Satgen82 Dove Book and Getting onto Satellites by GM4IHJ 22nd Oct 90 There have been several bulletins lately about the need for a satellite beginers book. The good news is that it/they will hopefully be ready for your Xmas stocking. Amongst the books available which describe how to operate specific satellites are :- FUJI Oscar 12 ( also good for Oscar 20 ) published by Jamsat and available from the RSGB Lambda House Cranborne Rd, Potters Bar Herts OSCAR 13 published by Amsat UK also available from the RSGB Uosat3 Oscar 14 Operating Manual available from GM4IHJ QTHR Dove Operating Manual and simple guide + experiments available from GM4IHJ The above single topic books miss out RS 10/11, Uosat 2 and the Microsats ( Pacsat , Webersat and Lusat), but these and all the other satellites,( plus Aurora, Meteor Scatter, EME and Microwave sats), are covered in a big RSGB Space Radio Handbook due to appear in December ( Order from RSGB ). For starting on satellites the Dove manual and the RSGB book should be the best. Why not listen to Dove and Radiosport 10/11 this next weekend for a preview of what to expect :- Dove needs a 2m FM Rx for 145.825 MHz AFSK 1200 bps AX.25. Simply retune your terrestrial 2m packet Rx to 145.825. Orbit start times UTC are:- Fri 26Oct 0115 0818 0954 1134 1314 1453 1632 1808 1942 2121 2303 Sat 27Oct 0045 0927 1106 1245 1425 1605 1741 1917 2053 2234 Sun 28Oct 0015 0859 1038 1218 1357 1537 1714 1850 2026 2205 2346 Add 28 mins for each ealier day . Subtract 28 mins for each subsequent day In range passes near UK are approximately 100 minutes apart RS10/11 needs a shortwave Rx tuned to 29.357 MHz to hear the telemetry beacon, and the CW SSB users can be heard between the beacon and 29.400 :- Fri 26Oct 0010 0156 0343 1028 1207 1352 1538 1729 1920 2108 2255 Sat 27Oct 0041 0227 0415 1055 1237 1422 1610 1802 1952 2140 2325 Sun 28Oct 0111 0258 1124 1307 1453 1643 1834 2023 2210 2356 Subtract 30 mins for orbits on previous day. Add 30 mins for orbits next day. Passes near UK are about 106 minutes apart. Remember you are looking for a packet signal on Dove, and RS10/11 has a CW beacon and CW /SSB users on its transponder. I hope this gives you a start on satellites. If you have problems send a packet with details to GM4IHJ @ GB7MAC, or for SWLs an SASE in a letter to QTHR. Latest News is that Bulletin Board software is being loaded into Pacsat Oscar 16, then Dove will get its voice synthesis upload. 73 de GM4IHJ