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

Re: ARISSat-1 Reception Certificates
by Patrick Farcon 05 Sep '11

05 Sep '11

Quick question for all. I submitted for voice telemetry and SSTV certificates at the same time. I received the SSTV certificate quite quickly but still awaiting the voice telemetry certificate. I am presuming perhaps that SSTV may not be as numerous as voice telemetry requests? I also finally was able to submit for the secret word certificate which was nice from a great pass yesterday afternoon. Enjoying the satellite while it is still usable and hope to try the transponder soon. 73, Pat N2VYT FN20un

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Satellite Activity Logger being Pulled?
by Ellis Foley 05 Sep '11

05 Sep '11

Return Mail to wa1rks(a)yahoo.com Back In June Bob In NJ. the provider of all the "Logger" pages ( Which I understand he does out of pocket on his own) said that the Satellite logger page was not being used enough, and that to save space on the system his was going to pull it.This is something provided here in the gud old USA. sad to watch if fall to other entities.Hence the adage "Use it or lose it" my 2 cents worth. irreguardless of the particulars of the situation,it still remains to be lost,if not used. My 2 cents worth.

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IO-26
by Nick Pugh K5QXJ 05 Sep '11

05 Sep '11

What is the status of IO-26? I heard the beacon 5-9 today. Thanks nick Office 337 593 8700 Cell 337 258 2527 Helping UL become a world Class Engineering and Educational School

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Radio hams tune in to space airwaves
by Trevor . 05 Sep '11

05 Sep '11

John Heath G7HIA has written an article about amateur radio space communications for the October edition of the British Interplanetary Society magazine Spaceflight. The Spaceflight description says: "Radio amateurs have always been keen to exploit new means of communication and John Heath [G7HIA] provides a fascinating insight into how satellite technology has transformed the world of the radio ham soon after the launch of Sputnik right up to the present day." The article covers the FUNcube satellite, ARISSat, GB4FUN and the FUNcube Dongle SDR. You can buy the October edition of Spaceflight magazine via http://www.spaceflightmagazine.com/pages/latest-issue.html ---- 73 Trevor M5AKA

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Good ARISSat-1 reception with rubber ducky in Eastern Canada
by Burns Fisher 05 Sep '11

05 Sep '11

I was visiting FN95 on my vacation; beautiful hilltop with about nearly 360 degree visibility. I first caught a 30-degree elevation using my F6A with stock rubber ducky. I had to twist it around a bit to find the right best orientation (horizontal this time) but I got a nice signal the entire pass. I hope I have recorded some SSTV that I can decode once I get back home. That will be cool! Next orbit (about 23:58Z Aug 29) it went directly overhead (or close). This time I happened to hit the greeting in English, which was clearly audible, although I did not get as much SSTV. I probably wasn't tweaking the doppler enough or getting the orientation right. Bonus: ISS came over 5 minutes later and I got to ooh and aaah our friends. Now that I have a few things that work, I can eliminate some of my sources of trouble at the home QTH, and hopefully get the signal back where I have the decoding software etc set up! Whoo-hoo! This is fun! And the telemetry sounds like the solar panels are holding up well even if the battery did not! Burns, W2BFJ

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5 in em55
by wa4hfn＠comcast.net 05 Sep '11

05 Sep '11

Congrats to Jim KE4KOL for award #28 5 in EM55 award will be mailed Tuesday WA4HFN Damon em55

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Re: Adjusting true north for azimuth rotator.
by AJ9N＠aol.com 04 Sep '11

04 Sep '11

SatPC32 and Nova both support Flip mode directly. Just follow the instructions within the programs on how to do the set up. 73, Charlie AJ9N In a message dated 9/4/2011 1:28:05 P.M. Central Daylight Time, wa4ivm(a)amsat.org writes: I believe the G5400 is a 360 degree rotor control. If you are wanting to go from West through North to East, you will hit the stop. Two options come to mind. Put the stop at South, but this gives the same problem going from West to East though South. The second option is a program like FLIPANTS that turns the antenna on it's back and turns the Az control plus/minus 180 so that the stop is not a problem. Decide if the "through North" or "through South" will become a problem and make a choice, then use the software to overcome it. Flipants is a old DOS program, but I think you can find an equivalent available. Click below to go to download Flipants. http://www.mustbeart.com/software/flipants.html Good luck and I hope this helps solve some obstacles. 73, Jim WA4IVM ps: The G5500 rotator has a 450 degree travel and helps diminish this problem, but it will cost more $$$$. On 9/4/2011 1:15 PM, Joe Leikhim wrote: > Thanks to all who replied. When I last installed the rotator, I had a > free standing tower and I pored the foundation and mounting bolts such > that one leg was aligned true north. > > In this new case, the tower face will have to be against a wall and > that wall as I mentioned is +28 degrees from north. The consensus is > that the azimuth rotator case can be oriented in any direction and the > antenna's (and elevation rotator separation kit) be clamped to the top > of the rotator aligned to true north. What I can't sort out is if I > will hit a stop if I rotate full CW or CCW, before reaching the south > direction. The comments seem to imply I won't. > > Thanks. > _______________________________________________ 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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ARISSat-12 Reception Certificates
by Clint Bradford 04 Sep '11

04 Sep '11

The folks behind issuing the ARISSat-1 reception report certificates ARE hard at work - even on a Sunday! - getting them sent out: I just received one! If you haven;t received yours yet, it is coming! Clint Bradford, K6LCS

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Adjusting true north for azimuth rotator.
by Joe Leikhim 04 Sep '11

04 Sep '11

I am planning to install my G5400 rotator inside a tower having a welded rotator shelf. The tower is not installed yet and will have one face against the side of my house which is positioned about 28 degrees northeast (Per Google Earth). I assume when I drill the rotator shelf, I can adjust for the gross 28 degree offset of the tower. However how important is it to do this at all? Does the rotator have to be installed exactly toward true north or can I make up the difference when clamping down the antenna mast assuming the antenna is oriented true north? Note I will be using a Trakbox and need the ADC to center on true north. Secondly does anyone know if the ruler function in Google Earth points true north? It seems pretty handy that a fire plug in front of a neighbors house is at about north point. -- Joe Leikhim Leikhim and Associates Communications Consultants Oviedo, Florida www.Leikhim.com JLeikhim(a)Leikhim.com 407-982-0446

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Re: Adjusting true north for azimuth rotator.
by Joe Leikhim 04 Sep '11

04 Sep '11

Thanks to all who replied. When I last installed the rotator, I had a free standing tower and I pored the foundation and mounting bolts such that one leg was aligned true north. In this new case, the tower face will have to be against a wall and that wall as I mentioned is +28 degrees from north. The consensus is that the azimuth rotator case can be oriented in any direction and the antenna's (and elevation rotator separation kit) be clamped to the top of the rotator aligned to true north. What I can't sort out is if I will hit a stop if I rotate full CW or CCW, before reaching the south direction. The comments seem to imply I won't. Thanks. -- Joe Leikhim Leikhim and Associates Communications Consultants Oviedo, Florida www.Leikhim.com JLeikhim(a)Leikhim.com 407-982-0446

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