May 2012 - 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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VO-52 beacon heard I think
by Ib Christoffersen 09 Aug '12

09 Aug '12

Hi all, I think I had a very small signal from Williams beacon frequency. Pass with AOS here in Copenhagen 1422 UTC - but just 1 degree of elevation in my worst direction. Hope I am right. Should be a good pass over NA in a few minutes. 73 OZ1MY Ib

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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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Transit of Venus event 6 June
by Bob Bruninga 11 Jun '12

11 Jun '12

Transit of Venus Special Event, 6 June 2012: For the 7th time in Human history and last time this century, Venus will pass in front of the sun on 6 June 2012. We are encouraging hams to join up with astronomers and observers in public places to share in this event. It is observable worldwide except the center of the Atlantic (eastern S.America and western Africa) Everywhere else can see parts of it. It lasts 5+ hours and is fully visible around the Pacific Rim. All previous centuries were before the discovery of radio and so sailing ships were dispatched around the globe to time the event. From these times, the size of the Solar System could be calculated. It took months if not years to get the data back. Now we can do it in 0.05 seconds with Ham radio. See if you can contact hams at other Transit of Venus sites from your public observing site. Here are the suggested calling frequencies. We don't want contest-style pileups nor home stations. We just want a place where similar public setups can contact like minded other public viewing sites via ham radio and make their reports. See the web page: http://aprs.org/VenusTransit2012.html We are suggesting these calling frequencies: 40 Meters - 7180 KHz 20 Meters - 14240 KHz 17 Meters - 18140 KHz 15 Meters - 21240 KHz 12 Meters - 24940 KHz 10 Meters - 28340 KHz VHF - APRS on the local national calling channel. Send APRS messages as noted on the web page. *** TAKE ALL IMPORTANT SAFETY PRECAUTIONS WHEN VIEWING THE SUN!!! *** Google for Techniques. Bob Bruninga, WB4APR (will be observing in Japan with a Japanese (TBD) callsign)

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European Lunar Lander - Call for Declarations of Interest
by Stefan Wagener 02 Jun '12

02 Jun '12

ESA has posted a very unique opportunity: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/HSF_Research/SEMGUMZWD2H_2.html Wouldn't it be great if the key AMSAT organizations put a proposal together to put a ham radio transponder on the moon. It can have all the cool educational outreach and training opportunities associated with it. Let's encourage the AMSAT leadership teams to move quickly. We can do it, don't you think? Stefan VE4NSA

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Ham Spirit
by Clint Bradford 01 Jun '12

01 Jun '12

Back to Eric's original question: "Where is the "ham spirit" these days?" Well, I ask, WHEN did the true spirit of ham radio CHANGE to the point where we can demean fellow hams in public message groups - WITHOUT simply contacting an "offending" ham privately to see if we could help them with their system? A simple email message to the "offending" station asking if he was able to hear the bird ... If he has had any problems with the FM birds in the past ... and find out if he knew he was accidentally stepping on another ham ... THAT'S what any responsible amateur radio licensee should have done FIRST. And THEN write up the experience here. Something like ... "Hey, guys and gals. Was working SO-50 earlier this week, and booming in with a strong signal was K6LCS. That's the good news. The bad news is that he was stepping on everyone else - as if he could not hear the downlinks from the bird. I called him up (his phone number is all over his Web sites) and we both identified the problem: a shorted earpiece cable forced him to work without his normal receive audio setup. He profusely apologized ... and he is not really a "repeat offender." LESSON LEARNED: Purchase quality audio accessories!" Instead, the original message criticizes a fellow ham ... and two more fellow hams publicly chime in with, "Way to go, Eric!" - before finding out the facts of the matter. Call me "old school," I guess. But I am not changing. Clint Bradford, K6LCS http://www.work-sat.com

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WD9EWK @ White Mountain Hamfest (Show Low AZ), Saturday, 2 June
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 31 May '12

31 May '12

Hi! I will have an AMSAT table at the White Mountain Hamfest in Show Low, Arizona, this Saturday (2 June) morning. The hamfest, like most in Arizona, is a half-day event. During the hamfest, I will have on-air demonstrations using satellites (FM and SSB) that are passing by. Please call WD9EWK if you hear me. It appears that AO-7 should be in mode B Saturday morning, so I hope to be on those passes as well as VO-52 and anything else I can hear. Depending on how long past noon (1900 UTC) there are people still at the hamfest, I might even work an AO-27 pass from there. More information about the White Mountain Hamfest is available at: http://www.kachina-arc.org/Page/Hamfest.html After the hamfest, I may drive to a spot northeast of Show Low on the DM44/DM54 boundary - or just find a spot somewhere in grid DM54 - for any afternoon and early evening passes before driving home. To see where I am traveling, you can follow me as WD9EWK-9 via APRS at http://aprs.fi/wd9ewk-9 (among other ways to look up APRS information). I will also try to post e-mail updates to this list, and also via my Twitter feed @WD9EWK (use http://twitter.com/WD9EWK if you are not subscribed to Twitter). If you work WD9EWK on Saturday and would like to receive a QSL card, please e-mail me with the QSO details. No need to first send a card. I will also upload Saturday's QSOs to the Logbook of the World. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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Just found this F2IL
by mm0kjg 31 May '12

31 May '12

* /Subject/: [amsat-bb] AO7 F2IL * /From/: "k3szh@xxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:k3szh@DOMAIN.HIDDEN>" <k3szh@xxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:k3szh@DOMAIN.HIDDEN>> * /Date/: Sun, 25 Jan 2009 22:22:58 GMT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Congratulation Jean on your 4000 plus qsos on AO7. It has been a great satellite since it's return in 2002. Thanks for the many qsos we had together over the years. 73 my friend Joe Amsat 3788 since 1976

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Dragon On Its Way Back
by B J 31 May '12

31 May '12

Splashdown is scheduled for later this morning. 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL

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