Re: [amsat-bb] TrakBox Help Needed or advise on USB Sat Controller

["James H. Jipping" <jhjipping@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Amsat'ers and Don:

One of the interesting things about this hobby is diversity.  Almost 
infinite diversity.  Another interesting thing is humanity.  Our hobby 
is a human enterprise,   with limited diversity.   Because, long time 
ago, I invested $ and mental and physical resources to KCT to make it 
work in my system, I never investigated TrakBox and, I admit, erased 
most amsat-bb references to it from my e-mail program.

Your post has sparked my interest. As you note, TrakBox is a 
stand-alone.  And is another solution I may be interested in.  Thanks 
for your contribution.  This is what I like about the amsat-bb, real 
exchange of ideas (if only we could get rid of the flames, not 
necessarily the flame-throwers, just the flames).  Still, it must be 
said that to do alot of the "extra" stuff ham radio is all about we do 
not need the newest, biggest, fastest computer out there. 

AO-51 is in V/S mode this AM and I have a new S band setup ready, thanks 
to the helix feed W7LRD made available to the ham community.  I put it 
on a 3 ft dish I happen to have.  It tested well, now we shall see what 
it can hear in real life.

Jip, W8MRR
AMSAT 5512

Don Ferguson wrote:

>Jip,
>
>I can only offer one other view to the Trakbox vs PC tracking idea. My
>Trakbox runs 24/7 for the last 10 years and uses a few ma's on 12vdc and has
>no moving parts. This means, no fans, no hard drives, no noise. It sits
>above my radio and a Green LED starts flashing whenever one of my preferred
>satellites is in view. 
>
>You are certainly correct that the PC can do many other tasks, and that
>could be a good reason to go that way. 
>
>Don
>Kd6ire   
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