working ao-51 (finding the bird)
I think I finally heard the ao-51 downlink sending some form of digital data (likely sstv) this evening from DM14GK at 0218 GMT near the very end of the pass. I had much trouble finding the bird and it took most of the pass to find. What can everyone suggest for making it progressively easier? Antenna is an arrow with duplexer feeding a vx-6 ht.
Eric
PS
I'm curious, who's uplink was that?
Hey Eric,
What are you using to find the times and such for passes? Even if you're only using a handheld station - which is all I used for months here with good success - I would suggest downloading and installing one of the tracking programs available online. SatPC32 is very good, especially if you ultimately are going to use it to guide an az/el rotor setup and to tune your radio(s) for Doppler. I am old school here, doing everything manually (and will be for the foreseeable future), and I use a program called Orbitron. I like it a lot for a number of reasons - not the least of which is its ability to provide you with a schedule of upcoming passes based on parameters you provide it.
Each listing on that schedule gives you the time of Acquisition of Signal (AOS) along with an azimuth position. It also lists time and azimuth for maximum elevation, and time and azimuth for Loss of Signal (LOS). If you have those data and a compass, you can "map" a pass in advance, which is what I do. I note "landmarks" for AOS, mid pass and LOS, then simply turn the compass on its side to check the angle at maximum elevation. From there, it's a matter of visualizing the satellite rising, moving across the sky and setting. Watching visible passes of the International Space Station is a great way to get some visual practice to help when trying to "see" an amateur satellite pass as it happens. You won't actually see the satellite, of course, but watching the ISS will give you an idea of how a satellite moves across the sky - especially if you have a chance to watch passes with different maximum-elevation angles.
My first handheld station included a Yaesu VX-7R HT and an Arrow, so I have literally hundreds of passes' worth of experience with that antenna. When you're searching for the satellite, are you twisting your wrist to adjust the position of the elements (i.e., the antenna's polariztion relative to the satellite)? If not, you should try that. There have been more than a few times when a twist of the wrist made the difference for me in terms of getting a new grid square, or not.
I hope at least some of this proves helpful.
73,
Tim - N3TL AMSAT Member No. 36820 Athens, Ga. - EM84ha -------------- Original message from "Eric Fort" eric.fort@gmail.com: --------------
I think I finally heard the ao-51 downlink sending some form of digital data (likely sstv) this evening from DM14GK at 0218 GMT near the very end of the pass. I had much trouble finding the bird and it took most of the pass to find. What can everyone suggest for making it progressively easier? Antenna is an arrow with duplexer feeding a vx-6 ht.
Eric
PS
I'm curious, who's uplink was that? _______________________________________________ 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
Presently I'm using a vx-6 and a handheld arrow antenna. I'm getting my tracking information from the amsat website. I've downloaded gpredict for osx but have not got it running yet, mainly the price was right. if any of you have this running under osx I'd like to hear from you. for The forseeable future my station will run under unix so some version of predict seems like the likely choice. Other suggestions for tracking under unix are welcome, especially those which are low cost. orbitron and pcsat32 look nice but unfortunately they only run under windows.
as for tracking I have been attempting to orient for best polorization but finding and keeping on the sat while tuning around is still somewhat difficult. one question though - Are bearings true or magnetic?
Eric AF6EP
On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 7:03 PM, n3tl@bellsouth.net wrote:
Hey Eric,
What are you using to find the times and such for passes? Even if you're only using a handheld station - which is all I used for months here with good success - I would suggest downloading and installing one of the tracking programs available online. SatPC32 is very good, especially if you ultimately are going to use it to guide an az/el rotor setup and to tune your radio(s) for Doppler. I am old school here, doing everything manually (and will be for the foreseeable future), and I use a program called Orbitron. I like it a lot for a number of reasons - not the least of which is its ability to provide you with a schedule of upcoming passes based on parameters you provide it.
Each listing on that schedule gives you the time of Acquisition of Signal (AOS) along with an azimuth position. It also lists time and azimuth for maximum elevation, and time and azimuth for Loss of Signal (LOS). If you have those data and a compass, you can "map" a pass in advance, which is what I do. I note "landmarks" for AOS, mid pass and LOS, then simply turn the compass on its side to check the angle at maximum elevation. From there, it's a matter of visualizing the satellite rising, moving across the sky and setting. Watching visible passes of the International Space Station is a great way to get some visual practice to help when trying to "see" an amateur satellite pass as it happens. You won't actually see the satellite, of course, but watching the ISS will give you an idea of how a satellite moves across the sky - especially if you have a chance to watch passes with different maximum-elevation angles.
