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

Call for Papers--2007 ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference
by Ford, Steve, WB8IMY 16 Jul '12

16 Jul '12

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

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Re: EggBeater
by Bill Dzurilla 29 May '12

29 May '12

Steve, I have both a commercial and a homebrew Eggbeater and am disappointed with both, especially in light of its rather high price. Connected to my IC-7000 via an ARR mast-mounted preamp, performance is far less than with an HT and an Arrow. Guess an omni can't cut it, at least not from my QTH. Maybe if I could get it up higher, clear of all roofs, it would do better. I can make contacts at relatively high sat elevations, but can do just as well with a $10 dual band ground plane. My friend has an Eggbeater and the same preamp at a clearer QTH, and he hears substantially better, down to 10 degrees elevation in some directions. Good luck and 73, Bill NZ5N > > Hi Steve, > > > > It is surprising to read that you are not hearing > anything. I have > > repeatedly used a 2m and 70cm Eggbeater for the sats > and have had no > > problem hearing things. No pre-amp. > > > > I was using a short cable (e.g. less than 10 meters). > The rigs I > > used were a FT-736r (deaf) and a FT-847 (so-so). > > > > 73, > > > > Dave

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2.4 Gig
by Arlon Nelson 02 Jun '09

02 Jun '09

Are there any satellites on 2.4 gig so I can check out my old AO-40 dish. 73, Nels, WØTUP Minot, North Dakota nels(a)w0tup.com http://www.w0tup.com Ward County - Grid Locator DN98if TRIPLE PLAY AWARD No. 75 - A1 OPERATOR CLUB SKCC 31T - Flying Pigs 590 - QRPp-I #760 ARRL - FISTS #8610 - CC #1310 - FISTS WAS #143 FISTS PLATINUM #365 - FISTS SILVER #367 ARRL SSTV WAS #33 - IVCA MIXED BAND SSTV #1 40 MTR CW WAS - DXCC # 39623 - RTTY WAS # 585 COMMERCIAL RADIO OPERATORS LICENSE *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* CLUB CALL - WØJER (MAGIC CITY QRP CLUB) FISTS #11975 SKCC #1000 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Two antennas met on a tower, fell in love and got married. The ceremony wasn't much, but the reception was excellent. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

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Re: eggbeater rx performance (Mobile Operation)
by Bob Bruninga 01 Jun '09

01 Jun '09

> I found a trunk mounted 2 meter half wave >(dual bander) to work well when the satellite > was behind me, but not at all overhead... > I currently have a 2 meter quarter wave > (dual bander) mounted... into the center > of the roof. It works in all directions... Any "gain" antenna on a car is not good for satellites. Because by definition, "gain" in a mobile means "gain" on the horizon where mobiles need it, and this means LOSS everywhere else. The better the antenna is for "mobile" the worse it is for satelliites. (basic law of physics).. Eevn the "dual bander" 2 meter 1/4 wave has a decopuling loop for UHF, to keep the angle of UHF radition low on the horizon, because without it, the 1/4 2m whip is a 3/4 UHF whip and results in gain ABOVE 25 degrees which is BAD for terrestrial work (but GOOD by 2 dB or mnore for satellites). So, when we say a 19.5" 1/4 wave 2m whip for mobile satellite, then that is all it is. No matching, no coils for UHF, no nothing. Just a 19.5" vertical whip. BUT for satellites, this 19.5" whip is also a 3/4 wave UHF whip which has almost 7 dBi of gain ABOVE 25 degrees which is where it really yields solid performance for LEO satellites when above 25 degrees. A 5/8 wave 2m whip has a NULL at 15 degrees and so it is useless for satellites. They are too far away below 10 degrees to hear, and then there is the null up to say 45 degrees. And above that the satellite is only in view for 2 minutes or less! AND this antenna cannot be used on UHF at all. So that is why the 19.5" vertical in the middle of the roof is the best for mobile satllite (and not all that hot for terrestrial... but useable, since repeaters are a lot closer). See details about 75% down this page: www.aprs.org/astars.html Good luck. Bob, Wb4APR

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true duplex radios
by D. Craig Fox 01 Jun '09

01 Jun '09

At the request of several following my late night post, set forth below is the list I copied off this or the VX-8 listserv. I have added the new Alinco. I do not think this list is complete so others please feel free to add to it. 73s Craig N6RSX HTs - Icom IC-W2A Icom IC-W31A Icom IC-W32 Yaesu FT-470 Yaesu FT-530 Yaesu FT-50R Yaesu FR-51R Kenwood TH-D7 Kenwood TH-77 Kenwood TH-78 Alinco DJ-G5T Alinco DJ-580T Alinco DJ-G7 Mobile rigs - Kenwood TM741 Kenwood TM742 Kenwood TM941 Kenwood TM942 Kenwood TM732 Kenwood TM-D700/710 Yaesu FT-5100 Yaesu FT-5200 Yaesu FT-8800 Yaesu FT-8900 Icom 2728H Icom IC2800 Base rigs - Yaesu FT-736 Yaesu FT-847 Kenwood TS-2000 Icom 820 Icom 821 Icom IC-910H NOTICE: This communication may contain privileged or other confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient of this communication, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this communication to the intended recipient, please advise the sender by reply email and immediately delete the message and any attachments without copying or disclosing the contents. Thank you.

