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

Off-Topic: 10 MHz Amateur Radio balloon to cross the Atlantic
by Trevor 05 Nov '07

05 Nov '07

Not satellites, but some of you may be interesting in assisting with capturing the telemetry data. 10 MHz Amateur Radio balloon to cross the Atlantic http://www.southgatearc.org/news/november2007/ham_balloon_across_atlantic.h… 73 Trevor M5AKA --------------- Daily Amateur Radio RSS News: http://www.southgatearc.org/ Email your news items to: editor at southgatearc.org News On Your Website: http://www.southgatearc.org/rss/index.htm News On Your PC: http://www.southgatearc.org/rss/newsreader.htm Upload Your News: http://www.southgatearc.org/news/your_news.htm --------------- ___________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Answers - Got a question? Someone out there knows the answer. Try it now. http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/

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Wind Turbine Interference?
by Doug Kuitula 05 Nov '07

05 Nov '07

Hi all, Sorry if this is off subject. I just found out that our city in suburban Detroit is going to install a 150 foot wind turbine about a quarter mile from my qth. I was wondering if anyone has experienced any problems working satellites, due to turbines. I'm only using a Arrow antenna and a handheld. But hope to upgrade the station in the future. I'm not questioning the need of turbines. But am just wondering if I'm going to have problems in the future. 73 and Thanks in advance. de Doug KA8QCU

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Re: Wind Turbine Interference?
by Dave Guimont 05 Nov '07

05 Nov '07

Ed, what satellite was that?? >Well I copied signals that were back scattered from a farm windmill >in Texas on 10.368 GHz SSB. Distance was about 30-miles. I believe >that the power being used was about 1-5w. I was portable on a >100-foot high hill in the Texas countryside. Direct path did not >produce a strong signal. > >Ed - KL7UW > >At 03:28 PM 11/4/2007, Dave Guimont wrote: > >> > >> >Wind Turbines are a threat to Homeland Defense. They can produce >> large Blind >> >Spots on Radars - above, infront and behind them - so yes they can cause >> >problems to RF signals. >> > >> > >> >Effects of Windfarms on Radar >> >http://www.southgatearc.org/news/october2005/windfarms_radar.htm >> > >> >>Trevor, >> >>That is some pretty good stuff for higher powered xmitters...But I >>doubt there is any instrument sensitive enuff to measure the >>reflection potential from any satellite we will ever launch, and the >>"shadow" that it would cause on a LEO is in less than a >>second...HEO's may take a little longer.... >> >>This is conjecture based on my HS physics...I would appreciate >>comments from any of the many engineering experts we have on here... >> >> >> >> 73, Dave wb6llo(a)amsat.org >> Disagree: I learn.... >> >> Pulling for P3E... >> >>_______________________________________________ >>Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. >>Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! >>Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb > >73, >Ed - KL7UW >====================================== > BP40IQ 50-MHz - 10-GHz www.kl7uw.com >144-EME: FT-847, mgf-1801, 4x-xpol-20, 185w >DUBUS Magazine USA Rep dubususa(a)hotmail.com >====================================== 73, Dave wb6llo(a)amsat.org Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E...

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Help from those using palm sat software
by Ed Tump 05 Nov '07

05 Nov '07

Folks, I cannot figure out how to upload new tle/txt in to my palm. I use the palm install tool but it puts the txt files on to the card and not the internal memory. Any ideas? Thanks! Ed

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Re: Wind Turbine Interference?
by Trevor 05 Nov '07

05 Nov '07

The BBC document is still on their website but it's moved to this URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/info/pdf/buildings_factsheet.pdf 73 Trevor M5AKA --- Trevor <m5aka(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > --- Dave Guimont <dguimon1(a)san.rr.com> wrote: > > That is some pretty good stuff for higher powered xmitters...But I > > doubt there is any instrument sensitive enuff to measure the > > reflection potential from any satellite we will ever launch, and the > > "shadow" that it would cause on a LEO is in less than a > > second...HEO's may take a little longer.... > > It'll all depend on proximity of the receiving station to the turbine. > > The Wind Turbines on the Orkneys killed TV reception for the local > inhabitants, > hence the need to resite the TV transmitters. If high power TV transmitters > can't get through them will weak signals from Amateur satellites fare any > better ? > > Agreed for a LEO the affect may be shortlived but I'd say it would be more > than > just a second. > > 73 Trevor M5AKA > > > > > ___________________________________________________________ > Want ideas for reducing your carbon footprint? Visit Yahoo! For Good > http://uk.promotions.yahoo.com/forgood/environment.html > ___________________________________________________________ Want ideas for reducing your carbon footprint? Visit Yahoo! For Good http://uk.promotions.yahoo.com/forgood/environment.html

