[amsat-bb] Amsat - SOTA

[Ciemon Dunville]

Hi Oscar,

As Dmitry has said you really do need to direct all of your power at the
satellite, and there are some good homemade options out there which won't
cost a fortune to make. Coupled with that directional antenna you certainly
need to know exactly where the satellite is, and my preferred app is
ISS-Detector Pro which only costs a few pounds but will give you all the
information you need. Add a small magnetic compass to your kit and you'll
know exactly where the sats are.

AO-91 and 92 can be incredibly frustrating over Europe, they're seen as
starter sats and consequently you tend to find far too many people having a
go with poor ground stations (high power and vertical antennas) calling all
over the place and frequently not being able to hear themselves on the
downlink. The best way to use those sats for getting some confidence is to
use the lower passes that sit out over the Atlantic.

PO-101 is a good option, although you'll need to check on their schedule
which they post daily on twitter via the @Diwata2PH account.

Good luck,

73
Ciemon
G0TRT

On Sun, 19 Jul 2020 at 00:40, Oscar Acton via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb at amsat.org>
wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I am new to satellite operations. I tried to access Lilacsat2 from a SOTA
> summit today and failed. I did manage to call into AO-92 yesterday and I
> was heard by four stations (but I couldn't receive the downlink).
>
> I was using a 2m dipole to transmit (I am fairly confident I was getting
> into the satellite today) and a 2 element 70cm yagi. Now, I think two
> things went wrong. Firstly, I had no way of directing the antenna
> accurately (I had to guess on the angle and azimuth), and secondly, the
> antenna isn't very powerful, is small and isn't tuned brilliantly (it's a
> 70cm yagi but I get SWR of 2.2 on 70cm).
>
> Firstly, I'm wondering how precise you need to be in directing the beam?
> Can I just hold it in the vague direction that the satellite is approaching
> from, or do I need to work out the headings?
>
> Secondly, I am wondering if my equipment is likely to cut it. As I said,
> yesterday I was told that my signal was getting in - quiet but fully
> readable using my Diamond x30. I don't want to transmit if I can't receive
> in case I talk over someone or cause some interference. I won't be able to
> buy an arrow or a powerful beam antenna for around a year, but I am really
> desperate to work the satellites. Wondering if there are any ways that I
> can use my current equipment in order to work it (whether that be from my
> Home QTH or from a SOTA summit).
>
> I have:
> Yaesu FT-2980 (2m only, limited to 10 watts)
> Anytone 868 (8 watts max)
> Baofeng GT-3TP (8 watts max)
> 2 ele 70cm yagi
> 2m dipole
> diamond x50 collinear at the Home QTH
>
> Hoping for some advice.. I would love to hear stories of you working
> satellites during a Summits On The Air activation, and I would be
> interested to hear of your station setup (and whether you have had success
> with a minimal setup like mine).
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Oscar M7OJA (IO94HT)
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