I Did It! My First Satellite Contact!

Beginners Luck Or Pure Skill? I Made My First Satellite Contact With The ISS!
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[@g4lmn-ron]

My first ISS contact I stood in the street in front of my house with a home brew antenna made from welding rods and my icom 705, with the neighbour giving me odd looks. Superb, it's easier than you think.

[@hamradiotube]

If you don't get odd looks from your neighbors you're not doing it right. Oddly enough, I had new neighbors moving in across the street as we were doing this. Welcome to the neighborhood!

[@Dusty_Ham]

And just like that, an Arrow antenna has made my "must buy" list! Congrats on your first ISS contact Mike!

[@jimcorbin6905]

They work great. Well worth the cost

[@KC2BKM]

Awesome Man! I saw the ISS the other night. It was an overhead pass bright as day in the moonlight. Kinda Cool.

[@dougdaniels]

Too f'n funny! I actually laughed out loud when he came back to you. Gratz!

[@Bob814u]

I was laughing so hard at the beginning. All I could think was "His arm is gonna get tired." I remember when I first started on Satellites my arm would get soooo sore. I finally took a 5 gallon bucket out and sat on it with my antenna arm on my knee. When it was raining one night I put a large garbage bag over my Arrow antenna and got a couple of contacts. You are hooked now!!! 73!!! de KE5ES

[@KS0JD]

I have been doing APRS to the ISS the last couple of months. Pretty cool! 73

[@MikeN2MAK]

1st sat contact is a POTA park? Now that's hamming harder! Congrats, Mike 🤘

[@hamradiotube]

Yes! Thank you!

[@EcoGeekify]

KC0ECQ practically lives in parks.

[@W0CYC-HamRadioEndeavors]

@@EcoGeekifyMan I wish!😂 It’s been tough to find time lately. 73!

[@timothyboyd5669]

I've done a few Satellites while doing POTA. Currently working with a FT-847 and IC-821 so I can do the SSB birds

[@dadsrcworkbench1322]

Congrats! I heard for the first time what I assume was people on the repeater on the ISS a few nights ago. Now to chase some contacts!

[@mikesimpson7748]

What an awesome hobby! All the different ways you can communicate over radio. Congrats! KX4IG

[@walteredwards544]

Congratulations. I've made 3 but I'm still figuring stuff out. Try it after dark and when the satellite is visible. Makes it easier to aim your antenna. Enjoy, 73 from KN4MXZ

[@hamradiotube]

Ooh, that's a good idea!

[@HamRadioDX]

I have just received my arrow antenna, going to set mine up to have some contacts on satellites soon. Cool stuff Mike, congrats!

[@hamradiotube]

Right on man, you're going to have fun!

[@bigfranksworld]

Very cool. The birds are fun. I need to get back into it. I run an Elk periodic handheld antenna, and either a Yaesu FT2D or FT3D. I use the banks that are in the radios for each satellite. Works great!

[@RookieLock]

Congrats and thanks for the inspiration ! This is on the top of my ham radio to-do list.

[@tekspeditionplanet9109]

I love the ISS because it is the easiest thing in space to hit. It pushes ten watts, which is huge for ham stuff in orbit, and it does not rotate or tumble (thankfully), so there's no polarization fading. Congrats!

[@digital.rancher]

Woo hoo! Congrats buddy, well done! Love to see that excitement!

[@hamradiotube]

You and me both!

[@on4mgy_radioamateur]

Great, watching such a video makes me want to get on the FM birds again. Done that 20 years ago, time to get started again I guess.

[@av3510]

Epic contact, Miguel! You are the man!

[@AngryBoar]

Chasing satellites is fun! Congratulations on your first contact.

[@fher4615]

Some tips: 1. Go full duplex. Use a second radio to receive and you'll know when you're getting through. 2. Get a small audio recorder. Easier than writing down calls. 3. Watch for the Doppler shift. You were receiving fine but clearly the downlink frequency moved so it sounded distorted. Congrats on your first satellite QSO. 73 KF7R

[@W0CYC-HamRadioEndeavors]

Awesome video Mike! I am so happy to have been your first! I LOVE your channel brother. 73,

[@hamradiotube]

Hey thanks so much man! You popped my cherry!

[@W0CYC-HamRadioEndeavors]

@@hamradiotube I’m glad it was as good for you as it was for me😂😂

[@HAMFunko4pdi]

Mike so happy you got to do that. I see a future of yagis and rotors someday.

[@wildbill1]

Good job mike! I just got into satellites last year,using a elk log periodic dual band beam using 2 baofeng HT's. Works great. recently purchased the sarctrac rotator from australia and working on putting it all together to auto track with software from the QTH. But so far all my contacts have been from me standing in my yard and manually beaming them, all good! enjoy the many facets of ham radio! looking to up grade to the icom 9700 eventually ,it has a satellite function in it.

[@betterbprepared]

Cool stuff! I gotta try that.

