To all in Europe.....
We have just had an overhead pass of SO-50 and yet again, not one successful QSO.
I heard many stations trying to access the bird but not one station managed a two way contact.
Can any experienced European operator explain to me what is happening.
I thought the FM birds were supposed to be the easy ones?
Peter
G8KEK
Some passes over the US can approach that level of futility. I don't think I've heard a pass where not one QSO was completed though.
Biggest problem here is people can't hear the bird and then keep calling even though they can't hear it.
73.
Paul, N8HM
On Mon, Mar 24, 2014 at 7:06 PM, Peter Wilson protest@virginmedia.com wrote:
To all in Europe.....
We have just had an overhead pass of SO-50 and yet again, not one successful QSO.
I heard many stations trying to access the bird but not one station managed a two way contact.
Can any experienced European operator explain to me what is happening.
I thought the FM birds were supposed to be the easy ones?
Peter
G8KEK
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
Paul,
I think it's the same here. I could here a number of stations opening the satellite, then within a few seconds they were over-run by another stations carrier.
Seems such a shame as the audio appears to be good when it does eventually get through.
I am approaching my first 100 contacts with an even spread across oscars 73, 29, 52, and old faithful, 07. As for SO50, about three contacts, all very lucky ones.......
Peter G8KEK
Sent from my iPad
On 24 Mar 2014, at 23:33, Paul Stoetzer n8hm@arrl.net wrote:
Some passes over the US can approach that level of futility. I don't think I've heard a pass where not one QSO was completed though.
Biggest problem here is people can't hear the bird and then keep calling even though they can't hear it.
Paul, N8HM
On Mon, Mar 24, 2014 at 7:06 PM, Peter Wilson protest@virginmedia.com wrote: To all in Europe.....
We have just had an overhead pass of SO-50 and yet again, not one successful QSO.
I heard many stations trying to access the bird but not one station managed a two way contact.
Can any experienced European operator explain to me what is happening.
I thought the FM birds were supposed to be the easy ones?
Peter
G8KEK
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
As others have said, it's a single channel bird, so with contention (even with perfect behavior on the part of the operators), the channel is going to be overloaded.
I recommend to folks starting out with satellites to give SO-50 a try, but late at night when there are fewer people competing for the limited resource. Also, don't forget the PL tone needed to get in to this one.
The good news is that you passed the first two major stumbling blocks - you figured out where and when the pass was, and you actually heard it, so you've got the downlink side nailed. Next is just a matter of the uplink frequency, PL tone, and timing on the PTT switch.
Good luck!
Greg KO6TH
Peter Wilson wrote:
To all in Europe.....
We have just had an overhead pass of SO-50 and yet again, not one successful QSO.
I heard many stations trying to access the bird but not one station managed a two way contact.
Can any experienced European operator explain to me what is happening.
I thought the FM birds were supposed to be the easy ones?
Peter
G8KEK
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
Hi Peter,
"Easy Sats" is a misnomer, the FM satellites are only straightforward to operate through as long as there are no more than four or five satellite operators within the footprint. That's hardly ever the case for Europe or I guess the East and West coasts of the USA.
73 Trevor M5AKA
On Monday, 24 March 2014, 23:15, Peter Wilson protest@virginmedia.com wrote:
To all in Europe.....
We have just had an overhead pass of SO-50 and yet again, not one successful QSO.
I heard many stations trying to access the bird but not one station managed a two way contact.
Can any experienced European operator explain to me what is happening.
I thought the FM birds were supposed to be the easy ones?
Peter
G8KEK
_______________________________________________ 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
AO 73 is - 10 KHZ receive. Is it also - 10 KHZ transmit? We do not catch it in transponder mode very often and have only made one QSO on it. The buttons + and - change both receive and transmit.
God Bless
R W4BUE
Trevor,
I guess that makes sense - as long as it's not me!
Peter
G8KEK
From: M5AKA [mailto:m5aka@yahoo.co.uk] Sent: 25 March 2014 09:34 To: Peter Wilson; amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] SO-50 Over Europe
Hi Peter,
"Easy Sats" is a misnomer, the FM satellites are only straightforward to operate through as long as there are no more than four or five satellite operators within the footprint. That's hardly ever the case for Europe or I guess the East and West coasts of the USA.
73 Trevor M5AKA
On Monday, 24 March 2014, 23:15, Peter Wilson <protest@virginmedia.com mailto:protest@virginmedia.com > wrote:
To all in Europe.....
We have just had an overhead pass of SO-50 and yet again, not one successful QSO.
I heard many stations trying to access the bird but not one station managed a two way contact.
Can any experienced European operator explain to me what is happening.
I thought the FM birds were supposed to be the easy ones?
Peter
G8KEK
_______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. mailto: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
participants (6)
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Greg D -
M5AKA -
Paul Stoetzer -
Peter Wilson -
Protest
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Rich/wa4bue