Posts by G8UGD

Hi all; No problems waiting.

I am now picking up the beacon at an MER of 10, which is still a D5 with the change in FEC, so from that perspective the playing has gone well.

There were a few 1MS signals up at the same level as the beacon, so guess for the time being the overpower indicator is level with it.

My thoughts were on increased power requirements of the satellite if there was an average increase in power usage overall and as large signals tend to drop the re-transmitted signal then lower EIRP users could see a more drastic reduction in their signals through the satellite.

I am happy to wait for the bandplan changes to be announced then I can send updated spreadsheets around to a few friends to assist them with their operation 333KS1 333 KS2 etc.

Be happy, stay safe.

Adrian

Hello Peter and the group.

I am positive that the beacon changes will be seen as good for all DATV users and I will say thank you to the team for doing it.

I wonder if the Overpower indicator would be left at the previous power level for wide signals as really nothing else has changed for us apart from getting more space?

It may be that the overpower has to be set at the same level as the beacon I am not sure, I will monitor when others get it and see.

Any thoughts?

Adrian

OK thanks for the information, this made me dig out the two spare chips i have and check they were the correct things. I was not aware of fake devices.

Quote from DC2TH

292/5000

Note:
I ordered modules from three different Ebay sellers and received two modules with the correct housing but the wrong chip. The wrong chip delivers about 500mW at 1.8GHz, but does not work at 2.4GHz. Has 5V bias on the left and UB 28V on the right !

Can I just ask if you are saying you have 5Volts on the left Vdd (pin 2) and not 28 Volts? Did you get a datasheet provided with it? On my MHL-21336 both Vdd pins are at 28 Volts.

Adrian

Quote from pe1sde

How can i put a roll off of 20 in the script in

The new firmware i can put fec sr but i dont read about the rolloff please help me ?

That seems to be correct at present, with tests done for myself, I saw very little changes at the lower SR rates, but when you get to 1MS the settings kick in. The shape of the signal would get steeper sides. I think the best I could get was a roll off of 25, It could be down to a few things such as the modulator in the Pluto or to a feature to be worked on in firmware.

I tend to set 0.25 roll off and let the Pluto do it's work. Looking forward to the next revision, but also consider this is not commercial software so it could take time as I am sure that Evariste will have more pressing matters.

Adrian

I gave up with the 2126 and stuck to the other device, with use of ID filters before and after the output was clean, that was my main concern.

Quote from i2NDT

hi Adrian G8UGD

if you mean to change the preset center frequency of the beacon memorized in the "Q-beacon" button you must edit the "minitiouneConfig.ini" file.

look for the button definition:

best 73

de

i2NDT Claudio

Display More

No, I know about the 8 main frequency and SR presets. What I mean is when you hit the 'OSCAR 100' button it brings out a sub menu of other preset SR and frequencies. If the beacon changes to be 1500MS as quoted, then in my mind it is also likely that the suggested channelised band plan may change. Which could mean a change to this sub menu.

Adrian

Would the Tiny Spectrum Analyser work with the Minitiouner-Express?

A side question, is there a way to change the OSCAR 100 presets in the V0.9 version for whenever the beacon is changed?

Thanks very much for your software.

Adrian

I will stick a response in here.

The question for me was basically when does it become remote, as said, I find some terms confusing, in my mind my setup is remote as it is all controlled via a computer but granted all at my own address. I was trying to get a better understanding and gather remote is simply being away from home but operating equipment at home. So thank you very much Thomas!

I might also suggest that if I was 100 miles away from home on holiday with dish and setup I would class that as portable, and appreciate I should not operate my registered station back at home via remote control.

I am personally not planning on doing remote operation, so please no twisting of underwear. There is a thread on Facebook where a US op was building a remote station and I responded to them saying to check as I believed what they were planning was not permitted, the response back to me inferred Amsat-dl and others were OK with his plans so I simply posted a question here to try and get some clarification for myself.

Have fun people.

Adrian

Sorry for the ramblings of an Old Git!

A recent thread on a Facebook group has me thinking about this, and as I know very little about remote operation, (yes I get the principle). Got me thinking what is a remote station. For example, I run a DATV station here at my registered station address. The actual transmitter and dish system is a Pluto and amps via a network connection to place it all at my dish. Receive is done either via Minitioune or longmynd, again via network connections and the pictures can be streamed from a thin client to a screen on my main PC. Everything is controlled via software. To me that is still remote operation as I do not have my hands on the equipment, but all OK as it is at my location and I can stop all very quickly if told to.

But there is nothing stopping me being 100 miles away and doing the same, video/audio via a RTMP stream and vnc to control. At what point does the station become remote? I can only assume when I am a distance from main address.

Could I then allow someone else to operate my station providing I am sat here? If so who's metta data would I have to transmit, my own or the others stations ID.

Sorry for the questions, but I do get confused with some of the terminology and having a prolong absence from the hobby did not help.

Adrian

I do not use the Pluto with SDR console, but there was a thread listed about the issues, perhaps contact a few from the thread to find out more.

PlutoSDR : Problem RX with last firmware by F5OEO

Adrian

My Bison ex-UMTS amplifier, I believe, is run in class AB and typical bias is around 0.7 to 0.9 for each device.

