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CX2SA > SATDIG 13.08.09 00:54l 953 Lines 36437 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Today's Topics:
1. FUNcube on Front Cover of Electronics Weekly magazine (Trevor .)
2. Re: FUNcube on Front Cover of Electronics Weekly magazine
(David - KG4ZLB)
3. Satellite WAS (Frank A Cahoy)
4. Re: Satellite WAS (Tim Lilley)
5. Sumbandila (Pieter Kotze)
6. Tuesday's DEMO (James Jipping)
7. rotator questions (Joseph Armbruster)
8. Re: rotator questions (Bill Howell)
9. Re: rotator questions (w6zkh@xxxxxxx.xxxx
10. Re: rotator questions (n0jy@xxxxxxx.xxxx
11. AMSAT Awards (Bruce)
12. Re: rotator questions (Alan VE4YZ)
13. Re: rotator questions (Mark Lunday)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:02:14 +0000 (GMT)
From: "Trevor ." <m5aka@xxxxx.xx.xx>
Subject: [amsat-bb] FUNcube on Front Cover of Electronics Weekly
magazine
To: amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx
Message-ID: <690677.12821.qm@xxxxxxxx.xxxx.xxx.xxxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
AMSAT-UK's FUNcube satellite project features on the front cover of the August
12-18 edition of Electronics Weekly magazine
The printed edition of the magazine will be dropping through letterboxes
during Wednesday morning and you can read the digital version of Electronics
Weekly magazine online or download the pages in PDF format at
http://cde.cerosmedia.com/1D4a803d8814a11352.cde
The full FUNcube article titled 'Bringing FUN back to the classroom' by Steve
Bush is on page 8 and contains an interview with Graham Shirville G3VZV.
FUNcube is an educational single cubesat project with the goal of enthusing
and educating young people about radio, space, physics and electronics. It has
received major initial funding from the Radio Communications Foundation (RCF).
It will support the educational Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths (STEM)
initiatives and provide an additional resource for the GB4FUN Mobile
Communications Centre.
The target audience consists of primary and secondary school pupils and
FUNcube will feature a 145 MHz telemetry beacon that will provide a strong
signal for the pupils to receive.
It is planned to develop a simple receiver board that can be connected to the
USB port of a laptop to display telemetry in an interesting way.
The satellite will contain a materials science experiment, from which the
school students can receive telemetry data which they can compare to the
results they obtained from similar reference experiments in the classroom.
FUNcube will carry a UHF to VHF linear transponder that will have up to 1 watt
and which can be used by Radio Amateurs worldwide for SSB and CW
communications. Measuring just 10 * 10 * 10 cm, and with a mass of less than
1kg, it will be the smallest ever satellite to carry a linear transponder and
the choice of frequencies will enable Radio Amateurs to use their existing VO-
52 or DO-64 station.
A key feature of the satellite is the absence of an On-Board Computer. For
reliability and maximum power efficiency, the design has been kept as
straight-forward as possible with satellite control being achieved using
simple commands.
FUNcube contact: Graham Shirville G3VZV Tel: +44 (0)7713 665725
Electronics Weekly Magazine
http://www.electronicsweekly.com/
Radio Communications Foundation
http://www.commsfoundation.org/
GB4FUN
http://www.gb4fun.org.uk/
AMSAT-UK
http://www.uk.amsat.org/
FUNcube a UK Linear Transponder Satellite
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/july2009/funcube.htm
AMSAT-UK Space Colloquium videos
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/august2009/amsat_colloquium_videos.htm
AMSAT-UK publish a colour A4 newsletter, OSCAR News, full of satellite
information.
You can join online at https://secure.amsat.org.uk/subs_form/
----
73 Trevor M5AKA
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:56:36 -0400
From: David - KG4ZLB <kg4zlb@xxxxxxxxxx.xxx>
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: FUNcube on Front Cover of Electronics Weekly
magazine
To: m5aka@xxxxx.xx.xx
Cc: amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx
Message-ID: <4A81E914.8020503@xxxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
We can only hope that the "RCF funding problem" recorded in the just
published RSGB Board Minutes do not negatively impact upon this endeavour!
