From wang!elf.wang.com!ucsd.edu!info-hams-relay Sat Mar 23 04:21:16 1991 remote from tosspot Received: by tosspot (1.63/waf) via UUCP; Sat, 23 Mar 91 09:47:39 EST for lee Received: from somewhere by elf.wang.com id aa07106; Sat, 23 Mar 91 4:21:13 GMT Received: from ucsd.edu by relay1.UU.NET with SMTP (5.61/UUNET-shadow-mx) id AA07858; Fri, 22 Mar 91 23:13:47 -0500 Received: by ucsd.edu; id AA06477 sendmail 5.64/UCSD-2.1-sun Fri, 22 Mar 91 13:19:05 -0800 for brian Received: by ucsd.edu; id AA06459 sendmail 5.64/UCSD-2.1-sun Fri, 22 Mar 91 13:18:56 -0800 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oc -odb -oQ/var/spool/lqueue -oi -finfo-hams-relay info-hams-list Message-Id: <9103222118.AA06459@ucsd.edu> Date: Fri, 22 Mar 91 13:18:55 PST From: Info-Hams Mailing List and Newsgroup Reply-To: Info-Hams@ucsd.edu Subject: Info-Hams Digest V91 #231 To: Info-Hams@ucsd.edu Info-Hams Digest Fri, 22 Mar 91 Volume 91 : Issue 231 Today's Topics: AMSAT ORBITAL ELEMENTS Hypercard HamStack Articles Part 4 of 8 TH-77A mod info and observations Send Replies or notes for publication to: Send subscription requests to: Problems you can't solve otherwise to brian@ucsd.edu. Archives of past issues of the Info-Hams Digest are available (by FTP only) from UCSD.Edu in directory "mailarchives/info-hams". We trust that readers are intelligent enough to realize that all text herein consists of personal comments and does not represent the official policies or positions of any party. Your mileage may vary. So there. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 18 Mar 91 01:49:46 GMT From: sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!n8emr!gws@ucsd.edu Subject: AMSAT ORBITAL ELEMENTS To: info-hams@ucsd.edu ============================================================== | Relayed from AMSAT BBS NETWORK | | N8EMR's Ham BBS, 614-895-2553 1200/2400/9600/V.32/PEP/MNP5 | ============================================================== SB KEPS @ AMSAT $ORBS-075.O Orbital Elements 075.OSCAR HR AMSAT ORBITAL ELEMENTS FOR OSCAR SATELLITES FROM N3FKV HEWITT, TX March 16, 1991 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT Satellite: AO-10 Catalog number: 14129 Epoch time: 91063.34532753 Element set: 639 Inclination: 25.8586 deg RA of node: 157.5216 deg Eccentricity: 0.5994082 Arg of perigee: 222.1074 deg Mean anomaly: 71.7788 deg Mean motion: 2.05883481 rev/day Decay rate: -1.04e-06 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 3009 Satellite: UO-11 Catalog number: 14781 Epoch time: 91071.15127494 Element set: 935 Inclination: 97.9110 deg RA of node: 119.5170 deg Eccentricity: 0.0013139 Arg of perigee: 114.3366 deg Mean anomaly: 245.9203 deg Mean motion: 14.66402910 rev/day Decay rate: 3.826e-05 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 37522 Satellite: RS-10/11 Catalog number: 18129 Epoch time: 91073.92234592 Element set: 553 Inclination: 82.9271 deg RA of node: 128.5220 deg Eccentricity: 0.0013535 Arg of perigee: 88.9635 deg Mean anomaly: 271.3121 deg Mean motion: 13.72156828 rev/day Decay rate: -4.5e-07 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 18666 Satellite: AO-13 Catalog number: 19216 Epoch time: 91053.11378759 Element set: 239 Inclination: 56.8252 deg RA of node: 109.0878 deg Eccentricity: 0.7128019 Arg of perigee: 247.8593 deg Mean anomaly: 26.4295 deg Mean motion: 2.09703733 rev/day Decay rate: -1.26e-06 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 2061 Satellite: FO-20 Catalog number: 20480 Epoch time: 91069.51316501 Element set: 189 Inclination: 99.0193 deg RA of node: 70.4245 deg Eccentricity: 0.0540988 Arg of perigee: 165.0177 deg Mean anomaly: 196.7681 deg Mean motion: 12.83171893 rev/day Decay rate: 3.1e-07 