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CX2SA > SATDIG 30.08.20 01:27l 782 Lines 27290 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : AMSATBB15358
Read: GUEST
Subj: AMSAT-BB-digest V15 358
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Sent: 200829/2321Z @:CX2SA.SAL.URY.SOAM #:38694 [Salto] FBB7.00e $:AMSATBB15358
From: CX2SA@CX2SA.SAL.URY.SOAM
To : SATDIG@WW
Today's Topics:
1. VUCC in the books (Russ Kinner)
2. Re: Proximity to grid line boundary (Burns Fisher)
3. Re: Doppler Tracking Discontinuity at TCA - Problem Solved
(Bruce Perens)
4. AO92 1728Z August 28 (John Geiger)
5. Re: AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 15, Issue 357 (Douglas Tabor)
6. Re: Doppler Tracking Discontinuity at TCA - Problem Solved
(Hasan N0AN)
7. Re: Doppler Tracking Discontinuity at TCA - Problem Solved
(Phil Karn)
8. Re: Proximity to grid line boundary
(Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK))
9. Re: Doppler Tracking Discontinuity at TCA - Problem Solved
(Phil Karn)
10. Re: Doppler Tracking Discontinuity at TCA - Problem Solved
(Bruce Perens)
11. Re: Proximity to grid line boundary (Burns Fisher)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2020 12:00:36 -0700
From: Russ Kinner <wizardofzid@?????.???>
To: "amsat-bb@????? org" <amsat-bb@?????.???>
Subject: [amsat-bb] VUCC in the books
Message-ID: <7ikq3ypdyh76nujoxv2de87n.1598727636645@?????.???????.???>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
I have with the latest LotW update yesterday exceeded 125 grids and have
applied to the ARRL for the VUCC Satellite certificate with the 125 sticker.
Thanks to all the rovers such as AD0HJ, WY7AA, WD9EWK, N6DNM, K5ZM, N7EGY
and many others.
Now it's time to get out there myself so I'm planning a short trip to
adjacent grids to get some of the lesser occupied AZ grids on the air. It
Will be FM only to begin with until I can upgrade my rig but maybe I can be
someone's grid hero in a few months.I
For 6 months since my first contact post retirement, it's been loads of fun
(and occasionally frustrating getting my signal in to the bird). Made
contacts even on AO-27!
Rusty, WA8ZID
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2020 15:07:34 -0400
From: Burns Fisher <wb1fj-bb@??????.??>
To: Tom Schuessler <tjschuessler@???????.???>
Cc: AMSAT BB <amsat-bb@?????.???>
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Proximity to grid line boundary
Message-ID:
<CABX7KxVaXnoN-NrvQt6g-pt7hjbu3gQqJTnbmqiVK3gEOpKx-A@????.?????.???>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Just out of curiosity, how do the rules for states? I tried to activate 3
states from a three-state boundary where there was a marker. (It did not
work because of the same problem--trees and grass) but I'm wondering if the
marker would be sufficient evidence? Depends who placed it, I suppose?
This was for an informal 'contest' but for something like WAS, I can
imagine it would be important.
Burns WB1FJ
On Sat, Aug 29, 2020 at 1:24 PM Tom Schuessler, N5HYP via AMSAT-BB <
amsat-bb@?????.???> wrote:
> Which is obviously why it is a lot harder to hit a 4 corners location
> because it will invariably plop you in a grove of dense vegetation. I will
> stick with the two grid on the line on a main rod thing because I can get
> it
> right.
>
> From: Michael Whitman <michael@?????.???>
> Sent: Saturday, August 29, 2020 11:54 AM
> To: AMSAT BB <amsat-bb@?????.???>
> Cc: Don KB2YSI <kb2ysi@?????.???>; Tom Schuessler <
> tjschuessler@???????.???>
> Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Proximity to grid line boundary
>
> You should operate at the spot where your GPS receiver (using the
> settings/rules that Don highlighted) reads out *.000000 for a line or
> *.000000, *.000000 for a corner.
>
> 73,
> Michael, N4DCW
>
> --
>
> Michael Whitman
> mailto:michael@?????.???
> Home Grid: EM78
>
>
> On Aug 29, 2020, at 12:46 PM, Don KB2YSI via AMSAT-BB
> <mailto:amsat-bb@?????.???> wrote:
>
> The VUCC rules (
> http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Awards/VUCC%20Rules%20April%202020.pdf)
> state:
>
> (F) Grid boundary lines and grid corners must be established using a GPS
> receiver whose map datum is set to WGS84, the global default for curif nt
> GPS receivers. The GPS receiver should be set to use WAAS (Wide Area
> Augmentation System) if so equipped, since this improves the error figure
> to as little as 5 feet. In no case may the GPS receiver show an error
> figure in excess of 20 feet. Any modern GPS receiver equipped with WAAS
> will easily meet this requirement, as will most older
> units without WAAS.
>
> On Sat, Aug 29, 2020, 12:37 Tom Schuessler, N5HYP via AMSAT-BB <
> mailto:amsat-bb@?????.???> wrote:
>
>
> For my information, as I am not much of a rover, but as I may be doing a
> little local grid rove sometime next weekend by request, how far from a
> grid
> boundary can you be for it to count? I found a 4 corners grid boundary in
> my area, but it is way rural in a deep clump of vegetation with a dirt road
> a couple hundred feet away. What is the maximum deviation from an X
> .000000; Y.000000 location for it to be legal as a 4 grid location? I will
> probably do a much easier 2 grid line location, but just wondering.
>
> Thanks much.
>
> Tom Schuessler, N5HYP
> EM12ms
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via mailto:AMSAT-BB@?????.???. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum
> available
> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions
> expressed
> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of
> AMSAT-NA.
> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
> Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via mailto:AMSAT-BB@?????.???. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum
> available
> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions
> expressed
> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of
> AMSAT-NA.
> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
> Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via AMSAT-BB@?????.???. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions
> expressed
> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of
> AMSAT-NA.
> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
> Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
>
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2020 12:11:36 -0700
From: Bruce Perens <bruce@??????.???>
To: Hasan N0AN <hbasri.schiers6@?????.???>
Cc: AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb@?????.???>
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Doppler Tracking Discontinuity at TCA -
Problem Solved
Message-ID:
<CAK2MWOtnY-a1V0--gbVohuWMieqY9xODwvawyq56uj2y74Ou1Q@????.?????.???>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Well I guess it could be used in geosynchronous orbit, although it hasn't
been tested to operate with all of the satellites under it :-) wrong unit
and scale selection are a common user error. Not really your fault.
On Sat, Aug 29, 2020, 11:16 AM Hasan N0AN <hbasri.schiers6@?????.???> wrote:
> Hi Bruce,
> I'm sure it should be error trapped when an absolutely crazy value is
> input, but I'm not pointing the finger at any programmer, when I, in fact,
> input the wrong, really wrong, value.
>
> I'm just glad I found it and now doppler tracking is perfectly even on an
> 89 degree overhead pass.
>
> Considering all the things done right in the software, way beyond any
> other program I've seen, I'm not going to complain.
>
> The program auto-schedules, tracks, prioritizes and presents for decoding
> AO-73, EO-88, JO-97, AO-91 and AO-92, with no operator intervention
> whatsoever. Any number of birds can be added or deleted.
>
> I can let it run overnight and come down and see every bird's TLM
> perfectly decoded.
>
> If I chose to, I could have it IQ record every pass and go back and decode
> it again later.
>
> The program is absolutely amazing. The fact that it accepted a ridiculous
> input value from me without warning me, is to my way of thinking, small
> potatoes. :-)
>
> (SDR-Radio Console v 3.x )
>
> 5 EL Yagi > 60' Hardline > Duplexer > ARR GasFET > Funcube Pro+ SDR >
> SDRConsole v3
>
> Rotor control by SDRC > PSTrotator
> 15 deg uptilt yagi (5 EL on 2m, 8 EL on 70cm, interlaced, common feedpoint)
>
> Anyone using an SDR that has not used SDRC for controlling it, for
> satellite work, has no idea how enriching an SDR setup with good software
> can be.
>
> 73, N0AN
> Hasan
>
>
> On Sat, Aug 29, 2020 at 12:52 PM Bruce Perens <bruce@??????.???> wrote:
>
>> It's a software bug when the software quietly accepts an impossible
>> parameter.
>>
>> On Sat, Aug 29, 2020, 6:17 AM Hasan N0AN via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb@?????.???>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Over the last week or two, I have been getting a 200 Hz discontinuity
>>> jump
>>> in my uplink frequency at TCA (Time of Closest Approach), also known as
>>> the
>>> zero doppler point. This happened on every bird, every pass. (all mode B,
>>> 70cm up, 2m down)
>>>
>>> AOS was early, LOS was late, and doppler tracking was non-linear and had
>>> the bad jump at TCA.
>>>
>>> Today, thanks to K5GZR and KB7IJ, the problem source was identified and
>>> corrected.
>>>
>>> It was caused by a terrible error in the definition of my Home Altitude.
>>> I
>>> typed in, 350 meters. The program took it 35,000 meters.
>>>
>>> I corrected it and now doppler tracking in SDRC v3.x is perfect.
>>>
>>> If anyone else ever gets a set of symptoms like mine, take a look at your
>>> Home QTH altitude setting. Being off by a factor of 100:1 makes a
>>> difference.
>>>
>>> 73, N0AN
>>>
>>> Hasan
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Sent via AMSAT-BB@?????.???. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
>>> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership.
>>> Opinions expressed
>>> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of
>>> AMSAT-NA.
>>> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite
>>> program!
>>> Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
>>>
>>
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2020 14:59:57 -0500
From: John Geiger <af5cc2@?????.???>
To: AMSAT <amsat-bb@?????.???>
Subject: [amsat-bb] AO92 1728Z August 28
Message-ID:
<CAHC1P2-_u29f2bvaNuAvTojH2HHORp80VtbM_aZYT9z+Mm7kTQ@????.?????.???>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Who was the WB4Z station on yesterday's AO92 pass at 1728Z? He called me a
couple of times and I finally worked him. I had it written down as WB4ZEM
but that call is not coming up in QRZ.COM or on the FCC's website so it
must be something else.
73 John AF5CC
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2020 15:43:24 -0600
From: Douglas Tabor <dtabor52@?????.???>
To: amsat-bb@?????.???
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 15, Issue 357
Message-ID: <2238A38E-37AA-4E02-9CE2-75DC6043A677@?????.???>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
At long last, a BB digest with News you can Use.
73 and everyone have a great weekend!
Doug, N6UA
DN71qd
Douglas Tabor
dtabor52@?????.???
------------------------------
Message: 6
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2020 17:29:21 -0500
From: Hasan N0AN <hbasri.schiers6@?????.???>
To: Gerald Payton <gp_ab5r@???????.???>
Cc: AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb@?????.???>
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Doppler Tracking Discontinuity at TCA -
Problem Solved
Message-ID:
<CAM4UQf3bKBRFj6LbgsEjgVabLG+fm=vj+4wyW+T95bS0pTeHFg@????.?????.???>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Gerald,
https://www.sdr-radio.com/download
...and I listed the program by name in my prior message and when I googled
that name I got several listings like the url post immediately above.
Did google not work for you?
You might find this particularly interesting where the options in the
satellite pane of the software are discussed.
https://www.sdr-radio.com/options
It is free, for amateurs, btw.
73, N0AN
Hasan
On Sat, Aug 29, 2020 at 1:38 PM Gerald Payton <gp_ab5r@???????.???> wrote:
> Is this program TOP SECRET or can anyone look at it? I'm new and trying
> to soak in these things. But just talking about it and not supplying a URL
> does not help.
>
> 73,
> Jerry AB5R
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb-bounces@?????.???> on behalf of Hasan N0AN via
> AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb@?????.???>
> *Sent:* Saturday, August 29, 2020 1:15 PM
> *To:* Bruce Perens <bruce@??????.???>
> *Cc:* AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb@?????.???>
> *Subject:* Re: [amsat-bb] Doppler Tracking Discontinuity at TCA - Problem
> Solved
>
> Hi Bruce,
> I'm sure it should be error trapped when an absolutely crazy value is
> input, but I'm not pointing the finger at any programmer, when I, in fact,
> input the wrong, really wrong, value.
>
> I'm just glad I found it and now doppler tracking is perfectly even on an
> 89 degree overhead pass.
