Steve, AO-85 can be a bit harder to work with an HT but it's doable. I started making QSOs with a UV-5R half duplex and an Arrow antenna. IMHO the best chances are on descending passes or after the first quarter of an ascending pass. Passes above 20° work the best.
My longest distance on AO-85 was 5282 km with FG8OJ in Guadeloupe using a UV-B5 to transmit and a FT-817 as the receiver. I was using the Arrow during that 2° pass.
Try twisting the antenna to match the satellite RX polarization. Figuratively speaking, of course :-)
Best of luck!
Fernando NP4JV
On Mon, Oct 29, 2018, 7:19 AM <skristof@etczone.com wrote:
Lately, I've been trying other FM satellites besides SO-50. I have made contacts on AO-92, but I can't get anything from AO-85.
On AO-85 I can hear the voice ID of the satellite plain as day, but I never hear any other hams trying to make contacts and I can't seem to get into the satellite.
My set up is two Baofeng handhelds and an Arrow antenna. This set up works fine on SO-50 and AO-92 so I know that it works.
For AO-85 I'm using 435.170 for the uplink and 145.980 for the downlink. I have the uplink sending the 67.0 Hz tone.
So, what am I missing? Constructive tips would be very much appreciated.
Steve AI9IN _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb