November 2015 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

AO-85 and Wouxun KG-UV8D, full-duplex - report (long)
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 29 Nov '15

29 Nov '15

Hi! After testing a few different HTs over the past week using some common settings, I went back to an HT I tried the first weekend we had AO-85 in orbit and gave it a try with those settings. The Wouxun KG-UV8D, which had been on the market since early 2014, was a radio that I thought showed some promise for full-duplex operation with U/V FM satellites. I tried it with the Fox-1A engineering model at the 2014 ARRL Centennial Convention and 2014 AMSAT Symposium. With some adjustments in how I used the HT, trying to simulate working a satellite in orbit, I was convinced last year that this radio would be an option for full-duplex operations with the Fox-1 series of U/V FM satellites. I held onto the KG-UV8D to try it with a U/V FM satellite, whichever one was launched and operational first. Simple question - can the KG-UV8D work AO-85 full-duplex? This was already answered last month, but I'll answer it again here in a word... Yes. This radio is slightly larger than the KG-UV9D I previously wrote about, a fatter HT when held. It has a menu system like most of the Chinese-made HTs, including the KG-UV9D which has replaced the KG-UV8D on the market. There are differences in the menus between the KG-UV8D and KG-UV9D, but I was able to use the same key settings in each VFO of the KG-UV8D: Uplink VFO: STEP (01): 2.5 SQL (02): 9 WN (08): WIDE T-CTC (16): 67.0 Downlink VFO: STEP (01): 2.5 SQL (02): 0 WN (08): NARROW It doesn't matter how each VFO is used. I prefer the upper VFO for the uplink frequency, but that is not mandatory. I plugged an audio splitter into the speaker jack, feeding audio to my Sony audio recorder and an earpiece. Using an earpiece or some sort of earphones is recommended when using a radio for full-duplex operation, to prevent receive audio from feeding back into your microphone. With HTs like the KG-UV8D using receive filtering that is sharper than what is typical in the Icom/Kenwood/Yaesu HTs, I find that using the smaller tuning steps and making adjustments on both uplink and downlink frequencies is recommended. I worked an AO-85 pass Saturday (28 November) afternoon at 2252-2306 UTC, a 67-degree pass to my west. During that 14-minute pass, half of it (just over 7 minutes) saw the satellite at or over 20 degrees elevation, which I found last month as my "magic number" when trying to work AO-85 with less transmit power - like we have with HTs. What was interesting about this pass is that I could quickly change the downlink signal from good copy to poor with a slight twist of my antenna. When I first tried transmitting to AO-85, and if I wasn't lined up with the downlink, I would hear some additional noise and - at some points - it sounded like mixing that yielded the local National Weather Service radio station in my ear. Around the midpoint of the pass, the mixing was not present, but I could tell that the downlink would quickly degrade if I didn't have the antenna lined up with the downlink. I started with 145.980 MHz as my downlink frequency, and during the pass tuned down to 145.9875 and then 145.975 MHz for the last part of the pass. These adjustments were the only times I needed to switch VFOs during the pass. Not many were on the pass, and I was able to work everyone I heard on the pass. John K8YSE/7 was on as the satellite came up from my northwest, and he was joined by a few others - Wyatt AC0RA in Iowa, Frank K4FEG in Tennessee, Ed N7EC north of Phoenix, and Ron N8RO in Texas. As I was using the KG-UV8D and Elk to work these stations, my SDRplay SDR receiver with an 8-inch Windows 10 tablet and HDSDR connected to my AMSAT-UK VHF crossed dipole was making an RF recording of the AO-85 downlink. The RF recording, along with the MP3 audio I recorded from the HT and other files, have been uploaded to my Dropbox space at http://dropbox.wd9ewk.net/ (look for the folder "20151129-AO85_Fox1A-DM43" and the recordings with names having the time around 2250 UTC). Even after this test of using the KG-UV8D to work AO-85, I won't change my ranking of the Chinese-made HTs I have tried with this satellite: 1. Wouxun KG-UV9D 2. AnyTone TERMN-8R 3. Wouxun KG-UV8D 4. Puxing PX-UV973 Wouxun learned from the issues with the receiver in the KG-UV8D, leading to the improvements I saw using the KG-UV9D on comparable AO-85 passes. If the receiver didn't have the extra noise and mixing taking place when the AO-85 downlink wasn't strong, this could have been tied with the AnyTone TERMN-8R for second on my list. The issues I heard with the KG-UV8D receiver, on the other hand, are not as bad as what I heard from the Puxing PX-UV973 - a small benefit, but still (in my opinion) a reason to rate the KG-UV8D above the PX-UV973. When I saw that the KG-UV8D was able to work AO-85 full-duplex last month, that vindicated my comments last year after testing it against the Fox-1A engineering model. At the same time disproved some comments I saw on the QRZ.com satellite forum from 18 months ago like: "... the '8D - like the Puxing UV973 - although are true dual-receive units, that they are not suitable for U/V nor V/U sat ops ... Considering Alinco couldn't accomplish that with a $250 HT, I wasn't really surprised that these $100 units couldn't do it." I have seen similar comments to the above in other forums, and in reference to other dual-band HTs that I have recently tested against AO-85. This ignores the fact that before AO-85, the last time we had a U/V FM satellite (excluding the ISS U/V cross-band voice repeater) was SO-35, which went silent in 2001. Unless you went rogue and used an HT on a U/V transponder, there wasn't a satellite that could be used for a true real- world test of this HT like I have done with AO-85. As for the reference to the DJ-G7T, that radio arrived on the ham market in 2009, 5 years before the KG-UV8D, and what Alinco was (or wasn't) able to do with the DJ-G7T really isn't relevant to what Wouxun did with the KG-UV8D. Even though none of the Chinese-made HTs I tested are able to work V/U FM satellites like SO-50 and LilacSat-2 full-duplex due to receiver desense, Wouxun certainly learned lessons and improved the receiver from the KG-UV8D to the KG-UV9D. After these tests, I have used 5 different HTs and an Icom IC-2820H 2m/70cm FM mobile radio to make QSOs via AO-85 in the past 7 weeks. It has been fun to try these radios out with similar settings. Having this knowledge helps to answer questions I get via e-mail, in online forums, and at events where I represent AMSAT (i.e., hamfests). After the initial disappointment that HTs would not be able to work this satellite from AOS to LOS, I think it should be clear that HTs are a viable option for working AO-85 during portions of higher passes. Working a U/V FM satellite is different than the V/U FM satellites most have been familiar with, but there are now a few options for using a single handheld radio to work AO-85 full-duplex - and a two-radio setup remains a viable option for full-duplex operation. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

