Hi folks,
So, a follow-up to my previous message. All this discussion about EME got me
thinking... We're always taught to put your preamp as close to the feed point
as possible, but as with everything, there are tradeoffs. Where should the
Preamp be mounted?
Choices:
1 - on the
Here's something people might not know about the letter pi. It is
closely related in ancient Greek to the letter 'phi'. While, we (at
least the Western European 'we') pronounce phi as an '', in
ancient Greek it was a 'p' sound with a bit of a puff of air after it,
'p' + 'huh'. There was
Hi Jim,
I have one, and it works ok. Not the brightest panel lamp in the shack, but it
was a whole lot better than nothing. I was eventually able to work AO-40 at
apogee with it, a good preamp, and a 30 BBQ grill.
When you say the mod, you need to be a bit more specific. That converter,
Hmmm... Interesting. That means that we all need to check both satellites
before using either one, to be sure the orbits and modes are compatible, and
avoid the passes that aren't (no matter how tempting). Dual-bird SSB/CW ops
may be confusing, but accidentally running high power FM into
Oh, that's right... Good planning!
Never Mind...
Greg KO6TH
Date: Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:52:52 -0500
From: glasbren...@mindspring.com
To: ko6th_g...@hotmail.com
CC: amsat-bb@amsat.org
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] HO-68 and FO-29 common uplink
Greg D. wrote:
Dual-bird SSB/CW ops may
Hi Ed,
Regarding power used:
I was running 25w (minus a few dB of coax losses) into an 8 element beam
(vertically polarized), and getting an S5 return on a 2x15 circular beam, with
a mediocre preamp. I forget if it was RHCP or LHCP on the downlink at the time.
I don't have a power meter,
Hi Ed,
Were you in SSB or FM mode? I was on the earlier pass (20:00z) today, and at
least for that pass the bird was in SSB/CW mode. Had my first contact on
HO-68, a nice chat with Kerry, WC7V, in Montana. It was quite loud, like S5
when most birds barely move the needle. Really easy to
Hi Drew,
Did the flipping activity have a net (lasting) effect on the satellite's spin
rate? I recall a discussion on how slow the bird was spinning, implying that
we'd like it to go a bit faster (is that true?). Since we're putting energy
into the satellite's orientation via the magnet,
Hi Pete,
So, you're probably not intending to have this be a trick question... The
oldest one that's still working is Oscar-7. The oldest one that's still in
orbit is - hmmm, not sure. I know the very first ones, Oscar-1, et al, as well
as many many more modern ones stopped working long
(coming at me) to negative (going away from me). It
seems like this place would be the time of closest approach (TCA) and not
way out on the horizon when I see maximum Doppler.
What am I missing?
73,
Pete
WA6WOA
--- On Thu, 1/7/10, Greg D. ko6th_g...@hotmail.com wrote:
From
I have a rather tired, but otherwise intact 1948 Handbook, if you need a
diagram or such.
The only problem with building stuff from there (besides needing to find parts,
some of which were already old when it was printed), is finding condensers
calibrated in uuf, and tuning up in
, and zero doppler.
That's all I meant to convey,
Greg KO6TH
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 2010 05:53:13 -0500
From: glasbren...@mindspring.com
To: ko6th_g...@hotmail.com
CC: w7...@comcast.net; amsat-bb@amsat.org
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: probably simple
Greg D. wrote:
Hi Bob,
Whatever the satellite
these concepts never concerned me as there was
always plenty of time to yak it up with the locals on AO-7.
73 Bob W7LRD
CN87 Seattle, Wa.
- Original Message -
From: Andrew Glasbrenner glasbren...@mindspring.com
To: Greg D. ko6th_g...@hotmail.com
Cc: w7...@comcast.net, amsat-bb
Hi Bob,
Whatever the satellite, if you're trying to stretch the footprint, your sked is
always going to be at the peak of elevation, for that fleeting moment when the
satellite is a few degrees above the horizon. That means that you're always
going to be at zero doppler shift, and the math
Great article!
But a question that has always nagged me... Perhaps someone on the BB knows
the answer?
I understand that the early Oscars got their ride into space by replacing a
piece of concrete (or similar dead weight material) with our satellite. That's
why they have the shape that
A camera on the cross boom is useful for lots of things. I have had one on my
setup for years. It was really useful for knowing where AO-40's S-band
downlink was in relation to the many trees that surround my house. It was also
a bit scary to watch the whole rig moving to the wind of a
I smile (in self recognition). An old mentor, when I was starting in
a career of electronic repair, said its usually something
simple! Do not automatically look for the worst cause. The first
step in troubleshooting is to verify all the inputs are present, then
check the outputs,
Date: Tue, 1 Dec 2009 11:20:45 +1100
To: rwmcgw...@gmail.com; n...@mwt.net
From: vk3...@gmail.com
CC: AMSAT-BB@amsat.org
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Boost To higher Orbits?
