Is anyone on the list using a Yaesu FT897 or FT857 on the LEO satellites (both FM and SSB)? I am currently using an Icom 706MKIIG with pretty good results, but have been thinking about "upgrading" to a Yaesu FT897D or maybe a FT857D. I have used some Yaesu rigs on the sats before and the 706MKIIG seems to hear them better, especially AO27.
I don't have a big setup-Cushcraft dualband yagi (5 elements on each band) with no elevation, so signals are not rockcrushing from the satellites. The QST reviews show that the Icom has better sensitivity on 70cm SSB (MDS of -143 vs -139 dbm) and on FM (.16 vs .21 microvolts) but are those differences really meaningful? Do the 897 and 857 still receive the sats really good with a minimal setup?
73s John AA5JG
Good Morning John I use a FT897D for satellite and also a FT817 for Full Duplex operation I use them together so I can hear myself on the downlink (which is the proper way to do it). It receives the satellite fine(both rigs)but I would not consider the Ft897D a upgrade or vise versa,the best upgrade to do as a first thing is the antenna and cable and quality connectors.The draw back that I don't like on the Yaesu rigs is that the cat system cannot work during transmit,so Doppler is not corrected when you transmit and can be a bit of a pain when trying to setup your software for calibration.Its not to big of a deal and you can work around it.I personal believe that upgrading to any one of the multi band and multi mode rigs wont show any improvement.I have learnt allot from this board over this year and I live buy this rule (High Gain Low Loss).If I had an Icom and I wanted to buy another rig to run full duplex,I would buy a Icom,just for the fact that I mentioned above about Doppler correction and calibration.In order to upgrade your transceiver it is best to buy a rig that is design for satellite operation (IC910H,TS2000,FT897D,FT736R,etc) this is just my personal opinion. Good Luck Howard VE4ISP ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Geiger" aa5jg@yahoo.com To: amsat-bb@amsat.org; yaesu@mailman.qth.net; ft897@yahoogroups.com; ft857@yahoogroups.com; ft-857@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2009 10:57 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] Yaesu FT857/897 on satellites
Is anyone on the list using a Yaesu FT897 or FT857 on the LEO satellites (both FM and SSB)? I am currently using an Icom 706MKIIG with pretty good results, but have been thinking about "upgrading" to a Yaesu FT897D or maybe a FT857D. I have used some Yaesu rigs on the sats before and the 706MKIIG seems to hear them better, especially AO27.
I don't have a big setup-Cushcraft dualband yagi (5 elements on each band) with no elevation, so signals are not rockcrushing from the satellites. The QST reviews show that the Icom has better sensitivity on 70cm SSB (MDS of -143 vs -139 dbm) and on FM (.16 vs .21 microvolts) but are those differences really meaningful? Do the 897 and 857 still receive the sats really good with a minimal setup?
73s John AA5JG
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
Sorry the list of rigs should read FT847 not FT897D sorry about that Howard VE4ISP ----- Original Message ----- From: "Howard Kowall" hkowall@shaw.ca To: "John Geiger" aa5jg@yahoo.com; amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Thursday, August 13, 2009 7:21 AM Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Yaesu FT857/897 on satellites
Good Morning John I use a FT897D for satellite and also a FT817 for Full Duplex operation I use them together so I can hear myself on the downlink (which is the proper way to do it). It receives the satellite fine(both rigs)but I would not consider the Ft897D a upgrade or vise versa,the best upgrade to do as a first thing is the antenna and cable and quality connectors.The draw back that I don't like on the Yaesu rigs is that the cat system cannot work during transmit,so Doppler is not corrected when you transmit and can be a bit of a pain when trying to setup your software for calibration.Its not to big of a deal and you can work around it.I personal believe that upgrading to any one of the multi band and multi mode rigs wont show any improvement.I have learnt allot from this board over this year and I live buy this rule (High Gain Low Loss).If I had an Icom and I wanted to buy another rig to run full duplex,I would buy a Icom,just for the fact that I mentioned above about Doppler correction and calibration.In order to upgrade your transceiver it is best to buy a rig that is design for satellite operation (IC910H,TS2000,FT897D,FT736R,etc) this is just my personal opinion. Good Luck Howard VE4ISP ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Geiger" aa5jg@yahoo.com To: amsat-bb@amsat.org; yaesu@mailman.qth.net; ft897@yahoogroups.com; ft857@yahoogroups.com; ft-857@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2009 10:57 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] Yaesu FT857/897 on satellites
Is anyone on the list using a Yaesu FT897 or FT857 on the LEO satellites (both FM and SSB)? I am currently using an Icom 706MKIIG with pretty good results, but have been thinking about "upgrading" to a Yaesu FT897D or maybe a FT857D. I have used some Yaesu rigs on the sats before and the 706MKIIG seems to hear them better, especially AO27.
I don't have a big setup-Cushcraft dualband yagi (5 elements on each band) with no elevation, so signals are not rockcrushing from the satellites. The QST reviews show that the Icom has better sensitivity on 70cm SSB (MDS of -143 vs -139 dbm) and on FM (.16 vs .21 microvolts) but are those differences really meaningful? Do the 897 and 857 still receive the sats really good with a minimal setup?
73s John AA5JG
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
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
participants (2)
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Howard Kowall -
John Geiger