AMSAT-BB June 2008

173 participants
281 discussions

Re: Eliminating Desensing
by Jim Wright 30 Jun '08

30 Jun '08

A good start might be a "diplexer" at the antenna to terminate the energy you do not want presented at the receiver. Put a termination on the uhf port and stick it in the vhf side of the feedline, assuming you are running two coax cables down to the shack. If the VHF is desensing the UHF, do the same thing in the UHF feedline with a termination in the VHF port. You don't say how much power you were running, but there comes a time when too much is too much. Using two runs of 100 feet of 9913 on my TS2000, I only need the diplexer on the UHF coax. Funny how the third harmonic on VHF gets to be awfully close to the UHF frequency of interest. My watt meter can't tell the difference in UHF or 3 times VHF when I try to read the power. HI. 73, Jim WA4IVM On Mon, Jun 30, 2008 at 1:18 PM, Simon Brown (HB9DRV) wrote: > Same here with TS-2000, 6ft *aluminium* boom and SSB Electronics > masthead pre-amps. I'm thinking about a 6ft to 9ft fibreglass boom anyway, I would be interested also in user comments. Simon Brown, HB9DRV -------------------------------------------------- From: "Reicher, James" <JReicher(a)hrblock.com <mailto:[email protected]> <mailto:[email protected]> > > I got significant de-sensing of my 2 meter downlink from my 70cm > uplink at Field Day. I know a good part of it was due to the short > cross-boom (about 4 feet) I was using. I would like to decrease the > de-sense on this set-up before I permanently install it at my home > station. Any and all suggestions are welcome. _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. <mailto:[email protected]> <mailto:[email protected]> 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 <http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb> <http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb>

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CUTE-1.7+APDII picture information
by Mineo Wakita 30 Jun '08

30 Jun '08

[CUTE-1.7+APDII Earth 3rd picture] The photo was taken at 01:08:30 (UTC) on Jun 25, 2008. Position of the satellite was; Lat: 44.9 degN Lon: 134.3 degE Alt: 621.3 km Horizontal angle of view is 58degrees. Over Russia Vladivostok Japanese weather satellite, "MTSAT-1R" took a picture of clouds on 01:00 UTC on Jun 25, 2008. We, the Tokyo Tech Ground Station, are still investigating what is in this picture. Carefully watch it and try to find "something"! http://lss.mes.titech.ac.jp/ssp/cute1.7/blog/01-04.jpg http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/cut17ap2.htm JE9PEL, Mineo Wakita

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Re: FW: THIS SHOULD PISS YOU OFF...................IT DID ME!!!!
by Dave Guimont 29 Jun '08

29 Jun '08

> >Subject: Fw: THIS SHOULD PISS YOU OFF...................IT DID ME!!!! >Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 01:40:29 +0000 > > >---------- >From: JAGTRIG9(a)aol.com >Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2008 7:44 PM >To: JAGTRIG9(a)aol.com >Subject: THIS SHOULD PISS YOU OFF...................IT DID ME!!!! > > >This is an insult and a kick in the butt to all of us... > >Get mad and pass it on - I don't know how, but maybe some good >Will come of this travesty. > > >If the immigrant is over 65 they can apply for SSI and Medicaid and get >More than a woman on Social Security, who worked from 1944 >till 2004, only getting $791 per month because she was born in 1924 and >There is a 'catch 22. Liscensed since 1952, politics and women were NEVER DISCUSSED in/on HAM RADIO!! What in the hell has changed????...... Women ok, but had no idea the Republicans are that desperate!! Good for the dems!! END OF MY POLITICS... 73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1(a)san.rr.com Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E...

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Alfa-Spid AzEl Rotator Experiences or Recommendations?
by Alan P. Biddle 29 Jun '08

29 Jun '08

Hi, It is beginning to look as if it is time to replace my venerable Yaesu rotators after 20 years of abuse. I was wondering what experience people have had with the "new" AzEl rotator? (The http://www.alfaradio.ca/alfaspid.html web page calling it the "new" rotator was last updated in 2003, so that is probably any relatively recent purchase.) Doing the Google and checking eHam picked up a lot of discussion, but mostly of the standard Az rotators. The reports are mostly highly positive, with a small minority complaining of flimsy electrical connectors and gears. The latter seem to apply to older units. The M2 units are certainly impressive, but physically large enough to be a problem, as well as being pricey. TNX es 73s, Alan WA4SCA ----------------------------------- There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture from such a trifling investment of fact. Mark Twain

