July 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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Solved! Icom 821 and SatPC32 uplink frequency weirdness
by Stephan Greene 24 Aug '12

24 Aug '12

...and there was much rejoicing. Trying to get back on the satellites after many (10 year?) hiatus. [Yes, I missed AO-51, Arrisat, and a lot of the earlier cubesats. Sigh.] Trying to use SatPC32 to control my Icom 821H and I was seeing weird behavior and having trouble finding and staying tuned on my downlink. Manual control worked fine, but I wanted the computer taking care of some of the work for me. Finally noticed that the frequency jumps were EXACTLY the default repeater offsets used when the rig is in FM/repeater mode. No idea how the satellite section got that way (hidden menu triggered? stray bit flip?) but it happened whenever SatPC32 sent frequency corrections (either automatic Doppler correction from the software or tuning via keyboard commands) while I was transmitting. Solution was a full reset of the radio. Satellite mode works as it should, confirmed by some nice, computer-supported voice QSOs on AO-7 and VO-52 this evening. So, to summarize (and hopefully make it easier for anyone searching amsat-bb in the future if they run into this): Problem: Icom 821 in satellite mode. Sub-band transmitter frequency jumps +600 kHz (2M) or -5 MHz (70cm) while transmitting in CW, SSB, and FM, as soon as software sends a frequency correction to the radio. No jumps or problems when just listening and tuning across transponder. Manual satellite mode (software control off) behaves normally. Manual does not indicate satellite mode has a repeater offset feature. Solution: Full reset of radio, reconfigure radio as needed (interface baud rate and verify address) for software control. Thanks to the folks I contacted direct (searches of amsat-bb archives for SatPC32 and Icom 821 issues) for their suggestions and encouragement. Sometimes a problem that appears to be between the radio & the computer or software is due to the radio, not the computer. 73, hope to work many of you on the birds. Steve KS1G FM18hx ks1g(a)amsat.org

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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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NASA News - Mars Science Laboratory Landing Toolkit
by JoAnne Maenpaa 31 Jul '12

31 Jul '12

Hello Everyone, Here is some additional Mars Landing news which is probably more useful now rather than waiting for the next weekend AMSAT News Service cycle ... NASA is offering a web page with the Mars Science Laboratory Landing Toolkit http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/msl_landing.cfm Landing: 5-6 August 2012 10:31 pm Pacific, 5 August 11:31 pm Mountain, 5 August 12:31 am Central, 6 August 01:31 am Eastern, 6 August 05:31 am Universal, 6 August The page includes links for web streamed live landing coverage, mission information, and public relations. -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm(a)amsat.org Editor, AMSAT News Service Associate Editor, AMSAT Journal

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AO-7B Follow Up - Good News
by John Papay 31 Jul '12

31 Jul '12

Yesterday, 30 July 2012, on the 19, 21 and 23utc passes AO-7 was in Mode B and performing like it used to. It obviously had more power and although you could make it FM, the bird handled it with grace. It was workable to the north of my qth over the NWT which is not usually the case. Let's hope it stays in this condition for many years to come. John Papay john(a)papays.com

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G4COM Noise Alignment Aid
by Marco Cardelli 31 Jul '12

31 Jul '12

Hello Everybody! Anyone have the schematic diagram, bill of components and description of G4COM Noise Alignment Aid?? Ok for image format or PDF attachment. Thank you all. 73s Marco, IZ5IOW

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Jamboree on the Air/ARISS contact at National Scouting Museum planning meeting
by Tom Schuessler 31 Jul '12

31 Jul '12

Attention satellite ops/enthusiasts in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Texas area. The National Scouting Museum in Irving Texas is on the docket for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station contact in connection with the 55th Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) Ham Radio/Scouting event. The contact is scheduled for October 20th but the time is still TBA. Keith Pugh, W5IU is the ARISS mentor and facilitator between the Museum and ARISS/NASA. The lead group running the JOTA activities is the Irving Amateur Radio Club of which I am a member. Ham participation is however open to all interested parties. Doug Quagliana headed up an AMSAT display and ran satellite contacts for last year's JOTA at the Museum. I am holding a planning meeting for all interested Amateurs and Scouters to get a handle on what types of activities we can create and staff for this event. The hope is that several hundred or more Scouts and adults will be coming through the Museum for the ARISS contact and participating in various radio and electronics activities. Meeting will be at 11AM this coming Saturday in Irving. Contact me directly if you are interested and I will give specific directions to the meeting location. Even if you cannot attend this meeting but are interested in participating in JOTA activities, I need to know so I can put you on a mail list and ultimately schedule you for setup (Oct 19) and JOTA operations. Please email n5hyp(a)amsat.org and I will be grateful. Tom Schuessler 2713 Lake Gardens Drive Irving, Texas 75060 972-986-7456 214-403-1464 (Cell) n5hyp(a)amsat.org

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Yaesu G-5500 voltages
by Tom Gentry 31 Jul '12

31 Jul '12

On 7/30/2012 2:00 PM, amsat-bb-request(a)amsat.org wrote: > Message: 7 > Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2012 07:41:07 -0700 (PDT) > From: "Pete Norris, K1HZU"<k1hzu(a)yahoo.com> > To:amsat-bb@amsat.org > Subject: [amsat-bb] yaesu G-5500 > Message-ID: > <1343659267.81494.YahooMailClassic(a)web120001.mail.ne1.yahoo.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > Does anybody have or know where I can find a voltage schedule for the Yaesu G-5500? I have the schematic but no voltages. > Thanks, Pete, K1HZU Hi Pete, I don't have them written down but I can probably figure them out by using a Japanese voltage chart [that's a working unit on which you measure the voltages :) ]. I have repaired several of the boxes recently and I am pretty familiar with the G-5500. You can email your questions to K5VOU(a)amsat.org or we can do a video call on Skype if you like. 73, Tom K5VOU

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Sat WAS
by ted 30 Jul '12

30 Jul '12

I am the happy recipient of Satellite WAS # 332 and I want to express my thanks and appreciation to all of our great Satellite Ops, working from home and portable, to make this award and others a possibility. I fully realize where the credit should go! Thanks Again....ted....aa5ck

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