February 2011 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

Satpc32 and Azimuth only rotors? Functional?
by zach hillerson 09 Feb '11

09 Feb '11

I am getting closer to putting my first satellite base station together (in lieu of the Arrow that I am currently using) and am giving serious consideration to a fixed 15* antenna setup such as the Gulf Alpha designs. Having never mounted antennas, rotors etc... I am a bit concerned about my less than amazing mechanical aptitude and having to get cross-booms, Az/El rotors etc... working correctly. Is anyone using SatPc32 to successfully control Azimuth only rotors? If so, what is required to get everything working together? I would still like to automate the rotor and doppler control if at all possible. On a somewhat related note - is anyone else using a setup like this (fixed elevation) and if so, are you happy with the performance? Thanks for any thoughts, I appreciate the input, Zach KJ4ZVV

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FW: ZS8M in contact with ZD9GI on AO-51
by Hans 09 Feb '11

09 Feb '11

_____ From: Allan Saul [mailto:allan@rfdesign.co.za] Sent: 09 February 2011 06:14 PM To: ZS SAT DIGEST Cc: 'Hans'; David Long; Mark L. Hammond; Andrew Glasbrenner Subject: ZS8M in contact with ZD9GI on AO-51 FYI, Another historic contact this afternoon when Pierre ZS8M on Marion island made contact with John ZD9GI on Gough Island (both remotely located islands in the South Atlantic ) at 1552 on AO-51. At most they had about 10-20 degrees elevation and both were operating portable. Today Pierre logged ZS1LS, ZS2BK, ZS3SVD, ZR5JT, 5R8KH, ZS1UR , ZS6AC, ZD9GI and V51PJ John logged ZS1LS, ZS8M, V51PJ, ZS1UR, ZS3SCD, V51PJ and ZR5JT. If you want these rare DXCC entities confirmed via Satellite, this is you best opportunity. Both Pierre and John will be active on the afternoon passes for the next few days. 73 Allan.

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Re: VE8EV is missing HO-68
by Peter Ng 09 Feb '11

09 Feb '11

Michael, Happy New Year of the Rabbit to you, Alan and the Team! 73's Peter VE7NGP -----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] On Behalf Of Michael Chen Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2011 9:10 PM To: John Boudreau Cc: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: VE8EV is missing HO-68 Chinese New Year for the past week, nobody is working on the bird, and Alan is now enjoying his vacation in FO/Frech Polynesia. :) So....give him some time. He deserves it. 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 On Tue, Feb 8, 2011 at 10:23 PM, John Boudreau <john(a)newnorth.ca> wrote: > Has anyone heard any news on the status of HO-68/XW-1? > Alan, maybe an update for the group? > > 73 > John - VE8EV > > _______________________________________________ > 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

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Adobe Bluffs Video
by Clint Bradford 09 Feb '11

09 Feb '11

Is the video feed we saw from the Adobe Bluffs contact last week available online anywhere? Clint Bradford, K6LCS

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Re Portable operation certificates
by andy thomas 09 Feb '11

09 Feb '11

Interesting debate. I would be interested in submitting my book of qsl cards for an award but the problem is that my operations with an Arrow were in different countries, such as: F/G0SFJ/P YL/G0SFJ/P LZ/G0SFJ/P etc etc and probably a half-dozen or so qsl cards from each location. Any ideas as to which award I might apply for??? bet there isn't one! 73 de andy G0SFJ

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Re: Satpc32 and Azimuth only > rotors? Functional?
by Bill Dzurilla 09 Feb '11

09 Feb '11

Zach, I use a single 2' long Elk antenna with 15 degrees fixed elevation. It works well. See photos at: http://www.myhamshack.com/NZ5N/Pictures/. Some suggest 20 or even 30 degrees fixed elevation but that's too much. You want low fixed elevation so you will have good gain on sats when they are at very low elevation (when they are furthest away and you have an opportunity for the best available DX). In my humble opinion, a pair of Gulf Alphas on a cross-boom with az-el rotation would be overkill for what is up in the air now. With just the Elk, I have worked Holland from south Florida (7400 km) via AO-7 at 1.5 degrees. The world DX record on AO-7 is 7766 km. I do have a mast-mounted preamp, which greatly helps. I use an old TV rotor for azimuth rotation. It cannot be controlled with SatPC32. The program probably is able to control some types of azimuth-only rotors, but I do not have the details. SatPC32 does automatically control your rig's frequency to adjust for doppler, which is highly valuable on the linear sats. 73, Bill NZ5N > From: zach hillerson <qstick333(a)yahoo.com> > Subject: [amsat-bb] Satpc32 and Azimuth only > rotors? Functional? > To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org > Message-ID: <415856.39233.qm(a)web39701.mail.mud.yahoo.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 > > I am getting closer to putting my first satellite base > station together (in lieu of the Arrow that I am currently > using) and am giving serious consideration to a fixed 15* > antenna setup such as the Gulf Alpha designs.? Having never > mounted antennas, rotors etc... I am a bit concerned about > my less than amazing mechanical aptitude and having to get > cross-booms, Az/El rotors etc... working correctly.? > > Is anyone using SatPc32 to successfully control Azimuth > only rotors?? If so, what is required to get everything > working together?? I would still like to automate the rotor > and doppler control if at all possible.? > > On a somewhat related note - is anyone else using a setup > like this (fixed elevation) and if so, are you happy with > the performance?? > > Thanks for any thoughts, I appreciate the input, > > Zach > KJ4ZVV

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Re: ARISSat-1 - Dumb Question
by Clint Bradford 09 Feb '11

09 Feb '11

>> ... Clint. When ARISSAT is released it will stay in the "Plane" of ISS orbit...they will toss it retrograde meaning in the opposite direction of the velocity vector and with its slightly lower velocity the orbit will start to decrease...this is done so that very quickly the orbits will stop being "prox ops" reasonably fast. Great, succinct info - MANY thanks! Clint, K6LCS

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VE8EV is missing HO-68
by John Boudreau 09 Feb '11

09 Feb '11

Has anyone heard any news on the status of HO-68/XW-1? Alan, maybe an update for the group? 73 John - VE8EV

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ARISSat-1 - Dumb Question
by Clint Bradford 09 Feb '11

09 Feb '11

When ARISSat-1 is deployed next week, confirming it will simply be "pushed" outside the ISS, correct? How closely will it "emulate" the orbit of the ISS? What is its intended orbit - will it be passing the poles? I apologize if this is covered all over the place already ... Clint, K6LCS

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SSETI-ESEO project cancelled?
by Thomas Frey 09 Feb '11

09 Feb '11

Greetings Since about a month the URL www.sseti.net doesn't exist anymore. Is the SSETI-ESEO project with participation of AMSAT-UK cancelled ? -- Mit freundlichen Grüssen, Regards, 73 Thomas Frey, HB9SKA ______________________________________________________________________ Thomas Frey, Holzgasse 2, CH-5242 Birr, Tel. + Fax: 056 444 93 41 http://home.datacomm.ch/th.frey/

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