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

irc channel?
by Joseph Armbruster 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

Is there any specific server / channel that amsat folks hang out in on IRC? Joseph Armbruster, KJ4JIO

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AO-7 mode B
by Roland Zurmely 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

Here is an audio recording from QSO with Andre ZS2BK, distance = 6890 km ! http://www.qsl.net/py4zbz/satelite/ZS2BK_AO7.wav Only 2 element Yagi on VHF and 6 el on UHF: http://www.qsl.net/py4zbz/satelite.htm#owa6 73 de Roland PY4ZBZ

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Fw: Lighthouse/Lightship Special Event
by Peter 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

Hello, I would like to correct the starting time for the Satellite portion of the event.. it will be 1200 UTC, Saturday, thank you. 73, Pete, WB2OQQ

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Lighthouse/Lightship Special Event
by Peter 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

Hello All, As part of the International Lighthouse/Lightship event, I will be operating on most of the FM Satellites, thru the weekend. In addition we will have AMSAT information available to the many visitors that tour the Fire Island Lighthouse, our goal is to have fun and bring new Satellite operators to the airwaves. So when you hear W2GSB/Lighthouse, give us a call, you can visit http://www.gsbarc.org to view the QSL card and more information about the event, thank you. 73, Pete, WB2OQQ CQ CQ... this is W2GSB/Lighthouse - Fire Island Lighthouse NYSpecial Event Station W2GSB/Lighthouse - August 15 and 16, 2009 Fire Island Lighthouse, Fire Island National Seashore, Fire Island, Suffolk County, New York The event is always held on the 3rd full weekend in August starting at 0001 UTC on Saturday and finishing at 2359 UTC on Sunday. It also now coincides on the Sunday with the International Lighthouse Day which is an event organized by the International Association of Lighthouse Keepers whereby as many world lighthouses will be open to the public for the day. The following are the various designators for the operation W2GSB/Lighthouse location information: Grid Square: FN-30-jp QSL via W2GSB/LH, PO Box 1356, West Babylon, NY 11704-0356. S.A.S.E. Please. The International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend came into being in 1997 from the Scottish Northern Lighthouses award weekend by Mike Dalrymple, GM4SUC, a member of the Ayr Amateur Radio Group, see also this web site for further history and this page for the event's first web site. Over the years it has grown to over 380 lighthouses in some 51 countries around the world participating in the event. 73, Pete, WB2OQQ

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EN63 active today
by Chris Lemon 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

Hello all, I will be active from EN63 Wisconsin today on the FM birds. I made it here in time to work some folks on the 1251Z AO-51 pass, and I plan to be on the 1756Z (low elevation) and 1933Z AO-27 passes, the 2227Z and maybe the 0006Z AO-51 passes, and the 2333Z SO-50 pass. All subject to change as I am working and my time is not always under my control. Don't know if EN63 is a terribly rare grid, but I don't have it so it's rare to me! I know there were some other rare ones on AO-51 this morning, so hopefully folks can work some new ones today. Chris KB9CL

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Special Event- Lighthouse Weekend
by roib＠optonline.net 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

Hello All, As part of the International Lighthouse/Lightship event, I will be operating on most of the FM Satellites, thru the weekend. In addition we will have AMSAT information available to the many visitors that tour the Fire Island Lighthouse, our goal is to have fun and bring new Satellite operators to the airwaves. So when you hear W2GSB/Lighthouse, give us a call, you can visit http://www.gsbarc.org to view the QSL card and more information about the event, thank you. 73, Pete, WB2OQQ CQ CQ... this is W2GSB/Lighthouse - Fire Island Lighthouse NYSpecial Event Station W2GSB/Lighthouse - August 15 and 16, 2009 Fire Island Lighthouse, Fire Island National Seashore, Fire Island, Suffolk County, New York The event is always held on the 3rd full weekend in August starting at 0001 UTC on Saturday and finishing at 2359 UTC on Sunday. It also now coincides on the Sunday with the International Lighthouse Day which is an event organized by the International Association of Lighthouse Keepers whereby as many world lighthouses will be open to the public for the day. The following are the various designators for the operation W2GSB/Lighthouse location information: Grid Square: FN-30-jp QSL via W2GSB/LH, PO Box 1356, West Babylon, NY 11704-0356. S.A.S.E. Please. The International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend came into being in 1997 from the Scottish Northern Lighthouses award weekend by Mike Dalrymple, GM4SUC, a member of the Ayr Amateur Radio Group, see also this web site for further history and this page for the event's first web site. Over the years it has grown to over 380 lighthouses in some 51 countries around the world participating in the event. 73, Pete, WB2OQQ