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Re: [amsat-bb] AO-73 info
by Andrew Glasbrenner 28 Nov '15

28 Nov '15

The AO-73 transponder is on whenever the satellite is in eclipse, and usually continuously during the weekends. An AMSAT-UK command station usually announces the weekend mode change via AMSAT-bb and their Twitter account. The wideband noise you hear is likely the gmsk downlink from xw-2f. Look at http://www.amsat.org/?p=4512 and the links contained within that post. There is an active transponder aboard as well. The -bb archives were moved in 2009. Links to subscribe and the later archives are at http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=2348 73, Drew KO4MA Sent from my iPhone > On Nov 28, 2015, at 9:43 PM, Jack Colson <jcolson7(a)tampabay.rr.com> wrote: > > Andrew I was looking to go beyond that page. It seems like there is an operating schedule of some sort, also I hear some relatively wideband data or whatever around 145.960 and having a bandwidth of about 10 KHz. It also seems like the transponder is off for part of passes that are viewed here in EL88 and then comes on for a short bit then gone. I am curious as to what others are experiencing? > 73 and thank you. > Jack, W3TMZ (I have made a few contacts but with the fast doppler shift one needs more hands.) > > At one time on AMSAT-bb you could find current info, now all is see is the archives from 2009 and back. >> On Nov 28, 2015, at 8:50 PM, Andrew Glasbrenner <glasbrenner(a)mindspring.com> wrote: >> >> http://amsat-uk.org/funcube/funcube-cubesat/ is a good start >> >> 73, Drew KO4MA >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> >>> On Nov 28, 2015, at 8:41 PM, Jack Colson <jcolson7(a)tampabay.rr.com> wrote: >>> >>> Where does one find current info about AO-73? >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available >>> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed >>> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. >>> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! >>> Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb >

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ANS-333 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 28 Nov '15

