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{
    "url": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/email/NRWFAWHAIXGCR4PYIYT2ZOV2RUTQR3J3/?format=api",
    "mailinglist": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/?format=api",
    "message_id": "CAN6TEUdOifhwgwoy1qJgc1ABDBn=MkU3MoZhuPOib-igWEzL9g@mail.gmail.com",
    "message_id_hash": "NRWFAWHAIXGCR4PYIYT2ZOV2RUTQR3J3",
    "thread": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/thread/NRWFAWHAIXGCR4PYIYT2ZOV2RUTQR3J3/?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] AO-85 & Wouxun KG-UV9D - more testing (long)",
    "date": "2015-11-24T04:31:05Z",
    "parent": null,
    "children": [],
    "votes": {
        "likes": 0,
        "dislikes": 0,
        "status": "neutral"
    },
    "content": "Hi!\n\nStarting just after the launch of AO-85 last month, I have been using\ndifferent radios to work this satellite. Some of my experiments have been\nwith HTs, along with my Icom IC-2820H mobile radio at different power\nlevels. During the first weekend we had AO-85 in orbit, I had used my\nWouxun KG-UV9D to work the satellite, and found that it was usable to work\nAO-85 when it was above 20 degrees elevation. The KG-UV9D can also work\nU/V FM satellites like AO-85 full-duplex, although the reverse is not true\n(there is too much desense when trying to work SO-50 or LilacSat-2, two\nV/U FM satellites, full-duplex). After working AO-85 over the past 6 weeks\nor so, I wanted to see if I could refine my suggestions from posts I made\nhere on the AMSAT-BB and on the QRZ satellite forum last month. Here\ngoes...\n\nWhen I did my tests last month, I set the tuning step for the uplink VFO\nto 5 kHz, and the downlink VFO at 2.5 kHz. Most Chinese-made HTs have\nsharper receive filters than the HTs from the traditional ham equipment\nmanufacturers, so I have used the smaller tuning step for the downlink\nfrequencies when working FM satellites. For this weekend, I went with the\n2.5 kHz tuning steps for both VFOs. This means still more adjustments when\nworking these passes compared to other radios that have 5 kHz as their\nsmallest tuning step in FM, but I think being able to make smaller\nadjustments on the uplink VFO helps get through. I started with the uplink\nVFO at 435.165 MHz, and then prepare to tune this VFO higher throughout the\npass. The downlink VFO is usually set to 145.9825 MHz initially, but it\ndoes not take long for me to tune it down to 145.980 MHz, on its way down\nto 145.975 MHz near LOS.\n\nAt the time I did my tests last month, I had set the KG-UV9D to \"wide\" FM\nin both VFOs. Since then, there have been suggestions on working AO-85 in\nnarrow FM. Transmitting to AO-85 in narrow FM ensures the uplink signals\naren't overdeviated, and for the downlink it filters out most of the noise\nthat comes with the data being transmitted with the FM voice downlink. With\nthe KG-UV9D, it seems that its \"wide\" FM setting doesn't transmit a signal\nwith deviation that matches what comes from radios made by the traditional\nham manufacturers. The \"wide\" FM setting for the transmit VFO made a big\ndifference for me getting through and making more QSOs during the passes I\nworked last weekend.\n\nAs with my tests last month, I did not program any memories. The KG-UV9D's\nVFOs are ideal for this type of operating. Since operators can transmit\nfrom one VFO and receive with the other VFO, memory channels aren't really\nneeded. An earpiece plugged into the speaker jack ensures no receive audio\nfeeds back into the microphone. There are moments where I have to switch\nVFOs, so I can tune the downlink VFO down to the next tuning step, and then\nswitch back to the uplink VFO. This is not a huge issue, as I have had to\ndo this with my Kenwood TH-D72A.