Launched November 15, 1974 by a Delta rocket from Vandenberg Air Force
Base, AMSAT-OSCAR 7 provided many years of service till it went silent
from battery failure in mid 1981. Then on June 21, 2002, some 21 YEARS
later and thanks to the keen ears of Pat Gowen, G3IOR while checking
for interlopers on 2 meters he came across a strange CW signal.
Sounding like old OSCAR satellite telemetry, it had the familiar HI HI
followed by a string of numbers in groups of three.
After monitoring by many ground stations it turned out to be AO-7, and
it seemed to have come back from the dead. No one knows exactly when
this resurrection took place but this being the anniversary of when it
was discovered operational again by Pat, I guess it's the unofficial
birthday date.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AO-7, our highest operating satellite at this time.
We can only hope you live another long and active life. With five years
under your belt for the second time around, your well on your way.
Keith N4ZQ
FN33aq
Hello,
I have a few ham related items for sale just in time for field day.
1) 2m Ringo Ranger antenna. Was originally a Ringo Ranger II, but it looks
like the decoupling ring is missing. Will work fine without it as that was
the original Ringo design, but might benefit from a choke at the feed point.
$25
2) Mosley ?Jr. tribander. 3 element 10/15/20m beam. Very light weight, I
used a tv rotor to turn it. would be good for a FD beam, or for the guys
with new HF privileges. Needs a few ubolts replaced that were borrowed for
other projects. Might need the traps cleaned out too. $75
3) FT-530 Yaesu true dual bander. Great HT for the FM satellites, no menus,
simple to use. Includes a battery voltage function, sub-band tuning for
satellite, etc. This rig still demands a high price on the auction sites. I
have also the drop in charger, and a good 12v 1000 mah battery (Kendoo
brand, 1-2 yr old?). Pretty sure I have the manual too. $150
4) Kenwood TM-401A 70cm FM mobile, ~12 watts out (thats normal) and has a
single freq tone board. Little bit rough looking. Would be good for
monitoring a local repeater in your shop or office. Designed with no
internal speaker, so you'll need any old speaker with a 1/8" plug. I've used
this several times for doing the FL AMSAT net. $75
All items are OBO, and I might consider trades on a small switcher power
supply, 20 amp or more, a 70 cm yagi, or a 220 FM rig?
73, Drew KO4MA
