I did the same... I worked the the FM sats. I started with a IC 821
until it crapped out on me. I was on AO40 and it worked well until the
radio went south.
I got a IC910H and I already had SatPC32 so the two worked very well
together.
I have a second IC910H that I use for terrestrial comms. I have a 23cm
module
in the first one.
I have been having a great time working FO29, VO52, AO7 and SO50.
SatPC32 does great in controlling the radio and rotor.
73,
Dale-KL7XJ
AMSAT Area Coordinator Alaska
On 9/18/2013 12:31 PM, Les Rayburn wrote:
Like many hams (I suspect), I dreamed of working satellites for
decades. Followed them with at least a passing interest but always
seemed to put them off till "someday". Even during the craze of the
"work satellites with your handheld", I was distracted by other
priorities. When I got involved in VHF/UHF a few years ago, and
purchased an Icom IC-910H, I kept thinking I'd finally pull the
trigger. But years passed without anything other than weak-signal
contacts being made on that rig.
A few months ago, I finally decided to give it a try. Downloaded
SATPC32, and updated my keps. FO-29 was the next satellite coming my
way, so when I was inside the footprint, I tuned around a bit, and
found some stations coming in. Cool! I was actually hearing hams on
satellite---next up was answering a CQ...nervously I pushed the PTT on
the mic.
82 grids and a few hundred contacts later, I'm having a ball!
I don't miss the birds that came before, but just enjoy what we have
now. My only complaint might be that more folks are not active on
F0-29 and VO-52. Even SO-50 can be nearly empty after midnight.
My understanding is that within the next year we'll have 2 or 3 more
linear LEO satellites, and possibly another FM bird, right? While we
may not work a lot of DX on those, we should get to the point where no
one has to wait long for "something" to be overhead. That's exciting
to me!
AMSAT is staffed with wonderful volunteers, and seems to be doing
great work. I'm thrilled to be a member, even if it is #38965.
The good ole days are now. Get on the birds and make some contacts. I
need your grid! (ha, ha)
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