[amsat-bb] Trying AO-40

[David Rush <david@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

After a couple years of being off satellites, I'm dusting off my gear.  I 
started to put together an AO-40 setup, but never quite got one fully 
operational.

I have an old Drake on which I've done "the easy mods".  I just purchased a 
DEM 13ULNA, and built an AA2TX-style pyramidal horn antenna for 2.4 GHz 
downlink (sized it slightly larger for 6 wavelengths).

This morning I finished up the horn and plugged everything in.  Found the 
middle beacon just fine, and heard one voice QSO and some CW here and there.

Then I rounded up a 70cm 7-element linearly polarized yagi and pointed it 
towards the bird.  Could not find myself on the downlink with 25 watts out 
of my 736..  Then I dusted off the 100 watt brick and plugged it in, but 
still could not find myself.

With further research, if I'm reading the schedule correctly the U/S 
transponder was turned off at MA 100, which I believe corresponded to about 
11:00 MDT (13:00 EDT).  Am I right?  That would explain my difficulty in 
finding my downlink, as the time I spent mucking around to get the uplink 
going may well have spanned 11am.

I'm confused about one thing in AMSAT's AO-40 FAQ, under "How do I find my 
own signal on AO-40?".  It says to first find the beacon at 2401.323.  By 
my calculations, the corresponding uplink to the beacon would be 435.702 - 
right?  The FAQ says "a good frequency for U/S usage is 435.700".  Isn't 
that going to put you almost on top of the beacon, a big no-no???

David, ky7dr

----
Sent via amsat-bb@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Not an AMSAT member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe amsat-bb" to Majordomo@amsat.org