Saturday, October 02, 2010

Cape Cod whiner hams

Heard a local low code Extra and 20 year USAF retiree currently employed by same declare that he and his working wife who live in a ranch at age 59 are finding money tight.

USAF pension coming... a small house... and two salaries totaling over $100,000. And the pensions they'll get from those too.

Give me a break. Maybe if he didn't have a $1000 mountain bike seen on QRZ for starters, he'd have more money.

Try being maimed by the filthy government I trusted and studied until age 24, with a dead father, no income, four years of college flushed down the toilet, and then being harassed by the government after they maimed you knowing it would happen, with other sick relatives... shut the hell up you whiners.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

ARISSat-1: Transponders that don't transpond ?

Time after time after many thousands of amateurs worldwide equipped themselves for amateur satellites, we are subjected to the spectacle of a university, a government or both using the ham bands for a satellite that transmits only for their benefit. The ARRL and AMSAT have even taken to saying these are transponders. These are not transponders. They are looped transmitters.

From ARRL:

ARISSat-1/RadioSkaf V will have simultaneous 2-meter FM, CW, BPSK and transponder transmissions. These multiple transmissions are created by a new software-defined transponder (SDX) board. The FM transmissions will cycle between a voice ID, select telemetry values, 24 international greeting messages in 15 languages and live SSTV images. The CW transmissons will be callsign ID, select telemetry, and callsigns of people actively involved with the ARISS program. The BPSK transmissions will feature a new 1kBPSK protocol developed by Phil Karn, KA9Q, to be readable in low signal level conditions. The BPSK data will alternate betwen telemetry and Kursk experiment data. Free groundstation soundcard demodulator and display software will be available before launch for multiple platforms. There also is a 16 kHz wide Mode U/V (UHF uplink - VHF downlink) transponder between the BPSK and FM signals.

From the "Webster" Dictionary (who was Miriam to usurp Noah anyway ?):

tran·spon·der
noun \tran(t)-ˈspän-dər\
Definition of TRANSPONDER
: a radio or radar set that upon receiving a designated signal emits a radio signal of its own and that is used especially for the detection, identification, and location of objects and in satellites for relaying communications signals
Origin of TRANSPONDER
transmitter + responder
First Known Use: circa 1944

From Wisegeek:

A transponder is an electronic device used to wirelessly receive and transmit electrical signals. Fittingly, its name is equally derived from the words "transmitter" and "responder".

From Wikipedia:

In telecommunication, the term transponder (short-for Transmitter-responder and sometimes abbreviated to XPDR[1], XPNDR[2], TPDR[3] or TP[4]) has the following meanings:

They have made available ONE ... ONE ... bizarrely configured transponder:

There also is a 16 kHz wide Mode U/V (UHF uplink - VHF downlink) transponder between the BPSK and FM signals.

And, the rapidity with which this bird was built is nothing short of disgusting with the anguish that we are put through waiting for a replacement to AO-40 which was used by a government for target practice right before the Chinese openly fired a weapon at a test satellite and destroyed it.

Monday, September 27, 2010

CFLs produce 15 to 20 times EMF field of safety proven incandsecents

CFL light bulbs are a win win. By closing incandescent factories, the companies that make bulbs are able to offshore production to China to new factories. If the health effects of the CFL shown here were to cause a public uproar, any new incandescent factories would then be opened in China as well due to labor costs.



See also this report from CBC Montreal among many others on YouTube.