--
David
KG4ZLB
www.kg4zlb.com
Trevor . wrote:
> AMSAT-UK's FUNcube satellite project features on the front cover of the
August 12-18 edition of Electronics Weekly magazine
>
> The printed edition of the magazine will be dropping through letterboxes
during Wednesday morning and you can read the digital version of Electronics
Weekly magazine online or download the pages in PDF format at
>
> http://cde.cerosmedia.com/1D4a803d8814a11352.cde
>
> The full FUNcube article titled 'Bringing FUN back to the classroom' by
Steve Bush is on page 8 and contains an interview with Graham Shirville G3VZV.
>
> FUNcube is an educational single cubesat project with the goal of enthusing
and educating young people about radio, space, physics and electronics. It has
received major initial funding from the Radio Communications Foundation (RCF).
>
> It will support the educational Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths
(STEM) initiatives and provide an additional resource for the GB4FUN Mobile
Communications Centre.
>
> The target audience consists of primary and secondary school pupils and
FUNcube will feature a 145 MHz telemetry beacon that will provide a strong
signal for the pupils to receive.
>
> It is planned to develop a simple receiver board that can be connected to
the USB port of a laptop to display telemetry in an interesting way.
>
> The satellite will contain a materials science experiment, from which the
school students can receive telemetry data which they can compare to the
results they obtained from similar reference experiments in the classroom.
>
> FUNcube will carry a UHF to VHF linear transponder that will have up to 1
watt and which can be used by Radio Amateurs worldwide for SSB and CW
communications. Measuring just 10 * 10 * 10 cm, and with a mass of less than
1kg, it will be the smallest ever satellite to carry a linear transponder and
the choice of frequencies will enable Radio Amateurs to use their existing VO-
52 or DO-64 station.
>
> A key feature of the satellite is the absence of an On-Board Computer. For
reliability and maximum power efficiency, the design has been kept as
straight-forward as possible with satellite control being achieved using
simple commands.
>
> FUNcube contact: Graham Shirville G3VZV Tel: +44 (0)7713 665725
>
> Electronics Weekly Magazine
> http://www.electronicsweekly.com/
>
> Radio Communications Foundation
> http://www.commsfoundation.org/
>
> GB4FUN
> http://www.gb4fun.org.uk/
>
> AMSAT-UK
> http://www.uk.amsat.org/
>
> FUNcube a UK Linear Transponder Satellite
> http://www.southgatearc.org/news/july2009/funcube.htm
>
> AMSAT-UK Space Colloquium videos
> http://www.southgatearc.org/news/august2009/amsat_colloquium_videos.htm
>
> AMSAT-UK publish a colour A4 newsletter, OSCAR News, full of satellite
information.
> You can join online at https://secure.amsat.org.uk/subs_form/
> ----
> 73 Trevor M5AKA
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via AMSAT-BB@xxxxx.xxx. 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
>
>
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:46:38 -0600
From: Frank A Cahoy <k0blt@xxxx.xxx>
Subject: [amsat-bb] Satellite WAS
To: amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx
Message-ID: <20090811.184645.996.2.K0BLT@xxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Hello All,
It's been a very long time since I've posted to the BB. All the recent
discussion about Satellite WAS has given me a chance to do some bragging.
My first ever satellite QSO was on RS-12, Mode K, Jan. 29th, 1994. It
was on CW with WA6OWM and one of the greatest thrills of my ham radio
adventures. It took me about nine more months to complete my WAS.
Believe it or not my last state worked/confirmed was KY! I had both AK
and HI long before the elusive KY QSO. My RS-12 Elmer was Roger, N4ZC,
who to my knowledge is the only station to ever achieve DXCC on a LEO
bird. When the conditions were really good we could "cheat" a bit on
RS-12. It was quite easy to work that bird when it was well below the
horizon. I have DXCC entities such as SM, OK and JW (Actually in the
footprint but for only about 3 or 4 minits.) confirmed on RS-12. I often
heard this bird when it was well below the horizon and have received
emails from several Europeans that tell me I was being heard but not
hearing those that were calling me. My Satellite WAS no. 211 is dated
Oct. 17, 1994. All 50 were worked via RS-12. I have been licensed since
June, 1960 but the Satellite WAS Award is the only WAS I've ever applied
for.
