I've made many sat contacts with my VX-2R but am thinking about upgrading to something with 5 watts output. I used a borrowed IC-W32A and Swan Island and it worked fine, although I could not hear my downlink in full duplex mode, too much desensing. Not sure full duplex is even worth the extra money, as it seems that most duplex HTs have a similar desensing problem.
I was thinking about trading in the VX-2R for an FT-60 or a VX-6R, any comments on these or other sat-friendly HTs?
73, Bill NZ5N
____________________________________________________________________________________ You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost. http://tc.deals.yahoo.com/tc/blockbuster/text5.com
All of my contacts (http://log.thathamkid.com/view.php?ViewCall=KE5GDB) have been made on a FT-60. It doesn't have the capability of full duplex, but it's still an awesome radio. After having it for about 2 1/2 years, mine is still working fine despite the wear that I've put on it (numerous drops, scratches, and water).
I recently have been experimenting with 2 FT-60's (one is my dad's) for full duplex, and it seems to be working OK. I still have some more tests to do, but it should work out to be just fine.
On Thu, Apr 3, 2008 at 7:11 PM, Bill Dzurilla billdz.geo@yahoo.com wrote:
I've made many sat contacts with my VX-2R but am thinking about upgrading to something with 5 watts output. I used a borrowed IC-W32A and Swan Island and it worked fine, although I could not hear my downlink in full duplex mode, too much desensing. Not sure full duplex is even worth the extra money, as it seems that most duplex HTs have a similar desensing problem.
I was thinking about trading in the VX-2R for an FT-60 or a VX-6R, any comments on these or other sat-friendly HTs?
73, Bill NZ5N
You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost. http://tc.deals.yahoo.com/tc/blockbuster/text5.com _______________________________________________ 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
I dont know of any handheld that is full duplex. You might have to use 2 handhelds and a filter on the uhf downlink to cut down the desensing depending on how close the antennas are.
Ron KA4KYI
Bill Dzurilla wrote:
I've made many sat contacts with my VX-2R but am thinking about upgrading to something with 5 watts output. I used a borrowed IC-W32A and Swan Island and it worked fine, although I could not hear my downlink in full duplex mode, too much desensing. Not sure full duplex is even worth the extra money, as it seems that most duplex HTs have a similar desensing problem.
I was thinking about trading in the VX-2R for an FT-60 or a VX-6R, any comments on these or other sat-friendly HTs?
73, Bill NZ5N
____________________________________________________________________________________You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost. http://tc.deals.yahoo.com/tc/blockbuster/text5.com _______________________________________________ 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
The Kenwood TH-D7 is full-duplex, along with several others (ICom W32a) that are no longer available new. Jim KQ6EA
--- Ronald Nutter rnutter@networkref.com wrote:
I dont know of any handheld that is full duplex. You might have to use 2 handhelds and a filter on the uhf downlink to cut down the desensing depending on how close the antennas are.
Ron KA4KYI
Bill Dzurilla wrote:
I've made many sat contacts with my VX-2R but am thinking about upgrading to something with 5 watts output. I used a borrowed IC-W32A and Swan Island
and
it worked fine, although I could not hear my
downlink
in full duplex mode, too much desensing. Not sure full duplex is even worth the extra money, as it
seems
that most duplex HTs have a similar desensing
problem.
I was thinking about trading in the VX-2R for an
FT-60
or a VX-6R, any comments on these or other sat-friendly HTs?
73, Bill NZ5N
____________________________________________________________________________________
You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you
one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost.
http://tc.deals.yahoo.com/tc/blockbuster/text5.com _______________________________________________ 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
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The Kenwood D7 is the only full duplex still sold new AFAIK and it is a fine rig with no desense. If you can find a Yaesu FT-530, it is really good for FM satellite use, especially because of the subband tune function. Never had any desense on the two 530s I've had either. FT-470 ain't half bad either, and I've picked a few up for $100 used in the recent past.
Full duplex is the best way to go, and once you hear the difference, and learn to use it to benefit with an antenna like the arrow, you'll wonder why you ever doubted needing it.
