[amsat-bb] Re: FO29 and Kenwood TH-F6A

[John Geiger]

Thanks to everyone for their comments on the F6A, and it is good to know 
that it will work, although maybe an in-shack preamp might help some.

I would love a FT817 but it is a little out of the budget right now.  A F6A 
would be nice because I want to keep an HT and it could replace the Wouxun I 
have now, as well as the Kenwood TM251A I am using for the FM satellites. 
Selling both of those could come close to the price for a used F6A.  I would 
be hooking it to an outside antenna.

I don't currently have a way to transmit on UHF, though, except with the 
Wouxun.  I dont' have an adaptor to hook up its reverse SMA connector to the 
outside antenna.  I do have an Icom 706 original I can use to transmit on 2m 
SSB/CW with, so FO29 would work if I have the F6A for receive. Maybe I could 
even "key" the F6A's PTT button to send CW on UHF to get on VO52 with it.

Hope everyone has a nice 2012 and catches lots of satellite passes. See 
everyone tomorrow on AO27 and SO50.  It will be weird having tomorrow be New 
Years Day but everyone celebrating it on Monday!

73s John AA5JG
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)" <amsat-bb at wd9ewk.net>
To: <amsat-bb at amsat.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 01, 2012 12:29 AM
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: FO29 and Kenwood TH-F6A


Hi John!

> Glad to hear that FO29 is back-now to get on it! Has anyone tried using a
> Kenwood TH-F6A HT to receive FO29, since it does receive SSB? I would be
> hooking it to an external antenna. Is it sensitive enough on SSB to hear
> the satellite? The QST review shows its sensitivity is a little down on HF
> and 6m SSB.

I also have a TH-F6A.  For higher FO-29 passes, this HT is OK.  Not
great, but it works.  You are correct about its sensitivity being down
in SSB.  Especially when compared to its performance in FM.  An
FT-817 has a more sensitive receiver for 70cm SSB than this HT.
Also, you'll probably want to set the SSB tuning step at the smallest
setting (33 Hz).  That's not as small as other radios, but small
enough to get signals lined up in the receiver.

If you can transmit CW or SSB on 70cm, why not try that HT on the 2m
downlinks for AO-7 (mode B) and VO-52.  Just like with FO-29, you'll
probably want to only look at the higher AO-7 passes when using this
HT.  For VO-52, I do OK when the satellite is above 7 or 8 degrees
elevation when using my Elk log periodic.  VO-52's stronger downlink
makes it a lot easier to hear on the TH-F6A compared to AO-7 and
FO-29. I have not tried the TH-F6A on AO-7 mode A.  It might be a
tougher challenge, in that AO-7 mode A can be tough to hear without
a good antenna setup for the upper end of 10m.

Good luck, and 73!





Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK
http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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