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DX assist AO-7
by w7lrd＠comcast.net 29 Jun '08

29 Jun '08

Hello everyone I'm trying to stretch the foot print, again. I am trying to QSO with Paul 2M1EUB. We share a ever so short window. I'm not sure of his email connection at his portable QTH for this week, his grid is IO87rj, I am in CN89wk should someone know how to figure the distance I'd like to know. Somewhere there is web link that will figure that. Also does anyone know his favorite downlink spot on AO-7, time is too short to hunt around. Should Paul and I make this QSO it might even best a good dx connect by our dear friend K3SZH. We must keep Joe on his toes! 73 & thanks Bob W7LRD Seattle CN87wk -- "if this were easy, everyone would be doing it"

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Re: ARISS Opportunity...
by AJ9N＠aol.com 29 Jun '08

29 Jun '08

Hi all, I listened to the Robinson contact via the IRLP Discovery Reflector on the Internet on the 25th. Several of the other ARISS mentors also listened in. Nancy WH6PN did her normal outstanding job. At our weekly telecon meeting later that same day we did discuss the audio levels and time delays; something we always discuss after a telebridge contact. For this contact there was a delay of about 5.5 to 6 minutes between real time and when it came across the Internet. So if one was listening only at the real time AOS and gave up after a minute or 2; then you would have missed the contact. There is always about a 5 minute delay of the audio when it comes across the Internet. I believe that if you are listening in on an IRLP repeater that the audio is delayed only a few seconds. At the moment we have had 350 successful contacts. I believe we have had 3 contacts that were deemed outright failures. We have had I think 2 or 3 that were considered failures on the scheduled contact day but were rescheduled and were successful on the 2nd attempt. ARISS says congratulations to all of the school groups and hams around the world who have made that happen. Often times, that is the first satellite contact for the hams. When Kenneth or I post the ARISS announcements, we do try to indicate if Echolink or IRLP will be included but often times it is a last minute decision. If it is a telebridge contact, then the odds are pretty high that it will be on one or both. If it is a direct contact, then it is up to the ham group doing the contact to decide if they want to feed audio to IRLP, Echolink, or to their own webpage as it is an extra burden on them. ARISS does not require a group to do a simulcast but does encourage it. If we know it might happen, then I usually indicate "watch". If we know it is going to happen, the I usually indicate "should be" or something along those lines. As far as NASA TV providing coverage, we have been told to not expect it and not to ask for it. Remember ARISS is a guest on the ISS and we don't want to wear out our welcome. So ARISS does not request coverage. If on the oft chance that a camera does show an ARISS contact in progress, then consider it a blessing. Hope this helps. ARISS encourages everyone to find a school, fill out the application, and get on the waiting list. I think you will find it a great experience. Think of it as your most tension filled Field Day that you will ever do. Plan on anywhere from 500 to 700 people hours; all of this for a 10 minute contact that the kids (and parents too) will remember for a long long time. 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS mentors In a message dated 6/29/2008 9:35:03 A.M. Central Daylight Time, ka3hdo(a)comcast.net writes: Dexter, This is a very interesting comment from the JSC Public Affairs Office. As a NASA employee and the ARISS Chair, I will make sure we get this comment clarified. This sounds very strange and out of character from our dealings with the NASA Public Affairs Office. It may be one person's misperceptions, which needs to be clarified. You all probably know this, but the ARISS success rate with schools is well over 90%, so reliability is not an issue. That is why we have mentors working with each school. Now, WRT the IRLP and echolink, I cannot answer that right this moment as I was not on the Operations teleconference last week, so I did not hear what happened. Kenneth Ransom and Charlie Sufana follow this reflector pretty closely and I am sure they will speak up before I get the info and get it in an e-mail. But we will provide details on this for you and those on bb fairly soon. I thank you for your sincere interest in the ARISS program. And your interest in inspiring students to pursue careers in science and engineering. And to pursue the amateur radio hobby. 73, Frank Bauer, KA3HDO AMSAT V.P. for Human Spaceflight Programs ARISS International Chairman --------------------------------------------- From: Dexter N Muir <dexy(a)ihug.co.nz> Subject: [amsat-bb] ARISS Opportunity... To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Message-ID: <200806281503.14020.dexy(a)ihug.co.nz> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Greetings all First post, so I hope it works. Here is reply from NASA (and my original) <Quote> Dear Mr. Muir: Thank you for your note. We are sorry about your disappointment. Speaking just of NASA TV, we do not carry Ham radio events because of reliability issues. We wish we could offer you better news. We appreciate your interest in the space program. Thanks, The JSC PAO Web Team -----Original Message----- From: Dexter N Muir [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 8:24 PM To: JSC-HSF-Web-Mail Subject: Opportunity lost! Greetings from 'Down Under' (KiwiSat land) A golden opportunity lost! ARISS had scheduled a contact with Robinson Elementary School, Robinson, Texas via telebridge WH6PN in Hawaii on 25 Jun 2008 at 15:45 UTC. At this time ISS _was_ over Hawaii, and ISS was scheduled to be in its Live Commentary period. There was NO audio from the telebrige WH6PN on either Echolink or the IRLP Discovery Reflector, and NASA TV's 'live coverage' segment made absolutely NO mention of the event - in fact, no 'on-board' coverage was shown at all! ISS was out of range of TDRSS earlier, but would surely have been back in touch by then? A camera at the ARISS position should have been easy to arrange, even if there is not one already present in that segment. What happened? Was there some other pressing event that could not be re-scheduled? A technical fault (though nothing was mentioned of such)? Did 'dirtside' cancel at the last minute? All Internet links showed the event would run as advertised right up to time. Echolink *AMSAT* Conference gives feedback on who is connected, and I observed 6 other stations on at that time (incidentally 3:45 AM next morning here in New Zealand). That is 6 parents or grandparents (like me) keen to demonstrate live one-on-one communications with an Astronaut IN SPACE, who are now extremely disappointed. For myself, it was my first attempt at such a conference, and I am _really_ glad I tried solo without getting 3 grandkids out of bed. Despite this disappointment, I will try again (solo), and given at least _some_ measure of success am likely to bring said children and perhaps others to witness the event some time in the future. THESE are your REAL audience - the Astronauts, Scientists and Engineers of the future! Sincerely Dexter N Muir, ZL2DEX (Radio Ham since 1969) Levin, New Zealand </Quote> Is this really a reliability issue, or somebody so high they don't smell very nice (thinking more govt than anything else) deciding that Amateur = Ham-fisted, and not realising that the 'Hams' involved are mostly professionals and, because they LOVE what they do (the original meaning, from Latin), make professional-level efforts to DO IT RIGHT. Besides, the exercise is NOT 'Carrying Ham radio events', but more an issue of continuing existing coverage, in similar manner to one of the Astronauts doing a video-tour of the premises (which they do from time to time). As I had pointed out, there is probably a camera already there - the 'Ham Shack' is in or near the 'Kitchen' area, which has been 'vid-casted' before. Can we do better? Can we pressure someone/somewhere to not let this sort of opportunity pass again? BTW - what DID happen? Anyone? _______________________________________________ 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 **************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)