28 Nov '15

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-333 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. In this edition: * Nov/Dec Edition of AMSAT Journal Sent to Printer * March 2016 Activation of St. Pierre & Miquelon * 2016 High-Altitude Student Platform Opportunity * ARISS Commemorative Events in the Planning * S7 Sao Tome and Principe Dxpedition Includes LEO Satellites * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-333 ANS-333 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 333 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. [MONTH DAY, YEAR] To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-333 Nov/Dec Edition of AMSAT Journal Sent to Printer AMSAT Journal editor Joe Kornowski, KB6IGK, reports that the November-December editon of the Journal has been sent to to the printers. Expect delivery mid to late December. This is Kornowski's first Journal since accepting the Editorial post last October. The atricles are well done and ‘meaty’ with lots of information. The overall appearance looks great. There is much here for every AMSAT member to enjoy. The line up of articles include: AMSAT Announcements Apogee View, Barry Baines, WD4ASW, Engineering Update, by Jerry Buxton, N0JY Fox-1 Satellite Telemetry Part 1: On the Satellite by Burns Fisher, W2BFJ A Raspberry Pi Net Server/Client for Antenna Rotor by Tom Doyle, W9KE Dual Band Low Noise Amplifier for 2 Meters and 70 Centimeters, by Jim Kocsis, WA9PYH ARISS “Out of This World” Update by Frank Bauer, KA3HDO Close Encounters of the Law Enforcement Kind by Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK/VA7EWK On the Grids: Working the United States/Mexico Border by Clayton L. Coleman, W5PFG [ANS thanks Joseph KB6IGK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- March 2016 Activation of St. Pierre & Miquelon Eric, KV1J, will once again be operating from the Island of Miquelon (NA-032, DIFO FP-002, WLOTA 1417, Grid GN17) as FP/KV1J between March 16-29th (2016). Activity will be on 160-10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY (but primarily SSB and RTTY). He will generally be on the highest frequency band that is open (favoring 12/10m). He will be active in the Russian DX and BARTG RTTY Contests (March 19-20th). Also, look for him to be in the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 26-27th) as a Single-Op/All-Band/Assisted entry. QSL via KV1J, direct or by the Bureau. Also eQSL and LoTW. For more details and updates, check out his Web page at: http://www.kv1j.com/fp/Mar16.html PLEASE NOTE: Eric mentions, "I will also be on the analog Satellites when the WX is good enough to operate from outside." [ANS thanks Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1241 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016 High-Altitude Student Platform Opportunity The Louisiana Space Grant Consortium, or LaSPACE, is accepting applications from students at U.S. colleges and universities who want to send experiments to the edge of space on a high-flying scientific balloon. The annual project, supported by the NASA Balloon Program Office and LaSPACE, provides near-space access for 12 undergraduate and graduate student experiments to be carried by a NASA high-altitude research balloon. The flights typically last 15 to 20 hours and reach an altitude of 23 miles. Experiments may include compact satellites or prototypes. The experiments are flown aboard the High-Altitude Student Platform, or HASP, a balloon-born instrument stack launched from the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility's remote site in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. The goals of the project are to provide a space test platform to encourage student researchand stimulate the development of student satellite payloads and other space-engineering products. HASP seeks to enhance the technical skills and research abilities of students in critical science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines. The deadline for applications is Dec. 18, 2015. For application information and technical details about the program, visit http://laspace.lsu.edu/hasp. Questions about the High-Altitude Student Platform opportunity should be directed