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

Re: FD Mess
by Clint Bradford 28 Jun '11

28 Jun '11

>> ... There were too many ops making what sounded like HI POWER multi contacts ... I am quite proud of how stations acted out here on the West Coast. I mean, we have the largest potential for problems, since we have the largest number of hams compared to anywhere else in the U.S. Yes, the FM birds were busy ... and I even could call one particular pass a little chaotic (grin) ... but, overall, common sense and reasonable operating techniques prevailed. Clint Bradford, K6LCS

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Re: How to get started on SSB birds
by Edward R. Cole 28 Jun '11

28 Jun '11

Or Lindenblads or Quadrafillers. Info is on the Amsat webpage for these, right? 73, Ed - KL7uW At 12:09 PM 6/27/2011, wa4hfn(a)comcast.net wrote: >Build Egg beaters > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Jeremy Widner" <jeremyrwidner(a)gmail.com> >To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org >Sent: Monday, June 27, 2011 3:00:28 PM >Subject: [amsat-bb] How to get started on SSB birds > >I have been doing FM birds for a couple of years now with HTs and Arrow >antennas. I am ready to start messing with the other birds. I have a >Kenwood TS-2000 for a rig. I do NOT currently have a tower up. I was >wondering antenna suggestions you guys might have to jump into the ssb birds >without using a tower. My preference is to build something as money is >always an issue (insert wife). > >-- >73 >Jeremy Widner >K0PDX >http://k0pdx.us >Secretary Raytown Amateur Radio Club - K0GQ >http://k0gq.com/ >_______________________________________________ >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 73, Ed - KL7UW, WD2XSH/45 ====================================== BP40IQ 500 KHz - 10-GHz www.kl7uw.com EME: 50-1.1kw?, 144-1.4kw, 432-100w, 1296-60w, 3400-? DUBUS Magazine USA Rep dubususa(a)gmail.com ======================================

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WD9EWK - Field Day 2011 report
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 28 Jun '11

