November 2007 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

Yaesu G-550 KT-550 rotor freezing and jamming
by Luc Leblanc 25 Nov '07

25 Nov '07

This question is intended for part of the world who have below freezing point WX. I have an elevation rotor the Yeasu G-550 installed up side down but who work 2 winters seasons here. This year he just start to freeze and he stuck under minus 0C temperature? Just before having to dismantle about 6 beams on the boom did anyone experienced this problem? As it seems this rotor has no draining holes i just think to add one to let the excess humidity to get out of the casing hoping the next above freezing point period will melt the ice build-up allowing water to drain out of the rotor casing. Thank's for your input before i start drilling in the case...:) "-" Luc Leblanc VE2DWE Skype VE2DWE www.qsl.net/ve2dwe WAC BASIC CW PHONE SATELLITE

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new to amsat
by truckwiz 24 Nov '07

24 Nov '07

Hi, This will be the first of probably 1000 questions. Do I need licenses to work with amsat satellites? Thanks, Brian

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Re: ground rod/plate bonding question
by John Marranca, Jr 24 Nov '07

24 Nov '07

This question is right up my alley. I used to work for Lucent Technologies. I built many Central Offices, and upgraded quite a few more. When attaching copper to copper, or any other metal for that matter, we used to use a product called NO-OX-ID. It is slightly toxic so if you do get it, don't ingest it...etc. But it is the preferred metal prep in a CO environment. I used it when I built my eggbeaters. John KB2HSH -- _______________________________ John Marranca, Jr PBX Technician/Shop Steward CWA Local 1122 BN Systems, Inc Orchard Park, NY (716)972-2006

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Re: new to amsat
by Andrew Glasbrenner 24 Nov '07

24 Nov '07

Pathfinder should of course be Sojourner.... ----- Original Message ----- From: "Andrew Glasbrenner" <glasbrenner(a)mindspring.com> To: "Bob Stewart" <bob(a)evoria.net>; "truckwiz" <truckwiz(a)bwig.net>; "Amsat-BB" <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2007 2:58 PM Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: new to amsat >I think you'd have to be extremely clever to do it in a rover, but it's >possible to upload and download _small_ data files (<100kb) like .jpgs via >GO-32. This would need to be a BIG rover just to handle the comm gear to do >this. Think Spirit or Opportunity vs. Pathfinder. You'd need a very good >set of circular omni antennas for 2m and 70cm, a hot preamp for 70cm, and >probably some muscle on the uplink on 2m. > > 73, Drew KO4MA

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Re: h/t's for FM sats
by andy thomas 24 Nov '07

24 Nov '07

I use a secondhand FT-51R through an Arrow with in-built duplexer and a high power battery bought separately, to give a nominal 5W. I tape-record all qso's onto cassette. However I'm sure I have some loss through the in-built diplexer. Works fine, I prefer elevations above 40 degrees to tx, although I can hear down to my horizon - you can see some of my operations from my website http://www.andythomas.eu and follow the link on the left. Howver I do prefer the THD-7E (European edition) with a chunky battery. 73 de andy G0SFJ ___________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Answers - Got a question? Someone out there knows the answer. Try it now. http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/

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Re: GeneSat still alive
by G0MRF＠aol.com 24 Nov '07

24 Nov '07

In a message dated 24/11/2007 12:17:24 GMT Standard Time, mail(a)mike-rupprecht.de writes: All, just received the following frames: KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAo,DK3WN-1:GeneSat1.org6C57F4C70030014B01FC010000A3019F4 002195A86B7ED348638 Hello Mike. Looks like their command station refit has finished and they are operational again. Apparently it's possible to e-mail them and get a schedule for the beacon. 73 David Mission Operations Log Summaries 10/16/07 - The ops team was finally able to get back into the SRI station although some work remains to be done (like re-installing the UHF feed). Two contacts were run today, lde by the fearless I. Mas. The beacon was re-enabled and verified, and state of health data was downloaded given the extended time over the past 2 months during which no operations were run. Satellite bus health is nominal, and the previously observed payload temperature control anomaly continues (again, we note that the anomaly is for a function that is no longer needed to support the mission). A new ops trainees participated in the contacts and showed off by hand-tracking the beacon with a hand-held antenna and transceiver (nice job Jose!). Post-pass logging was initiated via the internet from Munich! We currently plan to run the next set of contacts next week, and the ops team is working with the engineering team to establish a set of end-of-life test objectives. CK Mid-August through Mid-October Summary - The SRI station is unavailable during this time for maintenance, retrofit, and other test operations. The beacon will be shut off during this period. CK Early August 2007 Ops Summary - The ops team is training several new mission controllers for educational purposes as well as initial training for the team's next satellite, PharmaSat. The team is retrieving routine health data and is also conducting power stress tests (which occasionally require the beacon to be turned off) in order to assess the power generation capabilities of the system. The satellite bus health is nominal. Payload health is good with the exception of the payload temperature control process (temp is below setpoint, the control loop is activated, but a much lower than nominal heater current draw exists); we will monitor this system and develop a plan to evaluate the heater FET and/or other possible root causes. No operations during the week of Aug 12 given the attendance of most of the team at the AIAA Conference on Small Satellites (which includes presentation of several GeneSat-1 related papers). CK July 2007 Ops Summary - Only limited operations conducted in July due to routine maintenance with the SRI station and its use to support other studies. Satellite beacon off. CK

