Hi Tom, Tnx for your advice. I have now diagnosed several problems successfully. 1) I am using RHCP, which makes signals from AO-51 weak, complicated by the fact that I have a 15KHz offset which is further complicated by doppler and 2) turns out that, when one puts the 910H in "satellite mode" the data port receive gets switched as well. This morning I was able to copy strong TECHSAT beacons throughout its pass and strong voice on ECHO (The passes conflict right now). THanks for your guidance. SOmone needs to document this stuff for others!!!! maybe on a web page somewhere (in my spare time). Once again you pointed me in the right direction. Thanks for the hints. The offset on the 910H is well known...what is NOT well known is that, when you get down and dirty in there, you cannot adjust it out with the standard XTAL PLL oscillator. I have some pretty good test gear here....all of the tools but none of the talent (hi hi). 73 Jim N6FO
Thomas McDaniel wrote:
Hi Jim,
AO-51 is RHCP for voice and LHCP for digital -- I'm using the KLM 435-40CX with the switching relay. I also find that GO-32 works pretty well using LHCP so I leave my system set for LHCP when I'm working digital.
I too use a SYMEK (TNC3S) TNC but I don't know about the IC910 hook ups as I use an old modified FT-736. If you have access to an oscilloscope, you might want to look at the data out of the radio to make sure that it is where it should be. It seems like I heard that there are separate data ports for each side of the IC-910 -- does sat mode combine them or do you need to use somekind of a "Y" cable for digital sats? Hook-ups can be tricky.
I am surprised to hear about the frequency problems, while I haven't used the IC-910, I have had good luck with other Icom equipment. Being 15 KHz off on the UHF band will certainly be a problem tuning the receive -- the data would be outside the passband! I think I would call Icom service and ask them about this. If you are using computer control (like SatPC32) you might be able to set an off-set to compensate, but it still shouldn't be that far off -- its hard enough to tune to compensate for doppler shift without an inaccurate receiver!
73 Tom n0ntx
----- Original Message ----- From: "James Cottle" [email protected] To: "Thomas McDaniel" [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2006 12:10 AM Subject: Problems with my 9600 baud stuff
Hi Tom, Thank you for your generous offer. I am using an ICOM IC910h and interfacing it thru its mini DIN data port to a SYMEK 9600 TNC3. I was able to get a couple of passes of TECHSAT beacons thru and then something changed. Now I get no joy on any pass. I believe that I may have problems with the data port on the 910. I seem to be tracking the satellites fine, I can hear the downlink voice channels on ECHO with no problems. Also, I am running a RHCP M2 432CP30. Is it true that ECHO wants to see LHCP? I may be seeing a serious degradation in signal strength due to the mismatch. I have never been able to get a good DCD from AO-51. I did get a couple of beacons from TECHSAT until something that I cannot identify changed. I may have switched to the MINI DIN port thinking it was a more elegant solution. The frequency accuracy on the 910H is very poor. I tried, in vain to adjust the PLL and could not bring it in line. So i have ordered the CR-293 high stability XTAL option, hoping that this will pull the rig closer to its indicated frequency. It is typically 15 Khz off on U band and about 40KhZ off on L band. This makes tuning a real challenge on these short LEO passes. There is not a lot of documentation available that I have found on problems such as I am having, so I appreciate your help very much. Jim N6FO
I'm willing to bet your 910 has the same faulty oscillator module that mine did. Icom replaced mine under warranty as soon as I contacted them, but that was several years ago. The symptoms were the same, 3-4 khz on 2m, and 9-12 khz offset on 70 cm that would not trim out....
