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

TS-2000X performance on 23cm band - ?
by Perry Yantis 24 Apr '09

24 Apr '09

I have one of the early ts200x's and I have had no problems on 1.2 ghz. I mainly us it for the satellites but also use it for the vhf contests and it has always worked fine. I have consistantly worked many in Ohio on 1.2 ghz with just a M2 at about 30 ft. I have also heard some others outside of Ohio during band openings (rare but it does happen).; I don't know where you got this idea that the receive was bad on these rigs. The radio does have a built in preamp. I leave it turned OFF for hf because it makes too much noise. I leave it ON for vhf, and uhf because it does improve the ssb signals. On 1.2 the preamp is ALWAYS on. Perry WB8OTH

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Testing GS-5500
by Dave 24 Apr '09

24 Apr '09

Does anyone have a test program for a GS-232A to G-5500 rotor system that will test rotate and elevate it from max to max? I just got a new unit and want to test it before I get it up in the air :-) Dave // DM78qd // KA0SWT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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AG-35 smoke test
by Yokshs 24 Apr '09

24 Apr '09

Luc, Thanks for the reply. Did you have to remove the relay to replace the FET? Just curious. I've got my AG-35 down off the tower and on the bench now. The FET is so close to one of the relays, I'm pretty sure it'll have to be removed to replace the FET.. Any suggestions? Thanks, Kyle K0KN --- Original Message --- I fried my UHF one too...I order a couple from ICOM. With my very limited electronics building skills i cut the dead one leaving as much legs as possible and i resolder the replacement over the cut legs. Not elegant but quick and effective. Is this is achieving the same overall previous gain figures? that i don't know but it works. I have another one to replace in a different type of preamp but the FET is below a lot of other components and he's flat mounted (No legs) i don't come up with a solution with this one? "-" Luc Leblanc VE2DWE Skype VE2DWE www.qsl.net/ve2dwe WAC BASIC CW PHONE SATELLITE

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FT736 Problem
by Kevin Phx Az 24 Apr '09

24 Apr '09

I did the reset but has not fixed my problem. When I press the F button to set the Rpt up/down it does not change it from simplex and 01 comes up in the display to the right of the vfo frequency displayed as if I had pressed the MR button. Any suggestions? Tnx Kevin N6CWF

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A little OT: The Great Brazilian Sat-Hack Crackdown
by Glenn AA5PK 24 Apr '09

24 Apr '09

"On the night of March 8, cruising 22,000 miles above the Earth, U.S. Navy communications satellite FLTSAT-8 suddenly erupted with illicit activity. Jubilant voices and anthems crowded the channel on a junkyard's worth of homemade gear from across vast and silent stretches of the Amazon: Ronaldo, a Brazilian soccer idol, had just scored his first goal with the Corinthians." "To use the satellite, pirates typically take an ordinary ham radio transmitter, which operates in the 144- to 148-MHZ range, and add a frequency doubler cobbled from coils and a varactor diode. That lets the radio stretch into the lower end of FLTSATCOM's 292- to 317-MHz uplink range. All the gear can be bought near any truck stop for less than $500. Ads on specialized websites offer to perform the conversion for less than $100. Taught the ropes, even rough electricians can make Bolinha-ware." <http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2009/04/fleetcom?currentPage=1> Glenn AA5PK AMSAT #6694

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Cross Boom
by Billy Simpkins 23 Apr '09

23 Apr '09

Is a fiber glass or some other non-conductive material necessary for a cross boom? What or the advantages and disadvantages versus a metal one? Thanks, Billy KF0CK

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Fiber Glass Croos Boom
by Antonio Santiago 23 Apr '09

