[amsat-bb] HRD and linear birds

[David]

I'll throw in 2 cents of my own based on my experiences as a newbie to the
whole SAT communication world, I'm no expert.

First I started with an HT and an Arrow antenna just wanting to listen...
naturally after a few short successful passes where I heard conversations I
was hooked.

I already had HRD (latest version) that I used with my TS-590 so the SAT
portion of it was a shoe in for me I thought.  So I did my research and
stepped up and bought a shiny new IC-9100.  So here is where it all starts.

Hooked up the new IC9100 and started playing.. HRD would control the rig
without issue, but it didn't put it in "SAT" mode when I was attempting to
track a sat pass.. after several attempts I finally figured it out...
mostly, it does track and control your rig "ok" with SATS like SO-50, but no
tone control, attempted FO-29.. no go, it would control receive side but not
the transmit side correctly.. more testing..  my ultimate goal here (being a
newbie) was to have software control the rig so I could concentrate on the
communication without having to deal with radio tuning as well (although the
IC-9100 makes that very easy now that I have it figured out)..

Anyway, to make a long story short I got frustrated with HRD (keep in mind
I'm using egg beaters with pre amps, no rotator control necessary), so I
gave SATPC32 a shot.. As most have stated the learning curve it higher with
SATPC32 however it does handle the IC-9100 SAT control quite well, puts the
rig in SAT mode, tunes both receive and transmit sides correctly regardless
of SAT mode (FM, linear inverting, etc).. it's not pretty but it works
well..

So bottom line, to each his own... My suggestion is to do your research,
check out all options and test.. then test some more, find what works for
you.

My preference for SAT work is SATPC32 to control the rig, Heavens Above on
my tablet to see what's coming...

Thanks

David,  KK4QOE

-----Original Message-----
From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces at amsat.org] On Behalf Of David W0DHB
Sent: Thursday, June 25, 2015 12:53 AM
To: 'Vivona, Michael (CMG-Orlando)'; amsat-bb at amsat.org
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HRD and linear birds

Michael

My experience with HRD for linear birds got some different results than
others have observed.
- I found the Doppler tuning worked very well, I did test it side by side
with SATPC32 as well as QSOs with others using SATPC32 and we tracked each
other well.
- I did like the user interface
- I would recommend it for hf/Terrestrial operations

But... After a year or so of struggling with HRD for satellite operations, I
am now a happy SatPC32 user.

Several reasons:
HRD is focusing on their main products, HRD rig control and the logging
software About halfway through the beta program they broke Doppler Tuning
for PowerSDR/SmartSDR (Flex Radios) and it still doesn't work.
Satellite Rig control for any radio I tried, TS2000 and IC9100 did not set
TX/RX modes.
I never could get IC9100 Satellite rig control working properly with it.

SatPC32 is not the most glamorous user interface, but is very feature rich,
I am still learning new things about its' capabilities.
SatPC32 was developed by an Amateur satellite expert who uses it for his own
operations, its' functionality has evolved over many years based on many
hours of operation by amateurs world-wide.

My $.02

Dave
W0DHB

-----Original Message-----
From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces at amsat.org] On Behalf Of Vivona,
Michael (CMG-Orlando)
Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2015 10:43 AM
To: amsat-bb at amsat.org
Subject: [amsat-bb] HRD and linear birds

I am trying to get a clarification about using HamRadioDeluxe and linear
birds. I have heard on several occasions that HRD and its associated
satellite tracking module works fine for FM birds but not for linear birds.
Can someone please clarify what the actual issue is? I currently have HRD
version 6X and I am looking to purchase an IC9100 to mate it with. I have
contacted the HRD support folks, but the answer I get is: "not sure, try
it". Well, I don't have the IC9100 yet so I can't try it.
I have permission from my local AES outlet store to connect up my laptop to
one of there IC9100 before I buy it. So, I need to know what the actual
problem is with HRD and linear birds so I can try it in person. 
I hope to get to the bottom of this once and for all.thanks in advance for
anyone that wants to jump in on this. 

Michael Vivona
Sent from my iPad
_______________________________________________
Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

_______________________________________________
Sent via AMSAT-BB at 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://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb