on the main receiver you can put the radio on SSB, on the sub band you 
can't. the sub side appears to be FM only. in SSB you can tune a lot finer 
than you can on FM.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Fred Olver" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 4:04 PM
Subject: Re: AO16 NEWS


> Thanks, Bret, now for those of you who have TS2,000's, I tried to tune to
> the frequency in Bret's message, however my ts2K is not set to be able to
> tune to anything other than a five or zero on the 440 megahertz band. 
> Also,
> I was not able to put the receiver in SSB mode, so how, too, guys?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Fred Olver  n9bso
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Brett Winches" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 2:20 PM
> Subject: AO16 NEWS
>
>
>> AO-16 Satellite Serves as Voice Repeater
>>
>> Launched in January 1990, AMSAT-OSCAR 16 (AO-16) -- a digital satellite
>> -- has been unavailable for use while the command team dealt with a
>> serious computer problem.  The satellite has since been recovered, and
>> is now a voice repeater, at least for an unspecified "test period" using
>> FM voice on the uplink, but SSB voice on the downlink.
>>
>> Since AO-16 was recovered approximately six months ago, the command team
>> -- Bruce Rahn, WB9ANQ, Jim White, WD0E, and Mark Hammond, N8MH
>> -- attempted to reload the satellite software almost a dozen times
>> without success.  The team performed a series of memory tests that
>> pointed toward a hardware failure that prevented the spacecraft software
>> from restarting successfully.
>>
>> AMSAT Vice President of Operations Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, said, "After
>> concluding that the spacecraft computer system was damaged, and as
>> discussions about decommissioning were taking place, Jim recalled a
>> series of low-level commands that Tom Clark, K3IO, included in the
>> spacecraft design during construction.  One of these commands allows an
>> uplink receiver to be directly tied to a downlink transmitter.  The
>> twist is that the uplink is regular FM, but the downlink via the BPSK
>> transmitter is DSB (Double Sideband).  Mark placed the satellite in this
>> mode early this week and did some testing."
>>
>> Glasbrenner also said the satellite hears very well; the reduced
>> bandwidth by using either USB or LSB on the ground station receiver
>> "allows for a very robust downlink.  Tuning the downlink is just like on
>> a linear transponder, meaning it is tight and with fast Doppler.  Uplink
>> tuning is not required, just as with the FM mode V/U satellites.  My
>> personal observations include being able to access and hear the
>> satellite within one degree of the horizon, much lower than any other
>> current bird for my location [in Florida]. This should be an easy
>> satellite with omni antennas and a 70 cm preamp."
>>
>> Glasbrenner said that he would like to open the satellite to general use
>> for a test period.  The uplink is 145.920 MHz FM, and the downlink is
>> 437.026 MHz SSB +/- Doppler shift.  He asks that users restrict their
>> uplink power to a reasonable power level, and do not transmit without
>> being able to hear the downlink; all general single-channel guidelines
>> apply.  Please submit reports via e-mail at, [log in to unmask]  "Enjoy
>> this bird's new life!" Glasbrenner said.
>> NNNN
>> /EX
>>
>