[amsat-bb] SO-50 and AO-91 trials and tribulations

[John Brier]

I sometimes get desense with my D72 at full power on SO-50. Try medium
power (500 mW). SO-50 hears well enough that 500 mW is plenty.

As for the Fox birds my only guess is you might not be aiming right.

I find with my Arrow I have to aim very precisely to hear SO-50, which is
good for at least one reason, because if you can hear it, it means you're
aiming right for TX. With the Fox birds you can aim all over the place and
still hear them, which means you might be aiming wrong and TXing in the
wrong direction. This might be compounded by the fact that you have a
narrower beamwidth on the 70cm side than you do on the 2m side with the
Arrow due to the difference in gain.

I would try some lower elevation passes. It is easier to track the sats on
lower elevation passes.

73, John Brier KG4AKV

On Wed, Feb 20, 2019, 16:14 K5ZM <k5zm at comcast.net> wrote:

> Hi all….
>
>
>
> After having been licensed since ’75, I’m finally cultivating an interest
> in the FM sats -the other modes can come later. Been doing a ton of reading
> and YouTubing from various sources over the past two weeks or so -Space
> Comms; WD9EWK; AMSAT website, etc. Plenty of good material out there. Tnx
> to all who have put it out there over the years.
>
>
>
> ‘Baby steps’ has been a very appropriate term with which I’d describe the
> results of my first 4 attempts at working the birds. First three attempts
> were with S0-50. If nothing else, that first time proved to be a huge
> learning experience. As to pointing the antenna, I was everywhere but where
> I was supposed to be! Second time out, I’d gotten my head round the antenna
> issue but had forgotten to enable tones! Third time out, I had
> everything(?) right but could never hear myself on the downlink no matter
> where I was in the doppler adjustment sequence.
>
>
>
> Just attempted the 2010z pass of A0-91. It was a nearly overhead pass and
> was able to hear a number of stations quite nicely but, as before, I was
> never able to hear myself on the downlink. As such, that first sat Q has
> eluded me once again 😉. At least I knew enough to not to change VFOs when
> making my doppler adjustments for this one!
>
>
>
> I’ve a Kenwood TH D72 and the Arrow II 146/437 10wBP. As I mentioned, I’m
> quite sure I’ve configured the rig correctly. In no particular order…..
>
> ‘transmit on B’: check
>
> Enable tones (again, on VFO B): check -67.0 hz
>
> Enable full duplex ( “ ): check
>
> Squelch open on VFO A: check
>
> For S0-50, adjust for doppler on VFO A: check
>
> For AO-91, adjust for doppler on VFO B: check
>
> Probably a couple other things I’m aware of but can’t recall just now.
>
>
>
> The one thing I’ve not messed with is the Audio Balance -it’s still at the
> default 50/50 setting. Could this be why I’ve not been able to hear myself?
> Is it that critical?
>
>
>
> I’m also using a Heil HTH headset with the Kenwood K1 connector. I can
> already tell this isn’t the way to go for me. I’ll likely move toward
> phones and either use the onboard mic or an external handheld mic. I’ve
> tested the whole combination on various a couple of repeaters around town
> and haven’t had a problem, so I’m convinced something else is keeping me
> from hearing myself on the downlink.
>
>
>
> Baby steps, indeed.
>
>
>
> 73
>
>
>
> Ian, K5ZM
>
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