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ICOM 910 H question
by Andrew Rich 05 Jan '08

05 Jan '08

Can I get someone with an ICOM 910 to do the following 1. Turn the power supply and radio on 2. Kill the power supply 3. Turn the power supply back on (does the radio come back on ?) 1. Turn the power supply and radio on 2. Kill th radio 3. Kill the power supply 4. Turn back on the power supply (does the radio stay off?) I have an autmated power system here, I need to know that the 910 will come back on to a power supply fail. I need to know that the 910 will also stay off if told to stay off. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Rich VK4TEC

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Thank you
by Andrew Rich 04 Jan '08

04 Jan '08

I find this group full of people with good ideas and really helpfull. I am enjoying being part of it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Rich VK4TEC vk4tec(a)people.net.au http://www.tech-software.net

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FS: Items for sale
by K7XQ 04 Jan '08

04 Jan '08

Have a few items for sale. Thought I would put them here locally just in case Someone might be interested before considering putting them on e-bay. * FT-736R 144 and 432 all mode satellite transceiver w/220 MHz module, hand mike and manual $800.00 plus shipping unless local pickup * Mirage 2512G 220 MHz 120 watts amplifier w/ preamp $250 plus shipping unless local pickup I actually see 150 watts out of this one * KJ6KO 60-70 watt 1296 SS Amplifier $200 plus shipping unless local pickup only used once, takes +28 VDC * MFJ-993B Automatic antenna tuner only used once like new condition $200 plus shipping unless local pickup ONLY trade considered would be a fully functional in good condition Yaesu FT-847 for entire package. I also have paypal. K7XQ Jeff Atwater, CA.

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pcsat and ao-27
by ryan woods 04 Jan '08

04 Jan '08

Hello all happy new year. when will pcsat be back in "full ops" and second is will the ao-27 tlm decoder work with a d700 or d7. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

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Re: AO-51 Status Next Week
by Andrew Glasbrenner 04 Jan '08

04 Jan '08

Hi Clint, It probably will be but there are no guarantees until we get a handle on how the satellite is going to react to the lack of eclipses. This is why we haven't published a schedule yet. We may have to switch things around if it gets too hot. I know that makes planning tough but the health of the satellite is top priority. If it is on, the downlink should be as strong as you've ever heard it. 73, Drew KO4MA -----Original Message----- >From: Clint Bradford <clintbrad4d(a)earthlink.net> >Sent: Jan 4, 2008 2:02 PM >To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org >Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-51 Status Next Week > >Drew and crew - I have a demo next Wednesday night at 7:14PM Pacific >time (DM-14). Will the published "January, 2008" changes to AO-51 ops >affect V/U mode that night? > >Clint Bradford, K6LCS >909-241-7666 > >_______________________________________________ >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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AO-16
by John Marranca, Jr 04 Jan '08

04 Jan '08

Hello everybody... Does anyone know the current status of AO-16? Is it just sending telemetry. or is it functional/semi-functional? Curious. John KB2HSH -- _______________________________ John Marranca, Jr PBX Technician/Shop Steward CWA Local 1122 BN Systems, Inc Orchard Park, NY (716)972-2006

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GO-32: DF9EY email address ?
by Henk, PA3GUO 04 Jan '08

04 Jan '08

All, I do receive GO32 perfectly, but do not see myself back :-) Seems Manfred DF9EY did see me, so I wanted to get in contact with him, but his call sign is nowhere know. Who knows his email address ? Or: Who can provide a short summary of usage of GO-32 ? I have the http://web.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/GO32-ops.html URL, but there I see eg 145.930, where GO32 says 145.9s: !S 19:32:54 !:BLN3 GO32:D7&D700 posits use 145.9s !S 19:28:39 !:BLN2 GO32:APRS msgs and clients use 145.85 Upl Quite a few JA station are successfull, could you share your settings please ? !T 19:35:15 !DF9EY>APU25N,4XTECH*,qAO,DF9CP:=/4:NYP5zL- BHello to all de Manfred !T 19:35:15 !DF9EY>APU25N,4XTECH*,qAO,DF9CP::PA3GUO :hello to you de Manfred{93 Yes, I do use 9k6 on the uplinks :-) Henk, PA3GUO http://www.qsl.net/pa3guo

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AO-51 Status Next Week
by Clint Bradford 04 Jan '08

04 Jan '08

Drew and crew - I have a demo next Wednesday night at 7:14PM Pacific time (DM-14). Will the published "January, 2008" changes to AO-51 ops affect V/U mode that night? Clint Bradford, K6LCS 909-241-7666

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Re: ICOM IC910
by andy thomas 04 Jan '08

04 Jan '08

I'm just setting up my ICOM IC910H for 9k6 and although I'm not yet there, I offer some observations which might be useful. 1. Both the main and sub band data sockets appear to be the the same - ie the manual does not distinguish between them. 2. I have set up a 9k6 connection using a (second hand) SYMEK TNC2H 9k6 tnc. This uses a 180 degree 5 pin DIN at the TNC end and the 8 pin mini DIN at the TRX end. I have used an old connector from a Mouse but had to cut into the plug to hard wire to the earth connector. I've also used an ex-keyboard plug (see below), the advantage is that most of the leads are already soldered. 3. Under Win 2k I use AGWPE and either UISS or AGWPE Term to drive it - need to specify the SYMEK when setting up and leave the default PC-to-TNC speed as 9k6. 4. Setting up the SYMEK was a pig. It has 8 dip switches and according to the manual the 9k6 Pc-to-tnc setting was UP-DOWN-UP. In fact it's DOWN-UP-DOWN while the rest of the dip switches are correctly described - as in the picture on the front of the SYMEK manual (that took me 3 months!!). 5. When set up a quick tx click will see the ptt light up on the tnc and key the radio. Tracking doppler with HR Deluxe - an excellent program BTW -, I can currently rx AO51 and GO32 9k6 data. 6. However I can't find a way to get raw hex. Normally I would use Packcom in DOS but Win 2K doesn't do DOS, I have tried DOSBOX but Packcom doesn't connect to the tnc while in the Box. Anybody know a freeware windows terminal program that can put the tnc into KISS? 7. Current objective is to use UISS to digipeat through GO-32. This will need two leads from the TNC 5 pin DIN, one to the main band to rx and one to the sub band to tx. I have built this but the earth connection pin 2 isn't connected on my ex-keyboard DIN connector lead so will cut into the plug again (using the casing doesn't work). Hope that helps /is of interest 73 de andy G0SFJ ___________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Answers - Got a question? Someone out there knows the answer. Try it now. http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/

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FW: 6m meteor Scatter project (radios&ants)
by Robert Bruninga 04 Jan '08

04 Jan '08

The APRS Meteor Scatter web page has been updated to add the new EmComm Email concept using 6m Meteor Scatter. http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/meteors.html We simply add RX's to each APRS Igate, and the rest of the infrastructure exists. We get not just point A->B MS reliability, but point A=>BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB potential reliability. Meteor paths are very spot to spot specific, but if we multiply the receive sites by dozens, then we improve the throughput potential by dozens. Done. Using surplus 6m 100W ratios all we need is fixed gain antennas. And using just 120 feet of a piece of long wire can give 12 dBi gain in a given direction. Perfect for this application. So dust off that old 6m clunker, connect it to an Igate and lets see what comes in. Notice that since anything received by ANY IGate is not only tagged by that IGate but also shared live to the entire APRS network, we have a built-in performance monitoring system too. The entire infrastructure exists. It's plug-n-play... I know this is not directly satellite related, but it is SPACE and it is EmComm which is just another small slice of the AMSAT pie... Bob, WB4APR > -----Original Message----- > From: tacos-bounces+bruninga=nadn.navy.mil(a)amrad.org > [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf Of Bob Bruninga > Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2007 3:03 PM > To: Paul Rinaldo; tacos AMRAD > Subject: 6m meteor Scatter project. > > The #1 advantage of this current 6m MS proposal is that it > does not attempt 2-way exchange. It takes unique advantage > of these primary issues: > > 1) APRS Email Mission is delivery of SINGLE Email packets. > > 2) A single successful packet results in real-world value, > sender-to ANY human recepient on the planet > > 3) Space-diversity: Receivers at IGates all over the country > all linked in real time via the internet. THis improves > reliability by an order of magnitude. Not just one area of > the sky, between point A and B, but ALL areas of the sky > beteeen A and B-thru-ZZ are potential meteor reflectors. > > 4) Only one packet to one receiver is needed for 100% success. > > 5) Individual testing is one-handed. All IGate receivers are > automomous and listening 24/7. SO any tester only needs to > TRANSMIT his email, and then watch his PC for success. > > It is this unique "emergeny outgoing email" mission, > unique-existing APRS infrastrcutre and existing email engines > that make this new project quite viable and not necessarily > dependent on a critical mass. > > Lets get some on the air listening... > > Bob, Wb4APR > _______________________________________________ > Tacos mailing list > Tacos(a)amrad.org > http://www.amrad.org/mailman/listinfo/tacos >

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A2710S Antenna's problem
by SV1BSX 04 Jan '08

04 Jan '08

Hi to all & HAPPY NEW YEAR, sorry for "off topic", just I wonder if somebody here has any experience with Cuscraft A2710S (5+5 El. V-U antenna). A friend of mine (newcomer on SATs), he used only the VHF part of this antenna as VHF Yagi on a Satellite antenna system, but unfortunately the antenna appears SWR 3:1 ! Because he removed the "Harness" which splits the common Coaxial from TX-RX into the two separate antennas (V & U) in order to use the antenna with independent Coaxial - just for VHF band (the UHF-part is non-connected), I wonder if this "Harness" has to do with antenna matching - even if this coaxial is a simple-usual 50 Ohms cable. Thanks in advance. 73 de Mak, SV1BSX Email: sv1bsx "AT" yahoo .gr URL : http://sv1bsx.50webs.com --- avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean. Virus Database (VPS): 080103-0, 01/03/2008 Tested on: 1/4/2008 03:17:04 avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2008 ALWIL Software. http://www.avast.com

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UTARC balloon Launch 10:00 PM tonight (1/3/08)
by jkelly＠home 03 Jan '08

03 Jan '08

Some may be interested in this: The Amateur Radio Club of the University of Tennessee will be launching a balloon tonight to attempt their goal of sending a balloon across the Atlantic ocean. The launch time is 10:00 EST Jan. 3 (tonight) The balloon will be sending data on 2 meters and will transmit RTTY/CW on 10 mhz once it goes out over the ocean. Freq = 10.1257 Live Information on mission status and updates to any info can be found on the Live Mission Status button and to download a RTTY/CW client that will forward any received data on 10 mhz to their server go to: http://www.spiritofknoxville.com/index.html Jeff KT2K

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ISS
by Andrew Rich 03 Jan '08

03 Jan '08

I have put togther a little page that shows the last hour of ISS traffic on a map and some recent data http://vk4tec.no-ip.org/cgi-bin/iss_track3.cgi refresh is 60 seconds ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Rich VK4TEC

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Re: Satellite mode on IC-821H
by ka8syx2003＠aol.com 03 Jan '08