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Re: BBC - Judica-Cordiglia brothers
by Trevor . 31 May '09

31 May '09

--- On Sun, 31/5/09, Doug Faunt N6TQS +1-510-655-8604 <faunt(a)panix.com> wrote: > Only for the next 5 days, as I send this. And it's > not very good. Hi Doug, Yes for some reason the BBC only hold shows on the site for a few days. I've just got home after being away for a few days and I see that as they don't do a podcast version it'll need converting to MP3 to listen to in the car tomorrow morning. Must admit I'd never even heard of the Judica-Cordiglia brothers before. 73 Trevor M5AKA

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Help with Satscape
by Cotejaune2＠aol.com 31 May '09

31 May '09

For some reason I have lost S050 and A027 from my list and the format has changed to instead of just A051 it now says Echo 51. Has anyone else had this problem? **************An Excellent Credit Score is 750. See Yours in Just 2 Easy Steps! (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1221823251x1201398665/aol?redir=htt… ExcfooterNO62)

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Jewelry contests
by Dave Guimont 31 May '09

31 May '09

I've had several questions on the reflector regarding the "jewelry contests" we ran at the conventions for about eight years... For the newbies they were formulated to provide some interest for the wives of those hams, not interested in ham radio...OT's will remember... The "jewelry" was designed to be electronically similar to some part of our hobby...yet be wearable as jewelry.. A local friend suggested that those interested google my callsign, wb6llo, or Leanore's, ka6ucd, for several entry explanations....so as not to belabor it here.... Please, direct to me for questions... 73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1(a)san.rr.com Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E...

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Mobile Coax?
by Bob Bruninga 31 May '09

31 May '09

> Other Car Tips: > Convert from RG-58 to LMR-240-UF > or RG-213. I'd take that with a grain of salt. The length of coax in a car is about say 10 feet. The loss of 100 feet of RG-58 is say 5 dB? and the loss of fancy stuff might be 3 db? But the diffrence for only a 10 foot run is only .5 dB versus .3 dB or only 0.2 dB. Nothing at all to even consider compared to all the work it will take, and the lack of flexibility and trying to run something almost like pipe through places where a simple wire (RG-58) fits. My lesson was learned 40 years ago when I go my first 100 lb UHF mobile rig (tubes) just after highschool. The boat anchor filled the entire trunk of my MGB. But the first thing I did when we go the lot of them in my club was spend a day replacing the 8" internal piece of RG-58 in mine from the Transmitter output over to the chassis connector with a 8" run of RG-8. It was hard work getting that 8" piece of RG-8 coax inside the radio and routed all around the internal chassis. The elmer at the time laughed. He said you just wasted a day and all that work to save 0.01% of loss. So now your radio works at 100% where as before it worked at 99.99%. Losing 3 dB of course is one thing (50%), but trying to worry about that last 1% when the effort is tremendous is just not effective. Anyway, just my 2 cents... Bob, Wb4APR

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Re: Re eggbeater performance - mobile
by Bob Bruninga 31 May '09

31 May '09

> For mobile work on AO27, SO50, AO51 > a 2 metre quarter wave whip is all > you need... to work the LEO's mobile > and the satellite is 15 degrees or > more above the horizon, Absolutely, For a 19.5" whip in center of roof: 1) Has 5 dBi gain above 20 deg on 2m 2) Has 7+ dBi gain above 30 deg on 70cm 3) Is an omni 4) does not sacrifice 3 dB for circular 5) Above 25 deg, satellite is 6 to 10 dB closer! 6) works the birds solid for the center of high passes 7) Simplicity at its best! Read about it: www.aprs.org/rotator1.html Disadvantage: The only disadvantage is TIME. On the above web page you can also see that satellites spend 70% of their daily pass times below 25 degrees. BUT! For those best passes in the morning and the evening (or whenever) you can make solid contacts while mobile for about 5 minutes. Also note, that you do NOT need any tracking program to predict passes. AO51 schdule repeats evry 5 days for example. Just write down the CENTER pass of the morning and evening for each day for 5 days. Update those 10 times on a small 3/5" card on the dash about once a month or so will predict all passes whenever you are mobile. There will be a pass 100 minutes earlier and 100 minutes later each day too. So you can predict all 6 passes a day from those same 10 times. See how: www.aprs.org/MobileLEOtracking.html Bob, WB4APR

