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

Re: Help with CIV and IC-910H
by John Kopala 03 Apr '08

03 Apr '08

Ron, George has it exactly right. You don't need to fiddle with the radio except to tune up and down the passband to see if other people are on the bird. First select the satellite you want to access by clicking on one of the letters for the satellites you have configured on your SATPC32 display. The selected satellite will be highlighted on the display. Grey letters represent no configured satellite. In the upper left of the SATPC32 display, click on the C. It changes to C+ to show CAT tracking in activated. Watch the radio when you do this. It should respond by going into satellite mode and tuning to the frequencies shown in SATPC32. Sometimes I have to repeat this once or twice before the radio and SATPC32 sync up. Just check the frequency on the radio to verify that it has change to that displayed by the program. Next click on CAT in the menu bar. This opens the CAT Tuning display window. Here you can tweek the uplink and downlink frequencies if the downlink is too high or too low. It will need some adjustment depending on the satellite and the radio. With satellites with multiple modes, you can change modes here by just clicking on the appropriate line. Once the downlink sounds reasonable, you are good to go. You may have to tweek things a little on high passes. I've noticed the doppler seems to get off a little. On the FM birds, you don't have to touch the radio. On the SSB birds, you can tune for other operators. You will also have to tune to follow stations that are not using doppler control. If both stations have doppler control, you shouldn't have to do much of anything once you have found another station and started a QSO. If you change satellites, you must close and reopen the CAT box. John Kopala N7JK ------------------------------ With SatPC32, you won't need to set memories on the rig... in the Doppler.sqf file, you need to have an entry for VO-52 that looks like this: VO-52,145900,435250.3,USB,LSB,REV,0,0 This tells your radio the relationship between the uplink and downlink frequencies, what modes to use, etc., for that particular satellite. You can either open Doppler.sqf in Notepad (it's in the folder where you installed SatPC32, usually C:/Program Files/SatPC32), or from the Auxiliary Files section under the "?" option on the menu bar. Make sure that you not only have matched the addresses for your radio in the Setup menu, but the baudrate aand COM port as well, and put in a CAT delay value of around 60 or so. Then when you select VO-52 as the active satellite and press the "C" button in the upper left of the display, the program should automatically switch the radio to Satellite mode, LSB on the uplink, USB on the downlink, and set the frequencies to the values in the Doppler.sqf file. (Don't forget to turn the squelch knob, which is the RF Gain control in SSB mode, UP) You can then tune up or down from there manually, and the uplink VFO will track your changes to t! he downlink. Once you can hear yourself on the downlink, follow the instructions in the file FAQ.htm, in the section titled "AO-40 Operation," to fine-tune your uplink to match your downlink (every radio is slightly different). You should then be good to go! 73, George, KA3HSW -----Original Message----- >From: Ronald Nutter <rnutter(a)networkref.com> >Sent: Apr 2, 2008 9:31 AM >To: Bruce <snyderb(a)cox.net> >Cc: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org >Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Help with CIV and IC-910H > >Bruce: > >Think I found part of the problem. I glossed over the CIV addressing. >I am used to applications that "know" the default CIV addressing, so I >hadnt looked at it. Although I hadnt changed mine, I looked at the >settings in my 910H and changed the settings in SatPC32. I can now see >there some indication of RIG control. Have to figure out now how to get >things to work. > >I dont use the satellite function in the radio, I put the vhf frequency >in one memory and uhf in the other. I shift the receive channel into >the slave part of the radio (lower display) and put the transmit in the >higher display. > >I will continue to look at the docs for SatPC but would appreciate any >pointers you can give on how you use SatPC32 with the SSB birds (i.e. >setting up the radio, etc). > >Thanks, >Ron ------------------------------

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Dayton Rooms
by Martha 03 Apr '08

03 Apr '08

I have 8 rooms left in the AMSAT block. If they are not booked by April 14th, they go back to the hotel for use by the general public. If you are interested in a room, please call me at 301-589-6062 before April 14th. -- 73- Martha

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YO22NATO active on Satellites today
by Robert Turlington 03 Apr '08

03 Apr '08

Hi All YO22NATO will be active on AO27,SO50&AO51 today not sure after that though, so look out for him! I worked him at 1429 on SO50 this afternoon Regards Robert G8ATE _________________________________________________________________ Amazing prizes every hour with Live Search Big Snap http://www.bigsnapsearch.com

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Anyone hearing SO-50 in the US ?
by Ronald Nutter 03 Apr '08

03 Apr '08

I havent heard SO-50 on either of the two passes I could use today. I had heard it over the weekend. I had been on AO-51 and AO-16 today so I know my equipment is ok. Ron KA4KYI

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Re: Help with CIV and IC-910H
by Tim Tuck 03 Apr '08

03 Apr '08

D. Mynatt wrote: > Guys, I've been watching the conversation. I have a Icom R-20 HH; > will this work for receive-only okay? > Not knowing the R20, I couldn't say - its not in the list of supported radios for WispDDE but if it can be remotely controlled and its command set is similar to an R7000, R8500 or PCR-1000 - it might work. Someone else might like to chime in here if they've managed to get an R20 working. cheers Tim -- VK2XTT :: QF56if :: BMARC :: WIA :: AMSAT

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Re: ARR pre amp Query
by John W Lee 03 Apr '08

