John,
Interesting report. One of the widely reported anomalies is that the carrier is not timing out as it should.
73,
Alan WA4SCA
<-----Original Message----- <From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John <Brier via AMSAT-BB <Sent: Sunday, June 16, 2019 21:45 PM <To: AMSAT BB [email protected] <Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-85 report from the 2019-06-16 - 0028 UTC pass < <Hi, < <I made five QSOs on this 47 degree pass from FM05. I was using my <Kenwood TM-V71 radio at 50 watts and an Alaskan Arrow II antenna with <the last third boom section removed. < <I didn't hear the bird for the first couple minutes of the pass and <couldn't get it to come on myself. Eventually it came on and I heard <Clayton W5PFG not long after that so I assume he turned the <transponder on. In the first half of the pass it was difficult to get <a solid signal into the sat. Other stations had the same problems. <Audio was sometimes really low, great other times, and distorted at <times as well. < <The last part of the pass was not bad though. I was able to <consistently get a signal into the bird, even at 10 or 5 watts. I had <a conversation with Roy K3RLD about this as we were both having the <same good luck. This reminded me of past AO-85 behavior where it is <easier to get in in the last part of the pass. I was actually on top <of a landfill park in my town so I had a perfect view of the horizon <and was able to get in all the way to LOS, albeit with some picket <fencing effects on the downlink. < <Stations contacted: < <W5PFG <W5HRH <N9XCO * <N0RC <K3RLD <Also heard ???PML < <* This was Richard N9XCO's first sat QSO. He just finished setting up <a IC-9700/G-5500/SatPC32 station < <One odd thing I noticed is at the end of the pass I believe I was at <145.970 MHz, 10 KHz down from the center frequency of 145.980. It <looked so weird I did a double take and doubted I was really at that <frequency. I don't know if the bird was off frequency or if it was <something on my end. < <My audio recording is here: < <https://www.dropbox.com/s/j1xduj3had9gicm/2019-06-16_0028_UTC_AO- <85_KG4AKV_FM05.WAV?dl=0 < <73, John Brier KG4AKV <_______________________________________________ <Sent via [email protected]. 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. <Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite <program! <Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb