Hi!
After the positive reaction to the videos I posted to YouTube yesterday, I added three more from passes I worked today. The first video was from the 1527 UTC VO-52 pass:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K10RiIEyjfE
Then the 1936 UTC AO-27 pass:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0IdEPsajkU
I then tried FO-29's 2043 UTC pass:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP80fVF9Lek
I used the same equipment on today's VO-52 and AO-27 passes as I used yesterday. For the FO-29 pass, I swapped out the TH-F6A and used my second FT-817ND with its better receiver for the weaker downlink. The antenna on all of these passes was the same Elk handheld 2m/70cm log periodic I normally use. Videos were recorded with a Sony DSC-H70 camera which makes 720p videos.
If you want to have an idea of how much adjusting I do to the VFOs on my radios, just watch closely when I reach for the radios on the table (or whatever other location I have them set up in my other videos). I always set my transmitting radio on the left, and the receiver on the right. This has let me get to the point where working SSB/CW satellites with a portable two-radio setup has become essentially automatic, wherever I happen to be operating, over the past 3+ years - determine which way is North, set up my gear, and start making QSOs.
Even with being comfortable with my current portable setup, I'm always looking to experiment. I've been using different radios for the SSB/CW downlinks, and I know I should get a tripod to hold my antenna. I also want to get around to trying SatPC32 with my two FT-817NDs, since I have the software and the cables to connect both radios to my netbook. Then there's more operating from wherever I happen to go. More for the satellite to-do list... :-)
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/