My first handheld station included a Yaesu VX-7R HT and an Arrow, so I have literally hundreds of passes' worth of experience with that antenna. When you're searching for the satellite, are you twisting your wrist to adjust the position of the elements (i.e., the antenna's polariztion relative to the satellite)? If not, you should try that. There have been more than a few times when a twist of the wrist made the difference for me in terms of getting a new grid square, or not.
I hope at least some of this proves helpful.
73,
Tim - N3TL AMSAT Member No. 36820 Athens, Ga. - EM84ha
-------------- Original message from "Eric Fort" eric.fort@gmail.com:
I think I finally heard the ao-51 downlink sending some form of digital
data
(likely sstv) this evening from DM14GK at 0218 GMT near the very end of
the
pass. I had much trouble finding the bird and it took most of the pass to
find. What can everyone suggest for making it progressively easier? Antenna is an arrow with duplexer feeding a vx-6 ht.
Eric
PS
I'm curious, who's uplink was that? _______________________________________________ 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
Hi Eric,
I use both gpredict and predict under Linux, and they work great. What sort of problem are you having?
For me, gpredict is for the visual and prediction side of things, and predict (the text-mode application) drives my Az/El rotors, and my radios (for Doppler) with the help of a small homebrew client. There's no problem running both at the same time, and amazingly (!) they both give pretty close to the same results.
You might be able to run some of the Windows-based prediction programs under Wine, but no guarantees.
Good luck,
Greg KO6TH
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2008 20:41:01 -0800 From: eric.fort@gmail.com To: n3tl@bellsouth.net CC: amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: working ao-51 (finding the bird)
Presently I'm using a vx-6 and a handheld arrow antenna. I'm getting my tracking information from the amsat website. I've downloaded gpredict for osx but have not got it running yet, mainly the price was right. if any of you have this running under osx I'd like to hear from you. for The forseeable future my station will run under unix so some version of predict seems like the likely choice. Other suggestions for tracking under unix are welcome, especially those which are low cost. orbitron and pcsat32 look nice but unfortunately they only run under windows.
as for tracking I have been attempting to orient for best polorization but finding and keeping on the sat while tuning around is still somewhat difficult. one question though - Are bearings true or magnetic?
Eric AF6EP
On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 7:03 PM, n3tl@bellsouth.net wrote:
Hey Eric,
What are you using to find the times and such for passes? Even if you're only using a handheld station - which is all I used for months here with good success - I would suggest downloading and installing one of the tracking programs available online. SatPC32 is very good, especially if you ultimately are going to use it to guide an az/el rotor setup and to tune your radio(s) for Doppler. I am old school here, doing everything manually (and will be for the foreseeable future), and I use a program called Orbitron. I like it a lot for a number of reasons - not the least of which is its ability to provide you with a schedule of upcoming passes based on parameters you provide it.
Each listing on that schedule gives you the time of Acquisition of Signal (AOS) along with an azimuth position. It also lists time and azimuth for maximum elevation, and time and azimuth for Loss of Signal (LOS). If you have those data and a compass, you can "map" a pass in advance, which is what I do. I note "landmarks" for AOS, mid pass and LOS, then simply turn the compass on its side to check the angle at maximum elevation. From there, it's a matter of visualizing the satellite rising, moving across the sky and setting. Watching visible passes of the International Space Station is a great way to get some visual practice to help when trying to "see" an amateur satellite pass as it happens. You won't actually see the satellite, of course, but watching the ISS will give you an idea of how a satellite moves across the sky - especially if you have a chance to watch passes with different maximum-elevation angles.
My first handheld station included a Yaesu VX-7R HT and an Arrow, so I have literally hundreds of passes' worth of experience with that antenna. When you're searching for the satellite, are you twisting your wrist to adjust the position of the elements (i.e., the antenna's polariztion relative to the satellite)? If not, you should try that. There have been more than a few times when a twist of the wrist made the difference for me in terms of getting a new grid square, or not.
I hope at least some of this proves helpful.
73,
Tim - N3TL AMSAT Member No. 36820 Athens, Ga. - EM84ha
-------------- Original message from "Eric Fort" eric.fort@gmail.com:
I think I finally heard the ao-51 downlink sending some form of digital
data
(likely sstv) this evening from DM14GK at 0218 GMT near the very end of
the
pass. I had much trouble finding the bird and it took most of the pass to
find. What can everyone suggest for making it progressively easier? Antenna is an arrow with duplexer feeding a vx-6 ht.
