This is the video that inspired me to finally get my license. Great to see all the activity on your channel, I really enjoy it.

Thanks for posting all of your vids Randy. This was a great intro for me to learn about ham radio in general. I remember the day I finally worked AO-51 and received a QSL card in the mail. There are so many facets to the hobby, the more I learn, the more I understand how much more learning I have to do... 73

Thanks so much for this vid! I'm a new ham, and have just made my first AO-27 contacts with an FT-60 and RH77 antenna. This video helped me with the theory greatly. Thanks much for all your videos, they're very helpful!

Nice video. Interesting that this is possible with such a small setup

Randy and all: This is a great series of videos, full of great information. After 35 years of ham radio, nobody ever showed me or even talked about "how-to" for satellite QSO's. I thought it was too difficult. Randy made it easy to understand and I'm having a blast. I got on the air and made several contacts this weekend on A0-51 and A0-27. Thanks Randy. You are a true "Elmer" to thousands of hams. Hope we can have a QSO someday. Craig WB0GFZ

Randy, I've been subscribing to your videos for a few months. Always so informative. I made one contact through AO-51 two summers ago with my Arrow Antenna and a Kenwood TH-D7. Didn't record it. Next time I will. Easy to see from your video how the tripod for the antenna makes things easier. 73, Ned N8OIF

Wow! Been thinking of getting the Tech lic, now I want it! thanks for the demo, looking forward to more.

Randy thanks for the great video

Randy, I've stated it in emails to you and I'll reiterate it here. Thank you for talking the time to voluntarilly make these videos. For those of use who are new to sats, you really make it a lot easier.

Congratulations randy! Awesome video (!)

Thanks Randy: I transcoded this to IPod and watched it with several friends yesterday. Needless to say, it was just the thing to pry me back to HamTestOnline and getting the Gen and Extra done! Thank you for your enthusiasm. Eric -N9DXV

Just passed my General and am holding my CSCE!!! Thanks for the vids, they were the catalyst pushing me over the edge. Rig shopping shortly, hope to catch you on the airwaves. 73 Jayson

Thanks for the video Randy, it's fantastic! Greetings from Spain Huberto

Thanks for the note. Yes, there are may aspects to the hobby. Lots of new things to try and learn.

Great video! Thanks for the post 73

Great Video... Good job on the pass and setup. Great Video series also 73's Mike York, PA

Very interesting. Congratulations Randy

Great video. Thanks for sharing. Pretty impressive actually 73's

congrats randy. Great Video. -Curtis

that was awesome! thank you for sharing

Randy, Nice video. I finally am able to see how it's done. I have an 817 and a tripod. All I need to get is an Arrow antenna. Great job!73

Looking forward to trying this out in 2020!!! Cheers!

Craig, thanks and glad to hear that you have be able to get on the satellite from watching the videos. My PSK31 series is also very popular. Randy

Very good video and presentation. Interesting part of the ham hobby.

Hi Randy, another very interesting video! I admire your enthusiasm. Keep up the good work, you do a great job for amateur radio. 73

73 Randy, thx for the vid!

Great! Nice setup. Good video.

Very nice video!

Great video. I have been trying to work so-50 with my baofeng’s and my th-d74. I am struggling . I got the arrow II and that made a huge difference. But trying to do so many things at once is Challenge. also that low angle and the results you got was amazing . I seem to need 60 degrees max elev to get that clarity here in Florida . Maybe I should pick a different sat. Thank you 🙏

Great vid! Thank you

Hi randy, nice to see your video. At least this explains how to make QSO's on this bird just with a handy and the explanation of each detail. Wonderful great job. 73's de 5B4AAI (Nicholas)

Great result Randy, nice and simple set up working great its good to see what can be done without too much expense. 73 Simon

Randy, Great Video! Very Informative from Start to Finish. AO-51 is always so crowded on those Western Passes so getting two contacts is excellent. Been on the birds about three years myself and they are challenging,ESPECIALLY hearing them! 73,Andy K8AND

Thanks Randy, that worked. Getting my tech license Sep15 and will be picking up a TH-F6 HT in about 3 weeks.

Nice video. I managed to get into AO-51 with the two-meter vertical on the roof, but not too well. I need to get an Arrow. Your videos gave me the idea of making a video on how to receive images from the NOAA satellites.

@popmomcorn It is really amazing that gear that you can hold in your hand can work through a satellite. Good luck on your test.

