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

Re: New Lindy's QRV
by Clint Bradford 09 Feb '10

09 Feb '10

>> ... (Alaska ... a little inclement weather) ... The preamp makes the UHF Lindy work nearly equal with the high-price stuff...and much simpler ... I obviously didn't take your inclement weather conditions into account! A little spoiled down here in Southern California when it comes to weather ... (grin) Clint, K6LCS

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ND9M Road Trip Update #6
by claryco＠aol.com 09 Feb '10

09 Feb '10

The snowfall we received in southern Colorado last night wasn't as bad as what was predicted; we had about 4 inches overall instead of 10. Assuming southeastern New Mexico is in good "snow shape" tomorrow, we should be able to get to the DM84 / DM85 line for the AO27 pass which rises at 09/1937Z. From there, we'll head a bit southeast and be in DM74 for the next AO27 pass at 09/2116Z. Finally, AO51 should find us on the DM73 / DM83 line when it comes up at 09/2336Z. Wednesday, 10 Feb, will be a short grid day for us as we'll pull into Carlsbad, but I'll be on the DM72 / DM82 line at least for the AO27 pass at 10/2047Z; not sure about the AO51 passes later that afternoon. We expect to be in Carlsbad until Friday morning. 73, Jim, ND9M / VQ9JC Santa Rosa, NM / DM74

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FT-847 - relating dbm to S units
by Phil 08 Feb '10

08 Feb '10

Thank you for reading this. I'm still trying to determine if the aerial I have is working correctly or not. If -120 dbm for a 12 db SINAD is considered the minimum usable signal, what is the likely signal level required to indicate an S1 reading (at 435 MHz) on an FT-847 with the internal pre-amplifier turned on? The Yaesu manual quotes 0.2 micro volts for a 12 db SINAD. How many S points is likely to be? -- Regards, Phil

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Re: New Lindy's QRV
by David Ek 08 Feb '10

08 Feb '10

Well, each to their own, obviously. I've worked the birds using the Arrow antenna and an HT, and that works okay, but I secretly dream about working them from the shack instead of sitting in the back yard, and big pointable antennas are a no-no in my neighborhood. I can get away with something more discrete, like the Lindy. 73, Dave NK0E ------------------ Clint wrote: I read that article, and when I got to the last of it and he mentioned that he was using a pre-amp for working the FM birds, I wondered out loud: "Why???" We're working '27, '50, and '51 with HTs and meager antenna improvements. Better yet, build a tape measure Yagi - you can realize great gain with about six bucks of parts. Note that I haven't mentioned, "Buy a pre-amp" anywhere. I was considering building one of those antennas mentioned in QST last month - until I read that he was using a pre-amp. I'll just stick with what works for me ... home-brew or commercial Yagis ... a log periodic every now and then ... and no pre-amp anywhere. Clint, K6LCS

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Re: New Lindy's QRV
by David Ek 08 Feb '10

08 Feb '10

Question for anyone out there: I just built the parasitic Lindy from the Feb 2010 QST. What kind of performance (on receive) should I expect from it during, say, an AO-51 pass (max EL 83 deg)? I had my Kenwood TH-F6a HT connected directly to it (only a few feet of RG-8X coax to the antenna) with no preamp, and I only had good copy for a moment here and there. Just wondering if I need a preamp or if I need to be suspicious of my construction. tnx & 73, Dave NK0E ----------------- Edward Cole wrote: I forgot to add that these are patterned after Tony, AA2TX, designs (UHF version is in Feb. 2010 QST). My variation was to use pvc sched-40 plastic pipe (white). The preamp is one of the older DEMI designs that uses a mgf-1302 GasFet with about 0.7 dBNF. I see about one s-unit of noise when I turn it on. There is 4-feet of RG-58 to the UHF Lindy and 60-feet to the FT-847 from the preamp. The VHF Lindy has no preamp and is fed with 60-feet of RG-213. The VHF Lindy brings up repeaters 70-miles away with 50w, and the UHF Lindy hears repeaters that far away. So actually can make a nice general purpose antenna. 73, Ed

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Identify AO-51 Payload
by Clint Bradford 08 Feb '10

08 Feb '10

In that famous photo of the entire payload of satellites that included AO-51 (where AO-51 is at about at the 6:30 position - with that largee Italian engineering bird to its left), there's another satellite at about 02:30 that looks exactly like AO-51 (size and visible panels are alike). Whose satellite is that? Clint Bradford, K6LCS 909-241-7666

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HO68 Pass
by Edward Cole 08 Feb '10

08 Feb '10

I copied two stations on SSB at 435.733 for the second half of pass #732, 10:30-10:50 utc. They did not pass call signs while I listened. I hadn't reprogrammed he FT-847 for SSB so my uplink was on the wrong freq. but Rx signals were "arm-chair" until elevation < 10 deg. Not too bad for omni-directional antennas. I looked up the freq. info after the pass and discovered why I didn't hear my self (uplinking at 145.825). I now have a separate satellite memory setup for the SSB freq. of HO68 (435.740Rx/145.950Tx). The next pass is for 0020-0105, Feb. 9. My window will be 0052-0109utc when HO-38 is mainly over arctic Canada and no footprint for lower-48. It is a ascending pass so I will have about ten min of coverage (0055-0105). Look for me on SSB. 73, Ed - KL7UW, WD2XSH/45 ====================================== BP40IQ 500 KHz - 10-GHz www.kl7uw.com 500-KHz/CW, 144-MHz EME, 1296-MHz EME DUBUS Magazine USA Rep dubususa(a)hotmail.com ======================================

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FS: TAPR EVM
by Bob DeVarney W1ICW 08 Feb '10

08 Feb '10

For sale, TAPR EVM DSP-based modem, complete and assembled, with all documentation and cables, plus a cdrom with all pertinent software. In excellent condition, was in regular use until my interests changed. Asking $300.00 plus shipping and insurance. Please contact me off-list if interested. 73, Bob W1ICW we1u(a)nospam.myfairpoint.net ( remove the nospam )

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Looking for 440 preamp
by Sebastian 08 Feb '10

08 Feb '10

I'm looking for a used but good 440 preamp, one that can handle at least 50 watts or so. Please reply off list with make, model, etc. 73 de W4AS

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Re: HO-68 Schedule - 07-21 Feb 2010
by Henk, PA3GUO 08 Feb '10

08 Feb '10

Thanks Alan ! Will again be a lot of fun and experimenting ! Henk, PA3GUO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6oDgUTHCwg

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