I am new to satellites as of this weekend. I have worked AO-51 three times with much success. SO-50 I can hear off and on, but I am having trouble raising it. As for AO-27, I had a nice daytime direct overhead pass and heard nothing. I am using a yeasu g-5500 rotator with the AMSAT controller and ham radio deluxe. Kenwood ts-2000 for the rig and a 8 element 440 and a 4 element 2 meter antenna. The antennas are currently linear polarized since my phasing cables still have not arrived from the manufacturer.
My questions are, is AO-27 difficult to work? Is it on a schedule? Any ideas why I could not raise or hear it?
As for SO-50: Should I be listening 5khz down? Ham radio deluxe is controlling the radio frequencies and I made a custom entry for 5khz down and corrected for Doppler. This still did not seem to help.
Richard K7LWV
Hi Richard,
. I am using a yeasu g-5500 rotator with the AMSAT controller and ham radio deluxe. Kenwood ts-2000 for the rig and a 8 element 440 and a 4 element 2 meter antenna. The antennas are currently linear polarized since my phasing cables still have not arrived from the manufacturer.
Good setup!
My questions are, is AO-27 difficult to work? Is it on a schedule? Any ideas why I could not raise or hear it?
Yes, it's on a schedule -- check the status page on www.amsat.org to see when it comes on and off. It comes on at mid-latitudes by a timer, so for an overhead pass in your area you *should* have heard it .... other things to check would be that the keps are current, and that there weren't any glitches during that particular pass (ie. maybe radios briefly stopped tuning). Try again, it's a nice loud sat.
As for SO-50: Should I be listening 5khz down? Ham radio deluxe is controlling the radio frequencies and I made a custom entry for 5khz down and corrected for Doppler. This still did not seem to help.
I've found SO-50 about 5kHz-8kHz down, so listen down a little. Remember the tone on the uplink too. Also, I've seen quite a few posts that the TS-2000 has a birdie right at the high end of SO-50's downlink, so you may have a better chance hearing it later in the pass as doppler moves the downlink away from the birdie.
Richard K7LWV
Good luck on the sats!!!!
73 de Dave KB5WIA
Richard,
You probably didn't hear AO-27 because it was off on the passes you tried to work. Was the satellite over Canada or was it moving from north to south?
AO-27 isn't difficult to work, except that it is *very* popular (can be hard to get a word in edgewise) and is on a timer. In general, AO-27 is operational over the United States for a period of seven minutes in the afternoon passes when the satellite is traveling from south to north.
Before transmitting, make sure you can hear the satellite. If you don't hear it, it isn't turned on. When AO-27 is on and passing over the middle of the US, it will sound like a DX pile-up. Since you are in Oregon, your least crowded passes will be when AO-27 is off the west coast over the Pacific Ocean. (I've had relaxed conversations on AO-27 from Indiana when it is over the Atlantic Ocean.)
The design/assigned frequency for SO-50 is 436.800, but I've been finding it between 436.791 to 436.794 (before Doppler correction). SO-50 also requires that you transmit a 67 Hz subaudible (CTSS or PL) tone. The SO-50 transmitter is on a ten minute timer that is reset by sending a 74 Hz tone, but don't worry about it until you become familiar with the satellite. Let other stations worry about resetting the timer.
Clint Bradford, K6LCS, has some great information for hams just getting started on satellites. You can find it at www.work-sat.org .
73, Steve N9IP -- Steve Belter, Indiana Dataline Corp 427 N 6th Street, Suite C Lafayette, IN 47901-2211 Tel: (765) 269-8521 www.indiana-dataline.net
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Richard Grabotin Sent: Monday, October 24, 2011 12:38 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-27/SO-50
I am new to satellites as of this weekend. I have worked AO-51 three times with much success. SO-50 I can hear off and on, but I am having trouble raising it. As for AO-27, I had a nice daytime direct overhead pass and heard nothing. I am using a yeasu g-5500 rotator with the AMSAT controller and ham radio deluxe. Kenwood ts-2000 for the rig and a 8 element 440 and a 4 element 2 meter antenna. The antennas are currently linear polarized since my phasing cables still have not arrived from the manufacturer.
My questions are, is AO-27 difficult to work? Is it on a schedule? Any ideas why I could not raise or hear it?
As for SO-50: Should I be listening 5khz down? Ham radio deluxe is controlling the radio frequencies and I made a custom entry for 5khz down and corrected for Doppler. This still did not seem to help.
