Bob, I have often worked the linear birds mobile using an FT-100 (Yaesu's similar rig). Obviously, working a linear satellite in half-duplex mode is not the easiests of ventures, but it is not all that hard either. FO-29 is the easiest of the LEOs to work in this mode as it is easy to mentally adjust for the easily estimated Doppler shift. I have also worked both AO-40 and AO-51 using this rig in mode L/S (using a downconverter and a trippler for the uplink). I find the easiest method is to find a clear spot, approximately the middle of the passband, estimate the Doppler for the uplink and call CQ, then tune around for someone coming back to me. This is not perfect, and runs the risk of interfering with an adjacent QSO, but will work in a pinch. Just set your rig to "split" and give it a try.
73, Jerry, K5OE
Hi all,
Does anyone have experience working the linear birds with a single IC-706MkIIG?
Thanks
Bob Herrell HI4/AJ5C