03 Jan '08

Hi, John -- Yes, fellow AMSAT members have been very helpful since I joined; this is by far the longest thread I've initiated or continued as generally I've been able to learn lots of stuff by just reading the mail that arrives in the inbox. I also wanted to take a line to thank the several other ops who have weighed in to offer advice. Everyone seems to prefer SATPC32 over other applications - I have Scott Hather's Satscape installed on both desktop and laptop and like its presentation. Like SATPC32, it also has the ability to interface with a handful of transceivers and rotors with a Wisp DDE link to adjust Doppler and antennas, so I would like to try it first. I also used WinOrbit 3.6, but that was before I saw a demo of Satscape. I still use WinOrbit when I want a hard copy ephemeris to take outside with me (so far I've only operated on satellites portable) I still will look at SATPC32 and likely will try it out too. John, I certainly didn't mean to imply anything negative regarding our conversation about adjusting for doppler; When I used separate transceivers I always tuned the rig on the higher frequency and left the lower one alone, but like you experienced the problem of greater divergence between up and downlink as a QSO progressed. Every time I think about doppler correction I think of the "one true rule" paper and still cannot wrap my brain around it completely. It may be because I have never watched another op do it all during a pass -- I've never enjoyed or even listened to a live QSO on a HEO bird, only .wav/MP3 files listened to on the internet. So, thanks, everyone. I have a week left before my family returns home -- keep your fingers crossed, maybe I'll be able to pull it all together and see what happens by then. V/r and 73, Ray KA8SYX Jacksonville, FL, EM90ee -----Original Message----- From: John Henderson <jah(a)ec.rr.com> To: Ka8syx2003(a)aol.com Sent: Tue, 1 Jan 2008 7:29 pm Subject: RE: [amsat-bb] Satellite mode on IC-821H Hey Ray, Glad to help…that’s what AMSAT’s about! Surprised you were able to dope anything out of that but I’m glad you did. The reason some of us don’t track but one freq is that the freq in the Doppler.sqf files are the actual xmit/rec freq from the sat. Even tho we put in lat/lon in SATPC32 ( BTW it’s the best) the Doppler correction algorithms do not correct them sufficiently to always be right for your QTH. You will usually find they are off by 2 or 3 khz and you adjust them in the .sqf file til you get it right for your QTH. I choose just to make the xmit zero and work on the receive. You might post a question to the BB and get a better answer or find that I am not doing it the best way. It works for me and I have about all the sats corrected for my location. When you get it up and running turn on the C+ and see how close you are to being on freq. Turn the C+ off and turn by hand and not the difference between the radio and SATPC32 freq tracking. Subtract those and you’ve got the delta for correction. I live on the coast of NC and our locations are similar for the south to north or viv coastal passes that are long and the doppler rate is high in the middle of the pass; that’s where they really are off the most. I am retired and the kids are gone and I really enjoy the sats and computers, etc. I have been a ham since late 50’s in high school and I can say this is the most enjoyable part of ham radio I have found and all the folks on the board are really helpful and most of them ( with some exceptions including yours truly) are pretty knowledgeable. Let me know if have any more ?? about the 821H. It’s a good solid rig. I’ll be listening for you John John Henderson N4NAB 212 Bayside Drive Cape Carteret, NC 28584 252-725-2744 n4nab(a)amsat.org http://www.amsat.org/ ________________________________________________________________________ More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail ! - http://webmail.aol.com

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Re: AO=51 and Yagi Polarization
by clintbrad4d＠earthlink.net 03 Jan '08

03 Jan '08

Don't know what I'm doin' wrong...I regularly hit 30 degree elevation and higher passes alone and for demos in front of clubs - and cannot discern with my ears any benefit when rotating the Arrow. And I still get excited about this...What a wonderful aspect of this marvelous hobby! Clint, K6LCS http;//www.clintbradford.com 909-241-7666 -----Original Message----- From: "Zachary Schrempp" <zach.km7i(a)gmail.com> Subj: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: AO=51 and Yagi Polarization Date: Wed Jan 2, 2008 5:32 pm Size: 1K To: "Garie Halstead K8KFJ" <khyberpass65(a)yahoo.com> cc: "Clint Bradford" <clintbrad4d(a)earthlink.net>, amsat-bb(a)amsat.org I have to agree with Gary. Being able to switch polarization of a linear-polarized Yagi will help, especially at lower elevation angles. At higher elevation angles the signal will be strong enough that it will be discernible on the Arrow regardless of the polarization. However, when the satellite is at lower elevation angles, the ability to switch the polarity so that it matches the signal coming from the satellite will provide a few extra dB of gain, which may be the difference between solid copy and noise. This has been my experience. 73, Zach KM7I On Jan 2, 2008 4:39 PM, Garie Halstead K8KFJ <khyberpass65(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > Clint Bradford <clintbrad4d(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > > > You are talking about the two satellites I regularly access using a > > handheld radio at about 2.5W and either an Arrow dual-band antenna > > or simply a longer duck. > > > > In my experiences, orienting the Arrow 90 degrees in either direction > > gives no discernable improvement on the RX signal: It's clear and > > wonderful no matter how I twist the Arrow. > > My experience has been quite different Clint. There have been times when I've noticed a drop in signal strength, rotated my Arrow antenna 90 degrees, to find the signal strength back up. I had been told earlier by an experienced sat op of the FM birds that there would be shifts in polarization during passes that I would have to correct for. It appeared to me his advice was correct. > > 73, Gary -K8KFJ- > AMSAT #32574 > Sat VUCC #125 > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > --- message truncated ---

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Re: AO=51 and Yagi Polarization
by Clint Bradford 03 Jan '08

03 Jan '08

You are talking about the two satellites I regularly access using a handheld radio at about 2.5W and either an Arrow dual-band antenna or simply a longer duck. In my experiences, orienting the Arrow 90 degrees in either direction gives no discernable improvement on the RX signal: It's clear and wonderful no matter how I twist the Arrow. Do the concepts os LHCP and RHCP come into play when you are trying to access lower elevation passes? AO-51 and SO-50 are so darned easy to hit with minimal equipment...and there is certainly NO "large difference between using RHCP and LHCP when listening to the downlink" as mentioned. Clint Bradford, K6LCS 909-2421-7666 On Jan 2, 2008, at 11:14 AM, amsat-bb-request(a)amsat.org wrote: > ...there can be a large difference between using RHCP and LHCP > when listening to the downlink. That is one of the resons for at > lot of > us to have the possibility to switch between RHCP and LHCP...

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Sat Mode on IC-821
by Al Ozias 02 Jan '08

02 Jan '08

I have used my IC-821 in the Satellite mode with no problems but mostly use the normal mode with Uni_Trac controlling the transceiver Doppler. Contact me at alozias(a)att.net if someone with more routine experience using the Satellite mode fails to assist you. Al Ozias - N7EQF

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ISS power output ?
by Andrew Rich 02 Jan '08

02 Jan '08

Does anyone know what power the ISS is running on 145.825 ? I see it is a D700, perhaps on 5 watts ? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Rich VK4TEC vk4tec(a)people.net.au http://www.tech-software.net

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Satellite mode on IC-821H
by ka8syx2003＠aol.com 02 Jan '08

02 Jan '08

Hi, Everyone -- Can?anyone who owns and uses an Icom 821H on satellites summarize for me how to put it into Sat mode and operate it in Sat mode?? I've had mine for several months, but have yet to use it for anything but listening to the odd pass of AO-7 or VO-52.? Maybe it's me, but I find the manual almost incomprehensible.? Other brands' documentation doesn't make me scratch my head like Icom's manuals, and the 821H isn't the only piece of gear of theirs I own, so I don't think that I'm just being dense. I also picked up a serial adapter on eBay for the CI-V I/O port on my rig with the idea of using my laptop to make Satscape 2.-something run my Doppler, but the manual is also too cryptic about this for me to figure it out.? Do I run the risk of damaging anything in either the laptop or the rig by just trial and error to figure it all out? Thanks very much! Perplexed, and 73, Ray KA8SYX Jacksonville, FL EM90ee ________________________________________________________________________ More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail ! - http://webmail.aol.com

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Egg beater vs Quadrifilars
by Dave Guimont 02 Jan '08

02 Jan '08

Not to belabor the subject, but I had an RF engineer friend who had access to some very sophisticated signal measuring equipment, and we did many actual signal receive comparisons on several satellites...with both antennas Several leos and on AO40. We used coax switching for an immediate comparison, and the quadrifilar was superior.... Easy and inexpensive to build... See quadfilxxxxx on: http://home.san.rr.com/doguimont/uploads With detailed measurements for 2M, 435 and wx satellites....I scaled one for 2.4 gig feed on a 36" dish, and it worked very well, but not sure it was fully illuminated.... 73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1(a)san.rr.com Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E...

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ICOM 910H
by Andrew Rich 02 Jan '08

02 Jan '08

Looking at an ICOM 910 H Does it work as two independant radios ? Can I be picking up ISS on 145.825 FM AFSK and also pick up AO-51 on 435.225 MHZ 9k6 ? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Rich VK4TEC vk4tec(a)people.net.au http://www.tech-software.net

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AO7b, FL-Brasil
by Dr. Jay Garlitz 02 Jan '08

02 Jan '08

I finally made an AO7b contact with PY4AJ in grid GH70un. I am on the fringes of the footprint with a few other stations in the south of Brasil/Northern Argentina and will report more success. Others deep in the SE might have a chance as I am in North Central Florida not far from Georgia. Check your coordinates for two observers. E-mail me at drjay(a)gatordental.com for more details. 73, Jay, AA4FL

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Automated station using PERL
by Andrew Rich 02 Jan '08

02 Jan '08

I have made a script that asks predict where GO-32 is. It runs once a second. It works out if it has to turn off the battery charger and engage the radio. The script also uses a file to simulate rotator position (till I get the hardware setup). It makes a diciscion to turn on and off any of 8 relays, hanging off the parrallel port. (Power ON/OFF , Rotator CW/CCW) I figured I have to have some sort of computer controlling the rotators, so push the process control back to the PC instead of the outboard controller. In this case, any old A/D would do for the rotator sense. Next after that will be frequency control. That is the beauty of LINUX, it is a one stop shop. -------------------------------------------------------------- sat_controller.pl ---------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------- #!/usr/bin/perl # # sat_controller.pl # # Andrew Rich VK4TEC - January 2008; # # Turn on and off power to rack and control a rotator # use Socket; my $port = 1210; my ($predict_server, $satellite); while () { open (sat,"/maint/scripts/sat_pwr_control.sat"); while (<sat>) { chop; $satellite = $_; } close (sat); # # Ask predict where the satellite is # $predict_server = "localhost"; my ($d1, $d2, $d3, $d4, $rawserver) = gethostbyname($predict_server); my $serveraddr = pack("Sna4x8", 2, $port, $rawserver); my $prototype = getprotobyname('udp'); socket(SOCKET,2,SOCK_DGRAM,$prototype) || die("No Socket\n"); $| = 1; # no buffering $SIG{ALRM} = \&time_out; #alarm(10); # Force exit if no response from server print "Satellite: $satellite\n"; send(SOCKET, "GET_SAT $satellite\0" , 0 , $serveraddr) or die("UDP send failed $!\n"); my $server_response = ''; # required by recv function recv(SOCKET, $server_response, 100, 0) or die "UDP recv failed $!\n"; my ($name, $lon, $lat, $az, $el, $aos_seconds, $foot) = split /\n/, $server_response; my $aos_time_date = gmtime($aos_seconds); close(SOCKET); print "Azimuth: $az\n"; print "Elevation: $el\n"; # # Work out if we need to power up the rack # if ($el =~ m/-/) { #system ("/maint/scripts/lptout 128"); print "Power Relay: OFF\n"; } else { #system ("/maint/scripts/lptout 64"); print "Power Relay: ON\n"; } # # Turn a rotator # open (rot_pos_file , "/maint/scripts/sat_controller.pos"); while (<rot_pos_file>) { $rotpos = $_; } close (rot_pos); print "ROT_POS: $rotpos\n"; $diff = $rotpos - $az; print "DIFF: $diff\n"; if ($diff > 5) { if ($diff =~ m/-/) { system ("/maint/scripts/lptout 1"); print "MOTOR: CW\n"; $rotpos = $rotpos +5; open (rot_pos , "> /maint/scripts/sat_controller.pos"); print rot_pos $rotpos; close (rot_pos_file); } else { system ("/maint/scripts/lptout 2"); print "MOTOR: CCW\n"; $rotpos = $rotpos -5; open (rot_pos_file , "> /maint/scripts/sat_controller.pos"); print rot_pos_file $rotpos; close (rot_pos_file); } } sleep 1; system ("/maint/scripts/lptout 0"); print "\n"; sleep 1; } sub time_out { die "Server not responding for satellite $satellite\n"; } ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Rich VK4TEC vk4tec(a)people.net.au http://www.tech-software.net

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Re: Making your own rotator controller
by Henk, PA3GUO 02 Jan '08

02 Jan '08

Hi Andrew, Not exactly an answer to your question, but still: Some years (~1995..1996) ago I built my own tracker as well. Was the time when the LVB trackers etc were not available. Only the expensive Kansas City tracker (expensive). My system is still operational. Bertus, PE1KEH, wrote in PASCAL the tracking SW (input: kepler, output: sat position). I added to that the controlling of the rotors. All corrections mentioned below (overshoot etc) are done in PASCAL in the PC. That sends and integer value to the ST6 (like your PIC) which does only one thing extra: check if the integer exceeds the allowed maximum right or left position (in case max left is at 4.5V where your range maybe 0..5V). Items to consider next to straight degrees2voltage conversion: - overshoot (when you stop, the rotor actually moved still a tiny bit) - thresholds (to avoid oscillation & to much shaking) 8 bits give enough accuracy, I used a pot.meter to convert the voltage of the rotor voltage from eg 0..20V down to 0..5V. http://home.vianetworks.nl/users/hamoen/pa3guo/zb_rtr_ctrl.html (includes my poor PASCAL routines) Of course it took a terrible amount of effort/time, which I had only back then, so today I would buy an LVB tracker :-) Still - this was one of the most satisfying projects I ever did. Seeying you home-made system following the bright ISS in the darkness of the night is soooo cool ! Have fun & success Henk, PA3GUO http://www.qsl.net/pa3guo

