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ANSR-37 balloon launch on 14 April 2007
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 11 Apr '07

11 Apr '07

Hi! Here is an announcement from Arizona Near Space Research (ANSR), about an upcoming balloon launch. Along with the various payloads on this flight, there will be a 2m/70cm cross-band repeater that functions very similar to those on FM satellites. Launch site has not been determined yet, but this group usually launches from sites in the southern part of metropolitan Phoenix or in central Arizona between Phoenix and Tucson. The cross-band repeater, when in flight, can cover hundreds of miles/km. Stations in Arizona along with portions of neighboring states (Nevada, California, Utah, New Mexico) and some parts of northwest Mexico (northern Baja California, northern Sonora, northwestern Chihuahua) are workable. You may see coverage maps of a typical ANSR balloon flight at: http://balloon.wd9ewk.net/ Unlike with the FM satellites, there is no Doppler effect to deal with on these balloon flights. This could be a good way to get ready for working FM satellites, or testing a station that has already been used to work those satellites. Good luck and 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK - Phoenix AZ http://www.wd9ewk.net/ (ANSR-37 launch announcement follows) Arizona Near Space Research (ANSR) is pleased to announce the flight of ANSR-37. This high altitude balloon flight will take place on Saturday, April 14th at 9:00 A.M. (1600 UTC). The launch site is to be determined depending on the predicted winds aloft. Follow up announcements will designate and expand launch site information as the flight date nears. The balloon will be a 3000-gram weather balloon, filled with helium. The expected burst altitude will be 90,000 feet or more. The flight is anticipated to last about 2.5 hours from launch to touchdown. In addition to the ANSR standard payloads, this flight will feature four payloads designed and built by University from across Arizona. Participating schools include Northern Arizona University (NAU), Embry Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU), Arizona State University (ASU) and the University of Arizona (UA). This flight is the second ASCEND! flight of the school year and is sponsored by the Arizona Space Grant Consortium. ANSR thanks AZ Space Grant for another opportunity to fulfill our mission: Promoting Science and Education Through Amateur Radio and High Altitude Balloons. The ANSR Cross-band repeater will be aboard this flight. Stations, especially those distant from the balloon, are invited to use the repeater when the repeater is not in use by the chase and recovery team. Feel free to use the Yahoogroups Ballooning site: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ballooning/ to coordinate dx schedules. Peak altitude should be about 10:30 to 10:50 A.M. MST (1730-1750 UTC). The following is the payload frequency plan: APRS Beacon 445.950 MHz packet at 5, 25, 35, 55 seconds UTC time via KD7LMO-11 Cross Band NB-FM Voice Repeater Input: 145.560 MHz/162.2 Hz PL tone Output: 445.525 MHz Linked to IRLP Node 9255 APRS when repeater not in use on 445.950 MHz at 10, 20, 40, and 50 seconds UTC time via KD7LMO-11 Landing prediction after burst at 15 and 45 seconds UTC time via KD7LMO (no -SSID) Pico Beacon APRS 445.950 MHz packet at 0, 30 seconds UTC time via KD7LMO-11 Our mobile cross band Digipeater will repeat the APRS data to the 144.390 MHz standard APRS frequency and thus will be I-GATED to the Internet for out of area trackers. You can track the flight using either of the following links: http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?kd7lmo-11 http://map.aprsworld.net/kd7lmo-11 Be sure to check this site for updates to this announcement prior to the flight. Jack Crabtree, W7JLC ANSR/AZ Space Grant Liaison

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need help with fodfrv board g5400b,and KR600X
by James Murray 11 Apr '07

11 Apr '07

Lost e-mail adress by accident of Mike N8XKZ. IS there anyone else out there that maybe can help me jim http://www.knology.net/~w4lwt

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partable thoughts
by tjjapha＠earthlink.net 10 Apr '07