At 11:17 PM 11/30/2009, Bob McGwier wrote:
p=hk where p is momentum, k is Planck's constant, and k is an integer.
Actually, I do that all the time!
Greg KO6TH
Date: Wed, 2 Dec 2009 17:45:50 +1100
To: ko6th_g...@hotmail.com; kl...@acsalaska.net; rwmcgw...@gmail.com;
amsat-bb@amsat.org
From: vk3...@gmail.com
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: Frustration Solved!
At 05:06 PM 12/2/2009, Greg D. wrote
I believe that automatic tuning of the downlink receiver will only work with
FM, as an output of the FM discriminator can be used to give an error
(difference) signal for tuning. I don't believe this is possible with an
arbitrary SSB signal. The only way SSB/CW can work is to have a known
Yep. Listening to the 18:22z pass now; nothing.
Well, almost nothing. I heard a momentary dip in the background static
(partial quieting of FM) at around 18:31z. Tried keying up, got nothing back.
I suggest we try again tomorrow...
Greg KO6TH
From: p...@att.net
To: amsat-bb@amsat.org
Hi Mike,
If it works for a while and then quits, it kind of sounds like an over-temp
problem in the rotor (or perhaps it *thinks* it's over-temp'd). These motors
aren't designed for continuous duty. Maybe the switch is flaky, and cutting
out early?
How much weight do you have up there, and
PocketSat+ also runs very nicely in the Garnet Virtual Machine on my Nokia N810
(better, actually, than on my Palm!). My only concern is the longevity of the
Garnet VM; it's supposed to expire in a couple of weeks, and their website
has no update posted. (Not to steal the thread, but anyone
Hi Michael,
When the display dies, does the rest of the box keep working? If the whole
thing dies, then I'd suspect the 7805 (5v) power supply. Does the 7805 get
hot? If so, that's the problem; they have a built-in thermal shutdown for
over-temp and/or over-current. What sort of heat sink
- Original Message -
From: David Wing da...@cdwing.com
To: amsat-bb@amsat.org
Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 7:09 PM
Subject: [amsat-bb] Yagi balance point
I have two yagis that I need to mount a little off center and wanted to
put
a little weight on the back of the
Hi Michael,
I followed instructions from Howard Long, G6LVB, posted here a few
years ago. (If the archives go back far enough, it was in November of
2001). I don't have it electronically, but the instructions went
something like this:
Get a long piece of thick bare copper wire (#10 is
Hi Drew,
If you're still interested in mode VS signal reports, I just worked KG6NUB at 5
degrees elevation. He was pretty much full quieting on the 2.4 ghz downlink
here in CM98, and reports he was using an arrow antenna with his HT out on the
lawn in CM87 on his end (presumably running mode
If the motor is actually moving, but the antennas are not, then there's got to
be a loose bolt between the motor and the boom. Maybe when it's cold at night
things contract a bit and it holds?
If it's not that, then there's probably a stripped gear internally, and that
would be bad news.
in the same plane ( 180 degrees rotated ), 180 degrees
out of phase ( 1/2 wavelength ) is a nul which probably would be out
performed by a rubber ducky.
-Original Message-
From: amsat-bb-boun...@amsat.org
[mailto:amsat-bb-boun...@amsat.org] On Behalf Of Greg D.
Sent: October 24
Andrew,
If you're looking for recommendations, I'd pick #3. It keeps the control of
the motors in the same place that does the measurement of where the antennas
currently are. The tighter that loop is the more accurate will be your
positioning, and the more tolerant it will be of interface
Hi all,
How about a compromise? There's an old DOS program that I used many years ago
that printed out a chart, one line per satellite per pass, sorted by time. One
page would hold several days worth, depending on how many satellites you wanted
to track. Not as compact as the chart I think
Hi Bill,
Plays fine on my Linux box, once I got the quicktime capable plug-in for my
browser (*). I expect any machine with Quicktime support will work.
Greg KO6TH
(*) see:
http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Using+the+QuickTime+plugin+with+Firefox
To: amsat-bb@amsat.org
From:
Hi folks,
So I have a pair of 14 dbi flat panel Wi-Fi antennas, complete with pigtail
and N connector. I assume they're linearly polarized. Satellite downlinks
really ought to be circular, if possible.
For satellite use, could I simply mount the two on my Az/El rotor boom, with
one rotated
Ditto. I have the single port version (model USA-19HS), and have used it under
both Linux and Windows XP (running inside VMWare on said Linux box, as well as
natively). Linux kernels were from SuSE/OpenSuSE 10.0 through 11.1. No
problems.
