[amsat-bb] Re: First Attempt

[Gould Smith]

Hi Kent,

Congratulations on hearing your downlink on AO-51.

One of the things I would advise you about is improving your receive 
situation.  You should receive AO-51 fairly loud outside.  I talked with 
fellow last night that was receiving it in his living room on a rubber duck 
antenna.
A common problem is those new to satellites is not hearing the satellite 
well.  Optimizing your receive system will help you a great deal.  You 
become a better operator and reduce congestion, because you won't transmit 
when you hear other stations.

The satellite is transmitting about 900 mW, most ground stations are using 5 
or more times that power.  I know people in remote areas that have worked 
AO-51 with 250 mW.  Uplink is rarely a problem.

There are a number of stations competing for the uplink, the best way to 
complete is to have a good receive signal and know when to transmit during 
the time that others aren't uplinking.

73,
Gould, WA4SXM
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kent R. Frazier" <k5knt at amsat.org>
To: "AMSAT-BB" <amsat-bb at amsat.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2008 10:46 PM
Subject: [amsat-bb] First Attempt


>I made my first attempt at working AO51 tonight during the 2008-03-12
> 02:11UTC pass. My actual attempt was at approximately 02:16UTC. I heard
> myself on the downlink, but very faintly. I was also having problems 
> hearing
> anyone during this pass. At least I know I was able to hit the sat. <grin>
>
> I am going to try again, hopefully, on the following passes on Friday
> 2008-03-14:
>
> 1307-1311
> 1443-1453
>
> Wish me luck.
>
> Kent
>
> -- 
> Kent R. Frazier, K5KNT
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