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

College Satellite this Thursday evening
by Dr. Jay Garlitz 03 May '10

03 May '10

It's time for another College Satellite night! We hope to see you on the birds Thursday evening May 6th from 22:00 UTC to 0500 UTC (May 7). College Satellite nights are a monthly event held the first Thursday of the month. Mark your calendar and spread the word to college hams/club stations that you know! College club stations plan on being on birds AO51, SO50, AO7, VO52, HO-68 and more. Please give these stations a call and work them.they will identify their college club identity along with their call sign. 73, Dr. Jay Garlitz, AA4FL Gator ARC Faculty Advisor at UF, W4DFU trustee www.gatorradio.org <http://www.gatorradio.org/>

1 0

FT847 vs TS-2000
by John 02 May '10

02 May '10

I have owned the FT-847 for five years and tried the TS2000 extensively. Both are excellent rigs. The only downside I see with the TS2000 is the birdie. However, it has a more sensitive and quieter receiver, has an antenna tuner and dual receive. On the other hand, the FT847 is probably the most used and reliable sat radio, from my observations working other people on the sats. Probably because it came out first and can be bought a little cheaper, now. If I was starting over and had to choose, it would be REALLY tough to choose between them. I probably would go with the TS2000 because it is a little more refined, quieter, and has a few more features. But the FT847 is solid, I love the rig, and you would have to pry it out of my cold dead hands. You can't go wrong either way. The FT847 is great IF you get a newer one in really good condition. Some of the early runs had some problems. The TS2000 wins on bells and whistles. Man.I'm no help at all!

3 3

Re: Antenna question continued
by K8KFJ＠aol.com 02 May '10

02 May '10

In a message dated 5/2/2010 6:46:20 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, k7trkradio(a)charter.net writes: > I already have plans for the beams I have to be setup here at the house I wish you the best of luck Jacob with your setup. I did quite a bit of outdoor operation with a handheld sat antenna which was fun (3 VHF elements & 7 UHF elements). Nice to be able to adjust elevation, azimuth, and polarization with just a twist of the wrist for best reception. Looking forward to hearing you on the birds. - - - I'm located near Charleston. Glad to see another West Virginian here on the list. 73, Gary -K8KFJ- Sat VUCC #125

2 1

G-5500 Troubleshooting
by John Meeks 02 May '10

02 May '10

I need some help diagnosing my non operative g-5500 azimuth rotator. After a few no copy passes, I noticed the azimuth meter was not moving. Disconnecting my G232 interface, manual operation with the 5500 az switches produced no movement of either the meter or the antenna array. Elevation works fine. Swapping the cable connections on the back of the controller allowed the azimuth switches to operate the elevation rotator. I think this tells me the controller box is probably ok. The ele switches did not operate the az motor. So, either cable, connector or motor? Returned connectors to their original positions. Measuring impedance on the cables in the shack using pin 6 as the common gave me 4.6 ohms on both pins 4 and 5 on the elevation cable. The azimuth cable gave me 4.5 ohms from 6 to 5 and 6 to 4 was OPEN. So... could be the azimuth cable or connector. Braving high winds I climbed my tall roof mounted tripod and swapped cables from az to el and el to az. The az cable was now controlling the elevation motor no problem. Azimuth still non-operational. So have I eliminated all but the azimuth motor? Are there any other possibilities to consider before I dismantle the whole rooftop array? One more thing... Given that the cable tested OK, what does the open reading from 6 to 4 suggest? My reading of the schematic diagram is sketchy at best. Any and all help will be greatly appreciated. John Meeks KC8ZFN

2 5

Antenna question continued
by Jacob Tennant 02 May '10

02 May '10

OK so to continue my antenna question further, I have seen plans for the K5OE Eggbeater antenns, dual moxons for LEO's, as well as the EZ-Lindenblad antennas for small satellite antennas. Of these what is the general consensus as to the better of them? I am looking for something small and easy to setup for Field Day, portable operation where a dual beams and rotator setup would be cumbersome to use. I already have plans for the beams I have to be setup here at the house. Thank you everyone for indulging my curiousity... Jacob Tennant - K8JWT

