[amsat-bb] Re: AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 2, Issue 679

[Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)]

Hi!

> > The FM birds will require more than 5 watts to get thru all the QRM.
>
> Not at all. In fact, lots of folks make QSOs on their HT and ALH-800 antenna
> every day. I made 2 yesterday morning with W7JPI and KG7EZ, with just such a
> setup.

And on 3 different passes today (one AO-51 pass this morning, and two
AO-27 passes this afternoon) I made about 13 contacts with a similar
setup.  Sometimes, on very high passes, I will go to a long duckie like
Diamond's RH77CA or SRH77CA instead of the whip, and once in a
while even break out a VX-2R and work the FM birds at 1.5W on those
antennas.  With a dual-band Yagi or log periodic, I have gone to 500mW
and (a couple of times) even down to 100mW and still made contacts.

> What is ten times more important than your power output is the ability to
> work full duplex, especially when it's crowded. The 817 and 897 neither will
> do this, so consider adding a 2nd receiver of just about any sort to work
> the birds like a pro.

Definitely work on the receive side of the station before transmitting.  Since
only a few watts - or less - is all you need for the satellite to hear
you, work on
the receive side of your station so you can hear those low-powered signals
coming down to you.

For most of the past 2 months, if I am on the satellites I am using an HT (Icom
IC-W32A or IC-T7H) and a long telescoping whip (Maldol AH-510R is my
preferred whip, but I also have an AL-800H whip in my HT bag).  I could make
a few more contacts with a directional antenna instead of the long whip, but
having a small bag with everything I need for my FM satellite station is pretty
neat.

Good luck, and 73!



Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK - Phoenix AZ
http://www.wd9ewk.net/