October 2010 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

PACIFICON in the Books!
by Clint Bradford 18 Oct '10

18 Oct '10

The Mount Diablo ARC's PACIFICON conference just wrapped up. Beautiful weather, great hotel, plenty of vendors, info galore! Fifty-four attendees were there at my satellite session Saturday morning. About 35 for Friday afternoon's demo/pass of AO-51. And about 25 for Saturday afternoon's AO-51 pass. And fellow AMSATters were there with an AMSAT table for new members to sign up and to sell some AMSAT wares. Their table was in a great location: as folks left the registration desk, BAM! - the AMSAT table was the first one to be seen right in front of them in the secondary hallway! Clint, K6LCS

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Guess Who Showed Up?
by Clint Bradford 18 Oct '10

18 Oct '10

If y'all heard the distant sound of slapping one's forehead in astonishment from the West Coast of the U.S. this weekend, well, it was your AMSAT reps at the annual PACIFICON ham conference in Sam Ramon, California. Why the surprise? Because an AMSAT area coordinator was there giving an AMSAT presentation ... and bumped into a fellow AMSAT devotee in the hallway who had a Martha Kit of AMSAT gear to sell. Uh, why didn't "we" know each was going to be there??? (grin) Area coordinators have their Web page to post our presentations and demos. Is there another site where AMSAT volunteers post when they are working events as an "AMSAT vendor?" And if so, maybe it should all be combined into one? If I knew an AMSAT vendor table was going to be there, I could have blocked off some hours to work it - to relieve the main crew. ANYWAY, I bought a great goldenrod-colored ARISSat-1 t-shirt. But please be forewarned - they are sized on the "small" side - so order your own a size larger than you normally wear! Clint, K6LCS http://www.work-sat.com 909-241-7666

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AO-51 new ops/best QSO practice
by Andrew Glasbrenner 18 Oct '10

18 Oct '10

All, I heard quite a few new ops on the 435.300 repeater tonight. Many seemed to be getting the hang of things quickly, and I even heard some coaching in the background as contacts were made. That's great! I've noticed that the new ops who do the best are those that follow a simple practice. When trying to initiate a contact, they pick out a station they can hear, and call them directly, as in "KO4MA, this is KJ4XYZ EL78". When someone hears that, they know that op can hear the satellite, and they can answer quickly and give them the QSO. This is a good thing. On the other hand, there are those that merely state their call and grid, without calling someone, over and over. Tonight, sometimes even over top of ongoing QSOs. Over and over. This type of procedure often indicates someone who cannot hear the satellite and calls to them often go unanswered, a waste of everyone's time. Do this enough and people start ignoring you. Make a habit of it, and people might describe you as a synonym for a container top or cover. This word used to have more meaning among our ranks than it does today, and I don't use it here for the sake of the ladies amongst us. So far we have not tested the orbital Rettysnitch on AO-51, and I'd prefer to keep it that way (Google it if you don't know what it is, or for what it is used.) Seriously tongue-in-cheek, Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Ops

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Re: FP/KV1J 26 Oct 2010 - 2 Nov 2010 FM Sats
by Ian - K8MM 18 Oct '10

