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

Hy-Gain
by Jim 06 Feb '10

06 Feb '10

I am looking for a mast to boom mount for a hy-gain hf beam If has a old broken one and still has the boom to mask mount. I will buy it from you Jim K7UDG hartwell(a)hartwell.net

1 0

Re: This amateur has had enough of amsat-bb...
by Vince Fiscus, KB7ADL 06 Feb '10

06 Feb '10

At 08:32 AM 2/6/2010 -0800, k6hx(a)arrl.net wrote: > > Only serious business instead of amateur stuff... Again amateur radio > apparatus is left on the extreme right lane and probably soon in the > > ditch if the ISS amateur radio apparatus is not put back in service > soon! I asked this question about an hundred times: why they don't put > > the ISS cross band repeater on? It can run unattended and there is no > risk the batteries get down as those in the camera. It will also send > > the QRP'er away off the other sat as the ISS repeater is very very easy > to hear and work too. > > > Great promoting asset collecting floating dust in space. > >Wow, you never know when your threshold will be reached, but this is >mine. This list never seems to miss an opportunity to complain about >the state of affairs, but always seems to miss opportunities to >actually do anything positive. I've reached my personal limit of >grouchery. Complain all you want from your position in the ditch, >I'm hitting the road. Mark, Just ignore him. I'm sure there isn't dust collecting on the ham equipment we paid good money to send up, because the ISS has an extremely good air filtration system. KB7ADL

2 1

Re: AlfaSpid RAS & Predict
by books47925＠mypacks.net 06 Feb '10

06 Feb '10

Hi John, Are you using this rotor system for an array of antennas or a big dish? If a dish, how large? I noticed their rotors at Visalia last year. But didn't ask the reps their thoughts about turning a 12 to 16 foot dish. I know there are two versions, I think one is heavy duty. Not sure which one you are using. Thank You for any additional info. 73, de KB8VAO, Steve -----Original Message----- >From: John Heath <g7hia(a)btinternet.com> >Sent: Feb 6, 2010 12:47 PM >To: Ryan Caron <rcaron(a)gmail.com> >Cc: Amsat <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> >Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: AlfaSpid RAS & Predict > >Hi Ryan, > >At first I ran my Alfa Spid off the shack 13.8V D.C. supply. I also got flicker plus some anomalous readings. >I put this down to voltage drops on my power supply. >You might be having a similar experience as under load from the Spid motors your car battery may not be giving 12 volts. > >Here is my solution. The Spid will run on AC as well as DC so I got a largeish mains to 24V toroidal transformer. Put it in a box with the usual connectors, fuse, switch etc. With my Spid on a dedicated supply it works perfectly. Didn't cost much and is fully independant of the radio supply. > >I think the Spid Alpha system is an excellent piece of kit, mechanically probably overkill for most satellite antenna installation but I expect mine to last many times longer that the alternatives. If you didn't get the "mouse" option its great. A computer mouse internally modified so that you can easily do up/down, left/right right from a mouse right next to you at the operating position > >73 John G7HIA > >PS - no commercial connection with Spid Alpa, just a satisfied customer. > > > > >________________________________ >From: Ryan Caron <rcaron(a)gmail.com> >To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org >Sent: Tuesday, 2 February, 2010 19:16:16 >Subject: [amsat-bb] AlfaSpid RAS & Predict > >Has anyone modified Predict export GS-232 as opposed to EasyComm 2? > >I recently purchased an AlfaSpid RAS-1 rotator from Hy-Gain. The >controller accepts either GS-232 or AlfaSpid's own protocol. > >Additionally, has anyone noticed the digits on the controller display >flickering? Its just a nuisance, but surprising since I'm feeding it >from a lead acid battery so there can't be any ripple or rectification. > >73, >Ryan, KB1LKI >_______________________________________________ >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 >_______________________________________________ >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

1 0

Re: Orbitron Help
by Bob Christy 06 Feb '10

06 Feb '10

The 'Toolbox' Icon that can be found on Orbitron's "Main" tab, leads to a further set of tabs. One of them is called "Miscellaneous". The bottom right hand panel of the Miscellaneous tab allows you to set the directory that will be used for element sets. If you also tick the box marked "Personal TLE directory", it will automatically store Spacetrack, Celestrak, element sets there too rather than under the Orbitron directory in Windows/Program Files. The directory you choose can be anywhere you choose such as under "My Documents" or the equivalent in later Windows versions. Bob Christy

1 0

AlfaSpid RAS & Predict
by Ryan Caron 06 Feb '10

06 Feb '10

Has anyone modified Predict export GS-232 as opposed to EasyComm 2? I recently purchased an AlfaSpid RAS-1 rotator from Hy-Gain. The controller accepts either GS-232 or AlfaSpid's own protocol. Additionally, has anyone noticed the digits on the controller display flickering? Its just a nuisance, but surprising since I'm feeding it from a lead acid battery so there can't be any ripple or rectification. 73, Ryan, KB1LKI