>
> Considering all the things done right in the software, way beyond any other
> program I've seen, I'm not going to complain.
>
> The program auto-schedules, tracks, prioritizes and presents for decoding
> AO-73, EO-88, JO-97, AO-91 and AO-92, with no operator intervention
> whatsoever. Any number of birds can be added or deleted.
>
> I can let it run overnight and come down and see every bird's TLM perfectly
> decoded.
>
> If I chose to, I could have it IQ record every pass and go back and decode
> it again later.
>
> The program is absolutely amazing. The fact that it accepted a ridiculous
> input value from me without warning me, is to my way of thinking, small
> potatoes. :-)
>
> (SDR-Radio Console v 3.x )
>
> 5 EL Yagi > 60' Hardline > Duplexer > ARR GasFET > Funcube Pro+ SDR >
> SDRConsole v3
>
> Rotor control by SDRC > PSTrotator
> 15 deg uptilt yagi (5 EL on 2m, 8 EL on 70cm, interlaced, common feedpoint)
>
> Anyone using an SDR that has not used SDRC for controlling it, for
> satellite work, has no idea how enriching an SDR setup with good software
> can be.
>
> 73, N0AN
> Hasan
>
>
> On Sat, Aug 29, 2020 at 12:52 PM Bruce Perens <bruce@??????.???> wrote:
>
> > It's a software bug when the software quietly accepts an impossible
> > parameter.
> >
> > On Sat, Aug 29, 2020, 6:17 AM Hasan N0AN via AMSAT-BB <
> amsat-bb@?????.???>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> Over the last week or two, I have been getting a 200 Hz discontinuity
> jump
> >> in my uplink frequency at TCA (Time of Closest Approach), also known as
> >> the
> >> zero doppler point. This happened on every bird, every pass. (all mode
> B,
> >> 70cm up, 2m down)
> >>
> >> AOS was early, LOS was late, and doppler tracking was non-linear and had
> >> the bad jump at TCA.
> >>
> >> Today, thanks to K5GZR and KB7IJ, the problem source was identified and
> >> corrected.
> >>
> >> It was caused by a terrible error in the definition of my Home
> Altitude. I
> >> typed in, 350 meters. The program took it 35,000 meters.
> >>
> >> I corrected it and now doppler tracking in SDRC v3.x is perfect.
> >>
> >> If anyone else ever gets a set of symptoms like mine, take a look at
> your
> >> Home QTH altitude setting. Being off by a factor of 100:1 makes a
> >> difference.
> >>
> >> 73, N0AN
> >>
> >> Hasan
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Sent via AMSAT-BB@?????.???. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
> >> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership.
> >> Opinions expressed
> >> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of
> >> AMSAT-NA.
> >> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite
> program!
> >> Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
> >>
> >
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via AMSAT-BB@?????.???. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions
> expressed
> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of
> AMSAT-NA.
> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
> Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
>
------------------------------
Message: 7
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2020 15:31:12 -0700
From: Phil Karn <karn@????.???>
To: amsat-bb@?????.???
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Doppler Tracking Discontinuity at TCA -
Problem Solved
Message-ID: <8af61284-52bc-64f3-ab51-a19ba328ae50@????.???>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
On 8/29/20 10:52, Bruce Perens via AMSAT-BB wrote:
> It's a software bug when the software quietly accepts an impossible
> parameter.
>
It's not an impossible value. Balloons can reach 35 km without too much
trouble. I don't like software with arbitrary limits imposed by authors
who lack the imagination as to how people might use it. Ballooners
already have enough problems with arbitrary altitude limits in GPS
receivers.
Phil
------------------------------
Message: 8
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2020 22:33:33 +0000
From: "Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)" <amsat-bb@??????.???>
To: Burns Fisher <wb1fj-bb@??????.??>, AMSAT <amsat-bb@?????.???>
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Proximity to grid line boundary
Message-ID:
<CAN6TEUfeau_rKuoY3yUuy2fHV9ocrknxtRF_oQcvgdd6dnjtCg@????.?????.???>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Hi Burns!
The WAS rules do not go into detail about operating on state
boundaries, like we see in the VUCC rules about operating from grid
boundaries and intersections. WAS rules seem to be more concerned
about the location of the stations working toward a WAS award:
"Contacts must be made from same location, or from locations no two of
which are more than 50 miles (80 kilometers) apart."
(from http://www.arrl.org/was )
I look for either markers or signs showing the boundaries. Then I set
up either next to those signs, or in between the signs for those
states. Sometimes there are markers on the boundaries, which makes this
a little easier. Then I take pictures of my station, just like I would
to satisfy VUCC requirements to document a station on a grid line or
intersection. This includes my 2015 trip before the AMSAT Symposium in
Dayton, when I operated from the Indiana/Michigan/Ohio tripoint:
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=62129
I wrote about my operation from this tripoint as part of an article in
the January 2016 AMSAT Journal. The article included a picture of me
standing on the tripoint, in the middle of a very quiet road where the
tripoint marker is located.
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK
http://www.wd9ewk.net/
Twitter: @?????? or http://twitter.com/WD9EWK
On Sat, Aug 29, 2020 at 7:09 PM Burns Fisher via AMSAT-BB <
amsat-bb@?????.???> wrote:
> Just out of curiosity, how do the rules for states? I tried to activate 3
> states from a three-state boundary where there was a marker. (It did not
> work because of the same problem--trees and grass) but I'm wondering if the
> marker would be sufficient evidence? Depends who placed it, I suppose?
>
> This was for an informal 'contest' but for something like WAS, I can
> imagine it would be important.
>
> Burns WB1FJ
>
>
>
------------------------------
Message: 9
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2020 15:57:28 -0700
From: Phil Karn <karn@????.???>
To: amsat-bb@?????.???
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Doppler Tracking Discontinuity at TCA -
Problem Solved
Message-ID: <94612a4f-9f84-20e4-1fa2-cdac88fd2644@????.???>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
On 8/29/20 11:15, Hasan N0AN via AMSAT-BB wrote:
> Anyone using an SDR that has not used SDRC for controlling it, for
> satellite work, has no idea how enriching an SDR setup with good software
> can be.
>
Does it do fine Doppler tuning in software, or does it only retune in steps?
A few years ago I wrote an SDR for the AMSAT UK Funcube Pro+ dongle with
a local oscillator in software that can generate a frequency sweep with
no abrupt phase or frequency jumps. This is actually pretty easy to do,
taking only two complex multiplies per sample instead of one. This is
important when coherently demodulating a digital signal.
My software LO does all tuning within a pass. I tune the hardware LO in
the SDR front end close enough so that it doesn't have to be retuned
during the pass. Because that hardware LO is synthesized, retuning it
causes uncontrolled jumps in phase and frequency. As long as the SDR
front end has enough bandwidth to handle the signal bandwidth plus the
total Doppler, there's no need to retune it. The Funcube dongle samples
at 192 kHz. This is low by comparison to other front ends but it's still
wide enough up to 70cm or so.
Because the Funcube dongle is direct conversion you want to avoid the
noisy region around DC in the IF. That cuts the usable bandwidth to ~96
kHz on either side of DC. Take off another 10 kHz to avoid the aliased
region near +/- 96 kHz and you're down to 86 kHz. 3 kHz SSB + 2 * 10 kHz
= 23 kHz, so there's plenty of room for tracking an entire pass without
ever retuning the front end.
I set the oscillator frequency rate (corresponding to Doppler
acceleration) with a tracking program every second or two, which was
frequent enough to keep a 70cm mode J CW beacon within a 100 Hz filter
for an entire pass. It's so rock stable as to be eerie. But you do need
accurate elements, accurate station position (including altitude!) and
an accurate clock.
I had considered adding another order to the oscillator (ie. set
frequency, frequency rate, and rate squared) but it just wasn't necessary.
My tracking program calculates relative velocity (Doppler frequency)
analytically from the velocity vectors computed by the orbit and earth
models, rather than by finite differencing position as a lot of the
older AMSAT tracking programs did. Do any of the newer programs do it
this way?
I (with n4hy's help) also did the math to calculate relative
acceleration (Doppler sweep rate) analytically. One of the terms was the
actual inertial acceleration of the satellite due to gravity. That meant
modeling the earth's gravity field, which is most of what it takes to do
a full-blown state vector propagator. This seemed like too much work so
I stuck with the NORAD keplerian orbit model.
