RE: [amsat-bb] seeking advice on easy sats

[Tony Langdon <tlangdon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> AO 14 is often only receivable for short bursts and periods 
> of say 30 seconds 
> to a minute two or three time during each pass. Signal 
> strength is usually 
> between S1 and S4 during those times. I'm only guessing that 
> the reason might 
> be that the satellite may be tumbling slowly which means that 
> the satellite's 
> antenna is pointing away from the earth for long periods of 
> time. Is this 
> correct?
> 
> FO 20 is very weak and I'm not sure if the signal fades to 
> the same extent as 
> AO 14 although it does seem more consistant. The difficulty 
> with this one is 
> compounded because it receives little use although the 
> whistles and hellos 
> does indicate that the satellite is still functioning.

I use a small beam myself, and can hear both UO-14 and FO-20 very well.
Using a 2 element beam uplink, I can send a CW signal that appears almost
full quieting with 1.5W uplink.

> My station is very modest and consists of an FT-817 and a 
> hand-held home 
> built 6 element Yagi. I don't have a preamplifier and I can't 
> be sure that 
> the antenna is performing to it's peak because I don't have 
> access to a UHF 
> SWR meter. However the beam width is around 25 degrees which 
> I expect is 
> normal and it certainly out performs a rubber duckie. 

I'd double check your Rx, antenna and feedline, to be sure. :)
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