October 2009 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

satpc32 and labjack help
by Nick Pugh K5QXJ 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

I have satpc32 and labjack is there a stall command option ? Thanks nick

2 2

Weekend on the Birds
by John Papay 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

This past weekend on the birds was second to none that I've experienced in the past two years. We had grid dxpeditions on the east and west coast, two hamfest demonstrations, the Boy Scout Jamboree stations and an Alaska Statehood special event station operating. Patrick, WD9EWK, was at the Old Pueblo Radio Club Hamfest in Tucson and made a big detour to continue down I-10 to the Arizona/New Mexico state line where he operated from in the afternoon. Doug, KD8CAO, was at the Holland Michigan Lakeshore Super Swap Hamfest and put on a demonstration there. Mark WA8SME operated on one AO-27 pass from the DN00/DN01 grid boundary, two very rare Nevada grids. John W6ZKH operated from DM07 but had some trouble with his equipment on this particular pass. He said he will go back some day. Mark also said he might be able to operate from DM07 in the near future. Then we had the Boy Scouts Jamboree on the Air with quite a few different stations operating on all of the FM birds including K2BSA/5, W0S, K5B etc. The most prominent grid dxpedition this weekend was by Richard, N2SPI. He had originally planned to operate from FN53, FN56, FN57, FN66 and FN67 but he found a way to also operate from FN55 and FN65 as well. He worked on the FM birds as well as VO-52. This operation began Saturday morning and finished up Sunday afternoon, about 30 hours from the first qso until the last on AO-27 at 1853z. Richard operated at least one pass in each of seven grids and never operated on a grid boundary. This was quite a trip! Richard returned back to Massachusetts late Sunday night. The weekend rounded out with an announcement to look for KL5O, an Alaska Special Event Station, on the birds. The AO-7 pass Sunday evening at 0043Z had at least 14 different stations operating including WV9E, KE5GFJ, WA4NVM, AA4FL, AA5PK, K6CDW, KE2CKO, K0OU, K3SZH, AJ9K, KD8CAO, W7LRD, K8YSE and KL5O! KL5O was down around 937 late in the pass. So if you think that there is no one on AO-7, this should put that thought to rest. Many of them were talking about KL5O. A special event does draw people to the birds just like it does on the HF bands. Of course working Alaska is a special treat under any situation. I believe KL7XJ was the operator. Activity is on the rise on the SSB birds in general. Many that have been active on the FM birds are getting equipment set up for the SSB/CW birds. It's nice to be able to have a qso that involves more than a callsign and grid exchange. We hope to have FO-29 back soon but VO-52 and AO-7 are there for us every day. A big thanks to all of the grid dxpeditioners who spent a lot of time and money operating from places away from their homes. They have given us many new grids. I hope this encourages others to try their hand at operating from other grids. It's a lot of work but you will have a lot of fun and satisfaction doing it. 73, John K8YSE John Papay john(a)papays.com

5 4

Fox Delta ST2
by Randy 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

I bought this and programmed it to my rotor system But I can seem to get SATPC32 to work with it. I remember someone on the list saying they had one of these .. I hope you are reading this. When I go to the rotor setup and select SAEBRTrackBox Click the appropriate settings, and click ok or store ( tried both ) And restart PCSAT as recommended, and then go back to the rotor Setup, it has toggled back to NONE for the interface.. And his instructions also say that once I restart there is supposed To be a new program running called Server Easy Comm1 running. Don't see that either .. Can anyone shed some light on this? Thanks.. Randy - N2CUA

1 0

Re: Weekend on the Birds
by Rodney Waln 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

i have to say the same thing, that it was a good weekend lots of good grids to be had and some new people on at least that i heard, and those that went out of there way to give them grids out, also i would like to thank the AO-51 team for the short period of L-band (L/U) last week, i think i got the kinks out and (john) k8yse was my frist contact all be it a sort contact, and for the jota set up, best regards Rodney kc0zhf DN94

1 0

Re: ITAR is interesting to me
by k0vty＠juno.com 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

Gretting to the list I wish to thank everyone that took part in the discussion of ITAR as it pertains to Amateur Satellites. I have learned many things. I am sure others may have also. It is obvious that Amateur Radio before satellites had few if any ITAR problems. Now we have a very specific ITAR path to travel with any Amateur satellite. I submit that the AMSAT BOD is doing a good job for the membership on this ITAR issue There were a question or two dealing with security as it related to indiduals that were working on ITAR compontents or the AMSAT facility itself. At least it seemed to be a stretch for anyone to discuss that issue. There are those like AMSAT that have a almost impossible time dealing with ITAR There are many more that have to do business or engineering work where talking to anyone becomes a probems I never had to concern myself with ITAR and that is the reason I needed to learn more about ITAR. I can assure all that there is another side to ITAR when the rules are not followed and that is the side I worked for on for 37 years. Think of all the testing that must take place when information is lost when the ITAR rules are not followed. No offense to any of my Amateur friends that have hard feeling because of ITAR, I understand. But like always there is always two side to any story. Thanks again Gentlemen Joe Murray K0VTY ================= ____________________________________________________________ Diet Help Cheap Diet Help Tips. Click here. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/c?cp=b34MmqAMRN_tG728LfZcEAAAJ1CmZ…