Phil
------------------------------
Message: 10
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2020 16:02:08 -0700
From: Bruce Perens <bruce@??????.???>
To: Phil Karn <karn@????.???>
Cc: AMSAT BB <amsat-bb@?????.???>
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Doppler Tracking Discontinuity at TCA -
Problem Solved
Message-ID:
<CAK2MWOu0_SE-zayTQPiU_ad4uT4SOn5L4Q4iAtjB05aAMoL4yw@????.?????.???>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
The ITAR limits on GPS altitude and speed were rescinded in 2014, which
doesn't mean every manufacturer has removed them. But they were not
arbitrary, they were government-imposed. It just happened that some
manufacturers implemented them as limits on both being over 60,000 feet and
1000 miles per hour at the same time, others on exceeding either the speed
or the altitude.
It's perfectly fine to have a check box that says "the station will not be
on the surface of the Earth", if your program is actually capable of that
sort of operation (I doubt this one really is), but in general it is good
practice to protect the user from foolish inputs unless they check that
kind of box.
On Sat, Aug 29, 2020, 3:37 PM Phil Karn via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb@?????.???>
wrote:
> On 8/29/20 10:52, Bruce Perens via AMSAT-BB wrote:
> > It's a software bug when the software quietly accepts an impossible
> > parameter.
> >
> It's not an impossible value. Balloons can reach 35 km without too much
> trouble. I don't like software with arbitrary limits imposed by authors
> who lack the imagination as to how people might use it. Ballooners
> already have enough problems with arbitrary altitude limits in GPS
> receivers.
>
> Phil
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via AMSAT-BB@?????.???. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions
> expressed
> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of
> AMSAT-NA.
> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
> Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
>
------------------------------
Message: 11
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2020 19:13:58 -0400
From: Burns Fisher <wb1fj-bb@??????.??>
To: amsat-bb@??????.???
Cc: AMSAT <amsat-bb@?????.???>
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Proximity to grid line boundary
Message-ID:
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Thanks, Patrick. I was doing the state activation for AMSAT 50th
anniversary and very close to the tripoint for MA, CT, RI. There was a
marker there, but I never could have reached a satellite :-)
On Sat, Aug 29, 2020 at 6:33 PM Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) <
amsat-bb@??????.???> wrote:
> Hi Burns!
>
> The WAS rules do not go into detail about operating on state
> boundaries, like we see in the VUCC rules about operating from grid
> boundaries and intersections. WAS rules seem to be more concerned
> about the location of the stations working toward a WAS award:
>
> "Contacts must be made from same location, or from locations no two of
> which are more than 50 miles (80 kilometers) apart."
>
> (from http://www.arrl.org/was )
>
> I look for either markers or signs showing the boundaries. Then I set
> up either next to those signs, or in between the signs for those
> states. Sometimes there are markers on the boundaries, which makes this
> a little easier. Then I take pictures of my station, just like I would
> to satisfy VUCC requirements to document a station on a grid line or
> intersection. This includes my 2015 trip before the AMSAT Symposium in
> Dayton, when I operated from the Indiana/Michigan/Ohio tripoint:
>
> https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=62129
>
> I wrote about my operation from this tripoint as part of an article in
> the January 2016 AMSAT Journal. The article included a picture of me
> standing on the tripoint, in the middle of a very quiet road where the
> tripoint marker is located.
>
> 73!
>
>
>
>
>
> Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK
> http://www.wd9ewk.net/
> Twitter: @?????? or http://twitter.com/WD9EWK
>
>
>
>
> On Sat, Aug 29, 2020 at 7:09 PM Burns Fisher via AMSAT-BB <
> amsat-bb@?????.???> wrote:
>
>> Just out of curiosity, how do the rules for states? I tried to activate 3
>> states from a three-state boundary where there was a marker. (It did not
>> work because of the same problem--trees and grass) but I'm wondering if
>> the
>> marker would be sufficient evidence? Depends who placed it, I suppose?
>>
>> This was for an informal 'contest' but for something like WAS, I can
>> imagine it would be important.
>>
>> Burns WB1FJ
>>
>>
>>
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End of AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 15, Issue 358
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