Satellite Activity - AO-51 - 07 Mar 10

Successful Pass for the AO-51@ 1645 IST (1115 UTC).  It was a fairly low angle pass @ 24deg Elevation on the Eastern Hemisphere going from South to North.


At around 1648 IST (1118 UTC), I started hearing E21EJC (OM Kob) along with other Thai stations talking in their local dialect.  Then could hear Guru - VU2GUR calling Kob. Kob came back with a report.  I immediatley called Kob who gave me a 59 report.  Then another Thai station, HS1IWX (OM Amnat ?) was contacted with a 59 both ways QSO - a new station. As the satellite went Nortwards and the signals faded for us - I could feebly hear HS1EAX.

VU2GZ OM Hari also reported having heard Guru and me during the usual "after-pass" QSO on the local repeater.

The set up for this QSO was
Equipment:
TX : Kenwood -TH 255A - 5 W O/P - VHF
RX: Wouxun - KG-UVD1P - UHF

Antenna:
VHF - Moxon Rectangle

 UHF - Centre Fed - Collinear

Now the Moxon has been tested for both Tx and RX - Fully Certified for efficiency even for low angle passes !!!!!!!!!

The other antenna that I use is the bozooka - currently horizontally polarized.  It is mounted on the same boom as the Moxon antenna and fed by a seperate Cable.

Satellite Activity - 26th Feb, 10

There was a favourable HAMSAT (VO-52) pass of 57 deg elevation on the eastern side at 2108 IST today.  Was listening in on 145.900 MHz with the squelch open right from the Access of Satellite (AOS) time of 2108 IST.  I was giving CQ calls on 435.250MHz - the uplink central frequency but was unable to hear my signals on the downlink freq. As the satellite rose to about 13 deg elevation (I was parallely tracking the satellite using Orbitron satellite tracking software), I started hearing VU2GPS and a few seconds later VU2GUR.  I could hear Guru give a report to Partha who did not reply immediately.

As the satellite rose to about 22 Degs, signals from Guru and Partha increased to 59 - receiver quitening and both exchanged 59 reports.  I also was able to contact both of them with similar 59 reports and I was also able to hear myself on the downlink freq. very clearly as the satellite came to the peak elevation of about 57 Deg. 

Later on VU2GZ OM Hari, also put out a call a all three of us heard him and gave him a call.  But unfortunately Hari had not copied us. Probable reason - he was on a rubber ducky antenna from his rooftop !!!! But he made it through the satellite - that is for sure.

Additional information:
Guru was using his horizontal dipole for both VHF and UHF.
I was using a horizontal "Bazooka" for UHF and a Moxon Rectangle antenna for VHF
I am yet to get the Operating setup details of OM Partha VU2GPS

Looking forward to meeting more hams in the near future for two way QSOs.