Now I cannot even work the LEO birds. I've taken my AO-40 earth station
completely down and put a 4 element 6 m. Yagi up in its place. As stated
several times on this BB in the past, I am a DXer (115 DXCC via satellite
and 368 DXCC alltime via HF.) and trying to work any DX at all on the LEO
birds is more of a challenge than this OM has left. It would appear that
there is no hope of getting an HEO up anytime in the near future so hence
the move to 6 m. All of my station is safely stored away and I don't
plan on selling any of it just in case we do actually experience a
miracle launch. Most painful is seeing the ICOM 910 sit and gather dust
and used to work, very occasionally, the local 2 m. repeater.
73 to all. Frank, K?BLT
____________________________________________________________
See the difference a digital projector can make. Click now!
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/BLSrjpTMWJBShejJ9vXsnmVagzoXxomilC
ZK3VJX1KemMX2oOMelf5LEAus/
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:37:53 -0700 (PDT)
From: Tim Lilley <n3tl@xxxxxxxxx.xxx>
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Satellite WAS
To: Frank A Cahoy <k0blt@xxxx.xxx>, amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx
Message-ID: <558720.58503.qm@xxxxxxxxx.xxxx.xxx.xxxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Congratulations, Frank! I was off the air totally from 1992 until 2007,
although I kept my license current. I didn't discover the satellites until
about 15 months ago, and it's the most fun operating I've ever done. My
approach is different than many, but the old QRPer in me likes it this way
very much.
It's not the best solution, but with AO-7 still providing us with a decent
footprint and other satellites to work, there's no real reason that 910 has to
collect dust. I hope to hear you on one of the satellites sometime. Again,
congratulations. Thanks a bunch for this post.
73,
Tim - N3TL
Athens, Ga. - EM84ha
________________________________
From: Frank A Cahoy <k0blt@xxxx.xxx>
To: amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx
Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2009 8:46:38 PM
Subject: [amsat-bb] Satellite WAS
Hello All,
It's been a very long time since I've posted to the BB.? All the recent
discussion about Satellite WAS has given me a chance to do some bragging.
My first ever satellite QSO was on RS-12, Mode K, Jan. 29th, 1994.? It
was on CW with WA6OWM and one of the greatest thrills of my ham radio
adventures.? It took me about nine more months to complete my WAS.
Believe it or not my last state worked/confirmed was KY!? I had both AK
and HI long before the elusive KY QSO.? My RS-12 Elmer was Roger, N4ZC,
who to my knowledge is the only station to ever achieve DXCC on a LEO
bird.? When the conditions were really good we could "cheat" a bit on
RS-12.? It was quite easy to work that bird when it was well below the
horizon. I have DXCC entities such as SM, OK and JW (Actually in the
footprint but for only about 3 or 4 minits.) confirmed on RS-12.? I often
heard this bird when it was well below the horizon and have received
emails from several Europeans that tell me I was being heard but not
hearing those that were calling me.? My Satellite WAS no. 211 is dated
Oct. 17, 1994.? All 50 were worked via RS-12.? I have been licensed since
June, 1960 but the Satellite WAS Award is the only WAS I've ever applied
for.
Now I cannot even work the LEO birds.? I've taken my AO-40 earth station
completely down and put a 4 element 6 m. Yagi up in its place.? As stated
several times on this BB in the past, I am a DXer (115 DXCC via satellite
and 368 DXCC alltime via HF.) and trying to work any DX at all on the LEO
birds is more of a challenge than this OM has left.? It would appear that
there is no hope of getting an HEO up anytime in the near future so hence
the move to 6 m.? All of my station is safely stored away and I don't
plan on selling any of it just in case we do actually experience a
miracle launch.? Most painful is seeing the ICOM 910 sit and gather dust
and used to work, very occasionally, the local 2 m. repeater.