Nice work! I've heard of people cracking Ham Sats on handhelds, but I thought it was a myth! I am impressed with what you have done, very nice! 73 from Jamie, VK2TIM in Sydney Australia.

Hi Randy. Good job showing how easy LEO satellites can be using only an HT and an inexpensive antenna. I've made a couple of contacts using my Yaesu FT-60 and an Elk 2M/440 L5 (5 element 2 meter/ 440 mHz Log Periodic). You've got a nice setup with the tripod and the boom extension. Keep the good videos coming! 73 de KI6BEO

Great video!

Hi, Thank you very much for your video, It has inspired me to give the satellites a go again. 20 years ago I worked RS10/11 many times and had a heap of fun. Up on 2M down on 10M. Running 10watts SSB on 2m and using a 2 element X Yargi, and a Delta loop on 10m for the down link, all home brewed. I remember also working a mobile station as well. Thanks heaps. You are an inspiration to hams world wide. 73 de Alan ZL4FM

very very clever video, thanks!

hi randy great video, has inspired me to experiment with sat communications great fun. Thanks all the best from Gibraltar. 73

HI again Randy. I should have wrote that I track the AO-51 and the ISS and I only try (for now) contacts when the satellites are pretty much directly above me. I did order an arrow beam though. Thanks again!!

Good Videos Man!!! Your videos and some others is what inspired me to get my Call..... Thanks and 73s "Spedz"

The radios that I was using probably only has a few miles of range taking to someone direct. We are using the satellite to repeat our signals to talk to someone 100s or 1000s of miles away. Since the satellite can hear many many stations, the contacts are very short to try and allow many people to share the resource. Randy

Motorized V/UHF antennas will help, usually with longer antennas. KU feed is on the wrong frequency. AO-51 usually does not lend itself to long conversations, since it is shared be everyone within the coverage of the satellite. Randy

That is so cool! I already grew up with internet but this definitely is alot more impressing :)

Great video learned something new from your video, I will try that sat track program qso from VA3FNI Canada

Hi Randy: Great fun! sweet video! Lotsa fun! I used to chase AmSats with a hand held yagi in my backyard in Michigan.... great fun! 73 ab8b

We are using radio repeater in the satellite to extend the range of our handheld radios. Using the satellite, we can work stations up to 2,500 miles away.

Hi Randy - apparently AO51 had a very close shave with Formosat 3D on 1st March... thankfully it didn't impact and survived! Would be a shame to lose such a fun satellite through a collision. 73 - Rob VK2GOM / G0MOH

Nicely done video. It is a good primer for those who have no one around to elmer them with the LEO satellites. One thing I might add to novice satellite operators -- you need to do a lot of listening. Write down or record the calls coming throughout the pass. Select a good sounding station, then give them a call when the opportunity arises. Don't sit there and throw your call out endlessly. Chances are, no one can hear you and you are interfering with people who are into it clearly.

the orbitron page also has an excellent colored contour map; helps a bit to see topography.

nice video!

Hi Randy, like your video. Seems easy to work satellites like that. I must try it also. 73's from Belgium. Eric -- ON4HF

Just tried working AO-51 myself this past weekend and I look forward to trying again when the weather gets a bit better. My radio is water proof, but I doubt the arrow antenna can handle the rain.

Yes I have. It has been many years. I haven't tried in a long time to try and catch them.

@K7AGE LOL!!!!!!! "No Cellphone Shack" You got THAT right!! No longer a parts supplier, but a toystore. Love your videos BTW 73

Hi, thanks for this video, could you tell me more about your rotating systems ? What do you use for azimut, elevation and also to move your antenna from vertical to horizontal position ? 73 from Cedric - F5PSR

Thanks, Randy

Excellent video, thanks for posting. Stephan VK3GTR

I have had a couple of guys ask about this. I'll try and do a short video this weekend. Stayed tuned! Randy

Yes, there have some news in some of the magazines. Randy

Danke, Randy

HI, Yes the antenna is 144/440 dual band with a duplexer with one feed line to the radio. Randy

@kapilagm77

4 жыл бұрын

Hi, What are the satellite uplink and downlink frequencies?

Hi Randy. I watched some videos from you on yuotube and wanna say - you're good teacher for all of us :) Good work on HT with AO-51. We use it also from RK3DXB Club, and it's much noise when sattelite come through the Russian territory, that's thrue. Thanks again for video. 73! De Tony.

