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

ANDE/AWARD
by Mr Jeffrey L Ross 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

FOLKS, BEEN FUN, I ONLY GOT 19 POINTS BUT ITS BEEN A NICE LEARNING EXPERENCE.. 73 KC8GKF HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL

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Re: FT-847 Disaster - THE PAIN!
by David Donaldson 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

I too have felt THE PAIN with my FT-817. After burning some traces due to very high SWR from an external amp, I replaced all the relays, still would not work. I gave up after having one of the driver fets burn (real fire!) TWICE. I have a new PA board (not the finals) coming from Japan. The PA board is only $275 and the other parts??? Priceless. Why not just throw away???? I'm to mad (both in the head and emotionally) to give up! Beside's I am starting to make friends at Yeasu (or this that Motorola) Happy New Year's Dave ________________________ WB7DRU; Navy Mars NNN0AXK Burnsville, MN USA -----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] On Behalf Of K7XQ Sent: Tuesday, December 25, 2007 1:55 PM To: k7zt(a)suddenlink.net Cc: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: FT-847 Disaster Don't feel too bad Joe. ...... --- http://USFamily.Net/dialup.html - $8.25/mo! -- http://www.usfamily.net/dsl.html - $19.99/mo! ---

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"KiwiSAT" build fund support.
by Fred Kennedy 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

Hi Guys, Just had an update from Terry (ZL3QL) - AMSAT-ZL President - on the very good response to his request for funding help in support of the build of "KiwiSAT". Magnificent. It will make all the difference and give us the opportunity to order things early and say "yes" rather than "probably" to the guys that are actually doing the practical build and assembly work. A real New Year boost for us! From us all - thanks. And have a peaceful and successful 2008. Fred Kennedy (ZL1BYP for the "KiwiSAT" team

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Re: Ande
by andy thomas 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

Celestrak gives keps today for 07 358 - today (Dec 27th) is 07 361, so 358 was Dec 24 UTC (when last reported). I suppose NORAD will announce when ANDE is down? 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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SatPC32 Installation problem
by Doug Shields 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

Hello, I purchased SatPC32 from AMSAT recently. I finally got around to installing it tonight. I didn't get far. I put the CD into the drive and as soon as I click "Setup" I get the message: "C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\AUTOEXEC.NT. The system is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications. Choose 'Close' to terminate the application." I am running Windows 2000 on a reasonably fast computer. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Doug W4DAS

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Compass difficulties, was Re: How to calibrate the azimuth angle?
by joe cassano aka jmario 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

I am kind of surprised at the number of "compass is hard to use" comments here. I use a compass and a Home Depot angle locater to set the azimuth and elevation of a 220 yagi that I have mounted on an old Atlas studio boom microphone stand in by back yard to capture the passage of the moon through the SPASUR (Lake Kickapoo) radio fence. I usually try to do the antenna pointing during daylight hours. It is a lot easier to read the compass while sighting along the boom in daylight. Whenever I check my alignment by sighting along the antenna boom when the moon is passing through the fence (i.e. moon is at azimuth of 91.4 or 271.4 degrees relative to Lake Kickapoo and the moon is above the horizon at both Lake Kickapoo and my QTH in Pennsylvania) I find I've got the moon boresighted. It is a given that you keep the compass away from ferrous objects while taking a reading - that includes non-obvious objects like the wrench or pliers in your back pocket that you might have forgot about :-) Alternatively, if you are going to be climbing a tower or some such thing, you can always calibrate the azimuth angle (that was the original question) by determining the bearing of a distant object then pointing the antenna at that same distant object. The unmentioned question in the original post is just how accurate does the azimuth angle calibration need to be? The above mentioned 220 yagi is (if I remember correctly) 3db down at +/- 15 degrees so az angle is not critical but a hi gain EME array might have a 3db width of +/- 2 degrees requiring more pointing/azimuth accuracy. JoeC K3FMA

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70cm yagi design
by Andrew Rich 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

Can someone steer me towards a yagi design that works, I know there are heaps on the net. What I want it is a design you use and have had good results and repeatable results with. I can bend alum tube, never made a folded dipole before, but got a pipe bender here. Willing to have a go. Andy ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Rich VK4TEC vk4tec(a)people.net.au http://www.tech-software.net

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Re: Listen before transmitting?
by Dave Guimont 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

> >The intent was probably to listen for which mode the satellite is >using, as in: listen for the beacon or other signals that would >indicate which mode the satellite is in. >Alternatively, if the instruction was written POST-AO7 resurrection, >then it may also mean to listen for the quality of the other >downlink signals, to determine if AO7 is being trampled by strong >uplinks, and would therfore not support more QSO's at that time. >Either way, for the sake of other users of AO-7, that point could >not be stressed enough, or more simply put, as it is so on the WSR page. What difference the mode!! Respond in kind.... If it is being trampled by strong uplinks, and you can't compete you can't compete....You are not helping anything by not TRYING TO TRANSMIT... I've been on AO7 since the day it was launched, so I've had a little experience!! LISTEN ON ANY FREQUENCEY ANYWHERE IN THE AMATEUR RADIO SPECTRUM BEFORE YOU TRANSMIT! SATELLITE OR OTHERWISE.... Against the rules and dumb not to listen first.... Again, why the admonition??? 73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1(a)san.rr.com Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E...

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Using a compass
by Dave Guimont 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

I don't care where you are using a compass, using it on the ground, not moving from that location, and not allowing other large masses of metal to move near you, one can 'CALIBRATE' it for that location. I don't care if is deviation or variation that is causing the needle to move, you are compensating for both... I used celestial navigation, in an airplane in the early days, but if one has an overcast your octant was excess baggage at that time.... If I had a chart, knew the territory, and could line up two fixed points of land I could fly directly between those points, and thereby get the compass calibrated for that heading... The deviation could change of course, if I made a turn, but I had at least one accurate heading...and few places in the world exist that changes variation that rapidly... And we would "swing the compass" on the ground, and use compensating magnets to reduce the deviation... And when your "landing field" the carrier is moving those methods, along with a plotting board got me home... Standing on the ground orienting and antenna, sort of simplifies the problem!! 73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1(a)san.rr.com Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E...

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OLPC transmitter
by Bob Bruninga 27 Dec '07

27 Dec '07

> The difference between this design effort and the > other things the GNU Radio crew has done is that > the result has to cost only incremental > pennies, cost zero power when not running, and > run on batteries when running. One thing I wish I had time for is to figure out all the neat things we can do with the parts in the bazillions of compact florescent bulbs (now going for under $2 each). The two power mos-fets and some other parts could be able to contribute to a 20 watt transmitter... Anyway, those parts are going to be as ubiqiiitous to modern youth as the old TV sets were to us as kids trying to build our first ham transmitter. I'd also like to know how to safely smash the bulb without release of mercury. Is it in the vapor? or is it in there in liquid form? The powder? Bob, WB4APR

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