73 to all.? Frank, K?BLT
____________________________________________________________
See the difference a digital projector can make. Click now!
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/BLSrjpTMWJBShejJ9vXsnmVagzoXxomilC
ZK3VJX1KemMX2oOMelf5LEAus/
_______________________________________________
Sent via AMSAT-BB@xxxxx.xxx. 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
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:36:45 +0200
From: "Pieter Kotze" <pkotze@xxxx.xx.xx>
Subject: [amsat-bb] Sumbandila
To: <amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Message-ID: <4A828D2D.E155.0020.0@xxxx.xx.xx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Hello all
Intended orbit is around 500km to meet the imaging payload requirements. At
this altitude and with the limited propulsion on board, 3 years is a good
estimate of the satellite lifetime due to re-entry. No reason why the
electronics should not last much longer than this.
The Soyuz Fregat will return to a lower altitude to drop Sumbandila off after
the main payload has been released.
73
Pieter
>Gunter's Space Page lists the primary payload, Meteor-M 1, as going into an
830 km orbit.
>I'm guessing SumbandilaSat will end up in a similar orbit as I'm not aware
that the >launcher in question is capable of doing multi-drop of the payloads
into different orbits.
>SumbandilaSat was originally scheduled to be launched from a submarine
platform, this >may be the source of the 500 km figure quoted, but the launch
vehicle changed.
>Unfortunately I've no definative information on SumbandilaSat's intended
orbit.
>Quoted design lifetimes are usually meaningless. For experimental systems it
just means >the time required to complete the primary experiment. For many
satellites it's quoted as 3 >or 6 months, but systems may continue to operate
for many years after the primary >objective has been completed.
--
This message is subject to the CSIR's copyright terms and conditions, e-mail
legal notice, and implemented Open Document Format (ODF) standard.
The full disclaimer details can be found at
http://www.csir.co.za/disclaimer.html.
This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by
MailScanner,
and is believed to be clean. MailScanner thanks Transtec Computers for their
support.
------------------------------
Message: 6
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 10:26:14 -0400
From: James Jipping <jhjipping@xxxxxxxxx.xxx>
Subject: [amsat-bb] Tuesday's DEMO
To: amsat bb <amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Message-ID: <4A82D106.4000201@xxxxxxxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Doug, KD8CAO (using the Holland Area Radio Club's call, K8DAA) and I
(W8MRR) had a demo on Tuesday, 08/11/2009 of handheld operation through
AO-51. It was a huge success. The success was due in a large part to
the cooperation of the throngs of users -- some knew we were to do
the demo and showed up for a QSO, some were already there and found
us. AND thank you to those who chose not operate and cause QRM to
give a chance to show our stuff. Everything went right, the weather was
perfect, the bird and our equipment performed flawlessly. A huge crowd
of hams were there for our monthly meeting, at which Doug and I gave a
power point presentation on ham radio and satellites.
Doug was using Kenwood TH-DA and an Arrow antenna, I was using a Yeasu
VX-6R and a Arrow antenna. Doug was operating full duplex, I half
duplex. He had a much easier time and more success than I. I guess I
have some adjustments to make.
SO, fellow hams and AMSATers, THANK YOU for making our evening a
pleasant experience. The whole experience reminded me of the "good old
days/ 1960's)" when as a young excited high school teacher/ham, I gave a
slide (remember when cameras put images ONLY on film) presentation and a
demo at a NSTA (National Science Teachers Association) convention. We
used one of the early AMSATs (2 meters up/ 10 meters down). Same
experience --- great interest, cooperative hams. And it's been that
way as long as I can remember. THANKS!
Jim Jipping, W8MRR
AMSAT 5512 (small numbers translate to old geezer)
------------------------------
Message: 7
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:28:48 -0400
From: Joseph Armbruster <josepharmbruster@xxxxx.xxx>
Subject: [amsat-bb] rotator questions
To: amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx
Message-ID:
<938f42d70908120828o2a2e112atbb96936aa23eb09e@xxxx.xxxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Hey everyone at the amtat-bb!
