AMSAT-BB April 2013

117 participants
172 discussions

SatPC32 more info on problems and THANKS!
by James Luhn 30 Apr '13

30 Apr '13

I sincerely appreciate all of the feedback on my SatPC32 issues. I figured out the Ghost tracking' issue or at least corrected the problem. Somehow my location became corrupted. I noticed that the little white dot (QTH) was missing from its normal location. By some means my latitude/longitude data changed. I have put in the correct numbers now and I expect the ghost will leave the area. As was mentioned, the issue in which all control stops is probably an interface problem. It may even be the notebooks having older firmware. I will continue to tinker in that area. The Panasonic Toughbook is a nice computer for ham work as it has both USB ports and a true serial port. The fact that the LVB Tracker works flawlessly with my Macbook through the same USB cable, more than likely this problem is Panasonic Toughbook related. I did try both USB ports on the Toughbook and had the same results. I will keep everyone informed as to how I resolve my problem. Thank you again for all of the responses. I feel sure I am on the correct path to making all of the components play nicely together. Of course progress is slow when there is a satellite above the horizon :) 73, -james W5AOO

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Path to HEO
by Nick Pugh 30 Apr '13

30 Apr '13

I have just returned from a satellite conference and I think new technology will now give us a path to HEO. Challenging of course but for the clever doable. Please take a look at a ~ 2 minute video that tells how http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpGnxlZC8Hs Thanks nick ARS K5QXJ EM30xa 30.1N 92.1W Office 337 593 8700 Cell 337 258 2527 Helping UL become a world Class Engineering and Educational School

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Re: Dayton
by Mike Farkas 30 Apr '13

30 Apr '13

Hi Jim! I'm also starting to get my things together for the Dayton Fest. I think hands down AMSAT has the best demo there. You can see and hear guys actually work the birds, see the setup and ask questions. Hope to see you there! Mike/N8GBU.

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Re: Path to HEO
by Joe Leikhim 29 Apr '13

29 Apr '13

Even if the technique required 5 years to advance to HEO it would be a positive step since the amateur launch opportunities directly to HEO are measured in decades and the cost in 10's millions of dollars. This reminds me of a commercial payload that failed to make GEO. The folks at AGI (STK Satellite Toolkit) devised a path circling the moon which used the lunar gravity to accelerate and return the satellite to its intended GEO position without depleting much of its limited station keeping fuel. -- Joe Leikhim Leikhim and Associates Communications Consultants Oviedo, Florida JLeikhim(a)Leikhim.com 407-982-0446 WWW.LEIKHIM.COM

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Dayton, Satellites, Fun !!!!!
by James Luhn 29 Apr '13

29 Apr '13

I am gathering up my clothes for my trip to Dayton. I hope to see and meet as many satellite folks as possible! I have my name in the hat to work at the AMSAT booth. I worked last year and had the best time! I keep seeing many emails about what satellites are operating. It seems many think that none are working. Well I can tell you that I am having a blast working FO-29, SO-50 , VO-52, and grandpa AO-7. I do admit that AO-7 has a bit of a stutter step when too many get on or someone cranks their power up too much. Take a look at the link Bob, W7LRD, posted regarding active satellites: http://aar29.free.fr/sat/indexlogin.php Each contact is so exciting. OMG, I worked Brazil last night too! FO-29 sounded just like 20 meters last night! It is so nice to hear those making their first contact and so nice to renew old friendships. Hope to meet you or at least work you! 73, -james W5AOO ...still excited about amateur radio after being active for 50+ years!

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Sat32PC
by James Luhn 29 Apr '13

29 Apr '13

I need some advice. I have been trying to run Sat32PC to track satellites with my G5500 rotor and LVB Tracker. It seems I am running into one problem after another. Many times the program stops working when I get towards a lower elevation while tracking the satellite. I get most of the pass and then everything stops. I cannot park the rotor and must reboot the computer as restarting the program gives com errors. This afternoon Sat32PC was tracking a ghost. It clearly thought something was flying above. The only satellite I had selected was FO-29 and it definitely was well past a fly over. In fact, I could not find an amateur satellite that was anywhere that the program should be tracking. I would really like to get the bugs out as I plan to use my Panasonic Toughbook in a portable operation. I am using the XP Professional operating system with the USB communicating with the LVB Tracker. I also have a Macbook and MacDoppler has operated flawlessly. It does what it is suppose to do and does it well. Please no flame wars over Mac vs PC. I use both and basically am happy with both. On Sat32PC, the Keps are updated so I am not feeding the controller wrong info. On the screen, the satellite position is visibly correct. On the bottom of the screen the Azimuth / Elevation were wrong when it was tracking the ghost. I have two Toughbooks and both exhibit the same problem. Has anyone had the same or similar problems? 73, -james W5AOO

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EL94
by Andrew Glasbrenner 29 Apr '13

29 Apr '13

Looks like I'll be on Marathon in the Keys Weds night to Friday early morning. If you need EL94 on satellite let me know and we'll make a schedule. 73, Drew KO4MA

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Re: Path to HEO
by M5AKA 29 Apr '13

29 Apr '13

--- On Mon, 29/4/13, Stefan Wagener <wageners(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Thanks Bob, > That's why it is important to read the complete conversation. > This is NOT about Cubesats, staying in orbit, etc. It is about getting > into an HEO beyond 20000km. It's the same thing, what gets you from 310 to 700 km can also get you to 7200 or 20000 km. But first the technology needs to be proved in Space CubeSats like Romit-1 will do that if they can get launches. Bob, on the topic of extending orbit lifetime there's a UK company, a University of Southampton spin-off, who are doing some interesting work in this area. Mars-Space Ltd have developed a Pulse Plasma Thruster for a 1U CubeSat designed to extend orbit lifetime which was shown at a recent CubeSat Workshop, details at http://www.mars-space.co.uk/Pages/MicroPPTforCubesats.aspx They are also working on Ion Motors. 73 Trevor M5AKA

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Re: G5500 Rotor motor Question
by Gregory Beat 29 Apr '13

29 Apr '13

You could ask Dave Palmer, KB5WIA if he noted that spec., when he rebuilt his Yaesu motor last year (March 2012) http://kb5wia.blogspot.com/2012/03/yaesu-g5500-rotator-motor-repair.html w9gb == From: "Mike Hoblinski" To: <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Subject: [amsat-bb] G5500 Rotor motor Question Anybody know what the rpm of the AC motors are. I know from the Yaesu specs that after all of the gear reduction they list EL as 67 seconds for EL and 58 Seconds for AZ. I would like to experiment with an AZ and EL system but like to see what RPM the motor starts out with and how much torque to get the final results. They show Elevation at 101 FT-LBS and AZ at 44 FT-lbs. I have looked around to see if somewhere the specs are available for the motor but have had no luck. I have seen quite a few pictures of rebuilds of that rotor with part number and have a manual that shows parts. Mike Hoblinski N6IMF ==

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What birds
by anelson＠min.midco.net 29 Apr '13

29 Apr '13

Thanks to everyone that answered. Hope to work you on one of them one of these days. Thanks again Nels W0TUP North Dakota

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AMSAT-BB April 2013