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Re: 70cm Yagi and AO-51
by OZ1MY 01 Jan '08

01 Jan '08

Hi Andrew, That is exactly to be expected. 435.300 MHz is RHCP and 435.150 MHz is LHCP. Happy New Year 73 OZ1MY Ib ----- Original Message ----- From: "Andrew Rich" <vk4tec(a)people.net.au> To: "Amsat-Bb@Amsat. Org" <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Sent: Tuesday, January 01, 2008 10:12 AM Subject: [amsat-bb] 70cm Yagi and AO-51 > Gudday > > I tried a crossed offset yagi on the one boom. > > When I threw just one part of the yagi on the boom, AO-51 was really good, > > Now I am finding that with the second yagi on the boom I am seeing a big > drop between 435.300 and 435.150 voice / data. > > I think I might remove the second yagi from the common boom and add it to a > new seperate boom > > Comments ? > > I think I am getting -20db due to the cross polar RHCP LHCP with the data > > The voice is great , the data is down in the mud > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > Andrew Rich VK4TEC > vk4tec(a)people.net.au > http://www.tech-software.net > > > _______________________________________________ > 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: 70cm Yagi and AO-51
by OZ1MY 01 Jan '08

01 Jan '08

Hi again Andrew, Comments after your text. 73 OZ1MY Ib ----- Original Message ----- From: "Andrew Rich" <vk4tec(a)people.net.au> To: "OZ1MY" <oz1my(a)privat.dk>; "Amsat-Bb@Amsat. Org" <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Sent: Tuesday, January 01, 2008 4:54 PM Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] 70cm Yagi and AO-51 > If I have this correct. > > 1. LHCP recieved on a RHCP can knock your signal down by some 20dB OZ1MY: In theory it will be compleately attenuatet - in practice more like you say. > 2. LHCP matched with LHCP will result in a good signal. OZ1MY: Yes > > So how does a linear antenna equate when receiving a circular signal ? OZ1MY: In theory you loose 3 dB, which is not very much. > > And the other way around, a circular receiving a linear signal ? > OZ1MY: Same as above. > > BUT - all this is theory :-) For AO-51 the attitude of the satellite and the antennas in combination are fairly stabel, 435.300 MHz RHCP and 435.150 MHz LHCP. SO-50 have linear antennas on both up and downlink. In spite of that there can be a large difference between using RHCP and LHCP when listening to the downlink. That is one of the resons for at lot of us to have the possibility to switch between RHCP and LHCP. Even satellites with RHCP antennas may change polarity if the attitude of the satellite is not right. I can send you an article about it if you are interested. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > Andrew Rich VK4TEC > >

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New year
by CANDEBAT Christophe F1MOJ 01 Jan '08

01 Jan '08

Happy new year to all AMSAT members and all. Be well, be happy, be healthy, and be prosperous in 2008. 73 F1MOJ Christophe AMSAT-France Chairman

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Re: mode J filter / Comet CF416c
by K & R Yoksh 01 Jan '08

01 Jan '08

Thanks for all of the replies, both on and off the list. Happy New Year to all! 73, Kyle Yoksh K0KN Olathe, Kansas

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Detailed Information on Telemetry
by John Henderson 01 Jan '08

01 Jan '08

Happy New Year to the folks on the BB, Mike Rupprecht and others have given me quite a bit of info on understanding the telemetry from AO-16, but I am interested in learning more about the details of the raw info ( I understand the hex data) and what the acronyms are like MBL, etc. Can any one point me to a good source and tell me how much detail is in the digital book in the AMSAT book Store? Thanks and Best 73 John John Henderson N4NAB 212 Bayside Drive Cape Carteret, NC 28584 252-725-2744 <mailto:[email protected]> n4nab(a)amsat.org <http://www.amsat.org/> http://www.amsat.org/

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70cm Yagi and AO-51
by Andrew Rich 01 Jan '08

01 Jan '08

Gudday I tried a crossed offset yagi on the one boom. When I threw just one part of the yagi on the boom, AO-51 was really good, Now I am finding that with the second yagi on the boom I am seeing a big drop between 435.300 and 435.150 voice / data. I think I might remove the second yagi from the common boom and add it to a new seperate boom Comments ? I think I am getting -20db due to the cross polar RHCP LHCP with the data The voice is great , the data is down in the mud ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Rich VK4TEC vk4tec(a)people.net.au http://www.tech-software.net

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Re: Wishing you a fantastic 2008 !
by John Marranca, Jr 31 Dec '07

31 Dec '07

Henk and All: I second that! 2007 has been a good year for me personally, professionally, and avocationally. It has been a privilege to meet so many fine people that enjoy these satellites as we do. Everyone I have met in AMSAT, and via Satellite has exemplified what it means to be a ham...in the true original spirit of Amateur Radio. Be well, be happy, be healthy, and be prosperous in 2008 my friends. John KB2HSH -- _______________________________ John Marranca, Jr PBX Technician/Shop Steward CWA Local 1122 BN Systems, Inc Orchard Park, NY (716)972-2006

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Re: Dont loose the north
by Tom Clark, K3IO 31 Dec '07

31 Dec '07

Jim, ZL1TYF is correct in his interpretation. My QTH is about 35 km from BWI (Baltimore-Washington Int'l) airport and is also on the Boston/NYC/Philly/Washington/Atlanta/Miami east-coast corridor, so a lot of high altitude planes pass overhead, These show up as a thin line (cabin lights) and dots (wingtip beacons). The bright curving traces are from planes landing or taking off from BWI. The Aurora animated GIF, you will see one BWI plane whose track split between two of the individual frames. In these pictures, the shutter was held open for 88 seconds, and then 2 seconds of dead-time allowed for the JPEG frame to be written to the CF card memory, so a new frame began every 90 seconds. The two long exposure star trail photos were made by stacking a number of these photos (140 for the non-aurora picture), each one on top of the previous frame. The stacking algorithm involved a pixel-by-pixel search. If the new pixel was brighter than the old one, then the new pixel was saved. If not, the the older, fainter pixel was kept. This is to be contrasted with the normal "open the shutter for an hour or two" scheme because the black background (due to stray skylight and sensor noise) doesn't "blow up". To do this processing, I used Max Lyon's Image Stacker software (http://www.tawbaware.com/imgstack.htm). If you view the 4-hour "140" picture at maximum resolution (http://www.pbase.com/tomcat/image/5186538/original.jpg), you will see that the star trail lines are dashed, due to the 88/2 second timing. The earth did rotate under the stares during the 2 second gap! If you look at this picture you will notice a gap about 2/3 of the way along each arc. This is due to the Canon D60 I was using at the time running out of battery power. It took me a few minutes to realize that the pictures had stopped. The reason the 4-hour picture was restricted to 140 JPEG frames is because, at the time, the biggest CF card I had was 256 MBytes in size. Although the camera produced 6 MPixel images, the individual frames were only ~1.5 MBytes because the JPEG compression (quite similar to ZIP & RAR) squeezed a lot of black pixels down to only a few bytes! (I really need to try a long overnight picture with my new 40D (thanks, Santa) camera equipped with a huge 8 GByte CF card.)

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Wishing you a fantastic 2008 !
by Henk, PA3GUO 31 Dec '07

31 Dec '07

Dear friends, Here in Europe we have about 6 hours left in 2007. Let me take to opportunity to thank you all for the fun we had together this year with our beloved satellites. And to all of you: a fantastic 2008 ! 73's Henk Hamoen, PA3GUO

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Re: Dont loose the north
by Tom Clark, K3IO 31 Dec '07

31 Dec '07

With all this discussion about Polaris, I thought you might find a couple of photos I took back in 2002 that shows you that the earth's spin axis is close to, but not precisely at Alpha UMi. Take a look at http://www.pbase.com/tomcat/aurora. The right-hand picture (http://www.pbase.com/tomcat/image/5186538)shows how the stars move over about 4 hours. The star nearest the center of the arcs is Polaris; if it was precisely at the pole, then the arc would have been a point. You may also find the animated GIF photos of a (relatively) rare low-latitude (Maryland) Aurora interesting. 73 & Happy New Year -- Tom

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Making your own rotator controller
by Andrew Rich 31 Dec '07

31 Dec '07

A friend of mine is struggling with antenna rotator controllers, so I would like to help out and build one for the both of us. I did some experiementing a while back, where I sent a PIC chip a three digit azimuth value. The code I wrote turned the "123" into a binary 8 bit value. This was then compared with the position (or ADC voltage) of a PIC. I am wondering if it might be simpler to convert the three digit value that comes from say predict under linux, to an 8 bit number before sending it to the PIC. I often give it a start character, such as a "#" So I would be sending "#A" (decimal 10) to the PIC instead of having to convert "#010" in the PIC itself Comments ? Experiences ? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Rich VK4TEC vk4tec(a)people.net.au http://www.tech-software.net

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KiwiSAT Support
by Terry Carrell 31 Dec '07

31 Dec '07

Update! It has been exciting to write personally to all who responded so positively to our call for help with progressing KiwiSAT to the flight-ready completion status. While we have yet to reach our funding target the help received has been quite tremendous. Encouragingly the donations have been both large and small, all gratefully received. It is the combination of number and quality of assistance which is so rewarding way down here in the South Pacific. KiwiSAT will carry the names and callsigns of all who contribute; this is a way of making sure you can get into space. From an earlier activity I know that my name is in orbit, I have the photo proof proudly displayed in my shack. If you would like to have your name on that list just visit our funding page at http://kiwisat.org/funding.html . Over the next few days we at AMSAT-ZL will be working to bring the latest news of our efforts to you all via our www.kiwisat.org site. We'll update the donations information and bring you some new pictures. The hope is that a regular visit will prove interesting to all involved. If you are wondering about the funding process perhaps I should point out that we have broken this down into three phases. Firstly we want to complete the basic unit to flight-ready status. The second phase is to populate the surface with solar cells. This process has been identified and the costs isolated. We already have a third of our requirements in a special account ring-fenced for this purpose. A further source of funding for this phase has been identified and will be used in due course. Lastly, the launch. Again we have identified two sponsors and are firm in the understanding that there is no way that KiwiSAT will sit on a shelf - it will FLY! By the way, there are no administration costs associated with KiwiSAT, all meeting and other expenses being paid from our own pockets. Its great to be directly involved after many years of being just a user and silent supporter in the Amateur Satellite Service. It's an interest I have held since OSCAR-I gave out its first HI - and its not just the satellites that have increased in complexity, what I wouldn't have given to have the station I now use back in those early days, hand made predictions, manual data collection, make-shift audio systems - all to collect the most basic of data. Best wishes to all for a healthy and successful 2008. 73, Terry, ZL3QL - President AMSAT-ZL (AMSAT LM166)

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Disregard - question on GPredict
by Ed Tump 31 Dec '07

31 Dec '07

Folks, Just disregard my last email, I figured it out. Ed

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Re: XPLANET and XEARTH
by Andrew Rich 31 Dec '07

31 Dec '07

I got GPREDICT going instead What a program ! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Rich VK4TEC vk4tec(a)people.net.au <mailto:[email protected]> http://www.tech-software.net -----Original Message----- From: John Heaton [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, 31 December 2007 5:35 AM To: vk4tec(a)people.net.au Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] XPLANET and XEARTH -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On 30 Dec 2007, at 17:27, Andrew Rich wrote: > How do I get Predict and earthtrack to work ? First the command options for xplanet have changed over the years, and earthtrack may not have kept in step. I had a play around with xplanet running on its own and it can produce similar graphics to the xplanet/predict combination. http://www.phers.co.uk/content/view/69/76/ John -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.3 (Darwin) iD8DBQFHd/LuDwhbGQHPUt0RAoztAJ44FWH63xyDGvqubd8XNrgt+GML0gCfZYsh wQ7pg1WLsKZIUO1f2Lp4dPQ= =XNQC -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Users of GPredict
by Ed Tump 31 Dec '07

31 Dec '07

Folks, Anyone using this on Windows? If so how did you get it installed? 73, Ed KC9GWK Grid EN52 AmSat Member

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Re: broadcast FM
by Scott Smith 30 Dec '07