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 5090 Satellite: AO-21 Catalog number: 21087 Epoch time: 91073.24086400 Element set: 22 Inclination: 82.9442 deg RA of node: 303.9861 deg Eccentricity: 0.0035526 Arg of perigee: 161.3366 deg Mean anomaly: 198.9100 deg Mean motion: 13.74351124 rev/day Decay rate: 1.67e-06 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 598 Satellite: RS-12/13 Catalog number: 21089 Epoch time: 91067.77553240 Element set: 24 Inclination: 82.9284 deg RA of node: 178.5246 deg Eccentricity: 0.0028936 Arg of perigee: 196.1480 deg Mean anomaly: 163.8822 deg Mean motion: 13.73867322 rev/day Decay rate: 2.53e-06 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 435 /EX SB KEPS @ AMSAT $ORBS-075.D Orbital Elements 075.MICROS HR AMSAT ORBITAL ELEMENTS FOR THE MICROSATS FROM N3FKV HEWITT, TX March 16, 1991 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT Satellite: UO-14 Catalog number: 20437 Epoch time: 91070.20133924 Element set: 314 Inclination: 98.6771 deg RA of node: 150.2384 deg Eccentricity: 0.0011653 Arg of perigee: 90.6078 deg Mean anomaly: 269.6428 deg Mean motion: 14.28953664 rev/day Decay rate: 1.233e-05 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 5899 Satellite: AO-16 Catalog number: 20439 Epoch time: 91072.69307529 Element set: 206 Inclination: 98.6779 deg RA of node: 152.9802 deg Eccentricity: 0.0012709 Arg of perigee: 86.6528 deg Mean anomaly: 273.6104 deg Mean motion: 14.29052696 rev/day Decay rate: 1.183e-05 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 5935 Satellite: DO-17 Catalog number: 20440 Epoch time: 91073.51885409 Element set: 206 Inclination: 98.6778 deg RA of node: 153.8367 deg Eccentricity: 0.0012809 Arg of perigee: 84.5951 deg Mean anomaly: 275.6670 deg Mean motion: 14.29125572 rev/day Decay rate: 1.287e-05 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 5947 Satellite: WO-18 Catalog number: 20441 Epoch time: 91072.72210085 Element set: 205 Inclination: 98.6749 deg RA of node: 153.0876 deg Eccentricity: 0.0013279 Arg of perigee: 86.9744 deg Mean anomaly: 273.1857 deg Mean motion: 14.29185086 rev/day Decay rate: 1.095e-05 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 5936 Satellite: LO-19 Catalog number: 20442 Epoch time: 91074.10176091 Element set: 206 Inclination: 98.6778 deg RA of node: 154.5095 deg Eccentricity: 0.0013697 Arg of perigee: 82.9535 deg Mean anomaly: 277.3203 deg Mean motion: 14.29264474 rev/day Decay rate: 1.154e-05 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 5956 /EX SB KEPS @ AMSAT $ORBS-075.W Orbital Elements 075.WEATHER HR AMSAT ORBITAL ELEMENTS FOR WEATHER SATELLITES FROM N3FKV HEWITT, TX March 16, 1991 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT Satellite: NOAA-9 Catalog number: 15427 Epoch time: 91073.88689080 Element set: 713 Inclination: 99.1733 deg RA of node: 85.1335 deg Eccentricity: 0.0014784 Arg of perigee: 333.1612 deg Mean anomaly: 26.8794 deg Mean motion: 14.12876823 rev/day Decay rate: 9.89e-06 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 32220 Satellite: NOAA-10 Catalog number: 16969 Epoch time: 91073.90651808 Element set: 557 Inclination: 98.5725 deg RA of node: 100.4801 deg Eccentricity: 0.0013162 Arg of perigee: 197.6458 deg Mean anomaly: 162.4270 deg Mean motion: 14.23969219 rev/day Decay rate: 1.088e-05 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 23313 Satellite: MET-2/17 Catalog number: 18820 Epoch time: 91073.64899932 Element set: 461 Inclination: 82.5460 deg RA of node: 135.4663 deg Eccentricity: 0.0015355 Arg of perigee: 288.6599 deg Mean anomaly: 71.2891 deg Mean motion: 13.84453181 rev/day Decay rate: 4.97e-06 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 15760 Satellite: MET-3/2 Catalog number: 