Satellites
 

What do i need to buy to reach the satellites for field day? I already have an HT Yasue FT-60R 5 watts.

What is a decent antenna and how do I track the satellite?

Thanks

Jennie:

Where have you been all my life? If you are taken, do you have sister which are single? grin
John
--
I AM ONE-IN-A-MILLION!!!!!
Too bad the other 999,999 got there first.. frown

Check the antennas at http://www.arrowantennas.com/146-437.html
"Jennie" wrote in message ...
What do i need to buy to reach the satellites for field day? I already have an HT Yasue FT-60R 5 watts.

What is a decent antenna and how do I track the satellite?

Thanks

First you need a radio capable of 'full-duplex'(capable of hearing the
downlink while transmitting on the uplink), other wise you'll just add
to the qrm.

Second is a good gain antenna for both uplink and downlink frequencies.
The 'hand held' arrow antenna with diplexer is pretty good (
www.arrowantenna.com ) or you can make your own. (there are plans on
the internet try http://xe1mex.gq.nu/antenas/yagi.html to start).
[avoid the ELK antennas]

Third is to make at least a dozen QSO's over the satellite you plan to
use BEFORE field day. Conditions of field day are very rough and
inexpienced operators don't have a chance.

Go to the AMSAT web page www.amsat.org and look around for more tips.


Fred W4JLE wrote:
Check the antennas at http://www.arrowantennas.com/146-437.html
"Jennie" wrote in message
...
What do i need to buy to reach the satellites for field day? I
already have an HT Yasue FT-60R 5 watts.

What is a decent antenna and how do I track the satellite?

Thanks

In article ,
John Smith wrote:

| Where have you been all my life? If you are taken, do you have
| sister which are single? grin

Translation: if you're a female, and in ham radio or some other male
dominated hobby, better hide your sex, or people will do this sort of
thing. I realize that you're kidding, John, but even so, it runs the
women off, fast.

Answer to the question ...

You might be able to work the ISS with your setup right now. Except
that it's always in packet mode nowadays ...

But beyond that, you ought to be able to work many of the low Earth
orbit satellites just by adding a directional antenna. The Arrow
Antenna 2m/70cm antenna is very popular for that, or there's a number
of sites out there with instructions for making similar antennas.
Google is your friend.

--
Doug McLaren,
$__
(o0)
/||\ when Cthulhu calls...he calls collect

In article .com,
Terl wrote:

| First you need a radio capable of 'full-duplex'(capable of hearing the
| downlink while transmitting on the uplink), other wise you'll just add
| to the qrm.

It's hardly essential. It's nice, but not essential. After all, most
people work the local repeaters without doing full duplex. Of course,
in that case, the repeater is usually not 200+ miles away, and
probably has 1000 watts instead of 1 watt, and probably doesn't have
10 people trying to hit it at once, but the principal is the same.

But the LEO satellites seem to be very busy unless it's the middle of
the night, and so being able to hear if you're even hitting it (or if
you're interfering with somebody else) will be very useful. But not
essential.

I suspect that what Terl is trying to state that since they're
generally so busy, if you can't do it `right', don't do it at all and
let somebody else do it. But you can do it easily enough _without_
full duplex.

You also don't _need_ a radio that can do full duplex. If you have
two radios, you can transmit with one and receive with another.
Sometimes even a standard scanner will work as the receiver, though
often they're not very sensitive.

As for how to track the satellite, your prediction program will
probably give you the approximate path of the satellite across the sky
over time. Point your antenna there. You don't need to be exact, but
you should be able to get an idea of how close you are by the strength
of the signal you receive.

The really serious people have computerized trackers, but you
certainly don't need that unless you have really high gain antennas.
(Which would probably be too big to hold in the VHF/UHF bands.)

--
Doug McLaren, , AD5RH
There's a growing sense that even if The Future comes,
most of us won't be able to afford it.
-- Lemmy

Doug:

I have never found "it runs the women off fast" to be of any real
importance--granted, it may run the ones off which take themselves far too
seriously--or, even the ones who have some "axe to grind" and are naturally
tending towards a male/female conflict--but think about--those are best
avoided anyway!

Better to find this out right up front...

