Those of you who have seen my post to this forum in the past know that I've unfortunately had to sell some of my gear on and off to make ends meet. I went from a TS-2000X to an IC-820 to no satellite stuff at all. Just recently I had to part with my HF rig as well. I was determined though that I wasn't going to give up and an FM LEO capable station seemed feasible and better than not having anything at all so I have started pursuing it. I just got my Yaesu VX-3R HT from the UPS man Friday, it is primarily to be my receive radio as I already have another 2 meter radio. I have felt like a kid who couldn't play with his new toy though because my adapter to be able to hook up an external antenna to the SMA connector on the HT was back ordered. We have a few repeaters here but I'm out in the sticks and the rubber ducks on these little rigs are notoriously dreadful. Anyway finally decided to step outside the house tonight about the 1800 UTC pass of AO-51 and see if I could hear anything but noise. Amazingly enough, even with just the stock rubber duck, I could hear stations. Everything was down in the noise and not really discernible enough to copy but I could tell people were there. I don't think I really needed much more antenna and I probably would have had decent copy. It was only a small step and there is much work to do but it did make me feel as if I had actually moved forward on getting back on the birds. Just wanted to share, 73, Michael, W4HIJ
Congratulations Michael! I look forward to working you on the FM satellites again soon.
73,
Tim - N3TL
________________________________ From: Michael Tondee mat_62@netcommander.com To: Amsat BB amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Saturday, October 24, 2009 6:44:23 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] A small step back into things
Those of you who have seen my post to this forum in the past know that I've unfortunately had to sell some of my gear on and off to make ends meet. I went from a TS-2000X to an IC-820 to no satellite stuff at all. Just recently I had to part with my HF rig as well. I was determined though that I wasn't going to give up and an FM LEO capable station seemed feasible and better than not having anything at all so I have started pursuing it. I just got my Yaesu VX-3R HT from the UPS man Friday, it is primarily to be my receive radio as I already have another 2 meter radio. I have felt like a kid who couldn't play with his new toy though because my adapter to be able to hook up an external antenna to the SMA connector on the HT was back ordered. We have a few repeaters here but I'm out in the sticks and the rubber ducks on these little rigs are notoriously dreadful. Anyway finally decided to step outside the house tonight about the 1800 UTC pass of AO-51 and see if I could hear anything but noise. Amazingly enough, even with just the stock rubber duck, I could hear stations. Everything was down in the noise and not really discernible enough to copy but I could tell people were there. I don't think I really needed much more antenna and I probably would have had decent copy. It was only a small step and there is much work to do but it did make me feel as if I had actually moved forward on getting back on the birds. Just wanted to share, 73, Michael, W4HIJ _______________________________________________ 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
Many thanks Tim and also to the others who sent me encouragement and suggestions off list. Several people suggested the WA5VJB "cheap yagi" design and I'm aware of them, in fact I already have two separate ones, an 11 element 70cm and a 4 element 2 meter one.they are left over from my original TS-2000X station along with my SaebreTrack Basic Stamp based tracking boix and OR-360 TV rotators for Az/El. I will get all that back up in the air as I'm not much for portable ops ( It was cold tonight!!) but I'll probably build a dual band version of the yagi's on the off chance I go trekking off somewhere and want to bring my gear along. Michael, W4HIJ
Tim - N3TL wrote:
Congratulations Michael! I look forward to working you on the FM satellites again soon.
73,
Tim - N3TL
*From:* Michael Tondee mat_62@netcommander.com*To:* Amsat BB amsat-bb@amsat.org*Sent:* Saturday, October 24, 2009 6:44:23 PM*Subject:* [amsat-bb] A small step back into things
Those of you who have seen my post to this forum in the past know that I've unfortunately had to sell some of my gear on and off to make ends meet. I went from a TS-2000X to an IC-820 to no satellite stuff at all. Just recently I had to part with my HF rig as well. I was determined though that I wasn't going to give up and an FM LEO capable station seemed feasible and better than not having anything at all so I have started pursuing it. I just got my Yaesu VX-3R HT from the UPS man Friday, it is primarily to be my receive radio as I already have another 2 meter radio. I have felt like a kid who couldn't play with his new toy though because my adapter to be able to hook up an external antenna to the SMA connector on the HT was back ordered. We have a few repeaters here but I'm out in the sticks and the rubber ducks on these little rigs are notoriously dreadful. Anyway finally decided to step outside the house tonight about the 1800 UTC pass of AO-51 and see if I could hear anything but noise. Amazingly enough, even with just the stock rubber duck, I could hear stations. Everything was down in the noise and not really discernible enough to copy but I could tell people were there. I don't think I really needed much more antenna and I probably would have had decent copy. It was only a small step and there is much work to do but it did make me feel as if I had actually moved forward on getting back on the birds. Just wanted to share, 73, Michael, W4HIJ _______________________________________________
participants (2)
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Michael Tondee -
Tim - N3TL