to T. Gregory Guzik at guzik (at) phunds.phys.lsu.edu. [ANS thanks NASA Education Express Message -- Nov. 25, 2015 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS Commemorative Events in the Planning Over the next couple months, ARISS will be celebrating its 15th anniversary of continuous operations on the ISS. On November 13, 2000 the crew conducted their first ham radio contacts on ISS and on December 21, 2000 ARISS conducted their first school contact with the Burbank School in Burbank, Illinois. An SSTV commemoration of these historic events is tentatively planned for mid to late December. It is possible that the transmission mode will be P120 instead of the P180 mode used in the past. This would allow for more pictures to be transmitted per pass. Because preparations are not final it is suggested that you stay tuned to the AMSAT-BB and the AMSAT and ARISS web site for the latest information on this event and others that ARISS plans to conduct over the next few months [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- S7 Sao Tome and Principe Dxpedition Includes LEO Satellites S7, SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE. Operators Lee/WW2DX, Ray/W2RE and Pat/N2IEN will be active as S9TM from Praia between November 28th and December 1st. The team is planning on taking a WRTC tri-band yagi for 10/15/20 as well as a OCF for the lower bands. They will have an Expert 1.3K amp with them for that station. The second station will be K3/KPA500 that will be used on the 30/17/12m bands. A third station will be setup for LEO satellites and they are going to attempt 2m EME, but this is new territory for this group so don't set expectations too high. They will be posting to Twitter https://twitter.com/@ww2dx> and possible live streaming using periscope. QSL via LoTW and paper cards to NR6M. [ANS thanks Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1242 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News + A Successful contact was made between Scuola Media Statale “G. Marconi”, Soleto, Lecce, Italy and Astronaut Kimiya Yui KG5BPH using Callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2015-11-23 09:21 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was telebridged via VK4KHZ. ARISS Mentor was IKØWGF. Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2015-11-26 01:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Dragonskolan, Umeå, Sweden, telebridge via VE4ISS The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS Contact was not successful: Wed 2015-11-25 09:44:25 UTC 78 deg ARISS is working to determine what happened. Nanasawa Kibounooka Elementary School, Atsugi, Japan, direct via 8N1NKSG The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Kimiya Yui KG5BPH Contact is a go for: Wed 2015-12-02 09:33:51 UTC 61 deg Yayoi Elementary School, Yatomi, Japan, direct via 8N2YAYOI The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Kimiya Yui KG5BPH Contact is a go for: Fri 2015-12-04 09:25:46 UTC 57 deg Ingushetia, Russia, direct via TBD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Sergey Volkov RU3DIS Contact is a go for: Sat 2015-12-05 16:25 UTC >From 2015-12-20 to 2016-01-04, there will be no US Operational Segment (USOS) hams on board ISS. So any schools contacts during this period will be conducted by the ARISS Russia team. Stay tuned to the AMSAT-BB, The AMSAT website {www.asmat.org) and the ARISS website (www.ariss.org) for information on ARISS commemorative events celebrating 15 years of Amateur Radio on the ISS. [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over Eduardo Erlemann PY2RN published a Panoramic view of AO-7 transponder, using FCDP+ for RX and TS-2000 for TX. Although he was late on he bird after 1/2 pass that started at 18:40 UTC, forgot to swap SDR# IQ in the first moment. Max elevation was 64deg TX power 5 Watts all the time and RHCP most of the time. About 2 min before end of recording it is possible to hear what he believes is a CU station calling. Find the recording at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCq0WaEZ9g8&feature=youtu.be [ANS thank Eduardo PY2RN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, EMike McCardel, KC8YLD kc8yld at amsat dot org

