AMSAT-BB November 2010

167 participants
276 discussions

LVB Tracker USB serial port driver for Windows 7 x64?

by Bill Bordy, NJ1H

Has anyone located a driver for the LVB Tracker internal USB to serial port adapter on Windows 7 x64? If not, has anyone reverted to the serial port connection on LVB Tracker and used an external USB to serial port adapter successfully with SatPC32 on Windows 7 x64? I have an Edgeport multiple USB to serial port that has drivers for Windows 7 x64 that I will use if I have to. I would prefer using the LVB Tracker with its USB to serial adapter if someone has another solution. 73, Bill NJ1H

5 years, 1 month

AO-16 telemetry 3 Oct 2010

by Mark L. Hammond

Hi All, Here is a quick AO-16 update. On Sunday I turned AO-16 long enough to get some telemetry packets. The satellite would remain on for less than one minute after being commanded on. A quick test of the "bent pipe" voice mode repeater was successful. . The "hardware watchdog timer problem" is still evident; as expected, spacecraft temperatures are insufficient to keep the transmitter ON (needs to be above 15 deg C). Orbit projections suggest that satellite illumination conditions will not result in increased temperatures for nearly 10 years. Command stations do periodically turn AO-16 "ON" to check on its condition and see if the hardware timer problem has "automagically" fixed itself (which in not anticipated, but who knows...). AO-16 telemetry 3 Oct 2010 1838 utc PACSAT MBL Telemetry Decoder Ver. 1.3 (c) Mike Rupprecht, DK3WN =============================================================================== (average values) +10V Battery Bus : 0.00 V Battery Charge Reg : 0.55 mA Base Temp : 9.07 °C PSK RF Out : 1.90 W +5V RX Bus : 4.87 V +8.5V RX Bus : 8.49 V +10V RX Bus : 11.24 V Here is another teaser :) Several months ago I commanded the AO-16 S-band transmitter ON; it too remains functional (albeit weak), and was received by me, Drew KO4MA, and Alan WA4SCA. 73, -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

5 years, 6 months

Call for Papers--2007 ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference

by Ford, Steve, WB8IMY

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

9 years, 6 months

Re: EggBeater

by Bill Dzurilla

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

9 years, 8 months

FW: Re: The Moon is our Future

by Dave

We have met the enemy and they are us. WE need to do something. Yes, $15m is outta reach, but isn't there a cash prize for the first on-commercial moon landing? Dave DM78qd // KA0SWT If it weren't for Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor of television, we'd still be eating frozen radio dinners.-- Johnny Carson +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ -----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jeff Davis Sent: Thursday, July 02, 2009 9:35 AM To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: The Moon is our Future On Thu, Jul 02, 2009 at 06:48:51AM -0600, Jack K. wrote: > communications anyway) and move forward... We can put up all the leos > we want, but until someone makes something like B. Bruninga's cell > concept work, we are only going to have more of the same, We don't > need more of the same! I couldn't agree more - we don't need more of the same. If I want to sit back and have a two hour rag-chew with someone on the other side of the planet I will use Skype or my cell phone! Dreaming about what *might* be in space is a fun exercise. Actually doing something about it requires sending things to LEO because reality has dictated that's as far as we can afford to go. How's about we use some of that frustrated *imagineering* to come up with interesting new concepts at LEO? We don't need any more FM repeaters buzzing overhead, but what about more cameras downloading HD images, scientific payloads that monitor the ongoing climate change, payloads to study the Earth's magnetic field, etc. etc. Our own 'Twitter' messaging network from space...? The Apollo 13 creed of "failure is not an option" has completely infected the brains at AMSAT and this list. You want something at HEO or on the moon, cut a check for $15 million dollars and let's get on with it. Been waiting since 1996 for another AO-13 and I am getting too old to keep waiting. AMSAT is becoming completely irrelevant as it strives without success for the impossible mission and exhibits a shocking amount of leadership malfesance as it stubbornly refuses to recognize and adapt to realities in the launch business. I know, I know maybe NEXT year someone rich will die and leave us a boatload of cash. Or the bankrupt US government will suddenly cough up a billion dollars for some orbiting emergency communication system. In the meantime we have to stifle the truth because it might blow yet another *secret* deal that's in the works and *almost* a done deal, so let's not complain publicly and ruin it. Heard the stories, heard the lies, got all the t-shirts and ball caps. Whatever. -- Jeff, KE9V AMSAT-NA member since 1994, Skeptic that we will ever go back to HEO since 2002 _______________________________________________ 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