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ANDE website telemetry corrected
by Ivan Galysh 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

Hello all, For anyone who is trying to analyze the sensor data, I discovered I put in the wrong information about the magnetometers. The values are not counts but measurements in uTesla. More info will be posted such as sensor locations and magnetometer orientation. I just need to get the CAD guy to crank out a few pictures. Ivan

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Orbitron-Wispdde rotor control
by Gary Lockhart 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

All, I've been trying to get my pair of U-100 rotors under automatic control from a modified version of KO6TH AZ/EL Rotor Control program for a couple of months and have come up against a show stopper to get AZ/EL data from Orbitron on the serial port to load into a BS2. The BS2 loads programs and will display static data into a 2-line LCD display with no problem. It seems to be just the Wisp-DDE data is not recognized and stored. I have tried the original WispDDE and the Orbitron-Wispdde code AD5JN put out on the web but neither seem to work. I've disconnected the ATN line on the program-serial cable when trying receive data from the serial port but still no joy. I am sure this will work if I knew what I am doing wrong. Thanks for your attention, Gary AB3ID Snow Hill, MD

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Re: rotator questions
by Daniel Schultz 13 Aug '09

13 Aug '09

To find true north at your QTH: Go to http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications/data-services/rs-on… Enter your nearest city and state into the menu If you prefer to enter latitude and longitude, or if you are outside of the USA, go to http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications/data-services/rs-on… You will get a chart like this for your location: Thursday 13 August 2009 Eastern Daylight Time SUN Begin civil twilight 5:50 a.m. Sunrise 6:19 a.m. Sun transit 1:12 p.m. Sunset 8:05 p.m. End civil twilight 8:33 p.m. MOON Moonrise 11:04 p.m. on preceding day Moon transit 6:29 a.m. Moonset 2:04 p.m. Moonrise 11:44 p.m. Moonset 3:13 p.m. on following day Make a note of the "Sun transit" time. Set your watch by WWV or some other reliable time source. Drive a stake in the ground (use a plumb line to make sure it is vertical). Go outside at the exact moment of the sun transit, at that time the shadow of the stake (or your tower if it is vertical) will be true north. Mark the ground at that exact time. Dan Schultz N8FGV

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Antenna pointing
by john heath 13 Aug '09

13 Aug '09

Hi, I agree with the comments that high degrees of pointing accuracy are not required for satellite work. However, if you are super keen to improve your pointing accuracy then you may like to consider the modern version of the "bore sight" method. A bore sight is basically a length of tube, you look through, you only get a view of the target when you are accuratly lined up with it. The longer the tube the greater the pointing accuracy. For an antenna boom mounted bore sight I used about six inches of 15mm copper water pipe with a stop end soldered onto it. I drilled a 1/8" hole in the stop end and fixed a light dependant resistor in the "eye end" Attached to the boom and ran wires to the shack where I had a battery and voltmeter. Point your antenna at where the Sun should be then "hunt" backwards and forwards, up and down until you see a peak reading on the meter = the sun. Its a bit of work but the benefit of this method is that its on the tower and you can check it anytime the Sun is out. Practical problems, waterproofing and true alignment to the boom. It was a lot of work but a fun project, eventially destroyed by water penetration. 73 John G7HIA

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