- AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

AO-07 qrp
by Robert Coppock 10 Mar '07

10 Mar '07

hi AMSAT ,,,, ,, i looked around some more, and found that 5.0 W or less should work. thanks to N1DID web site and the AMSAT AO-07 page linked from heavens-above.com for the good info. i think i will work RX only for a while to get the feel for SSB doppler first. thank you ! --,,, ,,,-- kf0g cm97 robert

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SSB birds - ERP/EiRP ??
by Robert Coppock 10 Mar '07

10 Mar '07

hi AMSAT ,,,, ,, i am getting back into this, and want to try the SSB birds... AO-07 FO-29 and VO-52. i would like to know before transmitting, what the power levels are for these 3 birds, at the horizon/apogee, and at perigee for about a 45degree pass, and a 90degree pass. AO-07 and FO-29 are probably about the same i guess, and VO-52 much lower at perigee as is its flying elevation. the AMSAT web page for AO-07 says SO W eirp (typo?, 50 W) will produce 3 watts output at 2000 miles. this gives me some idea, if i am guessing right. any help and info is appreciated, and thank you for all the help and fun so far. this is still a blast, and it is truly an honor to be able to partake of your hi-tech machines. --,,, ,,,-- and good DX, robert #35488 kf0g cm97 ex. kg6pib/ki6gsa/ae6zj

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Re: couldn't resist this one - cars and hams
by Lowell White 09 Mar '07

09 Mar '07

Another suggestion is to rent the same model of car (that you are considering buying) for a day or two. This gives more time than a test drive to check for birdies, examine cable routes, power, possible equipment placement, etc. 73 de Lowell K9LDW ------ Original Message ------ Received: Fri, 09 Mar 2007 10:55:04 AM CST From: Bruce <kk5do(a)arrl.net> To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] couldn't resist this one > I have been looking for a new car. Been checking out a particular > manufacturer. I have not been happy with the dealers in Houston so I > started looking out of town where I will be going on a short vacation > next week. I found one dealer and have been talking with a sales rep. > The dealership phone number is XXX-599-5959. Don't want them to get a > zillion calls. I wonder if they even have a ham working there. > > 73...bruce > > -- > > 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, 6.2/6.8Mhz > Also streaming MP3 at http://www.amsatnet.com > > Latest satellite news on the ARRL Audio News > http://www.arrl.org

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Re: DX LEO records, fixed elevation category
by John W Lee 09 Mar '07

09 Mar '07

I missed the first of this thread.... How about OK1DIG on RS-13 at 9210 KM ? Mode K. 73, John K6YK ======================================= On Fri, 09 Mar 2007 16:54:36 +0000 w7lrd(a)comcast.net writes: > Do bragging rights for LEO birds count on old RS15? > G4CUO to W7LRD Nottinghamshire to Seattle=7535KM > Sure do miss that bird. > 73 Bob W7LRD >

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Re: DX LEO records, fixed elevation category
by w7lrd＠comcast.net 09 Mar '07

09 Mar '07

Do bragging rights for LEO birds count on old RS15? G4CUO to W7LRD Nottinghamshire to Seattle=7535KM Sure do miss that bird. 73 Bob W7LRD -------------- Original message -------------- From: "David Barber" <david.barber(a)dbelectronics.co.uk> > Do my two contacts via FO-29 using a single vertical co-linear at 30ft > count? > > VE9QRP @ 4702Km > W1FC @ 5355Km > > After all it is at a fixed elevation!!! > > David > G8OQW > > > -----Original Message----- > From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf Of Fabio Roccatagliata > Sent: 09 March 2007 14:24 > To: brobertson(a)mta.ca > Cc: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org > Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: DX LEO records, fixed elevation category > > Dear friends, > > here is my best LEO contacts made by using no elevation on 2 yagi antennas. > Antennas used: > > 12 el. 3wl for Vhf H pol. > 21 el. 6wl for Uhf H pol. > > IZ1EGT (JN44LK) -> VA3DB (FN25DI) 03/01/2005 FO29 J CW qrb 6343 km. > > Sincerely I found that elevation is not needed on Vhf while it > increases drastically sigs in Uhf. > > Best 73s > Fabio > > IZ1EGT / F5VKV > > On 3/9/07, Bruce Robertson wrote: > > > > >VE9QRP (FN75tv) to IW4DVZ (JN54IM) 5600 km > > > >" " to OK2UFB (JN99as) 5847 km > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. > N ot 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: Falconsat3 orbit ?
by John Mock KD6PAG 09 Mar '07

09 Mar '07

CelesTrak now has KEPS: http://www.celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/tle-new.txt It looks like the likely candidates are 2007-006D, 2007-006E and 2007-006F. Predictions for the next day in the San Francisco Bay Area: Date (PST) Time (PST) of Duration Azimuth at Peak Vis Orbit AOS MEL LOS of Pass AOS MEL LOS Elev Fri 09Mar07 20:40:01 20:43:44 20:47:30 00:07:28 179 144 108 4.7 NNN 16 22:18:09 22:24:06 22:30:06 00:11:57 222 156 89 22.5 NNN 17 23:58:31 00:04:55 00:11:22 00:12:50 251 171 90 49.8* NNN 18 Sat 10Mar07 01:39:31 01:45:55 01:52:26 00:12:54 268 188 105 54.6* NNN 19 03:20:43 03:26:47 03:32:59 00:12:16 272 202 130 28.0 NNV 20 05:02:45 05:07:17 05:11:57 00:09:12 259 214 168 7.9 NNV 21 It looks like one might need to be a night owl to monitor this bird for awhile, but initial predictions show it overhead about a month from now. -- KD6PAG (Networking Old-Timer, Satellite QRPer) [Note: If i'm in your address book, please replace 'qsl.net' with 'amsat.org'.]

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DX LEO records, fixed elevation category
by Bruce Robertson 09 Mar '07

09 Mar '07

Many of us have been encouraging the newcomers to this list to avoid elevation rotors if they want to begin with a simple, less expensive station. (It is unfortunate that as recently as my 2006 edition, the ARRL Handbook states that az/el rotation is necessary. I wonder if someone should contact them and offer a rewrite.) As evidence of the effectiveness of such a station, I offer the following two QSOs (chosen merely because I was writing up the QSL cards). I also submit them as the first entries in a fixed-elevation DX bragging thread: VE9QRP (FN75tv) to IW4DVZ (JN54IM) 5600 km " " to OK2UFB (JN99as) 5847 km Both SSB via FO-29, both using a pair of FT-817s. 73, Bruce VE9QRP

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Re: Atlas-V/STP-1/Falconsat-3 launch
by GW1FKY＠aol.com 09 Mar '07

09 Mar '07

Glad to hear of the good news . Congratulations to all involved. Ken Eaton GW1FKY Amsat-UK Amsat NA

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GO-32 system comeback
by Mineo Wakita 09 Mar '07

09 Mar '07

Up: 145.890, Down: 435.225, 9600bps, FSK, KISS 4XTECH-11>PBLIST [03/09/07 11:12:23z] <UI R>:PB: Empty. 4XTECH-12>BBSTAT [03/09/07 11:12:34z] <UI R>:Open:AB1C23: 4XTECH-12>STATUS [03/09/07 11:12:35z] <UI R>:B:3510788 4XTECH-12>STATUS [03/09/07 11:12:35z] <UI R>: UTC: Fri Mar 09 11:12:34 2007 | Gurwin Techsat1B (V9.86) 4XTECH-12>STATUS [03/09/07 11:12:35z] <UI R>:---- 4XTECH-12>STATUS [03/09/07 11:12:35z] <UI R>: Gurwin Techsat1B's BBS is active (version 9.86) ,ASRI greets you. 4XTECH-12>STATUS [03/09/07 11:12:36z] <UI R> 2 Users/8 Broadcasts , Uplink freq:145.890,145.850,145.930, 1269.800, 1269.900 --------------------------------------------- Name: Mineo Wakita / JE9PEL, JAMSAT member Mail: ei7m-wkt(a)asahi-net.or.jp URL : http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/ QTH : Yokohama Japan, GL:pm95tj Date: Mar 9, 2007 ---------------------------------------------

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Atlas-V/STP-1/Falconsat-3 launch
by Andrew Glasbrenner 09 Mar '07

09 Mar '07

We had a great view of the launch tonight. The Atlas is dimmer than the Shuttle or Delta launches, but a nice crimson color. We talked about the launch on the Florida AMSAT net at 730PM, and had several guys outside for both the 88 degree pass of AO-51 at 830 and watching the launch at 1010 while discussing it on the local repeater system. Good Luck Falconsat-3. 73, Drew KO4MA

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Re: Falconsat3 orbit ?
by John Mock KD6PAG 09 Mar '07

09 Mar '07

I'm still looking for KEPS, myself. I did find the following: > Two Mission Orbits: > 46.0 deg - 492 km (Orbital Express & MidSTAR-1) > 35.4 deg - 560 km (STPSat-1, CFESat, FalconSat-3) -- http://spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av013/070305stp1.html See also: http://spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av013/070305ascent.html (noting that 348 miles is roughly 560 km) Presumably CelesTrak and the other usual sources should have KEPS soon. -- KD6PAG (Networking Old-Timer, Satellite QRPer) [Note: If i'm in your address book, please replace 'qsl.net' with 'amsat.org'.]

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Re: Station not coming together - the full post (sorry for repost, reply to this)
by Jonny 290 08 Mar '07

08 Mar '07

Lying in bed last night, I realized my solution to the 'noisy rotator' issue that's stopping me from putting up yagis. Ground mounted rotator! Pound a 1.25" steel pipe in the ground, bolt the rotator to that at knee level, run the mast up. Here's my thinking - 15 feet of PVC with a short yagi on top, mounted at 30 degrees elevation, give or take. At the 10 foot 'eave' level, I create some sort of crude bearing using PVC that allows the pipe to spin, but not wobble. Bolt that to the eaves and use it as the anchor point up top. The pipe could down to just above ground level, where it's connected to the rotator output. I'm in a valley so winds never get higher than 40 mph gusts, and the PVC should have plenty of 'give' to not mess up during a wind gust. I've got stuff right nowon a 12 foot PVC mast that isn't even cemented together, and it's tough. This would allow me a steerable antenna without bothering my roommate. The rotator noise should be almost inaudible when it's mounted down so low (there won't be a window in the path to easily conduct noise) and if it's still an issue, it'd only take an hour to build an MDF box with a hole in the top to cover, insulate and protect the rotator. Think it'll work? :D On 3/7/07, sco(a)sco-inc.com <sco(a)sco-inc.com> wrote: > > > if your ultimate objective is P3E then try to hear your downlink on > FO-29. If you can't then you won't be able to work P3E. > > At 03:06 AM 3/7/2007, you wrote: > >OK, let's take a bite out of this. > > > >RE, the preamp: I agree that it is likely a weak point. I wanted to check > it > >out, though, and for $22 I couldn't go wrong. It'll still prove useful at > >some point down the road. > > > >If one of the mast mount preamps are what the situation requires, I"m > ready > >to take that step. > > > >The eggbeater is actually designed with radials to 'pull' the signal > towards > >the horizon. It almost seems as though the radials may be working too > well - > >I've got moderate to great copy up to a few degrees, then it falls over > >dead. Due to my 'beater's design, it's trivial for me to replace the > loops > >and/or the radials without messing with the phasing harness or antenna > >mount, so I can try an antenna that doesn't have a by-design null at high > >elevations. I'd almost like to do this just as a lark, as it'd cost me a > >grand total of $7 to go buy another 10 foot piece of 1/4" fridge tubing. > > > >I can also experiment with putting the 435 eggbeater on a nonconductive > PVC > >mast. Also a cheap experiment, couple of bucks for 15 feet of PVC. That > >might get it up high enough with no metal above or near it, save for the > >feedline. > > > >Here's my main issue with the TV rotator, and you'll think this is silly > and > >trivial, but it's a major sticking point, and why I've been going at this > >with omni antennas so far. My main mast sits _directly_ outside my > >roommate's window, due to overhead power line and tree location. It's the > >only place where I can safely have a structure above 10 feet, that is > less > >than 75 'coax feet' from my shack window. > > > >I'm concerned that spinning the rotator at night will bother him. If the > >mast is solidly mounted to the house just a few feet away, how much will > one > >of these inexpensive TV rotators conduct into the building? Could I cut > that > >down by putting some rubber between the mast and clamp, something of that > >nature? > > > >The next step, and I'm ready to move to this point if I can address the > >noise issue to my satisfaction, is to build a small cross yagi, 4 to 7 > >elements, and mount it at fixed elevation on a small TV rotator. I > believe > >that an antenna in this size range will prove a big advantage over the > >omnis, should have a wide enough beamwidth such that I will get away with > >fixed elevation, and should only have to crank the rotator every 60 to 90 > >seconds, except for the extremely high angle passes. > > > >If that works on receive, but I'm having uplink problems, I can put a 2 > or 3 > >element CP yagi for 2 meters on the same boom, which should let me hit > most > >of the satellites with 10-15 watts of power, max. > > > >I'm very eager and willing to design and play with antennas - love > homebrew > >in general, I just can't design a circuit to save my life - and know how > to > >model and build good quality antennas. I'm fairly certain that I can get > >crafty enough to get around what restrictions this environment does have. > > > >So, here's what I'm looking at, I think. > > > >1: Mast mount preamp > >2: Beam with rotator > >3: Hamtronics downconverter (435.5 - 437.5 MHz, somebody tell me if I'm > >getting the wrong frequency range choice - my HF radio stops at exactly > >30.000.000 so I want to make sure I can hit the 437+ frequencies) > > > >The beam will require design and construction time (I don't believe in > >buying antennas except in rare circumstances); I can throw green paper at > >the preamp and get it out of the way, since store-bought is the best > option > >for that at this time. In addition, I don't want to have to install the > beam > >and rotator and preamp all at once; it'd be nice to have the preamp ready > to > >go by the time I put up the beam and rotator. > > > >I'll be honest, I'm generally an impatient person, and I'm busting my > chops > >and treating this station in a rent house as a challenge. I was serious > >about hitting the Phase 3E sats when they go up, but I do _not_ expect to > do > >it at my current QTH. If all comes together, I move into a house this > fall, > >at which I hopefully will have clear space and the ability to put up a > >"real" antenna support. Once that happens, either a roof mount or small > >tower, I'll build a long yagi array and get it under computer control. > But > >I'm not at that phase yet, and I want to get experienced at this level > >before I think about trying to work the high orbit satellites. > > > >I actually grew up a ham in my early teen years back in the early 90's, > and > >remember poring endlessly over AO-13 articles. It seemed like the zenith > of > >technical accomplishment in our hobby. I came back to ham radio last year > >and was disappointed to find that we had no high orbit satellites > currently, > >but the LEO satellite 'scene' seemed active and I figured I could get my > >feet wet with them before I tackle the big ones when they go up. > >_______________________________________________ > >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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suite frequencies
by john heath 08 Mar '07

08 Mar '07

Hi Greg and all on the list. I had good results listening o 130.167MHz FM during a recent Russian EVA. I believe this is an old MIR frequency. I watched NASA TV to establish that the walkers were out and broadcasting. I have been told that the American suites use some sort of digital comms which we are unlikely to be able to copy with a normal satellite ground station. There are some very knowledeable folk on this bb. so your request might throw up some valuable information. Signals on 130.167MHz were strong and easy copy on my 5 element cross yagi and FT847 radio. Good luck 73 John G7HIA

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suite frequencies
by Greg Kail 08 Mar '07

08 Mar '07

I am hoping to find the freq used by the US & Russian suites during EVAs. I some one could point me in the right direction, I would appreciate it. Thanks in advance --------------------------------- Looking for earth-friendly autos? Browse Top Cars by "Green Rating" at Yahoo! Autos' Green Center.