Richard K7LWV
_______________________________________________ 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
On 24/10/2011 14:31, David Palmer KB5WIA wrote:
Hi Richard,
. I am using a yeasu g-5500 rotator with the AMSAT controller and ham radio deluxe. Kenwood ts-2000 for the rig and a 8 element 440 and a 4 element 2 meter antenna. The antennas are currently linear polarized since my phasing cables still have not arrived from the manufacturer.
Good setup!
My questions are, is AO-27 difficult to work? Is it on a schedule? Any ideas why I could not raise or hear it?
Yes, it's on a schedule -- check the status page on www.amsat.org to see when it comes on and off. It comes on at mid-latitudes by a timer, so for an overhead pass in your area you *should* have heard it .... other things to check would be that the keps are current, and that there weren't any glitches during that particular pass (ie. maybe radios briefly stopped tuning). Try again, it's a nice loud sat.
As for SO-50: Should I be listening 5khz down? Ham radio deluxe is controlling the radio frequencies and I made a custom entry for 5khz down and corrected for Doppler. This still did not seem to help.
I've found SO-50 about 5kHz-8kHz down, so listen down a little. Remember the tone on the uplink too. Also, I've seen quite a few posts that the TS-2000 has a birdie right at the high end of SO-50's downlink, so you may have a better chance hearing it later in the pass as doppler moves the downlink away from the birdie.
I have a virtually identical set up but with a FT-847 radio. I get AO-27 but with HRD I do find I have to tune about to get the receive - 5 to 10Khz. Wierdly I find it _much_ easier to work the SSB sats with the set up than I do the FM ones - sounds like you have the same issue.
Dominic G6NQO
Good points from Steve (and other).
***Don't forget the DREADFUL TS-2000 birdie on the AO-27 and SO-50 downlinks. :( It is the only thing I hate about the radio....
With a good mast-mounted preamp (didn't see you note any??) and some frequency adjusting (up/down to minimize the birdie's effect), and even try FM-N on receive---you can make some contacts. But it's annoying as all get out. And it makes it tough. Did I say that I HATE that birdie? ;)
Basically, I flame up the old TS-790A when I want to work these two---and that's a real shame on the TS-2000.
You might give SatPC32 a shot--it lets you juggle back and forth for both SO-50 tones (one to key it up, another to work through it). It makes it just a mouse click or two...quite nice.
73,
Mark N8MH
On Mon, Oct 24, 2011 at 9:36 AM, Stephen E. Belter [email protected] wrote:
Richard,
You probably didn't hear AO-27 because it was off on the passes you tried to work. Was the satellite over Canada or was it moving from north to south?
AO-27 isn't difficult to work, except that it is *very* popular (can be hard to get a word in edgewise) and is on a timer. In general, AO-27 is operational over the United States for a period of seven minutes in the afternoon passes when the satellite is traveling from south to north.
Before transmitting, make sure you can hear the satellite. If you don't hear it, it isn't turned on. When AO-27 is on and passing over the middle of the US, it will sound like a DX pile-up. Since you are in Oregon, your least crowded passes will be when AO-27 is off the west coast over the Pacific Ocean. (I've had relaxed conversations on AO-27 from Indiana when it is over the Atlantic Ocean.)
The design/assigned frequency for SO-50 is 436.800, but I've been finding it between 436.791 to 436.794 (before Doppler correction). SO-50 also requires that you transmit a 67 Hz subaudible (CTSS or PL) tone. The SO-50 transmitter is on a ten minute timer that is reset by sending a 74 Hz tone, but don't worry about it until you become familiar with the satellite. Let other stations worry about resetting the timer.
Clint Bradford, K6LCS, has some great information for hams just getting started on satellites. You can find it at www.work-sat.org .
73, Steve N9IP
Steve Belter, Indiana Dataline Corp 427 N 6th Street, Suite C Lafayette, IN 47901-2211 Tel: (765) 269-8521 www.indiana-dataline.net
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Richard Grabotin Sent: Monday, October 24, 2011 12:38 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-27/SO-50
I am new to satellites as of this weekend. I have worked AO-51 three times with much success. SO-50 I can hear off and on, but I am having trouble raising it. As for AO-27, I had a nice daytime direct overhead pass and heard nothing. I am using a yeasu g-5500 rotator with the AMSAT controller and ham radio deluxe. Kenwood ts-2000 for the rig and a 8 element 440 and a 4 element 2 meter antenna. The antennas are currently linear polarized since my phasing cables still have not arrived from the manufacturer.
My questions are, is AO-27 difficult to work? Is it on a schedule? Any ideas why I could not raise or hear it?
As for SO-50: Should I be listening 5khz down? Ham radio deluxe is controlling the radio frequencies and I made a custom entry for 5khz down and corrected for Doppler. This still did not seem to help.