Randy, I enjoy all your videos. Thanks for the email help on getting my youtube videos loaded as well. Ham it up! George, N0JRJ

nice one randy 73

Great video Randy. I was considering buying an Arrow Antenna when I found your video. You just sold another one for them. Thanks. 73 de KD0ASQ (Jim)

This is a great video get you started.

Excellent Video! -Darren Johnson W5DTJ

loving the videos K7AGE as i am realy intrested in amature radio weldone

Incredible. Thats why hight.. or officially 'distance away from the earth' itself is such an incredible thing with radio waves to just in reality travel on forever, cheers and thanx!

Congratulations !! vy73 Daniel from Poland ..

Dear K7AGE Wow what an interesting video, I wanted to chase Ham Radio Satellite's and your set up is easy to reproduce and do able very practical. I like the idea of pre typing out the information needed. Thank you very much I have been wondering how I could do this myself now I have all the information. Regards and 73's

Thanks!

Randy, Great videos and very informative. Tell me,are you working the sats through the trees as on the video OR is there a clear space behind the camera. Cheers and TY Rod VK4EZY

Correct, duplex operation of the radio is not required. But, some guys operated with full duplex to hear themselves coming back. If the radio has duplex, you can probably disable that feature. You will need the duplexer in the antenna to work both bands from one coax. Randy

After years of watching several videos on youtube and reading up on working sats I finally worked AO-51 yeaterday at 23:30 UTC with a FT 817 and a rubber duck antenna. Worked K8YSE in Ohio with 2.5 watts on battery power. Maybe I'll order the arrow when money permits. 73 and thanks for all your fine work W6CSA EM50

Hi Great vid. Im making a short film about ham radio for my friends. I wonder if i could use a couple of seconds of your vid to my little project?

Curious if you have any pictures or instructions on the extension you added to the antenna?

i'll have to try this sometime.. maybe when i go out camping. nice video randy... 73

Great video! I enjoyed watching. 73 es GL

@mikilofo90 Yes. Some of the other satellites would require other types of radios and antennas.

Hey Randy , I know Richard N1ASA, work him all the time . He is a great operator and works about 10 guys each pass . He is also a professor of astronomy.I am thinking of going the arrow w/ the handheld route also so I can work the birds from my tree house. 73's om de AL

any video or info about how you connected the camera tripod? TIA.

Looking at the status on the AMSAT page, there are a couple reports of hearing AO-51. But, it does not look like it is operational at all. The reports may have been errors. I think it is dead, unless what you are reading is based on better status.

I am assuming right after your callsign you are giving your grid location right? I am just starting to get into satellite work and hope to be on the air soon. I am already successfully hitting the ISS with APRS data from an omni directional antenna on 20 watts.

cool rig!

Great video. I have been trying for a few weeks now to connect with ANY satellite with no luck. I've watched videos and read on AMSAT about Doppler, frequencies etc. Now it would seem that this one isn't even working, correct? Any information on working satellites that I can attempt to connect with? I would really like to get more into this but am struggling with connection and hearing anything, wondering if the ones I am trying to connect to are even operating. Using HT with same antenna.73

Great video. Brings back memories of the days operationg AO-10, AO-13 and AO-40. I did not catth your acknowlegdment of your first contact's callsign of WA7ETH. You did acknowledge his grid but never transmitted his call back for confirmation. You copied VE7CRE's call incorrectly as VE7CRT, but did get his grid CN89 correct. VE7CRE is indeed in CN89 and VE7CRT is in FN86.

Hello K7AGE, awesome video!! I´m trying the same here in Lisbon, Portugal. Would you like to try a satellite communication next Tuesday March 14th? Thanks!!

Very cool, nice video. I can't wait to start playing with satellites :)

@K7AGE Thank you Randy. Can a scanner antenna work for a ham radio?

Randy - Wow! That was very cool. Thanks! 73 de KF7ETX David

You are very good Randy :) Your films are excellent! :) 73! SQ9NKX

Hello Rendy, nice video. Vy 73 de DL2PAN André.

Hi, KC9MAV, I was wondering what ht, that is currently being sold right now would be good for sats?

Great, another hobby to add to the pile lol. Thanks for the video!

@K7AGE Thanks for the video..im not yet into satellite tracking but im very interested. By the way..did they use any ctss to access the frequencies? 73 d e VK2JMV/ DV1MV