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ARRL SatTracker 688
by Arlon Nelson 08 Mar '07

08 Mar '07

Which magazines was the article about the ARRL SatTracker 688 in, QST, AMSAT or both. Thanks W0TUP

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Re: Station not coming together - the full post (sorry for repost, reply to this)
by Edward Cole 08 Mar '07

08 Mar '07

At 08:01 PM 3/6/2007, Jonny 290 wrote: >Bruce, Gould and Les, > >Sincere thanks for your thoughts so far. I'll let this topic percolate for a >bit, but I had to comment on one thing: > ><<<Unlike in HF, where the RF sometimes just gets through, here you're >dealing >with the Hard Numbers, and they will crush you into silence.>>> > >THIS is why I love satellite operation. It's a huge challenge, and the >ionosphere largely has NOTHING to do with it. No 'magic' involved. I know >it's anathema to ye olde Amateur Radio meme of "operating in a dim room with >a small transmitter", but I am finding that this satellite station is the >greatest engineering challenge of my life, to date - and I'm going at it >100% solo NOBODY in my area knows anything gives a rip about the birds. Yet. Jonny, As you are discovering, the Amsat-bb is a great source of help for folks starting out. The others have pretty well pointed out your receiving system on 435 MHz is not working well enough. I have no experience with SO-50 so do not know if the K5OE eggbeater has enough gain. An excellent article was printed about receiving AO-51 in the latest issue of Amsat Journal. If you are not a member then this is one benefit of membership. My impression of Hamtronics equipment is that is better for repeater use and not optimum for "weak-signal" satellite reception. The Hamtronics preamps do not have low noise figures. Gain without low noise figure will not result in bettering your reception. Preamps must be placed close to the antenna (if not directly to the antenna). The 2-dB coax loss is directly added to the noise figure of your preamp (which I estimate is no better than 1.5 dB). You want to get a 0.5 dB noise figure preamp with a minimum of 15-dB gain. The IC-208 probably does not have very low noise figure (I would guess around 10-12 dB). Line loss is better measured using a power meter and a transmitter. Receiver S-meter indications are altered by the AGC action of the radio and not trustworthy for signal level measurements of any accuracy. But if the coax is new then 2-dB loss for 29-feet is probably close. I would try the eggbeater on its own support mast (height is not particularly important for satellite reception if not obstructed by hills or buildings. I received AO-51 using a 2m 19-inch high mag-mount whip on a square of sheet metal and a 0.5 dB noise figure preamp with very clear signals above 10-degrees of elevation. This was very early in its history when running very low power on the satellite. Try these ideas out and let us know how it goes. 73, Ed - KL7UW ====================================== BP40IQ 50-MHz - 10-GHz www.kl7uw.com 144-EME: FT-847, mgf-1801, 4x-xpol-20, 185w DUBUS Magazine USA Rep dubususa(a)hotmail.com ======================================

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Mission to the planets
by Robert Bruninga 07 Mar '07

07 Mar '07

To demonstrate solar power and the distances to the planets, our students used a mock planetary explorer consisting of a solar panel on a satellite model on a cart: http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/EPSplanets.html They backed the cart away over 590 feet from a 1000W spot lamp to get from Mercury to Jupiter. A KPC-3+ TNC provided APRS telemetry to a laptop which plotted the IV curve of the solar panel along the way (which was down 1000 to 1 by the time they got to Saturn (the size of a BB)... Pluto was in the next building. Anyway, students had fun. And we got some nice photos. I compressed them in PAINT and they are under 40k and load pretty fast. Just an example of how we use Ham radio in the classroom. Bob, WB4APR

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Ofcom 10/28/32/40GHz Auction Responses Now On The Web
by Trevor 07 Mar '07

07 Mar '07

Ofcom 10/28/32/40GHz Auction Responses Now On The Web The responses to Ofcoms Award of available spectrum: 10 GHz, 28 GHz, 32 GHz and 40 GHz: Spectrum packaging and auction design consultation have now been put on the Ofcom website. They can be seen at http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/10-40GHz/responses/ Among them are the joint RSGB/UKuG/AMSAT-UK/BATC response along with the IARU Region 1 response. Consultation document http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/10-40GHz/10-40ghz.pdf ---- ___________________________________________________________ The all-new Yahoo! Mail goes wherever you go - free your email address from your Internet provider. http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html

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Re: Station not coming together - the full post
by Wayne Estes 07 Mar '07

07 Mar '07

One possible explanation for Jonny 290's high-elevation reception difficulty might be the polarization of the eggbeater antenna. The eggbeater is linear polarization near the horizon, and right hand circular polarization at high elevation. It could be that SO-50's signal is more left hand circular polarization. Unfortunately this theory doesn't correlate with my own experience receiving SO-50 with a RHCP yagi (and a mast-mounted preamp!). I get very strong signals at high elevation, but I also get "random" deep fades that can last several seconds at any elevation. The "random" deep fades can be caused by polarization mismatch, or by the body of the spinning satellite temporarily obstructing a portion of the antenna. Wayne Estes W9AE Oakland, Oregon, USA

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AO-51 demonstration at Scottsdale AZ "Springfest", Saturday (10 March 2007)
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 07 Mar '07

07 Mar '07

Hi! I will be part of the group manning an AMSAT table at the Scottsdale Amateur Radio Club's "Springfest" on Saturday, 10 March 2007. The hamfest will be on the east end of the parking lot at Scottsdale Community College, located at 9000 E. Chaparral Road. This is east of Pima Road and exit 46 on the AZ-101 Pima Freeway. Talk-in will be on the club's 147.180 MHz (+, with 162.2 PL) repeater. More information is available at: http://members.cox.net/sarc2007/ For our satellite demonstrations, it appears that we will have 2 AO-51 passes on Saturday morning. The first pass will be at 1446-1457 UTC, a 11-degree eastern pass. Later, at 1624-1638 UTC, we will have a 58-degree western pass. If you can work either of those passes, please feel free to call us. Thanks and 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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P3E Amateur Satellite Update?
by Miguel Menéndez 07 Mar '07

07 Mar '07

HI, amsat-bb, The past year the news said. "Peter Guelzow, DB2OS President of AMSAT-DL provides the following update on the progress of the P3E satellite that should be launched into a highly eliptical orbit around 2007 (launch date TBC). 73 Trevor M5AKA" In the 2007, there are new features? -- 73, Miguel, EA1BCU www.ea1bcu.tk

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Journal Articles
by Ed Long 07 Mar '07

07 Mar '07

Everyone, It's actually past time to submit articles for the next issue of the Journal. I have a few articles already but, as always, I need more. I'm just back from a fairly long business trip out of the country so I haven't had any time to issue calls for papers. So, if you have anything please forward it right away. I'll be working on the next issue next week. I've received a few nice comments from several readers about the Journal. Thank you!! And also thanks to the great authors we have. Without them the Journal could not exist. 73, Ed Long WA4SWJ Editor, The AMSAT Journal

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Live Audio Stream for ARISS Contact, Mission Viejo High School
by Matt Bennett 07 Mar '07

07 Mar '07

Hi All, Here is a link to the live audio stream for the Mission Viejo High School / ISS contact taking place this Thursday, March 8th at 8:30 AM PST (1630 UTC): http://ucisat.eng.uci.edu/uplink We should also have an Echo Link node setup up before that time, and will post the node number as soon as it becomes available. 73, Matt Bennett KF6RTB K6UCI Control Operator --------------------------------- No need to miss a message. Get email on-the-go with Yahoo! Mail for Mobile. Get started.

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Re: Station not coming together - the full post (sorry for repost, reply to this)
by Edward Cole 07 Mar '07

07 Mar '07

Matt, You can't go wrong with the ARR P432 GasFet preamp ($79). I used one on 2m for eme until getting my current preamp. Be sure to remember that you do not transmit into it...just once and the transistor is history - no second chances. At 11:06 PM 3/6/2007, Jonny 290 wrote: >OK, let's take a bite out of this. > >RE, the preamp: I agree that it is likely a weak point. I wanted to check it >out, though, and for $22 I couldn't go wrong. It'll still prove useful at >some point down the road. > >If one of the mast mount preamps are what the situation requires, I"m ready >to take that step. > >The eggbeater is actually designed with radials to 'pull' the signal towards >the horizon. It almost seems as though the radials may be working too well - >I've got moderate to great copy up to a few degrees, then it falls over >dead. Due to my 'beater's design, it's trivial for me to replace the loops >and/or the radials without messing with the phasing harness or antenna >mount, so I can try an antenna that doesn't have a by-design null at high >elevations. I'd almost like to do this just as a lark, as it'd cost me a >grand total of $7 to go buy another 10 foot piece of 1/4" fridge tubing. I think you may find that the antenna works much better when you get the preamp hooked there. >I can also experiment with putting the 435 eggbeater on a nonconductive PVC >mast. Also a cheap experiment, couple of bucks for 15 feet of PVC. That >might get it up high enough with no metal above or near it, save for the >feedline. > >Here's my main issue with the TV rotator, and you'll think this is silly and >trivial, but it's a major sticking point, and why I've been going at this >with omni antennas so far. My main mast sits _directly_ outside my >roommate's window, due to overhead power line and tree location. It's the >only place where I can safely have a structure above 10 feet, that is less >than 75 'coax feet' from my shack window. Mount the mast/rotator/antenna on a $33 Radio Shack tripod (Buy a 4x4 foot square of plywood to bolt the legs thru and weigh down with rocks or something heavy on three sides. I used 3 cinder blocks and the antenna survived 50-mph winds. >I'm concerned that spinning the rotator at night will bother him. If the >mast is solidly mounted to the house just a few feet away, how much will one >of these inexpensive TV rotators conduct into the building? Could I cut that >down by putting some rubber between the mast and clamp, something of that >nature? Most LEO satellite passes last only 20-30 min. You will probably have to move the antenna about five times for a pass (max) - or computerize it. Check out WB4APR, Bob Bruninga's cheap radio shack rotator system with software (free). Very simple and cheap! >The next step, and I'm ready to move to this point if I can address the >noise issue to my satisfaction, is to build a small cross yagi, 4 to 7 >elements, and mount it at fixed elevation on a small TV rotator. I believe >that an antenna in this size range will prove a big advantage over the >omnis, should have a wide enough beamwidth such that I will get away with >fixed elevation, and should only have to crank the rotator every 60 to 90 >seconds, except for the extremely high angle passes. Naw. More like every 3-5 min. >If that works on receive, but I'm having uplink problems, I can put a 2 or 3 >element CP yagi for 2 meters on the same boom, which should let me hit most >of the satellites with 10-15 watts of power, max. 3-elem 2m + 6-elem 70cm fits on a 3-foot boom. Google WA5VJB for simple/cheap home built yagis. Mount elements a right angles and no interaction. You have basically built an Arrow. >I'm very eager and willing to design and play with antennas - love homebrew >in general, I just can't design a circuit to save my life - and know how to >model and build good quality antennas. I'm fairly certain that I can get >crafty enough to get around what restrictions this environment does have. > >So, here's what I'm looking at, I think. > >1: Mast mount preamp >2: Beam with rotator >3: Hamtronics downconverter (435.5 - 437.5 MHz, somebody tell me if I'm >getting the wrong frequency range choice - my HF radio stops at exactly >30.000.000 so I want to make sure I can hit the 437+ frequencies) > >The beam will require design and construction time (I don't believe in >buying antennas except in rare circumstances); I can throw green paper at >the preamp and get it out of the way, since store-bought is the best option >for that at this time. In addition, I don't want to have to install the beam >and rotator and preamp all at once; it'd be nice to have the preamp ready to >go by the time I put up the beam and rotator. Buy the preamp first! You should get it in 3-days ground-UPS. >I'll be honest, I'm generally an impatient person, and I'm busting my chops >and treating this station in a rent house as a challenge. I was serious >about hitting the Phase 3E sats when they go up, but I do _not_ expect to do >it at my current QTH. If all comes together, I move into a house this fall, >at which I hopefully will have clear space and the ability to put up a >"real" antenna support. Once that happens, either a roof mount or small >tower, I'll build a long yagi array and get it under computer control. But >I'm not at that phase yet, and I want to get experienced at this level >before I think about trying to work the high orbit satellites. Go for a short ground mount as you will want easy access to tinker with things, often. On a pitched roof will become a pain! >I actually grew up a ham in my early teen years back in the early 90's, and >remember poring endlessly over AO-13 articles. It seemed like the zenith of >technical accomplishment in our hobby. I came back to ham radio last year >and was disappointed to find that we had no high orbit satellites currently, >but the LEO satellite 'scene' seemed active and I figured I could get my >feet wet with them before I tackle the big ones when they go up. P3E may only be a year or so off. Get started with LEO and add better antennas, later! For HEO you will need SSB, so the 435/28 xvtr is a better investment for the future. Then all you need is a 2m SSB radio. You will want 11-elem 145-MHz and 16-20 elem 435-MHz for mode-U/S. You will need a 2m preamp for that mode and at least 10w on 435-MHz (50w is better if you have a long coax run). 73, Ed - KL7UW ====================================== BP40IQ 50-MHz - 10-GHz www.kl7uw.com 144-EME: FT-847, mgf-1801, 4x-xpol-20, 185w DUBUS Magazine USA Rep dubususa(a)hotmail.com ======================================

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Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 + MP3 of yesterdays ISS School contact
by Trevor 07 Mar '07

07 Mar '07

Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 - Call for Proposals http://www.southgatearc.org/news/march2007/cosmic_vision.htm Don KB9AYF has put on the web a recording of yesterdays Montgomery, Illinois ISS School contact. It was made using a Kenwood TH-F6A and a 1/4 Whip. http://www.mmrfd.com/iss.mp3 73 Trevor M5AKA --------------- Daily Amateur Radio RSS News: http://www.southgatearc.org/ Email your news items to: editor at southgatearc.org News On Your Website: http://www.southgatearc.org/rss/index.htm News On Your PC: http://www.southgatearc.org/rss/newsreader.htm Upload Your News: http://www.southgatearc.org/news/your_news.htm --------------- ___________________________________________________________ New Yahoo! Mail is the ultimate force in competitive emailing. Find out more at the Yahoo! Mail Championships. Plus: play games and win prizes. http://uk.rd.yahoo.com/evt=44106/*http://mail.yahoo.net/uk

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Station not coming together - the full post (sorry for repost, reply to this)
by Jonny 290 07 Mar '07

07 Mar '07

LONG LONG LONG post ahead. OK, the situation is: I'm building up a satellite station to get familiar with LEO sats and to get ready for the phase 3E fun to start soon. Here's my station, and I'll post my thoughts after that. The "too long, didn't read" version: I've built good antennas, fed them with good feedlines and into a supposedly good receiver, but I just can't keep solid copy on LEO birds, and cannot get a QSO. I am jealous of the "Satellites worked with HT and 5/8 wave" articles, and want to figure out what the weak link in my station is. RX path: Eggbeater II antenna mounted at 15 feet. This is built to the K5OE Eggbeater II spec (http://members.aol.com/k5oejerry/eggbeater2.htm) using RHCP but uses a 100 ohm phasing line using two 50 ohm coax lines done in parallel, used in a balanced configuration, instead of 93 ohm RG-62. Antenna was 'redesigned' in MMANA-GAL to match exactly 100 ohms and to use 6mm diameter copper tubing instead of AWG 12 house wire. It is peaked for SWR < 1.1 at 436 MHz, and is less than 1.5 at 435.0 and 437.0. Our lot is lightly treed, but there is no wood (natural or otherwise) within six feet of this antenna. A good chunk of the sky, mainly northwesterly looking, is partially obscured by a large tree, but right now the leaves are off and it shouldn't kill the signal that much...should it? This antenna is the secondary antenna on this mast and is mounted on a 3 foot PVC stand-off pipe. The primary antenna is a Diamond F22A mounted at approximately 18 feet. It has a 10 foot vertical element and three 1/4 wave horizontal radials. It is not used in the satellite station but I wanted to describe it, in case it is interfering (I suspect it is.) Eggbeater is fed through29 feet of 213 spec coax (5.1 dB loss/500 MHZ) terminated in well done PL-259 connectors. I have verified this particular cable's loss at less than 2 dB at 432 MHz, using my Icom PCR-100's accurate S-meter and a known signal source. My latest upgrade: RX chain goes into a homebrew bypass relay / Ramsey preamp box (the relay is DPDT and switches the preamp in or out of the RX signal path). The preamp provides approximately 18 dB of gain when inserted and using a test signal around 432 MHz. It has proven somewhat beneficial, giving me 2-3 S-units advantage at certain points from the LO-19 CW beacon (Which I recently received at up to S9 with the preamp on a ~60 degree pass, a new record so far). I have tested both with the antenna coax plugged directly in, and through the relay/switch box, which is connected to the radios through a 3 foot RG-8 patch cable. The preamp box uses runs of RG-174, but all runs are properly done and less than 2 inches. Telay box and the patch cable has been measured to have 1-2 dB of loss when bypassed at 432 MHz. I know this can be improved,but given my tests, I don't believe the plastic case of my preamp is killing incoming signals or anything (I switch coax lines quickly and it doesn't kill weak but audible signals at all). Receivers: IC-208H dual band radio, rated at <0.18 uV for 12dB SINAD OR PCR-100 computer controlled receiver, rated at <0.34 uV for 12dB SINAD The TX setup is currently an IC-271 pushing from about 4 to 38 verified FM watts into a simple RHCP turnstile, recently built. It is mounted on a slightly shorter PVC mast about 10 feet away from the "big mast". It is the only antenna on this pole, and is fed through 27 feet of 213 spec coax. Peaked at 145.8 MHz with SWR less than 1.1 . I know the turnstile pattern has most gain directly overhead and has some shortages towards the horizon, but I have plenty of theoretical EIRP to get on the LEO sats, I believe, and I'm not worried about the TX path right now. I'm just not getting the signal strength and intelligibility that I expect from this setup. For example, there was a theoretically perfect SO-50 ascending pass today at about 5:15 PM Central, 15 minutes plus duration and it peaked at almost 80 degrees elevation. I received the signal faintly starting at 2 degrees, and it steadily improved to a 'fluttering S3" at about 8-10 degrees. I attempted to come back to a station that finished a QSO, because I thought it cleared - turns out,the signal DIED. I could just barely track it for the rest of the pass, even when it was almost directly overhead at less than 900 miles altitude. Gave up when it was five minutes before LOS, with no contact made. So, given my station description, what am I facing? Is my Eggbeater's 'overhead 10dB null' design killing it? I would think that, as designed, the greatly decreased path loss as the bird comes overhead should compensate for this shortage, and then some. As mentioned earlier, I'm also concerned that the Diamond F22's radials are destroying the radiation pattern of this antenna. I'm in a rent house and have to conserve masts as much as possible, but if it's killing me, I can move the satellite antennas to a ~12 foot PVC mast instead of trying to piggyback them on my metal vertical mast.I've copied beacons and various carriers from birds as low as 0.5 degrees, so I know the antenna 'gets out' okay at lower elevations. It's the high elevation periods that are disappointing me. How does my IC-208H compare to more refined receivers? Is it too deaf? I've considered feeding my IC-735 HF radio with a 435 MHz receive converter. This would allow all mode 70cm reception with a very good radio (comments on the Hamtronics converter boxes would be great). I'd love any comments on the Hamtronics receive converters from those who have tried them out. I'd appreciate any comments and advice from the great minds on this list. Thanks for taking the time to read up and give any advice or comments. 73, Matt

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Station not quite coming together - notes and request for advice
by Jonny 290 07 Mar '07

07 Mar '07

OK, the situation is: I'm building up a satellite station to get familiar with LEO sats and to get ready for the phase 3E fun to start soon. Here's my station, and I'll post my thoughts after that. RX path: Eggbeater II antenna mounted at 15 feet. This is built to the K5OE Eggbeater II spec (http://members.aol.com/k5oejerry/eggbeater2.htm) but uses a 100 ohm phasing line using two 50 ohm coax lines done in parallel, used in a balanced configuration, instead of 93 ohm RG-62. Antenna was 'redesigned' in MMANA-GAL to match exactly 100 ohms and to use 6mm diameter copper tubing instead of AWG 12 house wire. It is peaked for SWR < 1.05 at 436 MHz, and is less than 1.5 at 435.0 and 437.0. Antenna is the secondary antenna on this mast and is mounted on a 3 foot PVC stand-off pipe. The primary antenna is a Diamond F22A mounted at approximately 18 feet. It has a 10.5 foot vertical element and three 1/4 wave horizontal radials. It is not used in the satellite station but I wanted to describe it, in case it is interfering (I suspect it is.) Eggbeater is fed through29 feet of 213 spec coax (5.1 dB loss/500 MHZ) terminated in well done PL-259 connectors. I have verified this particular cable's loss at less than 2 dB at 460 MHz, using my Icom PCR-100's accurate S-meter and a known signal source. My latest upgrade: RX chain goes into a homebrew relay / Ramsey preamp box. The preamp provides approximately 18 dB of gain when inserted and using a test signal around 432 MHz. It has proven somewhat beneficial, giving me 2-3 S-units advantage at certain points from the LO-19 CW beacon (Which I recently received at up to S9 with the preamp on a ~60 degree pass). >From the Receivers: IC-208H dual band radio, rated at <0.18 uV for 12dB SINAD OR PCR-100 computer controlled receiver, rated at <0.34 uV for 12dB SINAD

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Chips for KiwiSAT from Hong Kong
by Fred Kennedy 06 Mar '07

06 Mar '07

Hi Guys, Anyone able to - or has a friend/contact that could pick up and despatch US$48 worth of FPGA chips for KiwiSAT from Shanzhen (Hong Kong)? We'll pay all costs of course - Credit Card and Air Mail postage would be good! The constant drain of build funds on Bank Drafts and un-necessary fancy high speed courier services to get stuff to us in NZ is just awesome and the major costs ahead demand we consider every $! Thanks. Fred ZL1BYP for KiwiSAT Project

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Shuttle lift?
by w7lrd＠comcast.net 06 Mar '07

06 Mar '07

Hello I believe this subject has in the past been thrashed around. Perhaps for some new members it might be worth "rethrashing". The shuttle seems to have a lot of room and our satellites are fairly small. If I recall they (NASA) does not want any satellite with fuel. On Oct 6, 1990 the Ulysses spacecraft was carried into earth orbit, then with the solid-fuel motors put it in a eliptical solar orbit. That was 17 years ago, and the policy has probably changed. 73 Bob W7LRD Seattle

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Re: USB G5500 controller
by Wayne Estes 06 Mar '07

06 Mar '07

Les W4WSCO wrote: Now that the piggyback is no longer available from NLSA (Nova) for the Labjack what is available that uses a USB interface? Wayne replies: It's very easy to build your own "piggback" adapter. The SatPC32 web site shows how easy it is to build your own: U12 piggback schematic: http://www.dk1tb.de/lj_piggyback.JPG U3 piggback schematic: http://www.dk1tb.de/lj_piggyback_u3.JPG Photo of DK1TB's homebrew U3 "piggyback" built on a perfboard: http://www.dk1tb.de/u3upiggyback.JPG By the way, the new Labjack U3 is $30 cheaper than the now-discontinued U12. The latest version of SatPC32 supports the U3. Wayne Estes W9AE Oakland, Oregon, USA, CN83ik

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Re: USB G5500 controller
by George Henry 06 Mar '07

06 Mar '07

The ARRL SatTracker 688 that was recently featured in the Journal can be built for USB and/or RS-232, and is compatible with the G5400B and G5500 (jumper-selectable). There were a limited nmber of boards produced, beyond the original number for schools, that are/were available for $25 with pre-programmed PIC and all docs on CD. If building for USB, you do have to solder 1 surface-mount component. George, KA3HSW -----Original Message----- >From: sco(a)sco-inc.com >Sent: Mar 5, 2007 11:20 PM >To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org >Subject: [amsat-bb] USB G5500 controller > >Now that the piggyback is no longer available from NLSA (Nova) for >the Labjack what is available that uses a USB interface? > >Les W4SCO > >

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USB G5500 controller
by sco＠sco-inc.com 06 Mar '07

06 Mar '07

Now that the piggyback is no longer available from NLSA (Nova) for the Labjack what is available that uses a USB interface? Les W4SCO

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Re: GO-32
by Mineo Wakita 06 Mar '07

06 Mar '07

GO-32 system down. 435.225 MHz, 9600bps, KISS [2007-03-06 10:37:20z] TechRam1V9.86 [2007-03-06 10:37:50z] TechRam1V9.86 [2007-03-06 10:38:20z] TechRam1V9.86 [2007-03-06 10:38:50z] TechRam1V9.86 --------------------------------------------- Name: Mineo Wakita / JE9PEL, JAMSAT member Mail: ei7m-wkt(a)asahi-net.or.jp URL : http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/ QTH : Yokohama Japan, GL:pm95tj Date: Mar 6, 2007 ---------------------------------------------

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Uni Trac
by WA7HYD 06 Mar '07

06 Mar '07

Anyone know if Uni Trac is still in business. e-mail is bouncing back. Seems all of the tracker and interface manufacturers have folded up and disappeared. Newcomers to the satellite tracking segment are finding things a little rough going. ========= de WA7HYD Bob in WA

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Re: Rotor control interface for FT-736R/G5500
by Wayne Estes 06 Mar '07

06 Mar '07

Dave AA4KN wrote: What is a recommended computer interface/s (preferably less expensive, but reliable) for interfacing a Yaseu FT-736R with a Yaseu G5500 rotor system? Wayne W9AE replies: I don't think you need to connect your rotor to your FT-736R. You probably want to connect your rotor and FT-836 to a computer. If your computer has a parallel port, FODtrack would probably be the cheapest rotor interface you could build - about $25. Parallel and serial ports are going away, so you might want to get a USB interface that is likely to work on future computers. The $99 Labjack U3 and LVB tracker (kit sold by AMSAT-UK) are good options for a USB rotor interface. For the Labjack you would need to build a simple interface between the LABjack output terminals and your Yaesu rotor. Wayne Estes W9AE Oakland, Oregon, USA, CN83ik

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Help needed calibrating Nova, GS-232B, G5400B
by AJ9N＠aol.com 06 Mar '07

06 Mar '07

Hi all, One of the schools I am mentoring for an upcoming ARISS contact is having trouble getting Nova, a Yaesu GS-232B control box, and a Yaesu G5400B az/el rotor to work properly. If anyone has experience with this exact combination, please let me know ASAP. The main questions concern calibration. Thanks. 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS mentors ************************************** AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at http://www.aol.com.

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Re: GO-32
by Bent Bagger 05 Mar '07

05 Mar '07

K4OGT <k4ogt(a)cox.net> wrote > Has anyone heard GO-32, in 9K6 BB Mode, since Saturday night? Here at OZ7SAT we got the following today on orbit 44944 ( 17:50 - 18:06 UTC). It is not exactly BB mode, but GO-32 is alive: Record no. 1 (41 bytes) KISS type: 0 0000 00 8c 00 c8 14 ec 45 54 65 63 68 53 61 74 2d 56 ...H.lETechSat-V 0010 34 2e 32 00 70 00 00 00 00 40 08 10 00 40 00 04 4.2.p....@...@.. 0020 00 00 00 00 00 f6 0d 03 00 .....v... Record no. 2 (41 bytes) KISS type: 0 0000 00 8c 00 e6 14 ec 45 54 65 63 68 53 61 74 2d 56 ...f.lETechSat-V 0010 34 2e 32 00 70 00 00 00 00 40 08 10 00 40 00 04 4.2.p....@...@.. 0020 00 00 00 00 00 fa 0d 03 00 .....z... Record no. 3 (41 bytes) KISS type: 0 0000 00 8c 00 12 16 ec 45 54 65 63 68 53 61 74 2d 56 .....lETechSat-V 0010 34 2e 32 00 70 00 00 00 00 40 08 10 00 40 00 04 4.2.p....@...@.. 0020 00 00 00 00 00 0a 0e 03 00 ......... Record no. 4 (41 bytes) KISS type: 0 0000 00 8c 00 30 16 ec 45 54 65 63 68 53 61 74 2d 56 ...0.lETechSat-V 0010 34 2e 32 00 70 00 00 00 00 40 08 10 00 40 00 04 4.2.p....@...@.. 0020 00 00 00 00 00 0e 0e 03 00 ......... Pardon my French, but a hex dump tells it best, I think. Best 73 de Bent/OZ6BL The AMSAT-OZ team at OZ7SAT

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My new transponder design
by William Leijenaar 05 Mar '07

05 Mar '07

Hi AMSATs, This weekend I finished my new transponder design and go it working like the prototype. This evening I quickly made a website with some information and pictures for you. Just have a look at: http://www.qsl.net/pe1rah/LE002.htm I hope it is working, as some people have problems to get the pictures with Internet explorer. I use Mozilla FireFox and it is working very well. Maybe someone can tell me how to make my websites that all browsers can see my pictures ?? (I am better in designing electronics than in webpages) Happy satellite hunting, William Leijenaar (PE1RAH) --- ____________________________________________________________________________________ Have a burning question? Go to www.Answers.yahoo.com and get answers from real people who know.

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Additional Thoughts on SL...
by Emily Clarke 05 Mar '07

05 Mar '07

I want to thank all the folks who posted here for their support - that is really wonderful and helpful. I'm sorry I can't reply to everyone individually, but today is a very busy one. Also if you come into Second Life remember that I may be working, so before you offer friendship send an IM and tell me you are from AMSAT. I'll try to schedule some time with you. If there are enough people, we can perhaps set up some group activity - that would be really helpful to me. I have a big house and can have a large group of visitors. - E --------------------------------- N1DID formerly W0EEC - CM87tm Support Project OSCAR - http://www.projectoscar.net

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Rotor control interface for FT-736R/G5500
by David J 05 Mar '07

05 Mar '07

What is a recommended computer interface/s (preferably less expensive, but reliable) for interfacing a Yaseu FT-736R with a Yaseu G5500 rotor system? Dave, AA4KN

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Renewed interest in SAT's.. couple questions
by Matt Atwood 05 Mar '07

05 Mar '07

I am returning to satellite operation after a ten year absence (my last satellite QSO before Feb 07 was literally 10 years ago on 3/25/1997 via RS-10)and have a couple questions. I have recently operated on a number of satellites (VO-52, AO-7, FO-29, etc) and the AMSAT web site has some great info on them, but I find the entries for AO-10 and SO-33 confusing regarding whether they are operational or not? For example, the AO-10 entry is listed under operational sats, but each mode entry is listed as 'non-operational' and the weekly SAT update says it is stuck in Mode B... Are either of these SAT's actually operational at all? I have not heard either of them on the air, so I imagine not, but, never hurts to ask. Thanks in advance, - Matt, WE1H Grand Isle, VT FN34jl AMSAT member since 03/04/2007 ;-)

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GO-32
by K4OGT 04 Mar '07

04 Mar '07

Has anyone heard GO-32, in 9K6 BB Mode, since Saturday night? We work 24/7 at KE4ZXW and have seen no sign of a signal in our logs. Just wonder if anyone has status or do we have a discreet equipment failure. Thanks, 73, K4OGT Chief Control operator. Amsat 30974 KE4ZXW, located at the Virginia Air and Space Center in Hampton, VA

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Re: Historic amateur radio film "Every Single Minute" now onGoogle Video
by Tony Langdon 04 Mar '07

04 Mar '07

At 12:40 AM 3/5/2007, Margaret Leber wrote: >On 3/3/07, Wayne N5WD <n5wd(a)charter.net> wrote: > > Consider also that many schools also block Google Video (as well as > > YouTube, MySpace, and a lot of the other fad sites) because of > inappropriate > > content. > >Ouch. Well, I did say it was scary. I woudn't exactly consider GV and >YouTube to be "fad sites"...there's scads of incredibly educational >content available there for free. But I understand your issue. >(MySpace is another matter.) I have seen inappropriate content on You Tube. >Censoring kids access to the net is pointless and stupid; it's >insanely difficult to do correctly, and the brighter kids already know >how to beat it. Unfortunately, you're going to get a lot of hysterical parents. Kids need to learn to be "streetwise" on the Net, just like they need to be on the real streets. > > So, I'd be interested in a download link, as well, should one be > > available in a more commonly available format (like WMV or MPEG). > >If somebody wants to host a 200mb file for free public download I'd be >delighted to send them a copy. I'm sure neither my home DSL provider >nor the small hosting provider who donates service to our club website >would appreciate being the target of such. I can do it if you're looking for space. I have a few hundred megs free on a 100Mbps feed. 73 de VK3JED http://vkradio.com

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Puzzled by ANDE-1
by Andythomas 04 Mar '07

04 Mar '07

Tried to connect to ANDE-1 today to send the :TALK : command but she threw me off: eport UISS v5.0.1 [ON6MU (c)2001-2006] --------------------------------------- Report Save Date=03-04-2007 Local-Time=15:13:36 UTC-Time=15:13 Callsign :G0SFJ Latitude :52.28.82N Longitude:000.54.68W Stations Heard -------------- G0SFJ 04/03/07 13:24:45 ANDE-1 04/03/07 15:01:10 Total Stations = 2 Received Packet Frames ---------------------- Port1 with TAPR TNC2 On COM1: 145.825Mhz 1200baud (edited) Fm G0SFJ To ANDE-1 <SABM P>[15:01:09] Fm ANDE-1 To G0SFJ <DM F >[15:01:10] Fm G0SFJ To ANDE-1 <SABM P>[15:01:17] Fm ANDE-1 To G0SFJ <DM F >[15:01:19] Fm ANDE-1 To BEACON <UI pid=F0 Len=39 >[15:01:21] T#002,136,049,052,049,214,11100001,000 Fm ANDE-1 To APRS2 Via SGATE <UI pid=F0 Len=63 >[15:01:26] :BLN2ANDE :ANDE stays awake for 30 secs after last pkt heard. Fm G0SFJ To ANDE-1 <SABM P>[15:01:26] Fm ANDE-1 To G0SFJ <DM F >[15:01:28] *** End of UISS Report *** So I take it someone else was already connected - but did not see her calling that station.. and she didn't take the TALK command from me either. What am i doing wrong? 73 de andy g0sfj.

