Anyone work satellites regularly?

[burner50]

I was reading up on satellites last night, Plugged in the downlink frequency into my 2m rig and I could hear the ISS plain as day!

I did a little more research and called a buddy up, the next pass I was working the ISS repeater full quieting on an Omnidirectional Vertical pair of J-Poles running 50 watts UHF. (Dont have a radio capable of cross band operation. Just an Icom 208h and Kenwood TM-201b)


Made a contact from New York. Neat stuff. I dont usually get any long range comms.

No special software or antennas.Now I'm hooked

 

[asdfg]

I have been trying to listen to AO-51 on my RS PRO 95 when it passes on the downlink and beacon freqs and I have not had any luck. I am not sure if it is an antenna problem or if I am calculating the pass over at the right time.

 

[ka3jjz]

Without more information on how you are calculating your passes, this question can't be resolved. However, there are many good programs you can use - Satscape and Orbitron are but two - and there are a few online resources where you can actually display a satellite position in (nearly) real time. Look at our Satcom wiki - you can get to it via the WIKI pulldown in the center of the blue toolbar under the logo and click 'satcom'.

Without more information on your antenna situation, again, it's difficult to diagnose any issues. However I would bet that, like the ISS, you would have a better chance if you were holding the antenna flat, not vertical, to expose more of the antenna to a potential signal. But I will leave that question to our AO-51 folks - or do we have a few AMSAT'ers here? 73 Mike

 

[WB2UZR]

AMSAT - AO-51 on an HT


This should get you started on monitoring AO51.

Scott/WB2UZR

 

[WB2UZR]

I was reading up on satellites last night, Plugged in the downlink frequency into my 2m rig and I could hear the ISS plain as day!

I did a little more research and called a buddy up, the next pass I was working the ISS repeater full quieting on an Omnidirectional Vertical pair of J-Poles running 50 watts UHF. (Dont have a radio capable of cross band operation. Just an Icom 208h and Kenwood TM-201b)


Made a contact from New York. Neat stuff. I dont usually get any long range comms.

No special software or antennas.Now I'm hooked

Quite often, crewmember Mike Fincke gets on the radio and works the pile, thats always fun too!

Scott/WB2UZR

 

[Bill_White]

I have been trying to listen to AO-51 on my RS PRO 95 when it passes on the downlink and beacon freqs
and I have not had any luck. I am not sure if it is an antenna problem or if I am calculating the pass over at the right time.

It also helps to know the operating schedule:
AMSAT - AO-51 Control Team News

Quite often, crewmember Mike Fincke gets on the radio and works the pile, thats always fun too!

Scott/WB2UZR

Mike was on last Saturday 3/14, his birthday, making some contacts.
I was outside with my VX-6 and tried to make a contact with no joy.
Last week I received a QSL card from my contact with Richard Garriott.

 

[eorange]

I work AO-51 somewhat regularly, with a handheld beam and my FT-60.

To me, nothing beats the rush of working a satellite. One night I even saw it as I was trying to work it, for about half the pass. That really drove home what I was actually doing!

 

[zz0468]

One night I even saw it as I was trying to work it, for about half the pass. That really drove home what I was actually doing!

Now, that's just too neat!

 

[newsphotog]

I am pretty sure next Tuesday's meeting (March 24) for the Des Moines Radio Amateurs Association we will be talking about how to work satellites. Should be pretty fun to learn. Des Moines Radio Amateurs' Association » Central Iowa’s voice for Ham Radio