The Big Picture at the end of the Day

["Brian Beamish" <brianvk4bbs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Everyone

Often when reading the Amsat-BB mail I sometimes think that maybe some of us
need to think about The Big Picture at the end of the Day.

Some of the AMSAT-BB mail should never be there in the first place and I
wonder if on a Person to Person basis if the same would be said, some that
is very near political should never be there and some would scare the
prospective new operator before he/she even starts. Maybe some of us need to
get back on the ground and consider the big picture at the end of the day.

Whilst very new here in VK we have a Satellite Interest Group with Amateurs
from all over VK & ZL  for those interest in Weather or Amateur Satellite
and most of whom are not operational yet on the birds, my aim when starting
this group was to get back to basic where possible and foster this interest.

This group only meets via Packet with a main Server that feeds several sub
servers across VK originally intended only for the local Brisbane area it
has grown from a small handful to well over 100 members in a very short
period, one of the aims of this group is to support Amsat if and when
possible.

The most recent message sent to the group that I found most interesting I am
including here within it you will read about a ZL Blind Satellite Operator
Deane ZL1JJ and assistance given by Dave ZL2AMD, back to basics and no great
expense required. We all have to start some where and maybe some of us need
to get back on the ground and into the basics again to encourage these new
chums to this facet of our wonderful hobby.

Please read the follow particularly the last part that I am sure you will
find of interest

Rgds Brian VK4BBS


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Original-From: ZL2VAL@ZL2VAL.#46.NZL.OC


Hi all,
        All the analogue sat's seem to be working well at the moment.
AO-10,  rising  in  the  west  and  zooming  across VK  land in the early
afternoon.  Excellent  signals coming down on about 145.900MHz +/- 20 KHz,
so  good  in  fact that I was getting better copy on the old 2mtr turnstile
than the yagi yesterday, Sun 15th. Have to get an elevation rotator going.
FO-20 & 29, both performing satisfactorily(?) (well). The passes for FO-29
seem  to be advancing slightly earlier in the evening, or does it just seem
that  way  due  to  daylight saving? FO-20 passes start late morning for VK
op's  with  good chances of VK-ZL QSOs. FO-29 is still in analogue mode due
to  a  failure  in the onboard computer. So how about making the most of it
and giving it a go on phone while we can?
RS-12,  is  now  in  A/K  mode,  that  is  145.910-.950  & 21.210-.250 up /
29.410-.450 down. All USB or CW. Good sigs here in ZL from this bird.
RS-15,  cant  really comment on this one as I haven't tried it for some
time.
Sigs  are too low to get over the computer hash, I built a 29MHZ preamp for
this  but  it  only  increases the hash. They say it's good for CW contacts
though.
MIR,  still  no  life evident but my guess is that Mike Foale was a bit too
enthusiastic  with amateur radio and the crew has been told to get the work
done first.
Stations  heard  on AO-10 lately are Trevor VK4AFL, Mac VK4BH, Waldis VK1WJ
(or was that on FO-20?), Guy ZL2VBV, ZL1LU, me and a few JA's.
Heard on FO-20, Glen VK3ZGL in Mildura and me.
Heard on FO-29, Trev VK4AFL and me.
Heard  on RS-12, Deane ZL1JJ. Deanes story is a bit different, He's a blind
student in Auckland and due to his handicap, was having prob's with reading
tracking  prog's.  His  autoreader  couldn't  handle  the graphics, so Dave
ZL2AMD  wrote  a  program  for  him  that  his autoreader can interpret and
announce  the pass to him. He also uses a remote transmitter on 21MHz which
is  about  30Km away and listens on his own receiver at home. Due to having
to  enter  DTMF  tones  to adjust the TX, he leaves it on one frequency and
adjusts  the  RX  for  doppler.  If you hear him on weekends, do give him a
shout as he's only just starting out on the birds.
Cheers,

  73 de Alan. New Plymouth, New Zealand.QRA