[amsat-bb] ISS Crossband Repeater

[Andrew Koenig]

Tonight I had one of the best times I have ever had on the satellites. I'm
not too sure you all would enjoy it for the same reasons, but I thought it
was amazing.

I was starting to receive the bird, and I tried TX'ing into it, but for some
reason the tone didn't stay programmed into my FT-60. So with one hand I'm
trying not to loose the satellite with my arrow antenna, while with the
other hand I am trying to program the radio.

Eventually I give up on programming it so it automatically does the split,
so I program in 145.99/67hz tone on one channel, and then 437.805-437.790
(in 5khz steps) in the other channels. Once I got it all programmed enough
so it will work, the ISS is at the peak, and I was literally recieving it at
full strength, where all of the bars in my HT are lit up.

At this point in the pass, it seemed like I was doing pretty well between
the 5 different tasks, aiming the antenna, polorization, doppler, switching
between TX/RX channels, and making contacts. I really enjoyed this part
because it worked, despite the severe improvisions I had to make to get it
to work.

Although I only made three contacts (W5KUB, W5VG, WA4NVM), I would still
consider this a very successful pass.

[Bill Booth]

Post by Andrew Koenig
Eventually I give up on programming it so it automatically does the split,
so I program in 145.99/67hz tone on one channel, and then 437.805-437.790
(in 5khz steps) in the other channels. Once I got it all programmed enough
so it will work, the ISS is at the peak, and I was literally recieving it at
full strength, where all of the bars in my HT are lit up.

I am trying to figure out the best method to get thru the repeater. From
the response above I am trying to decide if the uplink stays stable and the
downlink is tuneable, or is it best to tune both to keep on frequency. If
tuning for both is required which way is it normal or reverse. I have a
IC970 that I am using and can put it either way ....

At one point tonite I could hear my transmit get keyed but soon lost
it.......not sure if it was the pile up or my tuning...

Some tips would be nice ...

Bill Booth VE3NXK
Sundridge ON, Canada
79.23.37 W x 45.46.18 N
FN05ns

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[n***@bellsouth.net]

Bill and all,

My experience in seven months of working the FM satellites and, more recently, the ISS, is to leave the transmit frequency alone. Period.

At AOS, I'm 10 kHz above the receive frequency, and tune in 5 kHz steps through the pass until I'm 10 kHz below the receive frequency at LOS. You'll hear the reception change, and will know when to tune the receive side for Doppler.

Congrats to you Andrew.

[Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)]

Hi Tim!

Post by n***@bellsouth.net
My experience in seven months of working the FM satellites and, more
recently, the ISS, is to leave the transmit frequency alone. Period.

Keep in mind that the ISS TM-D700's receiver is that of a ham mobile
radio, not the broader receivers we're used to on the FM satellites like
AO-51 that are essentially compensating for the small amount of Doppler
shift on your 2m transmit frequency. Whether or not you have to vary
your 2m transmit frequency for the current ISS crossband repeater will
depend on many variables related to your station and the ISS ham gear.
What may be needed for one pass might not be needed on others.

On an ISS pass yesterday morning, I had to start the pass transmitting
on 145.985 MHz with the PL tone. Once I was ready to tune the receive
VFO down from 437.810 to 437.805 MHz, I was able to move my transmit
frequency up to 145.990 MHz for the remainder of the pass. Due to the
buildings around the hamfest site yesterday, I was not able to work that
pass all the way to LOS. If I had, I might have had to move my transmit
frequency up to 145.995 for the last minute or so. If I had a 2.5 kHz
tuning step on my radio, I would have used that and started talking on
145.9875 MHz before moving up to 145.990 MHz.

With all of that said, it has been fun to have the cross-band repeater to
use - both in V/U and (previously) U/V modes. I hope it can be turned on
more often in the future.

73!




Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK
http://www.wd9ewk.net/

[n***@bellsouth.net]

Thanks, Patrick!

Post by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)
Hi Tim!

Post by n***@bellsouth.net
My experience in seven months of working the FM satellites and, more
recently, the ISS, is to leave the transmit frequency alone. Period.

Keep in mind that the ISS TM-D700's receiver is that of a ham mobile
radio, not the broader receivers we're used to on the FM satellites like
AO-51 that are essentially compensating for the small amount of Doppler
shift on your 2m transmit frequency. Whether or not you have to vary
your 2m transmit frequency for the current ISS crossband repeater will
depend on many variables related to your station and the ISS ham gear.
What may be needed for one pass might not be needed on others.
On an ISS pass yesterday morning, I had to start the pass transmitting
on 145.985 MHz with the PL tone. Once I was ready to tune the receive
VFO down from 437.810 to 437.805 MHz, I was able to move my transmit
frequency up to 145.990 MHz for the remainder of the pass. Due to the
buildings around the hamfest site yesterday, I was not able to work that
pass all the way to LOS. If I had, I might have had to move my transmit
frequency up to 145.995 for the last minute or so. If I had a 2.5 kHz
tuning step on my radio, I would have used that and started talking on
145.9875 MHz before moving up to 145.990 MHz.
With all of that said, it has been fun to have the cross-band repeater to
use - both in V/U and (previously) U/V modes. I hope it can be turned on
more often in the future.
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK
http://www.wd9ewk.net/
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