Re: [amsat-bb] Apartment Dwellers

[tlang@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Tony Langdon)]

Hello Margaret.

25 Feb 00 12:13, you wrote to ALL:

 ML> Standing in the parking lot dowsing for signal with my Arrow is
 ML> getting a little tedious...my neighbors, who are already convinced
 ML> that the sex-change case down the hall (me) is bonkers, will be *sure*
 ML> of it now that there's a nighttime bird out there. I mean the
 ML> satellite. <grin>

Hahahahaha.  I'm not sure what the neighbours here think when I wander around
waving a couple of antennas as though I'm divining water. :-)

 ML> Have I any chance at all of receiving from anything when it's in sky
 ML> blocked by the apartment building?

That does greatly reduce the signal, though today, we actually managed some
reasonable signals at a hobby show while beaming into the side of a church.

 ML> Has anybody translated those mocked-up P3D keps to the NORAD TLEs? I
 ML> thought I saw them out here once, but can't find them. There's a
 ML> utility program around to do that, right? I tried doing it by hand but
 ML> couldn't get the checksums right.

I didn't worry about the checksums.  Basically, I put them into Winorb
manually, then dumped the keps to disk, and they came out in NASA format.

 ML> Anyone have suggestions for what the next easiest thing to tackle
 ML> might be in this situation might be after Mode JA on an HT? We have an
 ML> ICOM 751 HF transceiver, two Yaesu VX-5s, and a 2m/70cm FM mobile
 ML> transceiver set up as a base--but I think my partner (it's hers) would
 ML> be not thrilled to have monkied with to tap in to the IF for SSB or
 ML> FSK.

OK, maybe my situation has some parallels.  However, I do have the luxuary of
having a tri band vertical on the roof.  Basically, for SO-35, UO-14, etc, I
run portable.  The lower gain of the antennas is offset by the greater feedline
losses in the shack, so portable works well.  I find I can usually get in with
a couple of watts.

Now, one can go in one of 2 directions.  Firstly, try a more difficult "bird".
Here, I chose RS-13.  I have 2m SSB which I can run into the vertical.  I can
also run a second (10m) vertical on a mag mount on the car for the downlink.
This setup enables me to work Mode A, though only RS-13 has sufficient signal
for this setup.  25 W into the vertical gives me a dignal a few dB down on the
beacon.  Another option, if you can run portable beams is FO-20 and FO-29,
which run Mode J (SSB/CW).

The other path to take (warning, the neighbours will _really_ think you've
flipped!) is to try operating from more difficult situations - using less
power, antennas, or from some place people don't expect a satellite to be
worked from.  My classic example is a tram or train! :-)  I've worked SO-35
that way, and intend to try the same with UO-14 one day (now that _will_ be
tough, UO-14 is sometimes hard enough to work in the open with a 1/2 wave).

 ML> I think I may have an outside chance of getting tweaked up to pass the
 ML> Extra if
 ML> I can locate a VE session locally on April 15. It would be a real kick
 ML> to show up as a 2-month Tech-plus, present CSECs to become a General,
 ML> then sit down and take the Extra written...and only be a General for
 ML> maybe half an hour or so. :-)

Good luck. :-)

Tony

.. If cows have horns, why do they MOO instead of honk.
--
|Fidonet:  Tony Langdon 3:633/284.18
|Internet: tlang@freeway.apana.org.au
|
| Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own.


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