19336 Epoch time: 91074.04387406 Element set: 712 Inclination: 82.5416 deg RA of node: 85.8137 deg Eccentricity: 0.0017958 Arg of perigee: 1.7769 deg Mean anomaly: 358.3399 deg Mean motion: 13.16915916 rev/day Decay rate: 7.4e-07 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 12660 Satellite: NOAA-11 Catalog number: 19531 Epoch time: 91073.54430414 Element set: 469 Inclination: 99.0174 deg RA of node: 27.6935 deg Eccentricity: 0.0011161 Arg of perigee: 242.2837 deg Mean anomaly: 117.7184 deg Mean motion: 14.11983283 rev/day Decay rate: 1.281e-05 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 12711 Satellite: MET-2/18 Catalog number: 19851 Epoch time: 91073.83642232 Element set: 413 Inclination: 82.5227 deg RA of node: 12.8078 deg Eccentricity: 0.0014374 Arg of perigee: 333.1803 deg Mean anomaly: 26.8626 deg Mean motion: 13.84079479 rev/day Decay rate: 4.65e-06 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 10300 Satellite: MET-3/3 Catalog number: 20305 Epoch time: 91073.90088985 Element set: 324 Inclination: 82.5487 deg RA of node: 27.0543 deg Eccentricity: 0.0016859 Arg of perigee: 16.2940 deg Mean anomaly: 343.8731 deg Mean motion: 13.15941549 rev/day Decay rate: 4.3e-07 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 6655 Satellite: MET-2/19 Catalog number: 20670 Epoch time: 91073.99417667 Element set: 159 Inclination: 82.5435 deg RA of node: 73.7065 deg Eccentricity: 0.0014250 Arg of perigee: 249.9417 deg Mean anomaly: 110.0206 deg Mean motion: 13.83922494 rev/day Decay rate: 1.92e-06 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 3597 Satellite: FY-1/2 Catalog number: 20788 Epoch time: 91072.24506318 Element set: 106 Inclination: 98.9489 deg RA of node: 107.7205 deg Eccentricity: 0.0016389 Arg of perigee: 84.9413 deg Mean anomaly: 275.3618 deg Mean motion: 14.01071252 rev/day Decay rate: 6.48e-06 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 2677 Satellite: MET-2/20 Catalog number: 20826 Epoch time: 91073.82581576 Element set: 112 Inclination: 82.5217 deg RA of node: 12.9235 deg Eccentricity: 0.0013355 Arg of perigee: 138.3298 deg Mean anomaly: 221.8903 deg Mean motion: 13.83290337 rev/day Decay rate: 4.01e-06 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 2316 /EX SB KEPS @ AMSAT $ORBS-075.M Orbital Elements 075.MISC HR AMSAT ORBITAL ELEMENTS FOR MANNED AND MISCELLANEOUS SATELLITES FROM N3FKV HEWITT, TX March 16, 1991 TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT Satellite: MIR Catalog number: 16609 Epoch time: 91073.81143428 Element set: 316 Inclination: 51.6087 deg RA of node: 45.9606 deg Eccentricity: 0.0017261 Arg of perigee: 58.6490 deg Mean anomaly: 301.5239 deg Mean motion: 15.62798001 rev/day Decay rate: 3.0040e-04 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 29038 Satellite: HUBBLE Catalog number: 20580 Epoch time: 91073.07891131 Element set: 403 Inclination: 28.4694 deg RA of node: 330.1449 deg Eccentricity: 0.0005781 Arg of perigee: 40.5321 deg Mean anomaly: 319.5710 deg Mean motion: 14.86679396 rev/day Decay rate: 8.617e-05 rev/day^2 Epoch rev: 4814 /EX -- Gary W. Sanders (gws@n8emr or ...!osu-cis!n8emr!gws), 72277,1325 N8EMR @ W8CQK (ip addr) 44.70.0.1 [Ohio AMPR address coordinator] HAM BBS (1200/2400/9600/V.32/PEP/MNP=L5) 614-895-2553 Voice: 614-895-2552 (eves/weekends) ------------------------------ Date: 18 Mar 91 15:45:07 GMT From: genrad!dls@husc6.harvard.edu Subject: Hypercard HamStack Articles Part 4 of 8 To: info-hams@ucsd.edu 5-Feb-91 08:26 dls Updates for new feature BUGS to fix in HyperCard Ham Stacks This assumes that you already have the article on how to fix bugs in my HyperCard Ham Stacks. If you don't have this, ASK for it. It gives a general description of how to