73, Drew KO4MA
----- Original Message ----- From: "James Cottle" [email protected] To: "Thomas McDaniel" [email protected] Cc: "amsat bb" [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2006 1:22 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Problems with my 9600 baud stuff
Hi Tom, Tnx for your advice. I have now diagnosed several problems successfully. 1) I am using RHCP, which makes signals from AO-51 weak, complicated by the fact that I have a 15KHz offset which is further complicated by doppler and 2) turns out that, when one puts the 910H in "satellite mode" the data port receive gets switched as well. This morning I was able to copy strong TECHSAT beacons throughout its pass and strong voice on ECHO (The passes conflict right now). THanks for your guidance. SOmone needs to document this stuff for others!!!! maybe on a web page somewhere (in my spare time). Once again you pointed me in the right direction. Thanks for the hints. The offset on the 910H is well known...what is NOT well known is that, when you get down and dirty in there, you cannot adjust it out with the standard XTAL PLL oscillator. I have some pretty good test gear here....all of the tools but none of the talent (hi hi). 73 Jim N6FO
Thomas McDaniel wrote:
Hi Jim,
AO-51 is RHCP for voice and LHCP for digital -- I'm using the KLM 435-40CX with the switching relay. I also find that GO-32 works pretty well using LHCP so I leave my system set for LHCP when I'm working digital.
I too use a SYMEK (TNC3S) TNC but I don't know about the IC910 hook ups as I use an old modified FT-736. If you have access to an oscilloscope, you might want to look at the data out of the radio to make sure that it is where it should be. It seems like I heard that there are separate data ports for each side of the IC-910 -- does sat mode combine them or do you need to use somekind of a "Y" cable for digital sats? Hook-ups can be tricky.
I am surprised to hear about the frequency problems, while I haven't used the IC-910, I have had good luck with other Icom equipment. Being 15 KHz off on the UHF band will certainly be a problem tuning the receive -- the data would be outside the passband! I think I would call Icom service and ask them about this. If you are using computer control (like SatPC32) you might be able to set an off-set to compensate, but it still shouldn't be that far off -- its hard enough to tune to compensate for doppler shift without an inaccurate receiver!
73 Tom n0ntx
----- Original Message ----- From: "James Cottle" [email protected] To: "Thomas McDaniel" [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2006 12:10 AM Subject: Problems with my 9600 baud stuff
Hi Tom, Thank you for your generous offer. I am using an ICOM IC910h and interfacing it thru its mini DIN data port to a SYMEK 9600 TNC3. I was able to get a couple of passes of TECHSAT beacons thru and then something changed. Now I get no joy on any pass. I believe that I may have problems with the data port on the 910. I seem to be tracking the satellites fine, I can hear the downlink voice channels on ECHO with no problems. Also, I am running a RHCP M2 432CP30. Is it true that ECHO wants to see LHCP? I may be seeing a serious degradation in signal strength due to the mismatch. I have never been able to get a good DCD from AO-51. I did get a couple of beacons from TECHSAT until something that I cannot identify changed. I may have switched to the MINI DIN port thinking it was a more elegant solution. The frequency accuracy on the 910H is very poor. I tried, in vain to adjust the PLL and could not bring it in line. So i have ordered the CR-293 high stability XTAL option, hoping that this will pull the rig closer to its indicated frequency. It is typically 15 Khz off on U band and about 40KhZ off on L band. This makes tuning a real challenge on these short LEO passes. There is not a lot of documentation available that I have found on problems such as I am having, so I appreciate your help very much. Jim N6FO
Sent via [email protected] 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
Drew, You are spot on. Except guess what? It is up to 40KhZ off at 1200!! Yep it will not trim out. I am hoping that ordering the CR-293 option will make things trimmable. Mine is out of warranty, fer sure. Also, it is not straight forward, but one must use a Y-Connector when using the Satellitte mode at the MiniDin data ports. Main data port goes to SUBband, including PTT, receive data switches to the secondary data port. That was my main issue. Not exactly straight forward docs in the manual on this. Wish I could find a readable schematic of the KE7G Y connector, but it is pretty much a no brainer. This has been previously documented here, but rather difficult to find. You can imagine my frustration in tuning doppler on these short path LEOs, and having as much as a 20 KHz offset to contend with....whew....glad that is all straigtened out.....now I can just sit back and enjoy a leisurely 15 minute pass. :) Jim N6FO
Andrew Glasbrenner wrote:
I'm willing to bet your 910 has the same faulty oscillator module that mine did. Icom replaced mine under warranty as soon as I contacted them, but that was several years ago. The symptoms were the same, 3-4 khz on 2m, and 9-12 khz offset on 70 cm that would not trim out....
