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

grid square maps
by Jerry 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

Hi : Just go to the hamfests and they give nice color Grid square maps for free. In the last year I get one or two and give them away at the club meetings. Jerry w0sat

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Re: Grid Square Map
by Tom 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

Thanks to all that responded to my post I'm looking for something along the size of the grid map that ICOM supplies (12" X 7") but in black and white so confirmed squares could be colored in. The 8 1/2" X 11" maps that I've found online seem too small and the resolution is not good. And, although ARRL chose to show only the cover of it's grid square book, I think the pages inside are in color(?). Tom, KØTW

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Grid Square Map - Grey Scale
by Clint Bradford 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

To the gentleman desiring a non-color grid square map ... You can download the Icom grid square map as a .pdf at ... http://www.work-sat.com ... then print it out grey scale ... or otherwise manipulate it in your favorite image/paint program! Clint Bradford, K6LCS

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Postscript: Road Trip to FN56, FN57, FN66, FN67, etc.
by Richard Crow 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

Hello All, Looking back, the "Road Trip to FN56, FN57, FN66, FN67, etc." was eminently successful. In the course of two days, I drove 1,119 miles from my Dad's home in Massachusetts to Maine and back: 429 miles up, 261 miles around the back woods of northern Maine searching for better-than-average operating locations, and 429 miles back. In the process, I activated every grid square north of Bangor, with the exception of FN45, plus I activated FN53 in southern Maine as well. Put another way, I worked 11 satellite passes to activate 7 rare grid squares in two days. In that time, I would estimate that I made over a hundred satellite contacts. My appreciation goes out to all who participated. If you're interested in the actual locations I worked from, it's summarized in the chart below in the order that I worked from them. The latitudes and longitudes were recorded on site from a Garmin "GPS 12XL", except as noted. ============================================= Actual Locations for Saturday, October 17th: # Lat Lon Grid Nearest Town -- ------- ------- ---- ---------------- 1 43.979N 69.978W FN53 Topsham, ME 2 45.596N 68.535W FN55 Medway, ME 3 46.791N 68.040W FN56 Caribou, ME 4 47.006N 68.180W FN57 Stockholm, ME 5 46.854N 67.988W FN66 Caribou, ME ============================================= Actual Locations for Sunday, October 18th: # Lat Lon Grid Nearest Town -- ------- ------- ---- ---------------- 6 47.132N 67.954W FN67 Van Buren, ME 7 47.132N 67.954W FN67 Van Buren, ME 8 47.006N 68.180W FN57 Stockholm, ME 9 46.854N 67.989W FN66 Caribou, ME 10 46.692N* 68.015W* FN56 Presque Isle, ME 11 45.988N 67.862W FN65 North Amity, ME ============================================= * At the time, I was so busy driving from one operating location to another that I didn't have time to record the latitude and longitude from the "GPS 12XL". So, it was determined later from topographic maps. ============================================= You probably won't hear me on the satellites for a while. Instead, I'll be focused on completing several antenna related projects before winter sets in. Among other things, I need to get my outdoor satellite antennas back in operation. But in the mean time, send me your list of other rare grid squares you need in the northeast USA. I'll consider traveling to and activating any grid square in NY, PA, CT, RI, MA, VT, NH, and ME. With winter approaching, this probably won't happen any time soon. But when the weather breaks next spring, the opportunity for doing this may come again. The most requested grid squares will be the ones I consider going to first. So, email me your grid square "wish list". And please put the phrase "grid square" somewhere on your email "subject line". 73, Richard, N2SPI n2spi(a)amsat.org

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Satellite Pass Predictions
by John Papay 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