Greg KO6TH
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:07:32
The thing is, running the spacecraft with the panels open only works if the
satellite is fully stabilized so that the panels continually point towards the
sun. Stabilization only works if lots of things, pretty much everything in
fact, is working on the spacecraft. I'd say that we've pretty
...@hotmail.com
CC: amsat-bb@amsat.org; lmol...@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: [Hearsat] Opinions on receivers
Greg D. expunged (ko6th_g...@hotmail.com):
But, as a general coverage receiver or scanner, it's 20-year age clearly
shows. First of all, it's a bit deaf by modern standards
Hi Loren,
I have an old ICOM R-7000 Communications Receiver. It covers 25mhz to 2 ghz
with a small gap from 999mhz to 1.025 ghz. The old cell band is *not*
excluded, not that you can hear anything there anymore. It covers all modes -
narrow, medium, and wide-band FM, AM, and SSB/CW.
I
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 2009 07:14:42 -0400
From: rwmcgw...@gmail.com
To: amsat-bb@amsat.org
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Understanding ITAR
I want everyone seeing this to read a book. Little Brother by Cory
Doctorow is a book aimed at late teens to young adults. This is
irrelevant. It is a
Ditto this recommendation. PocketSat+ is a very usable, compact, yet full
featured satellite tracking package. And the Palm is something you can always
have with you.
I recently graduated from my Palm-Vx to a Nokia N810, and found the Garnet
Virtual Machine, which builds a Palm inside my
I've always wondered why the solar panel makers don't put water tubing on the
back side of the panels. Boost the efficiency, and get hot water for the house
or pool at the same time. Seems like a no-brainer. {shrug}
Unfortunately for me, I have large trees shading the house (big enough
Hi Clint,
I absolutely agree! Even the little things are so appreciated by the silent
majority of members. We had a pass of the ISS this evening that just happened
to occur right after the net was over. In my check-in slot I announced what
was going to happen, and where to look. (Man, it
- Original Message -
At 12:36 PM 9/17/2009, you wrote:
RS10/11 was a wonderful bird, with a high orbit and relatively high
transponder power, it was very easy to work and the coverage was quite
wide. It was a perfect beginner's satellite and a lot of guys got
started in satellite
On Mon, Aug 24, 2009 at 12:11 PM, Robert Bruningabruni...@usna.edu wrote:
For what it is worth, this semester I will finally get a student
to work on the 40 year old AMSAT idea of a water rocket. (Carry
water to orbit and use solar power to electrolizie the wate to
H2 and O2 and then
Hi Gary,
Thanks for considering my humble controller design for your system.
I'm a little confused on what is working and what is not. Are you getting
serial data out of the computer but not recognized by the STAMP? If so, one of
the quirks I found with the STAMP processors is that they're
Hi Norman,
According to my manual, it's 4800bps, 8 bits, no parity, and 2 stop bits.
Greg KO6TH
Date: Sun, 9 Aug 2009 15:19:23 -0400
From: ve3...@gmail.com
To: AMSAT-BB@amsat.org
Subject: [amsat-bb] FT-736r com port settings.
Hello everyone,
Could some one tell me the com port
Hi Allen,
If you have both Rx and Tx on the same band, then both directions will be using
the same RF connector on the rig. I suppose if you are REALLY careful you can
put an antenna switch between them, but you need to make really sure you don't
transmit into the back of your downconverter.
if I can get things going that way with SATPC controlling doppler on both
rigs..
Many thanks!
Al W8KHP
- Original Message -
From:
Greg
D.
To: tok...@myranch.com ; amsat-bb@amsat.org
Sent: Saturday, August 08, 2009 2:09
PM
Subject: RE: [amsat-bb] AO-51 V/S
mode
that mounted in
the X confiuration with cables dressed tight to
the antenna and crossbooms negilible effects are
seen (at least for satellite class operations).
73, Ed - KL7UW
I have used a metal crossboom for years.
At 02:24 PM 7/25/2009, Greg D. wrote:
Wooden pole for me. Just
Wooden pole for me. Just a regular closet pole from the lumber yard. I've
never been impressed by the structural qualities of plastic pipe, and putting a
wooden dowel up the middle of one still leaves much of the structural
responsibility with the plastic on the outside. So, why not make it
Hi folks,
I recently treated myself to a new toy - the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet.
(Think iPod Touch with a higher resolution screen, real GPS, real keyboard, and
it runs Linux so the apps multi-task, and are free.) Thought I'd pass this
on...
One of the challenges I faced in this
Hi Bob,
My turn this time... Had nearly the whole pass to myself, but heard you coming
on just as the bird was setting for me. Couldn't quite make the connection.
Maybe next time...