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AO-73 info
by Jack Colson 28 Nov '15

28 Nov '15

Where does one find current info about AO-73?

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AO-85 and Puxing PX-UV973, full-duplex - report (not so long)
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 28 Nov '15

28 Nov '15

Hi! Another day, another radio to try on AO-85. I woke up early, and decided to try another HT on a high AO-85 pass starting at 1350 UTC. I wanted to see if it could work the satellite full-duplex. The radio, this morning: the Puxing PX-UV973. After working AO-85 with it this morning, my (low) expectations were met. The Puxing PX-UV973 has been on the market a couple of years. It is supposed to handle cross-band full-duplex operation. This radio is still in production, and I picked mine up from Amazon for about US$ 78. It is less expensive than the other radios I have tested so far for full-duplex operation on AO-85, and it shows. First, the simple question. Can the PX-UV973 work AO-85 full-duplex? Yes, more or less. The radio comes with a duckie antenna, and a 7.4V/1200mAh battery pack. The battery pack is smaller than the standard packs supplied with the other HTs I have tested so far. It is also a little bit smaller than the other HTs. As with the others, I did not program any memory channels to work AO-85. I used the two VFOs, putting the uplink into the upper (A) VFO, and the downlink into the lower (B) VFO. Uplink and downlink can be done from either VFO. I used these VFO-specific settings with this radio, similar to what I have been using with the other HTs: Uplink VFO: SQL (005): 9 N/W (014): WIDE T-CDC? (019): 67.0 STEP ? (020): 2.50 Downlink VFO: SQL (005): 0 N/W (014): NARROW STEP ? (020): 2.50 Another setting I had to enable for full-duplex operation was: DUPLEX (031): ON With the smaller tuning steps, I could get the AO-85 downlink lined up easily on my PX-UV973. It was about 5 minutes into the pass before I made my first QSO, with Glenn AA5PK in west Texas. A couple of minutes later, I made another quick QSO with Ed N7EC north of the Phoenix area. The receive audio while I transmitted was not really good - despite the satellite's elevation heading up to 56 degrees at the midpoint of the pass. The HT was able to operate full-duplex, but the other HTs I have tested with AO-85 have done much better. I could still hear myself through AO-85 a couple of minutes after these QSOs, until the trees in a neighbor's yard started to make it tougher to hear. The CW beacon from XW-2F was also starting to overlap with the AO-85 downlink, also. Using my SDR receive setup (SDRplay receiver, HDSDR on an 8-inch Windows 10 tablet, AMSAT-UK VHF crossed dipole), my transmitted audio sounded OK. Not loud, but it was fine - similar to what I've heard from the other Chinese- made HTs I have tested. I have uploaded the audio recording I made from the HT, the RF recording from the SDR receive setup, and some photos, to my Dropbox space. You can get those files at http://dropbox.wd9ewk.net/ - look for the folder "20151127-AO85_Fox1A_XW2F-DM43". I also heard XW-2F near the end of the AO-85 pass, and I let HDSDR continue writing the RF recording to cover XW-2F until its LOS. Since the PX-UV973 has been on the market for a couple of years, I did not have high expectations for it working AO-85 full-duplex. I was not surprised to see that it was a poor performer. If I had to rank this with the other 3 Chinese-made HTs I previously tested, this one would be at the bottom of the list by default: 1. Wouxun KG-UV9D 2. AnyTone TERMN-8R 3. Wouxun KG-UV8D 4. Puxing PX-UV973 Don't be drawn in by the low price of the PX-UV973. If you already have it, it can be used as one radio of a two-radio setup, probably as the uplink radio. Or use it for terrestrial repeaters, where it would probably serve that purpose adequately. I now understand why one dealer was hesitant to offer an opinion about this radio's performance for FM satellite work, when I asked about it early last year. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

