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Satellites

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Working with Amateur Radio Club Satellites

Would you like to try working satellite DX?
Contact Us if you would like to help

Read the latest AO-51 Control Team Newson the AMSAT

Field Day 2010 Ken (KJ4CTZ), William (KJ4OWO) and Vaughn (KG4VET) work satellites as a team effort. (Photo upper right)

ISS Tour & HAM RIG

Amateur Satellites

Plan your QSO

KJ4CTZ on SO51

KJ4CTZ de NA1SS

KJ4CTZ at TVARC

My Experience Working Satellites
Ken KJ4CTZ

My first try at Satellites
My first go of Sat work consisted of my Yaesu VX-170 HT with a "Tape Measure Yagi" and my Kenwood 2m/440 mobile rig with a dual band vertical antenna. HT to transmit on and the mobile to receive on with volume up loud.

Could hear satellite very faintly when satellite was about 45 degrees above horizon (Take-off angle of vertical antenna). Was real pain in the arse. Contacts made: 0

My second try at Satellites
My Second attempt was again using my Yaesu VX-170 HT and Tape Measure Yagi. I also used my RadioShack HTX404 70cm radio and a poorly made 440 yagi.
 
Clumsy to handle 2 separate radios and two separate antennas both needing to be pointing the exact same direction. Could not hear satellite at all. After post satellite run, tested the 440 yagi with our repeater. Antenna was a failure. Contacts made: 0

My third try at Satellites
Third attempt got a little better. I actually purchased an antenna made specifically for this purpose (The Arrow 2m/70cm). Still only had single band radios (mentioned above) but was not too terrible to operate.
 
Could hear satellites great! Could actually talk to HAMs thru the Satellites. Problems were holding two radios or placing them in very close proximity to the antenna which must move with the satellite arc. Second issue was trying to copy call signs while still listening and holding the antenna steady. Wrist fatigue also starts to have an effect after holding the antenna for more than 10 minutes.
Contacts made: 2 

My fourth try at Satellites
Forth iteration was rewarding. I purchased a Wouxun KG-UVD1P Dual Band 2m/70cm radio from http://wouxun.us for $107. This radio made communications so much easier. I also purchased a cheap tripod. However, even though the antenna is light, the tripod I bought was wimpy!!! So I simply extended the boom with a piece of Aluminum angle and attached a weight for balance at the hand grip of the antenna. 
 
Antenna very easy to hold and steady. Could make contacts but still had difficulty holding position with antenna and writing down call signs. Contacts: few... 

Current Status
I was able to attain a much better tripod. Used the aluminum angle I purchased earlier to fabricate a radio mount modeled after K7AGE's Arrow Mount (Many Thanks to Randy). The mount is very simple. One long straight piece of angle and one short piece of angle with a small wood block to separate the two pieces (wide enough for the radio). 

I added to K7AGE's design by adding a piece of plexi-glass to the bottom of this mount to serve 2 purposes. The plexi would allow for a surface to write on and also to secure the radio with the belt clip by simply creating a hole in the plexi to allow the belt clip to grab. I also started to implement a voice recorder so that I could review after the pass to check my accuracy of copy. This is a great addition I think. (See  photos above and top of right column)

I can make contacts fairly easy now as the antenna remains still while I am copying calls. I can see the radio face (to be sure I am transmitting on the uplink (I have made the mistake of TX on the receive frequency many times while operating in haste)). The antenna is very easy to rotate for polarity and will stay where you put it. The voice recorder allows for great playback for accuracy and self training (following exchange expectations and speed). Downfall to the design is when the satellite is directly overhead or at a very high elevations, it is somewhat difficult to write calls as the writing surface gets lower to the ground as elevation increases.

Also, I found that the pin on the tripod mount to keep a camera straight is not strong enough to support this light antenna. What would occur at times is when operating, the antenna boom would  turn just enough to cause the clear communication into a severe bacon frying sound.  I ended up putting a second screw in the boom/mount assembly to fix this problem. Contacts: Many and pretty much at will.

Conclusion
For those that would like to try satellite work, please take your time, get the right equipment, Listen to others and yourself with a recording of the pass, BE Considerate especially if someone is operating portable as that means they are NOT at their home location and may be their only chance for contacts. And the biggest suggestion I can make is do the research for each satellite you want to work. What I mean is determine what specific frequencies it is currently using and moreover what MODE it is in. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to see the satellite coming by (using orbitron or some other tracking software) and listening and not hearing a thing.

I have heard myself in several of these recordings and I got to say the Wouxun Radio sounds great thru satellite communications. Good place to see how you sound, follow proper protocol and if you are stepping on someone else or not or even if they are stepping on you. It happens...... I am having fun though and have made several equipment changes since I started playing with it. It seems like I am not the only one recording satellite communications. Check out this website;  http://www.papays.com/sat/general.html