[FCARC] satellite operations

Sat Jul 1 10:15:18 EDT 2023

(this got sent to Craig 1 when it went out the last time - here it is 
for everyone . . . )

Good Morning, all -

    Back in the day, when I first got my tech upgrade, i worked the FM 
satellites with my base antennas - what I had already put up in 
anticipation to working FM on 2m and 440 - and it worked just fine.  I 
could listen in and hear the birds come up over the horizon and then 
work what I could hear with my base radios, on the normal base 
antennas.  I used a satellite predictor program on my PC (DOS operating 
system, goes to show how long ago this was . . . ) and I made sure I 
downloaded all of the newest Keplerian data for the amateur satellites 
on a weekly basis so that I had a visual indication of where they would 
be.  (I'm positive that any new Windows program would do this 
automatically now, in case you were wondering about manual entries.)

    My point here is - if you are truly interested in working the birds, 
don't let it scare you - just like you can work HF on a piece of wire, 
you can work the satellites from a usable antenna, mounted or not, with 
what you have already, just try it and see what the results are.  You 
may be pleasantly surprised as to what you can do.  Research which birds 
you are interested in and try listening to their frequencies first, to 
get an idea of what you might hear, and then try a contact or three 
because that's what we do.  Obviously an actual satellite-based antenna 
would work better (circularly-polarized mounted antennas are best for 
working the sky) but my base antennas provided me with enough upstairs 
signal to be usable and I made a few dozen contacts over a summer's days 
- mine worked better if the bird was off to either side of me, staying 
above the horizon but staying either east or west of my location 
(because of the antenna gain lobes forcing my signal into a horizontal 
pattern) but I still did get signals up and above too.

    I've worked the ISS with simple base station antennas - gotta be 
quick though, their path is REAL fast when they are overhead.

    A quick google search gave me a link to 11 free satellite tracking 
programs for Windows, and the DX Zone lists more links based on the ham 
community.  As Craig states, AMSAT has a plethora of info on the birds 
themselves.

    So, after all of this bloviation, the gist is - try it and see.  If 
you want better performance, you can adjust what you use accordingly.  
You might be pleasantly surprised as to what you can do.  Thanks for 
looking.

de KB8MDF

On 6/28/2023 8:45 PM, Craig Szczublewski wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> As a few of you saw at Field Day, I brought some gear out to work
> satellites.  While I was able to hear most of them, I was not successful in
> completing a QSO (I would contend that working a satellite on a normal day
> requires patience and effort, on Field Day weekend it can be downright
> frustrating when the number of people competing for time increases
> tenfold).
>
> It was still a cool experience to hear nothing but static until an FM LEO
> satellite breaks the horizon and you start to hear QSOs being conducted
> from locations hundreds of miles away.
>
> To those that saw some of the tech I had, here are some links:
>
> On my Android phone, I was running w1ant Pro Satellite Tracker ($3.99)
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.coolprimes.sattrack.pro&hl=en_US&gl=US
>
> I do not have an iPhone, but I understand Satellite Tracker Pro is
> highly recommended and does the same type of prediction:
> https://apps.apple.com/us/app/satellite-tracker-pro/id1518484999
>
> On my PC, I do have a free app called gPredict which can be downloaded here:
> https://sourceforge.net/projects/gpredict/files/Gpredict/
> (look for the green box saying Download latest version). It is a zip file
> and does not have an installer, just extract to a folder and run the
> gpredict executable.
>
> Of course, AMSAT is an invaluable resource for all things amateur
> satellite:
> https://www.amsat.org/
>
> I would recommend always checking the AMSAT status page to see if the
> satellite you want to work is actually being heard by anyone else.
> Sometimes equipment fails!  https://www.amsat.org/status/
>
> Regarding the antenna I was using, it is made by Arrow Antennas. It is a
> solid boom model with a built-in duplexor.  I picked mine up second-hand at
> the Chelsea hamfest a few years back and consider myself lucky:
> https://www.arrowantennas.com/arrowii/146-437.html
>
> Elk Antennas also have one highly rated for satellite work, but it looks a
> little cumbersome, and their website art and graphics is kind of painful to
> look at:
> https://elkantennas.com/product/dual-band-2m440l5-log-periodic-antenna/
>
> These are both pretty costly commercial solutions, but fear not, there are
> plenty of plans and projects on the internet to get you started.  Here are
> some I found with a quick search:
>
> https://www.amsat.org/cheap-and-easy-yagi-satellite-antennas/
> https://www.kb6nu.com/diy-for-cheap-satellite-operation/
> http://k0lee.com/duplexer.php
> http://ve2zaz.net/Arrow_Ant/Arrow_Style_Ant.htm
> http://www.wa5vjb.com/references.html
>
> Regarding the radio I was using, it is a simple Yaesu 2m/440 HT with the
> capability of split operation (i.e., I can listen on one band and transmit
> on another).  I found it helps to preprogram the FM satellite frequencies
> into the radio (remember to turn off the automatic repeater shift) along
> with any PL tone the satellite uplink might have.  I program them in groups
> of "5" where I change the downlink frequency by 0.005 MHz to compensate for
> the Doppler effect (i.e., if the satellite downlink is 436.795, I might
> start at 436.805 and decrement by 0.005 in every memory channel, eventually
> ending up at 436.785).
>
> While there are SSB satellites in low earth orbit also, all of the above is
> geared toward FM operation. SSB will be a topic for a different day as it
> does require some specialized radio gear like an FT-817 or similar for
> all-mode portable operation.
>
> Some other good reading:
>
> https://makezine.com/projects/homemade-yagi-antenna/
> https://www.amsat.org/introduction-to-working-amateur-satellites/
> https://stationproject.blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Get-Started-with-Amateur-Satellites-v2.pdf
>
> Of course, youtube has a mind-numbing array of how-to videos also.
>
> Happy Listening!
> Craig - KD8KBU
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     Adam T. Cately
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