03 Apr '08

I have an FT-847 with the good internal preamps. The ARR SP432VDG even makes this setup BETTER! I use both the internal and SP-432VDG. Signals are mostly VERY good. Also use a 20 element beam on the downlink. When I say VERY good, I mean over S9 a lot of the time and all over the place between zero and 60 over 9. That way, you don't have to be so careful in aiming the antenna, and you can hear the birds basically 100% of the time. If the signal goes down a few S-units you can move the antenna and get it back up again. Without all that, when it goes down a few S-units, it's GONE! Regarding the power cable, I have been using two of these preamps for years and years with a small cable attached and no problems. 73 John K6YK On Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:03:10 -0500 "Alan" <ve4yz(a)mts.net> writes: > Very timely discussion for me as the snow sloooowwly disappears and > the > return of the Canada geese and robins signals the time for tower > work :-) > > Some previous comments suggest that a preamp near the rig is not > significant, but, I suggest otherwise as my Ft-847 internal preamps > can make > a significant difference in RX. Anecdotal, not empirical, but I can > hear > the diff at the push of a button. > > Now, I am consider mast mounted preamps as an alternative to my > FT-847 > internal preamps for one of my sites. I run Landwehr VHF and UHF > preamps at > 2 other locations and they are terrific! They are also almost 20 > years old > and no longer available :-( > > The preamps on the AR2 site look like what I could use. > > My questions are... Is the sequencer > > http://www.advancedreceiver.com/page20.html > > really necessary or recommended when using the MSP432VD-25 or > MSP144VDG-25 > preamps? My first thought is NO. 15-20 years of use of 4 Landwehr > preamps > without a sequencer is my rational. > > Finally, does anyone have a nice "warranty voiding" hack to get > around the > these different power connectors we see on indoor preamps and down > converters such as my KEPS http://www.keps.it/images/13lnc72db_m.jpg > ? > Instead of soldering to the pin and a ground lug > > http://picasaweb.google.com/ve4yz.alan/24Ghz/photo#5172119570416133618 > > Something as simple as removing the connector from the case and > running a > cable through the remaining hole, soldered internally with something > like > Anderson Power Poles at the other end for 12VDC????? I'm going to > do it one > day, but would rather have someone else confirm that it would work > without > adversely effecting performance characteristics. No guts; no glory > here. > > > Thanks for any feedback > > 73, Alan VE4YZ > EN19kw > AMSAT LM 2352 > http://www.mts.net/~ve4wsc/ > AMSAT A-485 > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > >

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Podcasts
by Bruce 03 Apr '08

03 Apr '08

Thanks to everyone that responded to me about podcasts. I was not able to get it working with the free software and the free online services. So, I worked up the XML code and put it on my website. If it works and doesn't kill the connection of my friends server, we will be good to go. I will let everyone know when it is tested and working well. 73...bruce -- Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards ARRL Awards Manager (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0100z on SkyScanner Satellite Radio Network on Galaxy-25 @97° West, Transponder 23 (12115 Vert), Symbol Rate: 22425, APID: 1794 (DVB Free To Air) Also streaming MP3 at http://www.amsatnet.com Latest satellite news on the ARRL Audio News http://www.arrl.org

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Re: Help with CIV and IC-910H
by Tim Tuck 03 Apr '08

03 Apr '08

Rafael Valdez G. wrote: > Tim, > > I have an ICOM 706 and use Orbitron, by any chance do you know if I > can do doppler control in it using the CIV? Yes, with WispDDE, Orbitron sends the data to WispDDE and it controls the radio. I don't think the 706 is full duplex but it should track nicely anyway. WispDDE also allows transparent tuning, i.e. If I hear someone in the passband up from my initial position I can tune the 910 and WispDDE will maintain the doppler shift by computing the delta between what Orbitron is telling it and what freq it gets back from the radio. All very cool. SatPC32 will do that too. cheers Tim -- VK2XTT :: QF56if :: BMARC :: WIA :: AMSAT

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Re: Preamp for a Mobile Application
by Tony Langdon 02 Apr '08

02 Apr '08

At 07:38 AM 4/3/2008, you wrote: >The "dollars to dBs" value proposition for pre-amps in a mobile >installation with short coax runs doesn't work out until after you >have an incredibly large antenna system. In the case of a mobile installation, I'd spend my money on the feedline. Design the coax run for 1.2 GHz or higher. Doing this means losses at 70cm will be negligible. Next, select an antenna suitable for what you are attempting to do. A 2m 1/4 wave might be a good option for mobile satellite work. With a high quality feedline, I actually had very good results working mobile on a high gain mobile whip, much to my surprise!. In any case, keep the gain low, you don't want all your radiation on the horizon, and directional antennas on a mobile are rarely practical (try aiming one on a winding road :D ). But first of all, spend the $$$$ on the feedline. 73 de VK3JED http://vkradio.com

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podcast
by Bruce 02 Apr '08

02 Apr '08

Someone suggested that I provide the Houston AMSAT Net as a podcast. I am not familiar with how Apple does this, can someone shed some light on how to send my mp3 files to them? I found a link on their website for using iTunes to set it up but it says that it requires XML and I do not have anything in the XML language. Can you just send them the file and they take care of it? Or is there a repository that you can send the file and that's it? 73...bruce -- Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards ARRL Awards Manager (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0100z on SkyScanner Satellite Radio Network on Galaxy-25 @97° West, Transponder 23 (12115 Vert), Symbol Rate: 22425, APID: 1794 (DVB Free To Air) Also streaming MP3 at http://www.amsatnet.com Latest satellite news on the ARRL Audio News http://www.arrl.org

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