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RS-15 heard again
by Auke de Jong, VE6PWN 29 Jun '08

29 Jun '08

I just copied the beacon on 29.351, after not hearing anything for a long tmie. It's sending relatively short duration pulses today... 1 second on, 2 seconds off, give or take... later in the ascending pass(as I write this) , times are up to greater-than 4 seconds off /.75 seconds on Does that mean the spacecraft is warm? Strange, that this is the ONLY mode-A signal around these days-besides AO-7 if she feels like it ;) Auke de Jong VE6PWN DO33go Edmonton, AB

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436cp30
by Jim Danehy 29 Jun '08

29 Jun '08

Alan (wa4sca) I think many of us have come to accept (not expect) glitches from manufacturers. M Square apologized. I told them we all goof up at some time. I heard from a few folks with a direct email. One told me that he did not measure his elements. He just sorted them by size. The purpose of my email was to call attention that you can not do that and get the maximum results from the product. It can be difficult to call attention to a mistake by someone with a good reputation. I may add the polarity switcher and appreciate your "heads up". The drawing for my beam shows a 1994 date for the last revision. The initial drawing was 1990. Jim W9VNE

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USB to serial adaptor
by ANTHONY JAPHA 29 Jun '08

29 Jun '08

The one from Radio Shack is terrific. I've used 2 of them simultaneously for CAT control and N1MM with no probelms. You set the COM ports in setting up, but never again. 73, Tony, N2UN