10 Apr '07

Steve VE3SAX-- I use a 2 tripod portable setup for FO-29 (and a wee bit of AO7). Also using 2 FT-817s and, for 2 mtrs, a 20 watt battery powered amp. Antennas are the elements of an Arrow, split between two booms, one band on each tripod. It's all carried in 2 hands (and a shoulder) to the operating site! (Contrary to some reports, I've found that 5 watts isn't enough for AO7, and I'll probably add a 20 watt amp for 70cm. too.) I suggest using simple RG-8X. The runs are only 6-10 feet long, and loss is easily manageable. It's also way easier to handle, even in small lengths. At those lengths, even RG58 is tolerable. Preamps for both bands, mounted at the antennas, are great to have, if not an absolute necessity. Have fun and see you on the birds. 73, Tony, N2UN

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Status on AO-51 9K6 BBS
by Bruce Semple 10 Apr '07

10 Apr '07

Is there any status update on when the AO-51 BBS will be made available to the "general public"

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Re: Dawn Arrives in Florida -- A Little After Dawn
by Luc Leblanc 10 Apr '07

10 Apr '07

I received some commenting regarding funny use of words and association i made with them. Could be i have some influence after all...:) On 10 Apr 2007 at 13:47, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory wrote: > MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE > JET PROPULSION LABORATORY > CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY > NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION > PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE 818-354-5011 > http://www.jpl.nasa.gov > > DC Agle 818-393-9011 > Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. > > George Diller 321-861-7643 > NASA Kennedy Space Flight Center, Fla. > > Dwayne Brown 202-358-1726/ > Tabatha Thompson 202-358-3895 > NASA Headquarters, Washington > > News Release: 2007-038 April 10, 2007 > > Dawn Arrives in Florida -- A Little After Dawn Rest of text cut here. "-" "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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Homebrew USB interface for TS-790 & many other radios
by William Liporace - NA2NA 10 Apr '07

10 Apr '07

Good afternoon, I have had a few requests for the homebrew interface for my TS-790. The first part is a product from a company called FTDI Chip http://www.ftdichip.com The product is a TTL-232R http://www.ftdichip.com/Products/EvaluationKits/TTL-232R.htm or the TTL-232R-3V3 http://www.ftdichip.com/Products/EvaluationKits/TTL-232R-3V3.htm They over a utility to invert the signals on ALL lines. This is a very important part of the project... The utility is called MPROG http://www.ftdichip.com/Resources/Utilities.htm#MProg >From what I have seen, all you need to Ground TXD & RXD, RTS & CTS were originally connected. I found that may of the programs do NOT configure these correctly... As a side note, I have a similar setup for my FT-1000. This was started for a project that WA1KKM & I have been working on for Linux. Walt has written a Linux based contest program. You can get more info at http://www.k2ct.net/kbsoftware/kbsoftware.htm I talked Walt into adding radio control for my rig. He has also created his own USB keying. Packet works... All sorts of goodies. 73 es TNX Will WC2L

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AMSAT Activities at Dayton
by Gould Smith 10 Apr '07

10 Apr '07

AMSAT will have many activities for the Amateur Satellite enthusiast during the 2007 Dayton Hamvention. We invite you to join us at all of these events. See the AMSAT web site for additional information and directions. http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/hamvention/Dayton2007.php Thursday 17 May 2007 - 1830 - 2200 EDT- Pizza and Suds Party at Marion's Piazza Friday 18 May 2007 - 0900 - 1800 EDT AMSAT Booth opens, Eagle area with operating components and outdoor Satellite Operating Demonstrations 1115 - 1400 EDT AMSAT Forum in Room 1 1700 - 1745 EDT IMAX movie "Space Station" special showing at the Air Force Museum 1800 - 2200 EDT AMSAT/TAPR Banquet at the Air Force Museum (order tickets from the AMSAT web site) Saturday 19 May 2007 - 0800 - 1700 EDT AMSAT Booth opens, Eagle area with operating components and outdoor Satellite Operating Demonstrations all day Sunday 20 May 2007 - 0800 - 1300 EDT AMSAT Booth opens, Eagle area with operating components and outdoor Satellite Operating Demonstrations It is important to make your Banquet reservations early, we will not be offering tickets at the booth this year. Ticket sales will end May 15th, before Hamvention begins. Order online at the AMSAT store or call Martha at the office. We need some volunteers to help man the AMSAT booth during Hamvention. Please send me an email (wa4sxm(a)amsat.org) if you can volunteer to help. We need volunteers for 2 hour shifts Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Also looking for volunteers to setup the booth Thursday afternoon and take down the booth Sunday afternoon.