[@jsturman1174]

Congrats Mike!!!🎉🎉

[@mauriceaustin3657]

awesome to see!! Might have to try it myself. Mike...... I am the guy that sent you a help request about my yaesu ftm-6000 radio not working on repeaters but worked simplex. After many hours of frustration. Yaesu called me and long story short. My seperation cable was bad. Works like a champ on the mini cable also included in the kit. Thank you very much for your reply. Maurice N7NHS

[@hamradiotube]

It’s always the little things that cause the most frustration isn’t it? Glad you got it working.

[@hankfox4170]

Congrats Mike! Scored on your first attempt even!

[@btaylor1948]

Saw your contact's video, KC0ECQ, and your contact. Sats are fun. My arrow is on a pole and rotator with a unit that follows the sat's pass from the computer. Fun stuff. Hope you enjoyed it. 73. Bob WB6TIS

[@hamradiotube]

yeah his video was a lot better than mine lol! He's a pro.

[@W0CYC-HamRadioEndeavors]

@@hamradiotubeThat’s the beauty, there’s something to learn from everyone. It’s because of you Mike that I even got back into radio. I give you full credit for that and even say it on my QRZ page. For me you are a revolutionary in the Ham world, you busted down the nerdy wall and helped make it cool. Plus you love Metal🤘🏻

[@ny4i]

Congratulations Mike.

[@m7trsradio]

Congratulations Mike fantastic work. 73😊

[@o2bnov0307]

Congratulations!!

[@joelschuman1303]

That was good!! Great video!!

[@jerryKB2GCG]

awesome! And a PITA contact to boot! Yeeeeehah!

[@Scott_AI5EF]

Congratulations!

[@downsouthham2765]

Aaaannnnnddddd my coffee is now all over my iPad 😂 1:19

[@mountaindreamer4371]

🤣😆 same amusement with his accent.

[@temporarilyoffline]

The things these techs can to these days!

[@jasmuz]

Man, that's a double whammy right there!

[@robcarnaroli269]

nice, I struggle to get calls that fast. If the satellite is working people are on them.

[@georgekern1914]

Excellent. Good job

[@keithfrost1268]

Too Cool, congratulations!

[@MI7DJT]

Lol Mike. Really happy for you dude. APRS would have been so cool if you'd managed it lol

[@garyh8315]

Digging the Crocs.... a must for every hard-core ham..... awesome contact.

[@hamradiotube]

Rock out with your crocs out

[@EcoGeekify]

Crocs are +5db

[@garyh8315]

@@EcoGeekify 🤣🤣🤣

[@CigarsOnTheAir]

That's awesome, Mike! I can't wait to make my first ISS contact. Also, couldn't tell if you were drinking red kool-aid, put on some lipstick, or got some bad sun burn in your lips for us at the end there (4:38). Lol!

[@hamradiotube]

No kool-aid or lipstick but definitely Jameson and Coke

[@kg4tri]

Got a 3fer 1st sat contact , 1st ISS repeater contact , and a POTA on Satellite . Would have been better if it was a contact with Astronaut on the ISS but you take what you can get. Have you got the Bug now. Are we going to see more videos on Space Comms ?

[@Swamp-Fox]

Congrats!

[@chrissewell1608]

Sure you did!?.... The camera just happened to overheat! ... Ha ha... 😂 Cool stuff. Congrats man.

[@johnmayer158]

Ok Mike... Now we'll wait to see if you buy an arrow antenna and start adding satellite videos! 😂. Congrats, and 73s N8SGM.

[@iamgriff]

New subscriber here. I have a baofeng UV-9R. I am extremely eager to get an antenna so I can listen to the ISS

[@M6JKW]

Awesome Mike 👍

[@RexfishingFinland]

😂😂😂 this is great the camera overheated😂😂😂 next time the SIM card will be full😂😂😂

[@xenomorph1317]

Love the shirt man. Goonies forever!

[@hamradiotube]

Hey you guys!!!!!

[@ephektz]

You are relatively down the road from me. We should play radio together sometime!

[@SmokeSignalsRF]

Great 👍 job ! 🎙

[@9A4GEMilan]

The same excitement as I have. But, you are working on the hottest day, and I worked on relative cold night. Also ISS, also in zenith. I am using log periodic antenna - old TV antenna, just modified by adding extra aluminum rods to get to resonate on 435 and 145 MHz. Not great antenna since SWR is all over the place. Noticed that it has wide frequency range. I made mistake and calculating element lengths as if it is Yagi antenna. So, reflector is 5% longer, first director is 5% shorter, and so on. But, later discovered that it should be actually in range of 1% or less. My bad. Other satellites as is cubesat - no way to reach. Too bad antenna. Anyway, congratulations for your first contact on satellite. I bet not last, since is is very addictive. EDIT: Forgot to say about my rig: Baofeng GT-5TP. I did not see that you are changing channel or frequency. You should do a 'cheatsheet' or at least remember that on approach (close to horizon), the Doppler shift is nearly 10 kHz, at point above you is near 0, and far away is -10 kHz. I am using radio in frequency mode with frequency step of 5 kHz, so just four clicks over the whole satellite pass. So, start to listen (for ISS) on 437.810, then after a while press arrow to change frequency to 437.805, then at peak 437.800, and so on. It is sufficient to jump 5 kHz, since repeater onboard ISS has relatively wide capturing range. I set my Baofeng so that RX frequency is 437.800 with frequency offset of 291.810 MHz (TX - RX frequency, or 437.800 - 145.990 = 291.810 MHz). The offset is constant, while doppler shift is not. This way, TX frequency also changing during the pass.

