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

LVB Tracker USB serial port driver for Windows 7 x64?
by Bill Bordy, NJ1H 22 Dec '16

22 Dec '16

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

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AO-16 telemetry 3 Oct 2010
by Mark L. Hammond 01 Jul '16

01 Jul '16

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]

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Call for Papers--2007 ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference
by Ford, Steve, WB8IMY 16 Jul '12

16 Jul '12

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

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Re: EggBeater
by Bill Dzurilla 30 May '12

30 May '12

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

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SoCal to East Texas
by Eric Fort 05 Nov '11

05 Nov '11

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

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Working HO-68
by Richard Lawn 16 Oct '11

16 Oct '11

Doing what I try to do every vacation which is try to spend a little time back on the birds. I've yet to have a QSO on HO-68. I hear the beacon just fine. But I just finished my 2nd pass from NJ and was unable to hear any signals let alone myself coming back on any mode. Did I misread the operating schedule or am I doing something wrong? MacDoppler told me there was a good pass to this part of the world are around 21:30 my time. Great beacon strength but nobody else was home. Rick W2JAZ

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Congratulations
by Robert McGwier 04 Aug '11

04 Aug '11

My sincerest congratulations to AMSAT, Tony and his engineering team. A JOB WELL DONE. -- Bob McGwier ARS: N4HY

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ARISSat-1 in SATPC32
by Alan P. Biddle 04 Aug '11

04 Aug '11

Hi, The deployment of ARRISat-1 is approaching. Here is a collection of data on the various modes for use in configuring SATPC32. Note that you will need to tweak the sideband frequencies slightly to account for rig calibration and other issues, as usual, but these should be close. You can paste these in the DOPPLER.SQF file, but before you do, please read on! ARISSat-1,145918.5,0,USB,,,0,0,BPSK/CW-2 ARISSat-1,145950.0,0,FM,,,0,0,VOICE/SSTV ARISSat-1,145930.0,435750.0,USB,LSB,REV,0,0,XPDR ARISSat-1,145938.5,0,USB,,,0,0,CW-1 Since ARISSat-1 will be deployed by a gentle push from the ISS by Cosmonauts, the ISS Keps will be good until separate Keps are released by Space Track. One way to handle the transition is to change the Doppler information slightly: ISS,145918.5,0,USB,,,0,0,BPSK/CW-2 ISS,145950.0,0,FM,,,0,0,VOICE/SSTV ISS,145930.0,435750.0,USB,LSB,REV,0,0,XPDR ISS,145938.5,0,USB,,,0,0,CW-1 Paste the ARISSat-1 data as desired, and also paste the ISS version of the data into the DOPPLER.SQF file after the regular ISS data. For the final test aboard the ISS, and initially after deployment, select ISS tracking, and then select the desired ARRISat-1 frequency data at the end of the list in the CAT window. After the ISS and ARISSat-1 are far enough apart that independent Keps are available, you can begin using ARISSat-1 as a separate object by adding it to the objects you track in the Satellites menu window. The satellite may be identified as ARISSat-1, but may well have some other designation which will be reported. If it is not ARRISat-1, then change the name in the first group above to that used in the Keps. They must agree exactly for SATPC32 to match the Doppler data with the satellite. (You can also use the AmsatNames.txt file, which is covered in the SATPC32 documentation.) You can then delete the extra ISS data if you wish. They won't hurt anything, but it will clean up the ISS CAT window. 73s, Alan WA4SCA

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ARISSat-1 test signal saved
by Mineo Wakita 04 Aug '11

04 Aug '11

00:49-00:58UTC, 31 Jul 2011, Ele 17 West, 437.550MHz VOICE/SSTV/BPSK SSTV image, http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/10731ari.png Voice of the England girl, http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/10731ar1.mp3 Voice of the Robot, http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/10731ar2.mp3 JE9PEL, Mineo Wakita

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old Orbits magazines
by Bob DeVarney W1ICW 04 Aug '11

04 Aug '11

Does anyone have old copies of Orbit magazine they would like to get rid of? I have been an AMSAT member since mid 1980 and can only find two of my old copies, Nov/Dec 1980 and April 1981. I'd like to have more if anyone has some getting moldy in their cellar. Or point me to an electronic archive... 73, Bob W1ICW

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