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

ND9M/MM Op Sked: Panama Canal Transit - 23 March
by Clary, James T, Civilian 22 Mar '11

22 Mar '11

We should be crossing into FJ07 shortly, around 22/2300Z. I'll be on the AO7 pass that rises locally at 22/2302Z, assuming AO7 is still in Mode B. We will be in FJ07 for three or four hours, so the VO52 pass at 23/0149Z should be good for that grid as well. I expect to be on from FJ08: FO29 - 23/0813Z AO51 - 23/0853Z FO29 - 23/0958Z (possibly) AO51 - 23/1032Z (possibly) My ship received our transit schedule for tomorrow. Traffic has to move slowly through the canal, so it will be an all-day transit. Barring high winds or bad weather, I'll set up the step ladder satellite station on the flight deck and leave it in place all day. 1345Z / 0845 LT - Arrive Miraflores Locks (east side, right hand) 1450Z / 0950 LT - Depart Miraflores Locks 1535Z / 1035 LT - Arrive Pedro Miguel Locks (west side, left hand) 1620Z / 1135 LT - Depart Pedro Miguel Locks 1950Z / 1450 LT - Arrive Gatun Locks (east side, right hand) 2145Z / 1645 LT - Depart Gatun Locks Evidently there are three sets of locks; I was only aware of two! I don't know if the Pedro Miguel Locks has a web cam; probably not since these locks are immediately after the Miraflores Locks. Looking at SatPC32, there's a VO52 pass occurring shortly after we enter the Miraflores Locks and an FO29 pass as we hit the Gatun Locks. I should be able to make both passes; it would be fun operating on camera! Also, we'll cross into FJ09 at the Miraflores Locks, possibly during the VO52 pass at 23/1355Z. 73, Jim, HP/ND9M / VQ9JC Grid EJ97

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2M1EUB/P QRV AO7 19.30GMT PASS 2NITE
by paul robinson 22 Mar '11

22 Mar '11

Will be looking USA from high ground latter from the van! N.E Scotland 73 de paul 2M1EUB/P via ao7

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AO-40 range record ??
by P.H. 22 Mar '11

22 Mar '11

Hi, For a small club satellite presentation I will be mentioning the benefits of HEO over LEO and the range advantage. Can anyone tell me the distance record set when AO-40 was alive? Thanks 73 2i0VAX Pete

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FT-817 - Menu 7 - Antenna Selection
by Clint Bradford 22 Mar '11

22 Mar '11

I thought that the FT-817'a front and rear antenna jacks could only be switched from the default config out of the box ... FRONT - 50mHZ, 2M, and 440 REAR - HF work ... and vice versa using Menu Item 7. But is that Menu Item more sophisticated than that? Someone just wrote me, indicating that they could make the front jack 2M and the rear 440 - by choosing Menu 7 while working 440, and selecting "REAR." Then work 2M, and select Menu Item 7, and choose "FRONT." I've never had to split it like that, using a diplexer with my sat beams. Can that be done? Quizzically yours, Clint K6LCS

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ND9M/MM Op Sked: 22 March
by Clary, James T, Civilian 22 Mar '11

22 Mar '11

We had another favorable break at midday today when the ship's speed was slowed by a convergence current for a few hours that caused us to still be in EJ78 long enough to get that grid into a few logs on AO27. Later this afternoon, my FT897D failed unexpectedly, but I was eventually able to bring it back to life for the most part with a firmware reset. A few of the menu options are still gone - they're not disabled; they're actually missing from the menu! - so I'll be on the horn with Yaesu tomorrow to see what they suggest. Hopefully the rig will remain functional at least until I get to Florida next week. There were two planned passes while I was up on the flight deck trying to get the 897 back on line. One was AO51 at 21/2247Z, and the second was AO7 at 22/0003Z; both for EJ77. I'd just gotten the 897 back up in time for the AO51 pass and made a few contacts before the rig died again. More resets later, it came back up and stayed mostly operational for AO7's pass. Unfortunately, several ops didn't hear me answering their calls, but for some reason they kept calling anyway. (HF DXers do the same thing, but I still don't know why!) After a few minutes of making just a couple SSB contacts, I gave up on that mode and switched to CW on the same freq. This move got a few ops into the log who otherwise would have lost out on the grid because of the non-stop calling QRM. CW comes through again! We'll be arriving at the Panama Canal Wednesday morning, but we haven't heard yet from the canal authorities what time we'll begin our transit. We're expecting to have to sit for a short time, but we'll likely get into the canal sometime during the morning daylight hours. In case you're interested, the Canal Authority has a website with a pair of web cams set up to watch ships passing through at each set of locks. 'll leave my step ladder satellite station set up on the side of the flight deck nearest the cameras. Let me know if you get any screen captures of the station and the bald guy next to it! The web site is: www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html Near the top of the screen, you'll see a list of links in a horizontal line. Look for "Miraflores Locks" and "Gatun Locks". We'll be coming in from the Pacific side of course, so the Miraflores Locks web cam will be the first one we pass by. I'll post a note to the BB when I've got a better idea of when we'll be hitting the Miraflores Locks. By the way, the images are stills rather than streaming video, but depending on your connection speed, they'll update every few seconds. Here's the list of passes for tonight and most of tomorrow. Since we'll be waiting for arrival instructions from the Canal Authority, I won't make an extensive list of passes, but the following info will take us into FJ07 with FJ08 and FJ09 being tomorrow night and Wednesday. FO29 - 22/0907Z - EJ87 AO51 - 22/0933Z - EJ87 AO7 - 22/1225Z - EJ87 or EJ97 AO51 - 22/2207Z - EJ97 or probably FJ07 FO29 - 22/2223Z - EJ97 or probably FJ07 AO7 - 22/2302Z - if still in Mode B; probably FJ07 VO52 - 23/0149Z - FJ07 FO29 - 23/0813Z - FJ08 or FJ09 AO51 - 23/0853Z - FJ08 or FJ09 Probably, not sure but will try VO52 - 22/1337Z - EJ97 AO51 - 22/2030Z - EJ97 FO29 - 22/2037Z - EJ97 73, Jim, ND9M / VQ9JC

