[amsat-bb] Re: Down East Microwave 2355LYK 1.2GHz 55 elements loopantenna
I'm using a 2455LY for satellite (1269 MHz) work. (1240 -1285 MHz) The 2355 is for terrestrial at 1296 MHz. Feeding it with a DL2AM 80 watts amp via 7/8 hardline. It's been on the tower for years. Working great. I mounted it with the loops down to minimize any damage to the loops. I did use a bit of PermaTex 65A windshield sealer around the rigid coax where it feeds through the boom to keep water out of there. (done on all my loopers) 73, Mike, N1JEZ AMSAT 29649 A closed mouth gathers no feet - Original Message - From: Juan Antonio Fernandez ea4...@gmail.com Subject: [amsat-bb] Down East Microwave 2355LYK 1.2GHz 55 elements loopantenna Have anyboy worked with this 55 elements loop antena for 1.2 GHz. What about its mechanical and electric features? Juan Antonio EA4CYQ ___ Sent via amsat...@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
[amsat-bb] Office Closed
Due to blizzard conditions today, the AMSAT office is closed. -- 73- Martha ___ Sent via amsat...@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
[amsat-bb] Re: AO-51 Signal Strength Post Flip
--- On Tue, 2/9/10, Auke de Jong, VE6PWN sparkyci...@shaw.ca wrote: From: Auke de Jong, VE6PWN sparkyci...@shaw.ca Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: AO-51 Signal Strength Post Flip To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Received: Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 9:42 PM Another observation from DO33 (yo Bernhardt), Greetings. It's nice to hear from a fellow Edmontonian. I've always had trouble hearing this bird well enough to work from my home station, as I have my antennas at fixed elevation, and manually-rotated via channelmaster... AO-51 has been consistently easier to hear AFTER it has passed overhead on ascending passes. Between AOS and peak-elevation, it's always just above my noise. I don't have any observations about descending passes because I'm not up early enough to try those;) . I also can't say how that compares to pre-flip, as I never heard it well enough to work, except on very low passes, and didn't keep notes. I live beside one of the biggest shopping centres in the city and I've got no obstructions from due N to nearly due NW for lower elevation passes. At much higher angles, I can follow it from nearly directly overhead to SSW. In the past, I could tell when AO-51 was within view because the background noise would drop significantly. Since I'm operating a portable station, I use that to track it. Lately, it hasn't been as easy. I actually had the bird all to myself a few weeks ago, while everyone from the USA already had LOS, and I had almost full-quieting for many minutes in a row that time, until my LOS. This is what struck me as being a significant observation! I've noticed that it's been rather quiet during later morning passes (say, after 1500 UTC). snip BTW, were you at the flea market at the Yellowhead Inn this past Saturday? I've been to each one since I got my callsign 5 years ago and I'm sure that this one had the most people. I was looking for a manual HF + 6 m tuner but couldn't fine one, but there were lots of other items that I bought that I could use. It was a good opportunity to meet hams in person that I'd spoken to by radio, including some from local nets. It was certainly a good way to spend two hours. __ Connect with friends from any web browser - no download required. Try the new Yahoo! Canada Messenger for the Web BETA at http://ca.messenger.yahoo.com/webmessengerpromo.php ___ Sent via amsat...@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
[amsat-bb] Anybody use a Soft66ADD SDR?
Found this today, look interesting. Prices are quite reasonable (if not cheap). Performance is the question.. I suppose the quality of the system sound card is a big issue. Anybody here own one or seen one in use? How about piping a 10.7 MHz IF into it for VHF/UHF? http://zao.jp/radio/soft66ad/ -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] ___ Sent via amsat...@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
[amsat-bb] HO-68 Telemetry 10-02-2010 18:45 UTC
Decoded the following CW Telemetry from HO-68 BJ1SA XW XW AAA TTT AUE T6T ETT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT XW XW BJ1SA XW XW AAA TTT AU4 ABE ETT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT XW XW BJ1SA XW XW AAA TTT AU4 4VE ETT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT XW XW BJ1SA XW XW AAA TTT AU4 TDE ETT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT XW XW BJ1SA XW XW AAA TTT AU4 TBE ETT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT XW XW BJ1SA XW XW AAA TTT AU4 T6E ETT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT XW XW BJ1SA XW XW AAA TTT AU4 A6E ETT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT XW XW BJ1SA XW XW AAA TTT AU4 4VE ETT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT XW XW BJ1SA XW XW AAA TTT AU4 T6E ETT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT XW XW BJ1SA XW XW AAA TTT AU4 AEE ETT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT XW XW BJ1SA XW XW AAA TTT AU4 AAT ETT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT XW XW BJ1SA XW XW AAA TTT AU4 AUT ETT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT XW XW BJ1SA XW XW AAA TTT AU4 A4T ETT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT XW XW BJ1SA XW XW AAA TTT AU4 TBE ETT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT XW XW 73 Jan PE0SAT -- With regards PE0SAT Internet web-page http://www.ham.vgnet.nl/ ___ Sent via amsat...@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
[amsat-bb] Re: New Lindy's QRV
Ed, Congrats, it seems like you are in business if you heard the bird down to the horizon. HO-68 is louder, in some cases much louder, than most of the other sats, so check some others. If you can copy SO-50 to the horizon, then leave your antenna alone, it's working great. I measured a maximum of 20w directly at the antenna, and Elk claims a gain of 6.6 dbd on 2m, which would mean an ERP of 90 watts. I do not need full power at high elevations. 73, Bill NZ5N From: Edward Cole kl...@acsalaska.net Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: New Lindy's QRV To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Message-ID: 201002092025.o19kpapg010...@huffman.acsalaska.net Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed One more update: I tried pass #744, this morning and copied a big round-table of several west-coast stations, but was unable to break in. My downlink was as loud as them, so...? I had one call to my CQ right at LOS and could not complete, sorry! Bear with me as I am getting reaquainted with running my radio on satellites ;-) My sub-VFO tuning control is not working which complicates netting with another station. So I find my signal with the Rx and then engage tracking. That tracks for a little while. The interesting thing is that I copied signals to zero-elevation. I would say that I am pleased with the new antennas. Question: what ERP are most stations using on SSB on HO-68? I am running 50w ERP. 73, Ed - KL7UW, WD2XSH/45 == ___ Sent via amsat...@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
[amsat-bb] Re: Anybody use a Soft66ADD SDR?
Hi Mark- I'm the friend Owen refers to; I just built a Soft66ADI. I keep meaning to do a blog post about it, but I'll summarize here. I really liked the form factor of the Soft66; the software-selectable BPFs and the fact that the control software is open source really sealed the deal for me. I ordered the unassembled kit, with the aluminum enclosure for which it was intended. The build instructions were baffling in parts, due to being written by a native Japanese speaker (JA7TDO, the kit's creator). They're not incomprehensible, but he chooses some strange words sometimes. Added to this is the fact that the schematic lacks component values, IC labels, and occasionally flat-out contradicts the PCB and parts supplied. For instance on one of the BPFs, the schematic showed a capacitor, the PCB seemed to call for a capacitor (e.g. C23), but the parts list had C23 as an inductor. I emailed JA7TDO and asked him about this, he confirmed that the inductor was the correct part. The voltage regulator IC was listed as one thing on the PCB, and something else entirely on the parts list; if there had been more than one device with a similar package this would have been a show-stopper. Issues like this lead me to advise against ordering this as a kit. So far I have not been able to get mine to work in xlinrad, Rocky, or any other SDR software, but this might be due to the lack of a decent receive antenna. If improving the antenna doesn't yield results, I'm afraid I'll have to haul out the oscilloscope... I dread this because the schematic is worse than useless, and requests to the author for advice have so far yielded very terse replies, which left me with more questions than answers. Finally, there's no indication of test points or any voltages or waveforms I should see at certain points, so I'll have to puzzle it all out on my own. I really ought to dig out that softrock rxtx kit and finish it... anyway, hope this helps. Robert AK6L On Wed, Feb 10, 2010 at 11:38 AM, Owen B. Mehegan o...@nerdnetworks.orgwrote: Message: 17 Date: Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:35:19 -0500 From: Mark L. Hammond marklhamm...@gmail.com Subject: [amsat-bb] Anybody use a Soft66ADD SDR? To: Amsat - BBs amsat-bb@amsat.org Message-ID: 5d8cecfe1002101035x35f07d7dpc047e54cf120a...@mail.gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Found this today, look interesting. Prices are quite reasonable (if not cheap). Performance is the question.. I suppose the quality of the system sound card is a big issue. Anybody here own one or seen one in use? How about piping a 10.7 MHz IF into it for VHF/UHF? http://zao.jp/radio/soft66ad/ -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] A friend of mine just bought and assembled one. He said that the instructions were pretty poor... the parts list and schematic didn't always match up and he had to do a fair amount of head-scratching (and I think bang-head-on-desk-ing) to get it built. He was not impressed with that aspect. I haven't yet heard how well it's working as a radio. I'll ask him and let you know. -- Owen B. Mehegan (KJ6AKQ) ___ Sent via amsat...@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...@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
[amsat-bb] Re: Anybody use a Soft66ADD SDR?
Hi Robert, Thank you for your candid assessment. After looking over the website, I decided that a kit form wouldn't be a good choice for me (and I love to build!) So, the assembled unit does look like a good option. I wish you had some performance reports! On the other hand, maybe you just gave me one ;) 73 and I hope you get it going. Mark N8MH On Wed, Feb 10, 2010 at 4:24 PM, Robert Liesenfeld xu...@xunil.net wrote: Hi Mark- I'm the friend Owen refers to; I just built a Soft66ADI. I keep meaning to do a blog post about it, but I'll summarize here. I really liked the form factor of the Soft66; the software-selectable BPFs and the fact that the control software is open source really sealed the deal for me. I ordered the unassembled kit, with the aluminum enclosure for which it was intended. The build instructions were baffling in parts, due to being written by a native Japanese speaker (JA7TDO, the kit's creator). They're not incomprehensible, but he chooses some strange words sometimes. Added to this is the fact that the schematic lacks component values, IC labels, and occasionally flat-out contradicts the PCB and parts supplied. For instance on one of the BPFs, the schematic showed a capacitor, the PCB seemed to call for a capacitor (e.g. C23), but the parts list had C23 as an inductor. I emailed JA7TDO and asked him about this, he confirmed that the inductor was the correct part. The voltage regulator IC was listed as one thing on the PCB, and something else entirely on the parts list; if there had been more than one device with a similar package this would have been a show-stopper. Issues like this lead me to advise against ordering this as a kit. So far I have not been able to get mine to work in xlinrad, Rocky, or any other SDR software, but this might be due to the lack of a decent receive antenna. If improving the antenna doesn't yield results, I'm afraid I'll have to haul out the oscilloscope... I dread this because the schematic is worse than useless, and requests to the author for advice have so far yielded very terse replies, which left me with more questions than answers. Finally, there's no indication of test points or any voltages or waveforms I should see at certain points, so I'll have to puzzle it all out on my own. I really ought to dig out that softrock rxtx kit and finish it... anyway, hope this helps. Robert AK6L On Wed, Feb 10, 2010 at 11:38 AM, Owen B. Mehegan o...@nerdnetworks.orgwrote: Message: 17 Date: Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:35:19 -0500 From: Mark L. Hammond marklhamm...@gmail.com Subject: [amsat-bb] Anybody use a Soft66ADD SDR? To: Amsat - BBs amsat-bb@amsat.org Message-ID: 5d8cecfe1002101035x35f07d7dpc047e54cf120a...@mail.gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Found this today, look interesting. Prices are quite reasonable (if not cheap). Performance is the question.. I suppose the quality of the system sound card is a big issue. Anybody here own one or seen one in use? How about piping a 10.7 MHz IF into it for VHF/UHF? http://zao.jp/radio/soft66ad/ -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] A friend of mine just bought and assembled one. He said that the instructions were pretty poor... the parts list and schematic didn't always match up and he had to do a fair amount of head-scratching (and I think bang-head-on-desk-ing) to get it built. He was not impressed with that aspect. I haven't yet heard how well it's working as a radio. I'll ask him and let you know. -- Owen B. Mehegan (KJ6AKQ) ___ Sent via amsat...@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...@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 -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] ___ Sent via amsat...@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
[amsat-bb] A flight to near space this weekend
Hi all, Check this page for details of a rare balloon flight from the UK this Saturday! http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?s=01467ce8e3c05447a2d6ee6f01c169a7showtopic=6463pid=155319st=0#entry155319 73 Graham G3VZV ___ Sent via amsat...@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
[amsat-bb] Re: Anybody use a Soft66ADD SDR?
Robert, this looks like an interesting little device. I have an SDR-IQ which is great, but expensive compared to this one. I looked at the kit, and when I saw surface mount ICs, I said no way. Most people don't have the equipment, eyesight or steady hands to solder a surface mount IC. Maybe those parts are already soldered in the kit, I really couldn't tell from the web site. You mention that you haven't been able to get yours to work. What exactly do you mean; can the software at least see the receiver and control it (change frequencies etc.)? Please let us know once you get it working. 73 de W4AS On Feb 10, 2010, at 4:24 PM, Robert Liesenfeld wrote: Hi Mark- I'm the friend Owen refers to; I just built a Soft66ADI. I keep meaning to do a blog post about it, but I'll summarize here. I really liked the form factor of the Soft66; the software-selectable BPFs and the fact that the control software is open source really sealed the deal for me. I ordered the unassembled kit, with the aluminum enclosure for which it was intended. ___ Sent via amsat...@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