10 years, 10 months

Re: O/OREOS TLE errors ?

by PA3GUO

Hi Ryan Thanks a lot for your detailed reply. Would you be so kind to share that spreadsheet (XLS?) with me ? In the coming days I really need (well, would higly appreciate) to have working TLEs - especially also for Nanosail. Best of course would be if the O/OREOS/Nanasail team could fix this prior to posting them on the web :-) Thanks Henk ---- Ryan Caron <rcaron(a)gmail.com> schreef: > The O/OREOS TLEs consistently do not have valid checksums (last digit of > each line). I submitted a comment about this on their website but I have > not heard back. The correct checksums are 2 & 3, and not the 6 & 5 that > is listed. > > If, by the time you read this, the posted TLEs are not 6 & 5, then the > TLEs have been updated and you'll have to generate new checksums. The > formula is a sum of all numerical characters on the line, including the > line number, treating minus signs as a one and everything else (letters, > +, spaces) as a 0. Then take modulus 10 of the sum (i.e. last digit of > the sum). Look it up on wikipedia for more details. > > I've made a spreadsheet to fix this, but it is still a manual operation > for me (got to write a script at some point). Some programs disregard > the the checksum, which is why HRD & the website still work and your > tracking tool doesn't. Predict/GPredict, my tools of choice, require > valid checksums, making proper TLEs a pet peeve of mine. I don't know > what NOVA's up to. > > In terms of "swarm spread" (i.e. how small delta-V between spacecraft > that shared the same ride, which in this case is just done by compressed > springs, translates into spatial differences), 35 minutes of separation > is pretty high for just 10 days after launch. With all the latest TLEs > from the three websites, I show O/OREOS being 3.5 minutes ahead of RAX, > and RAX being a 1.33 minutes ahead of FAST1/2. > > Ryan, KB1LKI > > On 11/30/10 4:54 AM, amsat-bb-request(a)amsat.org wrote: > > ------------------------------ > > > > Message: 4 > > Date: Mon, 29 Nov 2010 22:55:16 +0100 > > From: PA3GUO<pa3guo(a)upcmail.nl> > > Subject: [amsat-bb] O/OREOS TLE errors ? > > To:[email protected] > > Message-ID:<19767175.1291067716437.JavaMail.root(a)viefep21.chello.at> > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 > > > > Dear all, > > > > I keep on having troubles with the O/OREOS kepler sets. > > RAX and the others are fine. > > > > With todays version (as from the O/OREOS dashboard on the web) > > - NOVA gives O/OREOS just a bit behind RAX > > - HamRadioDeluxe give O/OREOS 35 minutes behind RAX > > - The O/OREOS web (dashboard graphic) shows O/OREOS 35 minutes behind RAX > > - My private antenna tracking tool does not recognize the keplerset of O/OREOS > > > > Anyone else has experienced this (and maybe even a solution) ? > > Henk > > -- > > Henk, PA3GUO > > -- Henk, PA3GUO

11 years, 1 month

Visit to US

by Michael Chen

Hi, Everyone, I am going to visit U.S. in December and stay there for a month or two. I will be visiting cities in both west and east coasts and hope to meet with some amateur satellite enthusiasts and have a few beers together. Drop me a message if you are interested. Michael Chen, BD5RV/4 AMSAT-China: http://www.camsat.cn ----------------------------------- Twitter: http://twitter.com/bd5rv Email: michael.bd5rv(a)gmail.com MSN: bd5rv(a)jsdxc.org Skype: michael-bd5rv