\n\nHere are some key menu settings I have used with my KG-UV9D, for each VFO:\n\nUplink VFO:\n\nSTEP (03): 2.5\nW/N (04): WIDE\nSQL-LE (08): 9\nTx-CTC (17): 67.0\n\nDownlink VFO:\n\nSTEP (03): 2.5\nW/N (04): NARROW\nSQL-LE (08): 0\n\nI normally put the uplink frequency in the upper VFO, and the downlink\nfrequency in the lower VFO. This is my preference; it does not appear that\nI have to use the VFOs in a particular way for full-duplex operation. I set\nthe squelch as tight as possible on the uplink VFO, and wide open on the\ndownlink VFO, to ensure I am hearing only the static from the downlink VFO.\n\nSince many Chinese-made HTs use menus that are similar to what I have in\nthe KG-UV9D, I plan on using these settings in the other Chinese-made dual-\nband HTs I plan on trying with AO-85 (Wouxun KG-UV8D, AnyTone TERMN-8R,\nPuxing PX-UV973). I already had a successful test of full-duplex operation\non AO-85 with the KG-UV8D, and hope to try the other two HTs soon and see\nhow they handle full-duplex operation on this satellite. I have a couple of\nother HTs that I'll try on AO-85 from \"traditional\" ham manufacturers\n(Icom IC-W32A, Alinco DJ-G7T). I will also try my Kenwood TH-D72A, a radio\nthat should have no issues working AO-85 full-duplex, as it can be used\nwith SO-50 full-duplex.\n\nNow, the AO-85 passes I worked with the KG-UV9D...\n\nI worked three AO-85 passes from my back yard this weekend with the KG-UV9D\nand my Elk log periodic antenna - a Saturday afternoon pass to my west with\nmaximum elevation of 61 degrees, a western pass Sunday morning with maximum\nelevation of 70 degrees, and an eastern pass Sunday afternoon with maximum\nelevation of 37 degrees. All 3 passes had several minutes where AO-85's\nelevation was at least 20 degrees. I plugged an audio splitter into the\nKG-UV9D's speaker jack, and split the receive audio between an earpiece and\nmy Sony digital audio recorder. This allowed me to have MP3 recordings of\nthe audio received by the HT while I heard the downlink, safe from having\nreceive audio feeding back into the HT's mic. For the two passes on Sunday,\nI made an RF recording from my SDR receive setup - SDRplay SDR receiver,\n8-inch Windows 10 tablet, HDSDR software, and the AMSAT-UK VHF crossed\ndipole on an 8-foot mast and tripod. I forgot to make an RF recording of\nthe pass I worked on Saturday afternoon, or I would have had 3 RF\nrecordings to go with the 3 MP3 recordings from the HT. Oops. The SDR\nreceive setup allowed me to hear myself through AO-85 from an independent\nreceiver, as well as upload telemetry to the AMSAT server.\n\nI logged 3 QSOs on the Saturday afternoon AO-85 pass, 6 QSOs on the Sunday\nmorning pass, and 3 more QSOs on the Sunday afternoon pass. The KG-UV9D did\na great job, even at 5 watts. The last QSO I completed on the pass Sunday\nafternoon, with Drew KO4MA in Florida, was made with AO-85's elevation down\nto 21 degrees. Shortly after this QSO, I was not able to hear myself\nthrough the satellite. My audio from the satellite sounded OK on the HT and\nmy SDR receive setup, although not as loud and strong as other stations. I\nhad to twist my Elk antenna around, which helped to improve the downlink\nsignal and (when transmitting) improve my chances of AO-85 hearing me. I\nwas also able to upload telemetry to the AMSAT server from the two Sunday\npasses I worked with the HT from the SDR receive setup out in the yard.\n\nIf you want to see pictures of my setup for these passes, or hear the audio\nand/or RF recordings I made from these passes, you can visit my public\nDropbox space at http://dropbox.wd9ewk.net/ and look for the folder named\n\"20151122-AO85_Fox1A-DM43\". If the folder listing doesn't appear when going\nto that link, press F5 or Refresh to force your web browser to make another\ntry at accessing the link.\n\nI'll post more to the -BB, and upload more files to my Dropbox space, as I\ntest other HTs for their ability to work AO-85 full-duplex. I plan on\ntrying the KG-UV8D again, with the same settings as I used on the KG-UV9D,\nto see if it does any better than it performed last month. The upcoming\nThanksgiving holiday weekend should allow for many passes that are usable\nwith 5-watt radios.\n\n73!\n\n\n\n\n\nPatrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK\nhttp://www.wd9ewk.net/\nTwitter: @WD9EWK\n",
    "attachments": []
}