Re: Memories (was Re: [amsat-bb] AO-7 Predictability.)

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

AMSATERS:

The latest thread on Oscar Locators, Johnson 6N2's and the like has been 
(IS) delightful. The phrase "the good ole days" does not meet with very 
receptive ears,often.  But I have to say that the times recalled by many 
on this reflector were indeed the "good ole days".  Our learning curves 
were steep but enjoyable.  I call them my octopus days, one hand on the 
key, one on the receiver tune dial, one on the "VFO", one with pencil 
copying CW, one on the elevation rotor control, one on the azimuth rotor 
control. And the brain multitasking all the way.

In regards to the 6N2, I, too, had one.  My VFO was a switched bank of 
crystals padded with an air variable capacitor. Remember those 
Hallicrafter receivers ??   My HF downlink receiver for the early birds 
was the SX-71.  For VHF and UHF, converters ahead of the SX-71.

When remembering the Oscar Locator, I recall doing several sessions on 
ham radio and satellites at National Science Teacher Conventions in New 
York, Washington,DC, and Chicago where I and a representative from the 
ARRL handed out a lot of those booklets to teachers.  I'm sure if I were 
to clean out my shack there is still a box of them somewhere  ---  
unless my moving friends thought they were not worth the effort when 
last we love our residence.

While remembering the "EQX service" from the ARRL, do not forget the 
ever frequent packet bulletins from the ARRL.  My recollection is that 
I  would come home from teaching high school physics each day to at 
least one  list  in my packet messages.  Our local  packet node always 
had the latest set of EQX values waiting to be downloaded.

Remember the old Radio Shack TRS-80, the 3 part setup, 
keyboard/computer, monitor and tape recorder(data storage).  I worked 
like a banchy developing a program to predict EQX values. WOW! It was 
simple, based on circular orbits.  And then I got fancy and modeling how 
the Oscar Locator was designed and worked, wrote a BASIC program to 
predict altitude and azimuth.

Those were GOOD DAYS. But all of this in it's "frame of reference"


Jim Jipping, W8MRR
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