Good evening,
On the 0250Z pass of AO-73, I was delighted to hear and work Paulo, PV8DX, very soon after AOS. While I have worked Paulo many times (five other times in just the past week), this was my first intercontinental QSO on AO-73 and my first intercontinental QSO on any satellite other than AO-7 and FO-29 with their higher orbits. My elevation was between 2 and 3 degrees during the QSO. AO-73 is in a slightly elliptical orbit of 682 km x 595 km, but it was at it's perigee of 595 km during this QSO. The distance between Paulo and I is 4,337 km, 899 km short of the theoretical maximum of 5,236 km at perigee.
I have posted audio and a graphic from SatPC32 showing the satellite's footprint at the time of the QSO on YouTube: http://youtu.be/HLzMV7MGz0U
Although I rushed the QSO as I did not know how much longer Paulo would be in the footprint, he was heard for another 30 seconds or so.
Equipment used was my normal satellite station: two Yaesu FT-817s, a High Sierra Microwave LNAA146FIL preamp, and an Arrow II 146/437-10BP handheld yagi. I was operating off my apartment balcony with a very good view of the southern horizon in southwest Washington, DC.
73,
Paul, N8HM
Would someone please suggest an inexpensive broadband receiver for the weather SATS?
We are gearing up for the new school year in Chesapeake, VA.
Rich W4BUE / K4AMG
----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Stoetzer" n8hm@arrl.net To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2014 11:42 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] Intercontinental DX on AO-73
Good evening,
On the 0250Z pass of AO-73, I was delighted to hear and work Paulo, PV8DX, very soon after AOS. While I have worked Paulo many times (five other times in just the past week), this was my first intercontinental QSO on AO-73 and my first intercontinental QSO on any satellite other than AO-7 and FO-29 with their higher orbits. My elevation was between 2 and 3 degrees during the QSO. AO-73 is in a slightly elliptical orbit of 682 km x 595 km, but it was at it's perigee of 595 km during this QSO. The distance between Paulo and I is 4,337 km, 899 km short of the theoretical maximum of 5,236 km at perigee.
I have posted audio and a graphic from SatPC32 showing the satellite's footprint at the time of the QSO on YouTube: http://youtu.be/HLzMV7MGz0U
Although I rushed the QSO as I did not know how much longer Paulo would be in the footprint, he was heard for another 30 seconds or so.
Equipment used was my normal satellite station: two Yaesu FT-817s, a High Sierra Microwave LNAA146FIL preamp, and an Arrow II 146/437-10BP handheld yagi. I was operating off my apartment balcony with a very good view of the southern horizon in southwest Washington, DC.
73,
Paul, N8HM _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. 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://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Rich,
The cheapest way to do it is a USB RTL-SDR dongle ($10-$20). You might need the AMSAT broadband preamp ($50) depending on the antennas you plan to use.
I wouldn't recommend this in a high RF environment, though.
The FUNcube Dongle would be easier to setup, is less likely to need the preamp, and has more filtering than the RTL-SDR. It does cost $215, but pair that with the crossed dipole antenna from AMSAT-UK ($63) ( http://shop.amsat.org.uk/shop/article_50/FUNcube-Telemetry-Receive-Antenna-S...) and you have an excellent system to receive WX satellites as well as the FUNcube-1 and FUNcube-2 telemetry.
73,
Paul, N8HM
On Wed, Aug 20, 2014 at 7:32 AM, Rich/wa4bue richard.siff@verizon.net wrote:
Would someone please suggest an inexpensive broadband receiver for the weather SATS?
We are gearing up for the new school year in Chesapeake, VA.
Rich W4BUE / K4AMG
An rtl based sdr should work. The internet seems to have several how-to's to get them receiving APT. Thanks to the list, I've got my fcd playing with wxtoimg via HDSDR (via CAT interface) vspMGR and virtual audio cable. Satpc32 drives the rotators. Only thing I learned is that rather than compensating for Doppler, make the IF (58kHz) wide enough to contain the whole pass. It works where I am only because it's RF quiet. Seems to be LHCP, too. At least that seems to be the strongest signal. Do use a tripod or a omni. The signal level needs to be relatively constant, or when the software tries to stitch the image together, a mess is made. I can imagine a crew of wild eyed students pointing an Elk every which way but up.
On Wed, Aug 20, 2014 at 7:50 AM, Paul Stoetzer n8hm@arrl.net wrote:
Rich,
The cheapest way to do it is a USB RTL-SDR dongle ($10-$20). You might need the AMSAT broadband preamp ($50) depending on the antennas you plan to use.
I wouldn't recommend this in a high RF environment, though.
The FUNcube Dongle would be easier to setup, is less likely to need the preamp, and has more filtering than the RTL-SDR. It does cost $215, but pair that with the crossed dipole antenna from AMSAT-UK ($63) (
http://shop.amsat.org.uk/shop/article_50/FUNcube-Telemetry-Receive-Antenna-S... ) and you have an excellent system to receive WX satellites as well as the FUNcube-1 and FUNcube-2 telemetry.
73,
Paul, N8HM
On Wed, Aug 20, 2014 at 7:32 AM, Rich/wa4bue richard.siff@verizon.net wrote:
Would someone please suggest an inexpensive broadband receiver for the weather SATS?
We are gearing up for the new school year in Chesapeake, VA.
Rich W4BUE / K4AMG
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. 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://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
participants (3)
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Lizeth Norman -
Paul Stoetzer -
Rich/wa4bue