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Cellphone Pass Predictions
by Pedro Converso 05 May '09

05 May '09

New facility to get satellite pass predictions on your cellphone available. (if your cellphone can do to Internet) Navigate to lu7aa.org.ar with your cellphone or mobile and select your closest location. You will get local time ordered predictions for popular birds, including DUration in minutes and maximum Elevation in degrees. List will show next passes from now on and up to a week in advance. List obtained will look as: * lu7aa.org.ar * Sats @ local time San Francisco, USA MON 4-MAY SATEL HH:MM DU EL ===== ===== == == RS-22 10:05 14 65 VO-52 10:07 11 18 NA-17 10:48 15 73 FO-29 10:49 16 35 AO-07 11:38 14 8 ... Sats Frequencies ARISS PK:145.825 FM DU:145.800 FM .... This list was developed using KB5MU ITpass program and Internet appl. by LU7ABF. Data & Keps updated twice daily. This free facility is at test, could be handy when you are in travel, planning your operation, or just to know which birds are coming. Comments/suggestions welcome. 73, lu7abf, Pedro Converso Lu7abf(a)amsat.org.ar www.amsat.org.ar

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Happy Birthday HAMSAT
by Prathap Kumar 05 May '09

05 May '09

Amsat India wishes HAMSAT a very happy 4th birthday. Thank you ISRO and all those made it possible. Best 73 Pop VU2POP Secy Amsat India

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Yaesu G5500 rotor trouble.
by N1HOQ 04 May '09

04 May '09

Hello group, I have a 6 year old G-5500 rotor on my portable SAT setup and upon setting it up tonight, I found that the EL rotor has ceased to work. AZ works fine. Checked the screw-on connector, checked the controller, etc. The rotor makes a clicking sound when the control is engaged, and a humming noise until released. At least the rotor is mounted only 6 feet off the ground, hi,hi. Any ideas before major surgery would be appreciated. TIA Shawn - N1HOQ #33948

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Quadfilar Construction
by Dave Guimont 04 May '09

04 May '09

Solder diagram for QuadfilarConstruct.zip can be found in QuadTopDiag.jpg: http://tinyurl.com/wb6lloOscar Questions directly to me please.... 73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1(a)san.rr.com Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E...

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Dayton Reminder
by Martha 04 May '09

04 May '09

Please remember that the cutoff date for AMSAT/TAPR banquet tickets is May 11th. Please use the AMSAT store to make your reservations so I will have a "paper trail". Also, I still have one room left for Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Please call me at 301-589-6062 ASAP -- 73- Martha

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Re: Cellphone Pass Predictions
by Pedro Converso 04 May '09

04 May '09

Cellphone pass predictions is available now for most of cellular phones. Function is trying to detect if called from a cellular device/mobile or not in order to serve pass predictions. As there are quite different brands and devices, some could not yet be screened appropriately. If access is not going as it should, please email to lu7abf(a)amsat.oprg.ar which device is being used to add it. Thanks in advance, hoping help 73, Pedro Converso Lu7abf(a)amsat.org.ar www.amsat.org.ar

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Re: How satellites could 'sail' home
by Trevor . 04 May '09

04 May '09

Alternatively commercial satellites could incorporate an Amateur Radio payload that would work on solar power only and thus extend the mission life for 35 or more years. There is an opportunity for Amateurs here. 73 Trevor M5AKA --- On Mon, 4/5/09, Tony Langdon <vk3jed(a)gmail.com> wrote: > From: Tony Langdon <vk3jed(a)gmail.com> > Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: How satellites could 'sail' home > To: kg4zlb(a)gmail.com, "amsat bb" <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> > Date: Monday, 4 May, 2009, 12:14 AM > At 02:00 AM 5/4/2009, David - KG4ZLB > wrote: > > > >From "Auntie" (or the BBC for anyone not from > England!) > ><http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8029899.stm> > > Hehe, that could get confusing for us, as we call our ABC > (Aussie > equivalent of the BBC) "Auntie". :) > > 73 de VK3JED / VK3IRL > http://vkradio.com > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. > Opinions expressed are those of the author. > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur > satellite program! > Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb >

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Re: Cellphone Pass Predictions
by clintbrad4d＠earthlink.net 04 May '09

04 May '09

Please let us know when this service is available ... Because the URL you cite merely goes to a one-option page, and that option goes to your country's non-English AMSAT site.

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Dayton Reminder
by Martha 04 May '09

04 May '09

I still have 1 room left for our hotel - The Hampton Inn at Fairborn. If you are interested, please call me ASAP. This is due to a cancellation. The days are Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Also, if you have not registered for the AMSAT/TAPR, please do so by May11th. All registration need to be done on the AMSAT store. If you have any questions, please call me at 301-589-6062. -- 73- Martha

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CPX Data Decoder Software Available
by Jason Anderson 04 May '09

04 May '09

So the CPX Data Decoder software is now available for download now at http://moredbs.atl.calpoly.edu Follow the link and click the 'Download' menu option. This will take you to the download page where you can download the software for your computer. You will still need to have your own tracking software to control the rotors and radio as our software simply links onto the output of your TNC. Launch night will hopefully go as follows. The rocket carrying CP6 will launch on May 5th between 20:00 and 23:00 EDT. Minutes later the rocket will kick out our CubeSat into orbit. Due to safety reasons, our satellite will turn on 4 hours after it is deployed and will start to beacon every 2 minutes. Each beacon is 6 seconds long and contains 4 seconds of CW followed by 2 seconds of a 1200 baud AX.25 packet. Unfortunately for tracking purposes, tuning will still be a minor issue as it was with our previous satellites (work is being done on our next generation Comm system which will hopefully make this issue disappear). The best way to combat our transceiver frequency drift is to start with the calculated frequency and adjust the radio frequency manually as soon as you hear a beacon. This is part of the reason why we have 4 seconds of CW before the AX.25 data packet. One trick it to tune the the CW signal to 1200 Hz on a waterfall display (something like MixW if you have it) which happens to line up the frequency to decode data packets. Hope everyone is up for a small challenge :). As for the TLE required to track our satellite, we have created a very rough predicted TLE. We are told we will receive the actual TLE 4 hours after the launch occurs which is approximately when our satellite will start to beacon. We will be posting the updated TLE as soon as we receive it on the CP6 information page found at http://polysat.calpoly.edu/CP6.php We will also announce the updated TLEs in the CubeSat IRC room which can be found at Server: irc.freenode.org Room: cubesat If you have any questions regarding the software or trying to contact CP6 please feel free to ask. Thanks for such a great initial response and I wish you all happy satellite listening. - Jason Anderson, KI6GIV

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JPL tour
by Tim Goodrich 03 May '09

03 May '09

This weekend, JPL was open to the public for tours. I wanted to go, but they turned me away because I had a dog in the car (going hiking afterwards). Did anyone go and can you post pictures and a description of what they had? Thanks, Tim KI6VBY

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Cal Poly's CP6 Satellite Launching May 5th
by Jason Anderson 03 May '09

03 May '09

Hi Fellow Amateurs, Cal Poly's next satellite, CP6, is scheduled to launch on May 5th between 20:00 and 23:00 EDT. We would be more than happy if everyone who is interested could listen for CP6 as it comes over your locales. We will be providing a CPX Data Decoder program which will show you all of your decoded data as well as forward those packets to us at Cal Poly. I will be sending out another email in a few days regarding how to download the program. Also to note, we will be in the IRC chatroom at 'irc.freenode.org' in the 'cubesat' room before, during, and after the launch. Thanks! CP6 Satellite Link Information ------------------------------ Frequency: 437.365MHz Modulation: FSK (but uses LSB cheat to make AFSK) Radio Mode: LSB (neccesary for LSB cheat) Baud Rate: 1200 baud Beacon rate: 1 beacon every 2 minutes - Jason Anderson, KI6GIV PolySat, Software Team Lead California Polytechnic State University

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Re: Yaesu G5500 rotor trouble.
by w4upd 03 May '09

03 May '09

I tried once, but the last reply never came through AMSAT-BB yet. So I'll answer yours directly which also answered a previous one on getting the parts. I believe your G5500 uses the same elevation (G500b) as my G5400 late model. Also it probably has limit switches in the rotator which will prevent the down from working until it went up a bit. Mine still has a bad motor (actually the armature due to my own fault). As long as it draws current and the lamps dim on the UP selection, the motor itself is probably still good. ********* RESEND ******** I find this hard to believe unless its related to the G5500. I just got done ordering stuff from Yaesu for my G5400/G500b elevation rotator. Unfortunately, the IPB I had with my rotor was for the G500a and the parts were wrong and I had to send them back. They did give me credit for the returned parts as well. I have a bad motor and they one they sent was for the G500a and was $85.00 However, its size kept it from being close to being able to be used. When I checked the G500b IPB and gave them the part number, it was $207.17!!! So I said forget it. I'd figure a way to fix it. The cap you can get anywhere if that is all that is wrong. Mine had over a pint of water and as such rusted and dried and packed the grease keeping the motor from working. I suspect you have little choice but to take it apart and confirm the problem. Again, unless it is due to being a G5500, I had no problems getting parts from Yaesu as recently as last month. Regards, Reid, W4UPD AMSAT #17002 > I find this hard to believe unless its related to the G5500. I just > got done ordering stuff from Yaesu for my G5400/G500b elevation > rotator. Unfortunately, the IPB I had with my rotor was for the G500a > and the parts were wrong and I had to send them back. They did give me > credit for the returned parts as well. I have a bad motor and they one > they sent was for the G500a and was $85.00 However, its size kept it > from being close to being able to be used. When I checked the G500b > IPB and gave them the part number, it was $207.17!!! So I said > forget it. I'd figure a way to fix it. > > The cap you can get anywhere if that is all that is wrong. Mine had > over a pint of water and as such rusted and dried and packed the > grease keeping the motor from working. I suspect you have little > choice but to take it apart and confirm the problem. Again, unless it > is due to being a G5500, I had no problems getting parts from Yaesu as > recently as last month. > > Regards, > > Reid, W4UPD > AMSAT #17002 > > > Kevin Schuchmann wrote: >> Hi Alan and Shawn, >> FYI about a month ago I attempted to get that cap from Yaesu and they >> said they >> no longer sell it by itself, you either buy it with the motor or find a >> 3rd party >> replacement. >> 73 >> wa6fwf >> >> >> >>> If everything checks, then it is _probably_ the 100 uF phase shift >>> capacitor >>> you can see between the windings in the schematic. You can get a >>> replacement from Yaesu for $10-15 including shipping. Replacing it is not >>> hard, but it is very tedious and messy. Unlike other versions, the G-5500 >>> has the capacitor in the motor housing rather than the control box. >>> >>> I had exactly the same symptoms you describe, and it was the capacitor in >>> my >>> case. >>> >>> Good luck, >>> >>> Alan >>> WA4SCA >>> >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. >> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! >> Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> >> No virus found in this incoming message. >> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >> Version: 8.5.325 / Virus Database: 270.12.15/2093 - Release Date: 05/02/09 14:23:00 >> >> >

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Re: AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 4, Issue 210
by Michael J Finn 03 May '09

03 May '09

Dear Sat members. I am looking to get incontact with anyone who is currently working pacsats. I am new to sats and want to learn more. Please email wb7qxu(a)juno.com if you can help ____________________________________________________________ Click to learn about options trading and get the latest information. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/BLSrjpTIzQYuCQgwoJ7SLjPvGq4VMvY…

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G-5500 Rotor trouble
by N1HOQ 03 May '09

03 May '09

Hello group, Well, looks like I have to crack open the case. I swapped the AZ and EL cables with the EL rotor, and no luck, same result. Still making the click noise when engaging the UP control, the motor(?) still hums away (sounds like 60 Hz), but no movement. Last resort now , open it up and hope to catch all the bearings, hi. Since it seems Yaesu wont sell the capacitor sans motor, are there any know sources, or just look at Allied, Mouser etc.? Thanks for the help - Shawn N1HOQ.

