Rainy SO-50
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 เม.ย. 2016
- It wasn't raining before I started!
This is from the 2016-03-27 2111Z SO-50 pass over North America.
Here are the all the stations heard on this pass, when they were first heard. There were 19 in all:
00:02 KG5CCI
00:06 K4FEG
00:13 N8HM FM18
00:28 N4UFO
00:45 KM4RTS EM90
01:01 W4DTA EM55
01:40 KA4H FM17
01:58 KI4RO
02:09 WA5KBH EM30
02:22 KG4AKV FM05
03:38 W5PFG EM21
04:01 KC1EXK FN41
04:55 W4HH FM17
06:33 ??3GNF EN82 (partial callsign heard, full call heard at 08:20)
06:43 N0VVV FN33
06:47 ???QJQ FN30 (partial callsign heard, full call heard at 07:09)
06:57 W2JV
07:09 WA2QJQ (full callsign heard)
08:20 VE3GNF (full callsign first heard)
09:27 KA3RLZ FN42
09:42 K8II EM79
Protractor:
By Georges Khaznadar georgesk@ofset.org - Personal work, based on a public domain licensed file, downloaded from Wikipedia (Image:Protractor.svg), GFDL, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
Good work, buddy - and good fun! There isn't a nice portable satellite tracking unit, which is a shame because it would take a lot of load off you so you can just enjoy the pass - I bet ya someone will make you one!
It's always a tough call when there's a little bit of push-and-shove - a hard decision to make, and I think you were perfectly polite AND got a good number of contacts, maybe even more contacts than the others! Verry professional! ;) Looking forward to more.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment Steve! Thanks for subscribing too. Birds are a challenge but that's why they're fun!
:-)
John KG4AKV
P.S. New SO-50 video where I make seven contacts coming out sometime tomorrow.
I've noticed that in America, you guys use 4 character grid squares a lot. Over here in the UK (and Europe) it's rare not to hear an 8 character grid square.
I have noticed that you guys use more characters than we do too. I'm not sure why, perhaps because we have more space and you're more compacted?
Space Comms I'm not sure, I personally like both as with 6 characters, you get more details but more possibility for missing out a character. The 4 character system gives a wider possible area but it's less likely to be missed on the bird. (on the last post I meant 6 characters not 8, but you can do 8 if your slightly mad.)
Great video,,,look for you on so 50
Thank you!
73, John Brier KG4AKV
Enjoy watching your videos! I learn from each one of them!! If my cables arrive today I will try SO-50 this afternoon (if it stops snowing,,,lol)
+Kevin Alvesteffer What's your callsign again? I'll look for you, not sure about this afternoon but maybe. It's a 84 degree pass for me at 18:44 UTC. Woah.
+Space Comms My cables haven't been delivered yet... They should of been here yesterday..... So doubfull it will happen today... My next best time would be 1911 hrs UTC on the 7th... 85 degree pass for me, but again it will depend on getting my cables..... KE8DOP (EN73TN)
Kevin Alvesteffer
Gotcha. Well eventually I bet we'll make contact. Hope the cables come soon!
Hi How did you record the sound of the radio that is not surround sound?
Audio cable and audio recorder. spacecomms.wordpress.com/audio-cable-for-kenwood-th-d72/
great video - 73 from ZS1CDG
Thank you!
73, John Brier KG4AKV
Nice video!!
radiosification Thank you!
73, John Brier KG4AKV
Infectious watching you work the "birds" - I want to do this as well. Could you comment on your equipment in this video and also did you buy the duplex version of the Arrow? thanks and 73
+pcomp Glad it's infectious! Thanks!
I use a Kenwood TH-G71A for receive and a Yaesu FT-10R for transmit. I did not get the duplexer because I use two separate radios. There aren't many full duplex radios out there that don't get desensed on 70cm RX when you're transmitting on 2 meters.
You can see more detail of my setup here:
imgur.com/a/Ez7dL
and here:
imgur.com/a/ygPjf
Also see my video of the equipment I use for ISS reception. It's a lot of the same stuff I used for SO-50:
th-cam.com/video/j3JwOwjYIkM/w-d-xo.html
73 KG4AKV
I'm just now getting interested ham radio and do not know that much about it. So what it looks like you are trying to contact various users throughout the country/world by using the passing satellite. Is this a common practice? Is a contact made only when both users have heard your call sign? Is this something that is done on normal stations as well? I am planning on getting my technician license at the end of this month.
+Roanokekidstech Hi there,
Well let me back up and explain something very common in ham radio and then explain how this satellite works.
One of the first things most people do when they get their license is get a 2 meter handheld radio. It transmits between 144-148 MHz. It probably puts out around 5 watts. It has a tiny rubber duck antenna and with this relatively low power, this inefficient antenna and with it being held in the hand at not much higher than ground level, it doesn't have much range. At VHF frequencies, which is where 2 meters is, range is basically line of sight. So you can only talk as far as you can see, through trees, buildings or to the highest point from you to the horizon, which isn't that great when you're only a few feet off the ground.
Enter repeaters. Repeaters take your signal and retransmit it from a much higher place, say on a mountain or a TV tower. Using repeaters you can go from say a few miles with your HT alone to up to a hundred miles or more!