1 0

MIR sound clip
by Bill Howell 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

Here's a MIR clip I recorder years ago, using a cassette recorder with vox, hooked to a Radio Shack scanner. The file is named 8-25-99, but I'm not sure when the recording happened. http://web.mac.com/mrbillmac/Site/MIR_sound_file.html The file plays okay from the web page, on a Mac... haven't tried it on a PC yet. Bill Howell N5AB

5 4

Re: THE DMSP launch
by Daniel Schultz 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

Someone wrote: >as I recall there were 50 some odd pounds of ballast launched with the bird...to >bad it wasnt an amateur repeater. >to bad we didnt have something to use that excess performance...they flew >ballast on the flight ----------------------------------------------------------------- Why would they fly ballast on their rocket when they could have flown a ham satellite? 1. Ballast does not need to be tested for Electromagnetic Compatibility or contamination of the primary payload. The Interface Control Document for a block of concrete can be exceedingly simple, with no need to pay a room full of engineers to review it for completeness and accuracy. 2. Ballast does not need to have a separation interface tested and qualified, there is no chance of it coming loose inside the payload shroud during liftoff. 3. Ballast is certain to be ready in time for the launch date, without bringing another organization into the mix. There is no need to conduct a crash engineering program to design a satellite structure that will fit on the Atlas and then test and certify the satellite for compliance with the Atlas vibration and acoustic specifications. 4. Ballast does not have an e-mail group full of whining little people who think they could have designed it better or that it operates on the wrong band or mode, and complaining loudly when the mission falls months or years behind its original launch date. If you were the Colonel in charge of the mission, you could not make a safer choice than launching a block of concrete ballast. A ham satellite is just a lot of additional risk and headache with no possible gain for you or your future career. Somewhere in the world there may be an officer who is willing to take that risk. That is how Oscar-1 was launched in 1961. The challenge is to find that person and nurture a relationship with him or her. If they are reading the comments on Amsat-BB they are probably thinking "there is no way I would ever want to have a relationship with that wacky organization" Dan Schultz N8FGV

11 15

WD5DWP needs help
by Allen F. Mattis 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

If anyone can help Philip WD5DWP please respond to him directly - I do not believe he receives amsat-bb. I still tune manually and can not help him. Allen N5AFV >From: "wd5dwp" <wd5dwp(a)gmail.com> >To: <afmattis(a)hal-pc.org> >Subject: I need help >Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:10:27 -0500 >X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.3598 >X-pstn-neptune: 0/0/0.00/0 >X-pstn-levels: (S:25.07981/99.90000 CV:99.9000 FC:95.5390 >LC:95.5390 R:95.9108 P:95.9108 M:97.0282 C:98.6951 ) >X-pstn-settings: 5 (2.0000:2.0000) s cv gt3 gt2 gt1 r p m c >X-pstn-addresses: from <wd5dwp(a)gmail.com> [2484/120] > >Hi Allen: > >Do you know anyone who mignt help me. I am trying to connect my >computer to my 910h and my IC718. Iwant to use HRD but have not >been able to get connected. I have a IC ct-17 interface. > >I dont Know of anyone in my area as we live in the country. Nearest >big city is 60mi in any direction. >Pass this to any one you think might help. I have long distance on >my phone so if they call me I will call them back so they wont have a charge. > >Phone: 985-839-2138 > >73, wd5dwp Philip Buras

1 0

Mesbah-2
by Peter Guelzow 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

http://www.astronautix.com/craft/mesbah2.htm

2 1

Re: ITAR is interesting to me
by k0vty＠juno.com 19 Oct '09

19 Oct '09

Thanks Bruce (VE9QRP) All Amateur Satellite ITAR Questions are welcome Bruce. Thanks Joe K0VTY ================== On Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:11:38 -0300 Bruce Robertson <ve9qrp(a)gmail.com> writes: > On Sun, Oct 18, 2009 at 8:31 PM, <k0vty(a)juno.com> wrote: > > Hi Bob (N4HY) > > > > Thanks for taking the time to ponder for the BB and me some of the > twists > > and turns > > of ITAR issues. > > > > I hope the BB apprecaites your time and effort. > > Here are a few more questions? > > I have a further question, if I may, and Bob needn't feel obliged to > answer it. > > Given that AMSAT-NA is by definition a collaboration between > amateurs > on both sides of the US/Canada border, do we have a clear idea > where > ITAR stands with respect to Canadian collaborators? I know that in > 1999 the previous exemption was revoked, but that in 2001 there > were > some changes again. > > 73, Bruce > VE9QRP > > ____________________________________________________________ Click now for great information on the latest in cancer treatment! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/BLSrjpTMhcS6UBOAzuAy7o1Or5C6rv2…

4 4