I have screenreader voices. I like two 8kb voices and one 16kb voice. My favorite was Ruby. I think that is a screenreader name, as well. I didn't get that one. It was $1,100 at the time. If you want to develope voice recognition factors for a skinny version of SSB, I suggest check out the best voice software for screenreaders. There is ReadPlease, Canada. Start there. I was the voice of word fragments, phoenemes and sibilants for Dragon Systems, at UC Berkeley. Write a speech processor for narrow SSB.
I think my UHFSDR will do those bands (it can do 708Mhz on its main) ... ill need bandpass filters and an amp that takes around 10mW for drive from the radio ... thats all that really needed as a kit...
Heh... I have been jointly accused of being a cheapskate, and Charter Member of the "Rig Of The Month Club" I got my ticket in late 1965 and bought a 25-year-old RX and a new transmitter kit. The $65 I spent on the station in that day would be worth about $500 today. I firmly believe that the $1,000 target price on a geosat ground station will roll back if the bird proves itself out. Antennas won't be that much of a problem, even a 50 cm satellite TV dish will provind the gain needed, and there are LPYA feeds available OTC for just such a dish that will cover the up- & downlink frequencies. Downeast Microwave has the components to build your ground station now, all you need are the required frequencies. This bird looks to be fun! 73, Keith, WB2VUO
Not quite so easy to build gear at 5 and 10 GHz. Layout and design is super critical at that frequency and well beyond the range of average hams. I am just pointing out the practicality problems that applies to most hams on the air. The truth is that most hams do not have the equipment to go over 450MHz
If they established a Launch Fund that was guaranteed to turn into a 50/50 Raffle if it didn't launch by a certain time, they'd do better donation wise. I suspect I am not alone in that having contributed to past "false alarms", Phase 3e Eagle, etc, I won't be sending a $$ down this sinkhole either. There's likely consumer wireless "stuff" out there that could be re-purposed. I'll admit minor interest, but would have to wait and see, fearing it will turn into the Vast Wastelend of keyboard macros that PSK31, etc, have become. AC2Q
To all those who have been bewailing the fact that the microwave technology needed to use the P4B digital GEO satellite let me offer a couplke of comments. I preface this by saying I am a part of both the AMSAT and VT "factions:". All of you are making the mistake in believing that the 10 GHz downlink will be complicated and expensive. Au contraire! How many of you have a 20 to 40 inch dish you use to watch TV? Well, the downlink that DirectTV uses is well up in the microwave spectrum in Ka band, at about 12 GHz. Many of the other TV satellites operate at ~11 GHz. Hams in several parts of the world have found that the feed used in these dishes (called an LNB) consists of a good feed (designed to work with the small offset dishes) coupled to a HEMT Low-Noise Amplifier (don't believe the advertising -- the Noise figure is closer to 1 Db and not the 0.1 dB the vendors claim). The LNA feeds a crystal-controlled down converter which, off the shelf, makes the IF come out around 700 Mhz. I can go on Amazon, Ebay or Alibaba today and purchase a dish plus a full LNB plus some dish mounting hardware plus 100 ft of low-loss (foam) 75 ohm coax and have it delivered to my house for less than $100. The ~700 MHz IF can plug into a $200-300 RX SDR which converts the ~10 MHz wide downlink into usable signal channels. Instead of tuning an analog frequency dial, you will select an appropriate channel to listen to your buddies. Or you can feed the SDR into your local VHF/UHF LAN where you can user your existing HT. If you are a skeptic about using the TVRO hardware in the amateur world, I'll note that just such hardware has successfully copied the DL 10GHz EME beacon in San Diego using a DVB Dongle+a laptop as the receiver. What I described was the downlink side. The ~6 GHz uplink will require the addition of a 1-5W PA, a small (probably array of patches) with the TX side of an SDR and an upconverter from whatever IF your SDR can generate to 6 GHz. The C-band TX should cost under $500-$600 with the bulk of the cost in the SDR and TX PA. If you add up the RX and TX hardware, the tariff is less than the price of an FT-1200 or KX-3, i.e. under $1000. We are working hard to meet this goal since it meets FEMA requirements for portable first responder "Go Boxes" to cover the need during major disasters (Katrina, tsunamis, earthquakes) for reliable communications in the first 24-96 hours. The ARRL and FEMA have an agreement to have a hundred such "Go Boxes" (which also includes suitable portable radios to augment whatever local resources exist). For those of you who want to use "conventional" modes our current plans call for a ~100 kHz wide LINEAR C/X-band transponder. I note (with pride) that I have figured out how we can have a LINEAR transponder built on RX software running the "main" payload and getting a LINEAR ANALOG output from a hard-limiting digital PA. Using the linear transponder will require you to have a bit antenna/TX power, but it will be there as a challenge! For all the nay-sayers please realize that AMSAT is trying to make a miracle happen. We need financial, moral and technical support. The "Space Biz" of today is radically different from what it was when NASA and ESA were launching their own rockets and when AMSAT was able to get sympathy for a bunch of "Space Cadets". 73 de Tom, K3IO (ex W3IWI)
OK. But who ever said that the "average ham" was entitled to use this satellite without going out of their comfort zone? Then I guess "most hams" won't be using this satellite. So what? "Some hams" will.
Just about dead? For 30+ years, since its batteries failed - sure. It has continued to operate since it was heard again in June 2002. In fact, AO-7 has been alive longer now (13+ years) than in its first lifetime, after its 1974 launch (about 7 years). Does anyone know how much longer AO-7 can continue to operate? No. Until it goes silent again, it remains a fun satellite to use, our only satellite currently in operation with a transponder using a 10m downlink (the "mode A" transponder), and in the highest orbit of any amateur satellite currently in operation. 73!
All I read here are lame excuses of what can't be done, instead of people putting on their big boy/girl pants/skirts and thinking about what CAN be done. Also, how come in the US I always hear hams lament about how difficult this or that is, while hams in Europe just tinker away and make shit happen? You want plug and play COTS gear? Then this is not for you. God forbid one would have to get off their ass and learn something new. Horrible. Sitting here in Germany right now, reading the german ham radio magazine Funkamateur where actual developments are discussed, while QST delivers the 1047372th article about a disaster go box or how to build a J-Pole. There is something in Part 97 the talks about the advancement of the radio art. All I see is the advancement of the art of whining and fear of change. 73 Mike
When I QSY to a higher plane of existence, my one hope is that my XYL does not sell my ham gear for what I told her I paid for it.
Come on where is our respect for the art of radio? AMSAT is not my thing, but that isn't a reason to flame others who enjoy satellite comms. Just because it may not be your thing in Ham Radio, does not make it bad. I'm a bit of a dinosaur, as I enjoy collecting QSL cards and operating vintage gear. However, I also enjoy digital modes like psk and JT. There is plenty of room for everyone. If it is not your niche in the hobby just move on, or send a simple congrats for the milestone others will enjoy. 73 de W5EN Steve
Hey, I have a million dollars here for you! Awww, now I have to go to the bank.... jeepers, and this is dangerous to carry and it's heavy... sigh... Steve KV6O
What about those Hughes internet satellite dishes K3IO ? They have a 1W output (some 2W) ... i think they operate in the 12Ghz area ... some around 24Ghz No idea what the Lo is ....
found it .... i think anyways ... switchable internal reference local oscillator 9.75 or 10.6 GHz for the frequency bands 10.7 - 11.7 GHz (950-1950 MHz in cable) ) or 11.7 - 12.75 GHz (1100 - 2150 MHz in cable)