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Re: Cal Poly's CP6 Satellite Launching May 5th
by Bob Bruninga 02 May '09

02 May '09

> Cal Poly's next satellite, CP6, is > scheduled to launch on May 5th between > 20:00 and 23:00 EDT. > Modulation: FSK (but uses LSB cheat to make AFSK) > Radio Mode: LSB (neccesary for LSB cheat) > Baud Rate: 1200 baud > Beacon rate: 1 beacon every 2 minutes I sure hope they have a true FSK demodulator, because trying to match almost 9000 Hz of Doppler in the blind to within 100 Hz or so to use AFSK for something that only lasts a second will be a real challenge.... But it is good to see something new in space! Bob, WB4APR

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Re: Elk Mounting (Jerry Felts)
by Mike Ryan 02 May '09

02 May '09

I rigged something that works pretty well from a few more bits of PVC, a couple L brackets and a hose clamp. I can take a few snaps with my phone and send them to you directly if you like. Mike WB1AAT --------------- You wrote: Got my Elk antenna today its too bad I can't find time till maybe tomorrow eveing to play with it. It looks really super. Any one use it on a tripod?? Trying to figure out ideas on how to mount it. Holding it in your had with a lil extra PVC is fairly easy but off hand I don't see a way to do it on a tripod. -- Jerry - NR5A - South Dakota www.freewebs.com/nr5a

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Another memorable AO-7 QSO
by n3tl＠bellsouth.net 02 May '09

02 May '09

Hey everyone, I love it when a plan comes together! As I pointed the Elk through the wall toward the northeast this morning - 11:13 UTC - I heard my call in CW, coming from Pedro, EA8AVI. We had a couple of exchanges, and I added Africa via the Canary Islands to the log here. Pedro is one of several hams on the islands who appear on the all-time "roster" of AO-7 users that is part of the Web site for our Grand Old Girl. After finding his call on the roster, I looked him up on QRZ.com and emailed to ask whether he was still active and would be willing to try for a schedule. In typical ham fashion, he not only agreed - but he enlisted another operator on the islands, Cecilio, EB8BRX. The three of us exchanged emails and tried a couple weeks ago, but a computer glitch on this end messed that up. I noticed on Thursday that this early pass this morning and the early one this evening had a good footprint for Georgia and west Africa, so I emailed them again. They responded just as quickly and enthusiastically as they did to my earlier emails, and Pedro was waiting on me this morning. My thanks to them for their cooperation and friendship. Thanks, too, to Joe - K3SZH - who mentioned some calls of African stations he'd heard on AO-7 and pointed me in the direction of the all-time roster on the Web page. Thanks, too, to Patrick, WD9EWK, who suggested Africa as my next target after a couple of European countries made it into my log. What a great way to start the day! 73 to all, Tim - N3TL Athens, Ga. - EM84ha

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AMSAT bouncing email redirections?
by Robert Bruninga 02 May '09

02 May '09

Is anyone else having issues with the AMSAT email re-director? For the last few months or so, everthing I send that happens to have a copy to my wb4apr(a)amsat.org address then gets bounced back at my firewall. Our sysadmin says it is an error at AMSAT that is not properly carrying through the true originators email identity or something liket that. Thus when the copy gets to our system, it bounces because the originators address does not match that field which should be carrying the originators address. Or at least that is how it is explained to me. I have no clue of course, but if others are experiencing something like this, maybe we need to look into it. Thanks Bob, WB4APR

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Typo in earlier post
by n3tl＠bellsouth.net 02 May '09

02 May '09

Hey everyone, My apologies. Cecilio's call is EB8BRZ, not EB8BRX. He prefers SSB to CW, so I'm going to try to work him this evening in SSB just for the heck of it! 73 to all, Tim - N3TL

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Elk Mounting
by n8bbq＠roadrunner.com 02 May '09

02 May '09

Jerry - NR5A, Here are some pictures of my Elk setup: http://www.flexresources.com/n8bbq/pics/ElkAssembled.jpg http://www.flexresources.com/n8bbq/pics/ElkDisassembled.jpg The instructions stressed getting the feedline away from the antenna at a 90 degree angle. I tuck the end of the plastic pipe under my right arm and hold the closest strut with my right hand. When held like a pistol grip, the antenna is horizontal. Polarity can usually be corrected by rotating the right wrist 90 degrees one way or the other. The feedline is a 6 foot RG58 BNC to BNC jumper with a BNC to PL259 adapter at the antenna end. A better feedline might be in order but it's what was on the shelf in the shack. The IC-W32A and headset with remote PTT complete the setup. Preliminary testing is good on the FM LEO's. Have fun. '73 de N8BBQ Ed Got my Elk antenna today its too bad I can't find time till maybe tomorrow eveing to play with it. It looks really super. Any one use it on a tripod?? Trying to figure out ideas on how to mount it. Holding it in your had with a lil extra PVC is fairly easy but off hand I don't see a way to do it on a tripod. -- Jerry - NR5A - South Dakota

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Re: New version of AO-27 Schedule Lister released!!!
by George Henry 01 May '09

01 May '09

I'm no Java whiz either (my son is the programmer, not me), but my best guess is that you need to update your Java Runtime version. The program was compiled on a computer with JRE 1.6.0, so you probably need that version. The Windows .exe has run fine on all 5 computers I've tested it on, and all are at JRE 1.6.0. The .jar ran fine on the Ubuntu 8.04 ("Hardy Heron") box I tested it on, but I did not check the Java version on that machine. In Windows, you can check your JRE version clicking the Java icon in Control Panel, or by typing java -version on the command line. 73, George, KA3HSW ----- Original Message ----- From: "Greg D." <ko6th_greg(a)hotmail.com> To: <ka3hsw(a)att.net> Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2009 12:18 AM Subject: RE: [amsat-bb] New version of AO-27 Schedule Lister released!!! Hi George, I'm kind of dense when it comes to Java applications, but I can't get either version to run. The Windows version pops up an error box saying "Could not find main class. Program will exit.", and the Linux (cross-platform) version says all this stuff, below. What am I doing wrong? Thanks, Greg KO6TH greg@p3200:~/download/AO-27_Scheduler> java -jar AO-27Lister1.1.jar Exception in thread "main" java.lang.UnsupportedClassVersionError: Bad version number in .class file at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass2(Native Method) at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass(ClassLoader.java:719) at java.security.SecureClassLoader.defineClass(SecureClassLoader.java:160) at java.net.URLClassLoader.defineClass(URLClassLoader.java:254) at java.net.URLClassLoader.access$100(URLClassLoader.java:56) at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:195) at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method) at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:188) at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:306) at sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader.loadClass(Launcher.java:268) at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:251) at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClassInternal(ClassLoader.java:319) greg@p3200:~/download/AO-27_Scheduler>

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Question about building the "Cheap" Antenna by WA5VJB
by racer5039 01 May '09

01 May '09

I am working on some a couple of the "Cheap" antennas by WA5VJB, that have been talked about on here. I am building these for Field Day and th use for some moble work on AO-51 & AO-27 after that. My question is this, Is the "J" /DE element centered in line with the others or is just the long side in line? My guess is the long side but thought it better to ask. Thanks Marv N0FJP

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Homebrew Elk antenna??
by Jerry Felts 01 May '09

01 May '09

Maybe I'm dreaming this but I thought I saw online somewhere a set of plans or a article on building a copy of the Elk antenna. It was 9 elements and seems like it used a square boom. Am I going totally nuts or just loosing it? -- Jerry - NR5A - South Dakota www.freewebs.com/nr5a http://nr5abikeblog.blogspot.com/ http://nr5abeaconblog.blogspot.com/

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Elk Mounting
by Jerry Felts 01 May '09

01 May '09

Got my Elk antenna today its too bad I can't find time till maybe tomorrow eveing to play with it. It looks really super. Any one use it on a tripod?? Trying to figure out ideas on how to mount it. Holding it in your had with a lil extra PVC is fairly easy but off hand I don't see a way to do it on a tripod. -- Jerry - NR5A - South Dakota www.freewebs.com/nr5a http://nr5abikeblog.blogspot.com/ http://nr5abeaconblog.blogspot.com/

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Quadfilar Construction
by Dave Guimont 01 May '09

01 May '09

I've resurrected my web site, and can now pass on the instructions on to build a quadfilar. I've since lost the e-mail of the requesters, but send any questions directly to me... It is the best performer of any small antenna, easy to build, and the connectors are the most expensive part, use the best "N's" you can find! http://cid-1973adc8c1d3207c.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/.Public?sa=897861… and click on Quadfil1 for construction... Several other files pertain..... 73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1(a)san.rr.com Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E...

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WD9EWK from DM51/DM52, Saturday (2 May) evening...
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 01 May '09

01 May '09

Hi! After the hamfest in Sierra Vista AZ (grid DM41) tomorrow morning, I will plan to stop on the DM51/DM52 grid boundary in southeast Arizona for the AO-51 passes around 0040 and 0220 UTC Sunday (Saturday evening in North America). I know that these grids are not heard often on the satellites, and would be happy to make QSOs with anyone needing either - or both - of these grids. As I typically do on my road trips, I would be happy to send QSLs to anyone I work from DM51/DM52 and/or from the hamfest tomorrow morning. Just e-mail me the QSO details, and I'll put a card in the mailbox. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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special event station ON769MS
by Bert Audenaert 01 May '09

01 May '09

Hi all, >From tomorrow about 10:00h zulu till sunday 15:00h zulu we will be active with our special event station ON769MS. We will be active in several modes, and we gone try to activate the birds also. Special QSL cards are printed for this event. More information (only in dutch) onhttp://www.zevergem.org/TLS/default.aspx 73, Bert - ON4DMD

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Details on Elk Ant
by Jerry Felts 30 Apr '09

30 Apr '09

I had a bad day dialysis wise and I''m fixin to go to bed. I ordered a Elk Antenna which should be here tomorrow or Sat. How much coax do you need to hook it up? Also what kind?? I will see about mounting it on a camera tripod I have, or hold it. I'm real excited about it. Jerry - NR5A -- Jerry - NR5A - South Dakota www.freewebs.com/nr5a http://nr5abikeblog.blogspot.com/ http://nr5abeaconblog.blogspot.com/

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Re: New version of AO-27 Schedule Lister released!!!
by George Henry 30 Apr '09

30 Apr '09

Yeah, I gotta fix that.... I had set the page up with the original version, and then when the new version was ready, simply deleted the original files and uploaded the new ones, and somehow, Google sites didn't handle it right (even tho the file names and locations are exactly the same...) George ----- Original Message ----- From: "Alan P. Biddle" <APBIDDLE(a)UNITED.NET> To: "'George Henry'" <ka3hsw(a)att.net> Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2009 7:11 AM Subject: RE: [amsat-bb] New version of AO-27 Schedule Lister released!!! > George, > > Thanks for posting those. The web page isn't quite set up correctly. > Clicking on either of the HERE buttons gets an error message: > > ================ > AO-27 Satellite Scheduler > Page not found > > We're sorry, but we were unable to locate the page you requested. > > Here are some similar pages from this site: > > * AO-27_Scheduler.zip > > Go to Home > ============== > > However, clicking on the file does get you what you want, as does clicking > on the attachment list at the end of the page. > > Alan > WA4SCA > > >

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UT1FG/MM
by D. Craig Fox 30 Apr '09

30 Apr '09

Worked Yuri last night on SSB on FO29. He is apparently still in port in EM40. 73s Craig, N6RSX NOTICE: This communication may contain privileged or other confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient of this communication, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this communication to the intended recipient, please advise the sender by reply email and immediately delete the message and any attachments without copying or disclosing the contents. Thank you.

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Mobile Computer / Radio Installations
by Clint Bradford 30 Apr '09

30 Apr '09

>> ... Most cigarette lighters circuits have a 15 to 20 amp fuse on them. That ought to work fine for charging/using with your computer ... That amount of current can/will destroy sensitive electronic devices. (20A??? That's more than what an Icom IC-706MKIIG uses at 100W TX power ... ) Personally, I would never run my laptop off a vehicle's charging system while the vehicle is running. You won't find many reputable laptop manufacturers recommending this. And all power feeds to my radio gear are properly conditioned and filtered. If I needed to run my laptop for extended periods on a 12VDC system, I would use nothing less than a ... Tripp Lite PVINT375 (although this model comes with a cigarette lighter plug, that connection has to be one of the electrically most UNreliable for what we are doing - so the plug gets whacked off and the unit is wired directly) ... or Astron Pi-250W 12VDC-to-120VAC inverter made for such circumstances. Wire it in to your vehicle's 12VDC system, and simply use your existing AC power supply. Immediate benefit is the ability to power/ charge other electronic items you may have using regular AC chargers. There's no need to know the voltage/current/connectors of the laptop. The laptop's manufacturer already did all that work for you when they supplied the AC adapter. Another downfall of using the cig lighter circuit for comms: very rarely is that line filtered for noise and such. I mean, who needs that line filtered to heat up a cig lighter? More intelligent cars do have filtered/conditioned "power ports." But I do not leave anything to chance, and make sure my equipment is properly protected. Then there are folks who run their 100W HF rigs through a cig lighter plug and swear that all's well with the world ... And so it goes. Clint Bradford, K6LCS http://www.clintbradford.com 909-241-7666

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Hudson Valley Satcom Group Net
by Cotejaune2＠aol.com 30 Apr '09

30 Apr '09

Don't miss the Hudson Valley Satcom Group Net tonight, April 30. At 8 PM on eholink node n2eyh-l. Or on the Mt.Beacon 146.970 repeater PL 100. Please join us and share your satellite knowledge with the group. 73 Gary wa2aqh **************Big savings on Dell XPS Laptops and Desktops!(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1219491521x1201306563/aol… click.net%2Fclk%3B214102108%3B35952091%3Bs)

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A Fully Rechargeable Satellite Station
by n3tl＠bellsouth.net 29 Apr '09

29 Apr '09

Hey everyone, Over the past 10 months, I’ve made some great new friendships - thanks to AMSAT and its good work to keep amateur radio in space. Many of those friends know that I’ve chosen “a different path to orbit” in my desire to incorporate the concept of emergency communications. FCC Part 97 is unambiguous in noting that Amateur Radio operators’ abilities to serve the public through provision of emergency communications are, collectively, the lynchpin of the service in the United States. The more I learned about the satellites we all love, the more it became clear to me that it had to be possible to assemble an effective “emergency” station that would be true to that purpose. I began thinking of it as my rechargeable station. By 03:15 UTC on 27 April, that possibility became a reality. Over the course of the day Sunday and into Monday (UTC), I was fortunate to work multiple contacts in SSB on AO-7, FO-29 and VO-52 using a totally portable (but full-featured) station running on full emergency power. How do I define “full-featured” in this context? My station operates full duplex, incorporates computer-controlled Doppler tuning, and can work CW, SSB, packet and all the digital modes while running on rechargeable batteries. Sunday started out with a pleasant surprise – DJ8NY in CW on AO-7, making Germany the fourth European country to find Georgia on AO-7 in the past 10-or-so days. Oh … no; I was NOT running full battery power. Given my approach to the antenna here, those low-angle passes of AO-7 call for more than the 5 watts my fully rechargeable station can muster, so I transmit using a Yaesu FT-857D, which provides up to 20 watts out on 70 cm. I need the extra rf muscle because I work AO-7 from my shack, in a second-floor bedroom of my home, and I hand-hold my Elk log periodic antenna. Reaching the satellite when Europe and EM84 share the footprint have me pointing the Elk at a windowless wall, generally at the northeast corner of the house. The rest of Sunday (and into Monday, UTC), I replaced the FT-857D with a Yaesu FT-817ND for transmitting. Another FT-817ND served as my receiver, as it always does (even with the 857). I use a Diamond MX-72H duplexer to connect both radios to the Elk, and use about 6 feet of RG-8X between the duplexer and the antenna. I have not yet used a receive preamp on either 2 meters or 70 centimeters. Both radios used their internal battery packs for power, as did the Acer Aspire One netbook computer I picked up last fall specifically for radio use. I have been able to configure Orbitron, SatPC 32 and Ham Radio Deluxe (Version 4.1 beta, with the Satellite Tracker software) to provide computer-controlled Doppler tuning. With multiple CW contacts already in the log on all three satellites using the fully rechargeable station, I wanted to complete the exercise by adding SSB contacts on all three linear satellites in the same day. Thanks to Angelo (N5UXT), Leo (W7JPI), Art (K4YYL), Joe (K3SZH), Bob (KC9ICH) and everyone else I worked Sunday for their signal reports and encouragement. It was pretty neat heading to bed knowing that I had a station I could take down and set up anywhere in a matter of minutes (excluding travel time, of course) that I could use to effectively work virtually any mode available to U.S. amateurs from 40 meters through 70 cm, including all the satellites. I mention the HF bands and use the phrase “virtually any mode” because I picked up a screwdriver vertical last fall too, and have used it or an end-fed longwire (with a manual MFJ tuner) and a Signal Link USB to make contacts using a variety of sound-card based digital modes, including PSK-31, Olivia, RTTY and SSTV. Having been totally inactive from early 1992 until about 2 years ago, I continue to be amazed at all we amateurs have to enjoy on the air. My ISS contacts will always be my best QSOs ever. But working Europe on AO-7 and routinely making multiple contacts on passes of all of our satellites running 5 watts rf out or less – all of them with a handheld antenna and many of them from inside – won’t ever get old. When I told Angelo what I was up to on Sunday during our FO-29 contact, he told me I needed to write it up for the AMSAT-BB. So … here it is. My primary motivation to share all of this is to suggest to anyone who’s interested that ALL of our amateur satellites are routinely workable from stations that don’t have all the bells and whistles. They don’t even need a lot of power. Go to the AMSAT Web site (www.AMSAT.org) and look through the descriptions of the satellites we all can work daily. With the exception of the ISS, every satellite we work is transmitting to Earth using QRP power levels – even AO-7. And none of them are using “optimum” antenna systems offering lots of gain and directivity. Ten months ago today (28 June, 2008), I had my first-ever satellite contact – with KD8ILL in EM99 on AO-51. We both used handheld stations. I never imagined that what started with a brief QSO would have led to so many wonderful contacts and new friendships. 73 to all, Tim – N3TL Athens, Ga. – EM84ha

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New version of AO-27 Schedule Lister released!!!
by George Henry 29 Apr '09

29 Apr '09

A new version of the AO-27 Schedule lister is now available!!! The original version required one to toggle back and forth between the Schedule and List tabs in order to update the "Schedule Time" and "Time Remaining" values in the scroll box on the Schedule tab. This new version refreshes these values for you every 10 seconds, automatically. It also corrects a typo in the list of satellite frequencies on the Schedule tab. The lister is available for download at http://sites.google.com/site/ao27satellitescheduler, both in a cross-platform Java version, and as a Windows executable. Enjoy! 73, George, KA3HSW

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AO-7 withdrawal
by w7lrd＠comcast.net 29 Apr '09

29 Apr '09

To my friends on AO7 I will be conspicuous by my absence. My 70cm radio is sick and therefore off to the radio doctor. The repair is out of my pay grade. I may try some HF, remember that! 73 Bob W7LRD

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AMSAT Awards
by Bruce 29 Apr '09

29 Apr '09

There continues to be a very high interest in AMSAT Awards which means a lot of new operators on the satellites. We would like to welcome the following to the satellite community. They have made their first satellite contact and are now members of the AMSAT Satellite Communicators Club. Benigno Gomez, XE2YBG Chris Lemon, KB9CL Evangelos Kafetzopoulos SV1EEK James Cutter, W7OJS Jim McCullough, KI4TWA Steve Niles, N5EN The following have earned the AMSAT Satellite Communications Achievement Award. L. Val Hanney, KN7D #486 Benigno Gomez, XE2YBM #487 Steve Niles, N5EN #488 (We are approaching number 500 on this award) To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org or http://www.amsatnet.com Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards ARRL Awards Manager (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0100z on SkyScanner Satellite Radio Network on Galaxy-25 @97° West, Transponder 23 (12115 Vert), Symbol Rate: 22425, APID: 1794 (DVB Free To Air) Also streaming MP3 at http://www.amsatnet.com Podcast at http://www.amsatnet.com/podcast.xml or iTunes Latest satellite news on the ARRL Audio News http://www.arrl.org