I spent a good portion of the day sick in bed yesterday and only naturally
got to thinking about quite a few things. I figured i'd pop on here and
start asking questions. Here's some background information on my sat
experience; my rig consists of a TH-F6A (handheld, not full-duplex) and an
arrow antenna. I have been successfull at manually trakcing the ISS and
AO-51, but I have been unsuccessful at making a contact. I went out to
field day (in Oviedo Florida) and was able to check out the rig the LMARS
club uses. This got me wondering about sat tracking software, the internals
and what definition of "North" that is used.
I'm familiar with the IGRF (from my day job as a GIS guy) and was wondering
if any of these apps use the IGRF for calculating magnetic declination:
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/IAGA/vmod/igrf.html
I've thought about creating my own rotator and started wondering about the
configuration used. When you buy a rotator and put it out in the yard, i'm
guessing you have to orient the base 'correctly'. How is the base of a
rotator usually aligned? Do you get a compass out and use local magnetic
north (without compensating for the declination from the IGRF).
I'm still in learning mode and very new to the world of sat, so if these are
really dumb questions, my apologies!
I am open to any reading materials you can suggest on the matter.
Joseph Armrbuster, KJ4JIO
------------------------------
Message: 8
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:09:33 -0500
From: Bill Howell <bhowell@xxxx.xxxxxx.xxx>
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: rotator questions
To: Joseph Armbruster <josepharmbruster@xxxxx.xxx>
Cc: Amsat List <amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Message-ID: <645C6F6B-F7C7-4CE3-9A96-824D1F3DDDC2@xxxx.xxxxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed
Joseph,
Check out this page:
http://www.thecompassstore.com/decvar.html#
There's a link on that page to plug in your Zip code and figure
declination, or
you can use the handy map on the main page.
For Austin, the magic number is 4 degrees.
If I recall correctly (it's been a few years), I set the rotor
control box to North, went up on the roof and rotated the *mast*
until the ants pointed to magnetic north (using a compass). Note that
the compass will read inaccurately if held near a metal mast.
Then I rotated the mast a bit more so the ants were pointing about 4
degrees *West of magnetic North*.
That's the way I remember doing it.
Bill N5AB
On Aug 12, 2009, at 10:28 AM, Joseph Armbruster wrote:
> Hey everyone at the amtat-bb!
>
> I spent a good portion of the day sick in bed yesterday and only
> naturally
> got to thinking about quite a few things. I figured i'd pop on
> here and
> start asking questions. Here's some background information on my sat
> experience; my rig consists of a TH-F6A (handheld, not full-duplex)
> and an
> arrow antenna. I have been successfull at manually trakcing the
> ISS and
> AO-51, but I have been unsuccessful at making a contact. I went
> out to
> field day (in Oviedo Florida) and was able to check out the rig the
> LMARS
> club uses. This got me wondering about sat tracking software, the
> internals
> and what definition of "North" that is used.
>
> I'm familiar with the IGRF (from my day job as a GIS guy) and was
> wondering
> if any of these apps use the IGRF for calculating magnetic
> declination:
> http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/IAGA/vmod/igrf.html
>
> I've thought about creating my own rotator and started wondering
> about the
> configuration used. When you buy a rotator and put it out in the
> yard, i'm
> guessing you have to orient the base 'correctly'. How is the base
> of a
> rotator usually aligned? Do you get a compass out and use local
> magnetic
> north (without compensating for the declination from the IGRF).
>
> I'm still in learning mode and very new to the world of sat, so if
> these are
> really dumb questions, my apologies!
>
> I am open to any reading materials you can suggest on the matter.