30 Dec '07

Hi, thanks to all the help from everyone. Robin i will take your advice and check first for local interference. Ron, i have been so busy teaching (guitar) that i've not had time. After the New Year i hope to spend more time to myself and be on the satellite. In the meantime.. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year. de ve6itv Scott

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Extra OLPC?
by Jeff Kelly 30 Dec '07

30 Dec '07

If you have an extra OLPC for sale I would be interested in it. Jeff KT2K

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SKN via Satellite
by John Marranca, Jr 30 Dec '07

30 Dec '07

Happy New Year!!! Just a query to the AMSAT-BB members regarding Straight Key Night... Anyone working some old fashioned CW on New Years' ??? John KB2HSH -- _______________________________ John Marranca, Jr PBX Technician/Shop Steward CWA Local 1122 BN Systems, Inc Orchard Park, NY (716)972-2006

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Re: now, 1.5 Lptops Per Child : power options?
by Bob Bruninga 30 Dec '07

30 Dec '07

> What alternative power options are being > provided with the OLPCs? > Hand crank? Solar panel? foot pedal? Only a universal wall-wart. 100-250 V input gives 1.2 amps out at 12 volts. bob

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XPLANET and XEARTH
by Andrew Rich 30 Dec '07

30 Dec '07

It has been a while. How do I get Predict and earthtrack to work ? I have predict running as a server. I see xearth and xplanet as background image options, and I can bring up either. I thought running earthtrack2 -c ISS -u 15 -h localhost , bought up a new window ? Ideas ? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Rich VK4TEC vk4tec(a)people.net.au http://www.tech-software.net

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broadcast FM
by Scott Smith 30 Dec '07

30 Dec '07

Hi, ,i received a FM broadcast kit for Christmas, the power output is "100mW". If i installed an external antenna (for range, a couple of blocks) would i be infringing on any regulations?. Any help appreciated. 73 de ve6itv Scott

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one laptop per child
by Mr Jeffrey L Ross 30 Dec '07

30 Dec '07

got mine also, happy here. lot to learn about it though, security , home networking, then pass it down to the child. hi. kc8gkf

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Novel driven element design by VK3ZUQ (silent key)
by Kevin Forbes 30 Dec '07

30 Dec '07

Hi folks, Bruce Pritchard has been a silent key for a few years now, but he was a thinking man, and I thought I might share with you on this list, something he made me send out on packet years ago. Bruce designed a very interesting UHF driven element for yagi use. Bruce's callsign was VK3ZUQ. He was also at one time the Champion fly fisherman in the ACT. Bruce served in the armed forces in New Guinea during WW2, narrowly avoiding obliteration, while driving a fully loaded fuel truck that was straffed by a Japanese Zero. After the war he spent time in the Antarctic research teams, spending time on Heard Island. Bruce was for a time the weather man at Maralinga in South Australia, during several atomic bomb tests. The theory and math bits to enable you to build this design for any frequency are included. http://www.qsl.net/vk3ukf/VK3ZUQ_ANTENNA.JPG Thanks for reading, all the best for the New Year. VK3UKF. _________________________________________________________________ It's simple! Sell your car for just $30 at CarPoint.com.au http://a.ninemsn.com.au/b.aspx?URL=http%3A%2F%2Fsecure%2Dau%2Eimrworldwide%…

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How to calibrate the azimuth angle?
by Chiu-Teng Tsai 30 Dec '07

30 Dec '07

Dear all, I am Chiu-Teng Tsai (BM6ERA) from Taiwan. Now we are building a mobile ground station. One of our problem is how to calibrate the azimuth angle. Use compass only, or any better solution? Thanks for your help! Best regards, Chiu-Teng Tsai

18 24

now, 1.5 Lptops Per Child
by Bob Bruninga 30 Dec '07

30 Dec '07

> got our two OLPC's today on the door step. > Son already found some source code and a game > and a complier or interpreter built-in. > I have not looked yet to see what code it was... Also found it has an audio Oscilloscope built in. with both AC and DC settings. Oh, and a Camera as well as a ranging device. Apparently you can range from one OLPC to another to measure distance. I assume it is accoustic... > Ordered another one (for me), since the deal > runs through tomorrow. The 2 kids will take > our first two off to school, so I just > realized I needed another one for me.... > The 18/20 year old kids seemed to like them > (I was hoping they would ignore them and leave > them for me to play with)... > > Can't wait to see what the ham radio creative > minds come up with for these things. Bob, Wb4APR

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Re: RF Modules /Delfi
by Wouter Jan Ubbels 30 Dec '07

30 Dec '07

Hi John, David, did not know we had that "one year" quote on our website... will ask the website guy to change that:) Our planned orbit has 630km altitude, and as David points out, the satellite might last there for decades! And hopefully it will still work then, although we have designed the satellite to last for one year only (that's where the one year quote on the website comes from I guess), any time longer would be a bonus! Right now, the team is gearing up towards the launch, keep an eye on the website for updates. 73 Wouter Jan Ubbels PE4WJ

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Predict question
by Andrew Rich 30 Dec '07

30 Dec '07

I ran a script #!/bin/sh wget -qr www.celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/amateur.txt -O amateur.txt wget -qr www.celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/visual.txt -O visual.txt wget -qr www.celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/cubesat.txt -O cubesat.txt /usr/bin/predict -u amateur.txt visual.txt cubesat.txt But it was only when I stopped the server I had running, and restarted it that the keps were used. I had a 5 degree difference between NOVA and predict. When I restarted predict, then predict matched NOVA. Is there a way to hit predict on the fly , or does a server re-start have to be carried out ? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Rich VK4TEC

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Re: Rf Modules
by John Marranca, Jr 30 Dec '07

30 Dec '07

>From Delfi's website: How long will the Delfi-C3 be in orbit? The drawback of the altitude at which the satellite will fly is the decay of the orbit. Due to atmospheric drag the satellite will lose energy, and thus altitude, quite rapidly. For the Delfi-C3 a lifetime of about one year is expected. Cheers. John KB2HSH -- _______________________________ John Marranca, Jr PBX Technician/Shop Steward CWA Local 1122 BN Systems, Inc Orchard Park, NY (716)972-2006

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Re: RF Modules /Delfi
by G0MRF＠aol.com 30 Dec '07

30 Dec '07

Hi John. Delfi 3C will be as tempoary as anything at 700km. I think the orbit decay is several decades. The problem as always will be radiation and power supply. Hopefully not carring batteries will mean a long, but daylight only, life for the delfi spacecraft. Best Wishes David G0MRF In a message dated 30/12/2007 00:48:29 GMT Standard Time, KB2HSH(a)amsat.org writes: Think ANDE-1...or the upcoming Delfi-3 which is another temporary satellite. Anyway...what if partnerships with any of the Military Academies...or Universities with programs similar to this (such as Kentucky State's KySat Project) could be worked out? AMSAT ideas or concepts and build team partnerships with students, etc...but with a chance for greater funding available for a potential launch? Food for thought.... John KB2HSH

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Magnetic Sail
by Mike Lemons 30 Dec '07

30 Dec '07

I was trying to think of an inexpensive way to get from LEO to HEO when I came up with the idea of using electricity to move the satellite like an electric motor. The satellite is moving through the Earth's magnetic field, so if you put a big coil on it, you should be able to time the current through the coil in order to get the satellite to move in whatever direction that you want. Then, I found that some one had already thought of it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_sail Quoting: "By varying the magnetic sail's field strength over the course of its orbit, a magnetic sail can give itself a "perigee kick" raising the altitude of its orbit's apogee." In the simplest mode, you would energize the field to repel from the earth's pole as you pass over it. In this form of magnetic levitation, the satellite is going to want to flip over. You could compensate for this by having two coils extended on moment arms in a shallow "V" angle. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihedral This would prevent roll. You would need two more "wings" at a 90 degree angle to control for yaw. You might be able to get away with only three wings 120 degrees apart. I don't know how long it would take to get to HEO. That would depend on how strong of a field you could produce over how big of an area. It would work better with a lighter craft. This method of propulsion has the potential for reducing the cost of getting commercial satellites into higher orbits. Another advantage is that you can reverse the process to de-orbit your satellite at end of life. This method of propulsion might work to take you to another planet, too. It seems to me that NASA would be interested in seeing if this works. I for one wish that NASA would do more proof of concept experiments like this with alternate methods of spacecraft propulsion.

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ANS-364 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by JoAnne Maenpaa 30 Dec '07

30 Dec '07

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-364 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: * 2008 Straight Key Night on OSCAR in Memory of ex-JA1ANG * AMSAT Orbital Classroom Concept Study Announced * KiwiSAT Status Update From New Zealand * AMSAT Awards * ARISS Status Report for the Week of December 24, 2007 * ANDE Satellite De-Orbits SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-364.01 2008 Straight Key Night on OSCAR in Memory of ex-JA1ANG AMSAT News Service Bulletin 364.01 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 30, 2007 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-364.01 You are cordially invited to take part in Straight Key Night on OSCAR 2008, sponsored by AMSAT for all radio amateurs throughout the world. This year's event will be held in memory of Haruo (Harry) Yoneda, ex-JA1ANG, a past AMSAT Director and co-founder of JAMSAT. Harry was also a keen CW operator and a past member of the First Class CW Operators Club (FOC). Participating in OSCAR SKN is fun and simple. No scoring and no need to send in a log. Just operate CW through any OSCAR, using a straight hand key, at any time between 0000 and 2400 UTC on January 1, 2008. In keeping with the friendly nature of this event, all participants are encouraged to nominate someone they worked for Best Fist. Your nominee need not have the best fist you heard, just the best of those you worked. Please send your nomination to W2RS at w2rs(a)amsat.org. Those nominated will be recognized in an AMSAT News Service bulletin, and in The AMSAT Journal. [ANS thanks Ray, W2RS for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-364.02 AMSAT Orbital Classroom Concept Study Announced AMSAT News Service Bulletin 364.02 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 30, 2007 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-364.02 Stefan, VE4NSA has been asked to organize and coordinate an amateur radio space communications training concept called the "Orbital Classroom". Stefan said, "Here is an opporturnity for AMSAT members to voice their needs for education. We are listening and working on this." Stefan asks interested AMSAT members to send him your answers to these questions via e-mail (ve4nsa(a)amsat.org). 1. Would you be interested in attending pre-conference courses and workshops as part of the annual meeting or at other venues? 2. Would you be willing to pay a registration fee that would cover course material, instructor cost etc.? 3. Would you be interested in receiving a certificate for ongoing education as it relates to amateur radio and satellites? 4. What topics would you like to see taught at such courses? 5. Would you be willing in helping to organize and facilitate courses (you don't have to teach for this one, just help the instructor and take care of registration, etc)? 6. Would you be willing to teach a course and if yes, on which topics? Stefan concludes, "That's a start and hopefully it sparks your interest as a participant, facilitator or instructor. As always, your opinion counts and even more your help is greatly appreciated." [ANS thanks Stefan, VE4NSA for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-364.03 KiwiSAT Status Update From New Zealand AMSAT News Service Bulletin 364.03 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 30, 2007 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-364.03 This week Terry, ZL3QL, President AMSAT-ZL, provided AMSAT members with a summary of the New Zealand KiwiSAT project. KiwiSAT is a Microsat scheduled for launch into a LEO, will carry FM and Linear transponders with inputs on 70 cm & 23 cm - outputting on 2 meters. A unique feature will be the on-board Small Satellite Attitude Control scientific experiment. It will also carry a special environmental global warming scientific unit. Over the years AMSAT-ZL has contributed some $10,000 to Phase 3 and UoSAT programs. Now they are getting on with completing KiwiSAT for your amateur radio enjoyment. ( See http://www.kiwisat.org ) Terry says, "We want this to be a truly radio amateur satellite and while we could get some extra sponsorship, which we will do for the launch, the satellite itself needs to be completed using amateur radio resources and amateur radio money. So far our investment is some US$15,000 cash and perhaps US$100,000 in time and effort. We have a further US$12,000 in the bank reserved towards the cost of the solar cells which are estimated to cost US$30,000." The KiwiSAT team spends a lot of time looking for economy without engineering compromise thus this is a real cost effective satellite. They have abandoned purchasing ready made modules and opted for self design and construction. In some areas we have had to use professional services such as SMD handing which is limited by our standard ham- shack tools and techniques. However we have made much of the test equipment ourselves - including the thermal vacuum chamber. To finish the satellite to flight-ready status, (less solar cells) KiwiSAT needs to raise about $10,000, which is about what we have given to other projects. So if you agree that its pay-back time, and you like what they are doing, perhaps you might like to contribute to this venture into space. You can contribute large or small, direct or via PayPal, just visit our informative website at http://www.kiwisat.org, all help is greatly appreciated. Be assured your contribution will be thankfully received and faithfully applied. Terry concludes,"Our grateful thanks to those who have already made a commitment to supporting this project. What a great time to help and what a great Yuletide gift to a worthy cause." [ANS thanks Terry, ZL3QL for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-364.04 AMSAT Awards AMSAT News Service Bulletin 364.04 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 30, 2007 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-364.04 Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director Contests and Awards has issued the last awards for 2007. 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: Jeremy Ramirez KB9QIC Charles Doolittle N1SPX Jose Vitor Toste CU3EQ AMSAT Communication Achievement Award John Henderson N4NAB, #456 Charles Doolittle N1SPX, #457 South Africa AMSAT Communication Achievement Award John Henderson N4NAB, US115 Charles Doolittle N1SPX, US116 To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org. [ANS thanks Bruce, KK5DO for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-364.05 ARISS Status Report for the Week of December 24, 2007 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 364.05 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 30, 2007 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-364.05 1. ARISS Contact with Russian School The ARISS contact was not successful with the 15 Korolev City School in Korolev, Russia on Thursday, December 27 and will be rescheduled. Fifth graders will speak with flight engineer Yuri Makenchenko, RK3DUP. 2. ARISS International Team Meeting Held The monthly ARISS teleconference was held on Tuesday, December 18. The topics discussed included the 2008 Face to Face Meeting to be held in Moscow, Russia, the progress being made on SuitSat-2 and the Kenwood radio software reload status. Minutes will be posted to the ARISS Web site in the near future. 3. Astronaut Gives Talk on ARISS at AMRASE Conference The first AMRASE International Aerospace Research Conference was held on December 8 in Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian astronaut Marcos Pontes was one of the speakers at the meeting. Pontes gave a presentation on his training and his participation in the Centenario Mission onboard the ISS. He also talked about the importance the ARISS program plays in the education of youth. See: http://www.amrase.org/english.html [ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-364.06 ANDE Satellite De-Orbits AMSAT News Service Bulletin 364.06 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 30, 2007 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-364.06 Henk, PA3GUO reminds everyone of the special ANDE de-Orbit AWARD available for everyone who makes a QSO via ANDE or receives telemetry during its final days in space. Bob, WB4APR, will set the official date/time of de-orbit. E-mail a copy of your final ANDE packets to Henk at pa3guo(a)amsat.org. ANDE was no longer copied on December 25, 2007. Mike, DK3WN reported the last packet from ANDE was received by by JA0CAW on December 24, 2007 at 22:27 UTC: Fm ANDE-1 To APRS1 Via SGATE <UI pid=F0 Len=72 >[22:27:08] :BLN1ANDE :ANDE-1 only wakes up 1 of evry 15s for users. Pse conserve. Fm ANDE-1 To BEACON <UI pid=F0 Len=39 >[22:27:43] T#001,145,132,135,135,137,10101111,000 [ANS thanks Henk, PA3GUO and Mike, DK3WN 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. 73, This week's ANS Editor, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM K9JKM at amsat dot org