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true duplex radios
by D. Craig Fox 31 May '09

31 May '09

Greetings. Ok so this issue gets revisited every few months or so-- as it seems. I have a nice list of many fully duplex VHF/UHFradios-- I forget who put together-- that list is taped to the wall next to my station. This comes in handy for shopping on eham, ebay, etc. However, I am wondering if it needs some updating. No clue here. Maybe it is current. Ok well almost. I know it does not list the new Alinco DJ-G7. Ok so the main reason for the post is first to ask (for the hums): does the Kenwood TH-F6A operate in fully duplex mode? the reviews on eham were not exactly clear on this point. If so, then any peculair problems SO The second reason for this post is to ask if anyone perhaps has a more up to date/complete list of truly duplex radios (ie, can do sat work!) ;-) Thanks and 73s Craig NOTICE: This communication may contain privileged or other confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient of this communication, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this communication to the intended recipient, please advise the sender by reply email and immediately delete the message and any attachments without copying or disclosing the contents. Thank you.

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FT-847 vs IC-910
by Eric Fort 31 May '09

31 May '09

For vhf/uhf satellite use I'm seriously thinking about selling off my FT-847 for money toward a IC-910. Could some of you on this list comment on how these 2 radios compare for satellite (and if you know vhf/uhf weak signal) work? why one radio over the other? What are your thoughts and experiences with the IC-910 ? Same question for the FT-847. Thanks, Eric AF6EP

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BBC - Judica-Cordiglia brothers
by m5aka＠yahoo.co.uk 31 May '09

31 May '09

>From http://www.southgatearc.org/news/may2009/bbc_radio4_space_radio_drama.htm A drama by the Britsh Broadcasting Company (BBC) based on the Judica-Cordiglia brothers interception of transmissions from early Russian space missions can now be heard on the web. Direct link - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00kk4cc 73 Trevor M5AKA RSS Daily Radio News: http://www.southgatearc.org/ Daily News via Email: http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2783644&loc=en_US Submit your news: http://www.southgatearc.org/news/your_news_1.htm or email editor at southgatearc.org ----

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ANS-151 AMSAT Weekly Bulletins
by Dee 31 May '09