Repeaters work by taking your transmission on one frequency and simultaneously retransmitting it on another frequency. With terrestrial repeaters you usually do it in band, not cross band.
Okay, now that you get that (maybe ;-) ), this satellite, SO-50 is like a repeater in space. It's so much higher the line of sight is as large as a continent. So it takes my signal on 2 meters and retransmits it on 70cm (435.795 MHz to be exact). This is a cross band repeater. Due to weight and size constraints on the satellite the hardware needed to do an inband repeater like is common on the ground is not feasible.
So that's kind of how this works.
Most hams don't operate satellite, but there are lots who do, so it's common in the sense that it happens all the time, but it's not common in the sense that almost everybody does it. Almost every ham operates 2 meter FM through repeaters, most don't do sats.
Yes you have to exchange callsigns to make a contact. That's true in any mode or type of operation, whether it's satellite, HF, digital, whatever.
John, KG4AKV
KM4RTS here! Just found this, nice video! Good to work you, this was a great pass! I'm a new tech, been practicing my low passes lately and have been consistently able to work down to about 2 degrees, best contact so far EL99-CN99, just shy of 2400 miles.
+Gabriel Zeifman Hah! I love it when people I work find my videos. How did you find this one?
That's really cool on the low elevation successes. I have a hard time doing it consistently though I have done it (See my SO-50 and a Giant Pile of Red Clay video). I wonder if it helps that you are near the beach where the horizon is pretty flat.
Congrats on the 2400 mi contact!
John KG4AKV
+Space Comms I was actually just curious if anyone had any recordings of me, so I threw my callsign into Google and it came right up! As for the low passes, it took me a bit of practice before I felt comfortable with it. I can usually hear it, at least intermittently, right from the horizon. I usually wait till at least 2 degrees to try transmitting. The pass for the 2400 miles was max elevation of 5. The ocean can be helpful, but for whatever reason I've often had difficulties with low elevation at the beach. I'm usually working lower on the west, but I guess I'm also more focused too since I'm usually trying to get those far contacts on them (not much in the Atlantic haha). I'm usually a few miles inland. It'd hard to find clear areas out here, but I've got a few. Found some interesting reflections off the Daytona International Speedway and some hangars at the airport. I'm also only semi-duplex, using just one Baofeng cheapo radio. College budget haha, seems to work well enough.
Hi John, I have looked much your videos, I have a question for you, you used the bi moxon band antenna? if so, you have made a comparison between the antenna and the moxon arrow?
73 thanks
CE3VNA Paulo
Chile
The "moxon" antenna is just the "bi moxon" antenna with the 70 cm elements removed. It's the Arrow II satellite antenna. It's for sale online.
but your judgment is better antenna arrow ??
I think I misunderstood you earlier. I have never used a moxon antenna. So I can't compare the arrow to the moxon. My guess is the Arrow is better though. Probably more gain. It's certainly more popular in the USA.
73, John Brier KG4AKV
Ok thank you for all,
How do you sync the elevation (and map on other videos?)
Standard Science I just note the time at some point in the video by holding up a watch in front of the camera. Then I take a screen cap of the tracking software which shows the time through the whole pass. So I just line the video sources up based on that in my editor.
Space Comms Ah, I see. Thanks a bunch! (I want to make videos similar to this when I'm licenced but I don't want to completely copy you... Do you have any ideas?)
Hmm... Well I'm probably not the first to show tracking software or other radio software synced to a video. So if that's what you would be "copying" you would just be doing what a lot of people intuitively do, because it's a good idea!
As far as being creative I would recommend this advice:
"Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can."
Don't try to go big right off the bat. Just do what is easiest and go from there. Don't think too much about it. Sometimes you can "waste" a lot of time using that methodology when you realize half-way through it's not going to work and then have to start over, but I think it's better than overthinking how the whole thing/finished product has to be before even starting. The very first video I made was just one unedited shot of me receiving the ISS and then I explained how my equipment worked at the end. Then I added annoations in TH-cam with the questions the astronaut was answering and more information about what I was doing or explaining in the end.
Space Comms I have to agree that tracking and syncing is a good idea. I'll probably start with some ISS videos (recently it's been going over really late, so I'll wait a while...) And I'll get my licence and be on my merry little way to a satellite QSO. With my step-dad, he's going to help me make an antenna ($4.00 satellite antenna by Dave Tadlock), that'll hopefully give me some good gain. I'm mostly at school when it's light out, so most of my satellite recordings are audio only, because the camera wouldn't pick anything useful up. I've done a video of the AO-85 satellite which is loud, but the more favourable SO-50 is too far in the noise. I also like the idea of (once licenced) going to parks, much like you do, and getting some QSOs in through satellites. Or some how to style videos.
Standard Science Hopefully when winter is over you'll get some more daylight and be able to record something useful. Are you going to record the digipeater on the ISS or what?
What ht's are you using?
+Jerry Parker Yaesu FT-10R for TX and Kenwood TH-G71A for RX. You can see them at 11:05
You can see more detail of my setup here:
imgur.com/a/Ez7dL
and here:
imgur.com/a/ygPjf
73, John KG4AKV
Next time... you get a umbrella! 😉
+ea5tt haha! ;-)
I like it very much. de 4L5P
Thank you!
73, John Brier KG4AKV