A point to check, did you update to the official PlutoSDR 0.31 firmware before going for the F5OEO firmware?

If you can run the Portsdown/Lime_Mini through the amp without shoulders then I would not be blaming the amp as the Pluto would just be acting as another source!

Adrian

I believe that the Radeon HD 6450 will help with hardware acceleration for MPEG2, H.264 and VC-1 high definition video formats, so if you are happy with H264 streaming to the Pluto it will be fine.

My cards do not support H265 hence going down the HDMI box route. The box simulates another display screen and whatever picture and audio is sent to the HDMI port, it encode into H265, (or H264 if you set it for that). So older PC/graphics cards can be used.

The software interacts between the Pluto firmware from F5OEO and the HDMI encoder and sets the parameters automatically.

It does not necessarily give the highest definition possible but, I found it to be reliable in both video and audio. There is a drawback in that it does not seem to pass the correct aspect ratio through to Minitioune software, at least in the version I am running.

Hope it helps

Adrian

One issue I and another local person has found with the Pluto when using the USB to Ethernet adaptor is a lock-up of the Pluto which can be caused by any sort of current surge on the system, so look for the ground mod to apply to the Pluto to help remedy this.

If you run it from the Ethernet adaptor then it needs a separate 5 Volt power source. If you find the Pluto stops responding to the web browser trying to control it, then just try unplugging the USB adaptor from the Pluto give it a second or two and then plug back in, if that clears it then look to do the modification, or figure another way to equalise the power ground with signal ground in the device.

That issue caused me hours of head scratching.

I use OBS, with the H265 HDMI encoder to the Pluto via Ethernet adaptor.

Adrian

Thanks for the file Elmar.

Do not forget to change the geostationary beacon frequency in SDR-Console, or get confused as I did for a good 10 minutes.

Adrian

Pete, can you use/build a very simple style diode detector on a 50 Ohm termination to measure volts with a DVM. should be able to give you relative measurements?

Quote from RN3ARU

Many listen and wait for new stations.

Perhaps this is the problem, people only wanting stations in countries they have not heard of for DX. Not wanting to make friends and chat CW or SSB.

QO-100 is a repeater and once you have a system to gain access you can converse to almost a third of the world. As said on the A71A Wideband beacon "To receive us clearly and we will receive you 9 by 9"?

There are digital modes, such as RTTY, FT8 and others, slow scan TV, digital voice, spectrum painting,

The satellite could be used to arrange skeds and/or talkback for the amateur bands from HF to GHz, arranging long range tests etc. It has coverage of approx 100 degrees of the globe which makes it the best repeater we have other then the internet. There was talk of it providing limited broadband access to some parts of the world. It is apparently 1 year old and perhaps the novelty is wearing off.

I admit I can not converse in CW my skills are lacking in that area, also I need to build back my narrow band setup again.

Have fun, be safe.

Adrian

This has been done once before on the SSB section of the QO-100 band. There was an 144 MHz uplink and downlink transverter (I forget the correct name). Great care needs to be taken both in design and also in time use, if memory serves me correctly it was left on during a contest weekend when 144 MHz signals were getting in and coming out on QO-100 causing confusion.

To be effective the HF receiver will need to be sensitive, selective and low noise otherwise the noise floor will be lifted in the corresponding segment on QO-100, so constant monitoring or some active feedback of the uplink frequency to reduce gain to minimise this, a sort of AGC.

One issue is that with HF and band openings/time of day, the signals on CW can come from anywhere in the world and not just from a local country, so unless all radio amateurs were to know about it how would it be managed, what of regulations, do all countries regulatory bodies allow rebroadcast etc.

How would you stop a couple of hams say in the states, having a CW natter between themselves ending up on the satellite uplink completely unaware of it. It could be done but you need a way of having some form of input protection such as CTCSS or DCS signal used on FM repeaters, 'color' codes etc as used in digital what could you use for a CW signal that would be easy to implement on existing ham gear?

Perhaps reduce the proposed 20KHz down to just a few KHz to reduce the impact etc. These are all things that could be considered.

Then again these are all just my musings thinking aloud, I have no influence over other users or Amsat-DL or Quatar. It could be an interesting concept if all minds worked together and it is done correctly, could lead to complete chaos if done wrong.

Adrian

I did three plates recently, 2 for local hams and one as a spare for myself, this is the one I did as a spare as I have a spare board.

In case you wonder, I make two index marks when doing any machining, one is a 2mm hole at X=5mm and Y=5mm and a 3mm end mill hole at X=10mm Y=5mm. These to help me when I change from a 2mm drill to 3mm end cutter without a proper tool change setup I loose index, but it seems to work out for me just takes time. I would still like to get feedback from other CNC'ers!

Hello Peter & Heiner,

Thanks for the responses, I was wondering about it as there was little news I could find on the subject. I was also wondering to myself if the reduction in bandwidth would also have a corresponding reduction in power consumption of the amateur side of the satellite, I guess it must have some effect when on for 24 hours a day. Also the uplink would not need as much punch to get a signal to the same MER etc. Overall a reduction in required power levels if only minor. Is there any advance notice of the revised band plan out there as I can only guess that software for Minitiouner, Pluto and probably others would need to be revised?

Anyway doing a good job.

Adrian