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Re: May AO-51 schedule-OZ7SAT to the rescue!
by Mark L. Hammond 29 Apr '09

29 Apr '09

Friends, You can almost always see the power output (and a bunch of other telemetry channels!!) of AO-51 via this very handy web resource: http://www.amsat.dk/oz7sat/tlm/view.php?sat=ao51 So, it *IS* published frequently. 73, Mark N8MH > 4. Re: May AO-51 schedule (Josh Smith) > From: Josh Smith <juicewvu(a)gmail.com> > Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: May AO-51 schedule > To: Luc Leblanc <lucleblanc6(a)videotron.ca> > Cc: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org > Message-ID: > <d3bf5a870904291050l687503f2p3faa7d03301b06e0(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > > I agree with LUC it would be very interesting if the ouput power was > published when it was changed. > Thanks, > Josh Smith > KD8HRX

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AMSAT Dayton Room
by Martha 29 Apr '09

29 Apr '09

One of our overseas participants has had to cancel his trip to Dayton. Before I call the hotel to cancel his room, is anybody interested in it? Please call me at 301-589-6062 -- 73- Martha

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May AO-51 schedule
by Andrew Glasbrenner 29 Apr '09

29 Apr '09

Due to rapidly increasing eclipse lengths throughout May, we need to keep the satellite in "normal" mode for Whole Orbit Data (WOD) collection via the BBS. Power output will steadily be decreased throughout the month. April 27 - May 31 FM Repeater, V/U Uplink: 145.920 MHz FM Downlink: 435.300 MHz FM 9k6 BBS and Telemetry Uplink: 1268.700 MHz FM Downlink: 435.150 MHz FM 73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Operations

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looking for software
by Nick 29 Apr '09

29 Apr '09

Hi AMSATERS I am looking for the software that the DELFI group wrote that shows the Doppler shift for the pass of their sat. Thanks nick

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Sierra Vista AZ hamfest, Saturday (2 May 2009)
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 28 Apr '09

28 Apr '09

Hi! I will be attending the Cochise Amateur Radio Association's Larry Warren hamfest on Saturday, 2 May 2009. I'll have an AMSAT table at this hamfest, and have satellite demonstrations as WD9EWK during the morning on AO-51, SO-50, and VO-52 (look for me around 145.915 MHz USB +/- on that downlink). Please feel free to call me, if you hear me on those passes during the morning. More information about the hamfest is available at: http://www.k7rdg.org/HamfestFlyer2009a.html After the hamfest, I plan on taking a l-o-n-g drive before returning home late Saturday evening. I have not decided on that route, and where I might end up for other passes later in the day (AO-27 in the afternoon, along with AO-51 and maybe one SO-50 pass in the evening). I do plan on working those passes, wherever I happen to be at those times. I'm open to suggestions on which grid(s) I should try to route my drive through. :-) (please send suggestions directly to me, and not to the list) 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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Re: A Fully Rechargeable Satellite Station
by Alan Sieg WB5RMG 28 Apr '09

28 Apr '09

Way to go Tim... Good job, good story . . . very inspirational. I encourage you to press onward with this, as I indicated by email. Thank you for your enthusiasm, and making all those contacts that I haven't been able to make time for. I'm enjoying reading of your adventures... Keep up the good DX ! 73 for now /;^) -- <- Licensed in 1976, WB5RMG = Alan Sieg * AMSAT#20554 -> <- http://www.somenet.net * http://wb5rmg.somenet.net -> <- http://www.linkedin.com/in/alansieg * My 'Day Job' ->

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We are planning a grid dxpedition to the EN20/EN30 grid boundary just west of Jameson, MO on 5/1/09.
by Gail A Mcdaniel 28 Apr '09

28 Apr '09

We are planning a grid dxpedition to the EN20/EN30 grid boundary just west of Jameson, MO on 5/1/09. We anticipate being active on the following passes: Satellite Date AOS(UTC) AO-27 1-May-09 19:19:16 AO-27 1-May-09 20:58:37 AO-51 1-May-09 22:07:59 AO-51 1-May-09 23:43:13 The operation is contingent upon having acceptable weather and we hope to work everyone who needs these very rare grids. 73, David McDaniel, KB0RZE Gail McDaniel - KB0RZD

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Opening on the AO-51 Operations Committee
by Andrew Glasbrenner 28 Apr '09

28 Apr '09

We currently have an opening on the AO-51 Operations Committee for an enthusiastic individual interested in helping with scheduling, answering questions about operations, and supporting AO-51 in general. Interested parties are required to be an AMSAT member in good standing, have regular access to email, and be experienced in many of the modes in which AO-51 operates in order to be considered. This is an excellent opportunity to get involved with AMSAT for those new to volunteering for the organization. I don't expect to announce the new member until after Dayton. Also, please be patient while waiting for a response. Email the Operations Committee at ao51-modes(a)amsat.org, directly to me at ko4ma(a)amsat.org, or see me in person at Dayton. 73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Operations

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AMSAT DXpedition loaner gear
by Andrew Glasbrenner 28 Apr '09

28 Apr '09

I just wanted to remind everyone that the AMSAT DXpedition loaner gear is available to members for use activating a DXCC entity or rare grids such as on a cruise. Currently we have two Arrow antennas, and a D7 handheld available for loan. Please contact me at ko4ma(a)amsat.org for more information. 73, Drew KO4MA

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IC-451A trouble
by w7lrd＠comcast.net 28 Apr '09

28 Apr '09

I have an IC-451A with a intermittent in the transmit. I will be transmitting and it will stop for a few minutes then it will be able to transmit again. When it is stopped when I try to key it there is no output meter indication but the pilot light dims like it does when it is working. If sounds familiar to anyone, please let me know. I will dig into a bit, before I run it up the road to Icom in Bellevue. 73 Bob W7LRD CN87

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Looking for 2m CW/SSB receiver donation
by Gould Smith 28 Apr '09

28 Apr '09

We will be demonstrating the SuitSat-2 system at Dayton and we will have a complete SuitSat system for demonstration at AMSAT events I need a 2m CW/SSB receiver to demonstrate the CW and SSB digital data signals. If you have one that has an operational receive system and would like to donate it to AMSAT, Please send me an email at wa4sxm at amsat.org . I would prefer a smaller unit, but would welcome one smaller than 10 lbs. 73, Gould, WA4SXM

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Re: UT1FG/MM on 6 meters
by K8KFJ＠aol.com 28 Apr '09

28 Apr '09

In a message dated 4/27/2009 10:03:24 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, n5uxt(a)hotmail.com writes: > Just worked UT1FG/MM on 6 meters. He is in EM40 right now in port. > He will be in port for several days The 6m mode and frequency would be helpful. Thanks. 73, Gary -K8KFJ- **************An Excellent Credit Score is 750. See Yours in Just 2 Easy Steps! (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1221621499x1201450105/aol?redir=htt… ilExcScore428NO62)

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Practice run for DXpedition
by Andrew Glasbrenner 27 Apr '09

27 Apr '09

Hello all, I was asked to forward this along to the -bb. Please listen for these guys as they practice for a fall DXpedition. I think FM-24 might be a rare one on satellite as well. 73, Drew KO4MA CY0 Simulation Test - WA4DAN, AA4VK, and N0TG will operate from "Core Banks" (IOTA NA-67, FM-24), on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, on an island that is similar in environment (terrain, sand, sea, remoteness, etc.) to Sable Island, during the period 2300Z on April 29 through 1500Z on May 2. The team will reach the island by boat in late afternoon, with approximately the same amount of day-light remaining as Day-1 at Sable island. This exercise will help to determine the CY0 Day-1 strategy for which antennas to erect before night fall. The CY0 Team is considering including FM Satellite operations at Sable Island and will make a substantial effort during the "CY0 simulation test" to demonstrate the feasibility of including this mode in the DXpedition. Times and satellites to be used for FM Satellite Operations during the simulation test is listed at the Team website at http://www.cy0dxpedition.com .

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UT1FG/MM on 6 meters
by Angelo Glorioso (n5uxt) 27 Apr '09

27 Apr '09

Just worked UT1FG/MM on 6 meters. He is in EM40 right now in port. He will be in port for several days. 73 de Angelo

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For sale 4 Ft off center feed dish
by racer5039 27 Apr '09

27 Apr '09

I have a very nice 4 ft off center feed dish that needs a good home. Make an offer. I go it from a gas station that was being removed and it was way too nice to see it get crushed. It is fiberglass, has a built in heater and a angle iron stand. I can send photos if interested contact me off the board please. E-mail is good in QTH. Thanks Marv N0FJP

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Re FT736 Speaker
by Kevin Phx Az 27 Apr '09

27 Apr '09

David and Cherouvim Thank you both very much for your help. 73 de Kevin

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Re: DSTAR vs AO-51
by Andrew Glasbrenner 27 Apr '09

27 Apr '09

Gentlemen, Please do not use D-Star via AO-51. If you want to try D-Star on satellite right now, use AO-27 where the control ops welcome it, or request some time set aside on AO-51 via the ao51-modes email address. The repeater modes on AO-51 are for analog voice only unless otherwise designated in the monthly schedule. Request some time on a second repeater to try the mode and it -will- be approved, but do not mix it up with the analog users. 73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Operations -----Original Message----- >From: Luc Leblanc <lucleblanc6(a)videotron.ca> >Sent: Apr 25, 2009 5:27 PM >To: kb1pvh(a)gmail.com >Cc: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org >Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: DSTAR vs AO-51 > >On 25 Apr 2009 at 19:18, Dave Webb KB1PVH wrote: > >> Hey Luc, I can TX on DSTAR tonight, but I do not have the S mode capability. There is a close pass at 22:42 utc that I am willing to TX for you. Let me know. >> >> >> Dave KB1PVH >> >> >I will listen to you and will try to record with scanrec. Try 2 or 3 transmissions only when the satellite will be in your best range as >you cannot hear your downlink you can step over someone else QSO > >Thank,s > >"-" > > >Luc Leblanc VE2DWE >Skype VE2DWE >www.qsl.net/ve2dwe >WAC BASIC CW PHONE SATELLITE > > > >_______________________________________________ >Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. >Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! >Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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Kenpro KR-500 motor
by Joe 27 Apr '09

27 Apr '09

Does anyone have a motor or know where to get the motor in the KR-500. Does Yaesu still have them? I picked one up that has some water in it and the motor is bad. tnx, Joe KI4TZ

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Re: cellphone tracking?
by Pedro Converso 27 Apr '09

27 Apr '09

Scott, If your blackberry is also a cellular phone, you may try navigating by Internet to lu7aa.org.ar When connecting to lu7aa.org.ar thru any cellphone you have passes for popular sats in your local time for some locations in Canada or others worldwide places. It is handy when you are out and try to know which birds can be used. This facility is in test, any suggestions welcome. 73, Pedro Converso Lu7abf(a)amsat.org.ar