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ANS-308 Formatting
by Ronald Long 05 Nov '07

05 Nov '07

Am I the only one who sometimes receives the ANS bulletin with missing line or paragraph formatting, everything run together? It happened this week, ANS-308, and may be only when a certain volunteer sends out the bulletin? I use Eudora as my mail client. I cannot find any settings that might cure the problem. I receive tons of mail and this is the only one that has this problem. Also when I check the AMSAT web site for ANS I find a beautifully formatted page, but it is missing the bulletin number (308, e.g.). It would be helpful if that was included. ron w8gus

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Re: Surface Mount Repair
by Roy 04 Nov '07

04 Nov '07

Hi again Guys, Success! Thanks to all the replies I got with advice on how to remove the surface mount IC. I applied heat from the blow side of my solder station and it popped off after a little bit with a little help at one corner. I had lifted all 22 leads from their pads first so I wouldn't damage a pad when it popped off. There were four small round glue spots down the middle of the bottom of the IC. Pads 1 and 22 were oversize so it was easy to spot the replacement IC with a good blob of solder on those two pads before I started soldering down the other pins. Thanks again for all the suggestions. -- Roy -- W0SL

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Longer arms for you to reach your favourite sats.
by Kevin Forbes 04 Nov '07

04 Nov '07

Hi folks, someone I was in contact with recently gave me an url to visit. REMOTE RADIO http://www.remotehams.com/ http://www.remotehams.com/Online-Radios The site is in England, and has several radios online that you can adjust the tuning on. I went and had a look and a play. Then had an idea to try out. I tuned into a NOAA wxsat on the 137 MHz band when my sat tracker said it was over England. I then started the WxSat program that turns the telemetry into images. I had to tick a different box on the sound cards recording settings, and then it happened. For the first time, I was receiving an image of Europe from a VHF NOAA sat, via the online radio. Thanks to the folks that made this site possible, I love it. _________________________________________________________________ Advertisement: What are you waiting for? Join Lavalife free. http://a.ninemsn.com.au/b.aspx?URL=http%3A%2F%2Flavalife9%2Eninemsn%2Ecom%2…

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Surface Mount Repair
by Roy 04 Nov '07

04 Nov '07

Hi Guys, I am trying to replace a 22 pin surface mount IC on a piece of Panasonic video quipment. I have all of the leads unsoldered but now I find that the IC is stuck to the board, maybe intentionally. It doesn't appear to be just the circuit board coating. It's more like the whole bottom surface is cemented. I would appreciate hearing from anyone, off line, who has experience in removing a stuck IC from the board. I have tried flux removerand 91% Isopropal Alcohol with no luck. I hesitate to force it or destroy the chip since there are traces running beneath it. Any ideas of a safe solvent or another way to unstick this thing? -- Roy -- W0SL

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Re: geo stationary bird
by melachri＠speakeasy.net 04 Nov '07

04 Nov '07

It depends on what you mean by "retirement orbit." Some satellites are left on-orbit but not used much, when their transponder complement (and the revenue it can produce) no longer justifies taking up the orbit slot. At this point, the transponders are turned off, but the satellite is left functional--it may be kept as an on-orbit spare, to be put back in service if another satellite fails. Although the transponders are off, the satellites are not--their power and attitude control systems are left on. So if this happened to our "host", the amateur payload could continue to operate. These satellites don't typically drift--they're "parked" in an orbital slot but just not actively used. If by "retirement orbit" you mean "disposal orbit" (typically about 300 miles above GEO), satellites are typically not put there until they are not worth anything to the owner. This is most often due to on-board failures or running out of expendables (e.g. fuel) that prevent the satellite from ever continuing its mission. At this point, the owners do not want to spend any time/effort/resources continuing to maintain them. As a result, their propulsion systems are vented (to mitigate future explosions) and electronics are turned off and disabled in a way that prevents even accidental turn-on. This would include the attitude control subsystem, which would keep the spacecraft pointed at the earth, as well as the electical power subsystem. A satellite in this condition could not continue to support any other payload. (Note that a GEO satellite is registered to operate from a single orbital slot, but satellites in the "retirement orbit" are drifting. They would cause interference to other registered satellites if their transponders were to remain operational during that drift. So to prevent retired-and-drifting satellites from unintentionally causing interference, operators will when possible deliberately disable a retired satellite.) Of course, such a drifting transponder would continue to be useful to the amateur community. This is something that could be a subject of negotiation between AMSAT and the host. 73, Steve Melachrinos W3HF > Does anyone know if retired birds are switched ON or OFF once they get boosted into a retirement orbit ? Could still be useful to us even from there. > > 73 > Richard Limebear G3RWL > >

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