Carl,

I'm surprised you're not hearing any of the SATs, especially with

your setup. Some of them are quite strong and folks have heard

them with handhelds and worked them from mobiles using vertical

antennas while in motion.

Since moving to a new QTH, I have no home station at the moment.

But when I'm roving and using an Arrow, the SATs are easy to hear

and track. I use either AmsatDroid or Look4Sat on my phone and they

both do a great job.

If I were you and I just wanted to check if I could hear a SAT, here's

what I would do. Pick a common SAT known to be active and well-used

like SO-50. Set your RX VFO to 436.800 MHz FM. Set your antenna

elevation to about 20 degrees. Look up the timing of a pass viewable

from your location. Set the azimuth of your antenna in the direction of

the middle time of that pass. At that time, you should hear SO-50 loud

and clear with several stations making QSOs.

Since you say that your setup works fine for terrestrial QSOs, you will

surely hear SO-50 if you have the pass time correct for your location and

you have the azimuth set properly. If you want to verify that your MAC

software is accurate, check the pass info against the AMSAT prediction

calculation for your QTH on:

  AMSAT - AMSAT Online Satellite Pass Predictions

AMSAT - AMSAT Online Satellite Pass Predictions AMSAT is a worldwide group of Amateur Radio Operators who share an active interest in building, launching and th...

GL/73,   Bob  K8BL

On Friday, April 16, 2021, 03:03:38 AM EDT, Carl A Estey <carl@esteys.net> wrote:

Bob - 

Thanks for your input.  Right now I am using a TH-D72 handheld and GP-95 vertical and also the IC-9700 with the M2 LEO Pack.  I hear nothing with either although terrestrial reception with both is fine.

I am using MacDoppler software for tracking and have verified time and location.

73

Carl WA0CQG

On Apr 15, 2021, at 9:08 PM, Bob Liddy (K8BL) <k8bl@ameritech.net> wrote:

Carl,

The FM SATS are pretty easy and can be loads of fun. However, being

so easy, they get quite busy at times which brings about mayhem and

chaos. It takes a while for new users to learn the proper operational

skills for using a single channel repeater available often nationwide.

The Linear SATS are somewhat difficult to master at first, but most folks

catch on in a reasonable timeframe. They have a wide bandwidth which

makes them available for quite a few QSOs to take place simultaneously.

And, they can be actual QSOs as opposed to hello/goodbye types that

are the norm on the FM Birds. Your 9700 is an excellent radio for the

Linear SATs, whereas an HT would have been sufficient for the FM ones.

GL/73,    Bob  K8BL

On Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 10:57 AM Carl A Estey <carl@esteys.net> wrote:

What handful of Amateur Radio satellites should a newcomer focus on?  The Amsat Current Status table lists 15 with current reports but many of those are telemetry only.  

Is there a current “Amateur Satellite Frequency Guide?  My April 2019 is pretty out of date.

I need to know what satellites I should try to hear in an effort to validate my IC-9700 and M2 Leo Pack system.

73

Carl WA0CQG

-----------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------

Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed
are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA.
Acceptable Use and Privacy Policies available at https://www.amsat.org/about-amsat/

View archives of this mailing list at
https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/amsat-bb@amsat.org
To unsubscribe send an email to amsat-bb-leave(a)amsat.org
Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at https://mailman.amsat.org