[@Ki5PGL]

Sats are incredibly fun and a great backup plan for when the HF band conditions are no good. You do have to learn to talk and listen faster than a LaGuardia ATC controller.

[@W0CYC-HamRadioEndeavors]

You got that right!

[@SFJF26]

That was awesome.

[@marinevet7273]

Mike, I own the same antenna and the Kenwood TH D72A. Both new but I like so many hams have no idea what cables, cords, headset, splitter, Sony recorder to use? Dozens of videos but no one has taken the time to provide Amazon links for the various items needed. I have contacted 3 ham clubs in WA. State.. no one chases after the birds. If you could find someone that could talk about equipment (slowly and provide Amazon links for the cables cords etc. ). You would be doing a service to fellow hams. Thank you, KA7MUB

[@BlackLight1478]

MAN! I will do this before I die, hopefully.

[@timareagan]

That's how you get hooked on Satellites. Nice Job Mike .73 K1ROO

[@walteredwards544]

Hopefully your next thing is to talk to one of the astronauts as they pass overhead, do an APRS contact and hopefully you'll catch them when they do a SSTV series of passes. Now that's fun

[@hamradiotube]

That would be cool to talk to one of the astronauts. I def won't be doing any APRS any time soon though. Not my cup of tea at all.

[@walteredwards544]

@@hamradiotube I once heard one of our astronauts calling cq and making contacts from horizon to horizon. She was knocking they pileup out. I do think you might like the SSTV events though. I downloaded the Robot 36 app on my phone and you can use any HT radio along with your arrow antenna and decode the signal. They normally have between 5 to 10 posters.

[@kevingoshe4371]

Good thing you wore your Goonies shirt!

[@hamradiotube]

One Eyed Willie was on my side for sure.

[@GreggK6EGG]

i love the shoes

[@hamradiotube]

Aren’t they awesome!?

[@rickhartnett3971]

Really? Can I say your camera man was genius. Has that word been used too often? "Mr DeMille, I'm ready for my closeup!"

[@hamradiotube]

Haha, biased much lol!

[@kennethblackwell1137]

Whooopeeee!!!!!!!

[@rbmwiv]

You always remember your first time.

[@keathrhymer5449]

they show so many ants which model is this ? I can find anyone local to guide me to getting setup to work sats

[@Mr_Meowingtons]

i was going to get one of them antenna then i seen they don't even come with the duplexer.. and they want $70 more dollars for that! over $220 i was like yeah F that..

[@pedroneves270]

What equipment did you use to communicate with the ISS? I want to try too

[@danielvd77]

watch the video ?!

[@crecker1850]

I would say the most diabolical stuff

[@B.Murphy]

What are those black things parallel to the 70cm elements?

[@B.Murphy]

Not bragging, maybe bragging, my first QSO was on SO-50. Was only interested in sat work at the beginning. Made the qso, now I'm just obsessed with ALL things radio. Great stuff!

[@oldpreach]

Did a neighbor call the po po ?

[@AD6DMDennis]

Dang those overheating cameras!!

[@K5YVY]

Hot dang!!!

[@noel-thatguykf5slk166]

He's on the satellite radio. (Sung to the tune I am sure Mike knows)

[@hamradiotube]

I'm not following that one...

[@noel-thatguykf5slk166]

@@hamradiotube Wall of Voodoo

[@ampedupelectronics]

lol! "come to butthead..."

[@timel64]

Mike, I don't think moving back and forth 10 feet is going to make a difference. 😆

[@hamradiotube]

Dude I gained like 4 feet of elevation!!

[@blugoose86]

cool beans

[@garenkarapetian709]

"Come to Butt-head..." only a 1990s kid will know what that means. LOL! Which frequency did you use?

[@denelson83]

So you got NA1SS, huh?

[@hazratmuhazmat8831]

Are you getting ready for a moon bounce during the eclipse next year?

[@ScottWalton]

I’m wondering if there will be any ham events during the eclipse. I’m traveling to a place where there will be four minutes of totality and thinking there must be some kind of special ham related events that will happen during that time.

[@hamradiotube]

I’m told EME gets the ladies. I might have to look into it.

[@hazratmuhazmat8831]

@@hamradiotube When you moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that amore!

[@amatir_5NTP]

Good job broo from YD5NTP

[@kathrynjones9388]

Just saying....Not all of us are boys...

[@nostraculpa7986]

Brain cancer is coming

[@georgezemp]

The ai said: these videos are fakes.

[@ryank5tar]

GREAT JOB!👍🤛🛰🛰🛰🛰

[@Kc8qdq]

Congratulations!!!

[@pedroneves270]

What equipment did you use to communicate with the ISS? I want to try too