Some of the cheap DVB dongles will definitely work to receive the telemetry from AO-73. You will probably be able to hear conversations on the transponder in the evening too depending on your antenna. AO-73 has a strong signal. You will probably be able to hear the transponder downlink from VO-52 as well.
Check out N4JTC's blog post about how to do it:
http://n4jtc.wordpress.com/2013/11/23/rtl-sdr-sdr-radio-funcube-sat-fun/
73,
Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC
On Mon, Jan 20, 2014 at 4:34 PM, Todd Bloomingdale tbloomingdale@gmail.com wrote:
Ok. Yes Sorry was typing my phone. Yes I was talking about SSB. I have an HF all mode, but don't have 2 meter or 70 cm on that radio. I have a couple FM baofengs HT's. So guess I use them for SO-50. Ive been doing some reading and thinking of getting a USB dongle. Ive been reading on the funcube dongles, but not in my budget right not, but was looking at these cheap dongles. Will they work for AO-73 and other satellites?
Todd Bloomingdale- KC9LOX Tomah, WI
On Mon, Jan 20, 2014 at 2:38 PM, Patrick STODDARD patrick@wd9ewk.netwrote:
Todd,
If you were meaning to type SSB for the type of signals transmitted from AO-73, then yes - you will need a radio capable of SSB reception to copy anything from AO-73 - telemetry or transponder. If you have access to a Kenwood TH-F6A HT, this radio has an all-mode receiver which may be sufficient for copying the telemetry and the transponder from AO-73. For the telemetry, you would patch the speaker audio from the radio into the mic jack on a PC running the FUNcube Dashboard software from the www.funcube.org.uk web site, and set the radio around 145.935 MHz USB (probably start closer to 145.938 MHz at the start of a pass, and end up around 145.932 MHz near the end of the pass). Make sure the radio you use has small tuning steps, and be ready to tune down during the pass.
The daytime passes are the easiest to copy telemetry, as the transponder is off at that time. The telemetry is still on at night, but at 1/10 the power level that is used for the daytime passes (30mW downlink at night, compared to 300mW in daylight) to allow for the transponder to operate. The transponder transmits at 300mW across its 20 kHz passband, betwen 145.950 and 145.970 MHz - use USB for best performance when listening to the transponder. You can see some slideshow videos of me working the AO-73 transponder, using different radios as the receiver, on my YouTube channel:
Hope that helps. 73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/
On Mon, Jan 20, 2014 at 1:11 PM, Todd Bloomingdale < tbloomingdale@gmail.com> wrote:
I'm interested in trying to receive the AO-73 telemetry. Currently, I'm not able to SB, so I know that the transponder is out of question for me. But is a SB radio needed for the telemetry?
Todd Bloomingdale- KC9LOX Tomah, WI _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb