[amsat-bb] Re: K5UTD Is On The Air

[Andrew Glasbrenner]

Sounds like it would make a great Journal article!

73, Drew KO4MA

Sent from my iPhone

> On Apr 17, 2014, at 12:05 PM, Andrew Koenig <ke5gdb at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hello Group!
> 
> After about 6 months of work, I'm proud to say that the K5UTD Amateur Radio
> Club (University of Texas at Dallas) has finished setting up our satellite
> station. Typically it should take a weekend and a case of beer to get the
> job done, but this required a little more planning and involvement as we
> had to collect the parts from various people and build several components
> on our own; not to mention the fact that we get side-tracked like no other
> club. For example, an effort to get the rotor controller resulted in moving
> about four truckloads worth of gear.
> 
> We're using an FT-847 for our primary radio, and a Kenpro G-5400 for our
> rotor system. We've interfaced the G-5400 to the computer using an Arduino.
> It works rather well with GPredict. The final bug in the system has to do
> with GPredict talking to the '847, but that should be easily fixed with an
> update.
> 
> The antennas are on the roof of our Engineering and Computer Science
> building, about 20 feet off the roof, 70 feet above ground. Out of luck, we
> had a GlenMartin RT-936 and the associated non-penetrating mount just
> hanging out in our closet. Carrying the 50 cinder blocks up to the roof for
> that mount was not fun though. Coax wise, we have about 20 feet of Davis
> Bury-flex for our initial run, which then feeds some very nice ARR preamps.
> The final 200 foot run of coax to the shack is 1/2" Heliax. There are a few
> jumpers here in the shack too.
> 
> I was able to make a few contacts through SO-50 today, and plan to be more
> active. With the help of DK3WN's SatBlog, I've had no trouble picking out
> some cubesats and listening to the beacons and telemetry. Telemetry
> collection is one of the primary goals for this station. Our other goals
> for this station, aside from having fun on the air, are to get club
> recognition on campus and to work with the William B. Hanson Center for
> Space Sciences on upper atmospheric projects.
> 
> Station photos: http://imgur.com/a/6TGOJ
> 
> Also, if you know a member of the former TI club, give them a hug (or
> handshake) on our behalf. None of the current K5UTD projects could have
> been possible without them.
> 
> 73!
> Andrew Koenig, KE5GDB
> Vice President, K5UTD
> Research Assistant, Center for Space Sciences
> _______________________________________________
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