Hi Pete,
Some advice from a fellow beginner: - LilacSat-2's repeater is almost never on, mostly telemetry only - AO-85 is easy to receive, but hard to open - SO-50 is harder to receive, but easier to open (never transmit when you can't hear the bird though) - AO-73's telemetry is very easy to copy, but you'll have to have something to receive SSB. Doesn't need to be fancy, I've done it using a RTL-SDR stick and a 1/4 lambda vertical. - Don't stop trying, completing your first QSO is quite a rush
Good luck!
Rico PA3RVG
On Tue, Apr 5, 2016 at 5:08 PM, Stephen E. Belter seb@wintek.com wrote:
Pete,
The three FM satellites that you should start with are SO-50, AO-85 (Fox-1A), and LilacSat-2 (intermittent schedule).
You can see nearly real-time reports of which satellites are being heard at www.amsat.org/status .
The 2015 edition of Getting Started With Amateur Satellites by Gould Smith is available from the AMSAT Store at www.amsat.org . The 2016 edition will be released at the Dayton Hamvention in May.
There is lots of additional information on the AMSAT website, including a operator’s guide for Fox-1A.
73, Steve N9IP
Steve Belter, seb@wintek.com
On 4/5/16, 7:58 AM, "AMSAT-BB on behalf of Pete Moscatt via AMSAT-BB" <amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org on behalf of amsat-bb@amsat.org> wrote:
Hi To All, Ok, I am just getting myself into the world of Satellites and need a little guidance. Up until now I have been reading through Getting Started on the Amateur Radio Satellites by Keith Baker. He makes reference to AO-51 as the satellite to cut ones teeth on. From what I understand, this bird no longer exists, so, what is now considered as being a beginners satellite? Pete. VK4CCV
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