Eric
PS
I'm curious, who's uplink was that? _______________________________________________ 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@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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Gentlemen,
I believe Orbitron is written in Java. I have linux, but I cant remember if I've tried it in Linux, but if its in Java, it (should) work. Might want to give it a try anyway, its pretty good, and I use it occasionally in Windows.
Sorry, I havent booted the linux box up in awhile. Maybe this evening I'll try orbitron in Linux. Got me curious now.
Michael Heim Chief Engineer, Forever Broadcasting New Castle PA WKST WJST WWGY 814-671-0666 Chapter Chair, SBE-122 ARS KD0AR
--- On Mon, 11/10/08, Eric Fort eric.fort@gmail.com wrote:
From: Eric Fort eric.fort@gmail.com Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: working ao-51 (finding the bird) To: n3tl@bellsouth.net Cc: "AMSAT-BB" amsat-bb@amsat.org Date: Monday, November 10, 2008, 11:41 PM Presently I'm using a vx-6 and a handheld arrow antenna. I'm getting my tracking information from the amsat website. I've downloaded gpredict for osx but have not got it running yet, mainly the price was right. if any of you have this running under osx I'd like to hear from you. for The forseeable future my station will run under unix so some version of predict seems like the likely choice. Other suggestions for tracking under unix are welcome, especially those which are low cost. orbitron and pcsat32 look nice but unfortunately they only run under windows.
as for tracking I have been attempting to orient for best polorization but finding and keeping on the sat while tuning around is still somewhat difficult. one question though - Are bearings true or magnetic?
Eric AF6EP
On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 7:03 PM, n3tl@bellsouth.net wrote:
Hey Eric,
What are you using to find the times and such for
passes? Even if you're
only using a handheld station - which is all I used
for months here with
good success - I would suggest downloading and
installing one of the
tracking programs available online. SatPC32 is very
good, especially if you
ultimately are going to use it to guide an az/el rotor
setup and to tune
your radio(s) for Doppler. I am old school here, doing
everything manually
(and will be for the foreseeable future), and I use a
program called
Orbitron. I like it a lot for a number of reasons -
not the least of which
is its ability to provide you with a schedule of
upcoming passes based on
parameters you provide it.
Each listing on that schedule gives you the time of
Acquisition of Signal
(AOS) along with an azimuth position. It also lists
time and azimuth for
maximum elevation, and time and azimuth for Loss of
Signal (LOS). If you
have those data and a compass, you can "map"
a pass in advance, which is
what I do. I note "landmarks" for AOS, mid
pass and LOS, then simply turn
the compass on its side to check the angle at maximum
elevation. From there,
it's a matter of visualizing the satellite rising,
moving across the sky and
setting. Watching visible passes of the International
Space Station is a
great way to get some visual practice to help when
trying to "see" an
amateur satellite pass as it happens. You won't
actually see the satellite,
of course, but watching the ISS will give you an idea
of how a satellite
moves across the sky - especially if you have a chance
to watch passes with
different maximum-elevation angles.
My first handheld station included a Yaesu VX-7R HT
and an Arrow, so I have
literally hundreds of passes' worth of experience
with that antenna. When
you're searching for the satellite, are you
twisting your wrist to adjust
the position of the elements (i.e., the antenna's
polariztion relative to
the satellite)? If not, you should try that. There
have been more than a few
times when a twist of the wrist made the difference
for me in terms of
getting a new grid square, or not.
I hope at least some of this proves helpful.
73,
Tim - N3TL AMSAT Member No. 36820 Athens, Ga. - EM84ha -------------- Original message from "Eric
Fort" eric.fort@gmail.com:
I think I finally heard the ao-51 downlink
sending some form of digital
data
(likely sstv) this evening from DM14GK at 0218
GMT near the very end of
the
pass. I had much trouble finding the bird and it
took most of the pass to
find. What can everyone suggest for making it
progressively easier?
Antenna is an arrow with duplexer feeding a vx-6
ht.
Eric
PS
I'm curious, who's uplink was that? _______________________________________________ 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@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
Oops... I was wrong. I thought it was written in Java. I know there IS a java tracker out there that is cross platform, but I cant remember which one it was. Seemed like Orbitron was it...
I'll see if I can find the one I'm thinking of, and I'll post it here.
Michael Heim Chief Engineer, Forever Broadcasting New Castle PA WKST WJST WWGY 814-671-0666 Chapter Chair, SBE-122 ARS KD0AR
--- On Tue, 11/11/08, Michael Heim kd0ar@sbcglobal.net wrote:
From: Michael Heim kd0ar@sbcglobal.net Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: working ao-51 (finding the bird) To: n3tl@bellsouth.net, eric.fort@gmail.com Cc: "AMSAT-BB" amsat-bb@amsat.org Date: Tuesday, November 11, 2008, 7:39 AM Gentlemen,
I believe Orbitron is written in Java. I have linux, but I cant remember if I've tried it in Linux, but if its in Java, it (should) work. Might want to give it a try anyway, its pretty good, and I use it occasionally in Windows.
