Hello Kent,

Welcome to the satellites.

AO-51 was in L/US mode for the last couple of days. Please check the schedule for AO-51 at http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/echo/CTNews.php

There is a link on the front page of the AMSAT site (top right) under Quick Access to Project Pages for AO-51. This takes you to the main AO-51 page. Select the link under the latest news to get there. There is a grid and and a text page, we are in the process of changing the link to the text page rather than the grid page. The grid doesn't support the current dual downlink mode.

The transmit power for AO-51 will increase on Friday to 1W so it will be easier to hear tomorrow (UTC).

73, Gould, WA4SXM AO-51 Ops Team ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kent R. Frazier" [email protected] To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 12:39 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] Newbie Here AO-51 Questions.

Hello all, my name is Kent Frazier, K5KNT. I am just getting interested in working amateur satellites. I just joined AMSAT on Tuesday, 26 February 2008. My current hardware is an Icom IC2720 dual band in my personal vehicle with a Comet C767 dual band antenna. I also have an Icom IC-T22A 2-meter hand held with a Diamond RH77CA antenna.

I've been trying to listen to passes of AO-51 over the last week. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to hear anything since Monday, 25 February at approx 01:04 UTC (Saturday 24 FEB 19:04 CST). At that time, I thought I heard the call W9CPV.

I'm currently using Satscape as my tracking software. My Gridsquare location is DM91sk.

Are there other satellites I could monitor with the above equipment? Any suggestions for making my first contact?

73,

Kent R. Frazier, K5KNT

-- This electronic message transmission contains information which may be Confidential and/or Privileged. The information is intended to be for the use of the individual or entity named above. Any unauthorized disclosure, copying, distribution or use of the contents of this information, is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please destroy all copies of the original message. _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. 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

My PC clock runs fast by over 30seconds per day. PC clocks are notoriously inaccurate because of the quality of their base references. Make sure to check the time vis the internet or other source(swiss watch), before trying to use satellites, as even 30 seconds could put your automated doppler-correction far enough wrong to be inaudible. The shift is very fast on UHF downlinks and only gets faster on the higher frequency bands. It will be somewhere in a 19KHz area on your dial, which is a big place to get lost if your not sure which part of the pass the satellite is at any moment, especially since your rig lacks a "tuning center" meter. The fact that you heard the satellite before suggests that you started-out okay, so if you haven't changed anything else, then this might be the most likely cause. Also, double-check your TLE's(Keps) to see if they are recent, and ensure that the tracking software has your physical location input correctly. AO-51 has been in the same mode for a long time, and is transmitting strong signals now in order to shed heat, so it's pretty hard to miss it now!

Mode L/US is a special mode they started using lately because they can use two transmitters at the same time, trying to use up the extra electricity so that it doesn't have to go to the heatsink of the charging-unit(batteries full)(as I understand it, I might not be 100% acurate on this detail) . L=L-band uplink(1268.7MHz) US= UHF downlink AND S-band downlink (435.300MHz)(2401.2MHz)

73's VE6PWN auke

----- Original Message ----- From: "Kent R. Frazier" [email protected] To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 10:39 AM Subject: [amsat-bb] Newbie Here AO-51 Questions.

Hello all, my name is Kent Frazier, K5KNT. I am just getting interested in working amateur satellites. I just joined AMSAT on Tuesday, 26 February 2008. My current hardware is an Icom IC2720 dual band in my personal vehicle with a Comet C767 dual band antenna. I also have an Icom IC-T22A 2-meter hand held with a Diamond RH77CA antenna.

I've been trying to listen to passes of AO-51 over the last week. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to hear anything since Monday, 25 February at approx 01:04 UTC (Saturday 24 FEB 19:04 CST). At that time, I thought I heard the call W9CPV.

I'm currently using Satscape as my tracking software. My Gridsquare location is DM91sk.

Are there other satellites I could monitor with the above equipment? Any suggestions for making my first contact?

73,

Kent R. Frazier, K5KNT

-- This electronic message transmission contains information which may be Confidential and/or Privileged. The information is intended to be for the use of the individual or entity named above. Any unauthorized disclosure, copying, distribution or use of the contents of this information, is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please destroy all copies of the original message. _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. 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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On 29 Feb 2008, at 02:52, Auke de Jong, VE6PWN wrote:

My PC clock runs fast by over 30seconds per day. PC clocks are notoriously inaccurate because of the quality of their base references. Make sure to check the time vis the internet or other source(swiss watch),...

Better still, get a program that locks your time to an Internet time server.

John

p.s: Even better still replace MrSoftee by Linux or get a Mac