iii. operation
1. ft-736r
a. switch the transceiver on.
note that in sat mode the radio has to be on the right downlink and
uplink bands for the satellite you want to work. if not, switch the
bands (key 'rev', see below h.).
most of the amateur radio satellites use 70cm for downlink and
2m for uplink (pacsats, fo-20, fo-29). therefore select the 70cm
band for rx and the 2m band for tx. the modes and displayed frequencies
are meaningless, since the program takes them from the 'doppler.sqf'
file.
b. start satpc32 (if the program is running, close it and restart it
again).
note that the cat control has to be activated (c+).
select a satellite for which the doppler.sqf file contains one
or more lines (for all satellites that are preset at delivery,
the doppler.sqf file will contain frequency data shown
in the righthand list of the 'satellites' menu).
the program now should switch the ft-736r automatically into
sat mode, control mode and frequency display.
the vfo frequencies should be set to the values stored in
doppler.sqf +/- doppler shift. the frequencies displayed at the
radio and in the satpc32 frequency window should be equal
(if a converter/transverter is in use, only the khz-parts will
be equal).
the frequencies displayed in satpc32 are updated every second.
as soon as the doppler shift changes of the higher one of both
frequencies has exceeded the 'interval' (displayed in the
'cat' menu), the program should update both frequencies at the
radio.
c. -
d. cat functions test:
the proper working of the cat control can easily be checked.
to do this, select an ssb satellite like ao-40, fo-20 or
fo-29.
click on one of the 5 up/down controls or press one of the
direction keys of the middle block of the keyboard.
the downlink frequency should then be changed according to the selected
value. the speed should be about 10 steps per second.
then, switch the radio into transmit mode and repeat the test for
the uplink frequency.
e. frequency tuning (qsy)
with ssb satellites, tuning of the ft-736r can be done via the
mouse (5 up/down controls) and the keyboard (with the 10 keys
of the middle block).
the speed should be about 10 steps per second.
you may tune the radio to the beacon freqency if you
want to receive telemetry. the automatic doppler correction
will allow you to receive the beacon signal flawlessly
for hours.
f. frequency corrections
note that with ssb satellites, the 'frequency corrections' mentioned
in this section are merely changes of the uplink frequency
in order to adjust this frequency for best audio quality of your own
downlink signal.
with atellites like fo-20, fo-29 (uplink 2m, downlink 70cm)
you will usually hear your own signal immediately after
selecting the satellite, provided that the frequency data in the
doppler.sqf file are optimized for your radio (see sect. g.)
and that your equipment has warmed up. you will also hear your
signal with the right audio without any correction during
the whole pass.
however, with satellites like ao-40, frequency corrections
may be necessary when you select this satellite for the first
time after program start.
the downlink frequency is on 2.4 ghz. a down-converter is
required which is usually mounted at the antenna. due to
temperature variations, the mixer oscillator frequency
can drift by several khz.
in the faq.htm file (in the satpc32 '?' menu), you will
find detailed instructions on how to correct the frequency
during operation (section 5, 'ao-40 operation with satpc32/
wisat32').
with fm satellites (i.e. uo-22), no frequency corrections
should be necessary.
g. modification of the doppler.sqf file
satpc32/wisat32 take the frequencies from the doppler.sqf
file. to edit this file it can be opened from the
satpc32 '?' menu.
for ssb operation the frequency entries are most
important. these entries decide whether you will
hear your own signal on the downlink immediately after
you have selected a (2m/70cm) satellite like fo-20, fo-29
(regarding to ao-40 see f.) due to slight differences between
individual radios, the frequency entries at delivery may not be
optimal but have to be adjusted for your radio.
in the faq.htm file (in the satpc32 '?' menu) you will find
detailed instructions and an example on how to optimize the frequency
entries for your radio (section 5, 'ao-40 operation with
satpc32/wisat32').these hints are valid for other satellites too.
please read the very important instructions
referring to the 'doppler.sqf' file. you will find them
in the file itself (at it's end) and - more detailed -
in the manual, section 'auxiliary files'.
there you will find instructions on how to determine
easily the frequencies of ssb satellites.
h. bandswitching
if you want to switch the ft-736r to a satellite with
reverse uplink/downlink bands (i.e. from fo-20 to ao-10
or back), press the 'rev' key before you select the
new satellite in satpc32. since there is no cat command
for bandswitching, this can only be done manually.
for more detailed information please read the 'faq.htm',
section 'bandswitching'.
i. transverter/converter operation
you will find detailed instructions in the 'faq.htm' file.
