Need to get active again on sats. Was last using a single ft-817 for portable ops both fm and ssb.Could use input on the latest trends such as a sdr for receive or back to a second ft-817.Also thinking of trying raspberry Pi over laptop. What would be best portable set up. Jim KI6WJ
Seems like most portable ops are using a second FT-817 to receive for operating the linear sats. I started out with a Kenwood TH-F6A, which I found marginal for this purpose. Then one of my Elecraft KX3s got the 2m transverter module and got used for only a month before being replaced by a Kenwood TH-D74A just after Field Day. The TH-D74A has been working out very well for me so far. From a portability perspective, I think the TH-D74A is tough to beat, especially since it's also usable for packet satellite QSOs and has a very convenient integrated audio recorder. I find I get quite a bit of desense on FO-29 with my pedenstrian-portable setup using the Elk antenna, but not with the Arrow II, nor with any of the Mode B birds.
I know some have been using SDRs with tablets or notebook computers, but I think that approach will generally be heavier and less conveniently portable than a single TH-D74A. That may not be important if you don't operate pedestrian-portable, as I do. The SDR approach offers the advantage of providing a panadapter capability, which was one of the two reasons I wanted to use the KX3 (and PX3 panadapter) as a receiver. (The other was to provide a much more sensitive receiver than the TH-F6A it replaced, although the TH-D74A is a close second.) Unfortunately, having the PX3 connected resulted in total desense of the KX3. Also, the KX3 was quite heavy and awkward to mount for pedestrian-portable use, compared to the TH-D74A.
Around the same time, I also replaced the FT-857D with a FT-818ND, which has been also working out well. The only down side has been losing the ability to crank the power up to 11 (watts) to get into AO-85 more reliably.
73, Ryan AI6DO
On Saturday, August 4, 2018, 11:52:48 AM PDT, James Brown [email protected] wrote:
Need to get active again on sats. Was last using a single ft-817 for portable ops both fm and ssb.Could use input on the latest trends such as a sdr for receive or back to a second ft-817.Also thinking of trying raspberry Pi over laptop. What would be best portable set up. Jim KI6WJ
I'm not following the thread, but are you using the THD74 in SSB receive mode on the linear sats?
Neat Bob, WB4APR
On Sat, Aug 4, 2018 at 7:32 PM, Ryan Noguchi via AMSAT-BB < [email protected]> wrote:
Seems like most portable ops are using a second FT-817 to receive for operating the linear sats. I started out with a Kenwood TH-F6A, which I found marginal for this purpose. Then one of my Elecraft KX3s got the 2m transverter module and got used for only a month before being replaced by a Kenwood TH-D74A just after Field Day. The TH-D74A has been working out very well for me so far. From a portability perspective, I think the TH-D74A is tough to beat, especially since it's also usable for packet satellite QSOs and has a very convenient integrated audio recorder. I find I get quite a bit of desense on FO-29 with my pedenstrian-portable setup using the Elk antenna, but not with the Arrow II, nor with any of the Mode B birds.
I know some have been using SDRs with tablets or notebook computers, but I think that approach will generally be heavier and less conveniently portable than a single TH-D74A. That may not be important if you don't operate pedestrian-portable, as I do. The SDR approach offers the advantage of providing a panadapter capability, which was one of the two reasons I wanted to use the KX3 (and PX3 panadapter) as a receiver. (The other was to provide a much more sensitive receiver than the TH-F6A it replaced, although the TH-D74A is a close second.) Unfortunately, having the PX3 connected resulted in total desense of the KX3. Also, the KX3 was quite heavy and awkward to mount for pedestrian-portable use, compared to the TH-D74A.
Around the same time, I also replaced the FT-857D with a FT-818ND, which has been also working out well. The only down side has been losing the ability to crank the power up to 11 (watts) to get into AO-85 more reliably.
73, Ryan AI6DO
On Saturday, August 4, 2018, 11:52:48 AM PDT, James Brown <[email protected]> wrote:
Need to get active again on sats. Was last using a single ft-817 for portable ops both fm and ssb.Could use input on the latest trends such as a sdr for receive or back to a second ft-817.Also thinking of trying raspberry Pi over laptop. What would be best portable set up. Jim KI6WJ _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. 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: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Yes, and I find the TH-D74A works very well as a receiver for the linear satellites. The Elecraft KX3 has greater sensitivity if the preamp is enabled, but at the expense of deafening background noise. In contrast, the TH-D74A has very little background noise in SSB mode, so copy is much more "comfortable." The tuning knob is much easier to control than that of the TH-F6A, with much less frequent inadvertent turning of the concentric audio volume knob while tuning. Even when I do accidentally turn the audio volume knob while tuning, audio level is unaffected when using the Bluetooth earpiece, which I find works very well for SSB, not so well for FM. This is a link to a description and photo of my pedestrian-portable radio setup: https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?threads/kenwood-th-d74a-for-satellite-work.... I also hope to use the TH-D74A much more frequently for packet work once ISS and BIRDS-2 are operational.
73, Ryan AI6DO
On Sunday, August 5, 2018, 4:36:33 PM PDT, Robert Bruninga [email protected] wrote:
I'm not following the thread, but are you using the THD74 in SSB receive mode on the linear sats? NeatBob, WB4APR
On Sat, Aug 4, 2018 at 7:32 PM, Ryan Noguchi via AMSAT-BB [email protected] wrote:
Seems like most portable ops are using a second FT-817 to receive for operating the linear sats. I started out with a Kenwood TH-F6A, which I found marginal for this purpose. Then one of my Elecraft KX3s got the 2m transverter module and got used for only a month before being replaced by a Kenwood TH-D74A just after Field Day. The TH-D74A has been working out very well for me so far. From a portability perspective, I think the TH-D74A is tough to beat, especially since it's also usable for packet satellite QSOs and has a very convenient integrated audio recorder. I find I get quite a bit of desense on FO-29 with my pedenstrian-portable setup using the Elk antenna, but not with the Arrow II, nor with any of the Mode B birds.
I know some have been using SDRs with tablets or notebook computers, but I think that approach will generally be heavier and less conveniently portable than a single TH-D74A. That may not be important if you don't operate pedestrian-portable, as I do. The SDR approach offers the advantage of providing a panadapter capability, which was one of the two reasons I wanted to use the KX3 (and PX3 panadapter) as a receiver. (The other was to provide a much more sensitive receiver than the TH-F6A it replaced, although the TH-D74A is a close second.) Unfortunately, having the PX3 connected resulted in total desense of the KX3. Also, the KX3 was quite heavy and awkward to mount for pedestrian-portable use, compared to the TH-D74A.
Around the same time, I also replaced the FT-857D with a FT-818ND, which has been also working out well. The only down side has been losing the ability to crank the power up to 11 (watts) to get into AO-85 more reliably.
73, Ryan AI6DO
participants (3)
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James Brown -
Robert Bruninga -
Ryan Noguchi