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Re: RF Modules
by John Marranca, Jr 30 Dec '07

30 Dec '07

Happy New Year Everyone: I think it was made pretty clear in the last incarnation of this discussion that the real difficulty is not in the build, but in the delivery. VK4TEC has a good idea/concept: A simpler trasceiver. I agree. It goes along in spirit with the fact that Oscar 1 was built for $26 in 1961 (ARRL; "The Radio Amateur's Satellite Handbook, Page 1-6). But now imagine today...with a $26 satellite...paying n-thousands of dollars to launch it. Perhaps a venue that might be exploited if it hasn't already, is asking NASA if it is possible to bring one up with them when a Shuttle goes to the ISS. The problem that I see with that is that the orbit is WAY TOO LOW for that bird to be practical for very long. Think ANDE-1...or the upcoming Delfi-3 which is another temporary satellite. Anyway...what if partnerships with any of the Military Academies...or Universities with programs similar to this (such as Kentucky State's KySat Project) could be worked out? AMSAT ideas or concepts and build team partnerships with students, etc...but with a chance for greater funding available for a potential launch? Food for thought.... John KB2HSH -- _______________________________ John Marranca, Jr PBX Technician/Shop Steward CWA Local 1122 BN Systems, Inc Orchard Park, NY (716)972-2006

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RF Modules
by Andrew Rich 29 Dec '07

29 Dec '07

I wonder if anyone has consdered RF modules for a satellite. I have been playing with a module called "Easy Radio" It takes care of the pre-amble, bit flipping and CRC. Freq = 433.900 MHz They put out in the order of mW, but I put a 30 watt amp on the end and wow ! The data burst is 180 characters max, and it takes around 25ms to send. These are cheap, they cost around $80 for a full data transciever. It would eliminate a whole lot of stuff on a board. I used them for a glider tracker. Anyway here are some photos of what I am talking about. http://www.tech-software.net/glider_tx.php ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Rich VK4TEC

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ANDE: results of the de-orbit Event & AWARD details
by Henk, PA3GUO 29 Dec '07

29 Dec '07

Dear all, ANDE (NO-61) has de-orbited last week - after spending ~370 days in space. During its short life many radio amateurs used the satellite. Most of them found it initially a challenge to hear the downlink. Yet, over time more and more stations joined. Many stations improved their antenna systems and got to hear ANDE. In the very last days, while the passes got even shorter, there were up to 8 stations actively digipeating via the satellite in a single pass. We have seen more and more HAMS enhancing their satellite radio-stations and set-up a SatGate (= automated internet forwarding of all data received on 145.825 MHz, the 2mtr APRS downlink of multiple satellites). During December up to 78 stations worldwide non-stop forwarded data they received ! A great achievement, providing value also after ANDE. Radio amateurs have proven to be able to get their act together on very short terms and set up dedicated digital communication links using very small satellites. Note that all of this has been fully operational for a period of 4 weeks non-stop. All systems on-board ANDE have been functioning fine until de-orbit. We did not observe any major deviation in the telemetry data (eg in temperature). Just a few hours before the decay in the morning of Dec 25, JA0CAW received his last telemetry packet (2007/12/24 22:27:43) and W6MSU was still able to digipeat (2007/12/24 21:14:13). That whole last day of Dec 24 many stations around the world used the tiny APRS satellite... which was running its entire life on batteries only ! ANDE has successfully completed its mission and served as a great APRS satellite. Now - back to the competition & fun part: the AWARD ! ===================================================== Many radio amateur stations from around the world participated in the special ANDE de-orbit event and have received and forwarded valuable telemetry of the satellite during its last days in space. For everyone that participated we have made available a special AWARD. Everyone that made QSOs via ANDE or received telemetry during its final 10 days in space can submit his/her achievements and apply for the AWARD. On the AWARD your callsign and achievements will be mentioned: ANDE APRS QSOs: 1 point for each 2 way APRS QSO in the period Dec 15-24 Example: 00:01:31:24 : KB1GVR]APU25N,ANDE-1*,qAO,K8YSE-6::KC2PCR :GA Doug 00:01:31:42 : KC2PCR]APRS,ANDE-1*,qAO,KB\2CEV::KB1GVR :G'Afternoon Mark ;) ANDE Telemetry reception (in total 55 telemetry points can be achieved): 10 points for telemetry packets of Dec 24, 2007 9 points for telemetry packets of Dec 23, 2007 8 points for telemetry packets of Dec 22, 2007 7 points for telemetry packets of Dec 21, 2007 6 points for telemetry packets of Dec 20, 2007 5 points for telemetry packets of Dec 19, 2007 4 points for telemetry packets of Dec 18, 2007 3 points for telemetry packets of Dec 17, 2007 2 points for telemetry packets of Dec 16, 2007 1 point for telemetry packets of Dec 15, 2007 Of course your participation is what counts most, not the final score ! We ask 4 euro for submissions in Europe and 6 euro outside Europe. This is only for printing & shipping the awards, any surplus will be donated to an AMSAT satellite project. For all details on submission/payments/status etc: http://www.ande-deorbit.com On this website we have maintained an overview of all participating stations that forwarded data. There is also an overview of all the telemetry since Nov 14, when we started this event. A draft version of the award itself can been pre-viewed as well ! Have a look yourself ! Finally we would like to thank all radio amateur stations world-wide that have contributed and participated in the event. Without your help this would not have been possible. It has really been a lot a fun ! Looking forward to your submissions & feedback on the website ! 73's Mike, DK3WN Henk, PA3GUO http://www.ande-deorbit.com

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435 offset yagi phasing
by Andrew Rich 29 Dec '07

29 Dec '07

Hi I have had good success with just one yagi of an offset crossed array I am building. http://wa5vjb.com/yagi-pdf/cheapyagi.pdf I will add the other elements shortly. I am not ready to tackle the phasing part. I hope I have this right. 1. The yagi's are offset, by 90 degrees so that is the offset already. 2. Both yagis's should then have the same length of coax coming from each one. 3. Both yagi's will require a 1/4 wavelength of 75 ohm coax for each feed. 4. Remebering that the velocity factor is 2/3 in coax cable, or the speed of light 200 instead of 300. 5. Both 75 ohm feeds then join at a tee, the result of the 50 ohm antenna and 70 ohm feed giving around 120 ohm 6. By tee'ing the two together, this should present around 50 ohm, required for the main feedline. Does that sound right ? ( 200/435 MHz ) /4 = 11.49 cm for each feed to the tee junction of 75 ohm cable. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Rich VK4TEC

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Yaesu FT-897 and HRD satellite tracking problem
by Dave Matthews 29 Dec '07

29 Dec '07

Merry Christmas everyone. And apologies since I expect the question I ask here is old hat, but I've researched everywhere and still can't find a solution that works: When using the Ham Radio Deluxe satellite tool for satellite tracking with automatic Doppler shift adjustment, I have a periodic 'polling?' noise issue with my Yaesu FT-897, the same as I had last field day with HRD and a FT-857. There is a periodic noise burst that coincides with the black square animation on the upper left of the satellite tracking tool screen. This noise burst makes it impossible to listen to very faint signals, and is annoying as all get out when waiting for a satellite to come into range. FM and SSB modes. I want to use the HRD program with its built in Doppler shift tracking, but it is unusable -for me- as a result of this problem. During Field Day the FT-857 rig was controlled by a laptop, and yagis were about 20' away pointing at the sky. This current FT-897 setup is on a desktop style office computer into eggbeaters warming the clouds. My CT-62 interface cable is shielded, but the shield was not connected! I tied the shield to ground, no difference. The RS-232 extension cable used is also shielded. Grounds are good in this upstairs office shack but I am about 12' above the ground rod. Trying different grounding makes no difference. Ferrite Beads on the comm cable, looped multiple times through the beads, etc. makes absolutely no difference. And I just tried a USB to serial interface replacing the RS-232 from the computer, no difference. So I've shielded and beaded and grounded and experimented to no avail. This is a really annoying problem, and I feel there must be something elementary that I am missing either in the FT-897 setup or in HRD. I expect it is a Yaesu FT-897/857 problem, but again it may just be a setup issue. Any response is appreciated, Dave KI4PSR

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AO-51 quick update
by Andrew Glasbrenner 29 Dec '07

29 Dec '07

Just a quick note that we will be shutting off the L band uplink to the BBS on AO-51 tomorrow for approximately 24 hours. We need the SQRX to do a quick RF survey for another project. The BBS should be accessible again on Sunday. We are now on the quick slide into our first full sun period starting Jan 4, 2008, and things may get a little hectic as we try to reduce the impact of the increased heat. A byproduct of this is the available downlink power is increasing rapidly, so the satellite should continue to become easier to hear this week. We may also ask for help with telemetry checks between morning and evening passes over the command stations. Thanks for your understanding. 73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Operations

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Re: Sun shadow for True North
by Tony Langdon 29 Dec '07

29 Dec '07

At 11:14 AM 12/29/2007, Dave Guimont wrote: >>>A vertical rod about 4' long (plumb it, or use a level) will have the >>>shortest shadow at noon. > >I should have said "near noon"..... You still need to know "when near noon" to within 5 minutes to get the required accuracy. :) 73 de VK3JED http://vkradio.com

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Re: Sun shadow for True North
by Tony Langdon 29 Dec '07

