[amsat-bb] Unsuccessful Uplinks - AO-92

Thu Jun 7 18:57:43 UTC 2018

My FM operating is has been dual HTs and portable, I.E. not tripod, no
table, just me and what I can hold. I am working on a SSB setup but only
tried it a few times thus far, but that includes a backpack.

Yes, holding 2 radios and an antenna is difficult at best, and risky for
the equipment. That is why I took the suggestion to use a piece of wood in
the end of my Arrow to mount the RX radio to. This was a major improvement
in the setup. Pictures and credit for the ideas are available at
hamqth.com/KB2YSI

SO-50 has been my go to satellite and 5w has worked very well for me. AO-85
is my unicorn, sometimes I have no issues getting in, others nothing I do
seems to work. My money is on operater error. Hihi. AO-91 & AO-92 are crazy
easy to use once I had a full duplex (using 2 radios and a duplexer as a
filter) setup.

I am still new, have not been operating a year yet, but am willing to talk
offline if anyone is interested. I may have learned a lot the hard way, but
it has been incredibly fun time!

73, Don KB2YSI

On Thu, Jun 7, 2018, 14:03 Jean Marc Momple <jean.marc.momple at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hugo,
>
> Actually the Baofengs UR-5R that Francois is using are transmitting with
> only 2 watts on 70cm. Works very well. Sorry for having stated 4W (Vhf
> power)
>
> I will send you separately a small presentation I did for the local OM’s
> which trigger Francois venture on the birds.
>
> 73
>
>  Jean Marc
>
> > On Jun 7, 2018, at 9:41 PM, Hugo Dominguez, Jr. <hugois at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > Thanks for the feedback. I’ll keep trying. Is the Baofang being used the
> 5 watt or 8 watt version? Right now it is hard holding two radios and the
> antenna. Maybe I can strap it to my antenna and use it for listening for
> myself. I should also look at mounting my antenna to an old camera tripod
> to free my hand
> >
> > —
> > Hugo Dominguez, Jr.
> >
> >> On Jun 7, 2018, at 10:30, Jean Marc Momple <jean.marc.momple at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>
> >> Hugo,
> >>
> >> Just to share experience.
> >>
> >> 3B8GZ (not on the BB, but in copy) is working very well AO-91 and AO92,
> crystal clear above 10 deg. ele. with 2 Baofengs and a home brew Arrow type
> of antenna while on the beach this side of the globe. He made QSO’s with
> South Africa, Madagascar and locals with less than 4W.
> >>
> >> SO-50 is a little more tricky as a 74Hz CTCSS required to trigger the
> repeater, then you need to switch CTCSS to 67Hz to QSO. Also it need a few
> more W for clear QSO.
> >>
> >> AO-85 is quite hard-hearing and depending on its path you need between
> 15 and 50 W with a 10-15 ele yagi to go through reasonably.
> >>
> >>
> >> Hope this help.
> >>
> >>
> >> 73
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Jean Marc (3B8DU)
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>> On Jun 7, 2018, at 9:04 PM, Hugo Dominguez, Jr. <hugois at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Someone mentioned to me that AO-91 was made to be worked by handhelds.
> They also mentioned that AO-85 actually has a damaged receive antenna and
> that you need more power. Is that correct? Is 5 watts sufficient for AO-92,
> AO-85 and SO-50?
> >>>
> >>> —
> >>> Hugo Dominguez, Jr.
> >>>
> >>>> On Jun 6, 2018, at 23:08, Daniel Wight <kd7lee at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>> As Gabe pointed out, I may have this backwards as I started out on
> SO-50 (V/U) & then applied my original techniques to the Fox (U/V) birds in
> error (i.e. your initial settings are probably correct). I need to do some
> more research before I understand this fully, but it looks like I've been
> using the wrong uplink frequencies on my IC-W32A. My apologies for the
> mistake. Looks like I'll be reprogramming my radio soon....
> >>>>
> >>>> 73,
> >>>>
> >>>> Daniel, KD7LEE
> >>>>
> >>>>> On Wed, Jun 6, 2018, 21:50 Hugo Dominguez, Jr. <hugois at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>>>> Thanks. All the web pages I read said to perform doppler shift by
> starting 10 kHz below and work your way up. Even this amsat website has
> instructions to do it how I am doing it:
> https://amsat-uk.org/2018/01/26/ao-92-open-for-amateur-radio-use/
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I also just noticed that there is a schedule for the L-band for
> uplink which i’m interpreting that UHF won’t work when the bird is setup
> for the L-band for uplink. Maybe I was trying to make contact when it was
> on the L band.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> —
> >>>>> Hugo Dominguez, Jr.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>> On Jun 6, 2018, at 21:07, Daniel Wight <kd7lee at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Seems like your Doppler shift might be opposite. I normally start
> high & work my way down during the satellite pass... (For instance, I would
> start at 435.180 for AO-85 and then work my way down to 435.160 as the
> satellite 'sunsets' on my horizon). Doppler shift should be higher
> frequency during approach, near zero when the satellite is overhead, and
> lower after the satellite passes.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> 73,
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Daniel, KD7LEE
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>> On Wed, Jun 6, 2018, 17:27 Andrew Glasbrenner <
> glasbrenner at mindspring.com> wrote:
> >>>>>>> You've discovered one of the reasons full duplex is best on the FM
> sats...you have no idea if you are getting through, because you can't hear
> while transmitting.
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> Got another radio so you can work full duplex?
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> 73, Drew KO4MA
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> -----Original Message-----
> >>>>>>> From: AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb-bounces at amsat.org> On Behalf Of Hugo
> Dominguez, Jr.
> >>>>>>> Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2018 7:41 PM
> >>>>>>> To: amsat-bb at amsat.org
> >>>>>>> Subject: [amsat-bb] Unsuccessful Uplinks - AO-92
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> I’ve just started playing with talking on satellites. I’m able to
> hear all the satellites (AO-85, AO-91, AO-92 and SO-50) that I have
> programmed on my Kenwood TH-D74, which I use with my Elk dual band periodic
> log antenna. However no one can hear me or responds to me. I’ve only been
> successful with my uplink (being heard) on AO-91 on several passes. I
> triple checked my frequencies on my radio and the 67 Hz tone and they are
> set as follows:
> >>>>>>> Sat.        Xmit       Tone
> >>>>>>> SO-50   145.850  67.0 Hz
> >>>>>>> AO-85   435.170  67.0 Hz
> >>>>>>> AO-91   435.250  67.0 HZ
> >>>>>>> AO-92   435.350  67.0 Hz
> >>>>>>> These are the frequencies used when the bird is at its peak. I
> adjust for doppler on 440 by starting out 10 khz less, e.g AO-85 435.160,
> 435.165, 435.170, 435.175, 435.180.
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> Any ideas if something has changed from what is published or am I
> missing something? Like I said, i’ve been able to communicate on AO-91.
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> —
> >>>>>>> Hugo Dominguez, Jr.
> >>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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> available
> >>>>>>> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership.
> Opinions expressed
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> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> 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
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> >>
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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
>