Re: [amsat-bb] two subjects

[Emily Clarke <w0eec@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hey John,

 From what I could see the squint was very high.  The unmodified BBQ grill 
dish you are using is probably only good to squint angles of about 20-25 
depending on the elevation.  What time were you on?  I was listening to the 
beacon at about 09:00z and the squint was in the 30s and I was getting the 
beacon at S-5 but scratchy.  It was at MA-60, the elevation was 45 deg and 
the transponder wasn't turned on yet.

Here is a good "rule of thumb" procedure I use to tell if I can hear other 
stations.  It may not be perfect, but I think it's close...

1) Listen to the noise floor and note the S-Meter reading (I always adjust 
this for S0.)
2) Peak up your receive side to the max and note the S-Meter reading (so 
last night it was S5 for me)
3) Subtract noise from receive - that's the true beacon strength (for me, S5)
4) Now subtract 3 S-Units from the true beacon strength.  That's 
approximately 9db below the beacon. (S2) That number represents the 
strongest signal you are likely to hear.

If the strongest signal is 0 or less it means that any signal you hear will 
be below the noise floor.  If it's greater, then you might be able to hear it.

I think your unmodified BBQ dish is 2-3 S Units below mine, so you were 
probably not picking up signals because they were at 3db or more below the 
noise floor.

73

- Emily

At 11:52 AM 11/5/2003 -0800, you wrote:
>I was hearing the  AO40 beacon today  (Nov. 5) 1300-1500 or so GMT  and
>never was able to hear myself.
>This is the first time I've been able to hear the beacon and not my own
>signal.  The MA  was only in the 100's, so the transponder should
>have been on ?
>Also did not hear any other signals on the transponder.
>
>73,
>John, K6YK
>
>
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W0EEC - CM87tm
ARRL - AMSAT - MSARC - ARCA - Project OSCAR
AMSAT Area Coordinator - San Francisco Bay Area
http://www.projectoscar.net
http://www.emilyshouse.com/W0EEC
http://www.experthams.net/ao7


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