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FT736 speaker connector?
by Kevin Phx Az 27 Apr '09

27 Apr '09

I took the top part of the case off and disconnected the internal spkr. Can someone give me an idea of where it was connected, I just can't see where it was plugged in. TIA Kevin N6CWF Phx Az

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Google
by Jeff Yanko 27 Apr '09

27 Apr '09

Hi all! If you haven't done so already, bring up the Google home page and look where the name Google would normally be. I never thought about his birthday today and I think it was awfully nice of the people at Google to remind us. 73, Jeff WB3JFS

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Google in Morse Code Today!
by Bruce 27 Apr '09

27 Apr '09

Samuel F.B. Morse was born today's date in 1791. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_F._B._Morse http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code Google is celebrating.... check out their home page... http://www.google.com 73...bruce

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AO-27 to the south
by David Giles 27 Apr '09

27 Apr '09

Hello to all in the northern hemisphere. It is well known that AO-27 is only activated for limited periods in the northern hemisphere. But what is the furtherest south that it can be heard? Also, is it only activated near North America or is it turned on every orbit? 73 de David VK5DG

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Tracking on your cellphone.
by john hackett 27 Apr '09

27 Apr '09

To the Gentleman wondering about tracking on a cellphone. Try this ... <http://www.k0sm.com/_mgxroot/page_10732.html> I've been using it 'portable' for two years now and it's an excellent little program which 'agrees' totally with both NOVA and InstantTRACK - (providing you update the keps every fortnight or so). Several references to it can also be found on the OBSERVATIONS page at ... <www.observations.biz> (Observations from Norway). I hope that helps. I have my cellphone attached to the handle of the Arrow aerial with a standard car dashboard cellphone holder so that when I wave my 'pointy stick' at the sky I can 'see' where to point. What if the locals *DO* think I'm bonkers? ... who cares !!. 73 John. <la2qaa(a)amsat.org> _________________________________________________________________ News, entertainment and everything you care about at Live.com. Get it now! http://www.live.com/getstarted.aspx

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Re: cellphone tracking?
by Bob Bruninga 27 Apr '09

27 Apr '09

> Hi, wonder if there any tracking programs > one can use on there Blackberry storm as > an application?. 73 de VE6ITV Scott Not a tracking one, but one that can send and receive APRS mssages I think. We hope someone will write these kinds of APRS messaging applications on all wireless devices so hams can stay in touch by callsign anywhere, any time. See the Blackberry link on the Universal Ham Text Messaging Initiative www.aprs.org/aprs-messaging.html OOPs, I thought he was thinking APRS tracking... sorry, I see now it is OSCAR tracking... and we are here on the AMSAT-bb and not the APRSSIG... But anyway, the Universal Text messaging objecive is across all platforms and all services, so it will apply to AMSAT operators too who need to text message someone else anywhere anytime using any device they may have in their hands. Bob, WB4APR

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Elk vs Arrow
by Jerry Felts 26 Apr '09

26 Apr '09

I never really had the extra money but now I do. This would mainly be used for the FM birds. Which do you like the best? The Elk or the Arrow antenna? Going to order one in the next couple of days. -- Jerry - NR5A - South Dakota www.freewebs.com/nr5a http://nr5abikeblog.blogspot.com/ http://nr5abeaconblog.blogspot.com/

4 3

arrow 2 mtr ant
by ANTHONY JAPHA 26 Apr '09

26 Apr '09

Hi Amsaters, What's the experience been with the Arrow 4-el 2 mtr yagi? Anyone measure the gain or have a sense of its performance on the birds? Tnx and 73, Tony, N2UN LM 183

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Re: G-5500 AZ EL rotors combined orientation
by Andrew Glasbrenner 26 Apr '09

26 Apr '09

Hi Mike, I think anyone who has ever assembled one of these in a hurry has done the same thing. I know I have, maybe even more than once! 73, Drew KO4MA -----Original Message----- >From: WILLIAMS MICHAEL <k9qho6762(a)sbcglobal.net> >Sent: Apr 26, 2009 4:13 PM >To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org >Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: G-5500 AZ EL rotors combined orientation > >I know one thing. I just recently installed a 5500 and a seperation kit with 4 ft. seperation between rotors. I calibrated both rotors at north/zero degrees and installed the antennas. With the antennas mounted and elevation moved to 45 degrees, the antennas moved down 45 degrees towards ground. No matter how I installed the antennas they always elevated downward. I know I wired it right. I stood on a ladder for 10 minutes looking and just staring wondering what was wrong or what I did. I finally positioned the elevation rotor 180 degrees around the mast, duh. There may be a reason for showing the setup picture such as it is. > >Have fun, > >Mike K9QHO >AMSAT 33589 >_______________________________________________ >Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. >Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! >Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

2 1

cellphone tracking?
by VE6ITV 26 Apr '09

26 Apr '09

Hi, wonder if there any tracking programs one can use on there Blackberry storm as an application?. 73 de VE6ITV Scott

3 2

AO-27
by n3tl＠bellsouth.net 26 Apr '09

26 Apr '09

Hey everyone, Wow ... the interference was brutal on that last pass (AO-27 "turned on" during the 20:04 UTC minute). Before we lost AO-27 last September, I remember it being routine to hear Spanish-speaking stations that obviously were not ham-related on passes to my west. Several of us used to joke about the "Taxi drivers south of the border." This just sounded like a very strong carrier, although I did hear a few beeps and blips here an there, suggesting the possibility of some kind of digital transmission. Here's hoping it was an anomaly. 73 to all, Tim - N3TL

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Re: G-5500 AZ EL rotors combined orientation
by WILLIAMS MICHAEL 26 Apr '09

26 Apr '09

I know one thing. I just recently installed a 5500 and a seperation kit with 4 ft. seperation between rotors. I calibrated both rotors at north/zero degrees and installed the antennas. With the antennas mounted and elevation moved to 45 degrees, the antennas moved down 45 degrees towards ground. No matter how I installed the antennas they always elevated downward. I know I wired it right. I stood on a ladder for 10 minutes looking and just staring wondering what was wrong or what I did. I finally positioned the elevation rotor 180 degrees around the mast, duh. There may be a reason for showing the setup picture such as it is. Have fun, Mike K9QHO AMSAT 33589

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Re: AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 4, Issue 197
by Michael J Finn 26 Apr '09

26 Apr '09

Dear BB members. I am mike wb7qxu(a)juno.com I am new to satellites. I am still learning and really enjoying satellites. It seems to be addictive with no cure Hi Hi. I wanted to get in contact with someone who knows about pacsats. I used to do a lot of vhf packet years ago, but now no local vhf packet cluster. I want to try pacsats. I don't know anything about pacsats. I want to learn more and try pacsats in addition to regular sats. Can someone give me advice on pacsats, what sats are working and doing what? and what type of modem TNC will I need? thanks mike ____________________________________________________________ Click here to find the right business program for you and take your career to the next level. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/BLSrjpTESUS3LprEwDkBXS6eF6WjDn6…

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G-5500 AZ EL rotors combined orientation
by Allen Fugelseth 26 Apr '09

26 Apr '09

Hello G-5500 Rotor users, I am mounting my G-5500 AZ and EL rotors together. The manual pictures show the rotors with the connectors forward and the El rotor axis L-R. The U bracket stipulates this. My U bracket is intended to be mounted rotated 90 deg. The slot in my U bracket runs parallel with the bent up sides. The manual picture shows the slot running perpendicular to the bent up sides. The ribs on the top of my AZ rotor run front to back as shown on the picture. Does anyone else have this situation? If so what is the orientation of the two connectors that works? I would like to put the rotor combination up correct the first time. Regards and 73, Allen WB6RWU

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Happy Birthday COMPASS-1
by Mike Rupprecht 26 Apr '09

26 Apr '09

All, in two days we will celebrate the first anniversary of COMPASS-1. We are happy to announce three DTMF commands to the whole community in order to say THANK YOU. Uplink frequency: 145.980 MHz FM, DTMF tones These are as follows: **35## - request a test beacon CW **36## - request a test packet 1k2 AFSK FM (UI-Frame) **60## - request a housekeeping frame in 1k2 AFSK FM (KISS frame) Every command will be confirmed with a short "beep" on the CW frequency. * frequency for CW beacon is 437.275 MHz * frequency for packet radio is 437.405 MHz See here for COMPASS decoding software http://www.dk3wn.info/software.shtml We'd be happy if you send us your received data to compass1cubesat(a)googlemail.com If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask us. Have much fun, 73 and thank you ! Kevin, DG9KK Mike, DK3WN

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anyone working the iss on 145.825?
by Mr Jeffrey L Ross 26 Apr '09

26 Apr '09

hi folks, just asking here as always get good latest info from here. what was the last freq in use, 145.825 or 145.800. thanks in advance. kc8gkf-5

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Re: FS: Icom IC-910H w/1.2ghz, AG-1200, 25, 35 Mast Pre's, Kenwood TM-D710 APRS, More!
by Les Rayburn 25 Apr '09

25 Apr '09

Forgot an Item: KJ6KO 1296mhz Amplifier and switching power Supply. 70 Watts output, requires 28 Volt power supply (included). For more details visit: http://users.innercite.com/kj6ko/forsale.htm This really completes your 1.296mhz station! Sells normally for $220, I'll sell for $100! Also, buyers for all items must pay shipping and insurance. Actual cost only. I usually use UPS Ground. 73, Les Rayburn, N1LF EM63nf 121 Mayfair Park Maylene, AL 35114 From: Les Rayburn Sent: Saturday, April 11, 2009 12:43 PM To: VHF Contesting Reflector ; vhf(a)w6yx.stanford.edu ; amsat-bb(a)amsat.org ; TM-D710_TM-V71(a)yahoogroups.com Subject: FS: Icom IC-910H w/1.2ghz, AG-1200, 25,35 Mast Pre's, Kenwood TM-D710 APRS, More! Maybe with the IRS bill this year, so I need to sacrifice some great gear. Wanted to offer these direct to the VHF/UHF & Satellite community before placing them on Ebay. Can accept Paypal (first choice), or money orders. My ebay feedback rating is over 380 (all positive) and I've been a member since 1997, so you can buy with confidence. Also, have no fear, I'm not getting out of VHF/UHF, I'll just be working with some of my older radios. I will be off 1.2ghz until I can afford a replacement unit. ICOM IC-910H VHF/UHF/SHF Transceiver --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Used one year. Non-Smoker. Original box, instructions, hand mic, etc. Has 1.2ghz 10 watt unit installed and working great. UT-106 DSP unit is included in original box but not installed yet. Clean, and ready for action. $1,250 AG-25, AG-35, & (RARE) AG-1200 Mast Mounted Pre-Amps ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Designed to work with the IC-910H. These have never been mounted outside (I have attic mounted antenna array) so they're super clean. Connect to the feedline from the IC-910H, powered and switched by the rig, no sequencer needed. The AG-1200 is no longer made, and very hard to fine. $500 for the set of three Kenwood TM-D710A Transceiver ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is Kenwood's new APRS dual band rig. It features dual band receive/TX, with complete APRS functionality. This is the perfect rig for rovers as it displays your exact grid square location in real time. No more guessing as to where you're at. Unit comes complete with GPS antenna, and call cabling. Original box, instructions, etc. Latest firmware is already installed too. It's literally "plug and play". Never used mobile other than a brief test. I was waiting to install it in the new truck. Extension kit is included. Original box, instructions, etc. $500 MFJ 269-PRO Antenna Analyzer (HF, VHF, UHF) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Perfect for tuning those Yagis, this unit has never been used outdoors. Includes leather carrying case, slug kit, rechargeable batteries, and AC power supply. Covers HF, 6 Meters, 2 Meters, and 432mhz. Also can be used for public service frequencies, etc. since it's the "Pro" unit. Includes "no tip" stand which makes it much easier to work with than other MFJ tuners. Instructions included. $250 Please reply directly to: Les Rayburn, N1LF (n1lf(a)arrl.net) Thanks, & 73, Les Rayburn, N1LF EM63nf 121 Mayfair Park Maylene, AL 35114

