December 2008 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

Compatible Radios
by Dave 05 Dec '08

05 Dec '08

Hi group, I decided after listening to the group that two radios for my sat station is the way to go. I have a IC-471 on the horizon but can't find a IC-271/275. I was wondering if there was a good substitute? Is there a Yaesu, Kenwood, another ICOM, or Alinco that will do the same multimode with CAT that will compliment but not duplicate the 471? I have some research about this and that radio, but Thank you, and I really appreciate all the help from the experts. Dave Mynatt Program Director ======================== http://sciencecenter.no-ip.org SID ID: S-0258 APRS Tier II Server @ pueblo.aprs2.net:14501 LAT: 38'16.278" N LON: -104'40.537" W Alt: 1460m DM78qd // KA0SWT

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AO 51 Special event callsighn Info request
by Callum Graham 05 Dec '08

05 Dec '08

On the 12th April 2008 I worked a special call sighn on AO 51. The special event was an anniversary of cosmonaut Yuri Gargaren (April 12 1962) The special call sighn was GB3CD. Did anyone else in the U.K. work this station and if possible could they give me the details of the QSL address etc as i never sent for a QSL for the QSO as i wasn't long on the air, I remember looking the call up on qrz but never noted the details. 73 De MM3YCG

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for Eric W3DQ
by Alan Sieg WB5RMG 05 Dec '08

05 Dec '08

Pardon the bandwidth, but I'm having trouble replying to an email I received from Eric W3DQ... Apparently you are receiving these OK from AMSAT-BB. I tried a reply to your arrl.net address from your email, but the delivery failure message I got back indicated a problem sending to "wd3q(a)st_________.net ... Which did not appear correct. So I tried another reply directly to "w3dq(a)st_________.net - but it also failed... /;^( Something may be out of whack somewhere, you may want to follow-up. Let me know when to try again ... Thanks /;^) -- <- Licensed in 1976, WB5RMG = Alan Sieg * AMSAT#20554 -> <- http://www.somenet.net * http://wb5rmg.somenet.net ->

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Remembering . . .
by Alan Sieg WB5RMG 05 Dec '08

05 Dec '08

In some vanilla folder in an overcrowded file drawer is my OscarLocator, with several pages of EQX tables for Oscars 6 & 7 . . . We sure do appreciate ya Tom, Mr."Why waste all this space"..!.. And Phil, Ralph, Jan, Perry, and untold dozens of others . . . Where would we be now otherwise ... ... ... Hopefully some of the new SatOps can read enough of these old scans to pick up on the passion of the past and help carry us on into the future. We gotta keep this dream alive. All the easy stuff has been done, now the real work begins - creating the future. Step up to the plate folks ! Thanks AMSAT /;^) -- <- Licensed in 1976, WB5RMG = Alan Sieg * AMSAT#20554 -> <- http://www.somenet.net * http://wb5rmg.somenet.net ->

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Remembering a part of AMSAT's History
by Tom Clark, K3IO 05 Dec '08

05 Dec '08

Phil Karn, KA9Q (with help from W0RPK) has been posting a complete set of AMSAT's history in posting AMSAT's Newsletters/Magazines in the 1975-1999 era at http://www.ka9q.net/newsletters.html. Many of these really bring tears to my eyes! -- especially the ORBIT and ASRs from 1980-1985. This was the era when we built Phase-3A only to have it lost as the 2nd test flight of the Arianne launcher self-destructed seconds after the launch. We took that failure as a challenge to rebuild the AMSAT organization and the replacement Phase-3B spacecraft. Anyone who would like to learn more about our legacy should read the publications from the early 80's. There is another story in those newsletters. In the early 1980's, a few amateurs were learning about computers. The pre-1980 LEO satellites could be tracked using only the time of equator crossing and a simple plotting board. However the HEO Phase-3 satellites in elliptical orbits made the job a lot harder. In Orbit #6 (see http://www.ka9q.net/AMSAT-ORBIT-6.pdf) I started AMSAT on the "open source" software track by publishing the source code (in BASIC) for a the algorithms needed to do the job on a personally owned computer; at the time, the detractors said "Why waste all this space in the magazine. Only a few amateurs will ever own computers with enough horsepower to do these calculations!" I held fast and we published the article anyway. In the next 5-10 years, clones and graphical adaptations of "IWI Orbits" by others for many computers were added. AMSAT's "sales" of copies of the many variants of my open-source software put nearly $100,000 into the till to build AO-10 and -13. My thanks to Phil & Ralph for giving me the chance to reminisce one more time! 73 de Tom, K3IO (ex W3IWI)