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GeneSat still alive
by Mike Rupprecht 24 Nov '07

24 Nov '07

All, just received the following frames: KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAo,DK3WN-1:GeneSat1.org6C57F4C70030014B01FC010000A3019F4 002195A86B7ED348638 KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAo,DK3WN-1:GeneSat1.org7157F442007A011F005703270069009FB 310F5E43C78F5014302 KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAo,DK3WN-1:GeneSat1.org7657F4C80030014D01FC010000A301019 B3B5201EB1FCE3C1E3C KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAo,DK3WN-1:GeneSat1.org7B57F4420008009C002E0326006900A19 B15A73C9BAA647B01EB KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAo,DK3WN-1:GeneSat1.org8057F459000000B200520227006900A10 22E387C860237EC3BEC KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAo,DK3WN-1:GeneSat1.org8557F4C80030015401FC010000A301A13 AAB00683A3B009D7E86 KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAo,DK3WN-1:GeneSat1.org8A57F4C80030015401FC010000A301A1E B02B9950AF5B602B939 KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAo,DK3WN-1:GeneSat1.org8F57F4CA0031015301FC010000A30101E 5393D023F3DE539820A KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAo,DK3WN-1:GeneSat1.org9957F4CC0031015201FC010000A301A13 80238F501353735399C KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAo,DK3WN-1:GeneSat1.org9E57F434008A0034008D03260069009F0 A66150A39001511F501 KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAo,DK3WN-1:GeneSat1.orgA357F4CC0031015501FC010000A3019F4 002195A86B7ED348638 KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAo,DK3WN-1:GeneSat1.orgA857F44600000098009002260069009FB 310F5E43C78F5014302 KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAo,DK3WN-1:GeneSat1.orgAD57F4CC0031015A01FC010000A301019 B3B5201EB1FCE3C1E3C KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAo,DK3WN-1:GeneSat1.orgB257F47700D9003200520126006900A19 B15A73C9BAA647B01EB KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAo,DK3WN-1:GeneSat1.orgB757F47400F80118007F0126006900A10 22E387C860237EC3BEC KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAo,DK3WN-1:GeneSat1.orgC657F4D10032015901FC010000A30101E 5393D023F3DE539820A KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAo,DK3WN-1:GeneSat1.orgCB57F4D10032015B01FD010000A301018 60B13391F6D13F5023F KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAo,DK3WN-1:GeneSat1.orgD057F4D10032015E01FD010000A301A13 80238F501353735399C KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAo,DK3WN-1:GeneSat1.orgD557F44E0000005E00D501260069009F0 A66150A39001511F501 KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAo,DK3WN-1:GeneSat1.org2058F425000B008F00090326006900A19 B15A73C9BAA647B01EB KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAo,DK3WN-1:GeneSat1.org2A58F4D90034016D01FD010000A301A13 AAB00683A3B009D7E86 73, Mike DK3WN

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Re: Let It Snow
by John Marranca, Jr 23 Nov '07

23 Nov '07

Hello Bob, and Everybody else today... I agree, but I'll go one step farther. Now that the foliage is gone here in Upstate New York, it is pretty amazing (yet again) how low on a pass I can hear. It reminds me of the US Government's Radio Manuals that you are supposed to learn from while serving in the Military. I recall a manual pertaining to VHF that compared types of foliage, and the expected outcome if you transmitted in that vicinity.( The phrase, "Jungle-No good" comes to mind) Anyway...now that the leaves are gone it's pretty amazing how much better I can hear. Hey...who needs a preamp? John KB2HSH -- _______________________________ John Marranca, Jr PBX Technician/Shop Steward CWA Local 1122 BN Systems, Inc Orchard Park, NY (716)972-2006

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Alpha-ish release of satcontroller for windows
by scott wilson 23 Nov '07

23 Nov '07

I released an updated version of my satcontroller software. If anyone's taking advantage of the long weekend, give it a shot and let me know if you have any feedback. Biggest changes are a map mode and removing the dependencies on everything except .NET 2.0. Sorry that it still only supports ICOM CI-V and Yaesu rotators. Next on my list will be getting the FT-817 working. I'd love to hear if anyone's successful with the 'one true' tuning method on a linear bird. In theory it works great :) - In practice, tho, my antenna performance isn't up to it. http://code.google.com/p/satcontroller/ Regards, Scott Wilson NW2S

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Let it snow
by Bob Stewart 23 Nov '07

23 Nov '07

We got our first snow of the season last night. I've got about 2" of snow on the roof blocking the omnis, but I have a good copy on AO-27 down below 20 degrees. I'm kind of surprised that I can hear as well this. I had kinda figured that the first snow would be the end of using the attic antennas. Bob - AE6RV

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