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ANS-116 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by JoAnne Maenpaa 25 Apr '09

25 Apr '09

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-116 ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor(a)amsat.org In this edition: * Two Weeks and Counting for AMSAT at Dayton * Maurice-André Vigneault, VA2MA Appointed as Canadian AMSAT Delegate to the ARISS International Working Group * Satellite News From India * APRS Satellite Fleet Expansion Planned * UT1FG/MM Wet Grids DXpedition in Range of Americas Now * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-116.01 Two Weeks and Counting for AMSAT at Dayton AMSAT News Service Bulletin 116.01 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. April 26, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-116.01 A little over two weeks remain before AMSAT opens its 40 Years of Amateur Radio in Space display at the Dayton Hamvention held on May 15-17. AMSAT's activities begin on Thursday, May 14 with setting up the booth display. The traditional Thursday Night get-together will be held in a new location, the 'Tickets Pub' in suburban Fairborn, Ohio. The AMSAT Forum will be held on Saturday, May 16 in Meeting Room 5 from 11:15 to 13:30. The schedule includes: + AMSAT VP-Member & User Services and SuitSat-2 Systems Engineer Gould Smith, WA4SXM will give a talk on "SuitSat-2 Status Report." Members of the SuitSat-2 team will have a complete operational SuitSat prototype with an experiment at the AMSAT Booth. + AMSAT VP-Human Space Flight Will Marchant, KC6ROL, will give a status on the ARISS program. + ARISS Hardware Manager Lou McFadin, W5DID, will give a talk on "Antennas for the Columbus Module." + Richard Garriott, W5WKQ, will speak at the AMSAT Forum about his ARISS activities while onboard the ISS. He will talk about his training, flight, and ham radio operations during the AMSAT Banquet. Richard will also be at the AMSAT booth to meet members on Friday and Saturday. Specific times will be announced soon. The outdoor satellite demonstration area will be managed by Drew, KO4MA and Keith, W5IU. It will feature two types of operational stations. One will be the basic handheld station and the second will feature full computer control. Since this is the 40th Anniversary of AMSAT, we have a great new tee shirt design by Steve Kenwolf to celebrate the event. Forty years of AMSAT memorabilia will be on display. As always there will be new pub- lications, frequency chart, LVB Trackers and premiums for membership renewal. Check out all the details, including making your AMSAT Banquet reser- vations on the web pages: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/hamvention/2009/Dayton.php [ANS thanks Gould, WA4SXM for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-116.02 Maurice-André Vigneault, VA2MA Appointed as Canadian AMSAT Delegate to the ARISS International Working Group AMSAT News Service Bulletin 116.02 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. April 26, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-116.02 AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW has appointed Maurice-André Vignault, VA2MA/VE3VIG, as the Canadian AMSAT delegate to the ARISS International Working Group. He replaces Stefan Wagener, VE4NSA who resigned due to personal reasons. Maurice-André was first licensed in 1990. He served 38 years in the Canadian Air Force, Communications and Electronics Branch. He is an active amateur radio operator with satellite experience dating to 2001. He has been conducting an ongoing satellite com- munications course starting in 2006. He conducted an ARISS School contact in January 2007. He is active in demonstrating satellite communications at the Canada Science and Technology Museum. He is a member of the Radio Amateurs of Canada and AMSAT. As a member of the AMSAT Field Operations Team, he serves as an Area Coordinator for Ottawa, representing AMSAT in his local community and serving as a mentor to hams wishing to learn about the satellite communications. Barry noted in an e-mail to ARISS International Working Group Chair- man Gaston Bertels, ON4WF, "AMSAT is proud to be able to send such a qualified member to serve with the ARISS Working Group. AMSAT looks forward to many years of continued cooperative activities with ARISS in human space flight." The ARISS International Working Group includes two delegates appointed by AMSAT. Previously, AMSAT VP-Human Space Flight Will Marchant, KC6ROL was appointed the US AMSAT delegate to the ARISS International Working Group replacing Frank Bauer, KA3HDO. Both Maurice-André Vignault and Will Marchant will be attending the upcoming ARISS International Working Group meeting taking place in June 2009 at ESA/ESTEC in the Netherlands. [ANS thanks AMSAT President Barry, WD4ASW for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-116.03 Satellite News From India AMSAT News Service Bulletin 116.03 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. April 26, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-116.03 This week India's ISRO Space Agency successfully launched RISAT-2 and ANUSAT from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR in Sriharikota. RISAT-2 is a Radar Imaging Satellite with the capability to take images of the earth during day and night as well as cloudy conditions to enhance capability for earth observation, especially during floods, cyclones, landslides and in disaster management. ANUSAT is the first experimental communication satellite built by an Indian University under the over all guidance of ISRO and will demon- strate the technologies related to message store and forward operations. ANUSAT specifications have mentioned amateur radio uplink and downlink frequencies will be used but no user information has been released at this time. The satellite is designed for digital store-and-forward operation. ANUSAT has a telemetry beacon on 137.400 MHz. David, VK5DG reported, "I just heard AnuSat go over with a loud carrier on 137.400 MHz but no modulation detected. I am using keps for space track object 34808." Additionally, Rodney, KC0ZHF reported, "I also monitored the frequency on orbits 48 and 49 of the satellite and heard a very strong carrier. I scanned UHF frequencies but did not hear any additional downlinks." In other Amateur Radio news from AMSAT-India Nitin, VU3TYG says the April 2009 newsletter is available at: http://www.amsatindia.org/Newsletter AMSAT-India Secretary, Pop, VU2POP says, "We have received many appli- cations for the VO-52 operating award from several different countries. Certificates will be posted by end of May 2009." The certificate is available to Amateur Radio operators who establish two way contact through VO-52 between January 26, 2009 until May 10, 2009. If you find yourself in India remember to attend the AMSAT-India Workshop on 10 May 09 at the Little Lilly English School, Vidyar- anyapura, Bangalore. [ANS thanks Space Daily Express, Pop VU2POP, and Nitin VU3TYG for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-116.04 APRS Satellite Fleet Expansion Planned AMSAT News Service Bulletin 116.04 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. April 26, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-116.04 Writing from the US Naval Academy Satellite Development Lab this week Bob, WB4APR reported on new satellites with the same APRS packet relay as PCSAT and the ISS that are in the works. Bob said their design will use the new Byonics all-on-a-board Packet TNC/Radio/Telemetry system. This makes it possible to build a packet satellite out of a single 3.4" square board and 5 NiCd batteries and that is all you need for a tiny APRS satellite. Bob said, "We are ordering a bunch of them on the APRS Space Channel of 145.825 MHz and hope to encourage other schools and universities to consider including one of these packet transponders in their missions. If we can get up to a dozen of these in space, we will have almost global coverage 24 hours a day from anywhere on the planet!" These systems are still under development. No launch dates have been announced at this time. [ANS thanks Bob, WB4APR for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-116.05 UT1FG/MM Wet Grids DXpedition in Range of Americas Now AMSAT News Service Bulletin 116.05 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. April 26, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-116.05 Captain Yuri of the MV Bluebill is now operating as UT1FG/MM from his ship through June, 2009. His sea voyage will take him from Northern Europe, across the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico up to the Miss- issippi River, then southward toward Mexico and Central America. Yuri says his current plans are to operate on AO-27, AO-51, SO-50, VO-52, FO-29, and AO-7. Over the past two years he already has logged many North American stations from his ship operations in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. QSL via home call UT1FG. This week Angelo, N5UXT reported working UT1FG/MM in GM24 via FO29. [ANS thanks Yuri, UT1FG/MM and Angelo, N5UXT for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-116.06 Satellite Shorts From All Over AMSAT News Service Bulletin 116.06 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. April 26, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-116.06 + Check out William's, PE1RAH design for an ultra-small linear satellite Mode-UV transponder with 23dBm PEP output on 2 meters. He made a video which can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5j60SJroodg + The PS8DX Teresina DX Group is on the air this week from Brazil's Canary Island GI97bf on AO-7, FO-29, AO-51, VO-52, SO-50, and ISS (if available). + Remember the Hudson Valley Satcom group Net 8 PM EST on Thursday evenings on Echolink node n2eyh-l. + Insight as to future amateur satellites in planning can be gleaned from the IARU coordination data available at: http://www.amsat.org.uk/iaru/ + The ISS will be on the air with an ARISS contact with the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. on Space Day, May 2 at 15:23 UTC. This will be a telebridge contact via station W6SRJ in California. Stu- dents will be pre-recruited, but Space Day participants will also be invited to ask questions. Visitors will participate in hands-on activ- ities, meet astronauts and learn about space from experts and museum displays. [ANS thanks everyone for the above information] /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. With that recall the incident of the bicycle that could not stand up because it was two tired. 73, This week's ANS Editor, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM K9JKM at amsat dot org

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IC-7000 and Sat tracking programs?
by Bill Dzurilla 25 Apr '09