29 Dec '07

At 05:29 AM 12/29/2007, Dave Guimont wrote: >A vertical rod about 4' long (plumb it, or use a level) will have the >shortest shadow at noon. Not necessarily. Ignoring DST, local solar noon can occur anywhere within a window of around 1 hour (give or take, depending on the exact borders of your local time zone), because each time zone is approximately 15 degrees wide (there are local variations that take the official zones beyond the 15 degree nominal zones). For example, here in Melbourne, local solar noon usually occurs around approximately 02:15 - 02:20 UTC (12:15 - 12:20 standard time or 13:15 - 13:20 DST). In Brisbane, it occurs before noon AEST, despite both cities being in the same time zone. Using the "shortest shadow at noon" method, you can have an error of up to 10 degrees (now THAT would ruin the performance of your high gain antenna!). Here, it would be around 4-5 degrees, if one was ignorant of the actual time of solar noon. The moving shadow to find the East - West line is a much better and MUCH more accurate idea. 73 de VK3JED http://vkradio.com

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Compass Function in GPS
by James Duffey 29 Dec '07

29 Dec '07

Unless your GPS has a dedicated compass, the direction function, which appears to be a compass will only function when the unit is in motion. I found out this the hard way on my rove in the June VHF contest. - Duffey -- James Duffey KK6MC/5 Cedar Crest NM 87008 DM65

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Re: Sun shadow for True North
by Dave Guimont 29 Dec '07

29 Dec '07

> >>A vertical rod about 4' long (plumb it, or use a level) will have the >>shortest shadow at noon. I should have said "near noon".....THE SH0RTEST SHADOW IS WHEN THE SUN IS DUE SOUTH OF YOU,NORTH IN YOUR CASE, No matter where you are with relation to the "clock".. Check sunrise and sunset, divide by 2, add to the sunrise, and will give you THE TIME WHEN THE SUN IS HIGHEST....FORGET WHERE YOU ARE IN YOUR TIME ZONE.... That n/s line will be 90° to the e/w line made with the markers....You don't need a watch, or care where you are in the world.... >Not necessarily. Ignoring DST, local solar noon >can occur anywhere within a window of around 1 >hour (give or take, depending on the exact >borders of your local time zone), because each >time zone is approximately 15 degrees wide >(there are local variations that take the >official zones beyond the 15 degree nominal >zones). For example, here in Melbourne, local >solar noon usually occurs around approximately >02:15 - 02:20 UTC (12:15 - 12:20 standard time >or 13:15 - 13:20 DST). In Brisbane, it occurs >before noon AEST, despite both cities being in >the same time zone. Using the "shortest shadow >at noon" method, you can have an error of up to >10 degrees (now THAT would ruin the performance >of your high gain antenna!). Here, it would be >around 4-5 degrees, if one was ignorant of the actual time of solar noon. > >The moving shadow to find the East - West line >is a much better and MUCH more accurate idea. > >73 de VK3JED >http://vkradio.com 73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1(a)san.rr.com Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E...

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visual sighting possible?
by Ollie Eisman 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

A few nights ago I was outside with my Arrow and HT working AO-51. During this time I noticed the faint glow of a satellite in the direction that I was pointing my antenna (no, I was not using a compass, sticks or GPS) :) The satellite drifted across the sky and matched what I was seeing on my computer's tracking program. I followed the satellite with my antenna and I continued to get a great signal from Echo. Given that I am at 6000 feet altitude and in a dark area, do you think I really saw our small friend? Ollie, AJ1O

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mode J filter / Comet CF416c
by K & R Yoksh 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

Hello everyone, I'm planning to install a diplexer ahead of my 70cm mast-mount preamp soon, and was interested to know any tips or tricks before I buy a diplexer and climb the tower. I was planning to go the cheap route, and buy the $35 MFJ-916b sold by my local ham store, but read in the manual: "The MFJ-916B is designed for indoor use. If you use the MFJ-916B outdoors, it should only be used for short periods of time under good weather conditions. Do not use the duplexer outdoors when there is any kind of precipitation." After reading that, I'm considering spending a little extra and buying the Comet 416c that others have had good luck with. I had planned to mount the unit inside of a section of PVC pipe with a pipe cap glued on the top, and open at the bottom. A single U-bolt should attach the unit to the tower. Please reply with any suggestions, or perhaps you know of an unpublished sale going on somewhere? Thanks! Happy New Year to everyone on the list, and I hope we'll see P3e launched in 2008! 73, Kyle Yoksh K0KN Olathe, Kansas

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TNC options?
by Kevin Hartley 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

Greetings & Happy Holidays to all, After a 3yr hiatus, (IC910 sold & packed away G3RUH dish & patch ant & down converter after AO-40 died - plus I moved from ZL-land to VE7-land which was a big distraction), I recently decided to get back into chasing birds. One of the deciding factors was my neighbour lost several big cedar trees in his back yard in last year's wind-storms and I gained 120 deg of unobstructed sky to the SW as a result! Re-joined AMSAT last month & signed up to the BBS to watch & learn now I have a question to ask. Hope to start with LEOS (i.e. Echo) and other easy-sats, to get my skill level up. Seems to be absence of VE7s on Vancouver Island to ask for help but I'm taking the plunge anyway! Ordered a IC-910 & 23cm module & UHF preamp as my Xmas present to myself, still waiting on Icom Canada to deliver, but soon! Starting out simple with an Arrow 2m/70cm antenna & a 23cm loop yagi at a fixed 40deg angle, on a cheap TV rotor, with some good info from Chip W7AIT who sent me all kinds of emails (thanks Chip!). My question is, I want to try packet/data on sats once the IC-910 arrives. Have an old AEA PK-900 1200b TNC on the shelf unused. Wondering if its a good idea to spend the $$ to get Timewave upgrades to give it 9600b capability? OR perhaps better to pick up a new KPC-9612PLUS for about the same $$? The brochure I read indicates the 9612 goes up to 34000 baud? Really? Or are there other off-the-shelf options I'm not aware of that are better? Want to give myself maximum flexibility for present & future birds on packet, but not too complex, a radio engineer I'm not. I've ordered the AMSAT Digital Sat handbook a month ago, along with some other books from the AMSAT store and they haven't arrived yet. But this is more a real-world type question where I'm looking for answers from people who've had experience with working sats and can recommend packet gear to buy or tncs to stay away from? Don't mind putting some time & effort into it, but an off-the-shelf solution would work best for me. Suggestions anyone? Hoping to be on the air soon from CN88! Thanks & 73, Kevin VE7OVY

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Sun shadow for True North
by Dave Guimont 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

A vertical rod about 4' long (plumb it, or use a level) will have the shortest shadow at noon. Some one asked about waiting, for it to happen. Well don't. About an hour an a half before approximate noon (use standard time) put a mark of some sort. Then every half hour or so to increase the accuracy until ~1 1/2 hours after approximate noon standard time and you will have a true east west line....Construct from there.... You won't get the fraction degree accuracy someone mentioned with the north star, but I don't think you will need that.000009 db gain either unless you need a 30db antenna for your frequency!!! 73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1(a)san.rr.com Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E...

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Re: mode J filter / Comet CF416c
by Andrew Glasbrenner 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

-----Original Message----- >From: Ken Shutt <kgshutt(a)cox.net> >Kyle, > >I would recommend putting the preamp as close to the antenna as possible. >The diplexer should go between the radio and pre amp. If you are planning >to feed dc to the preamp on the coax, you need to make sure the diplexer >will pass the dc to the preamp. > >73 de Ken W5KQ Hi Ken, I think Kyle is wanting to use the diplexer as a high-pass filter in front of the preamp to prevent the 2m uplink signal from overloading the preamp, as explained at http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/articles/Mode-J/ . 73, Drew KO4MA

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DATA SOFTWARE
by Mr Jeffrey L Ross 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

FOLKS, ANYONE KNOW OF A SOFTWARE OUT THERE THAT WILL TELL ME WHAT MODE I AM RECEIVING? I HAVE A LITTLE EXPERIENCE WITH MIXW BUT WITH THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT MODE YOU WANT TO USE. OR ARE USING. I NEED SOMETHING THAT WILL TELL ME WHAT MODE IS THERE. ANY ADVISE WOULD BE HELPFULL, THANK YOU. KC8GKF P.S. LEARNING THE SOUNDS OF DATA, BUT WOW, SO MANY THERE ARE.

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Re: 70cm yagi design (photos)
by Andrew Rich 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

One is done Photos here Up the pole she goes. http://www.tech-software.net/70cmyagi/index.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Rich VK4TEC

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Paint and RF
by Andrew Rich 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

Something just dawned on me. I have been painting the wooden booms of my antenna Does painting a boom affect it ? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Rich VK4TEC vk4tec(a)people.net.au http://www.tech-software.net

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ANDE/AWARD
by Mr Jeffrey L Ross 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

FOLKS, BEEN FUN, I ONLY GOT 19 POINTS BUT ITS BEEN A NICE LEARNING EXPERENCE.. 73 KC8GKF HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL

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Re: FT-847 Disaster - THE PAIN!
by David Donaldson 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

I too have felt THE PAIN with my FT-817. After burning some traces due to very high SWR from an external amp, I replaced all the relays, still would not work. I gave up after having one of the driver fets burn (real fire!) TWICE. I have a new PA board (not the finals) coming from Japan. The PA board is only $275 and the other parts??? Priceless. Why not just throw away???? I'm to mad (both in the head and emotionally) to give up! Beside's I am starting to make friends at Yeasu (or this that Motorola) Happy New Year's Dave ________________________ WB7DRU; Navy Mars NNN0AXK Burnsville, MN USA -----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of K7XQ Sent: Tuesday, December 25, 2007 1:55 PM To: k7zt(a)suddenlink.net Cc: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: FT-847 Disaster Don't feel too bad Joe. ...... --- http://USFamily.Net/dialup.html - $8.25/mo! -- http://www.usfamily.net/dsl.html - $19.99/mo! ---

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"KiwiSAT" build fund support.
by Fred Kennedy 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

Hi Guys, Just had an update from Terry (ZL3QL) - AMSAT-ZL President - on the very good response to his request for funding help in support of the build of "KiwiSAT". Magnificent. It will make all the difference and give us the opportunity to order things early and say "yes" rather than "probably" to the guys that are actually doing the practical build and assembly work. A real New Year boost for us! From us all - thanks. And have a peaceful and successful 2008. Fred Kennedy (ZL1BYP for the "KiwiSAT" team

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Re: Ande
by andy thomas 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

Celestrak gives keps today for 07 358 - today (Dec 27th) is 07 361, so 358 was Dec 24 UTC (when last reported). I suppose NORAD will announce when ANDE is down? andy G0SFJ ___________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Answers - Got a question? Someone out there knows the answer. Try it now. http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/

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SatPC32 Installation problem
by Doug Shields 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

Hello, I purchased SatPC32 from AMSAT recently. I finally got around to installing it tonight. I didn't get far. I put the CD into the drive and as soon as I click "Setup" I get the message: "C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\AUTOEXEC.NT. The system is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications. Choose 'Close' to terminate the application." I am running Windows 2000 on a reasonably fast computer. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Doug W4DAS

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Compass difficulties, was Re: How to calibrate the azimuth angle?
by joe cassano aka jmario 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

I am kind of surprised at the number of "compass is hard to use" comments here. I use a compass and a Home Depot angle locater to set the azimuth and elevation of a 220 yagi that I have mounted on an old Atlas studio boom microphone stand in by back yard to capture the passage of the moon through the SPASUR (Lake Kickapoo) radio fence. I usually try to do the antenna pointing during daylight hours. It is a lot easier to read the compass while sighting along the boom in daylight. Whenever I check my alignment by sighting along the antenna boom when the moon is passing through the fence (i.e. moon is at azimuth of 91.4 or 271.4 degrees relative to Lake Kickapoo and the moon is above the horizon at both Lake Kickapoo and my QTH in Pennsylvania) I find I've got the moon boresighted. It is a given that you keep the compass away from ferrous objects while taking a reading - that includes non-obvious objects like the wrench or pliers in your back pocket that you might have forgot about :-) Alternatively, if you are going to be climbing a tower or some such thing, you can always calibrate the azimuth angle (that was the original question) by determining the bearing of a distant object then pointing the antenna at that same distant object. The unmentioned question in the original post is just how accurate does the azimuth angle calibration need to be? The above mentioned 220 yagi is (if I remember correctly) 3db down at +/- 15 degrees so az angle is not critical but a hi gain EME array might have a 3db width of +/- 2 degrees requiring more pointing/azimuth accuracy. JoeC K3FMA

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70cm yagi design
by Andrew Rich 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

Can someone steer me towards a yagi design that works, I know there are heaps on the net. What I want it is a design you use and have had good results and repeatable results with. I can bend alum tube, never made a folded dipole before, but got a pipe bender here. Willing to have a go. Andy ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Rich VK4TEC vk4tec(a)people.net.au http://www.tech-software.net

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Re: Listen before transmitting?
by Dave Guimont 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

> >The intent was probably to listen for which mode the satellite is >using, as in: listen for the beacon or other signals that would >indicate which mode the satellite is in. >Alternatively, if the instruction was written POST-AO7 resurrection, >then it may also mean to listen for the quality of the other >downlink signals, to determine if AO7 is being trampled by strong >uplinks, and would therfore not support more QSO's at that time. >Either way, for the sake of other users of AO-7, that point could >not be stressed enough, or more simply put, as it is so on the WSR page. What difference the mode!! Respond in kind.... If it is being trampled by strong uplinks, and you can't compete you can't compete....You are not helping anything by not TRYING TO TRANSMIT... I've been on AO7 since the day it was launched, so I've had a little experience!! LISTEN ON ANY FREQUENCEY ANYWHERE IN THE AMATEUR RADIO SPECTRUM BEFORE YOU TRANSMIT! SATELLITE OR OTHERWISE.... Against the rules and dumb not to listen first.... Again, why the admonition??? 73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1(a)san.rr.com Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E...

