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

Station not quite coming together - notes and request for advice
by Jonny 290 06 Mar '07

06 Mar '07

OK, the situation is: I'm building up a satellite station to get familiar with LEO sats and to get ready for the phase 3E fun to start soon. Here's my station, and I'll post my thoughts after that. RX path: Eggbeater II antenna mounted at 15 feet. This is built to the K5OE Eggbeater II spec (http://members.aol.com/k5oejerry/eggbeater2.htm) but uses a 100 ohm phasing line using two 50 ohm coax lines done in parallel, used in a balanced configuration, instead of 93 ohm RG-62. Antenna was 'redesigned' in MMANA-GAL to match exactly 100 ohms and to use 6mm diameter copper tubing instead of AWG 12 house wire. It is peaked for SWR < 1.05 at 436 MHz, and is less than 1.5 at 435.0 and 437.0. Antenna is the secondary antenna on this mast and is mounted on a 3 foot PVC stand-off pipe. The primary antenna is a Diamond F22A mounted at approximately 18 feet. It has a 10.5 foot vertical element and three 1/4 wave horizontal radials. It is not used in the satellite station but I wanted to describe it, in case it is interfering (I suspect it is.) Eggbeater is fed through29 feet of 213 spec coax (5.1 dB loss/500 MHZ) terminated in well done PL-259 connectors. I have verified this particular cable's loss at less than 2 dB at 460 MHz, using my Icom PCR-100's accurate S-meter and a known signal source. My latest upgrade: RX chain goes into a homebrew relay / Ramsey preamp box. The preamp provides approximately 18 dB of gain when inserted and using a test signal around 432 MHz. It has proven somewhat beneficial, giving me 2-3 S-units advantage at certain points from the LO-19 CW beacon (Which I recently received at up to S9 with the preamp on a ~60 degree pass). >From the Receivers: IC-208H dual band radio, rated at <0.18 uV for 12dB SINAD OR PCR-100 computer controlled receiver, rated at <0.34 uV for 12dB SINAD

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Chips for KiwiSAT from Hong Kong
by Fred Kennedy 06 Mar '07

06 Mar '07

Hi Guys, Anyone able to - or has a friend/contact that could pick up and despatch US$48 worth of FPGA chips for KiwiSAT from Shanzhen (Hong Kong)? We'll pay all costs of course - Credit Card and Air Mail postage would be good! The constant drain of build funds on Bank Drafts and un-necessary fancy high speed courier services to get stuff to us in NZ is just awesome and the major costs ahead demand we consider every $! Thanks. Fred ZL1BYP for KiwiSAT Project

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Shuttle lift?
by w7lrd＠comcast.net 06 Mar '07

06 Mar '07

Hello I believe this subject has in the past been thrashed around. Perhaps for some new members it might be worth "rethrashing". The shuttle seems to have a lot of room and our satellites are fairly small. If I recall they (NASA) does not want any satellite with fuel. On Oct 6, 1990 the Ulysses spacecraft was carried into earth orbit, then with the solid-fuel motors put it in a eliptical solar orbit. That was 17 years ago, and the policy has probably changed. 73 Bob W7LRD Seattle

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Re: USB G5500 controller
by Wayne Estes 06 Mar '07

06 Mar '07

Les W4WSCO wrote: Now that the piggyback is no longer available from NLSA (Nova) for the Labjack what is available that uses a USB interface? Wayne replies: It's very easy to build your own "piggback" adapter. The SatPC32 web site shows how easy it is to build your own: U12 piggback schematic: http://www.dk1tb.de/lj_piggyback.JPG U3 piggback schematic: http://www.dk1tb.de/lj_piggyback_u3.JPG Photo of DK1TB's homebrew U3 "piggyback" built on a perfboard: http://www.dk1tb.de/u3upiggyback.JPG By the way, the new Labjack U3 is $30 cheaper than the now-discontinued U12. The latest version of SatPC32 supports the U3. Wayne Estes W9AE Oakland, Oregon, USA, CN83ik

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Re: USB G5500 controller
by George Henry 06 Mar '07

06 Mar '07

The ARRL SatTracker 688 that was recently featured in the Journal can be built for USB and/or RS-232, and is compatible with the G5400B and G5500 (jumper-selectable). There were a limited nmber of boards produced, beyond the original number for schools, that are/were available for $25 with pre-programmed PIC and all docs on CD. If building for USB, you do have to solder 1 surface-mount component. George, KA3HSW -----Original Message----- >From: sco(a)sco-inc.com >Sent: Mar 5, 2007 11:20 PM >To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org >Subject: [amsat-bb] USB G5500 controller > >Now that the piggyback is no longer available from NLSA (Nova) for >the Labjack what is available that uses a USB interface? > >Les W4SCO > >

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USB G5500 controller
by sco＠sco-inc.com 06 Mar '07

06 Mar '07

Now that the piggyback is no longer available from NLSA (Nova) for the Labjack what is available that uses a USB interface? Les W4SCO

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Re: GO-32
by Mineo Wakita 06 Mar '07

06 Mar '07

GO-32 system down. 435.225 MHz, 9600bps, KISS [2007-03-06 10:37:20z] TechRam1V9.86 [2007-03-06 10:37:50z] TechRam1V9.86 [2007-03-06 10:38:20z] TechRam1V9.86 [2007-03-06 10:38:50z] TechRam1V9.86 --------------------------------------------- Name: Mineo Wakita / JE9PEL, JAMSAT member Mail: ei7m-wkt(a)asahi-net.or.jp URL : http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/ QTH : Yokohama Japan, GL:pm95tj Date: Mar 6, 2007 ---------------------------------------------

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Uni Trac
by WA7HYD 06 Mar '07

06 Mar '07

Anyone know if Uni Trac is still in business. e-mail is bouncing back. Seems all of the tracker and interface manufacturers have folded up and disappeared. Newcomers to the satellite tracking segment are finding things a little rough going. ========= de WA7HYD Bob in WA

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Re: Rotor control interface for FT-736R/G5500
by Wayne Estes 06 Mar '07

06 Mar '07

Dave AA4KN wrote: What is a recommended computer interface/s (preferably less expensive, but reliable) for interfacing a Yaseu FT-736R with a Yaseu G5500 rotor system? Wayne W9AE replies: I don't think you need to connect your rotor to your FT-736R. You probably want to connect your rotor and FT-836 to a computer. If your computer has a parallel port, FODtrack would probably be the cheapest rotor interface you could build - about $25. Parallel and serial ports are going away, so you might want to get a USB interface that is likely to work on future computers. The $99 Labjack U3 and LVB tracker (kit sold by AMSAT-UK) are good options for a USB rotor interface. For the Labjack you would need to build a simple interface between the LABjack output terminals and your Yaesu rotor. Wayne Estes W9AE Oakland, Oregon, USA, CN83ik

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Help needed calibrating Nova, GS-232B, G5400B
by AJ9N＠aol.com 05 Mar '07

05 Mar '07

Hi all, One of the schools I am mentoring for an upcoming ARISS contact is having trouble getting Nova, a Yaesu GS-232B control box, and a Yaesu G5400B az/el rotor to work properly. If anyone has experience with this exact combination, please let me know ASAP. The main questions concern calibration. Thanks. 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS mentors <BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at http://www.aol.com.

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