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

Re: TNC Reccomendation
by nader omer 13 Nov '07

13 Nov '07

HI What a bout Satellite pacsat protocol ? for sure we need Wisp andTNC...!!!! Or there's a new software ? 73 --------------------------------- Be a better sports nut! Let your teams follow you with Yahoo Mobile. Try it now.

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Re: FYI -- One Laptop per Child (OLPC) Opportunity
by Bob Bruninga 13 Nov '07

13 Nov '07

Does it have a serial port? A Sound card? Bob, Wb4APR

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Re: AO-27 schedule issue
by George Henry 13 Nov '07

13 Nov '07

I can also confirm this anomaly. The only things I can think of are if the TOPR or EPOCH files being distributed on ao27.org are different from the ones the site is actually using, or if Mike has made some tweak in the C++ program that he is running on the site. I will have my son (author of the Java version) take a look at the ao27.org source code to see if something has been changed. George, KA3HSW -----Original Message----- >From: Alan <ve4yz(a)mts.net> >Sent: Nov 13, 2007 12:38 PM >To: 'Angel Peláez, EA4DUT' <ea4dut(a)ure.es>, amsat-bb(a)amsat.org >Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: AO-27 schedule issue > >I can confirm this. November 13 UTC 19:34:53 WEB vs 19:28:50 JAVA - 6 >minutes 3 seconds after updating data in the java scheduler. > >-----Original Message----- >From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] On >Behalf Of Angel Peláez, EA4DUT >Sent: November 13, 2007 10:55 AM >To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org >Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-27 schedule issue > >Hello: > >I'm a little puzzled with AO-27 schedule as I see a 6 minutes mismatch >between the official page and the java applet. >Right now (16:26:14 UTC), I see that next event on AO-27 home page is: > Next Event UTC => Tue Nov 13 16:45:15 2007 > State => 4 > Mode => OFF >But with the Java I get: > Next Event UTC => Tue Nov 13 16:39:13 2007 > State => 4 > Mode => OFF >Note the 6 minutes and 2 seconds lag. >Has anybody noted it as well? >I get just the same results as with java on an EXCEL sheet I wrote, so I'm >not sure if I'm doing something wrong with TOPR and EPOCH data files for >it's the first time I see this issue. >I always copied and pasted the data into two txt files one for EPOCH and >another for TOPR > >I will appreciate any feedback and ideas. > >73 Angel, EA4DUT > >

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Wht's ANDE's other name?
by Phil 13 Nov '07

13 Nov '07

Hello, I've recently rekindled my interest in amateur radio and I'm trying to fine tune my APRS set up. Due to my rough portable station this is proving to be a little frustrating. Disappointingly, the ISS radio seems to be off and NO-44's signal is quite weak due to my poor aerial and I'm only decoding one or two packets per pass. Perhaps ANDE might give me a reasonable signal. What other name (OSCAR number) is ANDE known by? Regards, Phil.

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AO-27 schedule issue
by Angel Peláez, EA4DUT 13 Nov '07

13 Nov '07

Hello: I'm a little puzzled with AO-27 schedule as I see a 6 minutes mismatch between the official page and the java applet. Right now (16:26:14 UTC), I see that next event on AO-27 home page is: Next Event UTC => Tue Nov 13 16:45:15 2007 State => 4 Mode => OFF But with the Java I get: Next Event UTC => Tue Nov 13 16:39:13 2007 State => 4 Mode => OFF Note the 6 minutes and 2 seconds lag. Has anybody noted it as well? I get just the same results as with java on an EXCEL sheet I wrote, so I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong with TOPR and EPOCH data files for it's the first time I see this issue. I always copied and pasted the data into two txt files one for EPOCH and another for TOPR I will appreciate any feedback and ideas. 73 Angel, EA4DUT ______________________________________________ Pregunta, Responde, Descubre. Comparte tus consejos y opiniones con los usuarios de Yahoo! Respuestas http://es.answers.yahoo.com/info/welcome

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Re: AO-16 packets
by Mineo Wakita 13 Nov '07

13 Nov '07

Hello Chris, Please see about my software/hardware, http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/equipmen.htm de JE9PEL, Mineo Wakita

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(no subject)
by John Hackett 13 Nov '07