Warmest regards,
John
--
When Viagra fails to work--you are DOOMED!!!

"Doug McLaren" wrote in message
...
| In article ,
| John Smith wrote:
|
|| Where have you been all my life? If you are taken, do you have
|| sister which are single? grin
|
| Translation: if you're a female, and in ham radio or some other male
| dominated hobby, better hide your sex, or people will do this sort of
| thing. I realize that you're kidding, John, but even so, it runs the
| women off, fast.
|
| Answer to the question ...
|
| You might be able to work the ISS with your setup right now. Except
| that it's always in packet mode nowadays ...
|
| But beyond that, you ought to be able to work many of the low Earth
| orbit satellites just by adding a directional antenna. The Arrow
| Antenna 2m/70cm antenna is very popular for that, or there's a number
| of sites out there with instructions for making similar antennas.
| Google is your friend.
|
| --
| Doug McLaren,
| $__
| (o0)
| /||\ when Cthulhu calls...he calls collect

.... and I should have pointed out, "There is nothing wrong with women like
that..." Just stops everyone from confusion and being able to claim, "I
didn't know he/she was like that!"

However, I am involved directly in technical classes at a jr. college... the
ratio of women to men is VERY LOW at higher classes--this is fact--not
fiction--and my comment was more to that area... pointing out that
technical minded men just might miss female colleges...

.... indeed, I think a sexist comment would be one discouraging women from
certain areas of society--not encouraging them--and pointing out they are
desirable to have there... or, a condensending/shallow/protectionist
comment for womens' benefits...

Warmest regards,
John
--
When Viagra fails to work--you are DOOMED!!!

"John Smith" wrote in message
...
| Doug:
|
| I have never found "it runs the women off fast" to be of any real
| importance--granted, it may run the ones off which take themselves far too
| seriously--or, even the ones who have some "axe to grind" and are
naturally
| tending towards a male/female conflict--but think about--those are best
| avoided anyway!
|
| Better to find this out right up front...
|
| Warmest regards,
| John
| --
| When Viagra fails to work--you are DOOMED!!!
|
| "Doug McLaren" wrote in message
| ...
|| In article ,
|| John Smith wrote:
||
||| Where have you been all my life? If you are taken, do you have
||| sister which are single? grin
||
|| Translation: if you're a female, and in ham radio or some other male
|| dominated hobby, better hide your sex, or people will do this sort of
|| thing. I realize that you're kidding, John, but even so, it runs the
|| women off, fast.
||
|| Answer to the question ...
||
|| You might be able to work the ISS with your setup right now. Except
|| that it's always in packet mode nowadays ...
||
|| But beyond that, you ought to be able to work many of the low Earth
|| orbit satellites just by adding a directional antenna. The Arrow
|| Antenna 2m/70cm antenna is very popular for that, or there's a number
|| of sites out there with instructions for making similar antennas.
|| Google is your friend.
||
|| --
|| Doug McLaren,
|| $__
|| (o0)
|| /||\ when Cthulhu calls...he calls collect
|
|

John Smith wrote:

... and I should have pointed out, "There is nothing wrong with women like
that..." Just stops everyone from confusion and being able to claim, "I
didn't know he/she was like that!"

However, I am involved directly in technical classes at a jr. college... the
ratio of women to men is VERY LOW at higher classes--this is fact--not
fiction--and my comment was more to that area... pointing out that
technical minded men just might miss female colleges...

... indeed, I think a sexist comment would be one discouraging women from
certain areas of society--not encouraging them--and pointing out they are
desirable to have there... or, a condensending/shallow/protectionist
comment for womens' benefits...

Warmest regards,
John

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and
remove all doubt."

Abraham Lincoln

Well, that is a gentle way of calling me a fool, much appreciated you have
the grace...

Still, as "beauty is in the beholders eye." So are fools...

But hey, you are entitled to your opinion... I have mine...

Regards,
John
--
Sit down the six-pack!!! STEP AWAY!!! ...and go do something...

