AMSAT-BB August 2008

173 participants
282 discussions

Call for Papers--2007 ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference

by Ford, Steve, WB8IMY

Technical papers are solicited for presentation at the 26th Annual ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference to be held September 28-30, 2007 in Hartford, Connecticut. These papers will also be published in the Conference Proceedings (you do NOT need to attend the conference to have your paper included in the Proceedings). The submission deadline is July 31, 2007. Please send papers to: Maty Weinberg ARRL 225 Main St Newington, CT 06111 or you can make your submission via e-mail to: maty(a)arrl.org Papers will be published exactly as submitted and authors will retain all rights. 73 . . . Steve, WB8IMY ARRL

10 years, 4 months

way of satellite recovery?

by AB2VY

Hi to everybody, after have reading this article about the possibility of bringing Vanguard 1 back to Earth http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23639980/ , an "unhealthy" idea has crossed my brain... , premise that Vanguard 1 is "3.25-pound (1.5-kilogram), 6.4-inch-wide (16.3-centimeter-wide)" so little.. , a program to recover/repair something of too bigger ( like... AO40 ?? ......) is possible ? if the answer is "yes" the costs are too bigger or too low than the launch costs (4.5 million to 15 million Euros to launch) explained by David G0MRF in the past message? Logically it is necessary that NASA has a similar mission to which rely... would be an interesting study on this possibility of recovery/repair a satellite like AO40 "dead" in space this message wants to be an open track for a discussion about "Satellite repair in Space" thanks for your attention and best 73 Giulio AB2VY (ex KC2OTB) c/o Toms River NJ AMSAT-NA member 36417 Posta, news, sport, oroscopo: tutto in una sola pagina. Crea l'home page che piace a te! www.yahoo.it/latuapagina

14 years

AMSAT Board Meetings

by Frank H. Bauer

All, Please recognize that all board meetings are open to all. Attend and enjoy!! I have been an AMSAT member since 1981 and have seen the board minutes in the Journal for as long as I can remember. Yes, it does take a few months to get these in the Journal.but that is mainly to ensure accuracy for the members. If you want to get the details of the board meetings, I suggest you either attend the meeting (and hear it in real time) or get the journal. Those that volunteer to transcribe the board minutes from the tapes spend a lot of their personal time in getting the minutes accurate. I thank them for their outstanding support to AMSAT. 73, Frank Bauer, KA3HDO

14 years, 2 months

AO-16 Update and brief mode change

by Mark L. Hammond

Hello All, AO-16 has been in its "voice mode" continuously for nearly a month now. Many thanks to all the users of this "new" bird! It is time to pause voice operations long to receive some MBL telemetry (limited as it is, it's all we have). Around 0920 UTC on 17FEB08 I plan to return AO-16 to digital mode in order to receive some telemetry. If all goes as planned, it should be back to "voice mode" during the same pass. If not, I'll try to catch it on the 1056 UTC pass. Most of you will be asleep, so I don't think it will interfere with too many contacts. Looking to the future, we can see that after several months of continuous illumination, AO-16 will begin to experience eclipse periods at the end of March. The eclipse periods will increase and extend through the summer. This may impact AO-16's power budget such that the transmitter output will have to be reduced in order to protect its 18 year old batteries. We'll know more after the eclipse periods begin in late March and early April. In the meanwhile, enjoy AO-16 and her strong signals! 73 on behalf of the command team, Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

14 years, 2 months

preamps

by Michael Heim

A recent post mentioned the need for a preamp. This reminded me of something I want to share with the group. Station here consists of an FT-817ND and an FT-857D. The 817 is pretty sensitive on UHF, but the 857 is a little lacking in comparison. I was looking for a preamp online that would help, especially with the 857. I went and ordered a Ramsey PR40. I figured for $15 I couldnt go wrong. Although its not a GaAs device, (its a bipolar), it works pretty well. I actually didnt want a GaAs because I was afraid of blowing the device anyway, being I'm running a homebrew "Arrow style" antenna on a fixed elevation mast, and the 144 MHz leakage getting into the preamp would probably blow the device the first time I keyed. I am not using any TR switching on the preamp. (I only work the FM birds at this time). After building the kit, I put it up, worked a pass on AO-27, then goofed and sent 432 TX energy up the line, blew the amp. I ordered replacement transistors from MCM for $.52 each! Although I cannot measure noise figure, it specs at 1dB, 15 dB gain. I know it makes a HUGE difference on my end. Satellites that were noisy before are now full quieting and armchair copy I have found this item a very cost effective solution. I wanted to share this experience with the group. I'm just pleased with the preamp and of course, receive no personal gain by recommending this product. Michael Heim ARS KD0AR

14 years, 2 months

IC-910H question

by W0DXZ＠aol.com

went to plug in my CW paddle to the back of my IC-910H,,, the manual shows a standard 1/4 inch phono plug,,, the back of my radio has something else... I havent turned it all the way around to see what it is, have to disconnect lots of wires,,,but it isn't a 1/4 inch plug... anyone else notice this? Bob DM33 **************It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal here. (http://information.travel.aol.com/deals?ncid=aoltrv00050000000047)