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IC-451A/RFC4-110 for sale
by Bob- W7LRD 21 Mar '11

21 Mar '11

Still cleaning up the ham shack. Posting here before Ebay. IC-451A 70cm all mode and RFC4-110 amp. Was replaced with a IC-910H. $250- Email direct. 73 Bob W7LRD Seattle

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Fwd: [PNWVHFS] FOR SALE: ICOM IC-275A/ SSB LT-230S 23CM TRANSVERTER
by Bob- W7LRD 21 Mar '11

21 Mar '11

I have no connecton with this fellow. Just passing it along to the bb 73 Bob W7LRD ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: n6eq(a)juno.com To: PNWVHFS(a)googlegroups.com Sent: Monday, March 21, 2011 11:19:59 AM Subject: [PNWVHFS] FOR SALE: ICOM IC-275A/ SSB LT-230S 23CM TRANSVERTER Hello, I have the following (2) items: 1. ICOM IC-275A... 2 meter all mode (25 watts) has (PBT) pass band tuning, built in power supply, spch board in good condition. Comes with hand mic., ac cord. $475.00 2. Dressler (EVV 2000 HDX) mast head (144-146 MHz) 3-21 db gain ajustable inside. Ultra low noise transmit/ receive pre-amplifier...750 watts ptt. Same as the (SSB Electronics).Comes with the manual and mast mount. $150.00 3. SSB LT230S 23cm Transverter... top of the line 1296 Mhz. transverter. In good condition. Comes with Manual, DC cord. $650.00 Frequency range: 1296 MHz IF: 144 MHz Drive power: 0.1-10 W RF power output: 30 W Voltage: 13.8 VDC Current drain: Max 3 A Impedance: 50 ohms. N-type RF in/out, BNC IF in/out Dimensions (W*H*D): ? mm Weight: ? Kg Manufactured: Germany, 199x-200x Other: HEMT pre-amp. Built-in power meter Prices don't include shipping... (Postal Money Order Only) 7 3 de N6EQ Chuck (760) 948-9025 ____________________________________________________________ LivingSocial Coupons 1 Amazing Coupon Per Day! Up to 90% Off the Best Stuff to do! LivingSocial.com LivingSocial.com -- ~The Voice of the Pacific NorthWest VHF Society~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PNWVHFS" group. To post to this group, send email to PNWVHFS(a)googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to PNWVHFS-unsubscribe(a)googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/PNWVHFS

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ND9M/MM Op Sked: 21 March
by Clary, James T, Civilian 21 Mar '11