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Re: ANDE-1 digipeated
by Andythomas 04 Mar '07

04 Mar '07

She will also digipeat email with :EMAIL : <text here> if there's a suitably-equipped station hearing th downlink. I used the excellent UISS program to do this 73 de andy G0SFJ

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Re: Historic amateur radio film "Every Single Minute" now onGoogle Video
by Margaret Leber 04 Mar '07

04 Mar '07

On 3/3/07, Wayne N5WD <n5wd(a)charter.net> wrote: > Consider also that many schools also block Google Video (as well as > YouTube, MySpace, and a lot of the other fad sites) because of inappropriate > content. Ouch. Well, I did say it was scary. I woudn't exactly consider GV and YouTube to be "fad sites"...there's scads of incredibly educational content available there for free. But I understand your issue. (MySpace is another matter.) Censoring kids access to the net is pointless and stupid; it's insanely difficult to do correctly, and the brighter kids already know how to beat it. > So, I'd be interested in a download link, as well, should one be > available in a more commonly available format (like WMV or MPEG). If somebody wants to host a 200mb file for free public download I'd be delighted to send them a copy. I'm sure neither my home DSL provider nor the small hosting provider who donates service to our club website would appreciate being the target of such. I'll burn you a CD; it's an MPEG pulled from a Video CD. -- 73 de Maggie K3XS Editor, Phil-Mont Mobile Radio Club Blurb - http://www.phil-mont.org Elecraft K2 #1641 -- AOPA 925383 -- ARRL 39280

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RAFT synthesizer speaks again!
by Mineo Wakita 04 Mar '07

04 Mar '07

Mar 4, 07:40 UTC, RAFT speaks again! http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/70304raf.wav (Voice: CQ CQ CQ This is JE9PEL via RAFT.) (1) Set rig to A VFO(Tx): 145.823 B VFO(Rx): 145.827 (2) Set rig to SPRIT (3) Run terminal Software (4) Received: RAFT>BEACON,SGATE [03/04/07 07:38:59z] <UI>: T#467,085,106,059,048,114,00000000,999 (5) cmd:C RAFT (6) cmd:*** CONNECTED to RAFT (7) Send> :TALK :CQ CQ CQ This is JE9PEL via RAFT (8) Then RAFT speaks: CQ CQ CQ This is JE9PEL via RAFT --------------------------------------------- Name: Mineo Wakita / JE9PEL, JAMSAT member Mail: ei7m-wkt(a)asahi-net.or.jp URL : http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/ QTH : Yokohama Japan, GL:pm95tj Date: Mar 4, 2007 ---------------------------------------------

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AO-27 telemetry Mar.4
by Mineo Wakita 04 Mar '07

04 Mar '07

MS-DOS> ao27tlm /com1 /r1200 Sun Mar 04 06:13:53 2007,1172988833,22,+1.413,23,+1.404,24,+1.367,25, +1.442,26,+1.408,27,+1.396,28,+1.463,29,+1.413,30,+11.056,31,+8.351, 32,+4.863,33,+10.702,34,+12.600,35,-3.908,36,+27.502,37,+852.344,38, +35.329,39,+3.878,40,+172.850,41,+6.167,42,+22.863,43,+12.973,44, -1.315,45,+326.873,46,+11.000,47,+12.600,48,+12.600,49,+21.800,50, +12.600,51,-111.610,52,+17.731,53,+17.731,54,+18.615,55,+19.500,80, +86.000,81,+0.000,82,+31.000,83,+0.000 Sun Mar 04 06:14:03 2007,1172988843,22,+1.404,23,+1.396,24,+1.363,25, +1.433,26,+1.400,27,+1.383,28,+1.454,29,+1.433,30,+11.262,31,+8.351, 32,+4.863,33,+10.641,34,+12.600,35,+10.207,36,+31.462,37,+852.344,38, +114.693,39,+5.115,40,+141.269,41,+12.963,42,+17.239,43,+17.801,44, +0.265,45,+392.808,46,+12.000,47,+12.600,48,+12.600,49,+21.800,50, -96.719,51,-111.610,52,+17.731,53,+18.615,54,+18.615,55,+19.500,80, +100.000,81,+0.000,82,+31.000,83,+0.000 http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/ao27tlme.htm --------------------------------------------- Name: Mineo Wakita / JE9PEL, JAMSAT member Mail: ei7m-wkt(a)asahi-net.or.jp URL : http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/ QTH : Yokohama Japan, GL:pm95tj Date: Mar 4, 2007 ---------------------------------------------

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ANDE-1 digipeated
by Mineo Wakita 04 Mar '07

04 Mar '07

ANDE-1 Mar 4, 01:07-01:15 UTC, 2007 Mar 4, 10:07-10:15 JST, 2007 145.823 MHz: uplink 145.827 MHz: downlink Max ele, 69 deg 1200bps AFSK ANDE-1>APRS1,SGATE [03/04/07 01:10:18z] <UI>: :BLN1ANDE :ANDE-1 only wakes up 1 of evry 15s for users. Pse conserve. JE9PEL>CQ,ANDE-1* [03/04/07 01:10:25z] <UI R>: Hello this is JE9PEL via ANDE-1 JE9PEL>CQ,ANDE-1* [03/04/07 01:11:32z] <UI R>: Hello this is JE9PEL via ANDE-1 --------------------------------------------- Name: Mineo Wakita / JE9PEL, JAMSAT member Mail: ei7m-wkt(a)asahi-net.or.jp URL : http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/ QTH : Yokohama Japan, GL:pm95tj Date: Mar 4, 2007 ---------------------------------------------

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wanted: TS-711A
by Patrick Marineau 03 Mar '07

03 Mar '07

Wanted: TS-711A to go with my TS-811A for satellite work. Thanks, Pat K9HF

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Historic amateur radio film "Every Single Minute" now on Google Video
by Margaret Leber 03 Mar '07

03 Mar '07

In 1955, The Phil-Mont Mobile Radio Club provided emergency communications during the devastating flooding along the Delaware River and in the Pocono Mountains following Hurricane Diane, the sixth costliest U.S. hurricane of the 20th century...fifty years before Hurricane Katrina. In 1959, the club produced this short film to explain amateur radio, and especially mobile communications as practiced by the club. (The main film begins after a three minute interview with Jim Spencer, W3BBB, produced by a local cable channel many years later) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2943570522939177086&hl=en 73 de Maggie K3XS Editor, Phil-Mont Mobile Radio Club Blurb - http://www.phil-mont.org Elecraft K2 #1641

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Re: Historic amateur radio film "Every Single Minute" now onGoogle Video
by Margaret Leber 03 Mar '07

03 Mar '07

On 3/3/07, Thomas McDaniel <tmcdanielsprint(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > Is there anyplace that I can download this film? I don't seem to be able to > download it from the Google site, and I have been asked by our club's > Technical Education Instructor if I could get a copy for him to show in his > class. I thought it was a great film -- I remember seeing some of the gear > being used in the film in the BA catalogs I used to see when I was in high > school. :-) It's not online anyplace else at this time...and it's 200 megabytes long as an MPEG from a VideoCD. There's a download link, but apparently the result requires the use of Google Video Player. If you're not able to get it to him usably via Google Video, drop me a note off-list with a snailmail address and I'll burn a CD. Kinda scary that there's still schools without wideband internet access. -- 73 de Maggie K3XS Editor, Phil-Mont Mobile Radio Club Blurb - http://www.phil-mont.org Elecraft K2 #1641 -- AOPA 925383 -- ARRL 39280

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DNEPR-2 launch 27Mar07
by Mineo Wakita 03 Mar '07

03 Mar '07

DNEPR (CubeSats/EgyptSat/SaudiSats) launch scheduled for 27Mar07 6:46:35 UT P-POD A (Preliminary) 1 xxxxxU xxxxxxxx 07086.29310451 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 0000x 2 xxxxx 098.0870 161.6633 0071000 198.4663 339.8290 14.52700000 1x P-POD C (Preliminary) 1 xxxxxU xxxxxxxx 07086.29311609 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 0000x 2 xxxxx 098.0870 161.6633 0084000 198.3918 339.9240 14.51600000 1x P-POD B (Preliminary) 1 xxxxxU xxxxxxxx 07086.29312766 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 0000x 2 xxxxx 098.0870 161.6633 0090000 199.4051 339.9000 14.50500000 1x Preliminary First Orbit Schedule 27Mar07 06:46:35UT Launch 07:02 CubeSat separation 07:08 AOS South Africa 07:52 AOS Hawaii 07:59 AOS CalPoly 08:01 AOS Alaska 08:20 AOS Northern Europe 08:25 AOS Central Europe & UK 11:16 First AOS Japan 15:04 First AOS W0RPK-Iowa http://cubesat.atl.calpoly.edu/pages/missions/dnepr-launch-2.php http://showcase.netins.net/web/wallio/CubeSat.htm --------------------------------------------- Name: Mineo Wakita / JE9PEL, JAMSAT member Mail: ei7m-wkt(a)asahi-net.or.jp URL : http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/ QTH : Yokohama Japan, GL:pm95tj Date: Mar 3, 2007 ---------------------------------------------

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Icom IC 970h with 1.2ghz module. For sale
by Don Ferguson 03 Mar '07

03 Mar '07

A friend has an Icom IC-970H in very good condition and all working for sale. I there is any interest please contact me directly. This is an all mode 144, 440, & 1.2ghz satellite radio. The radio includes the manual, desk mic & schematics, and it has an internal power supply and can also be run of 13.8vdc. Check the following site for complete specs. and manual. http://www.ham.dmz.ro/icom/ic-970h.php Don kd6ire

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Amsat
by Ken 03 Mar '07

03 Mar '07

Is this the Amsat BBS?????????///

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I: I: Re: Spanish Pirates on AO-27
by Francesco Grappi 02 Mar '07

02 Mar '07

Hi Ib, Thank you very much for your effort on this matter. I'll send my complain about with Paulo recording attached to my national radio amateur organization following the official way. 73" Francesco IW4DVZ > -----Messaggio originale----- > Da: OZ1MY [mailto:[email protected]] > Inviato: venerdì 2 marzo 2007 20.36 > A: f.grappi(a)tin.it; amsat-bb(a)amsat.org > Oggetto: Re: [amsat-bb] I: Re: Spanish Pirates on AO-27 > > > Hi Francesco and Paulo and many more, > I will try to get our national radio amateur organization (EDR) to work > through the Danish > FCC to see if that can help. > In fact I have already written and sent a letter with Paulos recording > attached to EDR. > > May be you could do the same via your national radio amateur organizations > and your > national FCC. > The best thing is, as I see it, to document the "pirates" by a > recording and > attach the > recording to your complaint to your national radio amateur organization. > Send a formal complaint to your national radio amateur > organization and ask > them > to complain to the national FCC. > In the 2 meter band we are primary users therefor we have all rights to > complain about the > pirates and the Spanish authorities should enforce a stop to the problem. > > As most of you have heard it is really bad both on AO-27 and AO-51. > > On SO-50 it is difficult to hear what is going on since a CTCSS tone is > needed to > make it work. The problem on SO-50 is that we can not activate it - or the > transponder closes > in the middle of a QSO. > > Let us try the official way first - if that does not work there are other > ways :-) > 73 OZ1MY > Ib > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <f.grappi(a)tin.it> > To: <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> > Sent: Friday, March 02, 2007 2:39 PM > Subject: [amsat-bb] I: Re: Spanish Pirates on AO-27 > > > > Unfortunately there is the same problem > > (more or less) on Ao-51 .... > > What we can do ? > > > > My Best 73" to everybody > > Francesco IW4DVZ > > > > > > ---- > > Messaggio originale---- > > Da: angelkilroy(a)yahoo.es > > Data: 2-mar-2007 9.47 > > AM > > A: <AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org> > > Ogg: [amsat-bb] Re: Spanish Pirates on AO-27 > > > > Unfortunately our authorities seem to be more concerned about other > > matters to bother with ham radio. > > > > Best 73 > > EA4DUT, Angel > > > > > > > > ----- > > Mensaje original ---- > > De: Jonny 290 <jonny290(a)gmail.com> > > Para: AMSAT- > > BB(a)amsat.org > > Enviado: viernes, 2 de marzo, 2007 0:20:42 > > Asunto: [amsat- > > bb] Re: Spanish Pirates on AO-27 > > > > > > That sounds terrible! > > > > What could be > > done about the situation? > > > > On 3/1/07, Paulo Pinto <pspinto(a)yahoo.com> > > wrote: > > > > > > Hi, > > > > > > > > > > > > AO-27 is being continuously jammed by commercial > > Spanish communications. > > > On > > > a pass yesterday I was able to hear the > > location of one of the person > > > talking on the uplink. He was near > > Carmona, Sevilla, Spain. I wonder if > > > there are any measures being > > taken by Spanish amateurs in order to stop > > > this > > > kind of abuse. > > > > > > > > > > > > I have uploaded an extract of the recording where one clearly hear > > the > > > pirates saying Carmona. > > > > > > > > > > > > It can be found at http://www. > > ct1ete.net/tcp/piratasAO27.mp3 > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > 73 CT1ETE, Paulo > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > 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 > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB@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 > > > > > > > > ______________________________________________ > > LLama Gratis a > > cualquier PC del Mundo. > > Llamadas a fijos y móviles desde 1 céntimo por > > minuto. > > http://es.voice.yahoo.com > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB@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 > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > 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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RAFT: North America heared in VOICE mode
by PA3GUO 02 Mar '07

02 Mar '07

North America is heared via RAFT VOICE as well: Matt, KF6RTB, worked RAFT in VOICE using 50W during a 30deg elevation pass. His perfect audio recording & the details on how to join the contest are available at: http://home.vianetworks.nl/users/hamoen/pa3guo/voice.html Who's next to be heared via RAFT VOICE ? Henk, PA3GUO

