Welcome back, Richard!

Contributors:

Linux in the Ham Shack showed up on Podcast Sniper.

Chris, ZL2CCO, mentions LHS on his blog. Thanks, Chris!

Doug, N6LMX, is listening to Episode 31 and recommends the Griffin SmartTalk Headphone Adapter for the iPod Touch. It adds a microphone to your headphones. He bought his at Fry’s. (You can also find it at Amazon for a little less money. Click through our Amazon store and support the Black Sparrow Media podcast empire! -Ed.)

Announcements:

Texas Linux Fest is Saturday, April 10, 2010 at the Monarch Events Center, Austin, Texas.

Southeast Linux Fest is June 12-13, 2010 at the Marriott at Renaissance Park hotel in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

We met our fund-raising goal for attending Dayton Hamvention 2010! The next goal is to raise enough money for a noise gate for Richard.

Richard expresses his appreciation for everyone’s patience and support during the past few weeks.

Links and Notes:

Amateur radio satellite operation.

Doppler shift

Footprint

Linear transponder: a broadbanded repeater that operates over a range of frequencies.

Satellite tracking: there are programs that will help you find when and where a satellite will appear over your location. This page lists several, including some that run on Linux.

You will very likely need an antenna with gain, and probably a means of moving the antenna to match the trajectory of the satellite as it passes by.

SAREX (Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment) has been superceded by ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station).

Equipment considerations. A VHF/UHF radio with sideband capability is often required, as is a cross-polarized antenna with gain.

More info can be found at the AMSAT site including Keplerian Elements and other tracking tools.

The ARRL publishes several books on satellite operation.

Music:

“Long Way Home” by Kasey Anderson from the album “The Reckoning”

“Amnesia” by Roots of Rebellion from the album “The Looking Glass”