23 Apr '09

Greetings to all from Puerto Rico...! You can get the fiberglas croos boom from M2. M2's Heavy Duty Fiberglass Cross Boom has been developed to work with the Yaesu G-550 Elevation Unit or G-5500 AZ /EL Unit. It allows solid clamping to the Cross Boom without crushing thin wall fiberglass tubes. The unit consists of a center solid 18" aluminum rod and (2) 2" x 1/4" wall x 60" long fiberglass tubes. The solid aluminum rod and thick wall fiberglass tube will give you the ability to secure large systems or arrays for years of solid slip free service. *Total length of unit when assembled is 11' or 132". Visit the following link: http://www.m2inc.com/ Then select HAM RADIO PRODUCTS In the next page select Rotators and accesories, next look the directory on the right Positioners and Accessories, look at the bottom, select the HD Fiberglass Boom Kit 73's Tony-KP4IA

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ISS APRS PACKET
by Mr Jeffrey L Ross 23 Apr '09

23 Apr '09

Hi Folks, wondering if the iss packet is back on 145.825 or still on 145.800. anyone know? tks in advance. kc8gkf-5

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Re: FLTSATCOM Hacked
by Robert Bruninga 23 Apr '09

23 Apr '09

> A school to provide the $50,000 launch..... > Anything from keeping 50 hams from donating > $1000 a piece and just buying a launch > - no school involved? Sure, anyone. I havent priced the latest launch integratiojn costs from the Cubesat Program recently, but the $50k was their original plan... > On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 11:16 AM, Robert Bruninga > <bruninga(a)usna.edu> wrote: > > > > A last comment, a LEO would be virtually worthless > > for Emergency NET communications and HF is still > > a viable and reliable means of communications... > > > Well, I still think a bunch of 145.825 APRS digipeating > satellites in LEO that would allow text-messaging from anywhere > in the world at any time, downlinked into the APRS-Internet > system and hence global internet connectivity is still a great > way to go for basic messaging for emergency response. With just > 6 such tiny 4" cubesats, you could get a message in-or-out with > no more than a half hour wait from the front panel of your APRS > mobile radio. With a dozen of these, you could have global > communications anywhere instantly or with no more than a 5 > minute wait. > > Our goal is to get more of these up there to join the ISS > digipeater, but of the 4 we have lanuched so far, all were > short-term orbits and so the most we have ever had operational > at one time was 3 (PCSAT-1, ANDE and RAFT). That is one of the > main reasons we wanted to see ISS on 145.825 to join the > constellation. ISS was still on 145.800 during most of the life > of those three birds (which were all on 145.825) > > Today, with 6 AA NiCd's, a 19" whip antennna, and a 3.4" square > APRS Microtacker TNC/Radio you can throw together an APRS > satellite for under $400. Add cheap solar panels, a lot of > sweat equity and then find a school to provide the $50,000 > launch, and bingo, A LEO satellite with great utility that > anyone can use while mobile for text messsaging and email from > the front panel of their APRS radio. > > Please see the Microtrack TNC/Radio which can serve as the > entire Comms, Command, Control and Telemetry module: > > http://www.byonics.com/microtrak/mt-tt4.php > > And see our cubesat project: http://www.aprs.org/psat.html > though this web page needs to be significanly updated.. > > Bob, WB4APR > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > > > >

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ag-35 smoke test
by Yokshs 23 Apr '09

23 Apr '09

Hi all, Well, I finally did it. I let the smoke out of my Icom AG-35 preamp! I've read several such messages on the list over the years. Glad to know I'm not alone in this club.. hi hi Before I replace the 3SK121 with an identical unit, I wonder if anyone has used a similar FET with better NF? The AG-35 specs I found stated 1.5 dB NF and 15 dB gain. I went through my collection of new parts and found a few Agilent ATF 54143 hemt.. The NF on similar designs is more like .38 to .5 dB and gain is 19-22 dB. I wonder if anyone else has had the wild idea of rebuilding their preamp? I'd like to retain the enclosure and relays, etc. Several 54143 designs are available, such as this one: http://www.qsl.net/yu1aw/atf54143eng.htm Thanks for any help or ideas. 73, Kyle K0KN

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