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I: Re: Spanish Pirates on AO-27
by f.grappi＠tin.it 02 Mar '07

02 Mar '07

Unfortunately there is the same problem (more or less) on Ao-51 .... What we can do ? My Best 73" to everybody Francesco IW4DVZ ---- Messaggio originale---- Da: angelkilroy(a)yahoo.es Data: 2-mar-2007 9.47 AM A: <AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org> Ogg: [amsat-bb] Re: Spanish Pirates on AO-27 Unfortunately our authorities seem to be more concerned about other matters to bother with ham radio. Best 73 EA4DUT, Angel ----- Mensaje original ---- De: Jonny 290 <jonny290(a)gmail.com> Para: AMSAT- BB(a)amsat.org Enviado: viernes, 2 de marzo, 2007 0:20:42 Asunto: [amsat- bb] Re: Spanish Pirates on AO-27 That sounds terrible! What could be done about the situation? On 3/1/07, Paulo Pinto <pspinto(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > > Hi, > > > > AO-27 is being continuously jammed by commercial Spanish communications. > On > a pass yesterday I was able to hear the location of one of the person > talking on the uplink. He was near Carmona, Sevilla, Spain. I wonder if > there are any measures being taken by Spanish amateurs in order to stop > this > kind of abuse. > > > > I have uploaded an extract of the recording where one clearly hear the > pirates saying Carmona. > > > > It can be found at http://www. ct1ete.net/tcp/piratasAO27.mp3 > > > > > > 73 CT1ETE, Paulo > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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 ______________________________________________ LLama Gratis a cualquier PC del Mundo. Llamadas a fijos y móviles desde 1 céntimo por minuto. http://es.voice.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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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Additional Help For SL Survival (Long)
by Emily Clarke 02 Mar '07

02 Mar '07

Successfully getting around in Second Life can be both frustrating and intimidating. So I thought I would post a few things to know before forming an opinion. The very first is that you will be very confused, but this will pass. The second is that the phenomenal growth of SL has left some holes and there are loopholes that are being exploited by commercial interests. I rarely go into commercial spaces unless I really need something. Here are some other things to know: Popular Places ------------------------ Popular places (listed because more people have come to that location) are not popular. The owners of those places generally pay people to visit there, and also they cross index into subject matter that has nothing to do with them. Sounds like the web? My recommendation to everyone (and most people in SL know this) is never go to a popular place - it's just hype and usually sexually explicit. Use Places instead, but specific. Space is not a good search - Spaceflight or museum are better. University is better than school.... Classifieds ---------------- Classifieds suffer from the same - except it's how willing people are to pay for a ranking when the results are returned. However if you can make your search specific, it generally will give you some good results. Events ---------- Events can be anything, but are mostly yard sales. Refine your search by looking for "Live Music" or "Education". Some education events will cost between 25 to 50 cents but most are free. New Citizens Inc. ------------------------- New Citizens Inc. is set up to help newbies - people in SL up to 60 days. You can shop for free in their stores, and they have free classes on almost everything, most of them live with a real person teaching the class and taking questions. If you search Places for NCI or New Citizens you will find three locations (North, South and International) were these things take place. Skins, Shapes Hair and Clothes ----------------------------------------------- It is hard to explain in a few words, but when you first come into SL you have a default of all of these. The good news is everyone is the same, the bad news is that everyone is the same. You can edit your appearance - some do a good job, others (like was my case for about a week) still end up looking like someone from Planet of the Apes. But here are the basics: Shape - invisible, but is like your skeleton. It defines the curves of how your presentation should appear. Unfortunately there are something like 250 parameters that determine your shape, You can change your appearance and save it, or you can buy a custom shape. Most people eventually do the latter. One note - for (some) men, it will be disappointing because a shape does not (and can't) have your genitals. I don' t know how that works, so don't ask - I'm clueless about it. Skin - it's pretty much the same as in RL with two exceptions. It generally doesn't include hair - that's separate. For woman, if you want new makeup, you have to change change your skin, and it's the same with tatoos for men. You can edit the appearance in Skin, or you can buy a custom skin. Mine is a custom skin that is detailed and contains the freckles I had when I was younger. (My nickname was freckles). Hair - like in real life, the quality of hair depends on the texture, and whether or not it is made from one object or several objects (ie, layers) and whether or not it obeys the laws of physics. The more complex, the more expensive. When you first come into SL you have a one object, non-physical hair, sometimes called "Newbie" hair. Clothes - you get some in your inventory, so you can experiment with your appearance from there. They are basic, but even though I have been shopping (a lot) I still go back to wearing jeans most of the time. Making Friends ----------------------- Newbies tend to want to make friends right away. It's always better to send someone an IM (instant message) before you offer them friendship. Tell them why you want to be their friend. Chat ------- Chat can be confusing if you are in a crowded place because so many people are talking at once. Use IM in crowded places, chat otherwise. Also objects only listen to chat messages. If I want to lock the doors in my house, I say "lock" in chat, but I do it on an alternate channel (like a TCP/IP port) Audio and Video ------------------------ Land owners determine these - if you don't like the music, you don't have any choice other than turning it off. Commercial spaces almost always have blaring rock or hip-hop. My house is classical and jazz. Making Money --------------------- If you want to make money in SL there are a number of ways to do it, but it's mostly a waste of time unless you are actually producing a product. I am actually being paid in SL for work I do, but I'm designing and programming things. Hope this helps, E --------------------------------- N1DID formerly W0EEC - CM87tm Support Project OSCAR - http://www.projectoscar.net

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Re: Spanish Pirates on AO-27
by Angel Peláez, EA4DUT 02 Mar '07

02 Mar '07

Unfortunately our authorities seem to be more concerned about other matters to bother with ham radio. Best 73 EA4DUT, Angel ----- Mensaje original ---- De: Jonny 290 <jonny290(a)gmail.com> Para: AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org Enviado: viernes, 2 de marzo, 2007 0:20:42 Asunto: [amsat-bb] Re: Spanish Pirates on AO-27 That sounds terrible! What could be done about the situation? On 3/1/07, Paulo Pinto <pspinto(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > > Hi, > > > > AO-27 is being continuously jammed by commercial Spanish communications. > On > a pass yesterday I was able to hear the location of one of the person > talking on the uplink. He was near Carmona, Sevilla, Spain. I wonder if > there are any measures being taken by Spanish amateurs in order to stop > this > kind of abuse. > > > > I have uploaded an extract of the recording where one clearly hear the > pirates saying Carmona. > > > > It can be found at http://www.ct1ete.net/tcp/piratasAO27.mp3 > > > > > > 73 CT1ETE, Paulo > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > _______________________________________________ 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 ______________________________________________ LLama Gratis a cualquier PC del Mundo. Llamadas a fijos y móviles desde 1 céntimo por minuto. http://es.voice.yahoo.com

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Re-emerging into First Life
by Emily Clarke 02 Mar '07

02 Mar '07

There were a lot of concerns recently about where I have been, my visible participation in AMSAT, health etc. I should have probably notified the members sooner and I want to take this opportunity to apologize for that. However email being what it is, during and after the Christmas holidays so much email piled up I was overwhelmed and the thought of reading through 100's if not 1000's of emails was a bit intimidating. During January I was not in the best of health which exacerbated the situation and this continued into February. As March is upon us, my health is improving and I should be back to 100% soon. As many of you know, I have not been involved in AMSAT as long as many of you, though once I became involved I devoted much time to it. During that time I've mostly focused on three things - education, training and information dissemination. I have and still feel these are the cornerstones of what we need to keep the organization alive. However one thing that happened shortly after the launch of the redesigned website troubled me, and I'd like to take a moment to share it with you. The AMSAT website is a conventional website, that is, it is built with conventional tools that doesn't stress the average user of the website to upgrade computers,etc. There is a minimal amount of "advanced" technology, and much was done to address browser compatibility issues as they arose. However doing so drained time and effort from development that would otherwise move things forward - it complicates the testing cycle, diverts attention and inhibits our ability to provide new services. Shortly after launch, someone I hold in good counsel took a middle-schooler to the website. The feedback was not good - basically the reaction was along the line of "there's no animation - where are things that will catch the eye" (though some of the criticism I wouldn't even repeat here). What I took away from that conversation was that we aren't reaching outward to a new generation, we are looking inward to an old. No surprise, I'm not young myself. However in the age where something like 85% of kids in the US own or have access to XBox360's and Playstations, it is no surprise to me that they will be looking for far more to stimulate their interest in most any subject than a conventional website can provide. This was certainly troubling and stuck with me for a long time. After chairing the symposium I decided to finally have some long overdue down time to relax and do some research. Beginning around the 15th of December I started to look at this problem - how can we build something that will reach out in the next level of technology to a younger demographic. One answer I found was in something called Second Life. Second Life (www.secondlife.com) is an online 3D virtual reality system. Depending on if you are reading Business Week, the New York Times or other publications, it is described as a chat room, an online social networking environment, a MMORPG (massive multiplayer online role playing game) and even the next generation of the worldwide web. I first heard about it on CNN when one of the anchors talked about it, and I decided to investigate it. Probably the best overall independent view of Second Life can be found in the October 2006 Wired Magazine article "Wired Travel Guide: Second Life" (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.10/sloverview.html) When I first entered Second Life I was not fully prepared for what I was about to experience. Not having ever played video games before, this was an experience like no other I had. Without going into the personal aspects of my experience, I can only say I was immediately overwhelmed at the pace of technology. I immediately understood why the AMSAT website wouldn't appeal to a younger demographic - Second Life is a place that is virtual, 3D, interactive and has much to offer. Universities are building online universities, museums are building online museums, and businesses are building online businesses. This isn't to say it is not without it's drawbacks - it can be disconcerting the first time you go into a store, for example, and the clerk behind the counter is a giant panda. It can be initially shocking when you see some person who is - well, naked and grey - until you realize that the finer points of constitutes their avatar (a person if you will) in SL such as hair, clothing, jewelry etc. hasn't downloaded into your computer yet. Eventually you get used to it and learn how to optimize your video and network settings to minimize this. What is appealing about Second Life is that it has tools for building 3D objects, scripting them for simulation, documenting them and presenting them. One of the first things I decided to try was to build a simple model of OSCAR III - rectangular box, a few solar panels and four antennas. Easy enough, however not so easy. There are obstacles to overcome, new tools to learn, and a scripting engine unique to the environment. However I was successful, and proceeded to successfully build models of OSCAR I, 7 and even though the tools in the environment have some limitations on small objects, a CubeSat. Inside Second Life there is an actual online museum for things like this called "The International Spaceflight Museum" or ISM for short. I have joined the staff of the ISM, where I give tours and answer questions for people from all over the world. I did this because staff members are allowed to also create exhibits, and my goal goal is for AMSAT to have a permanent exhibition there. The hope is to have space for representative models of each type of satellite including audio and motion, and to have a story board that will explain the history of AMSAT and ongoing projects and if possible provide a 3D satellite tracking system. I have begun to build these, and the ISM has agreed in part to provide space to me to build the exhibit, though at some point AMSAT will have to pay a small amount (about $50 US) if they want to make it an official exhibit and partner with the museum. Other participants in the ISM include NASA, NOAA and Scaled Composites. The staff is all volunteer and is as diverse as people like myself, people who work for sponsoring firms as well as staff and students from universities around the world. To give you some perspective of the potential impact of Second Life for AMSAT, Second Life has a population of 3.1 million users, up from 125 thousand a year ago. Of those 3.1 million users, over 2 million have paid memberships. While there are no hard statistics, the demographics of SL is something like 55% in the 18-32 age range, 25% in the 32-45 age range. The ISM receives almost 350 new and unique (first time) visitors per day from everywhere around the globe. I thought it might be helpful to show a bit of what SL looks like from my perspective - I've posted some graphics at http://www.planetemily.com/sl for those of you who might like to see. I wish they could give you the full 3D experience - it is really wonderful to fly around in a world where pass between actual size rockets and other exhibits. Second Life is not for everyone - quite the contrary. It will require a broadband connection, and it will require you to have a good CPU and up to date video card. If you decide you want to investigate Second Life yourself there is no charge. You just signup at http://www.secondlife.com, pick an alias for your avatar (my avatar's name is Emileigh Starbrook) and download the software, which supports PC, Mac and Linux. Once you are logged on (which is called being "in-world") there is an initial training cycle to teach you how to walk, fly, pick up objects and will teach you a little about the SL culture. If you decide to become a builder, there are online classes, tutorials and lectures that will help you learn these skills. Although a Second Life presence will never replace the AMSAT website, I believe it will set the future pace of things we will need to do in the future and the way effective outreach will take place. It has been exciting for me to explore Second Life and I hope that AMSAT will benefit from this soon. 73, Emileigh Starbrook, AKA N1DID --------------------------------- N1DID formerly W0EEC - CM87tm Support Project OSCAR - http://www.projectoscar.net

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ANDE Telemetry Summary since Launch!
by Robert Bruninga 02 Mar '07

02 Mar '07

This web page summarizes all the ANDE telemety trends since launch. http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/andeTemps.html Not only does this reveal neat things about ANDE, but more importantly these plots show how simple it is for just about ANYONE to throw this kind of data together (from ANY device) if the data is transmitted anywhere in the world on APRS. That web page summary took me under 30 minutes to write. Look at the web page SOURCE and you will see that these data plots are simply CALLS to the global APRS data system at Steve Dimse's K4HG's FINDU.COM data base. This data base maintains every APRS packet in the world ever transmitted (I forget how far back it goes). But if you have any application that is transmitting APRS formatted telemety packets (any KPC-3+ TNC), anywhere in the world, the data is not only available in real time, but also is avaliable in PAST time too thanks to the FINDU.COM live database. This means you can throw together a KPC-3+ TNC, a radio, a power source and some 0-5volt sensors, stick it anywhere in reach of the global APRS system, and without lifing a finger, you can monitor it (see above) from anywhere in the world and go back in time to see anything you want. Plug a GPS into it and you can watch it move on APRS too. This is why we made PCSAT1, PCSAT2, ANDE and RAFT as simply flying KPC TNC's with downlink to the APRS linked ground stations. The telemetry then is a done deal because the global infrastructure is already in place, the data base is in place, and the plotting stuff is all in place. As an example, this URL call to FINDU.COM will show the battery voltage of my KPC-3+ digipeater over the last 10 days! http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/tele2.cgi?call=WB4APR-1&last=240 To see the same plots from your KPC-3+ TNC, just put it on the APRS frequency, simply change the CALL to your KPC-3+ and/or change the "last=240" parameter to any time period you want, and you can see your own telemetry, anywhere, anytime. Of course your KPC-3+ TNC has to have been beaconing telemetry (see the TELEMETRY Beacon command). Anyway, I don't think everyone is aware how simple this stuff is. SO I just thought I would share it. Bob, WB4APR US Naval Academy Satellite Lab

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Spanish Pirates on AO-27
by Paulo Pinto 01 Mar '07

01 Mar '07

Hi, AO-27 is being continuously jammed by commercial Spanish communications. On a pass yesterday I was able to hear the location of one of the person talking on the uplink. He was near Carmona, Sevilla, Spain. I wonder if there are any measures being taken by Spanish amateurs in order to stop this kind of abuse. I have uploaded an extract of the recording where one clearly hear the pirates saying Carmona. It can be found at http://www.ct1ete.net/tcp/piratasAO27.mp3 73 CT1ETE, Paulo

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Re: Re-emerging into First Life
by Tony Langdon (ATC) 01 Mar '07

01 Mar '07

> What a step forward! I applaud your determination and will > visit you soon at > the ISM. Watch for me (Hyperion DeCuir aka VE4NSA). You > pointed out that > Second Life (SL) is not for everyone and I totally agree. Interesting move, one which I think is a great idea. I haven't got into Second Life myself, but I can see the benefits of having a presence there. I don't have enough time to spend in the real world, let alone a virtual one as well! :) > Unfortunately, too > many folks escape into virtual reality and get lost. > Ultimately we want them > to come to us in real life, especially amateur radio. It will > be interesting > to discuss how we could accomplish that using a tool like SL. A whole new ball game. One of these days, I might have to get into SL just to see what happens there, like being a virtual tourist visiting a new country. :) > At the same > time, I also agree with the notion on having the website more > interactive > and animated. The danger is that it will require folks like > you to spend so > much time to get it done. To go with your educational and Interactivity is a great thing, but animation can cut both ways. Properly done, it can really enhance the functionality of the site (think orbital projections, being able to examine 3D models of satellites, etc), or tutorials on working the different kinds of satellites. Badly done, animation is something which impedes usage of the site (Hands up who hates those Flash animations on the front page of company sites?). And of course, someone has to maintain it. > training theme, I > have always wondered why we don' t have any online courses > for our members > and non-members that would make the website a great > e-learning portal and > encourage learning and participation. Agreed there.