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Re: AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 3, Issue 632
by Frank H. Bauer 04 Dec '08

04 Dec '08

All, Some clarifications. First, it was not NASA that talked about the ARISS Special Events, it was the ARISS team. Second, we have already started the events with some SSTV downlinks. And Mike Fincke was on the air on voice earlier today. Third, as I mentioned in my e-mail on this: "We would like to remind everyone that ISS flight requirements related to EVA and vehicle activity may require the radio to be off for some portion of this schedule. And school contacts and general QSO opportunities by the crew will also preempt this schedule for short periods of time. (But remember that if you hear these, you still qualify for a commemorative certificate)." We do need to remember that the crew sets the systems up on their free time and when it does not interfere with other on-orbit activities. And the ARISS team has the same "crystal ball" as you do. We rarely get word from the crew ahead of time if they can support a specific event or not. So stay tuned! 73, Frank Bauer, KA3HDO AMSAT-NA V.P. for Human Spaceflight Programs ARISS International Chairman ------------------------------ Message: 5 Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2008 11:29:14 -0800 From: "Call Sign" <ki6rrq(a)cox.net> Subject: [amsat-bb] ISS Special Events Dec 2008 To: <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Message-ID: <008e01c95646$97b28b90$6401a8c0@agentj07qkr8dt> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" NASA said that December was going to produce some special HAM events on the International Space Station. Included in these, it was reported, that between December 1-7, the ISS cross band repeater would be active and there would be some SSTV pics transmitted. Special undisclosed future December events were to come but not disclosed. As of UTC 1900 12-4-08, HAM reports, as well as my attempts, are negative for any contacts on the cross band repeater. I cant find any additional news, does anyone have any further updates or reality on ISS coms..... right now or this month? Rich KI6RRQ ------------------------------

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ISS Special Events Dec 2008
by Call Sign 04 Dec '08

04 Dec '08

NASA said that December was going to produce some special HAM events on the International Space Station. Included in these, it was reported, that between December 1-7, the ISS cross band repeater would be active and there would be some SSTV pics transmitted. Special undisclosed future December events were to come but not disclosed. As of UTC 1900 12-4-08, HAM reports, as well as my attempts, are negative for any contacts on the cross band repeater. I cant find any additional news, does anyone have any further updates or reality on ISS coms..... right now or this month? Rich KI6RRQ

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Re: Yaesu CT-62
by gregory.beat＠comcast.net 04 Dec '08

04 Dec '08

Nick - I believe that I picked up a Yaesu CT-62 CAT interface cable (part of an estate sale) this past summer. Let me check tonight -- when I get home. IF so, I think that this amateur elf .... can throw the CT-62 in Santa's gift bag before he arrives on Christmas day. Ho Ho Ho (or is it Hi Hi Hi?) 73 de greg w9gb ----- Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2008 06:24:37 -0600 From: "Nick Pugh" <quadpugh(a)bellsouth.net> Subject: [amsat-bb] yease ct-62 To: <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Message-ID: <004801c9560b$467b8960$d3729c20$@net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Does anyone on the list know where I can get a schematic of a Yaesu CT-62 cat interface cable? Thanks nick

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Re: rotor replacement pots
by Fred A Parker 04 Dec '08

04 Dec '08

A digital encoder would be the most accurate. USdigital http://www.usdigital.com/support/glossary#glossary_opticalencoder manufactures inexpensive encoders. With these and a step servo drive in example a Gecko drive http://www.geckodrive.com/product.aspx?c=2&i=14456 one could build a rotor that would be accurate to a thousand of a degree. Fred KF0AK

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January 2001 CQ Mag
by Angelo Glorioso (n5uxt) 04 Dec '08

04 Dec '08

Hello All, I am posting this here for help in locating an article in the Jan CQ Magazine 2001. The article starts on Page 18 about an inverted L antenna. I use to have all the copy of cq until I lost everything in Katrina. If someone could scan the article I would appreciate it. 73 de Angelo PS: Sorry for posting this here but this group is the most informative of them all.

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