13 Nov '07

... and here are the results of the Norwegian jury ... (Our dear American friends won't recognise that phrase - but the "Eurovision" crowd will). After reading all sorts of wierd and wonderful comments on the Amsat-bb re: data modes on analogue satellites - (including SSTV and the infamous "pesky" 31) - I decided to throw caution to the wind and try to jump through the hoop by myself. Being an AO-7 afficiondo - (look it up in the dictionary!) - the logical choice was AO-7, not least due to it's orbit - (slow doppler) - and mode - downlink lower than uplink - (you'll need to think! about that one). I set up 2 x 386 machines running MixW V12, 2 instances of ITUNE and the FT-290/790 pair. I'd already built special interfaces to allow me to regulate the audio on both PC's + adequate filtering - audio and RF. The first thing I noticed was that a pair of EARS (!!!) works better than the "theoretical" one true rule, in practice - especially on modes like RTTY where you have two tones. It's easier to tune in PSK with a single line on the MixW waterfall display. To it's discredit, MixW can't decide which way to go for "auto-tuning" the last few hundred hertz - to it's credit, give it a little kick up the bum - (manual tuning)- and it copies perfectly. I missed the callsign ... LA2Q something-or-other ... due to QRM ...(just kidding!!!). (The next bit is "aimed" at the Europeans). Obviously, most people are *NOT* going to bother to set up for digital on an analogue satellite - which would entail organising both a TX and RX system but it shouldn't be a problem to switch to a digital mode to just TX ... and since I already have a dual system operating ... I would appreciate a report if you hear me. (I'll *ONLY* be on AO-7 mode-B). Remember !!! ... due to the different QTH's = different rates of doppler !!! ... I will need to "tune-in" on your signal so send your callsign several 'thousand' times. For those that are absolutely bone idle and can't be bothered to switch to a digital mode it is possible to give me a report on SSB if you hear any "snoring" noises. Conclusion. PSK31 does !!! work on the higher frequencies on satellites but it takes a little more practice than just the normal wailing into a microphone emulating a cow in labour. AAAAAAWWWWWWWLLLLLLLLLEEERRRRRRRRR ... (swish) ... (swish) The good news - (for the South Africans, the good gnu's). If PESKY31 will work on AO-7 it will most certainly work on P3E - and save a lot of bandwidth while it's at it. 73 John. <la2qaa(a)amsat.org>

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Re: TNC Reccomendation
by Nate Duehr 12 Nov '07

