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1-3 of 3 messages
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What is a good transceiver for EME and satellite?
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by AA3RQ on November 29, 2009
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Hello!
I am re-entering this hobby after a nearly 20 year hiatus- good thing I kept my license renewed all this time! I am thinking of bypassing HF (sunspots, you know...) and going straight for the good stuff- EME and Satellite. For the former, I will probably tinker with the 70cm up / 2m down modes. For the latter, some preliminary Google searching yielded the JT65 (sp?) and similar modes that make EME more doable than ever. (JT65- now that is a good idea! Wish I'd thought of it!!)
I still have my ancient Kenwood TS-520, and a dusty Icom-706 that I bought in '96 but never really used. I figure that for EME I *might* be able to get away with the '706 and a good preamp/poweramp setup, if I couple that with a good antenna, patience, and luck. For satellite I could probably use a transverter with the '706 but without full duplex this would be difficult- I am perhaps better off with a new transceiver.
If I were to buy a new transceiver, this would be my shortlist: Kenwood TS2000 (the HF to 1.2GHz rig), Icom 746/756, or Icom 910H.
The Kenwood looks the most versatile and perhaps has the biggest bang-for-the-buck, but I am worried that it's "all in one" feature may be somewhat gimmicky. (e.g. jack of all trades, master of none??)
Thanks in advance!
PS. I'm posting this to the Satellite forum since I could not find an EME forum. If there is an EME forum somewhere, please do let me know!
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RE: What is a good transceiver for EME and satellite?
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by KB2FCV on December 1, 2009
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For satellite, you can try them out relatively easily and inexpensively with just a handheld and a decent handheld antenna which can be made very inexpensively. There are several FM satellites you cant try out. Many hams have used a simple dual bander, I happen to have a separate 2m and 440 rig. There are also a few commercial handheld antennas out there, the arrow comes to mind. Of course, to work different modes then requires more sophisticated equipment as you know.
For EME, I'm using my 746 pro on 2 meters. I imagine your 706 would work just fine as well if you were going to get on 2m or 6m eme. JT-65 seems to be the most common mode these days for beginners. You generally can make QSO's with much simpler equipment and less power. That being said, you still generally want to run very good coax and have more than 13db of gain and a few hundred watts to be able to communicate with some of the bigger stations on JT-65. 2M CW EME generally takes more gain and more power.
If you're looking for a radio to do satellite all-mode and EME, you've got some choices. I'm guessing both the TS-2000 and the 910H have both been used sucessfully. I'm not exactly sure how much of a difference it will make between using a 910 or a 2000. I'm sure the 2000 is some sort of compromise, but whether it will make or break your eme capabilities, I'm not sure. It probably would work just fine for satellite as I can pick them up with a handheld. I'm guessing there are plenty of people using 706's, 2000s and 910's for eme. If money was no object, I'd probably have a 756 for HF+6 and the 910 for VHF/UHF.
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RE: What is a good transceiver for EME and satellite?
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by KB2FCV on December 1, 2009
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I almost forgot to add, it seems Icom is coming out with an IC-9100 which is HF+6+2+440+1.2(optional). It's not available yet, but might further help/complicate your decision
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