Re: Amateur Radio satellites for Beginners?
Carl, I'm surprised you're not hearing any of the SATs, especially withyour setup. Some of them are quite strong and folks have heardthem with handhelds and worked them from mobiles using verticalantennas while in motion. Since moving to a new QTH, I have no home station at the moment.But when I'm roving and using an Arrow, the SATs are easy to hearand track. I use either AmsatDroid or Look4Sat on my phone and theyboth do a great job. If I were you and I just wanted to check if I could hear a SAT, here'swhat I would do. Pick a common SAT known to be active and well-usedlike SO-50. Set your RX VFO to 436.800 MHz FM. Set your antennaelevation to about 20 degrees. Look up the timing of a pass viewablefrom your location. Set the azimuth of your antenna in the direction ofthe middle time of that pass. At that time, you should hear SO-50 loudand clear with several stations making QSOs. Since you say that your setup works fine for terrestrial QSOs, you willsurely hear SO-50 if you have the pass time correct for your location andyou have the azimuth set properly. If you want to verify that your MACsoftware is accurate, check the pass info against the AMSAT predictioncalculation for your QTH on: AMSAT - AMSAT Online Satellite Pass Predictions
| | | | AMSAT - AMSAT Online Satellite Pass Predictions
AMSAT is a worldwide group of Amateur Radio Operators who share an active interest in building, launching and th... |
|
|
GL/73, Bob K8BL
On Friday, April 16, 2021, 03:03:38 AM EDT, Carl A Estey carl@esteys.net wrote:
Bob - Thanks for your input. Right now I am using a TH-D72 handheld and GP-95 vertical and also the IC-9700 with the M2 LEO Pack. I hear nothing with either although terrestrial reception with both is fine. I am using MacDoppler software for tracking and have verified time and location. 73Carl WA0CQG
On Apr 15, 2021, at 9:08 PM, Bob Liddy (K8BL) k8bl@ameritech.net wrote: Carl,
The FM SATS are pretty easy and can be loads of fun. However, beingso easy, they get quite busy at times which brings about mayhem andchaos. It takes a while for new users to learn the proper operationalskills for using a single channel repeater available often nationwide. The Linear SATS are somewhat difficult to master at first, but most folkscatch on in a reasonable timeframe. They have a wide bandwidth whichmakes them available for quite a few QSOs to take place simultaneously.And, they can be actual QSOs as opposed to hello/goodbye types thatare the norm on the FM Birds. Your 9700 is an excellent radio for theLinear SATs, whereas an HT would have been sufficient for the FM ones. GL/73, Bob K8BL
On Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 10:57 AM Carl A Estey carl@esteys.net wrote:
What handful of Amateur Radio satellites should a newcomer focus on? The Amsat Current Status table lists 15 with current reports but many of those are telemetry only. Is there a current “Amateur Satellite Frequency Guide? My April 2019 is pretty out of date. I need to know what satellites I should try to hear in an effort to validate my IC-9700 and M2 Leo Pack system. 73Carl WA0CQG -----------------------------------------------------------
Carl,
To add to Bob's notes...
Make sure the 9700 has the RX band on top and the top volume knob is turned up with no squelch. The bottom knob volume turned down all the way. Make sure the radio is in satellite mode. If you turn on the waterfall, that is VERY helpful.
73 -Ant NU1U
On Fri, Apr 16, 2021 at 2:50 PM Bob Liddy (K8BL) k8bl@ameritech.net wrote:
Carl,
I'm surprised you're not hearing any of the SATs, especially with your setup. Some of them are quite strong and folks have heard them with handhelds and worked them from mobiles using vertical antennas while in motion.
Since moving to a new QTH, I have no home station at the moment. But when I'm roving and using an Arrow, the SATs are easy to hear and track. I use either AmsatDroid or Look4Sat on my phone and they both do a great job.
If I were you and I just wanted to check if I could hear a SAT, here's what I would do. Pick a common SAT known to be active and well-used like SO-50. Set your RX VFO to 436.800 MHz FM. Set your antenna elevation to about 20 degrees. Look up the timing of a pass viewable from your location. Set the azimuth of your antenna in the direction of the middle time of that pass. At that time, you should hear SO-50 loud and clear with several stations making QSOs.
Since you say that your setup works fine for terrestrial QSOs, you will surely hear SO-50 if you have the pass time correct for your location and you have the azimuth set properly. If you want to verify that your MAC software is accurate, check the pass info against the AMSAT prediction calculation for your QTH on: AMSAT - AMSAT Online Satellite Pass Predictions https://www.amsat.org/track/index.php
AMSAT - AMSAT Online Satellite Pass Predictions
AMSAT is a worldwide group of Amateur Radio Operators who share an active interest in building, launching and th... https://www.amsat.org/track/index.php
GL/73, Bob K8BL
On Friday, April 16, 2021, 03:03:38 AM EDT, Carl A Estey carl@esteys.net wrote:
Bob -
Thanks for your input. Right now I am using a TH-D72 handheld and GP-95 vertical and also the IC-9700 with the M2 LEO Pack. I hear nothing with either although terrestrial reception with both is fine.
I am using MacDoppler software for tracking and have verified time and location.
73 Carl WA0CQG
On Apr 15, 2021, at 9:08 PM, Bob Liddy (K8BL) k8bl@ameritech.net wrote:
Carl,
The FM SATS are pretty easy and can be loads of fun. However, being so easy, they get quite busy at times which brings about mayhem and chaos. It takes a while for new users to learn the proper operational skills for using a single channel repeater available often nationwide.
The Linear SATS are somewhat difficult to master at first, but most folks catch on in a reasonable timeframe. They have a wide bandwidth which makes them available for quite a few QSOs to take place simultaneously. And, they can be actual QSOs as opposed to hello/goodbye types that are the norm on the FM Birds. Your 9700 is an excellent radio for the Linear SATs, whereas an HT would have been sufficient for the FM ones.
GL/73, Bob K8BL
On Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 10:57 AM Carl A Estey carl@esteys.net wrote:
What handful of Amateur Radio satellites should a newcomer focus on? The Amsat Current Status table lists 15 with current reports but many of those are telemetry only.
Is there a current “Amateur Satellite Frequency Guide? My April 2019 is pretty out of date.
I need to know what satellites I should try to hear in an effort to validate my IC-9700 and M2 Leo Pack system.
73 Carl WA0CQG
Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)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. Acceptable Use and Privacy Policies available at https://www.amsat.org/about-amsat/
View archives of this mailing list at https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/amsat-bb@amsat.org To unsubscribe send an email to amsat-bb-leave(a)amsat.org Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at https://mailman.amsat.org
participants (2)
-
Ant Lefebvre -
Bob Liddy (K8BL)