[amsat-bb] Re: calculation of eclipse
Ken, Thanks for the pointers to texts. Meeus's tome has good reviews. I may try to find an older copy of his book that deals with programming calculators. Simpler for me to program. This sounds like a fun project. Seems to me once the heavy lifting is done (algorithm), calculation of eclipse times could be automated. I have a feeling that I'll eat those words. Norm ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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: calculation of eclipse
Ken, Thanks for the pointers to texts. Meeus's tome has good reviews. I may try to find an older copy of his book that deals with programming calculators. Simpler for me to program. This sounds like a fun project. Seems to me once the heavy lifting is done (algorithm), calculation of eclipse times could be automated. I have a feeling that I'll eat those words. Norm ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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] Engineering and Philosophy
A promotional video with a Cubesat towards the end Nick Ridley '11: Exploring the Intersection of Engineering and Philosophy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anEHxQrpans 73 Trevor M5AKA ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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: calculation of eclipse
Unfortunately it's not a simple formula, but rather a process. To compute, you need to not only propagate the satellite orbit (as is done in a tracking program), but also need an algorithm to generate positions of the Sun relative to the Earth. (The latter is available in a book called "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.) You will also need to consider the diameter of both the Sun and the Earth. The eclipse geometry is explained in the book "Satellite Orbits" by Montenbruck and Gill. From there you need to develop a sampling method to determine entry and exit times. Bear in mind that the eclipse geometry and timing is different on a case-by-case basis with the exception of some specialized orbits (which ARISSsat is not in). I'm sorry I couldn't offer a more satisfying answer. 73, Ken N2WWD Sent from my iPad On Sep 29, 2011, at 7:33 PM, wrote: > Hi all!! > How does one calculate the period and time of entry and exit of eclipse? > I'm going to be helping a friend do an Arissat presentation for her class. > Due to the fact of the battery failing, this gives a 15 minute hold before > the power management allows transmission. So, for any chance of receiving the > bird, it has to be in sunlight for 15 minutes (or so). > I'd prefer a mathematical formula. Echo goes through some of the same trials. > Thanks, > Norm > BTW: I am an engineering student, just throw the math my way. > > > ___ > Sent via AMSAT-BB@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-BB@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] calculation of eclipse
Hi all!! How does one calculate the period and time of entry and exit of eclipse? I'm going to be helping a friend do an Arissat presentation for her class. Due to the fact of the battery failing, this gives a 15 minute hold before the power management allows transmission. So, for any chance of receiving the bird, it has to be in sunlight for 15 minutes (or so). I'd prefer a mathematical formula. Echo goes through some of the same trials. Thanks, Norm BTW: I am an engineering student, just throw the math my way. ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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: HB9DRV
While I have grown tired of the thread and shall retreat into the wood work, I do object to the generalization in the first reply that one has written bad code if one cannot handle multiple eyes on it. That seems unfair to make such a sweeping "black-or-white" statement. Forgive the pun, but too binary for my taste. It has been fun and I look forward to those that want to release their code doing so and those that do not want to do that, keeping it under wraps. This has encouraged me to get something checked into the github or SourceForge (another thread?). Tom NY4I On Sep 29, 2011, at 1:45 PM, Gordon JC Pearce wrote: > On Thu, 29 Sep 2011 08:53:28 -0400 > "Lynn W. Deffenbaugh (Mr)" wrote: > >> WONDERFULLY STATED! I have been agonizing on whether to decloak and >> write something similar to your essay, but you said it very well. I'd >> only add one more point to ponder. >> >> Many of us developers don't lean toward open source code simply because >> of time constraints. We'd rather take our time and work on the code and >> the functionality than to take that same time (and more) to explain >> what's already been done, why it was done that way, why another way is >> (or is not) better, and to review the proposed changes to consider >> adopting them into the baseline. And, if the implication of "thousands >> of eyes" interested in my pet project is true, that could easily swamp >> all available time for the original developer to the point that s/he >> throws up hands and walks away from