31 May '09

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-151 ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor(a)amsat.org In this edition: * AMSAT-UK shop change * Satellite info * Satellite Shorts * ARRL Presidential Award * "Echoes of Apollo" event. * ARISS Schedule SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-151.1 AMSAT-UK shop change AMSAT News Service Bulletin 151.1 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. May 31, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-151.1 After several years of running the AMSAT-UK shop, Jim G3WGM has handed the reins to Ciaran Morgan M0XTD. Ciaran obtained his full license in April 2008 and enjoyed organising a very successful ARISS contact between Budbrooke School in Warwick, England and Richard Garriott K5KWQ whilst he was onboard the International Space Station in October 2008. The AMSAT-UK shop has been an important source of funds in the past and Ciaran is revamping the current shop to help it to continue to make a valuable contribution to the funds into the future. The shop has had a policy of only stocking items that are difficult to obtain in the UK and, initially, that policy will remain whilst Ciaran gets familiar with the stock and identifies other possible options. Suggestions are always welcome and a new email address (amsat-uk-shop(a)amsat.org) has been setup. Please send the suggestions in and keep checking the web site for updates. Due to the level of sales of software, and compatibility issues with the more recent Microsoft Operating Systems, it has been decided to stop selling InstantTrack and QuickTrack. WiSP and SatPC32 licenses will continue to be issued from the shop Also, there are currently no books for sale - we are looking at this but suggestions are always welcome. On the hardware front, we have restocked with the ever popular LVB motherboards and we also have a limited number of complete kits for the LVB Tracker unit. Half of the new kits also include the AMSAT-NA enclosure with compatible display unit! We are also investigating restocking the 2.4GHz signal sources from G0MRF and the G7HIA 2.4GHz patch kits - please keep a watch on the website for more details. The AMSAT UK website can be accessed via http://www.uk.amsat.org/ - the shop is accessed via a link on the left hand side of the web page. 73 Ciaran M0XTD [ANS thanks Ciaran,M0XTD, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-151.2 Satellite info AMSAT News Service Bulletin 151.2 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. May 31, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-151.2 AO-51 will be configured for Field Day with dual repeaters, 1268.700/435.150 and 145.920/435.300. No PL tone is required. Please note that the 435.150 downlink is left hand circular polarized, and the 435.300 transmitter is right hand circular polarized. This configuration will be available for the week preceding Field Day, through the Field Day weekend (June 22nd-28th, 2009). AO-7 has returned to experiencing short eclipses each orbit, thereby preventing the 24 hour timer from switching modes. AO-7 has been observed to favor Mode U/V (B) almost exclusively during these periods. Please check http://oscar.dcarr.org/ or http://www.planetemily.com/ao7/ao7log.php for the most recent reports of the current mode. GO-32 still in bootloader status, return of the BBS is unknown. [ANS thanks Drew, KO4MA, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-151.3 Satellite Shorts From All Over AMSAT News Service Bulletin 151.3 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. May 31, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-151.3 + A compendium of non-ham spacecraft frequencies can be found on-line at: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/spectrumreform/Spectrum_Plans_ 2007/NASA_Strategic_Spectrum_Plan_Nov2007.pdf + Lately, a growing number of observers are reporting intense "flares" coming from the International Space Station (ISS). During some night time flybys, the luminosity of the space station surges 10-fold or more. Some people have witnessed flares of magnitude -8 or twenty- five times brighter than Venus. (via SpaceWeather.com) + A video of the Minotaur launch that lofted the latest flock of cube- sats (PharmaSat, Hawksat, CP6) to orbit can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEf9trI1Hf8 + Watch for Franco's HB9OAB - CN2AB satellite DXpedition to Morocco between June 27 and July 20. Franco says he favors operation via VO-52. QSL eQSL or BURO via HB9OAB. + An online video simulating a flyover of Mars Olympus Mons volcanco can be found at: http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/05/mapping-mars-mt.html [ANS thanks everyone for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-151.4 ARRL Presidential Award AMSAT News Service Bulletin 151.4 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. May 31, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-151.4 FRANK BAUER, KA3HDO, RECEIVES ARRL PRESIDENT'S AWARD On Saturday, May 16 during the forum featuring Richard Garriott, W5KWQ, at the Dayton Hamvention, ARRL President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, presented former Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) <http://www.rac.ca/ariss/oindex.htm> International Chairman Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, with the ARRL President's Award. Bauer, who stepped down from ARISS <http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/03/25/10724/> and Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation's (AMSAT) <http://www.amsat.org/> duties this past March, served as ARISS Program Leader and ARISS International Working Group Chair. Since 1991, he served as AMSAT Vice President for Human Spaceflight Programs. The ARRL Board of Directors voted to create the President's Award in 2003. The President's Award is to go to an ARRL member or members who "have shown long-term dedication to the goals and objectives of ARRL and Amateur Radio," and who have gone the extra mile to support individual League programs and goals. Nominations for the award come from directors and are approved by the ARRL President and the Executive Committee. Under Bauer's leadership, Amateur Radio activities have been on human spaceflight vehicles, including NASA-sponsored ham radio activities on the shuttle, Space Station Mir and the ISS. Starting in 1983, Bauer led the Goddard Amateur Radio Club team that provided around-the clock space shuttle retransmissions from the WA3NAN club station. These retransmissions provided the international ham radio community up-to-the-minute information during the flight of Owen Garriott, W5LFL, on STS-9 <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-9.ht ml> and subsequent SAREX flights. In the days prior to the Internet, these real-time bulletins and frequent orbital element updates could only be obtained through Amateur Radio. "For well over a decade, I have been fortunate to be part of a group that has been leading international teams together to focus on Amateur Radio on the ISS," Bauer told the ARRL. "As AMSAT Vice President for Human Spaceflight since 1991, I have really worked to get this international team to work as one, focusing on Amateur Radio. It is very critical to get all the space agency partners to have a vested interest in making sure we do Amateur Radio right on the ISS. We need to keep the partnership we have with our international team in good stead." [ANS thanks ARRL for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-151.5 "Echoes of Apollo" event. AMSAT News Service Bulletin 151.5 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. May 31, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-151.5 Commemorating the 40th year anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon July 20th, 1969, many large commercial dishes worldwide will be active "on the air" on 23 CM on the weekend of June 26th (Field Day weekend). At present there are many very large commercial dishes as well as many Amateur radio dishes that will be activated on SSB and CW. Some of the larger dishes will make a two way QSO between small Mode "L" satellite stations possible. The Stanford 150' dish will be participating using various calls, including W6TE. A list of participating dishes will follow. W6TE will be on the air and testing the Big Stanford dish at various times... call for possible schedule (559) 260-5511 cell) 73, [ANS thanks Dave Smith, W6TE and the Echoes of Apollo Event Team for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-151.6 ARISS Schedule AMSAT News Service Bulletin 151.6 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. May 25, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-151.6 1. Upcoming School Contacts An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact was scheduled for Miyahara Junior High School in Saitama, Japan on Tuesday, May 26 at 11:12 UTC. Speaking in Japanese, JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata, KC5ZTA will chat with the students about life in space. Mahopac Public Library in Mahopac, New York has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Wednesday, June 3 at 15:47 UTC. This contact will be facilitated by telebridge station ON4ISS in Belgium. This school district public library serves six public and five private schools, with a total of 26,485 served. The library will coordinate this question and answer session with the Putnam Emergency Amateur Radio League. Kawanishi Seiwadai Community Center in Hyogo, Japan has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Saturday, June 6 at 07:55 UTC. The community center was established in 1987 and serves the area's 5000 households. To prepare for the contact, children researched the ISS and studied space and the global environment. This ARISS contact will be conducted in Japanese. 2. ARISS International Team Meeting Held The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) International Team meeting was held on Tuesday, May 19. Topics of discussion included the upcoming face to face meeting in the Netherlands and SuitSat-2 status. See: http://www.rac.ca/ariss/arisstel2009-05-19.htm 3. ARRL Article on Dayton Hamvention, Garriott The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) published a story in its May 22 issue of the ARRL Letter about the 2009 ARRL National Convention, Dayton Hamvention and Richard Garriott, W5KWQ. The item on Garriott covers his presentations at the ARRL and AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) forums, the ARRL Expo, and the ARRL Youth Lounge. See: http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/09/0522/ The ARRL Letter has a circulation of 115,000. [ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, for the above information] /EX 73, This week's ANS Editor, Dee Interdonato, NB2F nb2f at amsat dot org

