": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/sender/21664df01bef4757931b7cdb42a9e768/emails/?format=api"
    },
    "sender_name": "Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)",
    "subject": "[amsat-bb]  more about the TH-D72A for satellites",
    "date": "2010-12-06T04:24:10Z",
    "parent": null,
    "children": [
        "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/email/6U46RRHRJDRQCASEXEWBMLH3ELLAHEL6/?format=api"
    ],
    "votes": {
        "likes": 0,
        "dislikes": 0,
        "status": "neutral"
    },
    "content": "Hi!\n\nI wavered on whether I was going to get this radio straight away, after \nthe fiasco (related to FM satellite operation) the Alinco DJ-G7T was \nlast year.  I didn't want to get bitten by a radio that was supposed to \nbe capable of full-duplex operation, but fall short like with the DJ-G7T.\nAfter some thought, and after yesterday's hamfest, I drove over to the \nlocal HRO store to see if they had any in stock.  At mid-afternoon, HRO\nstill had 3 on the shelf at this store. I decided that, if the TH-D72 is \nthe true successor to the TH-D7 including the cross-band full-duplex \ncapability for FM voice satellite operation, I'd take the plunge.  I \nbought the radio and the only option they had for it in the store \n(cigarette-lighter cable, compatible with several other Kenwood HTs \nincluding the TH-F6A I purchased a few weeks ago).  \n\nI charged the battery last night, and cleared some time this afternoon to\ngo out to my favorite city park to try it out.  Not having used a Kenwood\nHT on the satellites except for the TH-F6A as a receiver, I read through\nthe manual to make sure I had it set up for FM satellite work.  I looked \nat a few parameters I felt would be useful:\n\n1. Transmit with VFO B, receive with VFO A.  VFO A has better sensitivity \nthan VFO B, so why not go with that?  There is no restriction on which VFO\ncan be the transmitter for this radio.  \n\n2. Audio balance.  I set that all the way to VFO A, since I wasn't \ninterested in hearing VFO B.  I could see with the S-meter if anyone else \nwas transmitting on the satellite uplink, and then rebalance the audio if \nnecessary to hear it.\n\n3. Squelch.  Open all the way on VFO A, tight on VFO B.\n\n4. \"DUP\".  This was a new one for me, not being familiar with the TH-D7 in\nthe past.  Once I figured this out, turning it on for my transmit VFO (VFO\nB), I was able to hear audio from VFO A whether or not I was transmitting\non VFO B.  \n\nI had to get a plug adapter to use my normal audio cable/splitter setup \nfor an earpiece and my audio recorder with a Kenwood HT and its smaller \nspeaker jack.  I already had one for my TH-F6A, and it worked fine with \nthe TH-D72A.  I made sure tuning steps on both bands for both VFOs were \nat the smallest step (5 kHz), and that I had VFO B set for high power \n(5W).  \n\nI started with the AO-27 pass at 2102 UTC.  A very high pass here, with \nmaximum elevation of 80 degrees.  I worked 7 stations in 7 minutes, and \nreceived good reports on my audio through the satellite with the new \nradio.  The only issue I had in hearing the downlink wasn't due to the \nradio - I had to move the antenna around as it passed over my head, and \nthere was a moment or two where the downlink audio was less than ideal.  \nI had to switch VFOs when tuning the receive VFO, something I don't have \nto deal with on my IC-2820H mobile radio or when I use memory channels in\na non-full-duplex radio, but that was not a problem.  \n\nThe second pass I attempted with the TH-D72A was on AO-51 around 2322 \nUTC.  This was also a high pass, with maximum elevation of 63 degrees out \nhere.  I had a little bit of difficulty hearing the satellite in the first \nminute or so of the pass while transmitting, which could have been related \nto how I was holding the antenna (Elk log periodic).  I found during this \npass that I had to twist the antenna to clear up any receive issues while \ntransmitting.  I think I might have heard the slightest desensing during a\ncouple of my transmissions, but that could have been related to how my \nantenna was oriented toward the satellite.  I logged 10 QSOs on the AO-51\npass, which wasn't bad for all the activity on there.  \n\nAs I posted earlier and said on the air, the TH-D72A is the real deal as \na dual-band HT for full-duplex FM satellite operation.  It does what the \nDJ-G7T could not do, and I didn't even have to use the expanded manual on \nthe CD that came with the radio to get it set up for satellite work.  I \nalso set it up to work on APRS, which took little time to do.  I have not \ntried it with a computer, to see if it will work as N8MH asked earlier.  \nPacket is actually something I was not very interested in for this radio - \nFM satellites first, APRS next.  The radio's GPS took only a few minutes \nto pick up signals when I first activated it.  \n\nI do not have test equipment to quantify how well the TH-D72A's receiver\nis and how it compares to other radios.  From playing with it last night \nand today, I know the receiver is on par with the IC-2820H I usually run \non FM birds.  Excluding transmitter power, the only thing the 2820 has\nover the TH-D72A is its separate knobs for each VFO.  It also compares \nfavorably with the sensitivity of my IC-T7H HT - the radio I've used on \nsatellites from outside Hara Arena in Dayton (my other radios' receivers \nget swamped with intermod there, but not the IC-T7H).  I will have to \ntest it in a high-RF area like that at Dayton, to see if intermod plays \nhavoc with the weak satellite downlinks.  \n\nI'll work with this radio more, to get more familiar with it and possibly\nwork it into my demonstrations.  I will eventually get around to hooking\nit up to a computer, and seeing what I can do with packet and APRS.  If \nI'm not careful, I might even go as far as having an all-Kenwood HT \nstation for the OSCAR Straight Key Night in a few weeks (TH-D72A as CW \ntransmitter, TH-F6A as receiver).  \n\n73!\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPatrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK \nhttp://www.wd9ewk.net/\n\n\n\n",
    "attachments": []
}