the project because it's just too >> demanding and nothing is actually being DONE! > > If you've written good code and good comments, you shouldn't need to take the > time to do this. If you *haven't* written good code and good comments, you > haven't a hope of understanding it in six months time. I and many others > know this from experience ;-) > >> Thanks, but no thanks. I'll continue to be open to suggestions (and >> sometimes insistence) for new features/functions to be added to my own >> project, but that's about the extent of it. When I die or become no >> longer interested or capable of continuing development, I plan to find >> another dedicated developer (if any are available that are willing to >> put up with G4ILO's picture of such development at >> http://blog.g4ilo.com/2010/10/advice-to-amateur-programmers.html) or >> I'll be posting the whole enchilada to a source code repository and let >> it be Open. > > What's stopping you posting it to a source repository with the caveat that if > you want to dig around in it, you're on your own? That's pretty much what I > do. > > G4ILO has a fairly "interesting" attitude to it all, but his last paragraph > is just about the truest thing written about software, ever. RTFM and say > thank you. Oh, and send in bug reports and (if you have access to the > source) patches! > > -- > Gordon JC Pearce MM0YEQ > ___ > Sent via AMSAT-BB@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-BB@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: HB9DRV
On Thu, 29 Sep 2011 08:53:28 -0400 "Lynn W. Deffenbaugh (Mr)" wrote: > WONDERFULLY STATED! I have been agonizing on whether to decloak and > write something similar to your essay, but you said it very well. I'd > only add one more point to ponder. > > Many of us developers don't lean toward open source code simply because > of time constraints. We'd rather take our time and work on the code and > the functionality than to take that same time (and more) to explain > what's already been done, why it was done that way, why another way is > (or is not) better, and to review the proposed changes to consider > adopting them into the baseline. And, if the implication of "thousands > of eyes" interested in my pet project is true, that could easily swamp > all available time for the original developer to the point that s/he > throws up hands and walks away from the project because it's just too > demanding and nothing is actually being DONE! If you've written good code and good comments, you shouldn't need to take the time to do this. If you *haven't* written good code and good comments, you haven't a hope of understanding it in six months time. I and many others know this from experience ;-) > Thanks, but no thanks. I'll continue to be open to suggestions (and > sometimes insistence) for new features/functions to be added to my own > project, but that's about the extent of it. When I die or become no > longer interested or capable of continuing development, I plan to find > another dedicated developer (if any are available that are willing to > put up with G4ILO's picture of such development at > http://blog.g4ilo.com/2010/10/advice-to-amateur-programmers.html) or > I'll be posting the whole enchilada to a source code repository and let > it be Open. What's stopping you posting it to a source repository with the caveat that if you want to dig around in it, you're on your own? That's pretty much what I do. G4ILO has a fairly "interesting" attitude to it all, but his last paragraph is just about the truest thing written about software, ever. RTFM and say thank you. Oh, and send in bug reports and (if you have access to the source) patches! -- Gordon JC Pearce MM0YEQ ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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-27 Scheduler
That's due to normal precession... over time, the ground track moves eastward, causing the workable passes to occur about 28 minutes earlier each day. You'll soon see workable passes in the evening, which will work their way into the afternoon as they get earlier, day by day. What goes around, comes around. George, KA3HSW - Original Message > From: David Wing > To: AMSAT BB > Sent: Thu, September 29, 2011 9:50:24 AM > Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-27 Scheduler > > Has the schedule on AO-27 changed radically? > > > > Here in the western US I've been used to being able to work AO-27 twice > during the early afternoon but now it seems like the transmitter operation > is during the wee hours of the morning. Has something changed in the last > few months while I have been off the birds? > > > > David > > K6CDW ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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: NA1SS Chats with Lompoc, CA