73, Drew KO4MA
----- Original Message ----- From: "James Cottle" [email protected] To: "Thomas McDaniel" [email protected] Cc: "amsat bb" [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2006 1:22 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Problems with my 9600 baud stuff
Hi Tom, Tnx for your advice. I have now diagnosed several problems successfully. 1) I am using RHCP, which makes signals from AO-51 weak, complicated by the fact that I have a 15KHz offset which is further complicated by doppler and 2) turns out that, when one puts the 910H in "satellite mode" the data port receive gets switched as well. This morning I was able to copy strong TECHSAT beacons throughout its pass and strong voice on ECHO (The passes conflict right now). THanks for your guidance. SOmone needs to document this stuff for others!!!! maybe on a web page somewhere (in my spare time). Once again you pointed me in the right direction. Thanks for the hints. The offset on the 910H is well known...what is NOT well known is that, when you get down and dirty in there, you cannot adjust it out with the standard XTAL PLL oscillator. I have some pretty good test gear here....all of the tools but none of the talent (hi hi). 73 Jim N6FO
Thomas McDaniel wrote:
Hi Jim,
AO-51 is RHCP for voice and LHCP for digital -- I'm using the KLM 435-40CX with the switching relay. I also find that GO-32 works pretty well using LHCP so I leave my system set for LHCP when I'm working digital.
I too use a SYMEK (TNC3S) TNC but I don't know about the IC910 hook ups as I use an old modified FT-736. If you have access to an oscilloscope, you might want to look at the data out of the radio to make sure that it is where it should be. It seems like I heard that there are separate data ports for each side of the IC-910 -- does sat mode combine them or do you need to use somekind of a "Y" cable for digital sats? Hook-ups can be tricky.
I am surprised to hear about the frequency problems, while I haven't used the IC-910, I have had good luck with other Icom equipment. Being 15 KHz off on the UHF band will certainly be a problem tuning the receive -- the data would be outside the passband! I think I would call Icom service and ask them about this. If you are using computer control (like SatPC32) you might be able to set an off-set to compensate, but it still shouldn't be that far off -- its hard enough to tune to compensate for doppler shift without an inaccurate receiver!
73 Tom n0ntx
----- Original Message ----- From: "James Cottle" [email protected] To: "Thomas McDaniel" [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2006 12:10 AM Subject: Problems with my 9600 baud stuff
Hi Tom, Thank you for your generous offer. I am using an ICOM IC910h and interfacing it thru its mini DIN data port to a SYMEK 9600 TNC3. I was able to get a couple of passes of TECHSAT beacons thru and then something changed. Now I get no joy on any pass. I believe that I may have problems with the data port on the 910. I seem to be tracking the satellites fine, I can hear the downlink voice channels on ECHO with no problems. Also, I am running a RHCP M2 432CP30. Is it true that ECHO wants to see LHCP? I may be seeing a serious degradation in signal strength due to the mismatch. I have never been able to get a good DCD from AO-51. I did get a couple of beacons from TECHSAT until something that I cannot identify changed. I may have switched to the MINI DIN port thinking it was a more elegant solution. The frequency accuracy on the 910H is very poor. I tried, in vain to adjust the PLL and could not bring it in line. So i have ordered the CR-293 high stability XTAL option, hoping that this will pull the rig closer to its indicated frequency. It is typically 15 Khz off on U band and about 40KhZ off on L band. This makes tuning a real challenge on these short LEO passes. There is not a lot of documentation available that I have found on problems such as I am having, so I appreciate your help very much. Jim N6FO
Sent via [email protected] 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
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Andrew Glasbrenner -
James Cottle