18 Oct '10

Eric, Have fun operating from Miquelon, I was on the birds from there in 2005. FP is an awesome place to operate from because of the windows to both EU and W/VE. You'll be amazed how close to the ocean's horizon you can work either the analog or FM birds, I could hear them even before the would reach one degree of elevation. The European passes on FM or SSB can be hectic and some stations will keep calling no matter who you come back too...there was an IV3 that never made it in my log because all he did was QRM the entire pass. I would start out by calling CQ on CW and then work that pile up down to nothing in a couple minutes then switch to SSB. If you stay at the Maxhotel you may find my Texas potato masher II antennas are still stored in a storage room with a bunch of other antenna hardware. They were made of PVC and brass rod and I taped them all together in a bundle. Feel free to you them, they worked really well and I only had to reposition them twice a pass. I would point them where the bird would rise then once it reached its zenith I would run outside and point them to where the bird would set. They were only four feet off the ground and I didn't bother to elevate them at all, I didn't need too. Each antenna was on a separate mast and spaced about 20 ft apart to keep from de-sense problems. There is the big hill to the west that sometimes gets in the way of the path to the western US and the hills to the north don't really get in the way of much at all since there's never anyone on from Siberia...lol. Operating from GN16 was way more difficult than GN17 because my setup was surrounded by buildings and the mountain to the west of town. We lucked out on the WX when we were there, it only blew and rained one day but when it did, it didn't mess around. I have some cool pics of my HF2V antenna bending in a 70 MPH wind! 73, Ian - K8MM John Papay wrote: > (Relayed from KV1J who is having trouble posting) > > I will be operating from the island of Miquelon (Grid GN17) > from October 26 through November 2 as FP/KV1J. The dates > may shift a bit depending on the weather and available > transportation. This is a French territory (Collective) off > the coast of Newfoundland. > > I will be mostly on the low bands but plan to take > breaks and work as many of the FM satellite passes > that I can. I have AO-51, AO-27, SO-50, SO-67, and > HO-68 programmed with Doppler shifts in an FT-817. > I will be doing this outside with an Arrow 146/437-10 > antenna. > > The weather can get rough where I am and the winds > are high so I will do my best under the conditions. > I have a digital audio recorder tied to both the TX and > RX audio so I will do the final logging when I return inside. > > I was on during from this spot in November 2009 using > the AO-51 bird with good results. This trip, I hope to try > other satellites when they are available. > > Once I am on the island it gets busy with setup and the > low bands so it is not practical to do scheds but I will > favor the daylight passes since they are easier to operate > outdoors. > > I have a web page at - > <http://www.kv1j.com/fp/october10.html>http://www.kv1j.com/fp/october10.html > > for more information and I will try to put some status > information there when I can. I do have internet access > but it is not always available. > > I will be traveling via the island of Saint Pierre. If I get on > from there, I will be grid GN16. Still operating as FP/KV1J. > > 73, Eric KV1J FP/KV1J > > > _______________________________________________ > 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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FP/KV1J 26 Oct 2010 - 2 Nov 2010 FM Sats
by John Papay 18 Oct '10

18 Oct '10

(Relayed from KV1J who is having trouble posting) I will be operating from the island of Miquelon (Grid GN17) from October 26 through November 2 as FP/KV1J. The dates may shift a bit depending on the weather and available transportation. This is a French territory (Collective) off the coast of Newfoundland. I will be mostly on the low bands but plan to take breaks and work as many of the FM satellite passes that I can. I have AO-51, AO-27, SO-50, SO-67, and HO-68 programmed with Doppler shifts in an FT-817. I will be doing this outside with an Arrow 146/437-10 antenna. The weather can get rough where I am and the winds are high so I will do my best under the conditions. I have a digital audio recorder tied to both the TX and RX audio so I will do the final logging when I return inside. I was on during from this spot in November 2009 using the AO-51 bird with good results. This trip, I hope to try other satellites when they are available. Once I am on the island it gets busy with setup and the low bands so it is not practical to do scheds but I will favor the daylight passes since they are easier to operate outdoors. I have a web page at - <http://www.kv1j.com/fp/october10.html>http://www.kv1j.com/fp/october10.html for more information and I will try to put some status information there when I can. I do have internet access but it is not always available. I will be traveling via the island of Saint Pierre. If I get on from there, I will be grid GN16. Still operating as FP/KV1J. 73, Eric KV1J FP/KV1J

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Great article!
by Dave Guimont 17 Oct '10

17 Oct '10

Hi Keith, Great article in the jul/aug issue of the JOURNAL.... Brings back thirty one years of operating on the amateur satellites... One of my first contacts on AO7 with WA5ZIB, Andy in 1979, and then again with him in 2004 when it came back to life, with Andy now W5ACM in 2004. I'm sure we are both looking forward to operating our next HEO, and am certainly behind Peter, and ESA, in their efforts to accomplish that... I get on the LEO's once in a while, a few of the OT's still around.... Leanore says hello, and if the convention ever gets to the left coast that we will meet again.... Again, congrats on the article 73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1(a)san.rr.com Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E...