Hi all, I post all upcoming ARISS contacts times to the SAREX BB. You might want to subscribe to that one if you don't already. You can also use the link that is posted on the AMSAT main webpage. Yes, you were hearing Lompoc have a great contact. The ISS crew will ignore any callsign it hears except for the school one. Plus they are not using the public uplink frequencies. We welcome all listeners; that is why the 145.8 MHz frequency is used for all voice contacts (general or school). Perhaps this will get you started getting involved with a school that may want to do an ARISS contact. Thanks for listening! 73, Charlie AJ9N One of the ARISS mentors In a message dated 9/29/2011 11:48:48 A.M. Central Daylight Time, da...@cdwing.com writes: I was checking out my equipment and had the ISS rising out of the Pacific. I rarely try to work the ISS but thought I would give it a try and manually swung the antennas over to the correct azimuth. I heard some chatter and was initially irritated that someone would be having a QSO on the downlink frequency but then from the conversation I realized that it was someone on the ISS describing seeing hurricanes in the Pacific. I could not believe my luck that NA1SS was actually working contacts! Not being able to hear the uplink, I gingerly threw out my Callsign a couple of times hoping to get into the rotation and then to my great embarrassment, it became apparent that NA1SS (Mike Fossum) was working a school contact in Lompoc, CA. I sure am glad that I just threw out my callsign twice before I clued in on things. At any rate I was able to monitor NA1SS down to about 3 degrees.really clean, strong signal. First time for me hearing the ISS because I rarely check it out and typically don't have SatPC32 even tracking it. Sure glad I decided to use it as a test target! 73 David K6CDW ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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-BB@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: ARISSat-1 Silent? (& Request)
On Thu, 29 Sep 2011 09:48:55 -0400 Stuart Balanger wrote: > Was wondering if someone has a Duplexer? > *IE a Box, on 1 nd is where the Coax gets connected, & on other > end is 2 short coax cable lengths; & 1 length goes to 2 meters; > & the other length goes to 70 CM1) (I have a Kenwwod TS-2000) That would be a diplexer, not a duplexer. http://www.datacomm.ch/hb9abx/duplexer.html There *used to be* a very, very good design, easily build and readily repeatable, on that site. It appears that the site owner has had a hissy-fit over criticism of a "magical antenna" design, and has pulled it down. A spot of googling will turn up a copy of the original article, though, which I won't link to directly just in case HB9ABX gets even more upset. Alternatively you could email him and see if he'll sell you a copy. Nothing is ever entirely deleted from the Internet. Nothing. -- Gordon JC Pearce MM0YEQ ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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] NA1SS Chats with Lompoc, CA
I was checking out my equipment and had the ISS rising out of the Pacific. I rarely try to work the ISS but thought I would give it a try and manually swung the antennas over to the correct azimuth. I heard some chatter and was initially irritated that someone would be having a QSO on the downlink frequency but then from the conversation I realized that it was someone on the ISS describing seeing hurricanes in the Pacific. I could not believe my luck that NA1SS was actually working contacts! Not being able to hear the uplink, I gingerly threw out my Callsign a couple of times hoping to get into the rotation and then to my great embarrassment, it became apparent that NA1SS (Mike Fossum) was working a school contact in Lompoc, CA. I sure am glad that I just threw out my callsign twice before I clued in on things. At any rate I was able to monitor NA1SS down to about 3 degrees.really clean, strong signal. First time for me hearing the ISS because I rarely check it out and typically don't have SatPC32 even tracking it. Sure glad I decided to use it as a test target! 73 David K6CDW ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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: HB9DRV
On Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:17:45 + David Moisan wrote: > 1) Depending on the problem domain, "thousands of eyes", could be just > "hundreds of eyes" or even "tens of eyes". And that is only if these eyes > are able to take the time to look at the code. That can be the hardest thing > to do unless you are very experienced and can see the bug jump right out at > you through intuition. There have been a number of security bugs in open > source code that have been only found years later. But they *have* been found. Who knows how many defects in closed-source OSes are out there, with viable exploits? Some eastern european guy, possibly, with a massive botnet. You? Me? Not bloody likely. > 2) I said problem domain in my first point, and that can mean rig control. > Or framework design, libraries or even lower-level drivers. We don't know > what code Simon has used under license, but if it is only just rig control, I > would be very surprised. More likely, it is the framework he used and the > terms he had to use it under. That is a very important decision