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

Re: Netbooks
by ANTHONY JAPHA 05 Dec '09

05 Dec '09

You guys are way ahead of me. I'll settle for reality! I live in a high-rise Manhattan building and must do my satellite operation by carrying all the needed equipment out to the promenade behind the building next to the East River (2 miles due north of the UN building). I'm looking for a way to lighten the load, and the netbook looks promising. N3TL even reports that the Yaesu CAT to USB cables he bought worked without installing new drivers. That's big because I don't know how to "map" another computer's CD drive into a netbook to read any new drivers! Tnx for the ideas. 73, Tony > [Original Message] > From: Nigel Gunn G8IFF/W8IFF <nigel(a)ngunn.net> > To: Bruce Robertson <ve9qrp(a)gmail.com> > Cc: myles landstein <myles.landstein(a)gmail.com>; AMSAT BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org>; <tjjapha(a)earthlink.net> > Date: 12/4/2009 12:19:22 PM > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: Netbooks > > Why virtualise? > Use a dual core processor and run a different operating system on each core. > > Bruce Robertson wrote: > the virtualization features turned on so that I can > > run linux images alongside the Win32 ham stuff.

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Battery Charger Deal - TODAY ONLY
by Clint Bradford 05 Dec '09

05 Dec '09

Today only, Amazon has the La Crosse BC-9009 AlphaPower Battery Charger for $34.99 shipped. And in addition to NiCD/NiMH charger, you get four AA rechargeables, four AAA's, adapters for C and D cells, and a travel case. Charger features four independent status displays, one for each of its four slots. They can cycle through stats like charge rate, discharge rate, elapsed time, and total battery capacity. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00077AA5Q Clint, K6LCS ---------------------------------- Clint Bradford, K6LCS http://www.clintbradford.com

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Netbooks
by ANTHONY JAPHA 04 Dec '09

04 Dec '09

Hi All, Has anyone used SatPC32 with a netbook computer? I'd appreciate your comments. Which netbooks do best? What ports do netbooks come with? I just tried SatPC32 on AO-7 with an old Dell Inspiron 3800. It works well controlling 2 FT-817s in the shack. When outside, using a charged battery, it was very slow. I had to restart SatPC32 a couple of times, and, as a result, lost at least 2 QSOs with Europe. Maybe it's time for a change. Tnx and 73, Tony, N2UN LM 183

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Can someone please remind me which birds need to be illuminated...
by Mark Lunday 04 Dec '09

04 Dec '09

with sunlight in order to function? AO-7 - yes AO-16 - ??? AO-27 - no AO-51- no FO-29 ??? VO-52 - no SO-50 - no SO-67 - ??? Mark Lunday WD4ELG Greensboro, NC - FM06be <mailto:wd4elg@arrl.net> wd4elg(a)arrl.net <http://wd4elg.net> http://wd4elg.net <http://wd4elg.net> http://wd4elg.blogspot.com

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Re: Ham Class demo Thursday Night
by Rick - WA4NVM 04 Dec '09

04 Dec '09

Just a quick "THANKS" to all of those operators they made the effort to work (us) me during my demo with the Delta ARC ham class last night on S0-50. A little "cold" outside at that time. I think winter is here. 73 to all, Rick Hi All, I will be doing a satellite demo on S0-50 tomorrow night from Memphis for our current Tech. class. It will be on the Dec. 4th - 0250utc pass. I would appreciate a few contacts to show them how easy it is to work the "birds" with an HT and handheld antenna. Thanks in advance, Rick - WA4NVM

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OT: Cell phone emissions and brain cancer - no link found (American Cancer Society and others)
by W4ART Arthur Feller 04 Dec '09

04 Dec '09

See: http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ped/content/ped_1_3x_cellular_phones.asp This was posted about a month ago with additional information noted in today's Washington Post. 73, art..... W4ART Arlington VA "Mr. Pollin is the kind of person every little child hopes he grows up to be and every old man wished he had been." -Ernie Fingers