28 Jun '11

Hi! Glad to see this old-school e-mail list is getting a workout today. :-) Despite all the complaining about how crowded the satellite passes were over the weekend, it was fun to get one. I try to make time to work Field Day, even if it is just the satellites, as a reason to get out of the desert heat. As I have done since 2009, I parked at a Garland Prairie Vista Picnic Ground in the Kaibab National Forest. This is along old US-66, north of the I-40 freeway and 20 miles/32km west of Flagstaff in northern Arizona. I knew of this place from trips to the DM35xg/DM45ag grid boundary just west of this site, and being up in the mountains and trees is a lot better than the desert heat. I brought the two FT-817NDs I normally use on the non-FM satellites, along with a TH-F6A (backup radio for satellite operating, and possibly useful for VHF/UHF FM QSOs during Field Day) and my IC-703 HF/6m transceiver. Besides the Elk 2m/70cm log periodic I use on the satellites, I brought an Outbacker Joey HF/VHF vertical and a Buddipole multiband dipole that would really come in handy during this Field Day. Since 2001, I have generally worked Field Day as a 1B/1-operator/battery station transmitting at 5 watts. I may be a glutton for punishment, but QRP power levels make it easier to power the equipment. I had printed out the pass predictions for the day, so I didn't need a computer running tracking software. The IC-703 is a 10W transceiver, but I dialed it down to the 5W level so I could qualify for the 5x power multiplier under the ARRL rules. The FT-817NDs and TH-F6A are 5W transceivers, so I left their power settings on "high", and hoped for the best. I started out on 15m using the IC-703 and Outbacker Joey, then switched periodically to 6m using the Buddipole dipole. I would jump from band to band as I heard activity, and also worked many Arizona stations on 6m. For the first time in Field Day, I completed a terrestrial 2m FM QSO with a group on a mountain about 40 miles/64km south of me. I used the TH-F6A with a Diamond tri-band antenna on it, and had a nice chat with that group after making the Field Day exchange. As for the satellites, I did not do as well this year. I confined my FM activity to only the west-coast passes. I made one QSO on SO-50 on the 2030 UTC pass Saturday afternoon, but the other station did not offer the Field Day exchange. My first Field Day satellite QSO was on the west-coast AO-27 pass an hour later. After making the QSO that I will score in my log, I also made a couple of other non-point QSOs as I detailed in an earlier post. One of the things I wanted to try this Field Day was AO-7 in mode A. I had one chance to do that, on the pass around 2230 UTC Saturday afternoon before the mode change approximately an hour later. I was unsuccessful in making a QSO on this pass, but I was successful in hearing myself on the 10m downlink using the IC-703 with my Buddipole dipole reconfigured for this pass (one side vertical, the other side horizontal, set for resonance around 29.450 MHz), in CW and SSB. This was a great test, and I hope to make mode A QSOs on AO-7 in the near future. I tried the next AO-7 pass in mode B, but had no luck completing a QSO there. That happens sometimes, and I'm not complaining. On FO-29 a little while later, I had a hard time hearing myself. When I moved up the passband a bit, I could hear myself, but nobody else joined me up there. I was able to make one QSO toward the end of the pass, as other stations wrapped up their activity and there were fewer signals on the uplink. Not too bad. I tried the next FO-29 pass that covered the west coast, but could not get through well enough for a couple of stations to copy my call correctly. Oh well... As was mentioned previously, the AO-51 pass up the west coast just after 0000 UTC was a nice pass. I will try to post my audio recording of that pass, to show how things calmed down toward the end of the pass. I made my points-earning QSO early in the pass, then answered others who were calling WD9EWK, and even worked one station that was not interested in a Field Day exchange. I gave him my grid locator (DM45) in place of "1B-AZ". I tried the shallow VO-52 pass just before 0200 UTC, after copying the W1AW phone bulletin that started at 0145 UTC. I think the mountains to the east didn't let me have more than a couple of minutes to hear the satellite. At this point, I wanted to stick around for the next VO-52 pass, but by then it would be completely dark in the forest except for my flashlights. I also had to return home that evening, due to other things I needed to do Sunday. I still have to put together my log for submission to ARRL and AMSAT, but I know I didn't make as many QSOs - satellite, or overall - this year. For satellites, I had a total of 3 QSOs that will go on my submission. I was disappointed I couldn't get QSOs on AO-7 or VO-52, but being able to hear myself on AO-7 in mode A made up for that. Hearing several familiar voices - some working with their own callsigns, and several others with different calls - was nice. Those experienced operators probably helped their groups get QSOs and the satellite bonus. I posted some photos of my station as part of my "soapbox" submission on the ARRL web site at: http://www.arrl.org/soapboxes/view/7763 I also recorded a short video showing my station, which can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8BGbDVBXTA 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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ISS something not right
by Kevin Deane 27 Jun '11

27 Jun '11

Ok something is amiss because nobody is getting in, and it sounds more like a beacon or something. If it was working at least the beacon people would be getting in, and maybe some people like me uselessly trying for a digi contact which last month was easy! I know most people are bored with this but I figure if its goin over I might as well try, I am pretty persistant which did pay off on PC-Sat. Must have been lucky on that one cuz nothin for 20+ days. Kevin KF7MYK

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A Big Thank You for your care of the crippled bird!
by James Luhn 27 Jun '11

27 Jun '11

Yes, FD is always a mess. Usually a good mess of food, friends, bugs, and all. We made a satellite contact through AO-51 running 5-10 watts with an Arrow antenna. We had quite the audience as everyone wanted to see a satellite contact made and the audience was also curious why it took 4 of us to make the contact. We had one to hold the radio, one to operate the microphone and chase the frequency, one to hold and direct the antenna, and one to hold a 50lb battery. Did we need 4? of course not! The excitement of working a satellite simply had everyone focused on making the contact and not on the fact that the equipment did not need to be held. Heck, we even had a tripod for the antenna. I'm sure someone had it in hand too! Through the hard work of those keeping poor old AO-51 together and operating, we were able to add a whole bunch of excitement to our FD mess. A big THANK YOU to all involved. Your efforts are sincerely appreciated. We had a great time at FD. 73, James W5AOO

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Re: Off Topic AO-27/ISS
by Jeremy Bomkamp 27 Jun '11

