SO-50 was working fine when I was on it, yesterday afternoon. I'd guess you needed to activate it by transmitting on 145.850 with a pl tone of 74.4. I had to do that only once that I can remember though, on a relatively quiet pass.

Amir Findling, 73 de K9CHP, member ARRL, AMSAT #36083 Coordinator, Senior K9 Handler Western NY SearchDogs, Inc. http://www.wnysearchdogs.org/ K9 Certification Tester, NYS Federation of SAR Teams http://www.nysfedsar.org/ 1st Special Response Group (1SRG) http://www.1srg.org/

-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of M0ZLB Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 10:29 AM To: 'Amsat BB' Subject: [amsat-bb] SO50

Greetings all!

Could anyone tell me whether SO-50 is operating at the moment? I understand that it needs "switching on" but is that down to the Control Operator or the user? It never seems to be active over Europe!

Thanks for any help

David M0ZLB/KG4ZLB

_______________________________________________ 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

David,

It is a DIY process these days:

=====

Weekly Satellite Report

To switch the transmitter on, you need to send a CTCSS tone of 74.4 Hz. The order of operation is thus: (allow for Doppler as necessary)

1) Transmit on 145.850 MHz with a tone of 74.4 Hz to arm the 10 minute timer on board the spacecraft. 2) Now transmit on 145.850 MHz (FM Voice) using 67.0 Hz to PT the repeater on and off within the 10 Minute window. 3) Sending the 74.4 tone again within the 10 minute window will reset the 10 minute timer.

=====

Note that there is a brief but noticeable delay between keying your transmitter, and the satellite transmitter coming up. A quick "kerchunk" will not work to see if it is up. Use a couple of seconds with 74.4 Hz to arm the bird, and then switch to the other PL. From there, you can tell when it comes up.

Alan WA4SCA

I just use a memory slot for that purpose, actually I just tune for Doppler shift by using memory slots too.

Amir Findling, 73 de K9CHP, member ARRL, AMSAT #36083 Coordinator, Senior K9 Handler Western NY SearchDogs, Inc. http://www.wnysearchdogs.org/ K9 Certification Tester, NYS Federation of SAR Teams http://www.nysfedsar.org/ 1st Special Response Group (1SRG) http://www.1srg.org/

-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of M0ZLB Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 11:21 AM To: [email protected]; 'Amsat BB' Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: SO50

Thanks Alan,

Bit of a "performance" reconfiguring for the switch on tone and then switching back for the shortish pass! Guess that's why it seems unused over here, no-one can be bothered!

I'll have a try on the next pass!

David M0ZLB/KG4ZLB

-----Original Message----- From: Alan P. Biddle [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 4:16 PM To: 'M0ZLB'; 'Amsat BB' Subject: RE: [amsat-bb] SO50

David,

It is a DIY process these days:

=====

Weekly Satellite Report

To switch the transmitter on, you need to send a CTCSS tone of 74.4 Hz. The order of operation is thus: (allow for Doppler as necessary)

1) Transmit on 145.850 MHz with a tone of 74.4 Hz to arm the 10 minute timer on board the spacecraft. 2) Now transmit on 145.850 MHz (FM Voice) using 67.0 Hz to PT the repeater on and off within the 10 Minute window. 3) Sending the 74.4 tone again within the 10 minute window will reset the 10 minute timer.

=====

Note that there is a brief but noticeable delay between keying your transmitter, and the satellite transmitter coming up. A quick "kerchunk" will not work to see if it is up. Use a couple of seconds with 74.4 Hz to arm the bird, and then switch to the other PL. From there, you can tell when it comes up.

Alan WA4SCA

_______________________________________________ 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