Jeff,
You may end up transmitting from the FT-857 and listening with the IC-706 for AO-73. It was the third generation of the 706 line, the IC-706Mk2G, which added 70cm to the other bands it already had (HF, 6m, 2m). Good luck with your setup, and hopefully you can meet that goal before the month is out.
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK
On Sat, Dec 19, 2015 at 2:50 PM, Jeff A. Boyd the2belo@msd.biglobe.ne.jp wrote:
Perfect.
As a complete neophyte at SSB transponder operation this will give me a great opportunity, over my holiday break, to work all the bugs out of the mobile station I just built. Icom IC-706 (first generation, 1996 vintage! Yipe!) up, Yaesu FT857D down, Alaskan Arrow on a tripod with ball mount and separate feeds, old laptop running Ubuntu and SATPC32 on Wine for tracking. Whenever the CAT cable for this Icom arrives, then I'll have computer control of tuning for both rigs.
I think this operator should commit himself to achieving the goal, before this month is out, of landing a signal on AO-73 and returning it safely to the Earth.