SATELLITE BONUS FOR FIELD DAY TIM BUBIER WT1A

WHY SATELLITE? ALL IT TAKES IS 1 QSO FOR THE 100 POINT BONUS OPERATING SATELLITE IS FUN AND EXCITING IT’S A GREAT DEMONSTRATION MODE – PEOPLE ARE FASCINATED BY SATELLITES NO REAL FANCY EQUIPMENT NEEDED

WHAT DO WE NEED? NOTHING ELABORATE DUAL BAND HT WILL WORK, IF SET UP RIGHT DUAL BAND ANTENNA, SUCH AS AN “ARROW” OR SIMILAR YAGI PREDICTION SOFTWARE OR APP

THE RADIO FOR THE FM ‘BIRDS’ – DUAL BAND HT CAPABLE OF RECEIVING BELOW 432 Mhz. PROGRAMMED MEMORIES TO COMPENSATE FOR DOPPLER EFFECT ACTUAL “SATELLITE RIG” BETTER FOR OTHER BIRDS (SSB/CW)

ANTENNA(S) BEST – DUAL BAND VHF/UHF CROSS- POLARIZED YAGI (SUCH AS THE “ARROW”) OMNI-DIRECTIONAL DUAL BAND GAIN ANTENNA SEPARATE VHF AND UHF ANTENNAS

FM BIRD: Saudi-Sat SO-50 ONLY REMAINING FM BIRD Time Transmit Receive AOS (start) * AOS+3 Minutes * Zenith (max.) * Zenith+1 Minute * LOS (end) * * 67 Hz CTCSS tone on the 2 meter uplink

FIELD DAY RULES Stations participating in ARRL Field Day are limited to one (1) QSO on any “birds” that fall into the single channel FM classification. (S0-50) Allows more groups the opportunity to experience the thrill of satellite communications. Once you have made one successful FM Satellite QSO, PLEASE allow other Field Day groups the same opportunity at bonus points. Now that SO-50 is the only functioning FM satellite, usage will be exceptionally high.

SSB/CW SATELLITES VUSat-OSCAR 52 or Fuji-OSCAR 29 are prime candidates to work on 2m/432 during FD These are excellent SSB/CW birds and you can work them with a fairly minimal setup. The tricky aspect is that these satellites have inverting transponders. If you transmit LSB, the satellite repeats as USB. If you transmit at the high end of the passband (see below), the satellites will repeat your signal at the low end of the passband. Uplink Passband Downlink Passband OSCAR – MHz – MHz OSCAR – MHz MHz

SUMMARY IT ONLY TAKES ONE SATELLITE CONTACT TO COLLECT THE 100 POINT BONUS IT DOESN’T TAKE AN ELABLORATE SET-UP OR EVEN MUCH EFFORT TO MAKE A SATELLITE CONTACT ON EITHER FM OR SSB/CW ONLY TAKES A LITTLE PREPARATION AND PLANNING