21 Mar '11

My apologies for missing the 20/0914Z FO29 and AO51 passes last night. I set my alarm to get up in plenty of time, but discovered far too late that I'd set the alarm based on tonight's passes instead of last night's and wound up missing them by just a few minutes. And while I was admonishing myself for my own mistake, I received an e-mail telling me that there had been quite a few ops waiting for me, as if I needed a reminder of my foul up. Oh well... We were in EJ49 for a short time at midday today during which there was an AO27 pass. We on the ship also found ourselves in a nice little windstorm (40 MPH sustained) at just the wrong time. I set up on the flight deck as usual, but had to hold down the step ladder with a foot on the bottom rung and my arm on the rig to prevent the station from toppling. The winds were pushing the antenna all over the place which further hampered the already very low elevation ops. I was able to make four contacts during the two minutes or so that I could see the satellite. Later on, K8YSE sent me a recording of the pass, and after listening to it, I'm frankly surprised I made any contacts at all! There were so many non-stop tail-ending calls that I really don't see how I got through for anyone to hear me answer them to begin with! Almost as surprising was that on top of the heavy pileup QRM, one of the few successful QSOs was with N5AFV who was using omni-directional antennas for both the uplink and downlink; Allen punched through on my end with no problem! Right after the pass, I took digital photos of the GPS and clock for QTH documentation as I regularly do and almost lost the rig when a wind gust literally flipped the rig off the ladder's shelf while I still held the ladder down. I dropped the camera and was able to grab the rig's carrying handle just as the rig started downward, so luckily it didn't hit the deck. Surprisingly, the camera survived the five-foot fall on to the steel deck with barely a scratch. Not bad for an over-the-counter Nikon! Tonight, we'll be passing through EJ58 for about three hours, but unfortunately there won't be any passes available until we're already through that grid. For the same reason, I probably will not be able to put out EJ78 which we'll be in for about 2-1/2 hours tomorrow at midday. I'll still keep an eye on the GPS just in case the unexpected happens. The oh-dark-30 FO29 and AO51 passes tonight overlap each other a great deal. I'll start out on FO29 since its footprint will cover much of the ham population before AO51's footprint really becomes usable for my QTH. As we approach the Canal, we're advancing our ship's clock by one hour tonight, our thirteenth clock change since we left Diego Garcia. Starting tomorrow, we'll be on CDT, and my work day will run from 1300-2200Z. After that, we'll have only one more clock advance during this long trip, and we'll finally be done with messing with the clocks. Speaking of the Canal, my IARP was issued on 7 March while I was still at San Diego, so I'm good to go for operating in Panamanian waters and through the Canal. We won't be stopping at Panama, so there won't be any chance of QSOs for DXCC credit, but the grid squares will still be fair game. Here's the list: Planned VO52 - 21/0250Z - EJ59 FO29 - 21/1003Z - EJ68 AO51 - 21/1012Z - EJ68 VO52 - 21/1454Z - EJ68 AO7 - 22/0003Z - EJ77 VO52 - 22/0132Z - EJ77 or EJ87 FO29 - 22/1055Z - EJ87 or EJ97 AO51 - 22/1113Z - probably EJ97 Probable, but not certain AO51 - 21/2108Z - EJ77 FO29 - 21/2131Z - EJ77 AO51 - 21/2247Z - EJ77 VO52 - 22/0309Z - EJ87 FO29 - 22/0907Z - EJ87 or EJ97 - I'll have a better idea tomorrow evening on this pass and AO51's a few minutes later. AO51 - 22/0933Z - EJ87 or EJ97 73, Jim, ND9M / VQ9JC

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Re: AO-40 range record ??
by G0MRF＠aol.com 20 Mar '11

20 Mar '11

In a message dated 20/03/2011 01:43:23 GMT Standard Time, bbjunkie(a)f2s.com writes: Hi, For a small club satellite presentation I will be mentioning the benefits of HEO over LEO and the range advantage. Can anyone tell me the distance record set when AO-40 was alive? Thanks 73 2i0VAX Pete Hello Pete I'm sure you will get lots of answers. But my own personal favourite response to a CQ call on AO-40 from London UK was a Japanese station located at one of the south pole research stations. London to Perth Australia on AO-13 is also in my log, but it was impossible to get from here in the UK to ZL. My local club also took equipment to ZC4 in Cyprus and C56 (Gambia) making about 200 QSOs from each location. DX-Peditioning was popular on the HEO sats. Happy days........... Good luck with the talk David G0MRF

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AO-40 DX Record...
by k0blt＠juno.com 20 Mar '11

20 Mar '11

Greetings to all,I may have what should be one of the most "footprint stretching" DX QSOs via AO-40. A group of German fellows made a DX-pedition to Cocos (Keeling) Islands in 2003. Their grid locator was NH87 and my grid was DN81. I heard them only once and it was on a day near the end of their operation. I was hearing a few fellows on the West Coast working them but I couldn't hear a "peep" from the DX station. All of the sudden they were there, Q5. I couldn't believe my ears! We exchanged the usual 5NN on CW as with most all expedition signal reports. My Elmer, Joe, K0VTY, and I had often talked of stretching the footprint but it never occured to me that I'd have the opportunity to do just that. As I recall, there were less than 5 degrees, according to InstaTrack, for me to make the contact before LOS at both ends. I always blamed the giant Elm tree just accross the street from me for preventing my hearing much that appeared on the low western horizon. After I collected my senses, I went outside and had a look at that "cursed" tree. To my suprise my antennas were pointed at a "hole" in that tree no bigger than a bushel basket. Obviously that hole provided me the one in a thousand shot I had at working VK9CD on the 20th of Oct., 2003. I have been a DXer for over 50 years and I've had many memorable and lucky DX QSOs but VK9CD ranks right up there near the top of my list. I wish that we still had a bird in orbit that would allow such "thrills" but alas.......73 to everyone and we can continue to hope.... Frank, K0BLT ____________________________________________________________ Groupon&#8482 Official Site 1 ridiculously huge coupon a day. Get 50-90% off your city's best! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4d864833bdd43265bb0st06vuc

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