[amsat-bb] OSCAR-Locator & Amateur Satellite Report Number 154

[Bob Meyers]

I just was digging through my ham shack and there was my original Oscarlocator, first revision, 12-76.  I also found a publication from the ARRL, "Getting to know Oscar from the ground up" published in 1977.  It describes how to use the Oscarlocator.    All you needed was the EQX, equator-crossing information that was provided by the W1AW bulletins and you could predict AOS and LOS for Oscar 6 or 7.  Pretty neat stuff at the time.

Bob
WA8FXQ 

> On Feb 24, 2019, at 7:24 PM, Wendy and Terry Osborne <wandtosborne at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi Les,
> 
> The Oscar locator and how it works was described in much detail in "The Satellite Experimenter's Handbook".
> This was published by ARRL. You may be able to find a copy around some where.
> It still has a lot of useful information in it even if the satellites referred to are long gone.
> I made up several Oscar-Locators in the early 80s and used them a lot.
> I found them the other day when I was having a shack clean out.
> 
> To use them you require an "Equatorial Crossing time and longitude" (EQX).
> Bob McGwier's (N4HY) Quiktrak program gives these but I haven't checked any modern programs.
> 
> I have a set of instructions but they are based on my Southern Hemisphere version so would need to be adapted
> for use in the Northern Hemisphere.
> 
> It would be an interesting exercise to make one for the ISS as an educational tool versus looking up an app on a smart phone.
> 
> 73,
> Terry Osborne ZL2BAC
> 
> -----Original Message----- From: Les Rayburn
> Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2019 12:42 PM
> To: AMSAT BB
> Subject: [amsat-bb] OSCAR-Locator & Amateur Satellite Report Number 154
> 
> Today’s mail brought me a vintage cardboard “OSCAR-Locator” purchased on QRZ.com. Also included was a back issue of the Amateur Satellite Report newsletter, Number 154 from July 27, 1987.
> 
> I love collecting items related to the history of amateur satellites. The OSCAR-Locator is really neat—I’m digging through back issues of QST now trying to learn how to actually use it. Don’t think I’ll be giving up SatPC32 anytime soon however.
> 
> Remember back even further when hams plotted satellite passes using a string and a globe? Remember watching my elmer, Ron Murray WA4IWN (SK) do that back in the day.
> 
> 
> 73,
> 
> Les Rayburn, N1LF
> Maylene, AL
> EM63nf
> AMSAT #38965, ARRL Life Member, CVHS Life Member, SVHF Member
> 
> 
> 
> 
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