Sorry, I havent booted the linux box up in awhile. Maybe this evening I'll try orbitron in Linux. Got me curious now.
Michael Heim Chief Engineer, Forever Broadcasting New Castle PA WKST WJST WWGY 814-671-0666 Chapter Chair, SBE-122 ARS KD0AR
--- On Mon, 11/10/08, Eric Fort eric.fort@gmail.com wrote:
From: Eric Fort eric.fort@gmail.com Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: working ao-51 (finding the
bird)
To: n3tl@bellsouth.net Cc: "AMSAT-BB" amsat-bb@amsat.org Date: Monday, November 10, 2008, 11:41 PM Presently I'm using a vx-6 and a handheld arrow
antenna.
I'm getting my tracking information from the amsat website. I've downloaded gpredict for osx but have not got it running yet, mainly the price
was
right. if any of you have this running under osx I'd like to hear
from
you. for The forseeable future my station will run under unix so
some
version of predict seems like the likely choice. Other suggestions for tracking under unix are welcome, especially those which are low cost.
orbitron and
pcsat32 look nice but unfortunately they only run under windows.
as for tracking I have been attempting to orient for
best
polorization but finding and keeping on the sat while tuning around is
still
somewhat difficult. one question though - Are bearings true
or
magnetic?
Eric AF6EP
On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 7:03 PM,
wrote:
Hey Eric,
What are you using to find the times and such for
passes? Even if you're
only using a handheld station - which is all I
used
for months here with
good success - I would suggest downloading and
installing one of the
tracking programs available online. SatPC32 is
very
good, especially if you
ultimately are going to use it to guide an az/el
rotor
setup and to tune
your radio(s) for Doppler. I am old school here,
doing
everything manually
(and will be for the foreseeable future), and I
use a
program called
Orbitron. I like it a lot for a number of reasons
not the least of which
is its ability to provide you with a schedule of
upcoming passes based on
parameters you provide it.
Each listing on that schedule gives you the time
of
Acquisition of Signal
(AOS) along with an azimuth position. It also
lists
time and azimuth for
maximum elevation, and time and azimuth for Loss
of
Signal (LOS). If you
have those data and a compass, you can
"map"
a pass in advance, which is
what I do. I note "landmarks" for AOS,
mid
pass and LOS, then simply turn
the compass on its side to check the angle at
maximum
elevation. From there,
it's a matter of visualizing the satellite
rising,
moving across the sky and
setting. Watching visible passes of the
International
Space Station is a
great way to get some visual practice to help
when
trying to "see" an
amateur satellite pass as it happens. You
won't
actually see the satellite,
of course, but watching the ISS will give you an
idea
of how a satellite
moves across the sky - especially if you have a
chance
to watch passes with
different maximum-elevation angles.
My first handheld station included a Yaesu VX-7R
HT
and an Arrow, so I have
literally hundreds of passes' worth of
experience
with that antenna. When
you're searching for the satellite, are you
twisting your wrist to adjust
the position of the elements (i.e., the
antenna's
polariztion relative to
the satellite)? If not, you should try that.
There
have been more than a few
times when a twist of the wrist made the
difference
for me in terms of
getting a new grid square, or not.
I hope at least some of this proves helpful.
73,
Tim - N3TL AMSAT Member No. 36820 Athens, Ga. - EM84ha -------------- Original message from "Eric
Fort" eric.fort@gmail.com:
I think I finally heard the ao-51 downlink
sending some form of digital
data
(likely sstv) this evening from DM14GK at
0218
GMT near the very end of
the
pass. I had much trouble finding the bird
and it
took most of the pass to
find. What can everyone suggest for making
it
progressively easier?
Antenna is an arrow with duplexer feeding a
vx-6
ht.
Eric
PS
I'm curious, who's uplink was that?
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@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
The manual says it runs on Linux under Wine so it's not Java. My guess is it's written with Borland's Delphi 5.
Michael Heim wrote:
Gentlemen,
I believe Orbitron is written in Java. I have linux, but I cant remember if I've tried it in Linux, but if its in Java, it (should) work. Might want to give it a try anyway, its pretty good, and I use it occasionally in Windows.
participants (5)
-
Eric Fort -
Greg D. -
Michael Heim -
n3tl＠bellsouth.net -
Nigel Gunn G8IFF/W8IFF