>
> Joseph Armrbuster, KJ4JIO
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via AMSAT-BB@xxxxx.xxx. 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
------------------------------
Message: 9
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:18:35 +0000 (UTC)
From: w6zkh@xxxxxxx.xxx
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: rotator questions
To: Joseph Armbruster <josepharmbruster@xxxxx.xxx>
Cc: amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx
Message-ID:
<1573971463.14033621250093915448.JavaMail.root@xxxxxxx.xxxxxxxxxxx.xx.xx
xx.xxxxxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Joseph, sorry to hear about your sickies.....hope it wasnt the Pig Flu.
First........there are NO such things as dumb questions, as that is the only
way I learn is by asking them myself.
Secondly.........all directional data given by a tracking program is using
TRUE NORTH, and in my case it is 13 deg/27' inclination. I dont know if you
are looking at any tracking software or not, but the popular ones are
Orbitron, Satscape, Nova and SatPC32, which is what I use.
Thirdly.....the setup you are using should have no problem working into AO-51,
AO-27 or SO-50 using 5 watts and an Arrow. ISS is rarely on FM voice, but more
used for APRS or Packet on 145.825mhz. KG6NUB near San Francisco runs 500
miliwatts and an Arrow and does fine. Do you have another downlink receiver
you can use to see if you can hear yourself come back from the bird? That is
the best route, but it can still be done quite nicely using half-duplex as you
are now. Just takes abit more patience. Try and see if you can find someone
nearby who is also using the satellites and that will help in the instruction.
I have only been on satellites a short time myself, but it is addictive as
"coke" (coca-cola that is!). It is a truely amazing mode of operation.
My first setup was a "Armstrong" AZ-EL system on a tripod. I have now
graduated to some crossed-yagi's that are fixed at 25 degrees elevation and
rotated with a cheap Radio Shack rotor. The antennas are at 12 feet above
ground. With this setup, I am able to work 90% of the passes, with direct
overhead being the hardest, due to the null on the downlink. (see photo)
Good luck and also alot of information here on the BB, just go back in the
archives.
73 de John W6ZKH
DM06
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joseph Armbruster" <josepharmbruster@xxxxx.xxx>
To: amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx
Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2009 8:28:48 AM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific
Subject: [amsat-bb] rotator questions
Hey everyone at the amtat-bb!
I spent a good portion of the day sick in bed yesterday and only naturally
got to thinking about quite a few things. I figured i'd pop on here and
start asking questions. Here's some background information on my sat
experience; my rig consists of a TH-F6A (handheld, not full-duplex) and an
arrow antenna. I have been successfull at manually trakcing the ISS and
AO-51, but I have been unsuccessful at making a contact. I went out to
field day (in Oviedo Florida) and was able to check out the rig the LMARS
club uses. This got me wondering about sat tracking software, the internals
and what definition of "North" that is used.
I'm familiar with the IGRF (from my day job as a GIS guy) and was wondering
if any of these apps use the IGRF for calculating magnetic declination:
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/IAGA/vmod/igrf.html
I've thought about creating my own rotator and started wondering about the
configuration used. When you buy a rotator and put it out in the yard, i'm
guessing you have to orient the base 'correctly'. How is the base of a
rotator usually aligned? Do you get a compass out and use local magnetic
north (without compensating for the declination from the IGRF).
I'm still in learning mode and very new to the world of sat, so if these are
really dumb questions, my apologies!
I am open to any reading materials you can suggest on the matter.
Joseph Armrbuster, KJ4JIO
_______________________________________________
Sent via AMSAT-BB@xxxxx.xxx. 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
------------------------------
Message: 10
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:22:16 -0500 (CDT)
From: n0jy@xxxxxxx.xxx
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: rotator questions
To: "Bill Howell" <bhowell@xxxx.xxxxxx.xxx>
Cc: Amsat List <amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Message-ID: <32424.170.49.217.216.1250094136.squirrel@xxxxxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1
One can also use Polaris (the North Star) at least in most of the northern
hemisphere where it is visible. A long time ago, I went outside after
dark and looked at how my house lined up with Polaris. In my case, it was
a dead sight along the front or back side and the peak of the roof to
Polaris. If it's not, you could use a protractor to determine the
difference. I have done that, relative to the E/W lines of the side of
the house, to point the TV antenna to 125 degrees toward the transmitter
site for this area.
