Category Archives: AO-73

Back on the birds!

Posted on June 7, 2022 by robert

I’ve been using an ancient Panasonic ToughBook (CF-31) as the computer to control my IC-9700 for satellite work.  I liked the TB because the screen is readable in full daylight.  That particular computer was never fully supported by Panasonic to … Continue reading →

Posted in AMSAT, AO-7, AO-73, CAS-4A, CAS-4B, CF31, Satellite, SatPC32, SO-50, Toughbook, XW-2C | Leave a comment

Field Day 2018 Satellite Passes

Posted on June 16, 2018 by robert

I’ve put together my list of candidate orbits that are happening during daylight hours for Field Day 2018.  Orbits in green are pretty optimal.  Orbits in yellow are lower (and hence further away, or in darkness). Satellite Passes FD 2018

Posted in AMSAT, AO-7, AO-73, AO-85, AO-91, CAS-4B, FO-29, From the OM, Satellite, SO-50, XW-2A, XW-2B, XW-2C, XW-2D, XW-2F | Leave a comment

Calibrating the Uplinks for FD

Posted on June 21, 2017 by robert

The satellites are conspiring against me this year, mostly passes in the dark (nothing like stumbling/fumbling around in the dark in a field), but I’m getting the uplink calibrated again on my IC-9100. Anyway, was able to calibrate AO-7 uplink … Continue reading →

Posted in AO-7, AO-73, AO-85, ISS, Satellite, SO-50, XW-2A, XW-2B, XW-2C, XW-2D, XW-2F | Leave a comment

Getting Ready for Winter Field Day – Satellite

Posted on January 25, 2017 by robert

Well it’s that time of year again, I’m dusting off the portable satellite gear and making sure it’s working.  I had just updated the clock, and TLEs, when I noticed that UKube was above the horizon.  I quickly turned on … Continue reading →

Posted in AO-73, AO-85, BY70-1, FO-29, IC-9100, Satellite, UKUBE-1, XW-2A | Leave a comment

“Best” AO-73 Telemetry Freq?

Posted on July 27, 2016 by robert

I’ve been watching AO-73 telemetry frequencies for the past few weeks.  Today I noted that a satellite frequency of 145.934.8 produced packets captured between 1538 and 1168 Hz, or a drift over that period of 370 Hz.  From this it … Continue reading →

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Field Day 2016 Satellite Passes for FN41

Posted on June 15, 2016 by robert

The table of times listed below will likely be off a bit since FD is about 10 days in the future and the TLEs will have changed slightly by then.  However it is good enough for planning purposes.  Daylight and … Continue reading →

Posted in AO-7, AO-73, AO-85, FO-29, Satellite, SO-50, XW-2A, XW-2C, XW-2F | Leave a comment

Back to AO-73 Dashboard for a Bit

Posted on June 7, 2016 by robert

The SatGate appears to be working fine, and it seems to find more unique packets than duplicate ones, so it appears to work.  Ultimately I want to package that up with a RPi running XASTIR using a TNC-Pi and a … Continue reading →

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AO-73, It’s Been Ages

Posted on May 19, 2016 by robert

My last AO-73 QSO was about 10 months ago.  Part of the reason is laziness — it is time consuming to relocate the uplink offset each time I try to work the bird.  I’ve read that the uplink passband is unstable … Continue reading →

Posted in AO-73, Satellite | Leave a comment

Log Shows QSOs With Ten Different Satellites

Posted on May 19, 2016 by robert

I went through my logbook since I got back on the air five years ago and discovered a bunch of confirmed satellite QSOs.  In that time I’ve worked the following: AO-7 Confirmed by eQSL AO-27 (Four QSOs but no confirmations … Continue reading →

Posted in AO-7, AO-73, AO-85, ARISS, FO-29, ISS, Satellite, SO-50, XW-2A, XW-2C, XW-2F | Leave a comment

Another Great Satellite Day

Posted on May 18, 2016 by robert

I’m feeling guilty for neglecting DX, but I’ve been having a bunch of fun with satellites recently. Several QSOs on FO-29 with calibration of both SSB and CW uplink performed.  Not much CW action on these days, but I’ll be … Continue reading →

Posted in AO-7, AO-73, AO-85, FO-29, Satellite, SO-50, XW-2A, XW-2C, XW-2F | Leave a comment