73, Drew KO4MA
----- Original Message ----- From: "Ronald Nutter" rnutter@networkref.com To: "Bill Dzurilla" billdz.geo@yahoo.com Cc: fm-satellite@yahoogroups.com; amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 8:58 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Best HT's for sats?
I dont know of any handheld that is full duplex. You might have to use 2 handhelds and a filter on the uhf downlink to cut down the desensing depending on how close the antennas are.
Ron KA4KYI
Bill Dzurilla wrote:
I've made many sat contacts with my VX-2R but am thinking about upgrading to something with 5 watts output. I used a borrowed IC-W32A and Swan Island and it worked fine, although I could not hear my downlink in full duplex mode, too much desensing. Not sure full duplex is even worth the extra money, as it seems that most duplex HTs have a similar desensing problem.
I was thinking about trading in the VX-2R for an FT-60 or a VX-6R, any comments on these or other sat-friendly HTs?
73, Bill NZ5N
You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost. http://tc.deals.yahoo.com/tc/blockbuster/text5.com _______________________________________________ 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
Andrew,
Can the FT-530 and/or FT-470 work cross-band in non-duplex mode? I had an IC-W2A (predecessor to the IC-W32A) and it worked great for full duplex sat operation, but only in full duplex. That is, there was no way to turn the 70cm off while transmitting on 2m, so it could only be used with headphones. Granted that this is the best way to operate the sats, but sometimes headphones are unavailable or impractical, so I'd like to at least have the option of working the sats in non-duplex with the speaker.
One thing to look out for if, like me, you are interested in a 5 watt HT. Many HTs that are advertised as "5 watt" will only produce 5 watts if connected to an external 13v p/s or a special battery, with the supplied battery giving much less output.
73, Bill NZ5N --- Andrew Glasbrenner glasbrenner@mindspring.com wrote:
The Kenwood D7 is the only full duplex still sold new AFAIK and it is a fine rig with no desense. If you can find a Yaesu FT-530, it is really good for FM satellite use, especially because of the subband tune function. Never had any desense on the two 530s I've had either. FT-470 ain't half bad either, and I've picked a few up for $100 used in the recent past.
Full duplex is the best way to go, and once you hear the difference, and learn to use it to benefit with an antenna like the arrow, you'll wonder why you ever doubted needing it.
73, Drew KO4MA
----- Original Message ----- From: "Ronald Nutter" rnutter@networkref.com To: "Bill Dzurilla" billdz.geo@yahoo.com Cc: fm-satellite@yahoogroups.com; amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 8:58 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Best HT's for sats?
I dont know of any handheld that is full duplex.
You might have to use
2 handhelds and a filter on the uhf downlink to
cut down the desensing
depending on how close the antennas are.
Ron KA4KYI
Bill Dzurilla wrote:
I've made many sat contacts with my VX-2R but am thinking about upgrading to something with 5
watts
output. I used a borrowed IC-W32A and Swan
Island and
it worked fine, although I could not hear my
downlink
in full duplex mode, too much desensing. Not
sure
full duplex is even worth the extra money, as it
seems
that most duplex HTs have a similar desensing
problem.
I was thinking about trading in the VX-2R for an
FT-60
or a VX-6R, any comments on these or other sat-friendly HTs?
73, Bill NZ5N
____________________________________________________________________________________
You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you
one month of Blockbuster
Total Access, No Cost.
http://tc.deals.yahoo.com/tc/blockbuster/text5.com
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:
____________________________________________________________________________________ You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost. http://tc.deals.yahoo.com/tc/blockbuster/text5.com
I used my old W32A with an Arrow-II on vacation last month and I was able to hear to the AO-51 downlink while transmitting really well. I can do the same with a local 70cm/2m repeater. It's pretty good for such an old HT.
I don't know how much a used W32A goes for, but I think it's a pretty good radio for portable FM satellites. The only extra features that I would like are smaller tuning steps and AFC to track doppler on the downlink, but I don't think any HT can do that.
jeff
Bill Dzurilla wrote:
I've made many sat contacts with my VX-2R but am thinking about upgrading to something with 5 watts output. I used a borrowed IC-W32A and Swan Island and it worked fine, although I could not hear my downlink in full duplex mode, too much desensing. Not sure full duplex is even worth the extra money, as it seems that most duplex HTs have a similar desensing problem.