2 1

Keyspan Acquired by TrippLite
by Clint Bradford 02 May '10

02 May '10

>> ... as I can tell they DO NOT have a Windows 7 driver for the KeySpan ... Keyspan seemed optimistic when they were acquired in May, 2008 by TrippLite: "We at Keyspan have created a strong brand name associated with high quality products," said Mike Ridenhour, Keyspan President. "We're pleased that Tripp Lite will continue providing Keyspan's customers with the reliable products they expect, world-class service and support and unmatched channel loyalty. The combination of the Tripp Lite and Keyspan brands under the umbrella of Tripp Lite will provide increased efficiency by streamlining production, distribution and shipping." I have no idea if the Keyspan development team is still working on their old product line or not. Clint, K6LCS

3 5

Re: Hardware or software problems?
by Larry Gerhardstein 02 May '10

02 May '10

Glenn, Where do you see this? I went to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx and entered Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. Immediately came up "You are not eligible to download Windows XP Mode. You must have Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate to run Windows XP Mode. To upgrade visit Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade <http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/windows-anytime-upgrade>. " Clicked in there. Upgrades are $200 and more. 73, Larry W7IN On 5/1/2010 9:10 PM, Glenn AA5PK wrote: > It's a free download compatible with Home Premium 32- and 64-bit. > > Just a thought. > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Larry Gerhardstein" > <gerhardstein(a)montana.com> > To: "Glenn AA5PK" <aa5pk(a)suddenlink.net> > Cc: "AMSAT BB" <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> > Sent: Saturday, May 01, 2010 8:11 PM > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: Hardware or software problems? > > >> I have Windows 7 Home Premium. I believe I would need to upgrade to >> something different in order to run XP virtual. If the $20 PCI card >> works, that is cheaper. >> >> Larry >> >> On 5/1/2010 6:50 PM, Glenn AA5PK wrote: >>> Larry, >>> >>> If you still suspect it's an OS issue, downloading XP Mode for >>> Windows 7 may solve the problem. >>> >>> http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx >>> >>> It may be worth having in any case. >>> >>> Glenn AA5PK >>> >> >

1 0

ISS packet mode
by Bob Bruninga 02 May '10

02 May '10

>> wouldn't the path be rs0iss-4? When you look at what others are using, you may see a lot of RS0ISS-4* but do not be fooled. Remember, that when a user uses any of the GENERIC paths on the uplink, that the ISS does callsign-substitution before digipeating on the downlink. So you will see everyone with RS0ISS-4* in the dowlink even though they used ARISS, or APRSAT, or whatever on the uplink. And you cannot tell what they used! But, If they use WIDEn-N on the uplink, then it will NOT do callsign substitution and will only come back as WIDEn-N MINUS 1. AND those packets will NOT SHOW UP ON ANY ARISS web page, because there is no way for the global APRS system to know that it went via the ISS. All of the other APRS satellites, PCSAT, PCSAT2, ANDE and RAFT all responded to the ARISS and APRSAT aliases, and that is the beauty of the system. Whichever satelltie digpeated, would substite its call so the global APRS system could see what satellite digipeated it. Unfortunately, in its degraded-state, PCSAT1 only recognizes ARISS when it is recoverd. All the rest of the time, it ONLY responds to VIA W3ADO-1. Hope that helps. Bob, Wb4APR Bob, WB4APR

1 0

Uni_trac help - S-BAND AO-51,2nd radio
by Michae J. Wolthuis 02 May '10

02 May '10

I am hoping someone in the group can help me with a problem I am having. I installed my AO-51 S-Band setup and added a 2nd radio on the 2nd port of the Uni_trac which works fine when Uni_trac is doing the controlling. I have setup AO-51 and AO-51 second profile. One is for standard mode and one for S-Band mode. I use Nova via DDE to control Uni_trac, which works great except that when I select the second Uni_Trac profile Nova reverts Uni_trac to the AO-51 U/V profile. Anyone know what I mean and/or how to fix it? I want Nova to do the controlling, but I want it to do it for when the SAT is in S-Band without changing the freqs in Nova. Maybe there is a way in Nova to setup another satellite for the changed parameters when AO-51 changes modes and somehow select that? Like an AO-51(2) or something? Thanks for any advice, Mike Kb8zgl

1 0

FO-29 Solar Array Current Graph
by Mineo Wakita 02 May '10

02 May '10

I put a nice report about FO-29 Solar Current which Frank wrote on my_HP. Thank you. http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/fo29sola.htm JE9PEL, Mineo Wakita

1 0