I made my first sat contact this afternoon. Super stoked

[VK7ZA]

Today I made my very first satellite contact over SO-50 with VK2ZAZ. Thanks for your perseverance Geoff.

I was trying to use a fixed vertical while it was close to the horizon, with no joy. Ended up sticking a rubber duck antenna on the HT and trying that. It worked, but was hard the antenna oriented correctly to keep contact with the satellite. I'll have to get my hand held yagi out for the next attempt.

Just had to share my excitement!

Lance

[VK8VTX]

congratulations!!

[VK4WDM]

Its something I have always wanted to do, must get off my a--- and do it!

73

Wayne VK4WDM

[VK4CRO]

Great to see some one get on, I made an eme last year and over the moon feeling .
Understand your elation - will fix my handy and give it a try
Ciao Ron

[VK4WDM]

I asked in another thread what is the first satellite I should try for. From Lance's experience, it should be SO-50.

73

Wayne VK4WDM

[VK7ZA]

Considering I only have FM 2m/70cm, it is either SO-50 or the ISS.

[VK2AVR]

fantastic, well done

I gotta try a sat contact sometime..

[VK4WTN]

congradulations Lance, its always very exiting to do something new in ham radio. I had my first EME contact on 6 meters last year and I still remember the excitment in doing something which I never thought I could achieve.Keep up the good work Lance and I hope many sat contacts to come
regards Wayne VK4WTN

[VK3VMC]

@VK7LDC Lance - Excellent work and well done. Reading your post has inspired me to get that job off my list, hi, hi.....if u can do it on a handheld, no excuses for me!

PS: This is my first post on vklogger even though I have been a lurker for a long time - so u helped me there.

73's
Mark VK3VMC

[VK7ZA]

Great Mark. This would certainly be the first time my amateur activities have been an inspiration to others. Now I'm double stoked!

Lance VK7LDC

[VK4TIM]

Congrats on your first satellite QSO, now you have succeeded, you can work our what suits your needs and what works best. You can only continue to make more QSOs and get better results.

I recall my first QSOs on AO-21, 435 MHz up and 145.987 down, using a fixed yagi pointing up into the sky for the uplink, and a 2m ground plane antenna for the downlink receive, and I've heard it OK on the handheld with just the rubber duck antenna too! (No QSO with just handheld though). I worked trans-Tasman on AO-21 on numerous occasions.
Just goes to show that you really don't need sophisticated, expensive equipment to work the Amateur satellites.

I am waiting for the next generation of high earth orbit bird similar to AO-40, with 435 MHz uplink and 2401 MHz downlink, that one was a lot of fun while it was running, but it failed after only a fairly short time of operation after a rocket engine fault caused battery failure.
I've still got my AO-40 setup, just waiting to be used.

The birds are up there just waiting to be used, have fun!

[VK4WDM]

I have been listening to the SO-50 down-link on every pass for the last couple of days. Haven't heard any signals yet. Also been scanning 435-437Mhz for any beacons. None heard yet.

Very spectacular overhead pass of the ISS last evening but nothing gave them a call on FM but no reply.

73

Wayne VK4WDM

[VK7ZA]

Wayne, make sure you're orienting your antenna correctly, and open the squelch. The signal will often be beneath the squelch level without yagis pointing at the satellite. I've not yet tried to listen on a pass that didn't have contacts in progress or at least being called for.

What radio/antenna are you using? Those more experienced may be able to offer specific suggestions.

[VK4WDM]

Radio is FT-847 and I also have a Kenwood TS-2000. Only using my terrestrial array ATM: 14el yagi on 70cm, 12el on 2m both horizontally polarized. This array is very "pointy" so I probably need to make an antenna specifically for satellites. I will do that when I get back from overseas in early October. I will also try my FT-817 with a hand-held vertical.

73

Wayne VK4WDM

[VK7ZA]

Wow Wayne, nice radios for sat work!