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Re: Rig debate time...
by G. Beat 17 Oct '10

17 Oct '10

Tom - After I sold my VHF/UHF/sat equipment in late 1990s, I debated for 10 years about purchasing the IC-910H (never did). I had the IC-756Pro and now the Elecraft K3 for HF and 6 meters .. so the Kenwood TS-2000 was never on my list. I thought the IC-910H it came up a bit short, of what it could be, when I saw it in 2000. Icom never corrected or updated the model (e.g. IC-820 vs IC-821) ... and the IC-9100 is not exactly what I desire, at this point. I even had the TAPR HPSDR for awhile -- which I sold to an Australian radio amateur in 2009. I am sure a few will proclaim that the FlexRadio should be on your list (my long time Elmer has one). IF you decide to sell your Icom IC-821, drop me an e-mail. Greg Beat w9gb BTW, congrats on winning the IC-7000 at the AMSAT-NA Symposium ! == Date: Sat, 16 Oct 2010 17:01:38 -0400 From: K8TB < k8tb(a)bosscher.org > Subject: [amsat-bb] Rig debate time... To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org So I have an Icom IC-821 that I am using for the birds, SSB and FM. I don't know what to say, but that rig isn't quite there. So I am trying to decide between a TS-2000 and an IC-910H. I've had a 2000 in the past, and it is a pretty good rig. But I've heard that the 910H is "better", more or less. I have mast mounted SSB preamps to equalize everything out. Anyone on the list own both an IC-910H and a TS-2000, and do you have any thoughts on the use of them for sat use? (I don't really need the low band part of the TS-2000, I have a K3 there). tom bosscher K8TB

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ND9M Road Trip Update #11
by claryco＠aol.com 17 Oct '10

17 Oct '10

I'm back to running counties on HF CW and SSB. With 53 counties in North Dakota to put out, it's difficult to predict when I'll be in a particular grid square. You can check a county hunting website (http://ch.w6rk.com) for spots on my HF ops and see where I'm at. For the time being, it's the best thing I've got for tracking since I'm not on APRS yet. We should be in DN86 and DN96 for much of today (17 Oct). But since we're just a few miles from the ND / SD state line, we're going to swing across into SD to hit the DN85 / DN95 line for the AO27 pass which rises locally at 17/1919Z. At this latitude, I'll miss the first minute or two of voice operation, but I'll do my best with the limited time. After this pass, we'll return to ND to focus on the grids and counties there. 73, Jim, ND9M / VQ9JC Bowman ND / Bowman Co. / DN86

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Sumbandila (SO-67) schedule until 2010-10-17
by Johann Lochner 17 Oct '10

17 Oct '10

Hi folks, SO-67 is again executing its schedule and the following passes should go ahead as initially planned: 2010-10-16 19:47 2010-10-16 20:36 2010-10-16 21:20 2010-10-16 22:38 2010-10-16 22:54 2010-10-16 23:55 We hope to upload the rest of the weekend schedule tomorrow morning around 06:00 UTC (see below). 73 de ZR1CBC, Johann. ----- 2010-10-17 06:35 2010-10-17 06:52 2010-10-17 10:00 2010-10-17 10:20 2010-10-17 11:53 2010-10-17 13:15 2010-10-17 13:32 2010-10-17 14:50 2010-10-17 16:23 2010-10-17 17:37 2010-10-17 17:56 2010-10-17 19:09 2010-10-17 19:29 2010-10-17 20:18 2010-10-17 21:01 2010-10-17 22:35

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FP/KV1J 26 Oct 2010 - 2 Nov 2010 FM Sats
by KV1J 17 Oct '10

17 Oct '10

I will be operating from the island of Miquelon (Grid GN17) from October 26 through November 2 as FP/KV1J. The dates may shift a bit depending on the weather and available transportation. This is a French territory (Collective) off the coast of Newfoundland. I will be mostly on the low bands but plan to take breaks and work as many of the FM satellite passes that I can. I have AO-51, AO-27, SO-50, SO-67, and HO-68 programmed with Doppler shifts in an FT-817. I will be doing this outside with an Arrow 146/437-10 antenna. The weather can get rough where I am and the winds are high so I will do my best under the conditions. I have a digital audio recorder tied to both the TX and RX audio so I will do the final logging when I return inside. I was on during from this spot in November 2009 using the AO-51 bird with good results. This trip, I hope to try other satellites when they are available. Once I am on the island it gets busy with setup and the low bands so it is not practical to do scheds but I will favor the daylight passes since they are easier to operate outdoors. I have a web page at - http://www.kv1j.com/fp/october10.html for more information and I will try to put some status information there when I can. I do have internet access but it is not always available. I will be traveling via the island of Saint Pierre. If I get on from there, I will be grid GN16. Still operating as FP/KV1J. 73, Eric KV1J FP/KV1J

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