ic9700 cat control question

Jamie ELOVSKI KC3ELT

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Jul 21, 2025, 8:33:48 AM7/21/25

to SkyRoof

Hi All,

I recently setup skyroof and I have a question about cat control. I have got it all setup but I am not able to use the manual knob to change frequency. It always fights me and goes back to what skyroof is showing. Also is a sdr nessisary to use this?

Andrew O'Brien

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Jul 22, 2025, 6:01:26 AM7/22/25

to Jamie ELOVSKI KC3ELT, SkyRoof

I can't answer your question about fighting manual tuning attempts but I will mention that I am intrigued that my little RSP Duo (SDR) with SkyRoof's waterfall display spots audio from the satellites long before I see any sign of satellite audio in the 9700's scope. Initially I thought I would not hook my RSP Duo up but... while not a requirement, I find it very valuable. In fact , I am beginning to wonder if the RSP Duo is a better receiver than the IC-9700 !

Andy K3UK

On Mon, Jul 21, 2025 at 8:33 AM Jamie ELOVSKI KC3ELT <kc3...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi All,

I recently setup skyroof and I have a question about cat control. I have got it all setup but I am not able to use the manual knob to change frequency. It always fights me and goes back to what skyroof is showing. Also is a sdr nessisary to use this?

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Jamie Elovski

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Jul 22, 2025, 6:01:26 AM7/22/25

to Andrew O'Brien, SkyRoof

So you have an external antenna out side for the RSP? Our setup has two runs of lmr400 up the the uhf and vhf beams.

Sincerely,

Jamie Elovski

Alex VE3NEA

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Jul 22, 2025, 1:02:00 PM7/22/25

to SkyRoof

In my shack the 2m antenna is permanently connected to the transceiver, and the 70 cm antenna is connected to the SDR. Receiving on SDR, transmitting on IC-9700. CAT is enabled for TX only.

Andrew O'Brien

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Jul 22, 2025, 9:45:07 PM7/22/25

to Alex VE3NEA, SkyRoof

Alex, let me think out loud a bit about your CAT for only TX and RX only to the transceiver. So you don't worry about tracking doppler on the RX side because you can see it in SkyRoof's waterfall and use your mouse to click on RX signals ? Do you use an "antenna guard" of some sort to protect the front end of your SDR on UHF when transmitting on 2M with your 9700 ? When you try to find your own signal on the downlink are you able to see it in the waterfall or is it covered up in the waterfall by your TX signal ?

Andy K3UK

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Alex VE3NEA

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Jul 22, 2025, 10:05:21 PM7/22/25

to SkyRoof

I am using a 70-cm pre-amp with a front end filter from MiniKits. Even though both of my antennas are omnidirectional, the isolation between them is fairly good. There is some garbage on the waterfall when I transmit, but I can hear my own signals from the satellites, and see the signal trace in the waterfall. Here is a screenshot from User's Guide, it shows the RS-44 beacon signals (1) and my own CW signals (2). See the Frequency Scale section for details.

Jamie Elovski

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Jul 23, 2025, 9:00:38 AM7/23/25

to Alex VE3NEA, SkyRoof

Hi Alex,

So I take it if you want to work a uhf uplink satellite you would have to swap cables around?

Sincerely,

Jamie Elovski

From: sky...@googlegroups.com <sky...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Alex VE3NEA
Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2025 10:05 PM
To: SkyRoof <sky...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: ic9700 cat control question

I am using a 70-cm pre-amp with a front end filter from MiniKits. Even though both of my antennas are omnidirectional, the isolation between them is fairly good. There is some garbage on the waterfall when I transmit, but I can hear my own signals from the satellites, and see the signal trace in the waterfall. Here is a screenshot from User's Guide, it shows the RS-44 beacon signals (1) and my own CW signals (2). See the Frequency Scale section for details.

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image001.png

Jamie Elovski

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Jul 23, 2025, 9:00:39 AM7/23/25

to Alex VE3NEA, SkyRoof

Ah ok, so if you are using a uhf uplink satellite do you then swap the cables?

Sincerely,

Jamie Elovski

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Alex VE3NEA

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Jul 23, 2025, 9:03:44 AM7/23/25

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Yes, in my setup I need to swap the cables to switch between U/V and V/U. If money is not an issue, one can install PTRX-9700 and share the antennas between IC-9700 and SDR.

Andrew O'Brien

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Jul 23, 2025, 11:27:17 AM7/23/25

to Alex VE3NEA, SkyRoof

Thanks Alex, more reading to do before I try my first TX attempt.

Andy K3UK

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