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AO-85 reboots
by Andrew Glasbrenner 28 Nov '15

28 Nov '15

Earlier this evening I listened to a pass of AO-85 about 2235UTC and the IHU was rebooting repeatedly. You can tell when this happens by the short tone it emits, just before it drops to carrier operated relay (COR) mode. If this hasn't cleared on its own by the next passes in the early AM over the East Coast, we'll try to reset it by command. In the meantime, any reports or telemetry submitted would be wonderful. 73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT-VP Operations

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AO-85 and TH-D72A, full-duplex? Yes, of course!
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 28 Nov '15

28 Nov '15

Hi! I have been trying some Chinese-made dual-band HTs, seeing how well they work with AO-85 full-duplex. I have tried 4 of those radios recently, and have posted my observations in a series of messages here on the AMSAT-BB list. Earlier this afternoon, I did the same with a non-Chinese HT, the Kenwood TH-D72A. I had no concerns about this radio's ability to work AO-85 full-duplex, but I wanted to try it and confirm this for myself. I have had my TH-D72A since it went on sale at the local HRO store in late 2010. Over the past (almost) 5 years, I have upgraded its firmware, used it to make QSOs on various FM and packet/APRS satellites, and used it for APRS on my road trips. It's a great radio, although it is among the most expensive 2m/70cm FM HTs in current production. This was a reason why I have been interested in trying other HTs, seeing if there were any alternatives to the TH-D72A for full-duplex operation on AO-85 and the other upcoming Fox-1 satellites - and especially if they cost less than the TH-D72A. OK, the obligatory question and answer. Can the TH-D72A work AO-85 full- duplex? YES! Unlike with the Chinese-made HTs, the TH-D72A does not have the 2.5 kHz tuning step. Since the TH-D72A doesn't appear to have the sharp receive filtering I have seen with the Chinese-made HTs, this is not an issue. I can leave the TH-D72A's downlink VFO on 145.980 MHz for almost the entire pass, with a quick change to the next lower tuning step (145.975 MHz) for the last few minutes of the pass. I did not use narrow FM on either VFO for this pass. Based on what I saw with the other HTs, I would only consider using narrow FM on the downlink VFO if the receive audio sounded bad. The downlink audio sounded OK in "normal" FM today. Another difference from the Chinese-made HTs is that the uplink VFO must be VFO B (the lower VFO) on the TH-D72A. This is the only way to activate the DUP function, which allows the HT to receive on VFO A while transmitting on VFO B, when these frequencies are in different bands. Other commonly used settings like transmitting the 67.0 Hz CTCSS tone from VFO B, tighten the squelch on VFO B while opening the squelch on VFO A, and balancing the audio so you only hear VFO A (menu 120) made it easy to know I am only hearing audio from the downlink VFO (VFO A). If needed, I could have set the downlink VFO (VFO A) to receive in narrow FM (NFM) with menu setting 131, while transmitting from VFO B in "normal" FM (FM). I used an audio splitter in the TH-D72A's speaker jack, feeding audio to an earpiece and my Sony audio recorder. This recording is an MP3 file, which I put in my Dropbox space along with a larger WAV file (RF recording from HDSDR) and other files related to this pass. These files are available from my Dropbox space at http://dropbox.wd9ewk.net/ (look for the folder named "20151127-AO85_Fox1A-DM43"). This way, anyone can compare the recordings from this radio against the other recordings I've posted from testing the other Chinese-made HTs. The AO-85 pass this afternoon around 2226-2240 UTC had a series of resets, but I was able to complete 3 QSOs - AA5PK in west Texas, K8YSE/7 not far from me in the Phoenix area, and VE6SMI in Alberta. I had no problems hearing myself while transmitting, and my transmit audio sounded good - from the TH-D72A, and from my SDR receive setup I had in my yard (SDRplay SDR receiver, HDSDR on an 8-inch Windows 10 tablet, AMSAT-UK VHF crossed dipole on an 8-foot mast and tripod). The fact I could use a TH-D72A to work AO-85 is no surprise to me. Even with having to quickly switch VFOs to adjust the downlink frequency, then switching back to the uplink VFO before transmitting, is not a problem. None of the HTs I have tested recently have separate knobs for volume, squelch, and tuning for each VFO. This radio would be number 1 on my list of HTs I have used to work AO-85 full-duplex, going on top of all of the Chinese-made HTs I have tried in the past few weeks. With the TH-D72A, I have a radio capable of working V/U and U/V FM satellites full-duplex. I also have a radio capable of packet and APRS, and I have used mine to make packet QSOs through the ISS, NO-44, and NO-84 when its packet/APRS digipeater was active earlier this year. It is nice to have at least two options for HTs in current production that can work AO-85 full-duplex (TH-D72A, Wouxun KG-UV9D), along with many other HTs that aren't in production but are also capable of working satellites like AO-85 full-duplex. Now, it's time to find my old Icom IC-W32A in my garage, and maybe even an Alinco DJ-G7T I think I still have. I'm not worried about the IC-W32A and its ability to work AO-85 full-duplex, as it handled the ISS cross-band U/V repeater fine in the mid- to late-2000s. It would be interesting to try the DJ-G7T on AO-85. The DJ-G7T was a very poor performer when I tried to use it to work AO-27 and AO-51 full-duplex, satellites with stronger downlinks than SO-50. If I find these radios and can try them on AO-85 passes, I'll post reports for each of them. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

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NO-84
by Nicholas Mahr KE8AKW 27 Nov '15

27 Nov '15

Hi, I managed to make 2 contacts on this evenings passes with WN9M and KD7YZ on the PSK31 transponder. The first contact was not so easy due to RX fades. The second contact with much easy with less RX fades. I don't usually hear more than 1 station on if any on any pass and dont see alot of reception reports on the oscar status webpage, so more people should give it a try! Its very rewarding. And maybe Bob should put the bird on a schedule where it switches between the digipeater and PSK31. As far as I can tell from the telemetry, its surviving eclipses fine, but why wear down the battery with both transponders on? See you on NO-84. KE8AKW, Nick

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IO-86 repeater and APRS test
by Andrew Glasbrenner 27 Nov '15

27 Nov '15

A post in the AMSAT-ID Facebook group indicates IO-86 will be open in repeater and APRS modes from 0200-0800UTC 11/28/2015 (that's late tonight and tomorrow morning in the US) If you are close enough to the equator, roughly +/- 30 latitude, take a listen on 145.825 for APRS, or 145.880 up, 435.880 down, PL 88.5 for the repeater. 73, Drew KO4MA

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BaoFeng BF-F8HP on amazon for black friday
by Bruce 27 Nov '15

27 Nov '15

I just happened to notice this on amazon.com for their black Friday. I do not know if it is a good buy or not. BaoFeng BF-F8HP 8-Watt Dual Band Two-Way Radio (136-174Mhz VHF & 400-520Mhz UHF) Includes Full Kit with Large Battery $47 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MAULSOK?ref_=gb1h_tit_m-3_2622_dbb908ff… 73...bruce

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