It just worked/sounded as good as ever on the 1602 UTC pass (2019-07-06).
I was able to get in easily with 5 watts through most of the last half of the pass. It was not fading in RX or TX capability at all like it was the previous few times I worked it. This was a 72 degree pass for me.
Perhaps its solar panels were lit perfectly and maybe its RX antenna was lined up perfectly for me... either way, I am impressed. I'll upload my recording later but just wanted to put this out there as there were a ton of WMPLOTA stations on AO-91 earlier... maybe spread the traffic out on AO-85 some. At least when it is not in eclipse.
73, John Brier KG4AKV
Glad to hear this, John. Also consider its larger footprint, thanks to altitude. Has been helpful here in HI for those who are FM only.
Mark W3ZM/KH6 for a few more days
On Sat, Jul 6, 2019 at 8:29 AM John Brier via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
It just worked/sounded as good as ever on the 1602 UTC pass (2019-07-06).
I was able to get in easily with 5 watts through most of the last half of the pass. It was not fading in RX or TX capability at all like it was the previous few times I worked it. This was a 72 degree pass for me.
Perhaps its solar panels were lit perfectly and maybe its RX antenna was lined up perfectly for me... either way, I am impressed. I'll upload my recording later but just wanted to put this out there as there were a ton of WMPLOTA stations on AO-91 earlier... maybe spread the traffic out on AO-85 some. At least when it is not in eclipse.
73, John Brier KG4AKV _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
John,
I just worked an AO-85 pass about an hour ago. Had to wait until about 1/3 of the way to get through, then it worked OK. I heard AA5PK and WD9GET in Texas, along with AC9E in New Mexico. About 33 degrees max elevation here. Nice to still have AO-85 around...
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK or http://twitter.com/WD9EWK
On Saturday, July 6, 2019, John Brier via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
It just worked/sounded as good as ever on the 1602 UTC pass (2019-07-06).
I was able to get in easily with 5 watts through most of the last half of the pass. It was not fading in RX or TX capability at all like it was the previous few times I worked it. This was a 72 degree pass for me.
Perhaps its solar panels were lit perfectly and maybe its RX antenna was lined up perfectly for me... either way, I am impressed. I'll upload my recording later but just wanted to put this out there as there were a ton of WMPLOTA stations on AO-91 earlier... maybe spread the traffic out on AO-85 some. At least when it is not in eclipse.
73, John Brier KG4AKV _
Good stuff Patrick. Thanks for your report.
73, John Brier KG4AKV
On Sat, Jul 6, 2019 at 4:37 PM Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) amsat-bb@wd9ewk.net wrote:
John,
I just worked an AO-85 pass about an hour ago. Had to wait until about 1/3 of the way to get through, then it worked OK. I heard AA5PK and WD9GET in Texas, along with AC9E in New Mexico. About 33 degrees max elevation here. Nice to still have AO-85 around...
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK or http://twitter.com/WD9EWK
On Saturday, July 6, 2019, John Brier via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
It just worked/sounded as good as ever on the 1602 UTC pass (2019-07-06).
I was able to get in easily with 5 watts through most of the last half of the pass. It was not fading in RX or TX capability at all like it was the previous few times I worked it. This was a 72 degree pass for me.
Perhaps its solar panels were lit perfectly and maybe its RX antenna was lined up perfectly for me... either way, I am impressed. I'll upload my recording later but just wanted to put this out there as there were a ton of WMPLOTA stations on AO-91 earlier... maybe spread the traffic out on AO-85 some. At least when it is not in eclipse.
73, John Brier KG4AKV _
And here is my recording:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tjwna2b35oi99f4/2019-07-06_1802_UTC_-_AO-85_KG4AKV...
You can hear Veronica at 00:38 and then I turn the transponder on after her second transmission at 02:45.
At various times I say what power I'm using, and towards the end what the elevation was. I definitely got in solid with 5 watts < 10 degrees at least one point.