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CubeSat launch 17Apr07 06:46:35UT
by Ralph Wallio, W0RPK 10 Apr '07

10 Apr '07

The next CubeSat launch is scheduled for 17Apr07 06:46:35UT via an ISC Kosmotras Dnepr launch vehicle from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. Four-of-seven CubeSats will be using Amateur Radio frequencies and modes as follows: CalPoly PolySat CP3 436.845MHz (1W) 1200bps FM AFSK AX.25 (Part-5 experimental license) http://polysat.calpoly.edu/ CalPoly PolySat CP4 437.325MHz (1W) 1200bps FM AFSK AX.25 http://polysat.calpoly.edu/ University of Louisiana CAPE-1 435.245MHz (1W) 9600bps FM FSK AX.25 and CW telemetry during opposite 30sec intervals using call sign K5USL http://ulcape.org/wiki/Main_Page http://ulcape.org/wiki/CAPE1_Telemetry Forward received telemetry to jd.harrist(a)gmail.com Universidad Sergio Arboleda (Colombia) Libertad-1 437.405MHz (400mw) 1200bps FM AFSK AX.25 http://www.usergioarboleda.edu.co/proyecto_espacial/index.htm http://www.usergioarboleda.edu.co/proyecto_espacial/english_libertad.pdf Also see http://cubesat.atl.calpoly.edu/ and http://showcase.netins.net/web/wallio/CubeSat.htm for more information. P-POD C (Preliminary) for 17Apr07 launch 1 xxxxxU xxxxxxxx 07107.29311609 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 0000x 2 xxxxx 098.0870 182.3615 0084000 198.3918 339.9240 14.51600000 1x Preliminary First Orbit+ Schedule 17Apr07 06:46:35UT Launch 07:02 CubeSat separation 07:08 AOS South Africa 07:52 AOS Hawaii USA 07:59 AOS CalPoly CA USA 08:01 AOS KL7UW Alaska USA 08:20 AOS Northern Europe 08:25 AOS Central Europe & UK 09:17 AOS ZL1AOX New Zealand 09:42 AOS KL7UW Alaska USA 10:53 AOS ZL1AOX New Zealand 11:16 AOS Japan 11:30 CP3/CP4 start transmitting 12:32 AOS ZL1AOX New Zealand 15:04 AOS WØRPK Iowa USA TNX es 73 de Ralph Wallio, WØRPK W0RPK(a)netINS.net http://showcase.netins.net/web/wallio/ Hubbert's Peak - The Mother of all Perfect Storms

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CAT Control for TS-790A
by Eric H Christensen 10 Apr '07

10 Apr '07

I just got my USB controller for my TS-790A yesterday. Got it installed and all looks good. SatPC32 seems to recognize the port (it doesn't error out like it did when the wrong COM port was presented to the software originally). With that side working (I guess) the radio just sits there and doesn't do anything. I reviewed the manual for the 790 but it didn't have any instructions to make the radio start accepting CAT instructions. Anyone have one of these radios setup in this configuration that can help me out? 73s, Eric W4OTN

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Help with GS-232 UPDATE
by John Meeks 09 Apr '07

09 Apr '07

After checking all the settings suggested by the group and concluding that my expensive little Yaesu box was toasted, I set the SatPC32 SDX to 2400 baud and turned off the FIFO buffer on my com port. VOILA! I'm guessing the data was getting corrupted in the data buffer but have no idea why that would be the case. Thanks to all who replied with suggestions. Perhaps this fix will be googled from the archives in the future by someone having trouble passing data to the rotor controller. Now at least the FM birds will be hands free !! thanks and 73 KC8ZFN John Meeks

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