Seeing this post from Koos talking about an HT with full duplex capabilities makes me wonder how many of you are trying to work these birds without it. I know there are not many full duplex HT's out there that work as well as the ones we used to have but you really are shooting yourself in the foot from the get go if you don't pursue some type of full duplex solution, even if it's two HT's. FM sat night or not, it really should not be that hard to work an FM sat with a 5 watt handheld and a directional antenna. The key is hearing yourself and making sure you actually have the birds "attention". Anyone who tells you that you don't need full duplex to work the sats is doing you a disservice. Sat work of any sort is going to be tough if you go into it with the equivalent measure of " tying one hand behind your back" Just sayin... 73, Michael, W4HIJ

Message: 1 Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2020 11:12:19 +0200 From: Koos van den Houtkoos@idefix.net To:amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] FM Satellite HT Night Proposal Message-ID:20200725091219.3hp4sxfiwjg3ahts@idefix.net Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

Quoting Walter Holmes via AMSAT-BB who wrote on Sat 2020-07-25 at 00:49:

Any idea what the chances would be of having something like 1 night a week or month, on ONE of the FM birds, that could be reserved for HT access only?

My thinking on this would be a great way for people to test out their portable or limited satellite stations with a great deal less collisions against all the other much stronger stations.

I have heard from plenty of people that would like to try a temporary or portable station on the birds, but we all know that?s not even a remote possibility unless your on super early in the morning or late at night.

As it happens I was trying a new radio for a portable setup last evening (I bought a KG-UV1K to get full-duplex capabilities).

On a not-to-high pass yesterday evening (max 21 degrees elevation with lots of buildings around) I did hear AO-92 and could understand some of the callsigns, but could not get in at all. Mister Ollaaaa was also active on some occassions. I will try again on a higher pass.

My plan is to bring it along on an upcoming holiday, which will be in a somewhat rare grid. But since it's a holiday and I'm not sure when a pass will be at a usable time, I'm not going to announce it as an activation. I may just make a few contacts.

So I'm the 'target audience' for your idea, and I really think it's a good idea.

Koos PE4KH