I was thinking about trading in the VX-2R for an FT-60 or a VX-6R, any comments on these or other sat-friendly HTs?
73, Bill NZ5N
____________________________________________________________________________________You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost. http://tc.deals.yahoo.com/tc/blockbuster/text5.com _______________________________________________ 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
On Apr 3, 2008, at 5:11 PM, Bill Dzurilla wrote:
I've made many sat contacts with my VX-2R but am thinking about upgrading to something with 5 watts output. I used a borrowed IC-W32A and Swan Island and it worked fine, although I could not hear my downlink in full duplex mode, too much desensing. Not sure full duplex is even worth the extra money, as it seems that most duplex HTs have a similar desensing problem.
I was thinking about trading in the VX-2R for an FT-60 or a VX-6R, any comments on these or other sat-friendly HTs?
73, Bill NZ5N
I've been using a TH-D7A and an Arrow antenna. Works great, no problem with desense, and it's fun to use the APRS stuff to bounce packets off ISS, Go-32 and NO-44. It's not the most glamorous, but it works very well for satellites, and I have no hesitation in recommending it for that.
I find the full-duplex to be really useful. I put a splitter on the sound output, and run half to some cheap earbuds and the other to a voice recorder. That way, I can record both my voice and others without difficulty. Scan back through my blog @ http://brainwagon.org for example mp3s.
Mark KF6KYI
You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost. http://tc.deals.yahoo.com/tc/blockbuster/text5.com _______________________________________________ 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
I do the same thing with my 2 FT-60's in full duplex (I just got it working tonight). I have a pair of headphones and my iPod with the iTalk module to record all of the contacts I make. I find it a lot easier to do that then trying to scribble calls as I go.
Bill, if you're looking for a full duplex radio, I don't really have many suggestions, but you mentioned having a VX-2. The VX-2 has a VERY nice receiver, so with the VX-2 for RX and a FT-60 for TX I think it'd work out pretty nice for you.
On Thu, Apr 3, 2008 at 8:51 PM, Mark Vandewettering < mvandewettering@gmail.com> wrote:
On Apr 3, 2008, at 5:11 PM, Bill Dzurilla wrote:
I've made many sat contacts with my VX-2R but am thinking about upgrading to something with 5 watts output. I used a borrowed IC-W32A and Swan Island and it worked fine, although I could not hear my downlink in full duplex mode, too much desensing. Not sure full duplex is even worth the extra money, as it seems that most duplex HTs have a similar desensing problem.
I was thinking about trading in the VX-2R for an FT-60 or a VX-6R, any comments on these or other sat-friendly HTs?
73, Bill NZ5N
I've been using a TH-D7A and an Arrow antenna. Works great, no problem with desense, and it's fun to use the APRS stuff to bounce packets off ISS, Go-32 and NO-44. It's not the most glamorous, but it works very well for satellites, and I have no hesitation in recommending it for that.
I find the full-duplex to be really useful. I put a splitter on the sound output, and run half to some cheap earbuds and the other to a voice recorder. That way, I can record both my voice and others without difficulty. Scan back through my blog @ http://brainwagon.org for example mp3s.
Mark KF6KYI
You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost. http://tc.deals.yahoo.com/tc/blockbuster/text5.com _______________________________________________ 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
At 12:51 PM 4/4/2008, Mark Vandewettering wrote:
I've been using a TH-D7A and an Arrow antenna. Works great, no problem with desense, and it's fun to use the APRS stuff to bounce packets off ISS, Go-32 and NO-44. It's not the most glamorous, but it works very well for satellites, and I have no hesitation in recommending it for that.
I've always gone the 2 HT route, mainly because I have never owned a full duplex capable HT. I'm another who is a big believer in full duplex operation on the sats. It gives you a LOT more insight into what's happening on the bird. I can operate without full duplex, but I prefer not to.
73 de VK3JED http://vkradio.com
participants (9)
-
Andrew Glasbrenner -
Andrew Koenig -
Bill Dzurilla -
G8IFF/KC8NHF -
Jeff Mock -
Jim Jerzycke -
Mark Vandewettering -
Ronald Nutter -
Tony Langdon