11 years, 1 month

LVB Tracker Help

by Mark n Kathy Rowland

Have been using LVB Tracker with G-5500 and HRD Sat tracker for a while now with no problems. Now when I begin new session everything seems normal (can still track Sats)except the screen on LVB Tracker is Garbled. Unable to put LVB into calibrate mode, no response. Can I reset LVB Tracker? Thanks KC7EQL/Mark

11 years, 1 month

Re: Network of MEO sats at 8000km

by G0MRF＠aol.com

Very good point. We think that there are no rides to orbit because all the current launch vehicles are 'mature technology' that do not need testing and therefore do not need passengers that pay a reduced fee while accepting more risk. However, just 2 weeks ago we had the launch from Kodiak Alaska dropping off a number of satellites at 650 km. Then carrying out a test of a modified upper stage booster which went on to 1200km where it deposited 2 items of "Ballast" Enough to make you cry ! David G0MRF In a message dated 30/11/2010 18:20:49 GMT Standard Time, sparkycivic(a)shaw.ca writes: This has me wondering if there are opportunities for co-launch, tethered power supply sharing or upper-stage rocket-body piggybacking of Ham and educational communication payloads....... our price per Kg could be REALLY attractive given that they're launching four 700Kg birds PER launch! How much fun could we have with a triple cube at these heights? Passes would be visible for over an hour at a time... Cali could work the Gold Coast and JA's at the same time!

11 years, 1 month

Re: O/OREOS TLE errors ?

by PA3GUO

Btw THAT was indeed the fix (changing the 6/5 into 2/3) ! Henk ---- Ryan Caron <rcaron(a)gmail.com> schreef: > The O/OREOS TLEs consistently do not have valid checksums (last digit of > each line). I submitted a comment about this on their website but I have > not heard back. The correct checksums are 2 & 3, and not the 6 & 5 that > is listed. > > If, by the time you read this, the posted TLEs are not 6 & 5, then the > TLEs have been updated and you'll have to generate new checksums. The > formula is a sum of all numerical characters on the line, including the > line number, treating minus signs as a one and everything else (letters, > +, spaces) as a 0. Then take modulus 10 of the sum (i.e. last digit of > the sum). Look it up on wikipedia for more details. > > I've made a spreadsheet to fix this, but it is still a manual operation > for me (got to write a script at some point). Some programs disregard > the the checksum, which is why HRD & the website still work and your > tracking tool doesn't. Predict/GPredict, my tools of choice, require > valid checksums, making proper TLEs a pet peeve of mine. I don't know > what NOVA's up to. > > In terms of "swarm spread" (i.e. how small delta-V between spacecraft > that shared the same ride, which in this case is just done by compressed > springs, translates into spatial differences), 35 minutes of separation > is pretty high for just 10 days after launch. With all the latest TLEs > from the three websites, I show O/OREOS being 3.5 minutes ahead of RAX, > and RAX being a 1.33 minutes ahead of FAST1/2. > > Ryan, KB1LKI > > On 11/30/10 4:54 AM, amsat-bb-request(a)amsat.org wrote: > > ------------------------------ > > > > Message: 4 > > Date: Mon, 29 Nov 2010 22:55:16 +0100 > > From: PA3GUO<pa3guo(a)upcmail.nl> > > Subject: [amsat-bb] O/OREOS TLE errors ? > > To:[email protected] > > Message-ID:<19767175.1291067716437.JavaMail.root(a)viefep21.chello.at> > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 > > > > Dear all, > > > > I keep on having troubles with the O/OREOS kepler sets. > > RAX and the others are fine. > > > > With todays version (as from the O/OREOS dashboard on the web) > > - NOVA gives O/OREOS just a bit behind RAX > > - HamRadioDeluxe give O/OREOS 35 minutes behind RAX > > - The O/OREOS web (dashboard graphic) shows O/OREOS 35 minutes behind RAX > > - My private antenna tracking tool does not recognize the keplerset of O/OREOS > > > > Anyone else has experienced this (and maybe even a solution) ? > > Henk > > -- > > Henk, PA3GUO > > -- Henk, PA3GUO

11 years, 1 month

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AMSAT-BB November 2010