Hey Wes. First off thank you for FN54. The addition of digital modes on the Sats does give you more options. I often see posting by Europeans using digital modes to access the US. I have used it quite a few times and my initial Alaskan contact on the sats was by FT4. Couple of anecdotes, My first Peru contact was also by FT 4 ant was less than 5 degrees the antenna was pointed toward my house and usually need about 15 degrees to access by SSB. The other, here in EM20, Europe basically cannot be accessed, a few times I have pointed my antenna that way when the sat is below the horizon and have decoded a station at -3 degrees on RS44. I think it was Belgium. probably impossible to do now with a new building just erected in that direction. The use of the WSJT-X software is fairly easy to set up and I know of it's usage with the IC-9700, IC-9100 and the TS-2000. In my case i use the IC-9700 with a CIV cable to control doppler in the radio by SATPC32 (The CNC S.A.T. Controller should work well also). PTT from WSJT-X is through one of the USB Ports by using RTS or DTR. The toughest part here is to determine which of the 8 combinations works best. (2 Computer USB Ports X 2 IC-9700 ports X RTS or DTR). CheersJerry - N5EKO On Thursday, October 6, 2022 at 03:32:24 PM CDT, Wes Baden badencapecod@gmail.com wrote:
Information, please. I'm in my 70s, and DXCC SAT is on my bucket list. I'm slowly making progress with 61 entities/59 confirmed. Someone on the BB once suggested to me that I make use of digital modes to up my total. But ... before I do so, and also be sure to use low power on the bottom of bandpasses, I'm curious to know what kind of digital mode activity there really is on linear sats and what DX stations (in rarer entities) folks have actually been able to contact. Then and only then will I consider taking the plunge and buying software and hooking up a PC. CW and SSB are still lots of fun. I do not work FM sat. I'm available anytime, by the way, if anyone needs FN54/Maine. Thanks. Wes NA1ME -----------------------------------------------------------
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