27 Jun '11

Kevin When AO-27 is in digital mode it is transmitting telemetry, I think you can download the program to decode it on the AO-27 website. I haven't heard the digital on AO-51 but it is probably APRS/Packet and who knows why unless someone decodes it, there was a lot of packet on HO-68 when it was in FM mode but a lot was autobeacons meant for the ISS. The ISS sounded normal as far as signal strength on Saturday, but I haven't heard it since, the last pass(2140Z) was a high pass and I didn't hear anything on 145.800 or 145.825, can you decode any of the packets you hear? If they are from the ISS the packet will start with RS0ISS-4(or -3 as has been used recently for whatever reason) or the packet will have RS0ISS-4* or RS0ISS-3* indicating it was digipeated by the ISS. The RS0ISS-3 started being used around June 18, but it did use -4 a couple times since AB9RU

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Field Day Recordings Posted
by John Papay 27 Jun '11

27 Jun '11

Field Day recordings for AO-51, AO-27 and SO-50 are on my website. The late night-early morning passes were not crowded and could have provided opportunities for those trying to make the 100 point bonus. The recordings were made from my home station on autopilot. Polarity was fixed on left-hand circular to favor AO-51. AO-27 is usually better on right hand but left hand works for most of the pass. SO-50 flops back and forth so it's not all there. We report; you decide. http://www.papays.com/sat 73, John K8YSE

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Re: How to get started on SSB birds (antennas)
by PA3GUO 27 Jun '11

27 Jun '11

> My preference is to build something Hi Jeremy ! Yesterday I finished constructing my new antenna for 70cm, a 16 elements DK7ZB. My Requirements: - Needs to work for EME at 432 MHz (15.5 dBd / 16 elements has been used successfully by others) - Needs to work for satellite communication (needs to elevate up to 90 degrees: can not be longer as 4 meter) - Avoid complex circular polarization this time (linear polarization had proven to work fine for Cubesats) Selected design: - 16 elements DK7ZB - 15.5 dBd - length 3.86 meter Results: - Fantastic ! - Compared to the 12 elements beam I can decode Cubesats (FO-69, O/OREOS) now much earlier - Decoding (not hearing!) FO-69 improved from 5..7 degrees elevation to 2..3 degrees - Have not done any EME tests yet Here are the photo's: http://www.pa3guo.com/dk7zb_70cm.html Btw: not sure if building is actually cheaper as buying: this antenna costed me ~90$ (but it is more fun !) -- Henk, PA3GUO

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Off Topic AO-27/ISS
by Kevin Deane 27 Jun '11

27 Jun '11

When AO-27 goes in digital mode what is that D-Star??? I take it if I had that equipment would I be able to communicate with people or is that the sats time for basic telemetry/control operator stuff? Also I have been hearing packet on AO-51, does someone expect a response? I am tempted to have my software loaded and see who it is. I would think responding would piss people off so I wont be doing that. ISS... I have been hearing packet on 145.825 but have not been getting in, 8 hours since anyone has and the signal seems alot weaker than normal??? Thanks for any info/opinions! Kevin KF7MYK

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Re: FD Mess
by Edward R. Cole 27 Jun '11

27 Jun '11

At 07:13 AM 6/27/2011, wa4hfn(a)comcast.net wrote: >It took me 5 satellite passes before I could make 1 contact There >were too many ops making what sounded like HI POWER multi contacts >.This should not have happened. Maybe someone with good writting >skills could send the ARRL world above 50 an artical on how to work >the birds during FD >WA4HFN em55 Damon >_______________________________________________ >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 Good luck on that. But if you are able to reach someone at ARRL, suggest that any log with more than one satellite entry have his 100points disqualified. Do satellite hams actually read "World Above 50 MHz"? Better a separate article on working satellite during FD. A lot of stations working the sats on FD do not work satellites anytime other than that. And BTW there are some SSB transponder satellites for use, the problem is the majority of satellite users today balk at obtaining equipment for anything but working the FM Leos. Its the old saw: "you can lead a horse to water, ...". Another old saw goes: "you asked for it, now live with it"! One last rhetorical question: "does anyone recall the last time they contacted KL7UW on a satellite?" Was it FM or SSB? I'm back to Oscar-Zero where I use JT-65. 73, Ed - KL7UW, WD2XSH/45 ====================================== BP40IQ 500 KHz - 10-GHz www.kl7uw.com EME: 50-1.1kw?, 144-1.4kw, 432-100w, 1296-60w, 3400-? DUBUS Magazine USA Rep dubususa(a)gmail.com ======================================

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