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Re: SO-67 schedule
by Tony Langdon 04 Dec '09

04 Dec '09

At 06:38 AM 12/4/2009, Jan-Albert Koekemoer wrote: >Hello > >The (partial) schedule for SO-67 for the next couple of days are as follows: Jan, did you get my email for VK/ZL? 73 de VK3JED / VK3IRL http://vkradio.com

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Tonight's launch from cape.
by David H. Jordan 04 Dec '09

04 Dec '09

Does anyone know if the rocket launched from the cape tonight? Dave, AA4KN Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

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Re: AO-51 magnet reversal tonight
by Tom Clark, K3IO 03 Dec '09

03 Dec '09

Drew posted > On the 2242UTC pass of AO-51 tonight, we will try for the first time to > reverse the magnet and "flip" the orientation of the satellite. While we > do this, the 435.300 transmitter will be shut off for about 10 minutes. > If the reversal is successful, we should see some changes in signal > levels and patterns. This particular maneuver has not attempted since > launch. > > I'd appreciate any signal reports or observations from this evening and > the next few days be emailed to ao51-modes(a)amsat.org or ko4ma(a)amsat.org. I'm really glad we are finally testing this AO-51 experiment! Thanks for listening to my request. I'm most interested in seeing the results of this test, but I don't see the ao51-modes reports, so please keep me posted offline. Since angular momentum must be conserved when you "flip" the s/c. The s/c body should precess (probably looking like tumbling) until the momentum dampers absorb the change. Keep an eye on the solar panel currents and I'll bet the spin rate will change. Concerning your other note: > In related news, as the spacecraft spin inexplicably continues to slow, > we are seeing increasingly larger dips in the spacecraft voltage when > the panels are poorly aligned to the sun. My guess is that the momentum loss is due to eddy currents induced in the s/c body by the earth's magnetic field. Sometime drop a piece of (non-magnetic) aluminum into the poles of a big magnet -- you'll see the aluminum change speed noticeably. Back in the antique days of mechanical speedometers in cars, the speedo cable turned a permanent magnet above an aluminum or brass disk connected to the indicator. As the magnet spun faster, eddy currents would drag the disk/pointer to higher values. There are some good treatments of eddy currents& angular moment on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39r8moW_p-w , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZ-3pxKdT8Q , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmfKmUq2EI8&feature=related , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3xqH1arESA&NR=1 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brNBVDCeECg&feature=related . In these clips, note that moving brass or aluminum items (acting just like the satellite body) "feel" the static magnetic (like the earth's magnetic field). For some (boring) physics theory, follow the links at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddy_current. 73 de Tom, K3IO

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SO-67 schedule
by Jan-Albert Koekemoer 03 Dec '09

03 Dec '09

Hello The (partial) schedule for SO-67 for the next couple of days are as follows: JAPAN 4/12: 22:40 5/12: 00:13 5/12: 23:52 6/12: 01:28 EU 5/12: 06:30 5/12: 08:03 5/12: 09:37 6/12: 07:42 6/12: 09:16 6/12: 10:50 7/12: 08:55 8/12: 08:35 9/12: 08:14 USA/CANADA 5/12: 12:50 5/12: 14:26 5/12: 16:00 5/12: 17:33 5/12: 19:05 5/12: 20:36 5/12: 22:10 6/12: 12:29 6/12: 14:06 6/12: 15:40 6/12: 17:13 6/12: 18:44 6/12: 20:16 6/12: 21:50 SOUTH AMERICA 4/12: 11:49 4/12: 13:28 5/12: 11:28 5/12: 13:05 6/12: 11:09 6/12: 12:42 6/12: 14:16 INDIA 5/12: 03:30 6/12: 03:10 6/12: 04:44 Regards Jan-Albert E-mail Disclaimer http://www.sunspace.co.za/emaildisclaimer.htm

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