25 Apr '09

Hi from sunny Islamorada in the Florida Keys, EL94. Just waiting for SO-50 to come on around to give a few more people this semi-rare grid. There was a pile of QRM on both AO-27 passes this afternoon, but logged over 20 contacts. Good to hear a lot of old friends in there. Anyhow, back home I've put up an antenna for the linear sats but I'm having great difficulty getting my IC-7000 to work with computer control on all sats in full duplex mode (second radio is an FT-817, which the programs steer flawlessly). With SatPC32, if set as Radio 1, the 7000 works with sats with 70cm downlink, but not with sats with 2m downlink. Vice versa if set as Radio 2 - works with sats with 2m downlink, but not with sats with 70cm downlink. The author of SatPC32, Erich, has been helping me troubleshoot this issue. He has the program working perfectly with an IC-706 MKIIG but does not have an IC-7000 to test. So if anyone is using an IC-7000 and a second radio with SatPC32, please let us know if all is working. If yes, my problem must be related to the computer or the USB adapter, not to the radio or the program. I have also unsuccessfully tried 2 other sat tracking programs, 1) the new beta Sat Tracking feature of Ham Radio Deluxe, and 2) Orbitron with Wisp DDE driver. Has anyone had success with IC-7000 and either of these, or with any other satellite computer control program? Thanks for any info and 73, and hope to catch you from EL94 tonight o tomorrow, Bill NZ5N

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Re: DSTAR vs AO-51
by Luc Leblanc 25 Apr '09

25 Apr '09

On 25 Apr 2009 at 19:18, Dave Webb KB1PVH wrote: > Hey Luc, I can TX on DSTAR tonight, but I do not have the S mode capability. There is a close pass at 22:42 utc that I am willing to TX for you. Let me know. > > > Dave KB1PVH > > I will listen to you and will try to record with scanrec. Try 2 or 3 transmissions only when the satellite will be in your best range as you cannot hear your downlink you can step over someone else QSO Thank,s "-" Luc Leblanc VE2DWE Skype VE2DWE www.qsl.net/ve2dwe WAC BASIC CW PHONE SATELLITE

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iss freq? 145.800 or 145.825
by Mr Jeffrey L Ross 25 Apr '09

25 Apr '09

hi folks, the iss fan club web page is not giving me the correct freq the iss is on, is anyone working the iss packet station? if so what freq is in use today? thanks in advance. kc8gkf-5 moved over some so kc9doa-5 and mycall can be seen.

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Personal home pages
by Dave Guimont 25 Apr '09

25 Apr '09

First, a thank you to all who responded to my request for personal home page storage....I will answer each when I've had an opportunity to try their recommendation... Roadrunner has allowed personal home page storage of the file itself, and not a presentation of the file. Since its inception I've listed the following files.....*.exe, *.zip, *.jpg, *.txt, etc. The document itself and not the presentation...Anyone could have access to those files, read them on line, and/or download them if they wish. I used ftp to do the uploading... They've recently made a change, and I can no longer upload the file itself. FTP is not the problem, I can upload the picture itself, but not the *.jpg..... tnx agn to the responders...I'll let u know... 73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1(a)san.rr.com Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E...

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Re: FLTSATCOM Hacked
by RFI-EMI-GUY 25 Apr '09

25 Apr '09

You don't give any credit to our international ham's for policing their own. I am sure if Brazilian hams knew of a "pirate" on their own soil and were armed with Lat Lon of the station, there would be action taken. Secondly; all the encryption in the world is not going to protect the satellite from jamming by some miscreant or an accidental source. Personally when it gets to a point where to operate ham radio requires an RSA key, a digital mode and a VPN, I will lose total interest. There is no experimentation in that. I might as well log into my work e-mail which requires "an RSA key, a digital mode and a VPN". The AMSAT group is reluctant to pay for a launch opportunity let alone fancy authentication infrastructure. For the folks developing "bent pipe transponders" such as PE1RAH, I say press on, and make them as cheap and small as possible. On Fri, 24 Apr 2009 15:54:54 -0400, "RFI-EMI-GUY" <Rhyolite(a)NETTALLY.COM> said: > > I think it is less important to worry about technology that can't be > > hacked and more important to devise a scheme to locate the source of an > > interferer be it deliberate or accidental. With a bent pipe transponder > > scheme, if there are two or more satellites having overlapping > > footprint, you can monitor the downlink of each satellite and derive a > > time of arrival fix from each. Do some trig and get a fix on the > > possible locations. I am sure this is exactly what the DOD is doing to > > locate these pirates. > That leads logically to the next question -- what are you going to do when you find them? Do you expect International government support to send resources out to the location and shut down the offending station? How much are you (and the rest of the world) willing to pay for this? Better to lock the front door of the house, than to have to go wandering the rooms, listening for the yahoos that came in the back door and are eating your potato chips up in your kid's bedroom. As it becomes easier for the general public to get their hands on uplink gear cheaply, and to operate it with virtually zero knowledge of how it actually works -- the front-end of the birds must have a way to discriminate between "authorized" and "unauthorized" users... eventually. On-orbit infrastructure is too valuable to have it act as a "bent-pipe" in an environment where the uplink/downlink gear is easy to acquire and use. See previous note on possible uses of encryption technology along with decentralized authentication data... and more importantly, how much we'd be willing to pay for such authentication infrastructure... in our time to set it up, and in real money to have it accessible via the Net to all. Not cheap, but then again -- real security never is. Nate WY0X -- Nate Duehr nate(a)natetech.com -- Joe Leikhim K4SAT "The RFI-EMI-GUY"© "Use only Genuine Interocitor Parts" Tom Servo ;-P

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Web space
by Dave Guimont 25 Apr '09

25 Apr '09

Does anyone have a suggestion to locate a simple procedure to upload files to a site?.. Roadrunner had one for years, and I've been keeping files I've acquired throughout the years in operating hamsats since good old OSCAR.. No fancy graphics, no pictures, just *.exe, *.jpg, *.zip, *. txt and that sort of thing using ftp Roadrunner still has the space available free, but it will not let me upload the above. Any suggestions appreciated.... 73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1(a)san.rr.com Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E...

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Off Topic: Live Earth veiws on DISH
by Armando Mercado 25 Apr '09

25 Apr '09

Sorry for the off topic post. DISH Network has live 24 hour veiws of Earth from a camera on EchoStar 11. Channel 212. It's been on since Wednesday but I just discovered it. Way too cool! 73, Armando N8IGJ

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ISS Timeline
by Jeff Thomas 25 Apr '09

25 Apr '09

Pretty interesting. Timeline of the ISS. http://i.usatoday.net/tech/graphics/iss_timeline/flash.htm 73, Jeff K7WIN

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DSTAR vs AO-51
by Luc Leblanc 25 Apr '09

25 Apr '09

As my first test this morning it appears digital DSTAR pass through but unable to confirm if they will be decoded correctly as i am not in full duplex? Did anyone with DSTAR capabilities can send some CQ on the uplink or listen on the S downlink to see if something can be decoded? "-" Luc Leblanc VE2DWE Skype VE2DWE www.qsl.net/ve2dwe WAC BASIC CW PHONE SATELLITE

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AO-51 S band reception
by Luc Leblanc 25 Apr '09

25 Apr '09

On the current AO-51 S band downlink i notice the "always" present deep fades period during a pass as the S band antenna are Dual band L/S Open Sleeve (1/4 wave stub) it confirm why my actual linear "WI-FI" stacked yagi perform better than my BBQ grill and dish with circular polarisation. Foliage and blocking structures "seems" to have a lesser effect on the yagi than on the circular polarisation antenna. On one QSO with Clare VE3NPC we noted that theses fades does not happen at the same time at our respective QTH (Ottawa and Sorel-Tracy) making the following excerpt quite accurate. >From down to earth web site: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/5178447/down-to-earth Satellite antennas are usually whips or dipoles. The satellite may slowly tumble, changing the orientation of the antennas. If you happen to be "off the end" of its antenna, the signal may be too weak to work. Even if you remain out of its "null", the direction of the linear polarization of the satellite downlink signal changes relative to you during the pass. If the polarization at some instant happens to be perpendicular to the polarization of your receiving antenna, there is about a 20dB (100x) signal loss. I think i will give up in the fades elimination fight 100X signal is nearly impossible to compensate at the receiving side. It is probably an AO-51 S band limitation. Could be the internet can be a solution if each station can feed their downlink audio on Skype or echolink it will be possible to listen on theses various downlink sources making possible to have a full pass reception as there will be always one receiving station out of the fades. DSTAR on S mode As the first DSTAR satellite transmission has been made on AO-27 i don't know if the same test can be perform on AO-51. If someone with DSTAR capabilities is interesting to "test" it on mode V/S just let me know. Why on mode V/S it's because i will have to be in half duplex as my DSTAR transceiver is a monobander. It is a very "dangerous experiment" here as i will have to manually TR switching between the VHF antenna and the downconverter line. But it will be interesting to know if a DSTAR digital signal can passed through AO-51 first? I can try to send a couple of CQ on the last mode V/S evening pass listening what goes out too? "-" Luc Leblanc VE2DWE Skype VE2DWE www.qsl.net/ve2dwe WAC BASIC CW PHONE SATELLITE

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AO-51 U/S
by w7lrd＠comcast.net 24 Apr '09

24 Apr '09

Lots of fun using my old AO-40 (sobsob) gear. Worked Scotty-VE6ITV solid contact. Heard XE2BHL, I think he sorta heard me, near his LOS. Tracking the fast moving AO-51 with a three foot dish by manually is tricky, I have a LVB tracker on order. Thankyou Drew, and the other control ops, this is neat stuff. 73 Bob W7LRD

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AO-51 U/S
by w7lrd＠comcast.net 24 Apr '09

24 Apr '09

At 1707Z, (next pass) I will be looking for W. coast US & Canada, KL7 for anyone with U/S capability. 73 Bob W7LRD

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Re: FLTSATCOM Hacked
by Alan Sieg WB5RMG 24 Apr '09

24 Apr '09

Dan N8FGV said > Mark's original point is still a valid one and has not been addressed... > An amateur-built bent pipe transponder in geosynchronous... > orbit will be vulnerable to the same sort of unlicensed abuse... > how exactly do we protect it from this sort of abuse? This may have been worked to death, but the discussion quickly changed to '-wish we had a GEO-', then came back around to '-how do we protect-'. It's not like we are gonna arrive quickly at a perfect solution. It has always seemed to me that some of the best protection we have had, is in the simple fact that a moving target is less likely to be of value or interest to pirates. Our feeble low-powered, fast-moving, doppler- shifting transponders are not very attractive targets for freeloaders. Just like internet hackers, they are not interested in a 386 w/4MB ram. Something like an antique Navy GEO with lots of power is an easy mark. I'm not suggesting we only deploy obscure low-power LEO birds, but the higher we push the frequencies, and stay in motion, the less attention we attract. As much convenience as GEO offers, it would also bring a following of pirates. A GTO like AO-13 that requires at least scheduled pointing, would likely not be seen as such an easy mark. A small flock of APRS birds like BobB mentions would probably not appear of much interest to pirates either. No easy answers, but maybe we can avoid making it too easy to hijack. Thanks /;^) -- <- Licensed in 1976, WB5RMG = Alan Sieg * AMSAT#20554 -> <- http://www.somenet.net * http://wb5rmg.somenet.net -> <- http://www.linkedin.com/in/alansieg * My 'Day Job' ->

