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{ "url": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/email/I7SER3HLGGVHWXKEPVU5NWO4LWQOR2N6/", "mailinglist": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/", "message_id": "[email protected]", "message_id_hash": "I7SER3HLGGVHWXKEPVU5NWO4LWQOR2N6", "thread": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/thread/AMC4W7JRCYX6KKJRU7ZYY77XKXRQWBG2/", "sender": { "address": "dave (a) druidnetworks.com", "mailman_id": "3b01b396750a47f287ea0c65babd40ea", "emails": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/sender/3b01b396750a47f287ea0c65babd40ea/emails/" }, "sender_name": "Dave Swanson", "subject": "Re: [amsat-bb] SO-50 Yesterday at 1738Z", "date": "2015-08-25T02:50:30Z", "parent": "https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/api/list/[email protected]/email/3Z2Z2KMTHWHYK4GT3YY55HWSC2RUKW72/", "children": [], "votes": { "likes": 0, "dislikes": 0, "status": "neutral" }, "content": "I'll throw in my .02 since the conversation has moved into a domain that \nI have some experience with.\n\nI've experimented with varying ways of holding antennae, holding radios, \nholding hand mics, writing stuff down, and tuning two knobs for \ndoppler... As I, like most of my fellow humans, lacked the required 5 \narms to hold everything, it was miserable. I tried a tripod only to be \nunhappy with the reception, since I couldn't twist for polarity on the \nfly. I got a voice recorder, but had the exact same thing happen as \nya'll did, although usually it was with cars, sirens, or low flying \nairplanes blasting out the microphone. I was basically where she was \nat... so let me, if I may be so bold, throw some pointers her way.\n\n1. Get a headset and foot pedal. These things will run some cash, but \nthey're worth their weight in gold. Being able to hear the bird in your \nheadphones, blocking out the ambient noise is huge, and having the \nmicrophone in front of your mouth all the time maximizes your modulation \nof the transmitted signal. I got the Heil Micro Pro, and the FS-3 foot \npedal, but anything like these will work. Get whatever adapter is \nrequired for whatever radio you're using to make them work. This will \nsolve several problems in one foul swoop, and free up a couple of the 5 \nhands required.\n\n2. Find a fixed place to put your radio. I *think* Hope is still using \nan HT, or a combination of HT's for her contacts. When I first started \non SO50 I was building cheap Yagi's for reception, and attaching my HT \nright to the antennae itself with some zip ties. This had the dual \neffect of minimizing my coax run, and freeing up yet another hand from \nholding my radio. When I needed to shift for doppler, my free hand \nreached to the radio on the beam, flicked a switch, and went right back \nto it. Later on when I upgraded to the linear birds, and bigger radios, \nI bought one of those little cheap folding tables at home depot for 20 \nbucks, and just carried it around in the Jeep with me. Having some place \nto put the radios is big. With HT's, even something like a backpack that \nhas a strap across your chest is a great place to attach it, and keep it \nclose and accessible, without requiring another hand to hold.\n\n3. Get tons of audio adapters. I like other people to be able to hear \nwhat I'm doing.. I also want to hear things clearly... I also want to \nrecord the pass without interference... these 3 wants typically exceed \nthe audio output of most radios. So, get a splitter, a recorder, a \nvolume attenuator, and an external speaker... or some combination of \neverything. I will, at max, run a 3-way audio splitter, plug in my \nheadphones to one, plug in a speaker to another - with a long audio \ncable away from me to eliminate any feedback, and a volume attenuator \nfeeding my voice recorder (because speaker output is typically too high \nfor most \"line-in\" plugs on voice recorders) into the third. It's a mess \nof cables, but it accomplishes accuracy, demonstration, and recording, \nall at the same time.\n\n4. Write stuff down anyway. If I'm solo somewhere, no ones watching, and \nI'm not trying to set DX distance records, I usually don't even mess \nwith my voice recorder. Even when I do, I've had it fail on me tons of \ntimes. Usually it's cause I'm a bonehead and forget to check the \nbatteries first, but still the point is still valid. Practically before \nevery pass I work, I jot down who I am (yes, I stumble over my own call \nsign sometimes...) where I'm at (especially useful if I'm somewhere \nother than home) the bird I'm working, the date, and the AOS and LOS \ntimes of the upcoming pass. That basically leaves me with callsign and \ngrid, as the only two important things I *have* to record after each \nQSO. For bonus points, if I've got a sked with someone (the horror!) \nI'll pre-jot their callsign and grid down, and usually write 'Q' or put \na check or something next to it when we've made the contact. Now, this \nDOES require a hand to write, but you've got the notepad