2. ft-847
a. switch the transceiver on.
b. start satpc32 (if the program is running, close it and restart it
again).
note that the cat control has to be activated (c+).
select a satellite for which the doppler.sqf file contains one
or more lines (for all satellites that are preset at delivery
in the righthand list of the 'satellites' menu, the doppler.sqf file
will contain frequency datas).
the program should switch now the ft-847 automatically into sat mode,
control mode and frequency display.
the vfo frequencies should be set to the values stored in the
doppler.sqf +/- doppler shift. the frequencies displayed at the
radio and in the satpc32 frequency window should be equal
(if a converter/transverter is in use only the khz-parts will
be equal).
the frequencies displayed in satpc32 should be updated every second.
as soon as the doppler shift changes of the higher one of both
frequencies has exceeded the 'interval' (that is displayed in the
'cat' menu), the program should also update both frequencies at the
radio.
c. with the 'file|satmode off'menu, the sat mode of the radio can be
switched off, i.e. for temporary terrestrial operation. when the
sat mode is activated again (by the 'c' control), the radio returns
to the previous sat frequencies.
d. cat functions test:
the proper working of the cat control can easily be checked.
to do this select an ssb satellite like ao-40, fo-20 or
fo-29. these satellites are using a 'reverse' frequency
pattern (when the uplink frequency has been increased, the
downlink frequency has to be decreased to receive the own
signal again).
switch the radio into satellite mode. for testing, switch
the track function of the radio to 'normal'.
then decrease the rx frequency by 5 khz by using the vfo.
the tx frequency will also be decreased by 5 khz. the
tx frequency therefore is 'off' by 10 khz. 1 or 2 seconds,
after the motion of the knob has stopped, the program
should increase the tx frequency by about 10 khz and tune
it on the right frequency.
e. frequency tuning (qsy)
the advantages of the cat control can best be seen during ssb
operation over satellites like ao-40, fo-20, fo-29. the radio
can be tuned like it can for terrestrical operation.
you may tune it to the beacon freqency if you want
to receive telemetry. the automatic doppler correction
will allow you to receive the beacon signal flawlessly
for hours.
the frequencies can be tuned via the vfo or alternatively
by the 5 up/down controls or the direction keys of the
keyboard.
f. frequency corrections
with ssb satellites, the 'frequency corrections' mentioned
in this section are corrections of the uplink frequency only
to adjust this frequency for the best audio quality of your own
downlink signal.
for satellites like fo-20, fo-29 (uplink 2m, downlink 70cm)
you usually will hear your own signal immediately after
selecting the satellite, provided that the frequency data in the
doppler.sqf file are optimized for your radio (see sect. g.)
and that your equipment has warmed up. you will then hear your
signal with the right audio without any correction during
the whole pass.
for satellites like ao-40 however, frequency corrections
usually will be necessary when you select this satellite
for the first time after program start.
the downlink frequency is on 2.4 ghz. a down-converter is
required which is usually mounted at the antenna. due to
temperature variations, the mixer oscillator frequency
can drift by several khz.
in the faq.htm file (in the satpc32'?' menu) you will find detailed
instructions on how to correct the frequencies during operation
(section 5, 'ao-40 operation with satpc32/wisat32').
from program version 11.0 on, the sub-vfo knob of the ft-847
can be used for frequency corrections (besides the controls
in the 'cat' menu and the +/- keys of the keyboard).
the sub-vfo-correction functions also work with the track
function of the transceiver switched on.
for fm satellites (i.e. uo-22) no frequency
corrections should be necessary.
g. modification of the doppler.sqf file
satpc32/wisat32 take the frequencies from the doppler.sqf
file. to edit this file, it can be opened from the
satpc32 menu '?'
for ssb operation, the frequency entries are most
important. these entries decide whether you will
hear your own signal on the downlink immediately after
you have selected a (2m/70cm) satellite like fo-20, fo-29
(regarding to ao-40 see f.). due to slight differences of
individual radios, the frequency entries at delivery may not be
optimal, but have to be adjusted for your radio.
in the faq.htm file (in the satpc32 '?' menu) you will find
detailed instructions on how to optimize easily the frequency
entries for your radio (section 5, 'ao-40 operation with
satpc32/wisat32').these hints are valid for other satellites too.
please read the very important instructions
referring to the 'doppler.sqf' file. you will find them
in the file itself (at it's end) and - more detailed -
in the manual, section 'auxiliary files'.
there you will find instructions on how to determine easily
the frequencies of ssb satellites.
h. transverter/converter operation
you will find detailed instructions in the 'faq.htm' file.
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