fix the most LIKELY bugs in the Ham Stacks. This contains the following updates: Novice Ham Stack v3.1 CHANGES to get to v3.2 - adds a new (but unnecessary for normal users!) feature to provide better score sheet printing, plus the capability to save scores for later printing. This is useful if you GIVE Novice tests using this stack (as I do!). Since this change is VERY COMPLICATED, I separated it from v3.1 changes. I repeat, this update is NOT NECESSARY for normal users. MSG: means type the following into the message box. You can get a message box at any time by pressing Ctrl M (in HyperCard, that is). Menuitem->Menuchoice: means choose the menu item as specified. Novice Ham Stack v3.1 CHANGES to get to v3.2: --------------------------------------------- 0. a. IMPORTANT, DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP. b. If you just updated from Version 3.0 to Version 3.1 using the above directions, don't do steps 8.c-d. If you already did, or you didn't just do the update, do this: Before opening Novice stack, pull up a message box and type: put true into hamstacktest Now open Novice stack. c. MSG: go card report d. If there isn't a button called "saved scores" on this card, STOP. This change will most likely not work, since the prototype feature is not in place. I suggest you simply send me a SASE and diskette to receive Version 3.2 if you really want it. Remember, this feature is NOT necessary for normal users. 1. a. Go->First b. Objects->Background Info, Click Script c. Edit script of "on buildList". What follows is a quick change lines, followed by the entire "on buildList" as it should appear after you are finished. (the <<< are used ONLY to show where the changes occur and are NOT part of the script). Remove 6 contiguous lines "put empty into ky1" thru "put empty into ky6". Remove 6 lines (not contiguous) "put ky1&x&...into ky1" thru "put ky6&x&...into ky6". Change "go to card K" to "go to card savedscores". Change next 6 lines to change "ky" to "sky". on buildList -- *** rename to buildList1 if using sequential questions -- or to buildList if using randomly-generated questions global questlist, rightone, lockkey, questans, questkey global sky1, sky2, sky3, sky4, sky5, sky6 -- used for saved ans key -- initialization set the cursor to 4 -- *** questgrp contains the number of questions in each question group -- and is used to generate random questions, one from each group. -- Note that the question groups MUST BE sequential in order for this -- to work. That is, group 1 must be the first 10 questions, group 2 -- must be the next 10 questions, and so on. put "10,10,10,13,13,13,10,14,10,11," into questgrp put "36,12,18,10,14,10,12,10,11,11," after questgrp put "12,11,10,10,10,12,11,12,10,17" after questgrp -- *** The number of commas in questans and questkey must be equal to -- number of questions in each test minus one. For example, for a -- 30-question test, there are 29 commas. put ",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,," into questans put ",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,," into questkey put empty into questlist put 0 into startgroup put empty into sky1 <<< put empty into sky2 put empty into sky3 put empty into sky4 put empty into sky5 put empty into sky6 set lockscreen to true -- generate the questions from subgroups randomly repeat with i = 1 to number of items of questgrp put startgroup into thisquest add the random of item i of questgrp to thisquest put questlist & "#" & thisquest & "," into questlist add item of i of questgrp to startgroup end repeat delete last character of questlist -- *** generate the answer key for these questions. this currently -- only handles up to first 51 questions. repeat with i = 