on that fixed \nplace you put your radio, so it should be a simple pen pick up, notate, \nand set back down... right? :D\n\n5. Ditch the tripod, hold the antenna. This one I know will draw fire \nfrom some, but as an exclusively portable operator, I stand by it. The \nnerves transmit a signal to the muscles in a normal human's arm \nsomewhere in the range of 200-220mph. This is a faster reaction time \nthan any rotor I'm aware of, and it allows you to make hundreds (or \nthousands if you ever watch how twitchy I am) of corrections during a \nsingle pass. Do it enough, and you'll completely forget you're even \nmoving the antenna, following its arc across the sky, and constantly \ntwisting it for the best signal. Your ears will hear how strong the bird \nshould be, and your arm will just react. I can't explain why or how, but \nit just will. In the month or so I used a tripod, I never got the hang \nof moving the Arrow, going back to transmitting, and remembering to move \nit again. A few weeks of holding my arrow and letting my ears be my \nguide, and it was like a 6th sense. And, as I mentioned to Sean KX9X \nrecently after his roadtrip, holding an arrow for multiple passes for a \ncouple straight weeks in a row, will make you a great arm wrestler.\n\n6. Develop a system. This one kind of goes with the last two, but figure \nout how you want it all to go together, and get comfortable with it. \nWhether you're in the backyard, or on a mountain, set things up the same \nway, every time, and be able to do everything by reaction, instead of \nthinking about it. For example, I always setup so the bird I'm working \nwill apex directly to the left of where I'm standing. I always hold my \narrow in my left hand. My right hand does the radio manipulation, and \nquick note jotting. My right foot is always on the pedal. I always have \nmy notepad immediately to the right of my radio. I have the radio at \nexactly the height level, and high enough I don't have to bend over. I \ncolor coded all my coax cables, I memorized where the step and channel \nlock buttons are, and can find them by feel. Working a pass anymore is \njust a reaction, I don't even really have to think about anything, I \njust set my phone on compass mode, watch the clock, and go.\n\nSo this turned into a Novel, but I hope there's some good info she can \nuse. I am an exclusively portable satellite operator, and plan to be for \nsome time. I've ran into all these problems, and like to have think I've \nsolved them. I also plan to pick your brain in about 8 years on how to \nteach my little girl, who (at 4 months old) really wants to figure out \nwhere those voices in the speaker of my 857 are coming from, effective \nways to work the birds herself.\n\n73!\n\n-Dave, KG5CCI\n\n\n\n\n\n\nOn 8/24/2015 8:23 PM, James Lea - WX4TV wrote:\n> She used to use a tripod and will probably use it again in the future. This worked very well, but she wanted to try another way. I believe that kids learn by making mistakes. Trying to hand hold the antenna and radios is a mistake! She will learn.\n>\n> The big issue with writing call signs for her is that she is still learning to write. Remember, she is a very young kid. As her writing improves, she will be able to do the paper method. All in time.\n>\n> Thanks and 73,\n>\n> James\n>\n>> On Aug 24, 2015, at 8:55 PM, Scott Richardson <[email protected]> wrote:\n>>\n>>> wasn’t able to write down the callsign while holding two radios and an antenna.\n>> When I started out, it took me only one or two passes to realize I needed a tripod. I know I'm not the only one to have cobbled together a frame that mounts on a tripod and holds the antenna, two radios, a timepiece, and operating aids. Seven years later, this system is still working great.\n>>\n>> Call me old fashioned, but a pad and pencil are indispensable for my operations. I usually note several callsigns and grid squares before making any calls, and if someone not on my list calls me, I'm quick to write their call down. This method requires no extra wires and no batteries, while creating a record that's easy to reference both during and after the pass. It's a rare occasion that I want to listen to an SO-50 pass again after getting through it \"live.\"\n>>\n>> 73, Scott N1AIA\n>> _______________________________________________\n>> Sent via [email protected]. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available\n>> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed\n>> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA.\n>> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!\n>> Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb\n> _______________________________________________\n> Sent via [email protected]. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available\n> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed\n> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA.\n> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!\n> Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb\n>\n\n", "attachments": [] }