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Fw: WCVB-TV video of Chronicle from 2/23/07
by Roger Kolakowski 01 Mar '07

01 Mar '07

A little off topic but a nice presentation of the beginnings of ham and commercial radio in New England... ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rick Kelly" <rickkelly(a)gmail.com> To: "Boston Radio Interest" <boston-radio-interest(a)rolinin.bostonradio.org> Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2007 10:37 PM Subject: WCVB-TV video of Chronicle from 2/23/07 > I'm not sure how this happened, but the WCVB-TV video of Chronicle > from 2/23/07 has appeared on Google Video: > > http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4569021939106575335 > > Happy viewing... it certainly is GREAT! > -- > Rick Kelly > www.northeastairchecks.com >

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FS: Kenwood TS790 satellite rig
by John Geiger 01 Mar '07

01 Mar '07

I have a Kenwood TS790A 2m/70cm all mode satellite rig for sale. It comes with the hand mic, power cord, manual and original double boxes, and has the tone encoder installed. It is in good shape, but not mint. There are some scratches on the top, but the face looks really good. This was Kenwood's top of the line VHF rig, and still is considered one of the best VHF/UHF weak signal/contest/satellite rigs. Go read the eham.net reviews or the QST product review to see what a great rig this is. It does 50 watts on 2m and 40 watts on 70cm. Also does satellite tracking and dual receive so you can listen to 2m and 70cm at the same time. You can also install an optional 23cm module for 10 watts on 1.2ghz. I am asking $625 plus shipping. I can take paypal, check, or MO. I would throw in some cash with it towards a Kenwood TS2000. Don't miss out on this Kenwood classic. 73s John W5TD ____________________________________________________________________________________ Food fight? Enjoy some healthy debate in the Yahoo! Answers Food & Drink Q&A. http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/?link=list&sid=396545367

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Re: DC-feeding through Coaxial on PA?
by Steven Samuel Bosshard (NU5D) 28 Feb '07

28 Feb '07

I would be concerned about the resistance and current carrying capability of the cable and connectors. A 100 Watt PA may draw 20 amperes at 12 VDC. sb

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file voice synthesizer of RAFT
by Tanan Rangseeprom 28 Feb '07

28 Feb '07

Please download sound at this URL http://hs2waq.no-ip.com/images/RAFT280207_1040 Loc.mp3 Hello ALL I used TNC2 connect to RAFT satellite for open mode voice synthesizer. I used to follow format command :TALK (space bar 5 step): Word after connect to RAFT and I use successful to run RAFT speak sound. I hope contact other HAM via RAFT and ANDE Regards, Tanan Rangseeprom ____________________________________________________________________________________ Expecting? Get great news right away with email Auto-Check. Try the Yahoo! Mail Beta. http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/mailbeta/newmail_tools.html

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OLd things dies
by Luc Leblanc 28 Feb '07

28 Feb '07

ANS excerpt As of February 23, 2007, Our Old Friend "morse code" has now slipped into history as a requirement for a U.S. Amateur License. The tones and burps in the lower portions of the HF bands will become more and more silent as those that remember CW start to become silent keys themselves. "Silent Key" will go by the wayside as well. As a longtime Extra, I can honestly say that getting up to speed was an excitement all its own. Just 5 WPM for my Novice was a thrill learning those mysterious tones. I for one, can certainly see it both as a defunct digital mode and a unique mode to operate pulling out a QSO from those melodius tones. Ditty dum dum ditty will have a narrower meaning from this time on. That's the cycle of life could be ARRL will also adjust in his field day rules...1 point per QSO phone and CW? How they can live in the past? it is not the Antique Radio Relay League! "-" "It is not the class of license the amateur holds, but the class of the amateur that holds the license." Luc Leblanc VE2DWE Skype VE2DWE www.qsl.net/ve2dwe WAC BASIC CW PHONE SATELLITE

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Re: Yes, DStar can work on LEO
by Bob Witte K0NR 27 Feb '07

27 Feb '07

Someone wrote: >> Please do not use FM on any of the transponder satellites, whether D-Star or >> plain FM. FM of any kind is expressly unwelcome on AO-7 especially. >> >> If you would like to set up a test of D-Star via AO-51, please organize the >> effort and send a request to schedule it to ao51-modes(a)amsat.org or to >> myself directly and we will accommodate the test on a FM satellite, where FM >> belongs. I think it'd be an interesting experiment. >> > > Umm, I thought D-Star was a digital mode, not riding on top of > FM. Is it transmitted as AFSK or is it modulated directly onto the > carrier? If it's the latter, then it wouldn't work on an FM satellite. > > 73 de VK3JED > http://vkradio.com > > From ICOM America web site: D-STAR uses the up-to-date modulation method of 0.5GMSK--Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying. 73, Bob K0NR

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RAFT: VOICE recorded in Asia !
by PA3GUO 27 Feb '07

27 Feb '07

ASIA joined the competition ! Today I received an excellent audio recording from Masa, JN1GKZ in Tokyo, Japan, working RAFT in VOICE mode: http://home.vianetworks.nl/users/hamoen/pa3guo/voice.html Masa: I got spoken by RAFT at 1002z 27th Feb. The voice was very clear. I worked the voice with 10W. I forgot to turn on power amplifier. hihi. Europe & Asia are in, which continent is next ? Henk, PA3GUO

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Falconsat3 orbit ?
by OZ1MY 27 Feb '07

27 Feb '07

Hi all, May be it has been said before - but do anyone have information about the planned orbit of Falconsat 3 ? I have looked around but did not find it so far. Inclination and height is interesting. No flames please :-) 73 OZ1MY Ib

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Thermocouple power
by G0MRF＠aol.com 27 Feb '07

27 Feb '07

Last week there was an interesting debate about raising the altitude of a satellite by using magnertic fields. Carrying on the wacky ideas theme, I've been looking at producing power by using thermocouples and not solar cells. Question: Does anyone know the 'current' or the impedance of the voltage source represented by a thermocouple? A thermocouple generates an emf (voltage) proportional to the difference in temperature between its two junctions. Given that we know a white object in space gets very cold, while Aluminium gets very hot it's interesting looking at the possibility of thermocouple power....Even if it's just to understand its limitations A thermocouple can be made very small so it should be possible to manufacture an array of them in a reasonable space. Example: A junction of two wires, one made from constantan and one from Chromel will generate a voltage of 58 microvolts for every degree difference between the junctions. That means for a 100 degree C difference you generate 5.8mV. For 350 junctions in a chain you generate 2.03 V and for 6 chains (if you wanted to risk all those junctions in series) you could have 12.18V But.........how much power can you draw from it ?? 73 David

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Re: Yes, DStar can work on LEO,
by Andrew Glasbrenner 27 Feb '07

27 Feb '07

Gentlemen, Please do not use FM on any of the transponder satellites, whether D-Star or plain FM. FM of any kind is expressly unwelcome on AO-7 especially. If you would like to set up a test of D-Star via AO-51, please organize the effort and send a request to schedule it to ao51-modes(a)amsat.org or to myself directly and we will accommodate the test on a FM satellite, where FM belongs. I think it'd be an interesting experiment. 73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Ops ----- Original Message ----- From: "MM" <ka1rrw(a)yahoo.com> To: "Dave hartzell" <hartzell(a)gmail.com>; "Amsat BB" <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Sent: Monday, February 26, 2007 4:18 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Yes, DStar can work on LEO, In my first memo about Digital Audio on Satellites I did not have time to go over a few other outstanding issues, such as Inverting Transponders and Doppler on the 440 band. Will DV work on Inverting Transponders? I do not know. My guess is that Non-inverting would work better, but that's just a guess. Let's try it and find out. Doppler on 440. The Doppler on 440 is plus and minus 10 kHz. That is too much for the ID-800 and similar radios running digital audio. Normal FM 5k deviation voice can work find at 3 kHz frequency error and is even usable with noise up to 6 kHz of frequency error. Digital Voice would work best on 10 meter / 2 meter satellites, with non-inverting transponders. Maybe AO-7 could work. The other satellite VUSat-OSCAR 52 is inverting. Future Radios: Wish List Most mobile radios made today are designed for channel steps starting at 5 kHz, 6.25, etc. It would be desirable if manufactures would design their rigs for smaller channels steps to allow us a little more flexibility in using them for FM satellites. It would not add much cost to a typical FM mobile rig to allow 1.0 kHz and 2.5 kHz channel steps. For FM satellites you do not need to be exactly on frequency. You just need to be in the ball park (plus and minus 2.5 kHz works). Miles --- Dave hartzell <hartzell(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Will this still work on an inverting transponder? > > On 2/26/07, MM <ka1rrw(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > > > > The Icom IC-800 will work with some Doppler Error > in > > Digital voice mode. > > I have been testing the IC-800 specifically to see > how > > well it would work in theory with a 2-meter signal > > from a simulated LEO Orbit, such as ISS at 240 > miles > > altitude. > > The results have been very promising on Earth. > > > > The IC-800 will decode good Digital voice, with a > > frequency error of > 2.5 kHz. > > And this was at an indicated signal level of S1 on > the > > radios S-Meter. > > At higher S-Signal levels the amount of frequency > > error the IC-800 can tolerate in digital voice > mode is > > higher. > > > > I setup a pair of IC-800 20 miles away. Then by > using > > a combination of 5k channels on one radio and > 6.25k > > channels on the other radio, i was able to > simulate 2, > > 2.5k and 3k channel doppler errors. A beam > antenna > > was used to Lower the indicated Signals levels > until > > audio quality droped. > > > > The lower the altitude the higher the Doppler > > (Frequency dependant too). The Doppler from ISS > is > > approximately Plus and Minus 3.3 kHz. This means > that > > If a LEO satellite is approaching on 2-meters, the > > frequency you will see on your radio will be up to > 3.3 > > kHz higher for the first minute, then will quickly > > drop to zero Doppler for a few seconds at the 5 > minute > > mark (assuming a 10 minute pass). > > > > So, in theory, if the Doppler on a transponder > based > > satellite is less than 3 kHz and you have signals > > stronger than 1 S-Unit, it should be possible for > > 2-way Leo satellite via digital voice. Anyone > else > > have an IC-800 and want to test? > > > > Miles WF1F > > > > www.marexmg.org > > > > ka1rrw(a)yahoo.com > > > > > > > > > > > > > ____________________________________________________________________________________ > > Now that's room service! Choose from over 150,000 > hotels > > in 45,000 destinations on Yahoo! Travel to find > your fit. > > http://farechase.yahoo.com/promo-generic-14795097 > > _______________________________________________ > > 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 > > > > > -- > "It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really > is than to > persist in delusion, however satisfying and > reassuring." - Carl Sagan. > _______________________________________________ > 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 > ____________________________________________________________________________________ We won't tell. Get more on shows you hate to love (and love to hate): Yahoo! TV's Guilty Pleasures list. http://tv.yahoo.com/collections/265 _______________________________________________ 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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Ofcom consultation on candidate bands under consideration at WRC-07 for IMT
by Trevor 27 Feb '07

27 Feb '07

Ofcom consultation on candidate bands under consideration at WRC-07 for IMT http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/wrc07/ Some of the segments mentioned overlap with existing Amateur allocations. 2300-2400 MHz, 3400 to 3600 MHz and just below 70cm 410-430 MHz. Anyone can respond to Ofcom consultations, they are NOT resistriced to British Isles or EU citizens. The deadline for responses is 30 March. 73 Trevor M5AKA ---- Ofcom consultation on candidate bands under consideration at WRC-07 for IMT Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2007 10:02:34 -0000 From: "Updates" <Updates(a)ofcom.org.uk> Ofcom has today published a consultation on spectrum requirements for the future development of advanced mobile wireless communications systems (or IMT) which are under consideration at the 2007 World Radio Conference of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The deadline for responses is 30 March. Further information can be found at: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/wrc07/ ---- ___________________________________________________________ New Yahoo! Mail is the ultimate force in competitive emailing. Find out more at the Yahoo! Mail Championships. Plus: play games and win prizes. http://uk.rd.yahoo.com/evt=44106/*http://mail.yahoo.net/uk

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Re: Can D-Star work on VO-52?
by Edward Cole 27 Feb '07

27 Feb '07

GMSK: <from wikipedia> Gaussian minimum shift keying or GMSK is a kind of continuous phase <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//wiki/Frequency-shift_keying>frequency-shift keying. The baseband <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//wiki/Modulation>modulation is generated by starting with a <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//wiki/Bitstream>bitstream 0/1 and a bit-clock giving a <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//w/index.php?title=Timeslice&action=edit>timeslice for each <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//wiki/Bit>bit. This is the type of modulation used in <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//wiki/Global_System_for_Mobile_Communications>Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) - although that system includes <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//wiki/Differential_encoding>differential encoding of the bitstream, which makes the overall modulation behave like a kind of continuous phase <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//wiki/Binary_Phase_Shift_Keying>Binary Phase Shift Keying with constant <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//wiki/Envelope_detector>envelope. The baseband <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//wiki/Signal_%28information_theory%29>signal is generated by first transforming the zero/one encoded bits into -1/+1 encoded bits. This -1/+1 signal is then <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//wiki/Electronic_filter>filtered in such a way that the "boxcar" shaped +1/-1 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//wiki/Pulse>pulses are transformed into <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//wiki/Normal_distribution>Gaussian-shaped signals. The baseband signal is then modulated using <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//wiki/Frequency_modulation>frequency modulation, producing a complete GMSK signal. If the Gaussian shapes do not overlap, then the modulation form is called 1-GMSK. If the slots overlap 50% (½), the modulation is called 2-GMSK, and so on. The more the bits overlap, the more significant <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//wiki/Intersymbol_interference>intersymbol interference (ISI) from adjacent bits will be, and for 4-GMSK and up, the ISI seen at any particular point in time is stronger than the signal from the bit currently being decoded. By looking at greater parts of the signal using advanced decoder techniques (including <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//wiki/Viterbi_algorithm>Viterbi algorithm decoders), high density codings can be decoded efficiently. Currently the highest density coding being used is 5-GMSK. GMSK has high <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//wiki/Spectral_efficiency>spectral efficiency, but it needs higher <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//wiki/Electrical_power>power level than for instance <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//wiki/Quadrature_phase-shift_keying>Quadrature phase-shift keying (<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//wiki/QPSK>QPSK) to reliably <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//wiki/Communicate>communicate the same amount of <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//wiki/Data>data. <Don't ask me what it means> 73, Ed - KL7UW ====================================== BP40IQ 50-MHz - 10-GHz www.kl7uw.com 144-EME: FT-847, mgf-1801, 4x-xpol-20, 185w DUBUS Magazine USA Rep dubususa(a)hotmail.com ======================================

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Re: Can D-Star work on VO-52?,
by William Leijenaar 27 Feb '07