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Frequencies for CubeSat
by Andy Brian 31 May '09

31 May '09

Hi, I'm looking for any comparison which frequency select for cubesat (command, telemetry). I know that many of designers used UHF UHF, but link budget margin that better to use VHF - smaller path loss for about 10dB what are the main reason for use UHF --> antenna size, free frequency on UHF band, other losses, ground station antenna gain or ?? Thanks for help and comments, best regards Andy

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true duplex radios
by D. Craig Fox 31 May '09

31 May '09

Sorry for the typos in the last- good reason why one should not send posts to listservs late at night after one's bedtime! hihi Anyway, thanks and 73s Craig N6RSX NOTICE: This communication may contain privileged or other confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient of this communication, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this communication to the intended recipient, please advise the sender by reply email and immediately delete the message and any attachments without copying or disclosing the contents. Thank you.

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Re: Re eggbeater performance - mobile
by Bob Bruninga 31 May '09

31 May '09

> It also has a null on an overhead pass. But that is quite insignificant. Looking at the gain plot of a 3/4 wave vertical (the 19.5" whip on 70cm) it is only down say 6 to 10 dB above 85 degrees. BUT the satellie is 10 dB or more closer when it is above 50 degrees which more than makes up for any loss of gain straight up. see plots on www.aprs.org/rotator1.html But yes, there can be a complete fade when it is perfectly directly overhead (extremely rare). But since the satellite is only above 50 degrees only 5% of the time, it is only above 85 degrees only 1/8th of that 5%, or much less than 1% of all access times. Again, losing less than 1% of access time due to a possible less than 1% chance of a fade is nothing to be concerned about. Just 2 cents worth... Bob, Wb4APR >> For mobile work on AO27, SO50, AO51 >> a 2 meter quarter wave whip is all >> you need... > >Absolutely, For a 19.5" whip in center of roof: > >1) Has 5 dBi gain above 20 deg on 2m >2) Has 7+ dBi gain above 30 deg on 70cm >3) Is an omni >4) does not sacrifice 3 dB for circular >5) Above 25 deg, satellite is 6 to 10 dB closer! >6) works the birds solid for the center of high passes >7) Simplicity at its best! > >Read about it: www.aprs.org/rotator1.html > > Disadvantage: The only disadvantage is TIME. > On the above web page you can also see that > satellites spend 70% of their daily pass > times below 25 degrees. BUT! For those best > passes in the morning and the evening (or > whenever) you can make solid contacts while > mobile for about 5 minutes. > > Also note, that you do NOT need any tracking > program to predict passes. AO51 schdule > repeats evry 5 days for example. Just write > down the CENTER pass of the morning and > evening for each day for 5 days. Update > those 10 times on a small 3/5" card on the > dash about once a month or so will predict > all passes whenever you are mobile. There > will be a pass 100 minutes earlier and 100 > minutes later each day too. So you can > predict all 6 passes a day from those same > 10 times. > > See how: www.aprs.org/MobileLEOtracking.html > > Bob, WB4APR

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Re: GO-32
by Mark L. Hammond 30 May '09

