vx8r satellite help

[Milos]

Did exactly as you mentioned, and got the new list of amateur sats!! including ECHO AO-51.Thanks! Wish i had more time to get into it. I got VX-8R and lots of plans, but little chance lately. Good thing is, and I am very happy about this fact, that this device is very capable and isn't gonna be obsolete like 3G iPhone in about 6 months )

hey moleculo, thanks a lot for the instructions at the beginning of this thread. Before reading this i didn't find "hitting satellites" very attractive. Once you mentioned Doppler's shift and the whole trick totally got me interested in satellites pass overs. You are a great ambassador of this hobby/practice. Its not just info you put, is your patience and effort. I just ordered software kit so i can "organize" my two VX-8Rs finally.

I couldn't resist so I downloaded and installed Satscape on my mac at work today as well. I hate the mac, but I love this software, and will definitely use it for double checking some data against Orbitron just to see if im set up right.

thanks both for the effort

KC2WIC

cheers

 

[N6goz]

Regarding bouncing an APRS beacon thru the ISS...just confirming that its a simplex operation on 145.825 (plus or minus doppler) and that all I need is "arris" typed into the path on the VX8R ???

73's
N6goz

 

[KB3TQO]

op: check out the iss fan club link in the 7th post, i dont know how to put links up or i would have done it here so, sorry.

 

[Moleculo]

Regarding bouncing an APRS beacon thru the ISS...just confirming that its a simplex operation on 145.825 (plus or minus doppler) and that all I need is "arris" typed into the path on the VX8R ???

73's
N6goz

Don't worry about the doppler shift on 2 meters...doppler doesn't affect 2 meters enough to effect the ability to get into the digipeater. Also, the path is ARISS, not ARRIS

 

[N6goz]

I've asked this question before regarding the VX8r but have never gotten a clear answer. What do I type into the digi path for contacting the ISS. There are serious limitations/options available...no punctuation marks..only A thru Z and numbers -0 thru -15 so there is only enough space for one word (ARISS etc) no comma's for adding wide-2 etc.

 

[Moleculo]

You type in ARISS as the digipath. Just ARISS. Nothing else.

 

[Hutch]

I use MacDoppler (on my Mac) and Satellite Tracker Plus for my iPhone (which is very handy). For Windows I use to use SatPC32. You can get both from the Amsat website.

 

[N6goz]

Got it sorted out...I was thinking that the whole path had to be typed in that one line/space...I didnt get that you change the existing default parameters in the number one slot to "ariss" then you move to slot two and use the wide2-2 parameter in that slot then move to the other defaults and remove them....so what you end up with is ariss, wide2-2 etc in the two slots which is what the radio transmits as opposed to just the slot you have selected. So hopefully we are on the right track now.

One thing to keep in mind for VX8R users...you have to set that new path every time in the first three slots which are defaults so when you power the radio down it returns to the default settings...annoying but oh well !!

Thanks
73's
N6goz

 

[dillonangus]

Thanks for all of the info y'all posted here.
I rcvd multiple APRS msgs from ISS on 145.825. I couldn't get mine in there but I'm still holding out hope. Maybe the 3rd time will be a charm. I also heard CDR Wheelock finishing a school contact on 145.800 this afternoon. I tried to uplink on 144.490... no joy. I'm going to store a simplex 145.8 in my ARISS bank for the next pass when I hear the crew so I can switch to it quickly if they don't seem to be up on 144.490. Anyway, good luck to all and let me know if you have any luck.

I'm using the VX-8R with a homebrew 3/5 element 2m/70cm yagi similar to the Arrow (but both bands in the same plane).

73,
KF5HOW