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ARISS Opportunity...
by Frank H. Bauer 29 Jun '08

29 Jun '08

Dexter, This is a very interesting comment from the JSC Public Affairs Office. As a NASA employee and the ARISS Chair, I will make sure we get this comment clarified. This sounds very strange and out of character from our dealings with the NASA Public Affairs Office. It may be one person's misperceptions, which needs to be clarified. You all probably know this, but the ARISS success rate with schools is well over 90%, so reliability is not an issue. That is why we have mentors working with each school. Now, WRT the IRLP and echolink, I cannot answer that right this moment as I was not on the Operations teleconference last week, so I did not hear what happened. Kenneth Ransom and Charlie Sufana follow this reflector pretty closely and I am sure they will speak up before I get the info and get it in an e-mail. But we will provide details on this for you and those on bb fairly soon. I thank you for your sincere interest in the ARISS program. And your interest in inspiring students to pursue careers in science and engineering. And to pursue the amateur radio hobby. 73, Frank Bauer, KA3HDO AMSAT V.P. for Human Spaceflight Programs ARISS International Chairman --------------------------------------------- From: Dexter N Muir <dexy(a)ihug.co.nz> Subject: [amsat-bb] ARISS Opportunity... To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Message-ID: <200806281503.14020.dexy(a)ihug.co.nz> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Greetings all First post, so I hope it works. Here is reply from NASA (and my original) <Quote> Dear Mr. Muir: Thank you for your note. We are sorry about your disappointment. Speaking just of NASA TV, we do not carry Ham radio events because of reliability issues. We wish we could offer you better news. We appreciate your interest in the space program. Thanks, The JSC PAO Web Team -----Original Message----- From: Dexter N Muir [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 8:24 PM To: JSC-HSF-Web-Mail Subject: Opportunity lost! Greetings from 'Down Under' (KiwiSat land) A golden opportunity lost! ARISS had scheduled a contact with Robinson Elementary School, Robinson, Texas via telebridge WH6PN in Hawaii on 25 Jun 2008 at 15:45 UTC. At this time ISS _was_ over Hawaii, and ISS was scheduled to be in its Live Commentary period. There was NO audio from the telebrige WH6PN on either Echolink or the IRLP Discovery Reflector, and NASA TV's 'live coverage' segment made absolutely NO mention of the event - in fact, no 'on-board' coverage was shown at all! ISS was out of range of TDRSS earlier, but would surely have been back in touch by then? A camera at the ARISS position should have been easy to arrange, even if there is not one already present in that segment. What happened? Was there some other pressing event that could not be re-scheduled? A technical fault (though nothing was mentioned of such)? Did 'dirtside' cancel at the last minute? All Internet links showed the event would run as advertised right up to time. Echolink *AMSAT* Conference gives feedback on who is connected, and I observed 6 other stations on at that time (incidentally 3:45 AM next morning here in New Zealand). That is 6 parents or grandparents (like me) keen to demonstrate live one-on-one communications with an Astronaut IN SPACE, who are now extremely disappointed. For myself, it was my first attempt at such a conference, and I am _really_ glad I tried solo without getting 3 grandkids out of bed. Despite this disappointment, I will try again (solo), and given at least _some_ measure of success am likely to bring said children and perhaps others to witness the event some time in the future. THESE are your REAL audience - the Astronauts, Scientists and Engineers of the future! Sincerely Dexter N Muir, ZL2DEX (Radio Ham since 1969) Levin, New Zealand </Quote> Is this really a reliability issue, or somebody so high they don't smell very nice (thinking more govt than anything else) deciding that Amateur = Ham-fisted, and not realising that the 'Hams' involved are mostly professionals and, because they LOVE what they do (the original meaning, from Latin), make professional-level efforts to DO IT RIGHT. Besides, the exercise is NOT 'Carrying Ham radio events', but more an issue of continuing existing coverage, in similar manner to one of the Astronauts doing a video-tour of the premises (which they do from time to time). As I had pointed out, there is probably a camera already there - the 'Ham Shack' is in or near the 'Kitchen' area, which has been 'vid-casted' before. Can we do better? Can we pressure someone/somewhere to not let this sort of opportunity pass again? BTW - what DID happen? Anyone?

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AMSAT-BB June 2008