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Messages - RichardSinFWTX

#31
General Discussion / Re: Greywolf69's Intro thread
July 17, 2015, 08:29:34 AM
Welcome to the group, GreyWolf!  Pull up a chair!
#32
General Discussion / Re: Field Day: What to expect?
June 23, 2015, 04:53:33 PM
Quote from: RadioRay on June 27, 2014, 08:52:38 PM





Ray, tell me about that box!  It looks like exactly what I'm looking for to house my QRP-Labs Ultimate3S WSPR beacon kit!

That looks awesome!

#33
General Discussion / Re: Field Day: What to expect?
June 23, 2015, 04:44:50 PM
Yeah, my club is trying to regulate stuff way too much and taking all the fun out of it.  I'm going to go out there and socialize until I get too hot then I'll call it a day.  I'm not even bringing any of my toys this year. 

Some of us are talking about maybe doing our own thing next year if this proves to be a bust.
#34
General Discussion / Re: Field Day: What to expect?
June 23, 2015, 10:35:05 AM
LOL!!!  Where'd you get that shirt, Bob?  I gotta get me one of those!
#35
General Discussion / Re: Local ham community
April 17, 2015, 10:47:08 PM
My local community is pretty active.  Our monthly meeting was last night.  It was all about Field Day coming up in June.  We've also got a public service event this weekend for the March of Dimes.  Next week we've got a police and family carnival.  We've also got a couple more public service events in the next month.

I guess maybe the hams around my neck of the woods may be a little more active than others.
#36
I just set my rig on the workbench and let it do it's thing.  Every now and then I'd check my nets and see if I caught anything.  :)
#37
I have done SSTV over HF (14.230 & 14.233 MHz); but this stuff was all VHF.  These images were all sent on 145.800 MHz.
#38
Here are the images I was able to pick up over the course of the weekend...











#39
There's been an update to the ISS operation planned for this weekend. 

The SSTV images are now scheduled to be broadcast until 21:30 (UTC) on Sunday.

WooHoo!!   ;D
#40
Greetings all!

On Saturday the Russian cosmonauts from the ISS are going to be broadcasting images commemorating the 54th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's first spaceflight.  The signals are supposed to start at 10:00 UTC Saturday morning and go until 21:30 UTC Saturday evening.  Capturing SSTV images from the ISS could NOT be simpler!!  All you need is a 2m rig and some FREE software.  It can even be done with an HT (so I've been told) and a tablet or smart-phone. 

The frequency is 145.800 MHz FM.  ANY 2m radio will handle that.  I've got my FT-857D connected by way of a SignaLink interface to my trusty Dell D800 laptop.  I've got a package installed on it called MMSSTV.  Basically what I plan to do is just tune my radio to that freq, start the software and just let it run.  Whenever the software hears the signal it will auto-magically decode the images and save 'em for me.

You don't HAVE to have a SignaLink interface.  You can just have a mic feeding the audio from the speaker on your radio into your computer.  While I've got my FT-857D doing it's thing I'm going to hook up my FT-8900R and try receiving images on my iPad and/or iPhone 5S using Black Cat Systems CQ SSTV app.  You can just set up your iDevice next to your radio with CQ SSTV running and the app will decode the message for you.  If you have an interface connecting your radio to your tablet or smartphone you can also transmit your own images, though not to the ISS.

I don't get any kickbacks from any link mentioned above.  I just think this is just too freakin' cool! 
#41
General Discussion / Re: Forum yesterday
March 20, 2015, 10:47:54 PM
We're just glad everything's back to an operational status!   ;D
#42
Batteries & Solar / Re: Building a 40 Ah Battery Box
February 21, 2015, 10:25:47 PM
I started work on the second of my 30-Ah battery boxes today.



There are notches on the top of the lid the line up with holes on the bottom allowing them to be easily stackable.  The PowerPole connections on the back are such that I can daisy chain two of them together for 60-Ah of juice. 

I'm planning to test everything at Field Day this August.
#43
Batteries & Solar / Re: Building a 40 Ah Battery Box
February 11, 2015, 05:23:42 PM
Yeah, this system and the battery power supplies aren't intended to be humped around in my rucksack.  I am looking down the road to doing something with Lithium Ion batteries.  I also have a foldable solar panel and a charge controller.  That's the next thing on my To-Do list before Field Day, to get the solar panel and charge controller in place.

When I'm not using the radio it stays locked up in it's case disconnected from everything.  I run it mostly from grid power; but I do run it from time to time from my battery pack(s).

The lid of these boxes does have a silicone O-ring inside.  I have tested them for water-tight integrity.  The problem arises though when I cut the holes for the chassis mounted PowerPole blocks.  Those aren't watertight in the least, plus I'm wondering about how they would fair EMP-wise?  Granted there are no delicate circuits inside so it may be much ado about nothing.  I was hoping that PowerWerx made some sort of boot to go over them; but I haven't found one yet.

Thanks for the compliments on the backpack portable FT-8900R.  that was my first attempt and home-brewing anything.  It came out much better than I thought it would.  The bracket that the radio is mounted to can be removed so I could in theory put the FT-857D in it's place if I chose to do so.


#44
Batteries & Solar / Re: Building a 40 Ah Battery Box
February 07, 2015, 10:56:02 AM
I just went to Northern Tool & Equipment and picked up another one of those utility boxes.  I think I'm going to build a second 30Ah battery box.  That will give me a total of 60Ah when I daisy-chain the two together.

I've got the chassis mount PowerPoles and the LED voltmeter already ordered.  Just gotta go by Radio Shack (while they are still open) and pick up a toggle switch.
#45
General Discussion / Re: Field Day: What to expect?
February 07, 2015, 10:50:06 AM
It was cold here in Fort Worth but at least we didn't have any snow or ice to contend with.  We had a covered pavilion with grid power.  All we had to deal with was some fairly decent winds.  Ther than that I thought it was fun.