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Using a compass
by Dave Guimont 28 Dec '07

28 Dec '07

I don't care where you are using a compass, using it on the ground, not moving from that location, and not allowing other large masses of metal to move near you, one can 'CALIBRATE' it for that location. I don't care if is deviation or variation that is causing the needle to move, you are compensating for both... I used celestial navigation, in an airplane in the early days, but if one has an overcast your octant was excess baggage at that time.... If I had a chart, knew the territory, and could line up two fixed points of land I could fly directly between those points, and thereby get the compass calibrated for that heading... The deviation could change of course, if I made a turn, but I had at least one accurate heading...and few places in the world exist that changes variation that rapidly... And we would "swing the compass" on the ground, and use compensating magnets to reduce the deviation... And when your "landing field" the carrier is moving those methods, along with a plotting board got me home... Standing on the ground orienting and antenna, sort of simplifies the problem!! 73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1(a)san.rr.com Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E...

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OLPC transmitter
by Bob Bruninga 27 Dec '07

27 Dec '07

> The difference between this design effort and the > other things the GNU Radio crew has done is that > the result has to cost only incremental > pennies, cost zero power when not running, and > run on batteries when running. One thing I wish I had time for is to figure out all the neat things we can do with the parts in the bazillions of compact florescent bulbs (now going for under $2 each). The two power mos-fets and some other parts could be able to contribute to a 20 watt transmitter... Anyway, those parts are going to be as ubiqiiitous to modern youth as the old TV sets were to us as kids trying to build our first ham transmitter. I'd also like to know how to safely smash the bulb without release of mercury. Is it in the vapor? or is it in there in liquid form? The powder? Bob, WB4APR

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Re: Listening before Transmitting
by Clint Bradford 27 Dec '07

27 Dec '07

> >>...All sorts of weird ideas floating around now??? No, things haven't changed...(grin) I have been chastised for NOT telling folks that TRUE, FULL DUPLEX OPS IS MANDATORY - to monitor AO-51 and SO-50 downlinks while working them. Of course, it IS best to have a full-duplex setup for these birds. But these sats are so easily worked with low power, that I continue to turn folks on to AMSAT and this aspect of our hobby with my "How to Work Amateur Satellites with your HT" presentation. The "demo station" equipment I use for the presentation continues to consists of a single dual-band HT at 2.5W, and improved antenna. And so it goes.... Clint Bradford, K6LCS 909-241-7666

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AO-7 10 meter?
by Michael J. Wolthuis 27 Dec '07

27 Dec '07

I saw a video from Dayton on Youtube of AO-7 Mode A, does it still come up in this mode? Last notes I see on the Sat status page is November 26. I have an AR-10 and HTX-100, but I have NEVER used them for anything and was planning to Ebay, as I see no other satellite use for this equipment which is my primary radio operations. I don't do anything on 10m. It was for a project that got shelved. Could these be of any use for AO-7 or anything else sat related? Thanks, Mike Kb8zgl

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Listen before transmitting?
by Dave Guimont 27 Dec '07

27 Dec '07

The Weekly Satellite Report under AO7 says: Listen before transmitting! Is there some kind of "listening" one should be aware of??. We learned that 80 years ago in ham radio....That applies to any am/ssb/cw/fm modes, even if transmitting "in the blind" in an emergency.... All sorts of weird ideas floating around now??? 73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1(a)san.rr.com Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E...

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Re: FT-847 Disaster - THE PAIN! - It could be worse !
by John W Lee 27 Dec '07

27 Dec '07

Don't feel too bad, we've all done things like that at one time or another. Here's one for ya: One of the locals sold a nice FT-301 (All solid state HF rig of the 1970's-1980's). at the swap meet one time. The fella that bought it called the seller in a couple of days and complained that the thing went up in smoke the first time he turned it on ! He was very mad at the seller until he found out what happend........... Turns out that he put an A.C. plug on the end of the red and black wires and plugged it in and turned it on! Faint ! 73, John, K6YK

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Re: How to calibrate the azimuth angle?
by Ronald Long 27 Dec '07

27 Dec '07

Here is an amsat-bb post from Tom Clark, K3IO, formerly W3IWI, on this subject. Wonderfully detailed. Thank you Tom. I have removed the From line since the original address from 12 years ago may not be accurate. ron w8gus ==== Date: Tue, 17 Jan 95 20:12:13 UTC From: Tom Clark To: amsat-bb(a)AMSAT.Org Subject: North/South vs East/West The recent thread of Magnetic vs. Geodetic north-south for the calibration of antenna azimuths has overlooked an even easier way to do the deed. The idea is not new -- I believe it is the way the ancient Egyptians had their Nubian slaves establish the orientation of the great pyramids to accuracies of about a half-degree. Instead of trying to establish a North/South line, determine East/West instead! Here is the recipe (with some footnotes): 1. Wait for the morning of a clear, sunny day. 2. Find a level, flat area. 3. Poke a 3-6 foot (1-2 meter) stick in the ground vertically (south of the flat area in the northern hemisphere or north in the southern hemisphere). 4. Several times during the day, mark the location of the tip of the shadow of the stick. 5. The points you just marked will be on a straight line which is nominally East/West. Drive stakes at the ends of the line (or if your shadow is on concrete, paint the line). Footnotes: a. The accuracy of the east/west line is best at the solstices (Dec.21/Jun.21) and worst at the equinoxes (Mar.21/Sep.21). The sun's declination is a cosine curve with extrema of +/- 22.5 degrees reached at he solstices. At the equinoxes, the declination changes about 1/2 degree/day so if you are observing at the equinoxes over an 8-hour period, the line will be in error by about 10 arc minutes. b. The diameter of the sun's disk is about 30 arc minutes, so the shadow is "fuzzy" at this level. You need to be consistent in picking the point corresponding to the tip's shadow to minimize the penumbral error. The diameter of the stick should be big enough to give a solid shadow -- i.e. the stick should subtend an angle > 30 arc minutes when viewed from the level, flat area. I recommend that the stick have a length/diameter ratio of 20-30. A typical tall antenna tower will not cast a sharp enough shadow to use. c. The level area need only be level in the east/west direction. A north/south slope will not affect the accuracy. If you don't have a level area, get a 4'x8' sheet of plywood and prop it with short stakes to make it level and cast the shadow onto the plywood. You should strive for east/west "levelness" of one degree or better if you want results good to about one degree. Hope this idea helps -- 73 de Tom.

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Automated ISS station
by Andrew Rich 27 Dec '07

27 Dec '07

I got fed up with noisy power supplies to here is my solution. 1. A linux computer runs Predict as a server 2. A perl script wakes up every minute, and asks predict if ISS is above the horizon. 3. If ISS is above the horizon, a command is sent to a parrallel port control card. 4. The control toggles a relay 5. The relay action turns off the battery charger and engages the radio 6. When the ISS is below the horizon once more, the script turns off the relay. 7. The radio turns off and the battery charger re-engages. 8. The radio has a 30 minute time out set as well to guard against problems. So far it works really well. The rack clicks and comes to life as ISS rises and goes back to sleep when it descends. Here is a photo. http://www.tech-software.net/rack_psu.jpg I am not having much luck with the helix's i have built the front to back seems bad. I have however had great success on 2m, with an 8 element quad. Cheers ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Rich VK4TEC vk4tec(a)people.net.au http://www.tech-software.net

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Premap overload
by Andrew Rich 27 Dec '07

27 Dec '07

I think I went a little overboard. I replaced my coax with heliax and fitted a pre-amp to the base of my antenna. Now all I get is break through from commercial services. Oh well. I went from RG213 to LDF4-50. And I can now access a repeater 150 km's away I could not before. Have to bay antennas and back of the pre-amp I think. Cheers ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Rich VK4TEC vk4tec(a)people.net.au http://www.tech-software.net

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Was Oregon fireball ANDE reentry?
by Ken Swaggart 27 Dec '07

27 Dec '07

The Associated Press is carrying a story from Bend, in central Oregon, concerning reports of a bright fireball the night (local) of 24 Dec. I haven't been able to obtain a time to check it against the orbital predictions and see if ANDE was supposed to be anywhere in this area. Here's a quote from the story: "Keith Clinton, who lives east of Bend says he saw a "large, bright green fireball descend out of the cloudless sky east of Bend. Clinton says the fireball turned yellow and exploded about 10 degrees above the horizon, breaking into several pieces as it did." 73, Ken, W7KKE

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Re: AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 2, Issue 840
by Peleg Lapid 26 Dec '07

