Re: [amsat-bb] Handheld for Echo and FM Sats?

["John P. Toscano" <tosca005@xxxxxxxxxx>]

ks5z@amaonline.com wrote:

> My trusty FT-470 has served me for many years (field tested from 120F
> to -30F).  It does full duplex very well.  They go for around $100 on
> eBay.  The FT-530 would work very well also, but they command a much
> higher price.  Someone mentioned the FT50r.  I would like them to
> check if it is truly full duplex (hear your own signal coming down
> from the satellite / listening on one band while transmitting on
> another), because I do not believe it is.

The FT-50r is a fine little HT, but it is ABSOLUTELY NOT a full-duplex 
radio.  It cannot monitor two frequencies simultaneously, much less 
listen on one band while transmitting on another.  The closest it can 
come is the "Dual Watch" mode that rapidly switches back and forth 
between two frequencies, and when a signal is heard on either, it stops 
switching until loss of carrier.  But there is no reception of any sort 
while it is transmitting.  You CAN program a TX/RX pair on different 
bands, but it is half-duplex.  No reception while transmitting.

> I believe the FT51r was full duplex, but they are quite scarce on
 > the used market.

True.  (I never had one, but a friend of mine used to, and I have seen 
the full-duplex operation work.)

73 de W0JT
AMSAT-NA Life Member #2292
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