that a > developer must make early on. Usually, developers just use what's "out of > the box", like .NET or another common framework like Qt. That can affect > everything, including the licensing. Everything. Clearly if the absolute core of the OS is under some licence fundamentally incompatible with any OSI licence, then the whole gig is a failure from the start. Oh well, no matter. These things happen. > 3) The GPL that many people advocate is a viral license. By itself, the GPL > requires that if you change the code, you have to publish it. Plus all the > other parts, which can include libraries, at least in some interpretations. > Other licenses like the BSD or the LGPL don't have this condition, but they > also don't require (by themselves) that the changed code be public. Some > code repositories, like Codeplex, will not allow GPL'd code for this reason. > There's been much controversy over the use of such code in libraries and > whether the license terms apply to the main code that calls them. Ah, the "viral licence" story. I wondered when that was coming out! You do realise that by using Microsoft's libraries and development tools for (for example) C#, you have to hand over the rights to your code to them? Check the EULA carefully - if Microsoft say they want it, you have to hand it over or you are no longer licensed to use their stuff. You have to be *so* careful with these things. There's nothing to stop you dual-licensing code, even if one of those licences is the GPL. > 4) If you get through these points and you do change the code, no one is > obligated to accept your changes. Going back to my first point, of all the > users and potential developers that can see the source code, there are > historically only a small number of those that propose, and commit, code > changes. Sometimes, if there is a dispute between factions on a project, the > code gets "forked". Imagine seeing HB9DRV and HB9DRV-2, though it would > probably be called HRD and "HR Super Betterer Deluxe" or something like that > :) . That can be a bad thing to happen, particularly in a small community > like ours. I believe this, and other related issues, have crippled Linux > badly enough to affect its long-term future. "Crippled", eh? I'm sure you can give some good examples, too. > The best chance that the group holding HRD would have towards the goals of > open source, or at least what most people here seem to be asking for, would > be to publish an API (Application Programming Interface) and ABI (Application > Binary Interface) to its control interface. That limits the scope of the > developer, but makes it much more likely for him or her to succeed. In other > words, publish the specifications of the rig control interface. That is > still a big job not to be underestimated. But it is much more feasible, and > it may lead to a genuine standard in our field. Is there really any point in doing that? As I've said in previous posts, controlling radios is a solved problem. You *do not need* to reinvent that particular wheel yet again. It's been invented, we have one, it's called hamlib, and it works. No, the rig control interface is the least of the problems. The messy and incomprehensible UI needs work first. -- Gordon JC Pearce MM0YEQ ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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] Nigeria satellite
http://onorbit.com/node/3896 I was in Nigeria while this sat was being built and got a great tour of the space facilities in Abuja...the implications for this sort of imagery for world security and peace is a good thing Robert G. Oler WB5MZO life member AMSAT ARRL NARS ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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: HB9DRV
WONDERFULLY STATED! I have been agonizing on whether to decloak and write something similar to your essay, but you said it very well. I'd only add one more point to ponder. Many of us developers don't lean toward open source code simply because of time constraints. We'd rather take our time and work on the code and the functionality than to take that same time (and more) to explain what's already been done, why it was done that way, why another way is (or is not) better, and to review the proposed changes to consider adopting them into the baseline. And, if the implication of "thousands of eyes" interested in my pet project is true, that could easily swamp all available time for the original developer to the point that s/he throws up hands and walks away from the project because it's just too demanding and nothing is actually being DONE! Thanks, but no thanks. I'll continue to be open to suggestions (and sometimes insistence) for new features/functions to be added to my own project, but that's about the extent of it. When I die or become no longer interested or capable of continuing development, I plan to find another dedicated developer (if any are available that are willing to put up with G4ILO's picture of such development at http://blog.g4ilo.com/2010/10/advice-to-amateur-programmers.html) or I'll be posting the whole enchilada to a source code repository and let it be Open. So, it's not quite "Open Source over my dead body", but almost. Lynn (D) - KJ4ERJ - Author of APRSISCE for Windows Mobile and Win32 On 9/29/2011 8:17 AM, David Moisan wrote: -Original Message- From: amsat-bb-boun...@amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-boun...@amsat.org] On Behalf Of Thomas Schaefer Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2011 10:53 AM To: Simon HB9DRV Cc: Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: HB9DRV I have to say the statement about people not having the experience, time and patience to maintain it is pure egotistical nonsense. Plus it completely misunderstands the idea of maintainers of the source tree. Open source code is always better because no matter how clever ones thinks they are as a programmer, there are always better coders. If HRD was open sourced, I guarantee the satellite tracking piece would work perfectly for all radios because we would have fixed it. - I've been lurking this thread for some time. My day job is in IT and I am familiar with Linux. The devil is very much in the details. There are several caveats I'm obliged to point out. 1) Depending on the problem domain, "thousands of eyes", could be just "hundreds of eyes" or even "tens of eyes". And that is only if these eyes are able to take the time to look at the code. That can be the hardest thing to do unless you are very experienced and can see the bug jump right out at you through intuition. There have been a number of security bugs in open source code that have been only found years later. I don't pretend I can download Apache source and understand it enough to make a change, and try to commit it--and Apache is a very widely used and successful project in a very well understood *and well documented* domain; most open source projects are not so fortunate. There is much, much more to understanding a project than by just reading the source, and many, if not most open source projects seem to fail at this. 2) I said problem domain in my first point, and that can mean rig control. Or framework design, libraries or even lower-level drivers. We don't know what code Simon has used under license, but if it is only just rig control, I would be very surprised. More likely, it is the framework he used and the terms he had to use it under. That is a very important decision that a developer must make early on. Usually, developers just use what's "out of the box", like .NET or another common framework like Qt. That can affect everything, including the licensing. Everything. 3) The GPL that many people advocate is a viral license. By itself, the GPL requires that if you change the code, you have to publish it. Plus all the other parts, which can include libraries, at least in some interpretations. Other licenses like the BSD or the LGPL don't have this condition, but they also don't require (by themselves) that the changed code be public. Some code repositories, like Codeplex, will not allow GPL'd code for this reason. There's been much controversy over the use of such code in libraries and whether the license terms apply to the main code that calls them. 4) If you get through these points and you do change the code, no one is obligated to accept your changes. Going back to my first point, of all the users and potential developers that can see the source code, there are historically only a small number of those that propose, and commit, code changes. Sometimes, if there is a dispute between factions on a project, the code gets "forked". Imagine seeing HB9DRV and HB9DRV-2, thoug
[amsat-bb] Re: ARISSat-1 Silent? (& Request)
14:50 UTC - 9/29/2011 ... I'm receiving ARISSat-1 very strong over Orlando. Reading the voice ID, voice TLM, SSTV and messages with little fading on a ground plane with preamp. Dave, AA4KN - Original Message - From: "Stuart Balanger" To: Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2011 9:48 AM Subject: [amsat-bb] ARISSat-1 Silent? (& Request) *Hi All, I was listening on the 145.95 Voice telemetry Beacon Freq. @ 1310 UTC pass here in ENY & didn't hear a peep from ARISSat-1 , & was wondering if it has gone silent? My Grid Square is FN31! 73,.Stu (WA2BSS) PS (a request) Was wondering if someone has a Duplexer? *IE a Box, on 1 nd is where the Coax gets connected, & on other end is 2 short coax cable lengths; & 1 length goes to 2 meters; & the other length goes to 70 CM1) (I have a Kenwwod TS-2000) * ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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-BB@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: ARISSat-1 Silent? (& Request)