27 Feb '07

Hi AMSATs, The HAMSAT (Vo-52) has linear transponders, what means that what is comming in also goes out. The only problem might be that the output spectrum is inverted in frequency. For FM this has no hearable effect, and even the 9k6 packet has no problem with it. On SSB the inversion results in modulation change from e.g USB to LSB. For D-Star I don't know if it can handle an inverted RF signal. I have been looking for some info but the whole D-star system is not to much transparant. The claim that it can be used with homebrew equipment, but didn't seen any kits yet. I think it is all commercial monopoly minded. Only hams with the $$$$ will be able to buy it, but have actually no idea what is going oun and comming out of their "black-box". When we want a digital system I would go for something like CDMA. This system seems to be more ham friendly and can be implemented in a homebrew way. As example look at this link: http://www.tapr.org/ss_g1pvz.html Great experiment... this is real ham, even if it is not the FM or SSB we are used to do... Ham are to explore RF technology, not to only buy and talk... Then you can better use a phone :o) 73 de William --- ____________________________________________________________________________________ Never miss an email again! Yahoo! Toolbar alerts you the instant new Mail arrives. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/

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Re: Thermocouple power
by don 27 Feb '07

27 Feb '07

Its certainly possible, but the only system I have any knowledge of is by using the heat produced by radioactive decay. This was /is used by various military satellites in the 1980's at least. Maybe it still is. Try this url for a bit of info. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator Don. ZL1THO

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Re: Thermocouple power
by Tony Langdon 27 Feb '07

27 Feb '07

Oops, forgot to post to the list... At 10:46 AM 2/27/2007, you wrote: >Last week there was an interesting debate about raising the altitude of a >satellite by using magnertic fields. > >Carrying on the wacky ideas theme, I've been looking at producing power by >using thermocouples and not solar cells. This certainly does work, because the principle is used in the RTGs that power the Pioneer 11/10 probes, Voyagers, Galileo, New Horizons and Cassini. In this case, the heat is provided by radioactive decay of plutonium rather than solar energy. In the case of these probes, RTGs are used because solar power is not a practical alternative beyond Jupiter, and no other power source is capable of lasting decades while generating several hundred Watts in deep space. >But.........how much power can you draw from it ?? Depends how much heat energy you can put into it from the Sun. That I don't know. 73 de VK3JED http://vkradio.com

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ARRL Field Day rule change request successful.
by Andrew Glasbrenner 27 Feb '07

27 Feb '07

It looks like the ARRL agreed with my request to modify their Field Day rules to mirror our own on FM satellite QSOs. >From http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2007/fd.html 7.3.7. Satellite QSO: 100 bonus points for successfully completing at least one QSO via an amateur radio satellite during the Field Day period. "General Rules for All ARRL Contests" (Rule 3.7.2.), (the no-repeater QSO stipulation) is waived for satellite QSOs. Groups are allowed one dedicated satellite transmitter station without increasing their entry category. Satellite QSOs also count for regular QSO credit. Show them listed separately on the summary sheet as a separate "band." You do not receive an additional bonus for contacting different satellites, though the additional QSOs may be counted for QSO credit unless prohibited under Rule 7.3.7.1. The QSO must be Earth-Satellite-Earth in nature. Available to Classes A, B, and F. 7.3.7.1 Stations are limited to one (1) completed QSO on any single channel FM satellite. Thank you to the ARRL and the Contest Advisory Committee for your cooperation, and see you on the satellites on Field Day. 73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Ops

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Re: Yes, DStar can work on LEO,
by Jim Wright 27 Feb '07

27 Feb '07

If the high speed data modes will work, then digital voice should also. The DV may not sound like the telephone quality we are used to hearing, but the only difference would be the D/A conversion that puts the ones and zeros out the speaker instead of on the screen or paper. You may have to wait for the buffer to fill and output the speach as often happens on slow VoIP connections. We are used to that when someone is using vox and AAAahhhhhhhhhhhhhs alot to keep the vox from reacting. 38k4 may be too slow to avoid this, but how long ago did we just have 300 baud data or 45 baud TTY. QRM and QRN will be great obstacles to overcome, not to mention the acquire LOCK time before roundtables become commonplace. 73, Jim MM wrote: >In my first memo about Digital Audio on Satellites I >did not have time to go over a few other outstanding >issues, such as Inverting Transponders and Doppler on >the 440 band. > >Will DV work on Inverting Transponders? >I do not know. My guess is that Non-inverting would >work better, but that's just a guess. >Let's try it and find out. > >Doppler on 440. >The Doppler on 440 is plus and minus 10 kHz. That is >too much for the ID-800 and similar radios running >digital audio. Normal FM 5k deviation voice can work >find at 3 kHz frequency error and is even usable with >noise up to 6 kHz of frequency error. Digital Voice >would work best on 10 meter / 2 meter satellites, with >non-inverting transponders. Maybe AO-7 could work. >The other satellite VUSat-OSCAR 52 is inverting. > >Future Radios: Wish List >Most mobile radios made today are designed for channel >steps starting at 5 kHz, 6.25, etc. >It would be desirable if manufactures would design >their rigs for smaller channels steps to allow us a >little more flexibility in using them for FM >satellites. It would not add much cost to a typical >FM mobile rig to allow 1.0 kHz and 2.5 kHz channel >steps. For FM satellites you do not need to be >exactly on frequency. You just need to be in the ball >park (plus and minus 2.5 kHz works). > >Miles >--- Dave hartzell <hartzell(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > >>Will this still work on an inverting transponder? >> >>On 2/26/07, MM <ka1rrw(a)yahoo.com> wrote: >> >> >>>The Icom IC-800 will work with some Doppler Error >>> >>> >>in >> >> >>>Digital voice mode. >>>I have been testing the IC-800 specifically to see >>> >>> >>how >> >> >>>well it would work in theory with a 2-meter signal >>>from a simulated LEO Orbit, such as ISS at 240 >>> >>> >>miles >> >> >>>altitude. >>>The results have been very promising on Earth. >>> >>>The IC-800 will decode good Digital voice, with a >>>frequency error of > 2.5 kHz. >>>And this was at an indicated signal level of S1 on >>> >>> >>the >> >> >>>radios S-Meter. >>>At higher S-Signal levels the amount of frequency >>>error the IC-800 can tolerate in digital voice >>> >>> >>mode is >> >> >>>higher. >>> >>>I setup a pair of IC-800 20 miles away. Then by >>> >>> >>using >> >> >>>a combination of 5k channels on one radio and >>> >>> >>6.25k >> >> >>>channels on the other radio, i was able to >>> >>> >>simulate 2, >> >> >>>2.5k and 3k channel doppler errors. A beam >>> >>> >>antenna >> >> >>>was used to Lower the indicated Signals levels >>> >>> >>until >> >> >>>audio quality droped. >>> >>>The lower the altitude the higher the Doppler >>>(Frequency dependant too). The Doppler from ISS >>> >>> >>is >> >> >>>approximately Plus and Minus 3.3 kHz. This means >>> >>> >>that >> >> >>>If a LEO satellite is approaching on 2-meters, the >>>frequency you will see on your radio will be up to >>> >>> >>3.3 >> >> >>>kHz higher for the first minute, then will quickly >>>drop to zero Doppler for a few seconds at the 5 >>> >>> >>minute >> >> >>>mark (assuming a 10 minute pass). >>> >>>So, in theory, if the Doppler on a transponder >>> >>> >>based >> >> >>>satellite is less than 3 kHz and you have signals >>>stronger than 1 S-Unit, it should be possible for >>>2-way Leo satellite via digital voice. Anyone >>> >>> >>else >> >> >>>have an IC-800 and want to test? >>> >>>Miles WF1F >>> >>>www.marexmg.org >>> >>>ka1rrw(a)yahoo.com >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >____________________________________________________________________________________ > > >>>Now that's room service! Choose from over 150,000 >>> >>> >>hotels >> >> >>>in 45,000 destinations on Yahoo! Travel to find >>> >>> >>your fit. >> >> >>>http://farechase.yahoo.com/promo-generic-14795097 >>>_______________________________________________ >>>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 >> >> >>-- >>"It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really >>is than to >>persist in delusion, however satisfying and >>reassuring." - Carl Sagan. >>_______________________________________________ >>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 >> >> >> > > > > >____________________________________________________________________________________ >We won't tell. Get more on shows you hate to love >(and love to hate): Yahoo! TV's Guilty Pleasures list. >http://tv.yahoo.com/collections/265 >_______________________________________________ >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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FS: Kenwood TS790A satellite rig
by John Geiger 27 Feb '07

27 Feb '07

I have a Kenwood TS790A 2m/70cm all mode satellite rig for sale or trade. This is a great all mode radio, but I am looking for something with 6 meters on it. It comes with the hand mic, power cord, manual and original double boxes. It is in good shape, but not mint. There are some scratches on the top, but the face looks really good. This was Kenwood's top of the line VHF rig, and still is considered one of the best VHF/UHF weak signal/contest/satellite rigs. You can add an optional 23cm unit if you like (not included) and it has the full duplex satellite tracking mode. Go read the eham.net reviews or the QST product review to see what a great rig this is. It does 50 watts on 2m and 40 watts on 70cm, and has the tone encoder/decoder installed. I would trade for a HF/6m rig like the Kenwood TS690/570, or Icom 756/746, or make a trade offer. I am also open to cash offers for it. I would throw in some cash with it towards a Kenwood TS2000. Don't miss out on this Kenwood classic. 73s John W5TD ____________________________________________________________________________________ Never miss an email again! Yahoo! Toolbar alerts you the instant new Mail arrives. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/

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Re: Here are 30 Helpful steps for new Hams now that CW is gone.
by Margaret Leber 27 Feb '07

27 Feb '07

On 2/26/07, Vince Fiscus, KB7ADL <vlfiscus(a)mcn.net> wrote: > The 30 Steps below will help all new co-code HF'ers, it will also help you to > find others just like yourself... Funny, one would have thought all these inanities would have been just as lame while a CW exam was still required for HF access, especially since they all seem to apply to FM repeater usage. Helpful Steps for Old Hams: Find some old humorous list of annoying habits of noobs on FM repeaters, and repost it implying that all these gaucheries are somehow caused by the fact that there's now no practical test of CW skill to get legal access to HF. Ignore the fact that there's never been any practical test of skill with SSB, AM, Packet, SSTV, ATV, PSK31, RTTY, AMTOR, WSJT, EME or Feld Hell, all of which are also obvious hallmarks of superior intelligence, character, ethics and high operating standards. Extra points are awarded for equating all new hams with CBers, since that worked so well last time around. There's an additional bonus for annoucing that "the end of CW tests for licensing" is the same as "the end of anybody ever using Morse Code on the amateur bands", thus making it clear to all the newcomers that the only reason anybody ever used CW was because they were forced to. You won't have any trouble finding others just like yourself....just turn off your notch filter so you can clearly hear the sound of whining... -- 73 de Maggie K3XS Editor, Phil-Mont Mobile Radio Club Blurb - http://www.phil-mont.org Elecraft K2 #1641 -- AOPA 925383 -- ARRL 39280

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Re: Can D-Star work on VO-52?
by joseph Murray 26 Feb '07

26 Feb '07

Hi Trevor You appear to have a good handle on the direction HF digital voice is going for Ham radio. HF radio is more stable than the satellite realm so hopefully any digital voice system that can handle the satellite environment will evolve. I would almost suggest that any HF digital voice system that can handle the 20 meter pileup would handle the satellite HEO . Handling a LEO 10 gHz environment might stretch it a bit. Thanks again Joe K0VTY ======================== On Mon, 26 Feb 2007 08:26:23 +0000 (GMT) Trevor <m5aka(a)yahoo.co.uk> writes: > > From: "joseph Murray" <k0vty(a)juno.com> > > I continue to ask one question about digital voice on HF. > > When will Hams see a digital voice system that will be able > > to Handle a 20 meter pile up. > > So far , the answers have been negative. > > Quite right Joe, it's why I don't think any of the existing Digital > Voice > systems will be the one that hams use in 10 years time. The > processing power of > DSP's continues to increase each year and I'm sure we'll eventually > see a > viable narrow band Amateur Digital Voice Mode. > > 73 Trevor M5AKA > > > > > > ___________________________________________________________ > Yahoo! Messenger - with free PC-PC calling and photo sharing. > http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the > author. > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite > program! > Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb > >

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Re: Ham HT and SkyCommand
by Fred A Parker 26 Feb '07

26 Feb '07

I have experimented using a TS-2000 for remote Satellite operation. I put the TS-2000 in the Wireless Remote Control Mode, Sky Command could be used with the a Kenwood HT. Setting the TS-2000 to receive the downlink from AO-51 and retransmit it on 145.550. The remote station uses a simple ground plane and transmits directorially to the bird and listens for the downlink on 145.550. The main problem with this is to control the TS-2000 the remote station has to change frequency to 145.550. Fred KF0AK

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DE-xpedition
by melachri＠speakeasy.net 26 Feb '07

26 Feb '07

Thanks to all who worked me while I was in Delaware last Saturday. I made something like 30-35 QSOs, including first-contact-with-Delaware QSOs for many of these. It was actually pretty fun, although it got pretty cold, especially after sunset. I will be making another trip down there some time, probably after it warms up a bit, to work any others that still need Delaware (or FM29). The cold did induce the one problem I had. Cold fingers, bulky gloves, and small buttons on my voice recorder resulted in an operator error that caused the loss of some of my recordings. I've been sent one already, but I still need information on the AO-27 2003z-2019z pass and the SO-50 2318z-2329z pass. So if anyone has recordings of or notes on either of these, I'd appreciate any information that they could send me. 73, Steve W3HF

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Here are 30 Helpful steps for new Hams now that CW is gone.
by Vince Fiscus, KB7ADL 26 Feb '07

