Two reasons why you should get on satellites

First reason: satellites are so nerdy! Bouncing a data packet off a tiny box 5,000km above, and making contact with DX stations 13,000km away is super cool.

Second: there is no better way to promote our hobby and get newcomers in than setting up a portable satellite station on the beach, near a light house, or in a park.

With satellites, having a clear horizon and an interference free environment is 80% of a contact. The remaining 20% is your actual equipment, and a bit of skill.

Currently, the only satellite which offers true DX coverage is GreenCube, also known as IO-117.

It passes over Australia a few times per day. It is a 70cm digipeater, meaning the contact is made by an exchange of data packets containing messages – the callsigns and reports, but also open text as well.

There is a bit of a learning curve, but I have prepared a straight forward, plain English “How to get on GreenCube” tutorial, which will be published in this newsletter. Stay tuned!

In the mean time, here is the equipment list:

IC-9700 transceiver, 15 el yagi antenna with a tripod, a short run of coax cable, a laptop and a power source.

There are three pieces of software to help with the tracking, generating dial messages and QSO logging. A mobile phone is required to run another application which will help you to point the antenna towards passing satellites.

Sounds like a lot? Not really, it will all fit in a large backpack.

Again, the tutorial is detailed but easy to follow. If I can do it – you can do it as well!