Hi Stuart, As of right now, ARISSat-1 is up. Telemetry has come in from multiple ground stations within the last few minutes. Depending on the orbit, there is often a delay between the time when ARISSat comes out of eclipse and the time when it starts transmitting telemetry. If anyone in the satellite's footprint is running ARISSatTLM and sending telemetry into the Internet telemetry server, then the telemetry web pages will get updated (within about a minute). Note that sometimes the orbit takes the satellite out over the Pacific and over areas of the world without any active ground stations (that receive the telemetry), so it can be two or three hours before ARISSat-1 goes over another groundstation that is submitting telemetry and hence the web page could be two or three hours "old" and that does not indicate a problem. The telemetry web pages are at http://www.arissattlm.org/mobile and http://www.arissattlm.org/live 73, Douglas KA2UPW/5 -Original Message- From: Stuart Balanger To: AMSAT-BB Sent: Thu, Sep 29, 2011 9:04 am Subject: [amsat-bb] ARISSat-1 Silent? (& Request) *Hi All, I was listening on the 145.95 Voice telemetry Beacon Freq. @ 1310 UTC pass here in ENY & didn't hear a peep from ARISSat-1 , & was wondering if it has gone silent? My Grid Square is FN31! 73,.Stu (WA2BSS) ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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] AO-27 Scheduler
Has the schedule on AO-27 changed radically? Here in the western US I've been used to being able to work AO-27 twice during the early afternoon but now it seems like the transmitter operation is during the wee hours of the morning. Has something changed in the last few months while I have been off the birds? David K6CDW ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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] My long absence
Hello to my friends on the birds. I have been gone for several months and hope to be back soon. I've had some hardware issues and I have to admit I've not been diligent about resolving them as so many other things pop up that take my time. I think I can get things corrected and be back on the satellites this weekend so I'm looking forward to working you all again soon. 73 David K6CDW ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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: HB9DRV
This thread really spiraled out in all sorts of directions! Anyhow, I have developed both OSS and commercial software. All I will say is you don't have to look very far to find utter crap or really good stuff in both worlds. Dave Marhous' - What's your objective? Do you want a library to do your own thing? If so, it may be worth taking a stab at some of these. I have a little bit of experience with all of them, so if you have any questions, fire away! - If you're interested in writing your own tracking app in C, check out xephem (OSS) - If you're interested in doing some tracking-scripting, there's a python wrapper called PyEphem, it's great and also OSS. See a brief blog post I did on it: http://libjoe.blogspot.com/2009/10/where-is-my-satellite-in-python.html - If you're interested in writing your own tracking app in JAVA, check out JSatTrack (OSS). Ganos library is very easy to use! I am using it in an Android app I am writing. If you (or anyone else) has questions, feel free to fire them off. I hope this helps! Joseph Armbruster KJ4JIO On Thu, Sep 29, 2011 at 9:58 AM, Michael Schulz wrote: > > On Sep 29, 2011, at 6:26 AM, Gary Joe Mayfield wrote: > > > What's so wrong with Simon making a buck as the result of his hard > work??? > > > > 73, > > Joe kk0sd > > Nothing, but that's not what the discussion is about ... > > Mike > ___ > Sent via AMSAT-BB@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-BB@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: HB9DRV
On Sep 29, 2011, at 6:26 AM, Gary Joe Mayfield wrote: > What's so wrong with Simon making a buck as the result of his hard work??? > > 73, > Joe kk0sd Nothing, but that's not what the discussion is about ... Mike ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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: HB9DRV
Nothing at all. My point was simply rebutting Bob's point that simply open sourcing code makes it a mess. As well as the arrogance to suggest no one else can understand your code. The decision to go open source is the author's alone regardless of what the Richard Stallman code communists say. I think HRD could have been better as open source but that decision was only Simon's. Tom NY4I Principal Solutions Architect Better Software Solutions, Inc. 727.437.2771 On Sep 29, 2011, at 7:26 AM, "Gary \"Joe\" Mayfield" wrote: > What's so wrong with Simon making a buck as the result of his hard work??? > > 73, > Joe kk0sd > > -Original Message- > From: amsat-bb-boun...@amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-boun...