30 May '09

Hi Shamai, You will need to download the following files in the same location as the telemetry program: http://www.dk3wn.info/files/ocx.zip And, you might need this: http://www.dk3wn.info/files/vbrun60sp3.EXE Mike links these at the top of his telemetry page...lots of decoders! And you'll need these for them. Hope that gets you up and running! 73, Mark N8MH >Hi, > >I downloaded and tried to run the program, but it gives me an error message >pop up: "Component 'MSCHRT20.OCX' or one of its dependencies not correctly >registered: a file is missig or invalid". Any idea? (I am running Windows >XP) > >thanks & 73 > >Shamai >4Z1WS >On Thu, May 28, 2009 at 10:14 PM, Mark L. Hammond <marklhammond(a)gmail.com>wrote: > >> Hello David, >> >> For what seems like an eternity GO-32 has been sending a telemetry >> packet at 9600 baud one per minute. So, NO, the BBS isn't open (and >> hasn't been for a long time). >> >> You can decode the telemetry GO-32 frames thanks to Mike DK3WN! >> Actually, he has decoders for just about every satellite ever launched >> ;) at <http://www.dk3wn.info/software.shtml>http://www.dk3wn.info/software.shtml >> >> >> 73, >> -- >> Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] >> Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

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ON7EQ heard in GI84ow
by ps8rf ps8 30 May '09

30 May '09

Hello all, On 05/28/2009 around 20:39 and 20:40:30 UTC in the 58029 orbits AO7. I heard the station, Jean-Jacques, ON7EQ - in GI84ow - 4757 (Miles) or 7616 km. Unfortunately I can not contact due to problems in my uplink. I'm manually controlling the uplink and that made it difficult to contact. All contact via satellites that I hear, are routinely recorded. A small part of the audio of Jean-Jacques, ON7EQ via AO7 was added on youtube, the audio is not in good quality. For me it was fantastic in the case of a signal via AO7. I hope soon to maintain contact with our friend Jean-Jacques in two ways. I hope you enjoy it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggNmQqxARWY 73, Piraja, PS8RF. _________________________________________________________________ Emoticons e Winks super diferentes para o Messenger. Baixe agora, é grátis! http://specials.br.msn.com/ilovemessenger/pacotes.aspx

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HD Video of satellite FM Data download (or: Amateur Radio is cool)
by Henk, PA3GUO 30 May '09

30 May '09

Dear friends, This morning I have uploaded a new High Definition (HD) video: http://www.vimeo.com/4911267 COMPASS-1 is the first CubeSat of the Aachen University in Germany. It is a 10x10x10 cm cubic satellite with a mass of less than 1 kg. Daily download of satellite data is delegated to a team of radio amateurs around the world. (btw I am not one of the active members, only just a back-up station) In this video it is demonstrated how satellite data (telemetry) is downloaded using 1k2 AFSK modulation. Maybe this video can make others also enthousiastic to start looking into Compass-1 or other Cubesat programs running today. If so; take a look here for some commands: http://www.raumfahrt.fh-aachen.de/news.htm To me it shows Amateur Radio is very exiting, and satellite operations are way cool ! Yes, these Cubesats are no replacement for HEO's, but they do challenge me (just getting your station non-stop, fully automated running sounds easier as it is)... and HAM radio is all about challenges and experiments, that's what makes it fun and keeps it interesting for me ! To play the movie full-screen, click on the right bottom button in the player. Also there is a HD button, ensure it is showing "HD is on". Henk, PA3GUO

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Re: FT-847 vs IC-910
by Wayne Estes 30 May '09

30 May '09

Not all FT-847's are alike. A stock FT-847 has wide, low-Q ceramic IF filters. My FT-847 has INRAD CW and SSB crystal filters that give narrower IF bandwidth, with MUCH higher Q. I haven't compared them, but I suspect that a FT-847 receiver with quality IF filters performs roughly on par with an IC-910. If shopping for a used FT-847, look for one with optional IF filters. Collins mechanical filters are an improvement over the stock ceramic filters, but crystal filters are even better. Wayne Estes W9AE Oakland, Oregon, USA

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Re: eggbeater rx performance MM
by MM 30 May '09