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Re: FLTSATCOM Hacked
by RFI-EMI-GUY 24 Apr '09

24 Apr '09

I think it is less important to worry about technology that can't be hacked and more important to devise a scheme to locate the source of an interferer be it deliberate or accidental. With a bent pipe transponder scheme, if there are two or more satellites having overlapping footprint, you can monitor the downlink of each satellite and derive a time of arrival fix from each. Do some trig and get a fix on the possible locations. I am sure this is exactly what the DOD is doing to locate these pirates. -- Joe Leikhim K4SAT "The RFI-EMI-GUY"© "Use only Genuine Interocitor Parts" Tom Servo ;-P

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AG-35 smoke test
by RFI-EMI-GUY 24 Apr '09

24 Apr '09

FYI for operators using the IC-970 radio. I blew my AG-25 preamp once as a result of switching the satellite mode knob while PTT was still engaged. I never tried to duplicate this action of course, but it seems the radio logic got confused during the change and the sequencer did not kill the TX power. > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:45:40 -0600 > From: "Yokshs" <yokshs(a)sbcglobal.net> > Subject: [amsat-bb] AG-35 smoke test > To: "Amsat BB" <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> > Message-ID: <0CD166CE3BF94D2B91D05ECD6D2CCCBC@main> > Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; > reply-type=original > > > Luc, > > Thanks for the reply. > > Did you have to remove the relay to replace the FET? Just curious. I've got > my AG-35 down off the tower and on the bench now. The FET is so close > to one of the relays, I'm pretty sure it'll have to be removed to replace > the FET.. Any suggestions? > > Thanks, > > Kyle > K0KN > > > --- Original Message --- > > I fried my UHF one too...I order a couple from ICOM. With my very limited > electronics building skills i cut the dead one leaving as much > legs as possible and i resolder the replacement over the cut legs. Not > elegant but quick and effective. Is this is achieving the same > overall previous gain figures? that i don't know but it works. > > I have another one to replace in a different type of preamp but the FET is > below a lot of other components and he's flat mounted (No legs) > i don't come up with a solution with this one? > > > "-" > > > Luc Leblanc VE2DWE > Skype VE2DWE > www.qsl.net/ve2dwe > WAC BASIC CW PHONE SATELLITE > > > > > > -- Joe Leikhim K4SAT "The RFI-EMI-GUY"© "Use only Genuine Interocitor Parts" Tom Servo ;-P

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Re: FLTSATCOM Hacked
by Daniel Schultz 24 Apr '09

24 Apr '09

Mark Spencer wrote >Kind of makes you wonder what would happen if there was a geo stationary >amateur satellite that was easy to use.?? If pirates will hack military >satellites then I doubt they would have any qualms about using an >amateur satellite.?? Mark's original point is still a valid one and has not been addressed yet in this discussion. An amateur-built bent pipe transponder in geosynchronous orbit will be vulnerable to the same sort of unlicensed abuse that FLTSATCOM is experiencing, and we amateurs will not have the same ability to prosecute the offenders that the US military has. If we build such a system, how exactly do we protect it from this sort of abuse? Dan Schultz N8FGV

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Re: ANUSAT heard
by Mineo Wakita 24 Apr '09

24 Apr '09

I heard and saved ANUSAT carrier wave (2.8MB). This is a very very weak signal with a doppler. ANUSAT, 13:00-13:11UTC, Mel 57, 137.400MHz http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/90424anu.wav http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/90424anu.jpg ANUSAT information, Telecommand : VHF(PCM/FSK/AM), 100 bits/sec, 149.2 MHz Telemetry : VHF(PCM/FSK/AM), 256 bits/sec, 137.4 MHz ANUSAT 1 34808U 09019B 09113.18398593 -.00000289 00000-0 00000+0 0 127 2 34808 041.2102 148.9969 0109770 026.6096 083.2692 15.29388015 488 http://www.isro.org/pressrelease/Apr20_2009.htm http://beswaminathan.googlepages.com/Anusat.pdf http://bsidharth1205.googlepages.com/research Thanks your these information for ANUSAT. JE9PEL, Mineo Wakita

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ANUSAT heard
by Mineo Wakita 24 Apr '09

24 Apr '09

I heard and saved ANUSAT carrier wave (2.8MB). This is a very very weak signal with a doppler. ANUSAT, 13:00-13:11UTC, Mel 57, 137.400MHz http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/90424anu.wav http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/90424anu.jpg ANUSAT information, Telecommand : VHF(PCM/FSK/AM), 100 bits/sec, 149.2 MHz Telemetry : VHF(PCM/FSK/AM), 256 bits/sec, 137.4 MHz ANUSAT 1 34808U 09019B 09113.18398593 -.00000289 00000-0 00000+0 0 127 2 34808 041.2102 148.9969 0109770 026.6096 083.2692 15.29388015 488 http://www.isro.org/pressrelease/Apr20_2009.htm http://beswaminathan.googlepages.com/Anusat.pdf http://bsidharth1205.googlepages.com/research Thanks your these information for ANUSAT. JE9PEL, Mineo Wakita

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Re: Cross Boom
by Roy 23 Apr '09

23 Apr '09

It seems that this subject comes up once or twice every decade. I have never used anything but a metal cross boom since I joined AMSAT in 1974. Later there were some tests run by Kent Britain, WA5VJB. His measurements resulted in the following recommendations: 1. Mount the antenna with the tips of the elements as far from the support boom as possible. Instead of mounting them in a + form, mount them as an X in relation to the cross boom. 2. Saw off any excess cross boom so that it doesn't extend past the antenna boom. 3. Avoid mounting the boom 1/2 or 1 wavelength from the driven elements. (I would modify that to multiples of 1/2 wavelength) 4. Run the coax out the metal boom and down the antenna boom. Keep the turning radius of the coax small but not to the extent of damage to the coax. I have never detected any bad effects of this arrangement and had stumbled into this configuration years before Kent published his findings in the 1993 AMSAT Symposuim Proceedings. I did it to avoid having the coax from hanging off the rear of the antennas and dragging on the roof of my house and changing fore/aft balance with ice loads. Incidentally, I think I recall that Jim, G3RUH was also using this method. If anyone wants a photo of the antenna setup and contacts me directly I will send it to him. Roy -- W0SL AMSAT 410

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TS-2000X performance on 23cm band - ?
by Perry Yantis 23 Apr '09

23 Apr '09

I have one of the early ts200x's and I have had no problems on 1.2 ghz. I mainly us it for the satellites but also use it for the vhf contests and it has always worked fine. I have consistantly worked many in Ohio on 1.2 ghz with just a M2 at about 30 ft. I have also heard some others outside of Ohio during band openings (rare but it does happen).; I don't know where you got this idea that the receive was bad on these rigs. The radio does have a built in preamp. I leave it turned OFF for hf because it makes too much noise. I leave it ON for vhf, and uhf because it does improve the ssb signals. On 1.2 the preamp is ALWAYS on. Perry WB8OTH

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Testing GS-5500
by Dave 23 Apr '09

23 Apr '09

Does anyone have a test program for a GS-232A to G-5500 rotor system that will test rotate and elevate it from max to max? I just got a new unit and want to test it before I get it up in the air :-) Dave // DM78qd // KA0SWT +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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AG-35 smoke test
by Yokshs 23 Apr '09

23 Apr '09

Luc, Thanks for the reply. Did you have to remove the relay to replace the FET? Just curious. I've got my AG-35 down off the tower and on the bench now. The FET is so close to one of the relays, I'm pretty sure it'll have to be removed to replace the FET.. Any suggestions? Thanks, Kyle K0KN --- Original Message --- I fried my UHF one too...I order a couple from ICOM. With my very limited electronics building skills i cut the dead one leaving as much legs as possible and i resolder the replacement over the cut legs. Not elegant but quick and effective. Is this is achieving the same overall previous gain figures? that i don't know but it works. I have another one to replace in a different type of preamp but the FET is below a lot of other components and he's flat mounted (No legs) i don't come up with a solution with this one? "-" Luc Leblanc VE2DWE Skype VE2DWE www.qsl.net/ve2dwe WAC BASIC CW PHONE SATELLITE

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FT736 Problem
by Kevin Phx Az 23 Apr '09

23 Apr '09

I did the reset but has not fixed my problem. When I press the F button to set the Rpt up/down it does not change it from simplex and 01 comes up in the display to the right of the vfo frequency displayed as if I had pressed the MR button. Any suggestions? Tnx Kevin N6CWF

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A little OT: The Great Brazilian Sat-Hack Crackdown
by Glenn AA5PK 23 Apr '09

23 Apr '09

"On the night of March 8, cruising 22,000 miles above the Earth, U.S. Navy communications satellite FLTSAT-8 suddenly erupted with illicit activity. Jubilant voices and anthems crowded the channel on a junkyard's worth of homemade gear from across vast and silent stretches of the Amazon: Ronaldo, a Brazilian soccer idol, had just scored his first goal with the Corinthians." "To use the satellite, pirates typically take an ordinary ham radio transmitter, which operates in the 144- to 148-MHZ range, and add a frequency doubler cobbled from coils and a varactor diode. That lets the radio stretch into the lower end of FLTSATCOM's 292- to 317-MHz uplink range. All the gear can be bought near any truck stop for less than $500. Ads on specialized websites offer to perform the conversion for less than $100. Taught the ropes, even rough electricians can make Bolinha-ware." <http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2009/04/fleetcom?currentPage=1> Glenn AA5PK AMSAT #6694

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Cross Boom
by Billy Simpkins 23 Apr '09

23 Apr '09

Is a fiber glass or some other non-conductive material necessary for a cross boom? What or the advantages and disadvantages versus a metal one? Thanks, Billy KF0CK

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Fiber Glass Croos Boom
by Antonio Santiago 23 Apr '09

23 Apr '09

Greetings to all from Puerto Rico...! You can get the fiberglas croos boom from M2. M2's Heavy Duty Fiberglass Cross Boom has been developed to work with the Yaesu G-550 Elevation Unit or G-5500 AZ /EL Unit. It allows solid clamping to the Cross Boom without crushing thin wall fiberglass tubes. The unit consists of a center solid 18" aluminum rod and (2) 2" x 1/4" wall x 60" long fiberglass tubes. The solid aluminum rod and thick wall fiberglass tube will give you the ability to secure large systems or arrays for years of solid slip free service. *Total length of unit when assembled is 11' or 132". Visit the following link: http://www.m2inc.com/ Then select HAM RADIO PRODUCTS In the next page select Rotators and accesories, next look the directory on the right Positioners and Accessories, look at the bottom, select the HD Fiberglass Boom Kit 73's Tony-KP4IA

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