Richard K7LWV
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
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
On the subject of mast-mounted preamps, is there a good second-hand recommendation? I've seen some very expensive new ones and looked at building from scratch - just wondering if there's anything old but good on the market that I should be keeping an eye out for?
Thanks,
Dominic G6NQO.
On 24/10/2011 15:00, Mark L. Hammond wrote:
Good points from Steve (and other).
***Don't forget the DREADFUL TS-2000 birdie on the AO-27 and SO-50 downlinks. :( It is the only thing I hate about the radio....
With a good mast-mounted preamp (didn't see you note any??) and some frequency adjusting (up/down to minimize the birdie's effect), and even try FM-N on receive---you can make some contacts. But it's annoying as all get out. And it makes it tough. Did I say that I HATE that birdie? ;)
Basically, I flame up the old TS-790A when I want to work these two---and that's a real shame on the TS-2000.
You might give SatPC32 a shot--it lets you juggle back and forth for both SO-50 tones (one to key it up, another to work through it). It makes it just a mouse click or two...quite nice.
73,
Mark N8MH
On Mon, Oct 24, 2011 at 9:36 AM, Stephen E. Belter[email protected] wrote:
Richard,
You probably didn't hear AO-27 because it was off on the passes you tried to work. Was the satellite over Canada or was it moving from north to south?
AO-27 isn't difficult to work, except that it is *very* popular (can be hard to get a word in edgewise) and is on a timer. In general, AO-27 is operational over the United States for a period of seven minutes in the afternoon passes when the satellite is traveling from south to north.
Before transmitting, make sure you can hear the satellite. If you don't hear it, it isn't turned on. When AO-27 is on and passing over the middle of the US, it will sound like a DX pile-up. Since you are in Oregon, your least crowded passes will be when AO-27 is off the west coast over the Pacific Ocean. (I've had relaxed conversations on AO-27 from Indiana when it is over the Atlantic Ocean.)
The design/assigned frequency for SO-50 is 436.800, but I've been finding it between 436.791 to 436.794 (before Doppler correction). SO-50 also requires that you transmit a 67 Hz subaudible (CTSS or PL) tone. The SO-50 transmitter is on a ten minute timer that is reset by sending a 74 Hz tone, but don't worry about it until you become familiar with the satellite. Let other stations worry about resetting the timer.
Clint Bradford, K6LCS, has some great information for hams just getting started on satellites. You can find it at www.work-sat.org .
73, Steve N9IP
Steve Belter, Indiana Dataline Corp 427 N 6th Street, Suite C Lafayette, IN 47901-2211 Tel: (765) 269-8521 www.indiana-dataline.net
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Richard Grabotin Sent: Monday, October 24, 2011 12:38 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-27/SO-50
I am new to satellites as of this weekend. I have worked AO-51 three times with much success. SO-50 I can hear off and on, but I am having trouble raising it. As for AO-27, I had a nice daytime direct overhead pass and heard nothing. I am using a yeasu g-5500 rotator with the AMSAT controller and ham radio deluxe. Kenwood ts-2000 for the rig and a 8 element 440 and a 4 element 2 meter antenna. The antennas are currently linear polarized since my phasing cables still have not arrived from the manufacturer.
My questions are, is AO-27 difficult to work? Is it on a schedule? Any ideas why I could not raise or hear it?
As for SO-50: Should I be listening 5khz down? Ham radio deluxe is controlling the radio frequencies and I made a custom entry for 5khz down and corrected for Doppler. This still did not seem to help.
Richard K7LWV
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
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
Hello all, I have been active almost by 2 months on AO-51 from Havana in EL83sc. Due to my poor reception omni antenna I am working only the AO-51 in the afternoon passes only with a elevation greater than 60 degrees over Havana, also at the time it pass I usually am at work so only saturdays and sundays I may be active. So if any of you need to confirm the grid EL83 don't worry, just be patient, if you see a weekend pass with high elevation angle over Havana I may be there. QSL card is 100% sure with out SASE or IRC required only after you send a QSO confirmation e-mail to me with your callsign, and date/time of QSO, also I would like to recieve your QSL card too. Not sure if I will be able to work AO-27 or SO-50 as those birds have less power out. But if I heard them some day I will try TX!!! That's all, 73 and Hope contact your station soon. Regards, Raydel, CM2ESP Havana, EL83sc
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Este mensaje ha sido enviado mediante el servicio de correo electronico que ofrece la Federacion de Radioaficionados de Cuba a sus miembros para respaldar el cumplimiento de los objetivos de la organizacion y su politica informativa. La persona que envia este correo asume el compromiso de usar el servicio a tales fines y cumplir con las regulaciones establecidas.