73s,
Greg KO6TH
Date: Sun, 19 Jul 2009 01:39:35 +
From: w7...@comcast.net
To: amsat-bb@amsat.org
Hi Marv,
If the SWR suddenly changed, you've probably got a broken feed wire somewhere.
I'd leave the matching section adjustment alone (assuming it was good before),
and focus on the connections, starting at the shack end.
It sounds like you have a circularly polarized antenna, in which
Hi John,
Mostly I still hear them, but just barely. Propagation has been pretty much
non-existent lately, and I don't have a beam. I managed to contact Larry a few
weeks ago; we'll see what happens tomorrow morning.
Greg KO6TH
Date: Sat, 11 Jul 2009 21:01:30 +
From:
Hi John,
You might consider putting a short tripod on the roof itself. That's
what I did. 2-story house, and too many trees adjacent to the house to
put up any sort of tower (and not counting the inevitable XYL objections).
Here's what I did:
Hi Jan, Auke,
Probably polarization. Do you have a circularly polarized antenna? If so, try
the other direction. I had very different results RH and LH; the non-default
position was by far the best for me in the second half of the pass on Field
Day. This was just for the downlink; my
Ok, so this doesn't sound like the regular ARISS QSL service... Where did you
send your card (for those who weren't at Dayton)? Is he still accepting them?
Greg KO6TH
From: dave.w8...@verizon.net
To: amsat-bb@amsat.org
Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 08:35:39 -0400
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: QSL
Yes, although his name isn't anywhere on the card. NA1SS call sign on the
back, along with the date and time of the contact.
Greg KO6TH
From: ve6...@shaw.ca
To: amsat-bb@amsat.org
Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:29:45 -0700
Subject: [amsat-bb] QSL card?
Hi, has anyone received there QSL
Hi Scott,
Now you've got me wondering... I sent mine off to the normal ARISS QSL site,
and got a somewhat disappointingly generic reply. Did you and the others use a
different service, or go direct to him?
Greg KO6TH
From: ve6...@shaw.ca
To: amsat-bb@amsat.org
Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009
Hi Jim,
Interesting... That was probably the pass I was trying to work AO-27 too, but
I didn't have any success at all. All I got back was hash, with others audible
below it. I think my uplink was interfering my downlink locally, though it
went away after the pass. Gotta work on
What kind of antenna did you make? How did you measure how well it's working?
Greg KO6TH
From: dano...@email.itt-tech.edu
To: amsat-bb@amsat.org
Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2009 10:56:00 +
Subject: [amsat-bb] 2.4 Antennas
I've put together a 2.4 ghz antenna BUT! its only working at maybe
Hi James,
The Kenwood TH-F6 (see Tim's message earlier) will do all of its modes on
137mHz. For FM you get either the narrow kind (5 kHz, like we use on 2m) or
wide (100kHz, like FM broadcast band). I don't believe there's anything in
between. If you have enough antenna up front, the wide
{queue thunder clap}
Wait a minute... How can a radio be capable of cross-band repeat and not be
full duplex? I believe the answer is no. Cross-band (analog) repeating is
inherently full duplex. So, perhaps this is a simple way to ask a
non-satellite person, without having to explain what
Hi Luc,
Conclusion don't jump too fast on some hamfest deal as what's good for WiFI
is not always so good at 2.4ghz!
This was probably just a typo; if so, pardon the reply...
Wi-Fi and Wi-Max are different things. An antenna designed for Wi-Max
may not operate very well, as you
tuned for the 2.5 GHz frequency but what polarity
were the Pringles Can washer antennas that were so popular for
Net-Stumbling a few years ago?
Roger
WA1KAT
- Original Message -
From: Greg D. ko6th_g...@hotmail.com
To: luclebla...@videotron.ca; amsat-bb@amsat.org
Sent: Saturday, May
an
omnidirectional Circular antenna? What am I missing as I don't want my
router or my notebook to be directional?
Don
-Original Message-
From: amsat-bb-boun...@amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-boun...@amsat.org] On
Behalf Of Edward Cole
Sent: Saturday, May 16, 2009 12:22 PM
To: Greg D
No way. He's way too valuable as a teacher!
Greg KO6TH
From: n...@cfl.rr.com
To: n...@natetech.com; AMSAT-BB@amsat.org
Date: Thu, 14 May 2009 05:04:09 -0400
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Tracking Friends at Dayton..
You have to admire Bob. No matter what you are doing, from the mundane
to
Hi Wayne,
For satellite work, 1.2 ghz receive performance is irrelevant. It's always an
uplink. I have yet to hear anything on 1.2 ghz, other than a beacon off to the
west. The only repeater within earshot went off the air a few years ago. But
L/US is a great mode on AO-51.
Greg KO6TH
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