July 2012 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

Mars Science Laboratory Course Correction
by B J 30 Jul '12

30 Jul '12

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20120728.html Landing is schedule for just after 0530 UTC on August 6. 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL

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Having trouble getting on the SSB birds...
by W M Willoughby 30 Jul '12

30 Jul '12

I have made a few QSOs on the SSB birds while running half-duplex. Now, I am trying to implement full duplex using an FT-817, an FT-897 and an Arrow antenna on an az-el rotator. Separate coax cables connect the FT-897 to the 70 cm part of the Arrow and the FT-817 to the 2m part. I have a diagram of this setup that I could post. On the 1215Z pass of AO-07 just now, I was able to hear my CW signal while sending a string of dits. I set the FT-817 to 145950 CW mode with no Doppler correction and listened via headphones. On the FT-897, I started transmitting at 432150 CW with no Doppler correction. Eventually my transmit frequency reached 432146.1 and I heard my dits on the FT-817. Then I entered 3900 as the Upl Calibr in the CAT menu of SatPC32. I switched the FT-817 to USB mode and the FT-897 to LSB and clicked on the Doppler correction (the C+) in SatPC32. Using a handheld mic on the FT-897, I called a short CQ, but did not hear my voice. I have the FT-817 as the top radio in the Radio Setup menu of SatPC32 and the FT-897 as the bottom radio. With all of these settings, there is ample opportunity for error! Can anyone offer any suggestions to get me straightened out here? Thanks in advance for any assistance. Red, KC4LE

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yaesu G-5500
by Pete Norris, K1HZU 30 Jul '12

30 Jul '12

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

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Hotel booking for AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium
by Trevor . 30 Jul '12

30 Jul '12

The 27th AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium will be held on the weekend of September 15-16 at the Holiday Inn Hotel, Guildford, England, GU2 7XZ, close to the University of Surrey. All accommodation will be at the Holiday Inn hotel. Please note that the hotel will only hold our reserved rooms until 3 weeks prior to the event, ie until August 24. If you book after this date, you risk there not being a room available. Bookings for Fri/Sun nights, or ones made after this date cannot be guaranteed. Booking information at http://www.uk.amsat.org/colloquium/twelve 73 Trevor M5AKA AMSAT-UK http://www.uk.amsat.org/ ----

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AO-7 Mode B performing poorly
by John Papay 30 Jul '12

30 Jul '12

Since AO-7B came out of the eclipsed orbits, it has been performing poorly. I can usually do very well on the low elevation passes towards Europe, but now I may only be able to hear my own cw signal with no other signals heard. Today on the 2116utc pass I worked PV8DX on CW but as the bird moved north, it became apparent that the satellite was starved for power. If I used more than 5 watts on CW, the returning signal was only a key click. Five watts produced a tone but there was fm'ing. Voice signals were weak and distorted. Again I found that using more than 5 watts on ssb would yield garbled audio. The satellite cannot support much activity in this condition. Let's hope this is only temporary and that the satellite will return to the level of performance we had before the eclipse periods. In the meantime, FO-29 is still producing 1300km orbits between Europe and North America in our early afternoon. These high elevation orbits won't last forever so take advantage of them now. 73, John K8YSE

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grid squares and trip update
by Lizeth Norman 29 Jul '12

29 Jul '12

Hi all! Will be driving down to Nazca starting tomorrow. Potential grid activations include fh25 and fh16. The good news is that we should have wheels for the rest of the trip. This means fo-29 and ao7(I'll give it a shot both mode a and b!) morning and evening passes from the Morrow Solar (fh17lt). 73 es be good! Norm n3ykf

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AO-7 Mode A Performance
by John Papay 29 Jul '12

29 Jul '12

Mode A seems to be more tolerant of lower power coming from the solar panels than Mode B. Still you can tell that the satellite is suffering. A 5 watt CW signal will cause the bird to FM but it is not driving the bird to its maximum power capability. I heard N4ASF much louder on it in CW on the 2030utc pass today also with fm'ing. This has been my observation of Mode A in the past. Prior to the eclipse periods it was possible to hit Mode A with a lot of power and it would not complain very much. The 10m transmitter must use a lot less power than the 2 meter transmitter. Therefore it is more tolerant of the lower solar panel power. AL7RS reported that he heard AO-7 with a clean CW signal coming back down in AP65. This could be an indication that sun angle in certain parts of the orbit is the major cause of the problems that I'm seeing here. Hopefully the solar panels will start producing more power soon. 73, John K8YSE

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25' tripod 4 sale
by Bob- W7LRD 29 Jul '12

29 Jul '12

In the process of rebuilding all my antennas I have an extra tripod. 25'X5.5' at the base, about 300Lbs. Obviously it will be a "fairly" local sale. Used for HF antennas for several years. 73 Bob W7LRD

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Re: 2O12W on FO-29
by K5OE 29 Jul '12

29 Jul '12

John, et al, For those able to reach the UK on FM LEOs, I will be in UK in mid-August (family holiday), and able to operate the FM sats from the IO81/82 grid boundary. I may also be able to make a trek over to IO71/72 (less common, I bellieve) one day. I'll be using call M0GOE. I'll post closer to the time when I know my schedule. 73, Jerry, K5OE >Station 2 Oscar 12 Whiskey was heard and worked on FO-29 this >morning. QSL info is on qrz.com. This is a special event >station celebrating the London 2012 Olympic Games. They are >operating from IO81IJ. They should be active for several weeks. >73, >John K8YSE

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MiR - Yubileiny 2 - RS-40 - launched yesterday
by Trevor . 29 Jul '12

29 Jul '12

MiR also known as Yubileiny 2 or RS-40 was built by students and research staff of the Siberian State Aerospace University. PE0SAT reports the downlink is 435.365 MHz http://www.pe0sat.vgnet.nl/tag/yubileiny-2/ 73 Trevor M5AKA

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