Hi folks, I am going to try out EI/IE-060 and EI/IE-038 on Saturday, VHF FM only. There going to be two SO-50 passes at 13:14-13:26 and another at 14:54-15:07 so I will be trying my portable sat kit on at least one of the passes. Will be having TM-V71 50W and 3el/7el crossed yagi so no issues to reach the bird.
73 de EI4JY
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GL!! If there was footprint I’d be there!
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So I’ve managed to jump on a single SO-50 pass and came 5 minutes late for another one!
I had an overall lovely VHF double activation on Saturday with 8 normal VHF QSOs on Gibbet Hill and further 7 on Slieveboy. Then I’ve set my portable satellite setup for SO-50 on Gibbet and got 2x QSOs with GB3RS station and then a G0 station called couple of times, but never responded to my report. Then, after rushing to nearby Slieveboy, I’ve got 5 mins late with literally seeing only the tail of the bird 
I think going further, if a pass to be happened during my activations I should be having a sat kit with me on a regular basis.
Thanks and apologies to whoever was called/waited for me !
73 de EI4JY
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I love activating SOTA via satellite, but if anything holds you up and you’re running late the satellite doesn’t wait 
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Glad it seemed to go well (apart from the slight mis timing). I did listen out but didn’t hear the bird at all on either pass. No surprise since the passes were not ideal for my current setup (non rotateable).
I do have a new selection of toys in my ML&S wishlist but i keep dithering about what to get.
Keep the FT-736 and get either two yagi with alt-az rotator, or a couple of egg beaters.
Icom 9600 with antennas from above.(maybe with the new duplex ground station for qo-100)
Or wait for the new icom 905 , but im starting to see that it probably wont be full duplex.
I am thinking about a portable setup using an ft-8900 quad bander and the antenna as per your picture. Maybe one day a summit to summit via sattellite could be on the cards (next summer)
Ian
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Cheers Ian Thanks for listening through!
I am hoping to try again this Saturday from EI/IE-045 or EI/IE-029 on the morning pass at 11am That is weather permitting as forecast is suspicious, but I may squeeze in before the rain kicks in.
This week I’ve re-worked my portable kit, it is now sitting in a Pelican suite, all connected up and ready for immediate deployment when needed (to be used on terrestrial QSOs as well)
Hope that works better than my backpacking nonsense mess Never know before actually trying.
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If its not raining ill see if i can temporarily rig something up at home to give me some better directivity. The 2m is easy i have a small 3 ele beam, but i only have a 19 ele in the garage for 70cm which isnt as easy to selotape to a camera tripod
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Will wait for you
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EI4JY:
Nice setup, you should do really well with that. I have done a LOT of FM satellite operation in the past and it doesn’t take much hardware. What you have is great! My worst case scenario was an HT with rubber duck on a train going across country (USA) working AO-27 and UO-14 from inside the moving train. Had to get on the proper side near the window and change sides as the bird passed over. Was able to give out many grids and states by doing this. I didn’t know what SOTA was at the time, but it would have been fun to do that by satellite, too.
73,
John, K6YK
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Cheers guys! So it is now on the alert. I should be at EI/IE-045 Preban Hill around 10:30 Will focus on regular terrestrial VHF QSOs for half hour and then jump to SO-50 for 10 minutes.
CU es 73
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That is great Andy! Thanks for earlier sats !
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Great to get you today via SO-50, many thanks for the sat QSO.
73 Victor GI4ONL
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Tnx for QSO, was a hamfest for you on the summit .-)
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Good one Victor and Andy 
Total failure for me 
I could hear the the satellite and tell that qso’s were happening, but not enough to discern callsigns or grid squares effectively. I’ll keep trying though.
If nothing else though, this topic proves that no-matter what band/mode combination , if alerted people will respond to match and make it work and that is a most excellent thing.
Ian
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Victor,
I was a pass too late for the SOTA action but thanks for the QSO just now (12:48) on SO-50. My first ever Sat QSO. Now to take the equipment to a summit…
73
John
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Gents, thank you for QSOs! If anyone wants to try again I am walking to EI/IE-029 now to be on SO-50 at 14:30
73 de EI4JY
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Hi John, pleased to be your first sat contact well done, I look forward to many more 
73 Victor GI4ONL
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Sadly, the next pass is a bit low for me due to the ground to the north of here. But I’ll give it a go.
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Thanks for another one 
73 Victor GI4ONL
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I do often SAT from SOTA & GMA too. We can do a S2S SAT party but that would be best on linear. tu qso btw.
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