26 Dec '07

Try to reduce the comunication bit rate to minimum, it helped for me with the 857 73 Peleg 4x1gp -----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of amsat-bb-request(a)amsat.org Sent: Wednesday, December 26, 2007 10:00 PM To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 2, Issue 840 Send AMSAT-BB mailing list submissions to amsat-bb(a)amsat.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to amsat-bb-request(a)amsat.org You can reach the person managing the list at amsat-bb-owner(a)amsat.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of AMSAT-BB digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Re: RigExpert Tiny to Yaesu FT-847 (Alan P. Biddle) 2. Re: Questions on physically offset CP yagi feeding (i8cvs) 3. Yaesu FT-897 and HRD satellite tracking problem (Dave Matthews) 4. Ande. (John Ronan) 5. Re: Yaesu FT-897 and HRD satellite tracking problem (Simon Brown (HB9DRV)) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Tue, 25 Dec 2007 15:19:41 -0600 From: "Alan P. Biddle" <APBIDDLE(a)UNITED.NET> Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: RigExpert Tiny to Yaesu FT-847 To: "'Amsat-Bb'" <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Message-ID: <000001c8473b$dd3f60e0$6401a8c0@WA4SCA> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Rod, Take a look at http://www.usinterface.com/naviusa_007.htm for a wide variety of cables for the full RigExpert. (The Navigator uses the same pin out.) They should give you some good ideas for the Tiny. Note that the FT-847 has the cables for the PKT and DATA ports wired in parallel, so you will need swap the plugs depending on what mode you are operating. Or, as I did, wire up a simple AB switch. Note that for the PKT connection to use the 1200 baud RX. Several of the RE sites have the wiring incorrectly using the 9600 baud output. It will work, somewhat, but with a very poor S/N. The interface will not handle 9600 baud. 73s, Alan WA4SCA ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Wed, 26 Dec 2007 00:04:29 +0100 From: "i8cvs" <domenico.i8cvs(a)tin.it> Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Questions on physically offset CP yagi feeding To: "jonny 290" <jonny290(a)gmail.com>, "AMSAT-BB" <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Message-ID: <001d01c8474a$815a7440$0201a8c0(a)tin.it> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" ----- Original Message ----- From: "jonny 290" <jonny290(a)gmail.com> To: <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Sent: Monday, December 24, 2007 10:59 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] Questions on physically offset CP yagi feeding > I've decided to rebuild my 2m antenna and have a couple of questions. > > My thinking is to build a six element wide-band 50 ohm match yagi and > mount the vertically polarized elements 1/4 wavelength ahead of the > horizontal ones, and feed the elements in phase. Hi Matt, KC4YLV Mounting the vertical and horizontal elements with an offset of 1/4 wavelength over the boom is good because feeding the driven elements in phase you get almost a one sense CP without adding delay lines. . > I have > examined the possibility of masthead CP phasing, but am concerned > about mismatching and like the arguments given for the physically > offset, in-phase fed elements. There are masthead CP phasing and switching circuits with a minimum of mismatching and in addition the lenght of coax relays is not to be taken into account because the length of relays is compensated for provided all relays are of the same type and the same lenght. As an example using 4 coax relays of the same type antenna mounted you can switch from the shack V-H-RHCP and LHCP as described into the AMSAT-Journal march/april 2007 and may/june 2007 > > My antenna to radio coax run is right around 30 feet. I am thinking of > running two lengths of LMR-240, speced at 3 dB loss/100ft, so loss > should be about 1 dB. If I cut the two feedlines to identical lengths, > I should be able to connect them with a coax tee in the shack and use > a > 1/4 wave 37 ohm line to bring the system impedance back up from 25 (at > the tee) to 50 ohms. This is correct but you must be able to exactly cut two runs of coax cable 30 feet long and having the same electrical lenght and first of all it is good to use both coax lines coming from the same coil and if you have access to a network analyser you can check if the phase difference between both feed lines is 0? degrees or not. > I'd then have an RHCP signal for the birds. If the vertical driven element is ahead of the horizontal one to get RHCP the center conductor of the coax cable feeding the vertical driven element must be connected UP and the braid DOWN while looking the elements standing behind the reflector the inner conductor of the coax cable feeding the horizontal driven element must be connected to the RIGHT side and the braid to LEFT side. Since you plan to run two identical coax lines from the shack if you add in the shack a 1/2 electrical wavelenght of coax into the line feeding the vertical driving element then you get LHCP without changing any coax connections on top of the dipoles. The use of folded dipoles with the classic 1/2 wavelength coax balun is recommended. > Do I > _need_ to cut the feedlines to half-wave multiples, or is it just a > good idea? I plan on tuning the antennas as dead on to 145.8 as I can, > so mismatch will be a minimum at that frequency. In theory if you cut the feedlines to half-wave multiples you only have the advantage to exacly measure the impedance of the antenna with an impedance bridge from the shack without to go on the roof and disconnect cables from the dipoles. By the way the VSWR into the line do not change cutting feed lines to half-wave multiples or any other lenght if the impedance of the antenna do not match with the impedance of the coax line. > > When I don't need RHCP, I can simply use the horizontal feedline for > SSB work and the vertical feedline for FM work, setting the coax tee > nonsense aside. It is correct > (as a note, the two sets of elements would be tuned identically, > centered for minimum swr on 145.8, It is good > but in my experience > operation across the band is no problem). > Agree > A good coax relay costs about 60-80 dollars and requires associated > mounting hardware and weatherproofing, this only adds another $15 for > 30 more feet of LMR240. Since your need is satellite and tropo your project sound to be good and simple. > > Anybody care to share thoughts on this? > > 73 and merry christmas > matt kc4ylv > 73" and merry cristmas from i8CVS Domenico ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Tue, 25 Dec 2007 18:09:39 -0600 From: Dave Matthews <dave(a)lostfrogs.com> Subject: [amsat-bb] Yaesu FT-897 and HRD satellite tracking problem To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Message-ID: <47719BC3.80609(a)lostfrogs.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Merry Christmas everyone. And apologies since I expect the question I ask here is old hat, but I've researched everywhere and still can't find a solution that works: When using the Ham Radio Deluxe satellite tool for satellite tracking with automatic Doppler shift adjustment, I have a periodic 'polling?' noise issue with my Yaesu FT-897, the same as I had last field day with HRD and a FT-857. There is a periodic noise burst that coincides with the black square animation on the upper left of the satellite tracking tool screen. This noise burst makes it impossible to listen to very faint signals, and is annoying as all get out when waiting for a satellite to come into range. FM and SSB modes. I want to use the HRD program with its built in Doppler shift tracking, but it is unusable -for me- as a result of this problem. During Field Day the FT-857 rig was controlled by a laptop, and yagis were about 20' away pointing at the sky. This current FT-897 setup is on a desktop style office computer into eggbeaters warming the clouds. My CT-62 interface cable is shielded, but the shield was not connected! I tied the shield to ground, no difference. The RS-232 extension cable used is also shielded. Grounds are good in this upstairs office shack but I am about 12' above the ground rod. Trying different grounding makes no difference. Ferrite Beads on the comm cable, looped multiple times through the beads, etc. makes absolutely no difference. And I just tried a USB to serial interface replacing the RS-232 from the computer, no difference. So I've shielded and beaded and grounded and experimented to no avail. This is a really annoying problem, and I feel there must be something elementary that I am missing either in the FT-897 setup or in HRD. I expect it is a Yaesu FT-897/857 problem, but again it may just be a setup issue. Any response is appreciated, Dave KI4PSR ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Wed, 26 Dec 2007 15:44:28 +0000 From: John Ronan <jronan(a)irishsystems.com> Subject: [amsat-bb] Ande. To: AMSAT-BB BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Message-ID: <54CED6C4-364E-44C6-8876-B92B145DF982(a)irishsystems.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed Has it's fate been ascertained? Regards de John EI7IG ------------------------------ Message: 5 Date: Wed, 26 Dec 2007 19:14:55 +0100 From: "Simon Brown $HB9DRV$" <simon(a)hb9drv.ch> Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Yaesu FT-897 and HRD satellite tracking problem To: "Dave Matthews" <dave(a)lostfrogs.com>, <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Message-ID: <002001c847eb$37d34b20$a400a8c0@hairycreatures> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=original Sounds like radiation from the CT-62 cable - try putting a ferrite or two on the cable. Simon Brown, HB9DRV ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave Matthews" <dave(a)lostfrogs.com> > I have a periodic 'polling?' noise issue with my Yaesu FT-897 ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Sent via amsat-bb(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb End of AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 2, Issue 840 ****************************************

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AMSAT Awards
by Bruce 26 Dec '07

26 Dec '07

Here are the last awards that I will be processing for 2007: 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. Jeremy Ramirez, KB9QIC Charles Doolittle, N1SPX Jose Vitor Toste, CU3EQ AMSAT Communication Achievement Award John Henderson, N4NAB, #456 Charles Doolittle, N1SPX, #457 South Africa AMSAT Communication Achievement Award John Henderson, N4NAB, US115 Charles Doolittle, N1SPX, US116 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 W0KIE Intelsat Americas, T1, 6.8Mhz Also streaming MP3 at http://www.amsatnet.com -- Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards ARRL Awards Manager (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0200z on W0KIE new satellite soon. Also streaming MP3 at http://www.amsatnet.com Latest satellite news on the ARRL Audio News http://www.arrl.org

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Ande.
by John Ronan 26 Dec '07

26 Dec '07

Has it's fate been ascertained? Regards de John EI7IG

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Questions on physically offset CP yagi feeding
by jonny 290 25 Dec '07

25 Dec '07

I've decided to rebuild my 2m antenna and have a couple of questions. I currently have vertically polarized yagis up for 2m and 70cm and they work fine; however I am becoming more interested in weak signal work and just want to rebuild my antennas in general, as they need it after a year. Due to necessity and environment, i can only have a few antennas up and have thought up a plan to meet all of my needs at a reasonable price with only one cross yagi in the air. My thinking is to build a six element wide-band 50 ohm match yagi and mount the vertically polarized elements 1/4 wavelength ahead of the horizontal ones, and feed the elements in phase. I have examined the possibility of masthead CP phasing, but am concerned about mismatching and like the arguments given for the physically offset, in-phase fed elements. My antenna to radio coax run is right around 30 feet. I am thinking of running two lengths of LMR-240, speced at 3 dB loss/100ft, so loss should be about 1 dB. If I cut the two feedlines to identical lengths, I should be able to connect them with a coax tee in the shack and use a 1/4 wave 37 ohm line to bring the system impedance back up from 25 (at the tee) to 50 ohms. I'd then have an RHCP signal for the birds. Do I _need_ to cut the feedlines to half-wave multiples, or is it just a good idea? I plan on tuning the antennas as dead on to 145.8 as I can, so mismatch will be a minimum at that frequency. When I don't need RHCP, I can simply use the horizontal feedline for SSB work and the vertical feedline for FM work, setting the coax tee nonsense aside. (as a note, the two sets of elements would be tuned identically, centered for minimum swr on 145.8, but in my experience operation across the band is no problem). A good coax relay costs about 60-80 dollars and requires associated mounting hardware and weatherproofing, this only adds another $15 for 30 more feet of LMR240. Anybody care to share thoughts on this? 73 and merry christmas matt kc4ylv

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RigExpert Tiny to Yaesu FT-847
by Stargate 25 Dec '07

25 Dec '07

Hi all, Does anyone have any experience making a RigExpert "Tiny" Model: TTL-I-1 for the Yaesu FT-100, FT-817, FT-857, FT-897 work with a Yaesu FT-847 or Kenwood TS-790. I know I will have to rewire some plugs or make adaptor wires to match the radio's but I was hoping not to re-invent the wheel if someone already figured it out. The people at RigExpert say they don't make a version for the FT-847. RoD KD0XX

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FT-847 Disaster
by k7zt＠suddenlink.net 25 Dec '07

25 Dec '07

Many Thanks for all of the responses and Merry Christmas to all! I have done some preliminary troubleshooting and have discovered the following... The fuse and the electronic cap are fine. I get good voltage to one side of the relay, the relay coil appears to be energized but the 12 VDC stops at the relay. I did jumper the 12 volts to the other side of the relay and the display lights up and I hear noise from the speaker. But no frequency displayed. This is as far as I've gotten. I did note on the schematic that the relay has two transistors (Q1118 & Q1122). Q1118 is labeled as H-V Protection on the block diagram. Both of these devices connect to the relay (FL1001). I've looked on both sides of the board and can't seem to locate these devices. Regards, - Joe K7ZT

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FT-847 Disaster
by k7zt＠suddenlink.net 25 Dec '07

25 Dec '07

All: I'm afraid that I reversed the polarity when I connected my FT-847 to its' power supply. It appears that the smoke leaked out :-/ I would like to know if anyone out there has had this unfortunate experience (names withheld), or has an idea where to begin looking for the problem. Thanks, - Joe, K7ZT

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Crossed yagis
by Andrew Rich 25 Dec '07

25 Dec '07

What is the best way to set up phased crossed yagis ? Have an electric coax switch in the middle to switch from left to right circ polar ? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Rich VK4TEC vk4tec(a)people.net.au http://www.tech-software.net

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Orbital classroom #2 (AMSAT Education)
by Stefan Wagener 25 Dec '07

25 Dec '07

Thanks everyone. The comments (primarily offline) to my first post on the existence of the "Orbital Classroom" just pointed to the perceived sad state of education within AMSAT. Now, we can whine and do nothing or maybe put our heads together and see what there is to do. The first thing is to gauge the level of interest. I and others will NOT engage in this without some significant feedback from the members and those that are interested in amateur radio and satellites and education. Here are a few questions and I would kindly request your thoughts on these. 1. Would you be interested in attending pre-conference courses and workshops as part of the annual meeting or at other venues? 2. Would you be willing to pay a registration fee that would cover course material, instructor cost etc.? 3. Would you be interested in receiving a certificate for ongoing education as it relates to amateur radio and satellites? 4. What topics would you like to see taught at such courses? 5. Would you be willing in helping to organize and facilitate courses (you don't have to teach for this one, just help the instructor and take care of registration, etc)? 6. Would you be willing to teach a course and if yes, on which topics? That's a start and hopefully it sparks your interest as a participant, facilitator or instructor. Please email me your responses offline (don't hit the reply all button) and I will compile the answers in a response to the board and this mailing list. FYI, I have been asked to organize and coordinate these efforts. First of all, I will NOT assist, organize and/or coordinate these efforts unless I have equal partners in assisting and helping. Secondly, AMSAT has an official "Director of Education" who needs to be involved and work on this (with our help if necessary). This person serves at the discretion of the AMSAT president and I have no intention to do his work. Hope this helps to clarify positions and responsibilities! For now, it is time for the members to voice their needs for education and define if this is relevant or not. Folks, here is your opportunity! Some of us are listening and working on this. Let us know if you want this or not by answering the questions above. As always, your opinion counts and even more your help is greatly appreciated. Have a Merry Christmas, a wonderful holiday season and an even better 2008. My best wishes to you and your families. 73, Stefan VE4NSA

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