Since the AO-27 website is down at this time, your best bet for tracking the operating schedule is the Java AO-27 schedule lister that my son wrote for me. You can download it at http://sites.google.com/site/ao27satellitescheduler. Make sure you download the current data files (EPOCH.TXT and TOPR.TXT) from the site also, and drop them into whatever folder you unzip the scheduler files to (replace the files included in the ZIP). It's always accurate to within 2 minutes of the actual operating schedule (due to drift in the satellite's clock).
George, KA3HSW
----- Original Message ----
From: Richard Grabotin [email protected] To: "[email protected]" [email protected] Sent: Sun, October 23, 2011 11:37:50 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-27/SO-50
I am new to satellites as of this weekend. I have worked AO-51 three times with much success. SO-50 I can hear off and on, but I am having trouble raising it. As for AO-27, I had a nice daytime direct overhead pass and heard nothing. I am using a yeasu g-5500 rotator with the AMSAT controller and ham radio deluxe. Kenwood ts-2000 for the rig and a 8 element 440 and a 4 element 2 meter antenna. The antennas are currently linear polarized since my phasing cables still have not arrived from the manufacturer.
My questions are, is AO-27 difficult to work? Is it on a schedule? Any ideas why I could not raise or hear it?
As for SO-50: Should I be listening 5khz down? Ham radio deluxe is controlling the radio frequencies and I made a custom entry for 5khz down and corrected for Doppler. This still did not seem to help.
Richard K7LWV
Thank you everyone for your help. I had my first successful contact on SO-50.
AO-27 appears to be on hiatus, since the website is also down.
My next endeavor is learning the linear transponder birds. I have been trying to receive AO-7. I never heard a beacon on either mode A or B. (Daytime pass) I tuned around the downlink and I might have heard some very faint stations. I guess I need bigger antennas? Perhaps some phasing cables will help. (it's in the mail)
Thank you KB5WIA for the contact this evening.
Richard K7LWV
On Oct 24, 2011, at 6:31 AM, David Palmer KB5WIA [email protected] wrote:
Hi Richard,
. I am using a yeasu g-5500 rotator with the AMSAT controller and ham radio deluxe. Kenwood ts-2000 for the rig and a 8 element 440 and a 4 element 2 meter antenna. The antennas are currently linear polarized since my phasing cables still have not arrived from the manufacturer.
Good setup!
My questions are, is AO-27 difficult to work? Is it on a schedule? Any ideas why I could not raise or hear it?
Yes, it's on a schedule -- check the status page on www.amsat.org to see when it comes on and off. It comes on at mid-latitudes by a timer, so for an overhead pass in your area you *should* have heard it .... other things to check would be that the keps are current, and that there weren't any glitches during that particular pass (ie. maybe radios briefly stopped tuning). Try again, it's a nice loud sat.
As for SO-50: Should I be listening 5khz down? Ham radio deluxe is controlling the radio frequencies and I made a custom entry for 5khz down and corrected for Doppler. This still did not seem to help.
I've found SO-50 about 5kHz-8kHz down, so listen down a little. Remember the tone on the uplink too. Also, I've seen quite a few posts that the TS-2000 has a birdie right at the high end of SO-50's downlink, so you may have a better chance hearing it later in the pass as doppler moves the downlink away from the birdie.
Richard K7LWV
Good luck on the sats!!!!
73 de Dave KB5WIA
AO-27 was up as of yesterday... see http://www.papays.com/sat/general.html for recordings of 2 passes.
The website has been down for about 2 months, but the satellite itself is still operational.
George, KA3HSW
----- Original Message ----
From: Richard Grabotin [email protected] To: David Palmer KB5WIA [email protected] Cc: "[email protected]" [email protected] Sent: Mon, October 24, 2011 11:14:20 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: AO-27/SO-50
Thank you everyone for your help. I had my first successful contact on SO-50.
AO-27 appears to be on hiatus, since the website is also down.
My next endeavor is learning the linear transponder birds. I have been trying to receive AO-7. I never heard a beacon on either mode A or B. (Daytime pass) I tuned around the downlink and I might have heard some very faint stations. I guess I need bigger antennas? Perhaps some phasing cables will help. (it's in the mail)
Thank you KB5WIA for the contact this evening.
Richard K7LWV
participants (7)
-
David Palmer KB5WIA -
Dominic Hawken -
George Henry -
Mark L. Hammond -
Raidel Abreu Espinet -
Richard Grabotin -
Stephen E. Belter