[amsat-bb] Success - and thanks!

[Scott Wilson]

I can finally report a successful satellite QSO! Many thanks to all of you
for your very useful feedback.

I ended up using my existing 2m/70cm 3el beam on the TV rotator with the
addition of an SSB preamp for 70cm.

There are still a couple of limitations with my system. The first being
that the antenna is fixed at a 0 degree elevation. I was able to work
AO-51 from 7 degrees above the horizon, but lose it around 20 or so
degrees elevation. While it's great that I can work it that far out, I'm
losing out on the better passes with less path-loss.

The other downside is that even with two transceivers, I'm unable to work
full-duplex. The two bands on the antenna use seperate elements and feed
points, but share a boom. Transmitting on 2m completely overloads the
front-end of the IC-7000. While full duplex would be useful, it's not
absolutely necessary.

My primary goal is achieving reliable, repeatable communications (i.e.
removing the luck from the equation as much as possible!). Hopefully I'll
be able to reproduce yesterday's performance with my exising kit for a
little while longer and consider how to add a permanent elevation and
slightly longer booms.

Regards,

Scott 
NW2S