@amsat.org] On > Behalf Of Ben Jackson > Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2011 10:47 PM > To: Thomas Schaefer > Cc: > Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: HB9DRV > > On 9/28/2011 10:52 AM, Thomas Schaefer wrote: >> I have to say the statement about people not having the experience, >> time and patience to maintain it is pure egotistical nonsense. > > *snip* > >> Open source code is always better because no matter how clever ones >> thinks they are as a programmer, there are always better coders. > > DING DING DING! I think you nailed the issue on the head. No one wants > to admit that their code could be horrid. However, when opening your > code, you are running the risk of someone coming up and saying "Hey, > this is horrid, I rewrote it so it's ten times better." -- Plus there's > the whole commenting, documentation, etc. That's at least doubling the > workload. > > I open source my software. Why? Because I /know/ my code is horrid. > Nowhere to go but up. > >> If HRD was open sourced, I guarantee the satellite tracking piece >> would work perfectly for all radios because we would have fixed it. > > However, that's a big statement to make. Getting an active development > community around you codebase is a bit difficult. There is no way to > guarantee such things. > > -- > Ben Jackson - N1WBV - New Bedford, MA > bbj innismir.net - http://www.innismir.net/ > ___ > Sent via AMSAT-BB@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-BB@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-BB@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] ARISSat-1 Silent? (& Request)
*Hi All, I was listening on the 145.95 Voice telemetry Beacon Freq. @ 1310 UTC pass here in ENY & didn't hear a peep from ARISSat-1 , & was wondering if it has gone silent? My Grid Square is FN31! 73,.Stu (WA2BSS) PS (a request) Was wondering if someone has a Duplexer? *IE a Box, on 1 nd is where the Coax gets connected, & on other end is 2 short coax cable lengths; & 1 length goes to 2 meters; & the other length goes to 70 CM1) (I have a Kenwwod TS-2000) * ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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] 2M1EUB/P ISLE OF SKY LAST FEW DAYS
LAST 2 DAYS HERE IO67VJ MOVE EAST SAT MORN ...QRV AO7 MODE A&B 145.947 AND 29.447 ?? AND SOME FO29 DEPENDS ON WINDOW AS IM IN A VALLEY,SO NOT ALWAYS ABLE TO MAKE FULL PASS...DE PAUL 2M1EUB/P ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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: HB9DRV
Well I can at least guarantee the 9100 and 821 would work as I would fix it. HRD has the nicest interface for the sat program. It just needs to be finished Principal Solutions Architect Better Software Solutions, Inc. 727.437.2771 On Sep 29, 2011, at 7:26 AM, "Gary \"Joe\" Mayfield" wrote: > What's so wrong with Simon making a buck as the result of his hard work??? > > 73, > Joe kk0sd > > -Original Message- > From: amsat-bb-boun...@amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-boun...@amsat.org] On > Behalf Of Ben Jackson > Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2011 10:47 PM > To: Thomas Schaefer > Cc: > Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: HB9DRV > > On 9/28/2011 10:52 AM, Thomas Schaefer wrote: >> I have to say the statement about people not having the experience, >> time and patience to maintain it is pure egotistical nonsense. > > *snip* > >> Open source code is always better because no matter how clever ones >> thinks they are as a programmer, there are always better coders. > > DING DING DING! I think you nailed the issue on the head. No one wants > to admit that their code could be horrid. However, when opening your > code, you are running the risk of someone coming up and saying "Hey, > this is horrid, I rewrote it so it's ten times better." -- Plus there's > the whole commenting, documentation, etc. That's at least doubling the > workload. > > I open source my software. Why? Because I /know/ my code is horrid. > Nowhere to go but up. > >> If HRD was open sourced, I guarantee the satellite tracking piece >> would work perfectly for all radios because we would have fixed it. > > However, that's a big statement to make. Getting an active development > community around you codebase is a bit difficult. There is no way to > guarantee such things. > > -- > Ben Jackson - N1WBV - New Bedford, MA > bbj innismir.net - http://www.innismir.net/ > ___ > Sent via AMSAT-BB@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-BB@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-BB@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: HB9DRV
-Original Message- From: amsat-bb-boun...@amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-boun...@amsat.org] On Behalf Of Thomas Schaefer Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2011 10:53 AM To: Simon HB9DRV Cc: Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: HB9DRV I have to say the statement about people not having the experience, time and patience to maintain it is pure egotistical nonsense. Plus it completely misunderstands the idea of maintainers of the source tree. Open source code is always better because no matter how clever ones thinks they are as a programmer, there are always better coders. If HRD was open sourced, I guarantee the satellite tracking piece would work perfectly for all radios because we would have fixed it. - I've been lurking this thread for some time. My day job is in IT and I am familiar with Linux. The devil is very much in the details. There are several caveats I'm obliged to point out. 1) Depending on the problem