So, from Patrick's experience, it sounds like the uplink is about 10kHz lower than the published frequency? Has this been everyone else's experience?
George, KA3HSW
----- Original Message ----- From: "Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)" amsat-bb@wd9ewk.net To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Sunday, October 11, 2015 9:17 AM Subject: [amsat-bb] Saturday evening @ WD9EWK - two AO-85 passes...
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For the uplink, I was able to get through using 435.165 MHz for my two QSOs with the KG-UV8D. Downlink... I started on 145.9825 MHz, then tuned down to 145.980 MHz, and later I tuned down to 145.9775 MHz. Just like I saw when I used my KG-UV9D Friday evening, the sharper receive filters in the Chinese-made radios made using the smaller tuning step (2.5 kHz) useful.
After this pass, I played the HDSDR RF recording into FoxTelem, and uploaded 9 packets to the AMSAT server. Had I used the Elk with the SDR setup, I am sure I would have collected many more packets from that pass.
The second pass I worked, around 0400 UTC, was a shallow pass. AO-85 was only up to a maximum elevation of just over 11 degrees. I used only my Icom IC-2820H for this pass. I had used the IC-2820H as the uplink radio for a pass I worked Friday evening with my SDRplay receiver and HDSDR handling the downlink, but wanted to try the mobile radio by itself this time. it had no problems hearing the downlink, once AO-85 rose above the nearby mountains and houses.
I started the radio on 435.160 MHz for the uplink (with 67.0 Hz tone activated for this VFO), and 145.980 MHz for the downlink. Both with narrow FM, a suggestion that had been tweeted earlier by Peter 2E0SQL. I was not able to get through using 435.160 MHz, but was able to when I tuned my uplink to 435.165 MHz. Later in the pass, I could get through when transmitting on 435.170 and 435.175 MHz. I had to use 15W, and at times 50W, to get through. The pass was too shallow for me to get through at 5W. Around the midpoint of the pass, possibly just after that, I had to tune my receive VFO down to 145.975 MHz to hear the rest of the pass. I mostly heard stations in California, along with W7JPI in southern Arizona and WQ3U in Oregon, and logging a total of 5 QSOs (working all I heard, except for WQ3U).
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