Hi Mike,
Others have answered the question quite well. One additional point I'd like to make is how important it is to actually listen to your yourself on the downlink, for a couple reasons.
1. On an FM bird, if you can't hear yourself or you hear a double... Stop transmitting 2. On a linear transponder (CW, SSB), use only enough uplink transmit power to be heard on the downlink.
For #2, the rule of thumb is to compare your downlink signal strength to that of the satellite's beacon and adjust your uplink power so your downlink does not exceed that. A satellite PA can only put out so much power (say 1W). So if your uplink is 20 dB stronger at the satellite than anyone else's, your downlink could be transmitted at .99W leaving only 10mW for the rest of the QSO's in the passband.
73
John Belstner W9EN Valley Center, CA DM13le
----- Original Message ----
From: Mike mikef1234@buckeye-express.com To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Wed, July 27, 2011 5:25:49 AM Subject: [amsat-bb] Full Duplex?
I'm having a difficult time of understanding the concept of Full Duplex. Can anyone explain it to me? I have the ARRL satellite book, read about it in there and Wikipedia. I still didn't understand how it works with a transceiver setup like we use.
Mike N8GBU
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb