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

DM30 active on Saturday
by Larry Teran 23 Oct '10

23 Oct '10

Members of the Mexican Radio Club XE2DNN will be activating DM30 from Caborca, SON Mexico this Saturday Oct 23 as they attend the club's annual meeting in Rancho Las Carmelas Sonora. There will be three stations operating XE2VAS Uriel, XE2DAK David and XE2BSS Alex, plans are to be operating all satellite passes of the FM birds. 73 Larry KI6YAA

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ND9M Road Trip Update #13
by claryco＠aol.com 23 Oct '10

23 Oct '10

The crystal ball says that I'll be QRV from either DN88 or DN98 during Sunday's (23 Oct) HO68 pass that rises locally at 23/1721Z and probably DN88 during the AO27 pass that comes up here at 23/1948Z and in DN98 for AO51 at 23/2201Z and 13/1228Z. I should be on from grids EN08 and EN18 on Sunday (24 Oct). 73, Jim, ND9M / VQ9JC Minot ND / Ward Co. / DN98

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Watch NASA build the next Rover
by Clint Bradford 23 Oct '10

23 Oct '10

NASA is providing a live feed of the Curiosity Mars rover being built in a high-tech clean room. http://feeds.wired.com/~r/wired/index/~3/JCJtn084oV4/ Clint, K6LCS

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FS: Yaesu FT7800 dualband rig
by John Geiger 23 Oct '10

23 Oct '10

If anyone is looking for a 2m and 70cm radio to get on the satellites with, I have a nice Yaesu FT7800 available. It does 50 watts on 2m and 40 watts on 70cm, CTCSS tones, DCS tones, and come with the mic, power cord, and original box. It doesn't have the manual, but you can find that on line. It is perfect for the Mode J satellites-AO27, SO50, AO51, and HO68 It doesn't do dual receive, but you can program it to transmit on one band and receive on the other which makes it fine for satellite use. I am asking $160 for it plus $10 shipping and can take paypal/check/MO. I will even program the satellite frequencies into memory for you. 73s John AA5JG

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LightSail-1 back-up satellite announced
by G. Beat 22 Oct '10

22 Oct '10

Louis Friedman, program director for LightSail-1, has announced that a back-up craft to LightSail-1 will be built, instead of an investment in insurance for an estimated cost of $ 200,000. As previously announced in July 2010 by AMSAT News Service (SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-206.08) LightSail-1 is planned to be launched in early 2011. LightSail-1 is a three Cubesat spacecraft (size of shoebox and proposed AMSAT Fox). It will use UHF frequencies for tracking and command control stations. California Polytechnic University is supplying the Cubesat bus, avionics and launch vehicle P-POD interface;. Georgia Tech University is leading the mission operations, Dave Spencer serving as mission manager; Stellar Exploration, Inc. led by Tomas Svitek is building LightSail-1; Jim Cantrell of Strategic Space Systems is project manager; and Louis D. Friedman is the LightSail-1 program director. The LightSail-1 program will be featured this weekend in Washington D.C. The USA Science & Engineering Festival National Mall in Washington, D.C. October 23 & 24, 1010 10am to 5:50pm http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/space_information/usa_science_fe… For further information on this Planetary Society program: http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/innovative_technologies/solar_sa… greg w9gb

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quick run to DM32 on Saturday (23 October) morning
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 22 Oct '10

22 Oct '10

Hi! At the request of a few satellite grid hunters, I will make a quick run down to the northeast end of grid DM32 south of Phoenix for a couple of passes on Saturday (23 October) morning: VO-52 at 1551-1604 UTC HO-68 at 1725-1740 UTC If possible, and if the weather cooperates, I will park on the DM32/DM42 boundary. I doubt I can drag myself down there earlier in the morning, and can't stay down there all day. These two passes will cover most (or, for HO-68, all) of the continental USA in both SSB and FM. For VO-52, I will probably be up around 145.910 MHz +/- on the downlink, where I usually hang out on this satellite. I'll be happy to send QSL cards for these QSOs with an e-mail request. If I have not worked you before, I will send my QSL with SASE. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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Re: muTek Limited FT-736 boards
by G. Beat 22 Oct '10

22 Oct '10

Bob - Sadly, this is another example of an individual getting over his head in acquiring (or starting) a business product or enterprise for the amateur radio industry/hobby. A loss for the weak-signal, EME, microwave, and satellite segment of the hobby. The specific product you are asking about is the RPCB 736ub http://www.mutekrf.com/rpcb736ub.htm Chas Mackinnon, GM8LMA has not updated his web site since February 2004 (moved muTek inventory and records to Scotland) http://www.mutekrf.com/index.html • The physical move took much longer to complete than we thought. Loading and unloading the 7 tonne lorry was quite straightforward but resulted in 5 man months just to classify, catalog, index, sort and identify all the stores. • The development facilities have been finished, together with test and maintenance areas, leaving just production to be completed over the next few weeks. • Our admin area still looks a little "green field" - and the computer room does not exist but is scheduled to be completed over the next three months. • Production evaluation of the RPCB144ub and the SLNA290 is currently in progress. These two products were selected to be done first from the very high number of enquiries. I am not aware of a replacement board set, liek that offered by muTek Limited (UK). At this point in technology, many would advocate to forget about upgrades to this classic VHF/UHF platform due to its age (~20 years). The automotive industry went through an identical "attitude period" -- but ironically the classic automotive segment supports a number of after-market firms. Yes, Software Defined Radios (SDR) are the current state-of-the-art .. but they have issues .. as with any emerging technology. A "new" design using currently available components, micro-processing/controller capabilities, and surface mount production could significantly upgrade the capabilities of this platform. Jim, W6PQL shows you what is possible (and the talent in the hoby) -- using an FT-736R (and other radios) as an IF platform for microwaves http://www.w6pql.com/ http://www.w6pql.com/parts_i_can_provide.htm WA7TZY adapted the W6PQL relay seqeuncer to the FT-736R http://web.mac.com/sdt49/WA7TZY/Other_Components.html http://web.mac.com/sdt49/WA7TZY/Other_Components_files/sequencer_1.jpg Greg w9gb ----- Original Message ----- Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2010 14:43:51 -0500 From: "Bob Schmidt" <bschmidt(a)ecdentalspecialists.com> Subject: [amsat-bb] muTek 736 boards To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Does anyone have a source for the Mutek RPCB 736 boards. I don't think they are being made anymore. If not, are there other options that are similar to these boards? TNX Bob, WA9JDR ------------------------------

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Satellite WAS #321
by Bob Herrell 22 Oct '10

22 Oct '10

Hi all, Received my ARRL Satellite WAS #321 in the mail today. A big thanks to all the stations that made this possible. Look forward to working you again on the "birds". 73, Bob Herrell AJ5C EM36 Arkansas

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k8yse qsl cards
by mlolmsted＠fuse.net 22 Oct '10

22 Oct '10

John, Got your cards today. Thanks they are really appreciated. Merle, AA4QE

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K8YSE QSL cards
by w4upd 22 Oct '10

22 Oct '10

John, Received your cards in the mail today. Thanks a lot. They look great and I suspect you had a good time. I assume you didn't try doing the entire drive around with the antennas in their present position in the back!!!! Reid, W4UPD

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