Jerry
N0JY
> Joseph,
> Check out this page:
> http://www.thecompassstore.com/decvar.html#
> There's a link on that page to plug in your Zip code and figure
> declination, or
> you can use the handy map on the main page.
> For Austin, the magic number is 4 degrees.
>
> If I recall correctly (it's been a few years), I set the rotor
> control box to North, went up on the roof and rotated the *mast*
> until the ants pointed to magnetic north (using a compass). Note that
> the compass will read inaccurately if held near a metal mast.
> Then I rotated the mast a bit more so the ants were pointing about 4
> degrees *West of magnetic North*.
>
> That's the way I remember doing it.
>
> Bill N5AB
>
------------------------------
Message: 11
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:37:25 -0500
From: Bruce <kk5do@xxxxx.xxx>
Subject: [amsat-bb] AMSAT Awards
To: "amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxxx <amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Message-ID: <4A82EFC5.5040405@xxxxx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
The following have earned the AMSAT Satellite Communications Achievement
Award.
Rizkallah Azrak, OD5RI #503
Dave Glow, AA1VX #504
Evangelos Kafetzopoulos, SV1EEK #505
The following have earned the AMSAT Sexagesimal Award.
David Bird, KC7USS #150
The following have earned the South Africa Communications Achievement
Award.
Evangelos Kafetzopoulos, SV1EEK #US137
The following have earned the W4AMI Achievement Award (for 1000 contacts)
Dimtrios Pallis, SW1JGW #54
George Carr, WA5KBH #55
Evangelos Kafetzopoulos, SV1EEK #56
To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org or
http://www.amsatnet.com
Bruce Paige, KK5DO
AMSAT Director Contests and Awards
ARRL Awards Manager (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE
Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0100z on Echolink - Conference *AMSAT*
Also streaming MP3 at http://www.amsatnet.com
Podcast at http://www.amsatnet.com/podcast.xml or iTunes
Latest satellite news on the ARRL Audio News
http://www.arrl.org
------------------------------
Message: 12
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:27:09 -0500
From: "Alan VE4YZ" <ve4yz@xxx.xxx>
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: rotator questions
To: "'Amsat List'" <amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Message-ID: <80E0526F39344BC08490094DEE188A5A@xxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Hi Joe and the group. IMHO when we get to discussing IGRF for mounting an
antenna and rotator for amateur radio use, we are over thinking this issue.
Now I must admit that I only have a 3 degree difference in EN19 which I
completely ignore. I find there is too much magnetic QRM around here to get
a good reading of MN and then correct for TN. The more sensitive the
compass the harder to get a bearing. Well you get a bearing, but you know
its dead wrong because you get a different reading my moving a few feet in
any direction. So, unless you use the super desensitized 1/2" diameter
compass on a Captain Canada Decoder Ring I find Google Earth pragmatically
good enough.
Software such as SatPC32 and others allow you to make permanent corrections
for AZ and EL changes or compensation for mounting the antenna a little off
horizontal and true north, or changes that occur over time. A little
slippage in any of the half dozen U-Bolts between the terra firma and the
antenna beam during a windstorm can be corrected - U-bolts on the mast to
rotator, rotator to boom, boom to the antenna saddle, the saddle to the
beam. It's a wonder anything stays pointing to where you want it.
However, to contradict myself, I have been known, on occasion, to sight
along the beam of my yagis to the Sun and use any number of the freeware Sun
locator applications. Very handy on Field Days in remote locations. I've
never found the Sun's RF useful for aligning antennas mainly because I've
never heard the difference on UHF/VHF or S band even with preamps, but,
maybe that hearing loss due to age :-)
73, Alan VE4YZ
EN19kv
AMSAT LM 2352
http://www.wincube.ca
> Hey everyone at the amtat-bb!