There has been some discussion on how to determine when a bird will be in view over an extended period of time. You really don't need a pocket computer or laptop to carry around to do this. Just simply print out the pass predictions using SatPC32 sold by AMSAT and written by DK1TB who has donated the program to AMSAT. There are two accessory programs included in SatPC32. The first is called WinAOS and it will make predictions for multiple birds of your choosing over a 10+ day period of your choosing. Print out the results and keep them in your vehicle. You'll have AOS/LOS times and AOS/LOS azimuths plus max elevation and visible time. This is plenty of info to allow you to work a bird with a handheld antenna. Just watch the time and move the antenna accordingly. WinAos QTH: -81.7/41.3 T#: 11616 Sat.: 5 [Standard] ---------------------------------------------------------- Day Object AOS (U) LOS Period maxEl AZ ---------------------------------------------------------- 21.10.2009 VO-52 00:18 00:23 05 02 076 - 024 21.10.2009 AO-07 00:36 00:57 21 39 187 - 338 21.10.2009 AO-51 00:41 00:48 07 04 244 - 310 21.10.2009 VO-52 01:50 02:02 12 39 147 - 355 21.10.2009 AO-07 02:37 02:45 08 02 259 - 306 21.10.2009 SO-50 03:06 03:14 08 05 140 - 066 21.10.2009 VO-52 03:27 03:38 11 17 208 - 333 21.10.2009 SO-50 04:43 04:57 14 57 201 - 037 21.10.2009 AO-27 06:02 06:09 07 04 053 - 118 21.10.2009 SO-50 06:25 06:38 13 21 251 - 026 21.10.2009 AO-27 07:39 07:53 14 51 018 - 182 The other program that comes with SatPC32 is WinListen. This program will give you satellite visibility at various intervals throughout the pass. It has a two-observer feature which allows you to enter two grids and find the mutual window on a particular satellite. Here's an example between Ohio and Scotland on AO-51 at 20 second intervals. WinListen 8.0 [AO-51] T#:11616 QTH1: -81.7/41.3 QTH2: -8.4/52.3 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Time(U) Az1 El1 Az2 El2 MA Height Lon/Lat Orbit ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 21.10.2009 09:29:00 59 0 279 3 19.7 711 314 50 27911 21.10.2009 09:29:20 61 1 277 2 20.5 712 314 49 27911 21.10.2009 09:29:40 64 1 275 1 21.4 712 313 48 27911 21.10.2009 09:30:00 67 1 272 1 22.2 712 313 46 27911 I use this program to set up schedules when the likelihood of a "window" is remote. These two programs are selected under the "Programs" link in the SatPC32 toolbar. 73, John K8YSE

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SATPC32 Problem Taken Care of
by Randy 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

Never did get it to work properly in the program itself However, someone off the list sent me a link to his own software ( very nice software ) For controlling the rotor and it also ties into SATPC32, Orbitron, and NOVA. ( plus some others ) So all is well and its going great now.. Thanks for the replys.. Randy - N2CUA

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Re: HT supports full duplex satellite operation
by Clint Bradford 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

>> ... I believe Kenwood is going to 're offer ' a newer version of their recently disco'd TH7 ht ... And your source at Kenwood's corporate offices for this info is ... ? Clint Braddford, K6LCS

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Re: volunteering (Mobile Satellite PAPER Predictor)
by Clint Bradford 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

>> ... The small piece of paper that my proposal outputs is a single piece of paper with about 10 numbers on it, no bigger than about 2" by 3" suitable for taping to your dashboard above your radio. Then take your pencil, and write it out ... In my AMSAT presentations, I show both graphical representations of sat passes, as well as pure numeric data. My audiences much prefer the graphical representations. So, what you are requesting may not have a "market share" as great as you might think. This reminds me of the old Internet wives tale about the development of the space pen. You remember ... The story goes that America spent millions of bucks to develop a writing implement suitable for space travel. But what did the thrifty Russians do? Used pencils ... It is not a true story, of course: Both manned space programs used pencils at the beginning of their projects. But it makes a good Cold War story for the U.S. ANYWAY - There are several online (and FREE) sources for the info you seek ... as well as commercial programs that will generate the info. Want to slap something on your visor? Geeze, just write it out ... or cut and paste .... Curmudgeon-ly yours, Clint, K6LCS http://www.work-sat.com

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more information on the Iranian
by Rocky Jones 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0910/18iran/ bird and launcher... Robert WB5MZO _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Free, trusted and rich email service. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/171222984/direct/01/

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W6FOG ???
by Tim Goodrich 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

I was monitoring VO-52s pass last night and heard him on there. Tim KI6VBY -----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of amsat-bb-request(a)amsat.org Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2009 9:57 AM To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 4, Issue 557 Send AMSAT-BB mailing list submissions to amsat-bb(a)amsat.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to amsat-bb-request(a)amsat.org You can reach the person managing the list at amsat-bb-owner(a)amsat.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of AMSAT-BB digest..." No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.422 / Virus Database: 270.14.22/2446 - Release Date: 10/20/09 10:43:00

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