30 May '09

Let’s split your question into two parts Car and House: I have made literally hundreds of FM voice contacts with Mir and ISS from my car. I have also made hundreds of packet mail contacts with Mir. On Mir the default power setting was 5 watts, into a Larsen Dual band Mobile antenna, mounted outside on the hull of Mir. The transceiver was either a Kenwood TM-733 or TM-V7A. My car station was typically a 5/8 wave mono band 2-meter vertical, with a 45 watt class FM rig. I usually did not have the amps in the car since mobile amps are typically high maintenance. ISS is running a similar setup. The transceiver is a Kenwood TM-D700, modified for three power settings, 5,10,25 (special mods). The ISS D700 has been programmed to default to 10 watts for voice and packet, unless changed by the crew, however every time the crew pushes a PM/function button, it forces the radio back to 10 watts. The antenna is a Quad band system with 2, 440, patch for 1.2-2.4 Ghz. Gain is unknown, and must be assumed to be –3dBd for 2 meters. So for beginners, LEO satellites, Running simple verticals and a 45+ watt class system and 0 dBd gain antennas is a good way to start from your car (parked or driving). You will need to Pick your orbits in advance. I would usually only attempt orbits that were 45 degrees elevation or better from my Car. For the more advances mobile users, try this Mobile EME array. http://www.garysicecream.com/may909.htm Other Car Tips: Convert from RG-58 to LMR-240-UF or RG-213. The coax that usually comes with stock mobile antennas is too poor of quality to be used seriously. Run Mono-band antennas for 2 and 440, get the highest Gain mono band (whip) antennas that will fit your mobile and garage. You may need a signal splitter since most rigs only have one SO-239 for 2/440. Amps for your Car: Get best antennas and coax first before using amps. In some States, we are limited to 50 watts on 440. House Satellite Antennas: It’s ok to start with a few simpler verticals or small beams to see if you like the satellite hobby. If you do like Satellites and want to continue then you have two choices. #1 Gradually build your antenna gain over several years, 1 Element 0 dBd 2 Elements 3dBd 4 Elements 6dBd 8 Elements 9 dBd etc. or #2 you can jump in and buy a one of the 20+ element CP (circular polarized) 12-dBd class beams. In many cases it maybe cheaper to go from 0 dBd to 12 dBd than buying lots of little antennas in-between. A CP style antenna system can be used for both Satellite and terrestrial DX. Other Tips: Go with the most elements you can afford for a single boom. 20+ elements on 2-meters 40+ elements on 440 Coax: You can now get Flexible thick coax that will support an antenna Rotor. Most people used RG-8 style coax, which is approximately 10 mm in diameter. However you can now get flexible rotor grade coax which is approximately 15 mm in diameter, and has much lower loss than the best RG-8 style coax. Example: Belden RG-213 145 MHz 2.5 dB loss per 100 feet 438 MHz 4.5 dB loss per 100 feet LMR 600 UltraFlex Rotor cable 145 MHz 1.1 dB loss per 100 feet 438 MHz 2.0 dB loss per 100 feet As you can see, by switching from 10mm coax to 15mm coax you can reduce you loss by over 50%. The 15mm cables cost 2-3 times as much, however you will not have to worry about coax losses any more on Frequencies below 2 gig. 73 wf1f --- On Fri, 5/29/09, Eric Fort <eric.fort(a)gmail.com> wrote: > From: Eric Fort <eric.fort(a)gmail.com> > Subject: [amsat-bb] eggbeater rx performance > To: "Amsat BB" <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> > Date: Friday, May 29, 2009, 9:17 PM > I/m interested in the possibility of > using oscars 27, 29, 50, 51, and 52 > without using rotors or directional antennas and maybe > while mobile. Uplink > seems not to be a problem as one can always QRO to a level > where the > satellite sees an apropriate signal level that is enough > but without robing > power from other transponder users. On recieve though > you still gotta be > able to hear 'em to work 'em. Is an eggbeater and a > preamp enough to hear > decently or is there another (better) way? Is working > mobile and/or without > directional antennas even practical? what's the best > way to do it? > > Thanks, > > Eric > AF6EP > _______________________________________________ > 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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Re: GO-32 status
by Mark L. Hammond 30 May '09

30 May '09

Hello David, For what seems like an eternity GO-32 has been sending a telemetry packet at 9600 baud one per minute. So, NO, the BBS isn't open (and hasn't been for a long time). You can decode the telemetry GO-32 frames thanks to Mike DK3WN! Actually, he has decoders for just about every satellite ever launched ;) at http://www.dk3wn.info/software.shtml 73, -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] ______ Hello All, What is the status of GO-32? Is the BBS back up and running? 73 de David VK5DG

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Re: Mobile Coax?
by MM 30 May '09