"Jim Kelley" wrote in message
...
|
|
| John Smith wrote:
|
| ... and I should have pointed out, "There is nothing wrong with women
like
| that..." Just stops everyone from confusion and being able to claim, "I
| didn't know he/she was like that!"
|
| However, I am involved directly in technical classes at a jr. college...
the
| ratio of women to men is VERY LOW at higher classes--this is fact--not
| fiction--and my comment was more to that area... pointing out that
| technical minded men just might miss female colleges...
|
| ... indeed, I think a sexist comment would be one discouraging women
from
| certain areas of society--not encouraging them--and pointing out they
are
| desirable to have there... or, a condensending/shallow/protectionist
| comment for womens' benefits...
|
| Warmest regards,
| John
|
| "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and
| remove all doubt."
|
| Abraham Lincoln
|

In article ,
John Smith wrote:

| ... and I should have pointed out, "There is nothing wrong with
| women like that..." Just stops everyone from confusion and being
| able to claim, "I didn't know he/she was like that!"
|
| However, I am involved directly in technical classes at a
| jr. college... the ratio of women to men is VERY LOW at higher
| classes--this is fact--not fiction--and my comment was more to that
| area...

In college I studied physics and astronomy -- few women there.

And now, my hobbies are R/C planes and ham radio -- there's few women
in these hobbies, especially flying R/C. In fact, I think I've seen
no more than two women flying R/C planes. Ham radio is a little
better, but not much.

At work, I do computer support and sys-admin stuff. There's a few
women here, but they're outnumbered by the men at least five to one.
In retrospect, it sounds like it's amazing that I ever met any women
and got married at all -- most of the things I do seem to be male
dominated!

Over the years, I've learned that generally, the few women that are in
male dominated areas tend to get a lot of attention from the guys.
Not because they're good at what they're doing, but because they're
women.

If a woman is doing one of these things, it's probably because she
likes it. She probably wants to be treated as an equal, but instead
many men treat her like she's special -- but only because she's a
woman.

| pointing out that technical minded men just might miss female
| colleges...

Did you mean to say colleagues rather than colleges? Certainly, in
college, the very few women in the physics classes were certainly not
missed by the guys. And the last women I saw flying an R/C plane was
young and attractive, and the guys were paying her all sorts of
attention. (To be fair, in that case she didn't seem to mind. I
think she was just there with her boyfriend, and he talked her into
trying it.)

`Where have you been all my life?' is something that I've heard of
being used at bars. And generally women don't really like lines -- it
suggests that they're stupid, that they're going to fall for that old
line or something. It's probably not so bad in a bar, where the
man:woman ratio is probably closer to unity.

But if a woman enters the ham radio hobby (or R/C hobby, or
engineering program in college, or ...) she's suddenly inundated by
guys asking her where she's been all their life. Some like it, but
most don't. Especially when they want to be taken seriously for their
mind or their skills, not for the fact that they're women.

| ... indeed, I think a sexist comment would be one discouraging women
| from certain areas of society--not encouraging them--and pointing
| out they are desirable to have there...

.... but only because they're a woman. Or do you ask the men where
they've been all your life too?

I've posted questions here about satellite antennas here somewhat
recently. I don't recall anybody asking where I'd been all their
life.

| or, a condensending/shallow/protectionist comment for womens'
| benefits...

I assume that's how you saw my comment? At least I made an effort to
answer her question. I'm hardly a protectionist -- I'm just
suggesting that you treat the women just like you treat the men. Do
you regularly walk up to women you don't know and ask them `where
they've been all your life?'

There's probably more women online than you realize. However, a lot
of them go by gender neutral or male names just because they don't
like the attention that being openly female gets them.

I'm not saying you were trying to be condescending, but to many women,
that's exactly how it comes across. And since there's so few of them,
and so many men, it happens a lot to each of them. And so quite often
women get tired of it, and either hide or just find another hobby.

To keep this at least somewhat on topic ...

The FT-60R she has, I don't think it'll do full duplex. The most
popular LEO 2m/70cm antenna for handheld use appears to be the
http://www.arrowantennas.com/146-437.html (or something that's
basically the same), and by default it has two coax plugs. If she has
a scanner, she could transmit on one plug, and plug the scanner into
another, and work full duplex that way, and she won't even need to buy
the duplexer/diplexer.

--
Doug McLaren, , AD5RH
Sleep is just a bad substitute for coffee ...