1 to number of items of questlist if i > 51 then exit repeat put item of i of questlist into thisquest go to card thisquest -- *** You can put the card # or the subelement # or question # -- as question # in key put "#" & i into x -- question # option -- put the short name of this card into x -- card # option -- put first word of field "Q1" into x -- subelement # option put first word of field "Q1" into y -- used for answer key if i < 18 then put sky1&x&x&"("&y&")"&return into sky1 <<< put sky2&rightone&return into sky2 else if i < 35 then put sky3&x&x&"("&y&")"&return into sky3 <<< put sky4&rightone&return into sky4 else put sky5&x&x&"("&y&")"&return into sky5 <<< put sky6&rightone&return into sky6 end if end repeat go to card savedscores <<< put sky1 into field key1 <<< put sky2 into field key2 put sky3 into field key3 put sky4 into field key4 put sky5 into field key5 put sky6 into field key6 -- prevent buildList from being called again immediately put true into lockkey go to first card set lockscreen to false end buildList d. Without exiting the script, make similar changes to "on buildList1". Here are quick change lines, followed by the complete script after change has been made. Add "global sky1, sky2, sky3, sky4, sky5, sky6". Change 4 lines "put empty into ky1" thru "put empty into ky4" to 6 lines "put empty into sky1" thru "put empty into sky6". Change "if i > 32 then exit repeat" to "if i > 51 then exit repeat". Delete 7 lines "if i < 17 then" thru "end if" and copy the 10 lines from buildList into buildList1, same place, starting from "if i < 18 then" thru "end if". Change "go to card K" to "go to card savedscores". Change 4 lines "put ky1 into field key1" thru "put ky4 into field key4" to 6 lines "put sky1 into field key1" thru "put sky6 into field key6". on buildList1 -- *** rename to buildList for sequential questions or to -- buildList1 for randomly-generated questions global questlist, rightone, lockkey, questans, questkey global sky1, sky2, sky3, sky4, sky5, sky6 -- used for saved ans key -- initialization set the cursor to 4 -- *** be sure that the group number of each question card matches the -- question number. For example, question #1 is group 1, question -- #2 is group 2, and so on. put empty into questlist put empty into questans put emtpy into questkey put empty into sky1 <<< put empty into sky2 put empty into sky3 put empty into sky4 put empty into sky5 put empty into sky6 set lockscreen to true repeat with i = 1 to number of cards of bkgnd Test put "#" & i & "," after questlist put "," after questans put "," after questkey end repeat delete last character of questlist delete last character of questans delete last character of questkey -- *** generate the answer key for these questions. This currently -- only works for first 51 questions. repeat with i = 1 to number of items of questlist if i > 51 then exit repeat <<< put item i of questlist into thisquest go to card thisquest -- You can put the card # or the subelement # as question # in key put the short name of this card into x -- put first word of field "Q1" into x if i < 18 then <<< put sky1&x&x&"("&y&")"&return into sky1 <<< put sky2&rightone&return into sky2 <<< else if i < 35 then <<< put sky3&x&x&"("&y&")"&return into sky3 <<< put sky4&rightone&return into sky4 <<< else <<< put sky5&x&x&"("&y&")"&return into sky5 <<< put sky6&rightone&return into sky6 <<< end if <<< end repeat go to card savedscores <<< put sky1 into field key1 <<< put sky2 into field key2 <<< put sky3 into field key3 <<< put sky4 into field key4 <<< put sky5 into field key5 <<< put sky6 into field key6 <<< -- prevent buildList from being called again immediately put true into lockkey go to first card set lockscreen to