Working Satellites for newbies
Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 10:34 pm
Hi all,
I've currently been doing a bit of research on working Amateur satellites with very small, portable setups, such as a handheld transceiver for uplink and a scanner for the downlink.
I'm using some software called GPredict which is an open source Linux based amateur radio satellite tracking program and reading up on the Amsat website.
At the moment I want to try an easy one just to see if I have any luck. AO-51 I think it is, with a 2m uplink and 70cm downlink, both on FM.
The equipment I have is a 2m Quansheng and a Uniden scanner. I have mobile vehicle antennas for both.
Can anyone give any feedback as to how hard it is to work sats, any tips and tricks etc? I've read that it is fairly easy to work from just a handheld with a rubber duckie but i've seen others who use handheld 6 element beams etc.
I'm new to the birds so if anyone can give me any info it would be a good discussion to have. We could then turn this thread into contacts we've had and at what time, which bird etc later down the track.
Cheers
Bonez
P.S. Everybody's heard that the bird is the word
I've currently been doing a bit of research on working Amateur satellites with very small, portable setups, such as a handheld transceiver for uplink and a scanner for the downlink.
I'm using some software called GPredict which is an open source Linux based amateur radio satellite tracking program and reading up on the Amsat website.
At the moment I want to try an easy one just to see if I have any luck. AO-51 I think it is, with a 2m uplink and 70cm downlink, both on FM.
The equipment I have is a 2m Quansheng and a Uniden scanner. I have mobile vehicle antennas for both.
Can anyone give any feedback as to how hard it is to work sats, any tips and tricks etc? I've read that it is fairly easy to work from just a handheld with a rubber duckie but i've seen others who use handheld 6 element beams etc.
I'm new to the birds so if anyone can give me any info it would be a good discussion to have. We could then turn this thread into contacts we've had and at what time, which bird etc later down the track.
Cheers
Bonez
P.S. Everybody's heard that the bird is the word