Re: [amsat-bb] AO-51 heard

["Edward R. Cole" <al7eb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Greg and all:

I have tried to address this in my other submissions but maybe they got
submerged in my other comments.  I believe (Echo controllers/designers fee
free to correct me if I am wrong) that the big problem for AO-51 users is
learning how to operate with the 67-Hz access tone.  The old methods that
worked on AO-27/UO-14 and other open (no tone squlech) birds will result in
lots of jammed signals on AO-51.

First, it is even more important to have full-duplex and monitor the
downlink when you transmit.  If someone else is transmitting you "must"
wait your turn.  If you try "breaking in" while another station is
transmitting you just end up jamming his and your own access tone and the
satellite receiver squelches the uplink audio path OFF!  In other words
there is no audio, just quiet carrier.  The difference from tone squelch on
normal repeaters and on Echo is its very long hang time of ten seconds that
keeps the transmitter activated.

The solution is that operators must immediately quit transmitting if a
quiet carrier occurs.  It will take more discipline to wait your turn.  It
would have helped to have courtesy beep so that operators would know when a
station stopped uplinking.  That would signal the uplink was available to
the next user.  Because the carrier hangs ten seconds you have no
indication when the other station has quit.  Of course running huge uplink
power will overcome this by brute force...a very unsatisfactory trend.

Its not a problem for the command team.  It is we operators that must
"learn" how to operate effectively with Echo...it is a different kind of
bird.   Please don't suggest the tone be turned off; it is in there for
very good reasons.

Right now the overload due to the novelty of the new bird just makes
porblems all that worse.

73's Ed - AL7EB

At 10:01 PM 7/31/2004 -0500, Greg Wycoff wrote:
>02:45:utc 08/01/04 heard AO-51 just fine on the ht and arrow, but still very
>few making it through. AO-27 was never like that you could always hear
>someone in there at all times even if someone got walked on by a big dog.
>Hope the command team gets it worked out soon.
>Greg Wycoff
>NØZHE
>Conway Springs, Kansas
>EM17ej
>
>AMSAT member 27994
>AMSAT Area Coordinator
>
>If you supported ECHO/AO-51 please support EAGLE
>
>Worked the following satellites
>AO-13, AO-10, AO-40, AO-27, FO-20, FO-29
>RS-10, RS15, RS-12/13,  SO-35, UO-14, SO-41
>SO-50, KO-23, KO25, TO-31, UO-22,GO-32
>MIR/MIR-R, STS-67, ISS
>
>Home web page:
>http://www.havilandtelco.com/~gregwycoff
>
>South Central Kansas Satellite Group:
>http://www.havilandtelco.com/~gregwycoff/chat.htm
>
>email: n0zhe@amsat.org
>also email me at: GREGWYCOFF@havilandtelco.com
>----
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