[amsat-bb] Re: inquiry about homebrew az-el systems

[Lizeth Norman]

Hi all,
This actually should be reachable by Joe/Jane Average Ham.
The software tools at the freely at the disposal of the general public
has made incredible things possible. Neat thing is the playing field
is flat. There are so many vendors almost giving away development
hardware.
For example, interfacing various different types of motors are just a
statement away.  Basically, learning to program a microcontroller is
just a few weekend's studies with youtube and a few various tutorials.
Not something that you have to spend a semester on. Exciting time to
be involved with ham radio.

More examples are the CAD tools that are available to model this type
of stuff. My design uses off the shelf materials that I could model
with certainty in something like SolidWorks.

I live in Central Fl. We get weather here. The antennas I use are
rated to 90 mph and I live in a 110 mph wind zone. At those
velocities, I can't imagine much would stand.
Have fun,
Norm n3ykf