Hi Philip- I use two 817NDs and an Arrow for my portable satellite ops. 1) I use a single external battery. Depending on how long you want to go without recharging, I'd suggest a 7aH Bioenno at minimum. I use a 9aH (not Bioenno)and it fits in my pack nicely with minimal weight. 2) If you truly aren't going to use the rigs for anything other than sats, I see no need to get the SSB/CW filters. I have a CW filter in one of my 817s, but I also use it for backpack QRP CW.  Hope this helps! Have fun! Sean Sean Kutzko Amateur Radio KX9XTwitter: @seankutzko

On Monday, July 26, 2021, 12:46:29 PM CDT, Philip Jenkins n4hf.philip@gmail.com wrote:

Hi.  I acquired my second FT-817ND this past weekend, and I have a couple of questions for those of you who are using 817/818s for portable satellite work. 1) Are you using the internal battery packs (whether NiCd or alkaline) OR an external battery(ies)? If the latter, do you advise using two separate batteries, or just one for both (using the included DC cable:E-DC-6)? (I've heard good things about Bioenna) 2) I'm probably going to use these rigs just for satellites, so are the SSB/CW filters worth getting? I see one difference between the 817 and 818 is that the latter includes a TCXO; is getting the TCXO unit for the 817(s) worth it? (Probably not going to use digital modes on the birds - except possibly telemetry) Any suggestions - or pitfalls to work around - for using the 2 rigs like this? Thanks Philip N4HF

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Hi Philip, TXCO is only needed for digital modes.

I use an Amazon Camera bag, with camera harness body strap and my two radios with a 6 AH Bienno LiPO battery. I added Power Pole adapters to the back power connectors, you can get those on eBay.  Also a DC Y cable. Please note that the 817 does draw power even when powered off, see : http://www.ka7oei.com/ft817_pwr.html%C2%A0%C2%A0 not much but if you don't use the radios for a while you may wind up with a dead battery. Happened to me once.

No need for SSB/CW filters, unless you plan on doing CW on the sats.

Do order a Mini-Circuits Low pass filter for the 2m side if you use an Arrow antenna otherwise you will get desense.Look for BLP-200+ (see past AMSAT-BB posts)  Ignore the low wattage spec. This is needed for sats with 2M uplinks otherwise the third harmonic will ruin your UHF downlink.  Been extensively covered on Twitter. Sat ops, including this one use it all the time. 73, Adrian AA5UK

On Monday, July 26, 2021, 12:46:29 PM CDT, Philip Jenkins n4hf.philip@gmail.com wrote:

Hi.  I acquired my second FT-817ND this past weekend, and I have a couple of questions for those of you who are using 817/818s for portable satellite work. 1) Are you using the internal battery packs (whether NiCd or alkaline) OR an external battery(ies)? If the latter, do you advise using two separate batteries, or just one for both (using the included DC cable:E-DC-6)? (I've heard good things about Bioenna) 2) I'm probably going to use these rigs just for satellites, so are the SSB/CW filters worth getting? I see one difference between the 817 and 818 is that the latter includes a TCXO; is getting the TCXO unit for the 817(s) worth it? (Probably not going to use digital modes on the birds - except possibly telemetry) Any suggestions - or pitfalls to work around - for using the 2 rigs like this? Thanks Philip N4HF

-----------------------------------------------------------

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

Thanks for all the suggestions so far (some in private email), especially in regards to the battery recommendations and the low pass filters (and ways to carry the rigs)

Just to give a little more info, I have been sporadically active on SO-50 since 2013 with an Arrow antenna and a D72 (but not in the past couple of years) and not using a filter. My last contact on a linear sat was 28 years ago on a DXpedition (LONNNNG story) on AO-13. I also have a perfectly working TS2000X, but due to circumstances have not been able to use it on the birds (and not even HF the past couple of years)

On Mon, Jul 26, 2021 at 1:45 PM Philip Jenkins n4hf.philip@gmail.com wrote:

Hi. I acquired my second FT-817ND this past weekend, and I have a couple of questions for those of you who are using 817/818s for portable satellite work.

1. Are you using the internal battery packs (whether NiCd or alkaline) OR

an external battery(ies)? If the latter, do you advise using two separate batteries, or just one for both (using the included DC cable:E-DC-6)? (I've heard good things about Bioenna)

2. I'm probably going to use these rigs just for satellites, so are the

SSB/CW filters worth getting? I see one difference between the 817 and 818 is that the latter includes a TCXO; is getting the TCXO unit for the 817(s) worth it? (Probably not going to use digital modes on the birds - except possibly telemetry)

Any suggestions - or pitfalls to work around - for using the 2 rigs like this?

Thanks

Philip N4HF