Hi European operators,

It looks like a repetion of the considerate operating practice

at least here over Europe is in place.

Sorry it is long :-)

Here it is with minor modifications since last year:

The first issue of this article is from 2000 - but with some modification it is still useful. I wrote this because the operating practice on the FM satellites by a few operators is less than productive. Unfortunately it makes it difficult to have real QSOs for the rest of us.

The FM satellites function just like a FM repeater. They can accommodate one station at the time only. This makes it necessary for us to be very considerate, when we use these satellites. We have a number of satellites using frequency modulation operating at the moment. That is a good thing since they obviously attract a lot of new operators to the amateur satellite service.

We have AO-51 and SO-50 both on all the time and AO-27 on for 6 to 7 minutes during daytime South to North passes. New to us are HO-68 and SO-67.

The operating practice by a large number of us in Europe is appalling. People call on top of one another, whistling, and use repeater tones, do not allow a QSO to finish, call OHLA-OHLA, call CQ three to four times and include the locator and so on.

Some seems to have the idea that it is their satellite and they therefor monopolize whole passes using excessive power to "drown" low power stations.

The most popular satellite, AO-51, attracts quite a large crowd on every pass. If you want to hear examples of the above, try to listen to this very useful satellite during a weekend pass on 435.300 MHz plus minus Doppler.

I do not pretend to have the perfect solution to these problems and I most certainly do not want to be called a policeman on the satellites - but a few gentleman agreements would make life (an overstatement - it is just a hobby) a lot easier for all of us.

The golden rule - do not transmit if you can not hear the downlink, is not known by some stations. I have personally called a lot of stations, where my downlink signal has been very good - but the station called did not answer - or asked for the call again several times - but gave a 59 report.

In my humble opinion we should adhere to some simple rules, which I will put forward here:

Calling "CQ satellite" 3 - 4 or more times and give the call and the full locator at the same time is non-productive. It simply takes too long time. Experienced operators easily pick out new stations using a short CQ call. It is not really necessary to call CQ - just give your call.

Considerate operating practice allows a QSO to finish. Many operators on the FM satellites do not adhere to this. You very often find a station calling on top of a running QSO, which makes the QSO take much longer time than necessary. Often it is because the QSO takes a long time, which leads to the next "rule".

Make the QSO short when the satellite is busy. Valid QSO's just need to exchange calls and signal report. That is it. You do not need locator or operator name. If there is very little traffic OK go ahead and talk about anything - but not when the satellite is busy.

Here in Europe we also have the habit of asking for the full lokator. I have tried to avoid that, but I have failed in this respect. For a terrestrial QSO or in a contest you need the full lokator - but not for a satellite QSO.

A considerate operator will make one QSO per pass. If you are an experienced operator, who has made a lot of contacts before - limit your contacts to new stations.

Do not use the FM satellites to elaborate on the weather situation in your local area, when the satellite is busy.

Give priority to portable and mobile stations if they can hear the satellite.

Give DX stations (rare calls) a chance to get through. I have just witnessed a JY4 station being "drowned" by local QSO's. JY was new to me even if I started satellite work in 1992.

If someone is really annoying - don't try to block their signal - try to send them a polite e-mail especially if they are from your own country.

Also respect if people want to use their own native language. It is perfectly OK to talk Danish, German, Russian or any other language, as long as they do not carry on for many minutes.

Do not talk very fast. It will not help. Remember we have different languages and use phonetics.

Look at your satellite-tracking program in order to avoid calling stations that are out of the footprint.

If you are a newcomer to satellites try to use them on a weekday morning.

QRM from non-radio amateurs and non-satellite radio amateurs.

Over the years I have heard taxi drivers in Spain, music from Arabic countries, telephone conversations in Russian - Danish, Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish (continue the list) radio amateurs using the uplink frequencies for local calls, packet transmissions from Siberia - over the FM satellites.

Some of these problems with other radio amateurs can be solved if you have the calls. Just send the radio amateur a mail and ask them politely to stop the transmission. I have had good experiences with radio amateurs in Denmark and other countries in Europe.

Approaching your local authorities can perhaps solve a number of these problems with misuse of the frequencies. When the offender is in a foreign country it is the only way to deal with this. Use your national radio amateur organization - that is one of the reasons for their existence.

Finishing remarks.

The FM satellites are a great asset to our hobby since they attract a lot of new operators. A big number of these new operators move to the other satellites and become potential supporters of AMSAT.

Despite the above - the FM satellites are fun - but do not try to work through them on a day where you are in a bad mood :-)

The schedule for AO-51 is on: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/echo/CTNews.php

OZ1MY/Ib, member of the AO-51 Operations Group

Have a nice weekend.