AMSAT-BB October 2011

201 participants
349 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, 6 months

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, 12 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, 11 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

10 years

Re: [Re: Prospero] Commanding Error

by Roger Duthie

Tony - We heard something intriguing after about 14:43:40 UT as the tracking said the satellite was on it's way off to the north pole. The 'chuff-chuff' description reminds me of a sound we seem to hear quite a lot. Quite often it coincides with a pass, though I think we hear the same (or very similar) during times when Prospero is over the horizon. We are going to try the next pass at ~16:00UT if you want to listen in again. Our new ploy is to wait for the last most opportune moment to command, as the power _may_ be at it highest (longest charging of batteries, potentially). So, we'll do short commanding at above 30o el, and listen. -Rr. Tony Abbey wrote: > Hi Roger > > I could hear some "chuff-chuff" noises on the last pass and they show > a related doppler shift (although I am not correcting sufficiently) as > you can see in the attached plot. Maybe its some other noise but you > never know. > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > On 26 Oct 2011, at 13:39, Roger Duthie wrote: >> Commanding went well, from as far as we could make out. We're not >> sure if we're getting anything back, however. >> >> We'll be doing this pass today, hopefully: >> >> 26 Oct >> <http://www.heavens-above.com/Gtrack.aspx?Session=kebgfdallleggankjgmmlbel&s…> >> 7.3 15:31:43 10 S 15:38:26 60 E 15:46:11 10 NNE >> >> [Times in BST = UTC + 1] >> >> -Roger

10 years, 7 months

Re: G5500 Elevation Rotator Short Circuit?

by Clive Wallis

Many thanks Tim for your comments. From what you've said it sounds like a faulty motor. In the ones you've repaired have you been able to determine the cause of motor over heating? The problems I've had in the past have always been due to water getting into the units. 73 Clive G3CWV Hitchin, North Hertfordshire, UK On 07/10/2011 18:50, Tim Cunningham wrote: > The common failure of the motor windings is caused by heat which > causes the enamel coated wire to breakdown. When the enamel breaks > down an inner winding short results. > > I have successfully rewound motor windings on these rotators just to > say it could be done, but it takes some work (not recommended). > > I have never seen one of these motors with an open winding. The > failure mode on the 8 that I have repaired were always enamel > insulation breakdown as a result of overheating. > > > Tim - N8DEU > > > Sent from my HTC Tilt™ 2, a Windows® Mobile phone > > -----Original Message----- From: Clive Wallis<amsat-bb(a)g3cwv.co.uk> > Sent: Friday, October 07, 2011 11:35 AM To: > amsat<amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Subject: [amsat-bb] G5500 Elevation Rotator > Short Circuit? > > I wonder if this is a known fault. Recently the fuse on my G5500 > blew. The problem seems to be a short on one of the motor > circuits. > > Checking the DC resistance at the control end, the resistance of one > winding is 1.2 ohms, whereas all the other windings are 4.6 ohms. > > I could understand a motor burning out and going open circuit, but > a short circuit seems less likely. I'm wondering if it could be a > short on the cable at the rotator end, where it is subject to much > bending. There's about 15 metres of cable. > > Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Unfortunately, at the > present time I'm not able to inspect the rotator. It's stuck in the > horizontal position, so I will still be able to use the antenna for > low elevation passes. > > 73 Clive G3CWV > > Hitchin, North Hertfordshire, UK > _______________________________________________ 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 >

10 years, 7 months

SoCal to East Texas

by Eric Fort

A Technician class friend of mine and I would like to ragchew between His QTH in Lindale, TX (32.495164 N, 95.513233 W) and My QTH in Phelan, CA (34.436400 N, 117.468649 W) with the exception of oscar 0 is anything flying that would enable this on a frequency above 50MHZ? Thanks, Eric AF6EP

10 years, 7 months

Re: Charge for Satellite Tracking?

by Armando Mercado

Greetings, Well, how would we feel if USSTRATCOM started charging for the use of their data that we use to track our satellites? Also, using your amateur station for monetrary gain, even if it is for a not for profit organization, seems problematical. Help if you want, don't if you don't. Simple enough. 73, Armando N8IGJ

10 years, 7 months

Re: ao-7 website

by Jeffrey Koehler

Bob: http://oscar.dcarr.org/ 73 Jeff WB2SYK

10 years, 7 months

ao-7 website

by Bob- W7LRD

What is that other web site where we can keep track of what mode AO-7 is curren tly in? Having senior moments and can't keep track of it. 73 Bob W7LRD

10 years, 7 months

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AMSAT-BB October 2011