>
> I spent a good portion of the day sick in bed yesterday and only
> naturally got to thinking about quite a few things. I figured i'd pop
> on here and start asking questions. Here's some background
> information on my sat experience; my rig consists of a TH-F6A
> (handheld, not full-duplex) and an arrow antenna. I have been
> successfull at manually trakcing the ISS and AO-51, but I have been
> unsuccessful at making a contact. I went out to field day (in Oviedo
> Florida) and was able to check out the rig the LMARS club uses. This
> got me wondering about sat tracking software, the internals and what
> definition of "North" that is used.
>
> I'm familiar with the IGRF (from my day job as a GIS guy) and was
> wondering if any of these apps use the IGRF for calculating magnetic
> declination:
> http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/IAGA/vmod/igrf.html
>
> I've thought about creating my own rotator and started wondering about
> the configuration used. When you buy a rotator and put it out in the
> yard, i'm guessing you have to orient the base 'correctly'. How is
> the base of a rotator usually aligned? Do you get a compass out and
> use local magnetic north (without compensating for the declination
> from the IGRF).
>
> I'm still in learning mode and very new to the world of sat, so if
> these are really dumb questions, my apologies!
>
> I am open to any reading materials you can suggest on the matter.
>
> Joseph Armrbuster, KJ4JIO
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via AMSAT-BB@xxxxx.xxx. 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@xxxxx.xxx. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
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------------------------------
Message: 13
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:38:29 -0400
From: "Mark Lunday" <mlunday@xx.xx.xxx>
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: rotator questions
To: "'Joseph Armbruster'" <josepharmbruster@xxxxx.xxx>,
<amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx>
Message-ID: <014b01ca1b73$b4858a40$1d909ec0$@xx.xxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
My 2 cents.
Use a handheld GPS to align, or refer to a map. Reason: the Arrow is not a
small beamwidth antenna...don't put too much accuracy into alignment. Like
tracking pennies on a million dollar contract. Case in point: I took a TV
rotor into the unfinished attic of my house, taped it to a cross beam on the
floor with duct tape, inserted a sawed off handle from a standard shovel,
and taped the Arrow at 30 degrees elevation to the handle. Aligned the
Arrow to North by going outside and referencing the North Star after sunset
against the alignment of my roof longitudinal. Works like a charm.
Mark Lunday
WD4ELG
Hillsborough, NC - FM06kb
wd4elg@xxxx.xxx
http://wd4elg.net
http://wd4elg.blogspot.com
-----Original Message-----
From: amsat-bb-bounces@xxxxx.xxx [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@xxxxx.xxxx On
Behalf Of Joseph Armbruster
Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2009 11:29 AM
To: amsat-bb@xxxxx.xxx
Subject: [amsat-bb] rotator questions
Hey everyone at the amtat-bb!
I spent a good portion of the day sick in bed yesterday and only naturally
got to thinking about quite a few things. I figured i'd pop on here and
start asking questions. Here's some background information on my sat
experience; my rig consists of a TH-F6A (handheld, not full-duplex) and an
arrow antenna. I have been successfull at manually trakcing the ISS and
AO-51, but I have been unsuccessful at making a contact. I went out to
field day (in Oviedo Florida) and was able to check out the rig the LMARS
club uses. This got me wondering about sat tracking software, the internals
and what definition of "North" that is used.
I'm familiar with the IGRF (from my day job as a GIS guy) and was wondering
if any of these apps use the IGRF for calculating magnetic declination:
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/IAGA/vmod/igrf.html
I've thought about creating my own rotator and started wondering about the
configuration used. When you buy a rotator and put it out in the yard, i'm
guessing you have to orient the base 'correctly'. How is the base of a
rotator usually aligned? Do you get a compass out and use local magnetic
north (without compensating for the declination from the IGRF).
I'm still in learning mode and very new to the world of sat, so if these are
really dumb questions, my apologies!
I am open to any reading materials you can suggest on the matter.
Joseph Armrbuster, KJ4JIO
_______________________________________________
Sent via AMSAT-BB@xxxxx.xxx. 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@xxxxx.xxx. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Not an AMSAT member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
End of AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 4, Issue 396
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