[amsat-bb] Unsuccessful Uplinks - AO-92

Sat Jun 9 07:04:05 UTC 2018

Hugo,

As regards SO-50:

The advices of John (KG2YSI) are much more relevant than mine as he is an expert in portable satellite work and have made many successful demonstrations of same, more experience than me with portable work anyway as being a time to time portable OP.

I was never successful to work SO-50 portable (Baofengs, 2W & Arrow), however perfect on it at main QTH station with 5W (transceiver minimum), 30M of RG213 into a 15 ele X-yagi.

73

Jean Marc (3B8DU)

> On Jun 7, 2018, at 11:30 PM, John Brier <johnbrier at gmail.com <mailto:johnbrier at gmail.com>> wrote:
> 
> It was suggested that you need "a few more watts" to use SO-50. That is definitely not the case. I have worked it many times with only 500 mW, even on busy passes, getting in full-quieting. I have also gotten into it with an acceptable signal with only 50 mW on empty relatively high elevation passes. It does has a relatively weak downlink though (250 mW).
> 
> Regarding AO-85, it is a little deaf and it's true it's because of an antenna issue. I have some info about it and a "twist trick" fix documented here:
> 
> https://spacecomms.wordpress.com/ao-85-twist-trick-and-other-hints/ <https://spacecomms.wordpress.com/ao-85-twist-trick-and-other-hints/>
> 
> 73, John Brier KG4AKV
> 
> On Thu, Jun 7, 2018 at 2:57 PM, Don KB2YSI <kb2ysi at gmail.com <mailto:kb2ysi at gmail.com>> wrote:
> 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 <http://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 <mailto: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 <mailto: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 <mailto: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 <mailto: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 <mailto: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 <mailto: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/ <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 <mailto: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 <mailto: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 <mailto: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 <mailto: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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