12 Nov '07

On Nov 12, 2007, at 6:16 PM, John Henderson wrote: > Great response Nate........I am aware of RigBlaster type > applications. I am > interested in sats like Go-32 and A0-16 for starters. What do they > require? Thanks John, but it really was only the "tip of the iceberg" so to speak. I think you hit "reply" and the reply only came to my personal inbox (not to the list) so I'll reply back to both you direct and the list both -- I think you'll find that there are a LOT of much more experienced and talented folks on the list who can answer specific questions about specific birds and types of operation of that bird. So list folks... John specifically mentioned here in his reply above that he'd like to work GO-32 and AO-16 and in another reply I didn't copy here he mentions ISS. You all might comment on his goals and options for those birds. As a start of a reply -- AO-16 has been a bit ill lately. Search for AO-16 on this page <http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/news/> to see the latest. It has been partially recovered and the command team is working on reloading software, so at least for the time being, it's probably "out" as an option to start with, but with luck, she'll be back. This page is an excellent resource on the current status of different birds, with the caveat that it isn't always updated: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/satellites/status.php (AO-16 is still showing "green" on that page, so -- you do have to take all of this with a bit of a grain of salt. The best way to stay informed that I've seen is to get on the e-mail distribution for the AMSAT News Service (ANS) e-mails, which are sent out on a regular basis and include the current satellite status information of all active birds. The webpages lag and/or don't always get updates, no fault of the volunteers -- they do a great job -- but sometimes it's different folks responsible for different things, etc...) ISS will be your "easiest" choice of the three you've mentioned. It doesn't take much (relatively) to be heard and to hear ISS... you're not dealing with ultra-weak signals, and even directional antennas are not *always* necessary. In fact, you can start now, by placing a receiver on a good outside antenna on 145.825 and listening when ISS is scheduled to be overhead. If you hear 1200 bps packet bursts, you are likely hearing ISS! (Or a local station attempting to digipeat through ISS...) When it's active (and the Amateur stations on board are turned off for Astronaut safety whenever there's an EVA going on), it has a nice power budget (!!!) and easily hears stations. The only "difficulty" with ISS is knowing what mode the Amateur station is in. Various volunteers try to keep everyone updated. Over the years, there have been some challenges when it accidentally gets left (or purposely set) in a mode that isn't "useful" to us earth-bound folks. (Someone might pipe up here with the ISS team's website, I forget where that one is.) Someone on the list commented that *sometimes* a hardware TNC is a "plus", especially at the higher speeds. I will not argue with that at all. Sound card interfaces and software do have limitations depending on the quality of the sound card interface, and the way it's connected to the rig. (Of course, the quality of the rig also "counts" here.) I think it's probably "safe" (although someone will certainly argue with me... heck, this is the Internet and people will argue for any reason!) to say that 1200 bps comms with anything sound card based, is "do-able". At 9600 bps and above, you start to get into some more difficult territory, especially at higher frequencies (UHF and above) because of Doppler shift as the satellite from your ground vantage point seems to be going by at a high rate of speed. You can learn a LOT by doing some terrestrial high-speed packet with a buddy, or if you're lucky enough to live in an area where there's a lot of high-speed packet going on (not as common as it once was), there's probably some "Elmers" hiding in that group. Heck, come to think of it, you're going to want to get even your 1200 bps packet station up and going "terrestrially" first, too. Most areas have some traffic on 144.39 (APRS Nationwide frequency) and if there's active "packeteers" you'll usuall also find some activity on 145.01 in most metropolitan areas. (I'm not sure where Cape Carteret, NC is in relation to other densely ham-populated areas, so ... again, a grain of salt needed here. You'll find the locals quick enough, if they're "out there"!) Not to send you off away from your digital "dream", since that's your goal -- but you should also give AO-51 a try. The bird is *usually* in FM mode, but has the ability to be switched to other experimental modes, and Drew KO4MA and the rest of the user-team that work with the command team, do a great job of keeping this list updated with the current status of the bird. There have been past opportunities to try digital modes through it, and I believe those will happen again. It helps to stay "plugged in" via the mailing lists and ANS. (They also have an excellent website with a schedule posted, when different modes are being tried.) It's a very easy bird to work, and can be done (with some practice holding everything, aiming the antenna, changing a few memory channels you've pre-programmed for the Doppler shift, etc) with a handheld radio and a handheld dual-band yagi, like the Arrow antennas, or similar. It helps to have an Elmer demonstrate this once before you try it, but many folks have done it with a little encouragement from this list. It gives you a "feel" for how "fast" the birds move across the sky, how long a pass typically is, and let's you "shake down" your pass prediction software and other tools a bit on something "easy" before adding the computers to the mix. It's worth the effort, and heck, To be completely honest, my fascination with VHF+ is centered 90% around weak-signal terrestrial work, and maybe 10% around satellites. I like to listen to the birds more than I ever work them. But I find that satellite folks and terrestrial VHF+ SSB and CW operators struggle with very similar technical details... how much loss is this feedline? How do I calculate the Noise Floor of this particular receiver and mast-mounted pre-amp setup versus perhaps putting the pre- amp down in the shack for convenience? How much attenuation is in this LMR-400 versus running a big honkin' piece of hardline out to the antennas? Etc etc. You get the idea. I have a desire to try out some of the new-technology type EME contacts and meteor-scatter also, using things like WSJT (and it's multiple flavors) which one could argue is a "digital mode" but completely designed from the ground up (no pun intended) for use in meteor-scatter and weak-signal VHF+ operations. I have the gear here to give it a try, but just haven't gotten any time to do it... (sigh). So I guess you'd say I'm more of an AMSAT "groupie" than really an active satellite operator -- thus, my reluctance to really dive in and answer your satellite digital mode questions... there are folks here that LOVE that type of operation, and will be more than willing to help you out as you get going. As a final note, there are some excellent references on the AMSAT site for new satellite operators. Some of them are a little bit out-dated at this point, and reference birds that aren't with us anymore... but the information contained in those documents, combined with a little mental cross-referencing to the current list of active birds, is still quite valid! I think this is probably as good a place as any to start looking up information: <http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/information/faqs/> Perhaps someday, you can pen an article about your initial learning curve, and what you learned as you start operating these birds, and help others along. I'm sure the AMSAT newsletter folks (and website folks) would be more than happy to post a slightly more "modern" discussion of "How to do it"! Once you've made a satellite contact, it's addictive -- you'll enjoy it! You can also apply for your "Satellite Communicators Club" award, of course! <http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/awards/#communicator> As they say, jump on in, the water's fine! -- Nate Duehr, WY0X nate(a)natetech.com

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UISS and Rigblaster
by Bob Herrell 12 Nov '07

12 Nov '07

I am a "Newbie" and am using UISS/AGWPE connected thru a Rigblaster Plug&Play. It is connected to my IC-910H thru the data jack. I can talk to the 910H using Digipan, but cannot talk using UISS. Everything is set up on Com Port 1. It does not hear or talk on UISS. Is it possible that UISS is not compatible with the Rigblaster? Thanks Bob Herrell, AJ5C

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Re: FYI -- One Laptop per Child (OLPC) Opportunity
by Bob Bruninga 12 Nov '07

12 Nov '07

OLPC Washington DC LAN? Since the OLPC laptop is supposed to form its own 802.11 network, with higher power than usual links, I wonder if some ham ingenuity could somehow put up a "802.11" hub or repeater on a nice high tower in the Wash DC area, and those with an OLPC could point a small 4 foot dish at the "hub" and then we could all be networked together? We have found the 18" dishes give a gain at 2.4 GHz of about 18 dB or so. If the range of the OLPC is on the order of 1/4 mile, then 18 dB could extend that to 4 miles if the hub could come up with 6 dB omni gain... Maybe 10 miles with a 4 foot dish...? And we could have multiple hubs. Gonna order two asap.. Bob, Wb4APR

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