73, John Brier KG4AKV
On Sat, Jul 6, 2019 at 7:05 PM John Brier johnbrier@gmail.com wrote:
Good stuff Patrick. Thanks for your report.
73, John Brier KG4AKV
On Sat, Jul 6, 2019 at 4:37 PM Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) amsat-bb@wd9ewk.net wrote:
John,
I just worked an AO-85 pass about an hour ago. Had to wait until about 1/3 of the way to get through, then it worked OK. I heard AA5PK and WD9GET in Texas, along with AC9E in New Mexico. About 33 degrees max elevation here. Nice to still have AO-85 around...
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK or http://twitter.com/WD9EWK
On Saturday, July 6, 2019, John Brier via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
It just worked/sounded as good as ever on the 1602 UTC pass (2019-07-06).
I was able to get in easily with 5 watts through most of the last half of the pass. It was not fading in RX or TX capability at all like it was the previous few times I worked it. This was a 72 degree pass for me.
Perhaps its solar panels were lit perfectly and maybe its RX antenna was lined up perfectly for me... either way, I am impressed. I'll upload my recording later but just wanted to put this out there as there were a ton of WMPLOTA stations on AO-91 earlier... maybe spread the traffic out on AO-85 some. At least when it is not in eclipse.
73, John Brier KG4AKV _
Thanks John and Patrick. It really does sound pretty good! It is in a slightly different mode from back when there were no eclipses. Pretty impressive that it keeps on plugging along!
On Sun, Jul 7, 2019 at 3:05 PM John Brier via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
And here is my recording:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tjwna2b35oi99f4/2019-07-06_1802_UTC_-_AO-85_KG4AKV...
You can hear Veronica at 00:38 and then I turn the transponder on after her second transmission at 02:45.
At various times I say what power I'm using, and towards the end what the elevation was. I definitely got in solid with 5 watts < 10 degrees at least one point.
73, John Brier KG4AKV
On Sat, Jul 6, 2019 at 7:05 PM John Brier johnbrier@gmail.com wrote:
Good stuff Patrick. Thanks for your report.
73, John Brier KG4AKV
On Sat, Jul 6, 2019 at 4:37 PM Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) amsat-bb@wd9ewk.net wrote:
John,
I just worked an AO-85 pass about an hour ago. Had to wait until about 1/3 of the way to get through, then it worked OK. I heard AA5PK and WD9GET in Texas, along with AC9E in New Mexico. About 33 degrees max elevation here. Nice to still have AO-85 around...
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK or http://twitter.com/WD9EWK
On Saturday, July 6, 2019, John Brier via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org
wrote:
It just worked/sounded as good as ever on the 1602 UTC pass
(2019-07-06).
I was able to get in easily with 5 watts through most of the last
half of
the pass. It was not fading in RX or TX capability at all like it was
the
previous few times I worked it. This was a 72 degree pass for me.
Perhaps its solar panels were lit perfectly and maybe its RX antenna
was
lined up perfectly for me... either way, I am impressed. I'll upload
my
recording later but just wanted to put this out there as there were a
ton
of WMPLOTA stations on AO-91 earlier... maybe spread the traffic out
on
AO-85 some. At least when it is not in eclipse.
73, John Brier KG4AKV _
Sent via AMSAT-BB@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. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Burns and John,
The second AO-85 pass I worked yesterday sounded better than the earlier pass. I could get into the satellite earlier on the later pass, and with lower power than I needed earlier. Not many were on either of the passes I tried. My audio is in the "Satellite_Audio-2019" folder at http://dropbox.wd9ewk.net/ (look for the file names starting with 20190706 with "AO85" in the rest of the file name).
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK or http://twitter.com/WD9EWK
On Sun, Jul 7, 2019 at 9:25 PM Burns Fisher burns@fisher.cc wrote:
Thanks John and Patrick. It really does sound pretty good! It is in a slightly different mode from back when there were no eclipses. Pretty impressive that it keeps on plugging along!
participants (4)
-
Burns Fisher -
John Brier -
Mark L. Hammond -
Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)