30 May '09

Hi Bob, You comments are valid for 2-meters. You are not going to see much difference between 15 feet of cheap coax and good coax. Howver, as you go higher in frequency the losses increase. On the 440 band the Coax Loss difference between 15 feet of RG-58 and LMR-240 is approximately 1 dB. For Raw power, switching from 15 feet of RG-58 (~5 millimeter cable) and LMR-240 (-6 Millimeter cable) will give you 15-20% more RF at the antenna. So for people that are counting dB’s in mobile setup, this is just one more option to squeeze out a little more performance. And for those of you what want to run amplifiers on 440, you will find that RG-58 has approximately a 105-watt limit. The LMR-240 (-6 Millimeter cable) will support 380 watts. Here in Boston, Hams are starting to used 900 Mhz repeaters. The stock RG-58 coax just sucks up your TX and RX power on 900 mhz. Low Loss Coax for Home and Mobile usage Hi all: Most of the mobile antennas mounting systems that come with coax use the cheapest and highest loss coax available. If you read the fine print on these coaxes you will be surprised to find that your power loss may be as high as 40% and the coax will melt above 110 watts (on 440 mc). More and more of us are using 440 and higher frequencies. By selecting the correct coax you can save 1 or more DB of loss, even for a short length as 15 feet. Here are some number I put together on coax loss for the typical mobile installation. dB Loss (440 mc) dB Loss (900 mc) Length FT TX Freq/Length 15' 100' Pwr 15' 100' Pwr Size Center RG-58/U 1.5 9.9 105w 2.2 14.5 60w .195" .032 RG-58/A 1.5 9.9 105w 2.2 14.5 60w .195" Stranded RG-8X 1.2 8.1 250w 1.8 12.1 150w .240" Stranded LMR-240UF 0.5 3.2 380w 0.7 4.7 260w .240" .059 The coax RG-58 comes in many flavors, No letter, A, C and U. The letter "U" is sometimes a solid 20 AWG copper center. The letters "A" and "C" are stranded, the center size would be similar to solid, and will have a little more loss than Solid center. Most mobile installations will need 15 to 17 feet of coax. RG-8X and LMR-240 are the same size, however LMR has foil shield and lower published loss values. The UF version of 240 is the Ultra Flex flavor and can bend easier with a only a slight change in loss ratings. >From this list of small car style coax, the LMR beats them all; in lowest loss for the size and highest transmit power loads. I was planning on installing a 440 AMP in my car, but after looking at the coax, I realized that I would fry the stock RG-58 coax. I was looking for an NMO Mag mount that has LMR-240 installed. I was not able to find any, so I made my own. I took a Round style Larsen NMO mount and replaced the existing RG-58A coax with LMR-240. Use two screw drivers to pop the magnet off the metal mount. Remove the two Phillips screws hidden under the magnet. Remove the metal frame and now you will have access to the coax mounting point. Replace coax and glue on the magnet with epoxy cement. 145 meg 45 watts, in, 15 feet of LMR-240, = 40 watts out 45 watts, in, 15 feet of RG-58, = 37 watts out (~10% power loss difference) 440 meg 20 watts, in, 15 feet of LMR-240, = 17 watts out 20 watts, in, 15 feet of RG-58, = 14 watts out (15-20% power loss difference) 900 meg 10 watts, in, 15 feet of LMR-240, = 7.7 watts out 10 watts, in, 15 feet of RG-58, = 5.8 watts out Power reference http://www.ocarc.ca/coax.htm 73 Miles --- On Sat, 5/30/09, Bob Bruninga <bruninga(a)usna.edu> wrote: > From: Bob Bruninga <bruninga(a)usna.edu> > Subject: [amsat-bb] Mobile Coax? > To: "Amsat BB" <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> > Date: Saturday, May 30, 2009, 10:48 AM > > Other Car Tips: > > Convert from RG-58 to LMR-240-UF > > or RG-213. > > I'd take that with a grain of salt. The length of > coax in a car is about say 10 feet. The loss of 100 > feet of RG-58 is say 5 dB? and the loss of fancy stuff might > be 3 db? But the diffrence for only a 10 foot run is > only .5 dB versus .3 dB or only 0.2 dB. Nothing at all > to even consider compared to all the work it will take, and > the lack of flexibility and trying to run something almost > like pipe through places where a simple wire (RG-58) fits. > > My lesson was learned 40 years ago when I go my first 100 > lb UHF mobile rig (tubes) just after highschool. The > boat anchor filled the entire trunk of my MGB. But the > first thing I did when we go the lot of them in my club was > spend a day replacing the 8" internal piece of RG-58 in mine > from the Transmitter output over to the chassis connector > with a 8" run of RG-8. It was hard work getting that > 8" piece of RG-8 coax inside the radio and routed all around > the internal chassis. > > The elmer at the time laughed. He said you just > wasted a day and all that work to save 0.01% of loss. > So now your radio works at 100% where as before it worked at > 99.99%. Losing 3 dB of course is one thing (50%), but > trying to worry about that last 1% when the effort is > tremendous is just not effective. > > Anyway, just my 2 cents... > > 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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eggbeater rx performance
by Eric Fort 30 May '09

30 May '09

I/m interested in the possibility of using oscars 27, 29, 50, 51, and 52 without using rotors or directional antennas and maybe while mobile. Uplink seems not to be a problem as one can always QRO to a level where the satellite sees an apropriate signal level that is enough but without robing power from other transponder users. On recieve though you still gotta be able to hear 'em to work 'em. Is an eggbeater and a preamp enough to hear decently or is there another (better) way? Is working mobile and/or without directional antennas even practical? what's the best way to do it? Thanks, Eric AF6EP

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