26 Feb '07

The 30 Steps below will help all new co-code HF'ers, it will also help you to find others just like yourself. These 30 steps should also be added to the present writtens: Step One: Use as many "Q" signals as possible. Yes, I know they were invented solely for CW and are totally inappropriate for two meter FM, but they are fun and entertaining. They keep people guessing as to what you really meant. I.E. "I'm going to QSY to the phone." Can you really change frequencies to the phone? QSL used to mean, "I am acknowledging receipt", but now it appears to mean, "yes" or "OK". I guess I missed it when the ARRL changed the meaning. It is also best to use "OK" and "QSL" together. Redundancy is the better part of Lid-dom. Step Two: Never laugh when you can say "HI HI". No one will ever know you aren't a long time CW rag-chewer if you don't tell them. They'll think you've been on since the days of Marconi. Step Three: Utilize an alternative vocabulary. Use words like "destinated" and "negatory". It's OK to make up your own words here. I.E. "Yeah Tom, I "pheelbart zaphonix" occasionally myself." Step Four: Always say "XX4XXX" (Insert your own call) "for I.D." As mentioned in Step One, anything that creates redundancy is always encouraged. That's why we have the Department of Redundancy Department. (Please note that you can follow your call with "for identification purposes" instead of "for I.D." While taking longer to say, it is worth more "LID points". Step Five: The better the copy on two meter FM, the more you should use phonetics. Names should be especially used if they are short or common ones. I.E. "My name is Al... Alpha Lima" or "Jack.. Juliet Alpha Charlie Kilo." If at all possible use the less common HF phonetics "A4SM... America, Number Four, Sugar Mexico." And for maximum "LID points", make up unintelligible phonetics. "My name is Bob... Billibong Oregano Bumperpool." Step Six: Always give the calls of yourself and everyone who is (or has been) in the group, whether they are still there or not. While this has been unnecessary for years, it is still a great memory test. You may also use "and the group" if you are an "old timer" or just have a bad memory. Extra points for saying everyone's call and then clearing in a silly way "K2PKK, Chow, Chow." Step Seven: Whenever possible, use the wrong terminology. It keeps people guessing. Use "modulation" when you mean "deviation", and vice-versa. Step Eight: If someone asks for a break, always finish your turn, taking as long as possible before turning it over. Whenever possible, pass it around a few times first. This will discourage the breaker, and if it is an emergency, encourage him to switch to another repeater and not bother you. Step Nine: Always ask involved questions of the person who is trying to sign out. Never let him get by with just a "yes" or "no" answer. Make it a question that will take him a long time to answer. Step Ten: The less you know on a subject, the more you should speculate about it in the roundtable. Also the amount of time you spend on the subject should be inversely proportionate to your knowledge of the subject even though you have no damn clue. Step Eleven: Always make sure you try to communicate with only a handheld and a rubber duck antenna. Also, make sure you work through a repeater that you can hear very well, but it cannot hear you. This will put out a kind of "LID mating call": "Well, Joe, I can hear the repeater just fine here. I wonder why it can't hear me?" You will score maximum LID points if you are mobile, and with the radio lying in the passenger seat. Step Twelve: If you hear two amateurs start a conversation, wait until they are twenty seconds into their contact, and then break in to make a call, or better yet to use the auto-patch. Make sure you keep the repeater tied up for at least three minutes. This way, once the two have re-established contact, they won't even remember what they were talking about. Step Thirteen: You hear someone on the repeater giving directions to a visiting amateur. Even if the directions are good, make sure you break in with your own "alternate route but better way to get there" version. This is most effective with several other "would-be LIDs", each giving a different route. By the time the visiting amateur unscrambles all the street names whizzing by in his mind, he should have moved out of the range of the repeater. This keeps you from having to stick around to help the guy get back out of town, later. Step Fourteen: If an annoying station is bothering you, make sure your other "LID" buddies have a "coded" frequency list. Even though "CODES" are strictly forbidden on Amateur Radio, it's really neat to practice "James Bond" tactics. Step Fifteen: Always use the National Calling Frequency for general conversations. The more uninteresting, the longer you should use it. Extra points are awarded if you have recently move from an adjacent frequency for no reason. Make sure when DX is "rolling" in on 52.525 that you hang out there and talk to your friends five miles down the road about the good old CB days! Step Sixteen: Make sure that if you have a personal problem with someone, you should voice your opinion in a public forum, especially a net. Make sure you give their name, call, and any other identifying remarks. For maximum points, make sure the person in question is not on the repeater, or not available. Step Seventeen: Make sure you say the first few words of each transmission twice, especially if it is the same thing each time. Like "roger, roger" or "fine business, fine business". I cannot stress enough about encouraging redundancy. Step Eighteen: If you hear a conversation on a local repeater, break in and ask how each station is receiving you. Of course they will only see the signal of the repeater you are using, but it's that magic moment when you can find a fellow "LID", and get the report. Extra points are awarded if you are using a base station, and the repeater is less than twenty-five air miles from you. Step Nineteen: Use the repeater for an hour or two at a time, preventing others from using it. Better yet, do it on a daily basis. Your quest is to make people so sick of hearing your voice every time they turn on their radio, they'll move to another frequency. This way you'll lighten the load on the repeater, leaving even more time for you to talk on it. Step Twenty: See just how much flutter you can generate by operating at handheld power levels too far away from the repeater. Engage people in conversations when you know they wont be able to copy half of what your saying. Even when they say your uncopyable, continue to string them along by making further transmissions. See just how frustrated you can make the other amateur before he finally signs off in disgust. Step Twenty One: Use lots of radio jargon. After all, it makes you feel important using words ordinary people don't say. Who cares if it makes you sound like you just fell off Channel 19 on the citizen's Band? Use phrases such as "Roger on that", "10-4", "I'm on the side", "Your making the trip" and "Negatory on that". Step Twenty Two: Use excessive microphone gain. See just how loud you can make your audio. Make sure the audio gain is so high that other amateurs can hear any bugs crawling on your floor. If mobile, make sure the wind noise is loud enough that others have to strain to pick your words out from all the racket. Step Twenty Three: Start every transmission with the word "Roger" or "QSL". Sure, you don't need to acknowledge that you received the other transmission in full. After all, you would simply ask for a repeat if you missed something. But consider it your gift to the other amateur to give him solace every few seconds that his transmissions are being received. Step Twenty Four: When looking for a contact on a repeater, always say your "listening" or "monitoring" multiple times. I've always found that at least a half dozen times or so is good. Repeating your multiple "listening" ID's every 10 to 15 seconds is even better. Those people who didn't want to talk to you will eventually call you, hoping you'll go away after you have finally made a contact. Step Twenty Five: Always use a repeater, even if you can work the other station easily on simplex ... especially if you can make the contact on simplex. The coverage of the repeater you use should be inversely proportional to your distance from the other station. Step Twenty Six: When on repeaters using courtesy tones, you should always say "over". Courtesy tones are designed to let everyone know when you have unkeyed but don't let that stop you. Say "over", "back to you" or "go ahead". It serves no useful purpose but don't worry, it's still fun! Step Twenty Seven: Use the repeater's autopatch for frivolous routine calls... especially during morning or evening commute times. While pulling into the neighborhood, call home to let them know you'll be there in two minutes.... or, call your spouse to complain about the bad day you had at work. After all, the club has "measured rate" service on their phone line so they get charged for each autopatch call. Your endeavor is to make so many patches in a year that you cost the club at least $20 in phone bills. That way you'll feel you got your money's worth for your dues! Step Twenty Eight: Never say "My name is ....." It makes you sound human. If at all possible, use one of the following phrases: a) "The personal here is ..." b) "The handle here is..." Step Twenty Nine: Use "73" and "88" incorrectly. Both are already considered plural, but add a "s" to the end anyway. Say "73's" or "88's". Who cares if it means "best regards" and "love and kisses." Better yet, say "seventy thirds"! (By the way, seventy thirds equals about 23.3). Step Thirty: If the repeater is off the air for service, complain about the fact that it was off the air as soon ... ;-)

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Duplexer Terminator
by Al Ozias 26 Feb '07

26 Feb '07

I am looking for a source of a 50 ohm SO-239 Terminator for use on the 2m side of a Duplexer. Any comments on the use of a Duplexer for sensing problems wold also be appreciated, I am presently (successfully) using a DCI filter in the shack following the pre-amp but wonder if a duplexer after the pre-amp near the antenna might be a better solution. I would like to increase the size of my ears. Thank you Al - N7EQF

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HP-6227B Circuit
by John 26 Feb '07

26 Feb '07

Members: I am the owner of a HP-6227B regulated power supply that has quit working. Unfortunately when I acquired it, it came without any documentation. I ask any member of the amsat-bb, who has documentation for this item and is willing to help me, to please contact me off-list at my e-mail address above. Thank you. John, AA1YE.

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trip east
by Brock Thomsen 26 Feb '07

26 Feb '07

W6GMT BROCK THOMSEN WINTER QTH SUMMER QTH 1721 MELODY LANE PO BOX 222 BAKERSFIELD CA MARCELL MN 93308 56657 02/26/2007 Hi all it is time for me to head back to the summer QTH in MN. I will leave Bakersfield on Monday the 5th of March. I will be using the same setup as last spring The Yaesu FT-847 on the front seat with KU4AB loops on the truck in motion and will use my log stopped. I will work the FM of the Leo's plus some FO-29 This will be a slow trip as I don't plan on arriving in MN before the middle of April. The first stop of the trip will be the Spring Hamfest at Scottsdale AZ on the 10th. after that I will work east in to NM and TX before heading North. We activated a bunch of new grids for guys last spring Looking forward to doing the same this year. If you need grids or a State in 0 or 5 land please e-mail me and we will see what we can work out my Summer QTH is in Northeast MN 73 Brock

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Re: OLd things dies
by Tony Langdon 26 Feb '07

26 Feb '07

At 12:53 AM 2/27/2007, Margaret Leber wrote: >Then CW enthusiasts need to work at conveying that excitement to >forthcoming generations of hams, now that the artificial "affirmative >action" preferences for the mode have been removed from the licensing >requirements in the US. Agreed. And don't underestimate the effect that removing the exam has on the interest in CW. CW changes from a chore that muct be completed to a unique mode (i.e. interesting to more people). Now's the time for the CW enthusiasts to make use of that effect and share their excitement. I have seen the effect of dropping the exam in people saying "I want to learn Morse", especially younger people. >If CW dies off in a world where the likes of Hellschriber are still >used, then something is very wrong indeed. If that happens, we can >reasonably conclude the licencing requirement kept CW on life support >long after it was brain-dead. > >But personally, I doubt that's the case...and I'm not alone in this: The evidence I have seen suggests CW has a bright future. I expect to see it live on for decades at least. 73 de VK3JED http://vkradio.com

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Re: Can D-Star work on VO-52?
by joseph Murray 26 Feb '07

26 Feb '07

Dear Trevor ( M5AKA ) I continue to ask one question about digital voice on HF. When will Hams see a digital voice system that will be able to Handle a 20 meter pile up. So far , the answers have been negative. Would Trevor know of any system that could accomplish that feat. My best Joe K0VTY =============================== On Sun, 25 Feb 2007 21:15:13 +0000 (GMT) Trevor <m5aka(a)yahoo.co.uk> writes: > In the next 10 years or so we can expect All Amateur voice > communications to > switch to Digital in preference to SSB or FM. It will be as > traumatic a shift > as the move from AM to SSB was back in the early 60's. > > I don't expect that any of the different Digital Voice systems > currently in > iuse will be the ones eventually adopted for HF and VHF/UHF - rate > of > techonological progress can be rapid in this field. But whichever > format > eventually dominates there will be significant challenges for > satellite > operation. > > When newcomers try out the satellites for the first time they don't > use fully > computerised doppler correcting set-ups, they compensate for doppler > by hand. > > Now the existing satellites modes - CW, SSB, FM are all relatively > "frequency > insensitive" - you can be offtuned by 300 Hz on a CW signal and a > human > operator will still be able to copy it just fine. SSB is the most > critical of > the three, but even that can still produce understandable audio even > with a 150 > Hz+ frequency offset. > > All existing Amateur Digital Voice modes are very frequency > sensitive, you need > to stay within 50 Hz of the correct frequency to decode them and > this would be > problematic for a LEO sat where the operator is tuning manually. > > What we need is a Digital Voice mode that occupies a bandwidth of > less than 2.5 > kHz, can be decoded with very low S/N ratios (<15 dB) and can > tolerate tuning > offsets of at least 150 Hz - a tall order but not impossible. > > Satellite users need to give some thought to this because unless > there is > Amateur Satellite Community input to the development of Amateur > Digital Voice > we could end up with the situation where none of the commercially > available > Amateur Digital rigs (that's all they'll be in 10 years time) can > use LEO > Amateur Satellites ! > > 73 Trevor M5AKA > > --- Dave hartzell <hartzell(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > Interesting idea... > > > > Doppler tracking might also be an issue....do these radios > support > > incremental VFO adjustment via computer control? > > > > 73, > > > > Dave > > NøTGD > > > > On 2/23/07, Patrick Green <pagreen(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > Hi All, > > > > > > I'm wondering if the GMSK modulation scheme in D-Star can be > inverted and > > > whether the Icom 91AD dualband HT can work full duplex for > satellite work. > > > D-Star uses a 6.25kc channel which is way better than the 15kc > needed for > > > standard FM but not as friendly as SSB and CW. Let me know. I > haven't > > > purchased this equipment but it's worth at least a debate. > > > > > > 73 de Pat --- KA9SCF. > > > _______________________________________________ > > > 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 > > > > > > > > > -- > > "It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to > > persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl > Sagan. > > > > _______________________________________________ > > 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 > > > > > > > ___________________________________________________________ > What kind of emailer are you? Find out today - get a free analysis > of your email personality. Take the quiz at the Yahoo! Mail > Championship. > http://uk.rd.yahoo.com/evt=44106/*http://mail.yahoo.net/uk > _______________________________________________ > 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 > >

8 8

Yaesu FT847 question
by John Geiger 26 Feb '07

26 Feb '07

Has anyone tried using the Supercontrol software with the Yaesu FT847-especially for the full crossband repeat function it has? If so, how does it work? 73s John W5TD ____________________________________________________________________________________ The fish are biting. Get more visitors on your site using Yahoo! Search Marketing. http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/arp/sponsoredsearch_v2.php

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Re: EME signals ? with WSJT
by Mineo Wakita 26 Feb '07

26 Feb '07

This JT65B sound was not EME signals or Satellite telemetry. Sorry.

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Eagle and AO40
by jim＠beeson.cc 26 Feb '07

26 Feb '07

I am curious at the thoughts of current satellite users. As I read the AMSAT Journal and see the progress of the Eagle Project, it reminds me of a few years ago when another "do it all" satellite was being planned - AO40. Amateurs are pumping thousands of dollars and time into this project. I remember I followed AO40 with great excitement, not to mention spending a few grand upgrading my station to be ready for this "super bird". And after all the things that went wrong after the launch, I thought - never again. So my question is basic: why spend all this money and wait years for something that might end up another catastrophe? Why do we have to try and design a bird that does it all? We all know the more complex the bird the more room for failure. Why not just pop out another AO13 - or similar? I can't tell you how many hours of fun I had with RS10/11. And with the way things are in amateur radio now, who knows if there will be anybody even interested in this by the time Echo finally is useable. Just a thought. I would like to hear yours now please. Jim Beeson WA5QAP

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RSGB HF Convention
by Simon Brown (HB9DRV) 26 Feb '07

26 Feb '07

The 2007 RSGB HF Convention provides the opportunity to spread the satellite word. http://www.rsgb.org/hfc/ I am putting a tentative talk together which covers a ground station on 2m/70cms using a TS-2000 and my own software. I am not aware of any proposed talks on the innards of a satellite or AMSAT in general. For my talk I am planning on having a station available for demonstration during the convention: * TS-2000 * Computer * AlfaSPID * 2m / 70cms crossed yagis. * Ace operator. Simon Brown, HB9DRV

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Re: AMSAT Journal
by Bob Witte K0NR 26 Feb '07

26 Feb '07

Jeff Davis, KE9V Wrote: One example, "Why Can't I Hear AO-51?" by Mark Spencer, WA8SME is a short but definitive treatise on the subject and it really gets to the heart of that same old question asked here many times and in many ways. You want opinions, toss your question out on the -BB and you'll get plenty. You want answers. join AMSAT and get the Journal. "Bravo" and "Kudos" to Ed Long, Bill Hook and all those whose hard work on the Journal is so obviously visible in the end product. Thanks, 73 -------------------- This is a must read article for folks working the FM LEOs. It provides some important technical reality around working the sats with an HT. Hint: it is all about hearing the bird. Nice job, Mark. 73, Bob K0NR

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Re: Anybody need an ARR MMLXXXVDG schematic/manual?
by TOFFY 26 Feb '07

26 Feb '07

Hi Alan,WA4SCA I need the docs. Please send to me. I have plan to build it. 73s de Toff HS0NNU >Hi, > >In cleaning out some old files, I came across the docs for the older ARR >GasFet mast mounted preamps. It is good for the 50, 144, 220, and 440 MHz >versions. Before I toss them, I wondered if by any chance anybody needs, or >want one? I can scan as many as needed. > > >Alan >WA4SCA ____________________________________________________________________________________ Need a quick answer? Get one in minutes from people who know. Ask your question on www.Answers.yahoo.com

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Re: Can D-Star work on VO-52?
by Trevor 26 Feb '07

26 Feb '07

> From: "joseph Murray" <k0vty(a)juno.com> > I continue to ask one question about digital voice on HF. > When will Hams see a digital voice system that will be able > to Handle a 20 meter pile up. > So far , the answers have been negative. Quite right Joe, it's why I don't think any of the existing Digital Voice systems will be the one that hams use in 10 years time. The processing power of DSP's continues to increase each year and I'm sure we'll eventually see a viable narrow band Amateur Digital Voice Mode. 73 Trevor M5AKA ___________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Messenger - with free PC-PC calling and photo sharing. http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com

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Re: Ham HT and SkyCommand
by Bob Bruninga 26 Feb '07

26 Feb '07

>Can you use the TS-2000 in satellite mode and use >it for satellite contacts? When I first posted, I had that in the back of my mind, but quickly realized that it can't work that way, of course, because both VHF and UHF are used in the command link, so there is nothing left to operate the VHF/UHF satellite links. Bob Wb4aPR

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