14 years, 2 months

apparent beacon on 435.300

by Michael Heim

I've heard a CW beacon a couple of times operating on or around 435.300. Unfortunately I dont have exact times from my QTH, but I cant find anything in the satellite list on AMSAT's site that has a working beacon on this frequency (or anywhere close). I heard it about 23:45Z, breaking the squelch (on FM) while waiting for the next AO-51 pass. This will put it about 10-15 mins before AOS for AO-51 from my QTH in EN90rw. Pardon me if there is an obvious answer to this, but I'm not familiar with all the ham birds up there yet. Just trying to figure out what I could be hearing? This is not the first time I've heard CW on this freq. Michael Heim ARS KD0AR

14 years, 2 months

Re: kg7p email?

by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)

Hi Bob! > Does KG7P have an email address? Worked him 2x today on > SO-52, good > signal > into AZ, also heard Patrick, WD9EWK, strong signal. I Thanks for the signal report! That was a 75-degree VO-52 pass out here in DM44ha, and at times my little FT-817ND receive radio was up to S-7 and S-8 as the satellite went by. I'm not making lots of SSB satellite QSOs, but I am making QSOs. Little by little, I am improving my skills in dealing with these satellites. Still fun! I did not see an e-mail address for KG7P in a quick search. Not a problem here - Stan said he was going to QSL, and I will certainly send my card his way for another VO-52 QSO in my log. > can get into the > sat, and can hear it, now working on coordingating tx and rx. Are you going with computer control, or just manually doing that initially? Have you tried AO-7 and Delfi-C3 (DO-64), or just VO-52 so far? I don't remember if you have preamps in your setup - do you? Good luck, and hope to work you on the SSB birds soon. You can see my portable SSB satellite setup in 2 weeks, at the upcoming ARRL Southwestern Division convention (12-14 September). I'll be on VO-52 as well as the FM birds doing demonstrations during the convention. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

14 years, 2 months

kg7p email?

by W0DXZ＠aol.com

Does KG7P have an email address? Worked him 2x today on SO-52, good signal into AZ, also heard Patrick, WD9EWK, strong signal. I can get into the sat, and can hear it, now working on coordingating tx and rx. Bob W0DXZ DM33 **************It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal here. (http://information.travel.aol.com/deals?ncid=aoltrv00050000000047)

14 years, 2 months

Re: preamps

by Michael Heim

Hey Doug, I use it on both radios. Improves both radios very nicely. I can even hear the birds when they go behind the trees, where I couldnt make out the audio before. Worked all 3 FM birds on it now, and there is a day and night difference on either radio I use. Just be careful you dont transmit on 435 mhz. I did, and the transistor will pop instantly. I put my preamp between the 435 feed and the diplexer. Its safe with up to 20 watts TX on 145, no burnouts... I worked the last pass running that much, I havent tried it with more. No filtering on the input, used an arrow-like HB antenna. Pretty rugged, if its not mistreated (ie. transmitting on 435). Also, I am working on an eggbeater for use on the SSB birds. Going to start testing the 435 version after I send this email off. Because I'm not switching the preamp, I have to go this route with seperate TX/RX antennas for these birds. Michael Heim ARS KD0AR ----- Original Message ---- From: Doug Faunt N6TQS +1-510-655-8604 <faunt(a)panix.com> To: kd0ar(a)sbcglobal.net Sent: Sunday, August 31, 2008 1:37:14 PM Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] preamps Does it improve the FT817? Mine seems to work well, but for $20.... I use the 817 for RX, and an ICOM IC706MKIIG or IC7000 for TX. 73, doug Date: Sun, 31 Aug 2008 09:59:33 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Heim <kd0ar(a)sbcglobal.net> A recent post mentioned the need for a preamp. This reminded me of something I want to share with the group. Station here consists of an FT-817ND and an FT-857D. The 817 is pretty sensitive on UHF, but the 857 is a little lacking in comparison. I was looking for a preamp online that would help, especially with the 857. I went and ordered a Ramsey PR40. I figured for $15 I couldnt go wrong. Although its not a GaAs device, (its a bipolar), it works pretty well. I actually didnt want a GaAs because I was afraid of blowing the device anyway, being I'm running a homebrew "Arrow style" antenna on a fixed elevation mast, and the 144 MHz leakage getting into the preamp would probably blow the device the first time I keyed. I am not using any TR switching on the preamp. (I only work the FM birds at this time). After building the kit, I put it up, worked a pass on AO-27, then goofed and sent 432 TX energy up the line, blew the amp. I ordered replacement transistors from MCM for $.52 each! Although I cannot measure noise figure, it specs at 1dB, 15 dB gain. I know it makes a HUGE difference on my end. Satellites that were noisy before are now full quieting and armchair copy I have found this item a very cost effective solution. I wanted to share this experience with the group. I'm just pleased with the preamp and of course, receive no personal gain by recommending this product. Michael Heim ARS KD0AR _______________________________________________ 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

14 years, 2 months

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AMSAT-BB August 2008