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End of the thread
by Keith Bainbridge 15 Sep '06

15 Sep '06

Frank , I agree, I forgot to mention in my post I was refering to modes U/s and L/S of course. It was great working Brazil with a 1 degree inclination and a 4 minute window to give me WAC on Ao-40, incl antarctica. I cant even work South America on HF from Western Australia, well its damned difficult ! Hopefully we can repeat the fun on P3E, it's contacts in the log that count not which exotic mode was used as far as I'm concerned. See you on P3E one of these days 73 Keith -- Keith Bainbridge VK6XH & VK6DXR Vice-President Northern Corridor Radio Group ( VK6ANC ) Amsat NA 35338 TenTec Omni VI, FlexRadio SDR 1000 , 5 Band Spiderbeam. Wireless Institute of Australia Previous calls include VK6DXC, VK6BRK,G6HHV, G0HEI & G1GHZ You're just jealous 'cos the voices only speak to me......... http:/www.qrz.com/vk6xh

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Re: The Eagle has died, my original point.
by Tony Langdon (ATC) 15 Sep '06

15 Sep '06

> already have. There are no other options for me, living in Western > Australia, Leo's are a complete waste of time and money, I > can talk to Hey, it's not much better on the eastern side! I've largely gone quiet on the sats for the time being, but I would like to have a crack at one of the HEO birds when they go up. U/V, I could probably manage now, though I need to sort out the uplink. S band downlink would be possible with a bit of work (been there, covered that issue). Higher bands at this stage are probably prohibitively expensive. Now, I have the luxury of being able to plant a satellite array in the middle of the back yard! :-) Time to use it might be more of a challenge though. ;)

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Not hearing S-band on AO-51
by Michael Tondee 15 Sep '06

15 Sep '06

I've been trying to get a handle on my S-band receiving setup for a couple of months now. It seems when the bird has been in V-S mode that I've had one problem or another that hasn't allowed me to test it. I don't have an L-band antenna up at the moment so I thought I would at least listen to some passes the past couple of evenings to see how my receive would work. I have a AIDC 3731 downconverter and a small BBQ-grill dish on my Az/El rotator system. The IF of the downconverter is at 123 Mhz. I built another converter that was featued in the AMSAT Journal awhile back. The purpose of this converter is to further reduce the 123 Mhz output to 6 meters where I can feed it into my TS-2000X. Unfortunately I haven't heard anything with this setup. I've had some near overhead passes and once my dish gets above about 30 degrees or so it is pointing at clear sky. I thought maybe my homebrew converter was to blame so I dug up an HT that will receive directly on 123 Mhz. Still nothing. I can hear the noise level increase and decrease if I cut power on and off to the downconverter so I assume it's working. Could I be wrong in that assumption? The other thing is that it's been kind of rainy and overcast here the past couple of evenings. Would this affect my reception? I don't know what I should be trying here. It's pretty new to me. I know a BBQ grill dish isn't the best antenna but it seems to me it should work ok considering people hear the bird with this same downconverter and a small corner reflector plus an HT. Any ideas or suggestions out there? TNX and 73, Michael, W4HIJ AMSAT # 36017

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Mode S on AO-40
by Frank A Cahoy 15 Sep '06

15 Sep '06

Sorry Keith, but I must add a bit more gasoline to the fire. Count me absolutely as one of the "operators". My experiences on AO-40 were the most gratifying as a true blue DXer like nothing I've ever encountered on HF. (My alltime HF DXCC total is 364 worked/confirmed.) I worked 93 entities and nearly a 1000 unique callsigns via this bird. My first real time using an HEO. I'd been on AO-10 (Mode B) but it was, toward the end of its life, a hit and miss situation. My favorite DX QSO via AO-40 was with VK9CD. We both had no more than three degrees of elevation and I had to find a "hole" in my neighbor's trees accross the street to do it. The point is I have a QSL card to prove it. I live in a "rural" area, I suppose. Our town is small (1700 pop.) but crap and corruption on the downlink was NEVER a concern for me. Speaking from a purely operators point of view put Mode S back into the game plan. I hope and pray that P3E will soon be up so that this old DXer doesn't go completely stir crazy. 73 to all. Frank, K0BLT

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TAPR DSP56002 EVM FS/Trade
by Mike Lewis 14 Sep '06

14 Sep '06

Hi All: I've got a TAPR DSP56002EVM / Radio Interface that is now excess to my needs. If anyone is interested in a purchase or trade contact me off list. Thanks, Mike K4MPL

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The Eagle has died.
by Keith Bainbridge 14 Sep '06

14 Sep '06

It's a terrible shame that Amsat has choosen not to continue Mode S on Eagle. I for one will no longer send my hard earned cash as a donation to Eagle or Amsat NA,but to Amsat DL as I'm sure many others will do. The expression "Don't bite the hand that feeds you " comes to mind. I have a full Mode L / S setup here sitting waiting unused since the day AO 40 died, what use are LEO's in Western Australia. Sorry Amsat NA but I wont be renewing my membership next time without mode S. 73 Keiith -- Keith Bainbridge VK6XH & VK6DXR Vice-President Northern Corridor Radio Group ( VK6ANC ) Amsat NA 35338 TenTec Omni VI, FlexRadio SDR 1000 , 5 Band Spiderbeam. Wireless Institute of Australia Previous calls include VK6DXC, VK6BRK,G6HHV, G0HEI & G1GHZ You're just jealous 'cos the voices only speak to me......... http:/www.qrz.com/vk6xh

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AO-51 help Bob
by w7lrd＠comcast.net 14 Sep '06

14 Sep '06

Greetings to any and all L'ers. three passes over the US tonight at 0130Z E.Coast, 0300Z Mid West, 0440Z Left coast. Help Bob get some contacts on L/S. I'm still working out the bugs. 73 Bob W7LRD Seattle

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IMPORTANT - Symposium spouse tours
by Emily Clarke 14 Sep '06

14 Sep '06

I wanted to make one more announcement about Symposium group tours for wives/husbands who will not be attending the Symposium. Currently we don't have very many signed up for the tours. We have approximately 5 days to arrange for a tour, and the current level of interest doesn't warrant a private tour from the hotel. However if you or your spouse does want to sign up please do so in the next 5 days at: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/symposium/2006GroupTours.php If we are unable to get enough people to arrange a tour there are still other options though the hotel. It would require taking an early (6:45am) shuttle to the Crowne Plaza at the Airport. 73, Emily --------------------------------- N1DID formerly W0EEC - CM87tm Support Project OSCAR - http://www.projectoscar.net

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L'ers equipment
by w7lrd＠comcast.net 14 Sep '06

14 Sep '06

Hello I would like an informal survey regarding what you are using for Mode L. I am working on my system and do not want reinvent the wheel. The format of radio-power-transmission line-antenna/gain. I use a IC-1271A-10 watts-50 feet LMR400-12T helix about 12 db gain (or so). I need to improve my system and as usual your advice is invauable. Perhaps several on the list could benifit from this. The current AO-51 in L/S is an excellent chance to fine tune my system. 73 Bob W7LRD Seattle

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hardline
by w7lrd＠comcast.net 14 Sep '06

14 Sep '06

Hello I have some hardline all I can find on it is GCC AL500P. Does anyone know what I have? 73 Bob W7LRD Seattle

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