domain, "thousands of eyes", could be just "hundreds of eyes" or even "tens of eyes". And that is only if these eyes are able to take the time to look at the code. That can be the hardest thing to do unless you are very experienced and can see the bug jump right out at you through intuition. There have been a number of security bugs in open source code that have been only found years later. I don't pretend I can download Apache source and understand it enough to make a change, and try to commit it--and Apache is a very widely used and successful project in a very well understood *and well documented* domain; most open source projects are not so fortunate. There is much, much more to understanding a project than by just reading the source, and many, if not most open source projects seem to fail at this. 2) I said problem domain in my first point, and that can mean rig control. Or framework design, libraries or even lower-level drivers. We don't know what code Simon has used under license, but if it is only just rig control, I would be very surprised. More likely, it is the framework he used and the terms he had to use it under. That is a very important decision that a developer must make early on. Usually, developers just use what's "out of the box", like .NET or another common framework like Qt. That can affect everything, including the licensing. Everything. 3) The GPL that many people advocate is a viral license. By itself, the GPL requires that if you change the code, you have to publish it. Plus all the other parts, which can include libraries, at least in some interpretations. Other licenses like the BSD or the LGPL don't have this condition, but they also don't require (by themselves) that the changed code be public. Some code repositories, like Codeplex, will not allow GPL'd code for this reason. There's been much controversy over the use of such code in libraries and whether the license terms apply to the main code that calls them. 4) If you get through these points and you do change the code, no one is obligated to accept your changes. Going back to my first point, of all the users and potential developers that can see the source code, there are historically only a small number of those that propose, and commit, code changes. Sometimes, if there is a dispute between factions on a project, the code gets "forked". Imagine seeing HB9DRV and HB9DRV-2, though it would probably be called HRD and "HR Super Betterer Deluxe" or something like that :) . That can be a bad thing to happen, particularly in a small community like ours. I believe this, and other related issues, have crippled Linux badly enough to affect its long-term future. The best chance that the group holding HRD would have towards the goals of open source, or at least what most people here seem to be asking for, would be to publish an API (Application Programming Interface) and ABI (Application Binary Interface) to its control interface. That limits the scope of the developer, but makes it much more likely for him or her to succeed. In other words, publish the specifications of the rig control interface. That is still a big job not to be underestimated. But it is much more feasible, and it may lead to a genuine standard in our field. 73, N1KGH ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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: HB9DRV
What's so wrong with Simon making a buck as the result of his hard work??? 73, Joe kk0sd -Original Message- From: amsat-bb-boun...@amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-boun...@amsat.org] On Behalf Of Ben Jackson Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2011 10:47 PM To: Thomas Schaefer Cc: Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: HB9DRV On 9/28/2011 10:52 AM, Thomas Schaefer wrote: > I have to say the statement about people not having the experience, > time and patience to maintain it is pure egotistical nonsense. *snip* > Open source code is always better because no matter how clever ones > thinks they are as a programmer, there are always better coders. DING DING DING! I think you nailed the issue on the head. No one wants to admit that their code could be horrid. However, when opening your code, you are running the risk of someone coming up and saying "Hey, this is horrid, I rewrote it so it's ten times better." -- Plus there's the whole commenting, documentation, etc. That's at least doubling the workload. I open source my software. Why? Because I /know/ my code is horrid. Nowhere to go but up. > If HRD was open sourced, I guarantee the satellite tracking piece > would work perfectly for all radios because we would have fixed it. However, that's a big statement to make. Getting an active development community around you codebase is a bit difficult. There is no way to guarantee such things. -- Ben Jackson - N1WBV - New Bedford, MA bbj innismir.net - http://www.innismir.net/ ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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-BB@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
