Re: Anyone on the FO's??

[Bert McClellan <bertmc@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Chad,

Hang in there. Sometimes I can go thru a entire pass and not hear anything
except my downlink.
I think there is some one listening . (Maybe they just dont want to talk to
me. HI)  Reminds me of AO-13.   I have called CQ for a long time and could
not find any one on the band.  But when I finally get a good dx come back,
all of the sudden there would be dozens trying to get back to him.

Bert   N7TKO

Gold Bar, WA

chad phillips wrote:

>     I have been on fo20 and fo29 now for 3 days. I have only 3 contacts
> in my log book. In fact Monday nite I call cq on 435.850 for 12 minutes
> and no one replyed!! Dont get me wrong, this is not a flame to anyone.
>     What  I cant get over is how easy it is to work these satellites! I
> have 12el horizontal for 2m 19el horizontal on 435. Right now there is
> no elevation, and I am running only 10watts!! Tonite I turned the power
> down to 1 WATT and I could here my downlink!! There is such a difference
> between a 2m downlink and a 435 downlink!! If you have 2m and 435ssb
> (which if you subscribe to this list, you probably do) try fo20 or fo29.
> I can easily work either one below 10deg elevation. All the work I went
> thru to get on the fo satellites was WELL WORTH it.
>     My station is not elaborate at all. I use Gemini rotors, my antennas
> I have built. Right now no preamps. My radios, IC251a I bought at a pawn
> shop for a song, my FT 726r I traded some radio equipment for, and
> Bartered and sold junk out of my shack to buy a new MFJ-1270cq for 9600
> baud pacsat!! So for actually a low investment I now have a station that
> can work "almost" any satellite out there now and in the future.
>     EXPERIMENT!!! TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT!! You just might have fun
> doing it, I am ......
>
> Chad Phillips
> kg0mw
> South Dakota AMSAT Area Coordinator