3 2

China Ham Radio-Shanghai 2010
by William Leijenaar 06 Feb '10

06 Feb '10

Hi AMSATs, I wonder if there is any satellite organisation or satellite (cubesat)group with a booth at the China Ham Radio in Shanghai (3-5 April) ? My plan is to be there to present my small linear transponder design like I did at the Tokyo Ham Fair. However, the booths are quiet big (3m x 3m / 10ft x 10ft) to present my small linear transponder. I can not take to many hardware with me on the plane. Maybe there are more people interrested to have a small booth space at the China Ham 2010. Because of that I am looking for people who like to share the booth with me to promote ham radio projects, preferable related to amateur satellite projects. Info about the China Ham 2010 can be found here: http://www.chinahamexpo.com/indexEn.asp With kind regards, William Leijenaar, PE1RAH www.leijenaarelectronics.nl --- Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com

1 0

China Ham Radio-Shanghai 2010
by William Leijenaar 06 Feb '10

06 Feb '10

Hi AMSATs, I wonder if there is any satellite organisation or satellite (cubesat)group with a booth at the China Ham Radio in Shanghai (3-5 April) ? My plan is to be there to present my small linear transponder design like I did at the Tokyo Ham Fair. However, the booths are quiet big (3m x 3m / 10ft x 10ft) to present my small linear transponder. I can not take to many hardware with me on the plane. Maybe there are more people interrested to have a small booth space at the China Ham 2010. Because of that I am looking for people who like to share the booth with me to promote ham radio projects, preferable related to amateur satellite projects. Info about the China Ham 2010 can be found here: http://www.chinahamexpo.com/indexEn.asp With kind regards, William Leijenaar, PE1RAH www.leijenaarelectronics.nl --- Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com

1 0

Sat688 Rotor Controller Interface
by Mark Spencer 06 Feb '10

06 Feb '10

I will be making a board order and building a batch of the Sat688 Rotor Controllers for use and distribution among the teachers who will participate in this summer's Teachers Institute-2 Space in Dayton, Ohio. The Sat688 is a no-frills, inexpensive interface to be used between SatPC32 or Nova and the Yaesu G5500 or G5400 rotor. The interface is either USB or serial. I can add additional boards to the order if you are interested in obtaining a board (and programmed PIC). The price will be cost plus postage. If you are interested, drop me a note off-line ASAP. I will be ordering boards late next week. 73, Mark Mark Spencer, WA8SME ARRL, the national association for Amateur RadioT Education and Technology Program Coordinator mspencer(a)arrl.org http://www.arrl.org/FandES/tbp/ 530-495-9150

2 1

ND9M Road Trip Update #5
by claryco＠aol.com 06 Feb '10

06 Feb '10

We were minutes away from resuming our trip today (Friday) when I tested the theory against pouring a cup of coffee (with creamer and sugar of course) on to the keyboard of the laptop; the machine got 8 to 10 ounces center mass. Luckily for me, my stepson here in the Denver area has his own IT engineering and service company, and a quick 911 call to him got full and immediate attention. He and I got everything drained out and cleaned up, and the laptop is back up and running. (All log contacts and photos from the last two weeks' portable ops had already been backed up on a thumb drive as well as a second laptop, so other than pride, I wouldn't have lost anything except for the day's travel that got eaten up.) But now we're ready to hit the road again tomorrow afternoon (with the coffee safely somewhere else...). Our route tomorrow (Saturday) will take us initially to the DN80/DM89 line, hopefully for the AO27 pass that rises here at about 06/1925Z. I'll definitely be on during the next AO27 pass at 06/2103Z either from that line (if I miss the previous pass from there) or the DM78/DM79 line for AO51 at 06/2357Z. While southbound into Texas, I'll operate from all grids on both sides of the 104W longitude line. There have been several requests for contacts with the DM7x and DM8 grids; those grids look to be particularly in demand. As we head south; our next day off will be in the vicinity of Carlsbad Caverns in DM72. After that, we'll move over to Big Bend Nat'l Park alongside the Rio Grande River in DL88 where we'll camp for two or three days. Focus will continue on afternoon AO27 and AO51 passes. I'll run grid lines where possible, but as before, grid lines will be run only where accessible. 73, Jim, ND9M / VQ9JC Longmont, CO / DN70

1 0

Re: First time on HO68
by Tom Laskowski 06 Feb '10

06 Feb '10

Made my first HO-68 QSOs just now thanks to WA4NVM, KD8CAO and WA4HFN. Great sgnals and great fun! 73, KB9BIT

2 1