false end buildList1 e. Click OK. 2. a. Go to help card (click ? button) b. Change "Version 3.1" to "Version 3.2". c. Add this paragraph right before last paragraph with starts "If you like...": There is a new button on the report card which allows score data from a test to be stored for printing later (if you just want to print the scores, use the Print Scores button). This is useful if you don't have a printer hooked up currently. It will display the name of the card it is storing before creating it. WRITE THIS NAME DOWN. Later, you may go to that card and print the scores by getting a message box (hold down the Control key and press m) and typing go card x where x is the name it displayed. After printing the card, there is a button on that card to delete the card since it is no longer needed. 3. a. MSG: go card report b. Objects->Card Info, click Script c. Add script "on build_savedscores" and modify "on savesc" to look like the following: on build_savedscores global questlist, questans global username put empty into savedscore1 put empty into savedscore2 put empty into savedscore3 repeat with i = 1 to number of items of questlist if i < 18 then put savedscore1&item i of questans&return into savedscore1 else if i < 35 then put savedscore2&item i of questans&return into savedscore2 else put savedscore3&item i of questans&return into savedscore3 end if end repeat go card savedscores put username into cd field name put the date into cd field date put savedscore1 into field ans1 put savedscore2 into field ans2 put savedscore3 into field ans3 end build_savedscores on savesc global username doMenu "Copy Card" doMenu "Paste Card" set name of this card to "report_" & username set cantDelete of this card to false set the script of this card to empty set the script of button "save scores" to empty set the script of button "Print Score" to empty build_savedscores doMenu "Copy Card" doMenu "Paste Card" set the name of this card to "savedscores_" & username set cantDelete of this card to false set the script of this card to empty show button "Delete Saved" show button "Print Score" go card report end savesc d. Click OK e. Hold Option & Control down, then click on "Print Score" button to edit its script. f. Change "go card K" to "build_saveedscores" g. Click OK h. Hold Option & Control down, then click on "save scores" button to edit it's script. i. Change the script to read as follows" on mouseUp global username put "this will create card savedscores_" & username into foo answer foo with "OK" or "Cancel" if it is "Cancel" then exit mouseUp end if get userlevel put it into savelevel set the userlevel to 5 savesc set the userlevel to savelevel end mouseUp j. Click OK 4. a. MSG: go card K b. Edit->Delete Card 5. a. MSG: go card savedscores b. Edit "Print Score" button script as follows (3h to enter script): on mouseUp lock screen open printing put "report_" & cd field name into foo push card get foo go card it print this card pop card print this card close printing unlock screen end mouseUp c. Create new button: Objects->Create Button with these attributes: name "Delete Saved", transparent, Show Name, Icon 2 (this is an exclamation inside a triangle). Size the button so it's the same size as "Print Score" button and place it next to the "Print Score" button. d. Tools->Browse (top left icon). e. Edit "Delete Saved" button script as follows: on mouseUp put cd field name into foo2 get the short name of this card put it into foo1 if it is "savedscores" then answer "Can't delete this savedscores card" with "Cancel" exit mouseUp end if if foo2 is empty then answer "Can't delete card with no Username" with "Cancel" exit mouseUp end if get the userlevel put it into savelevel set the userlevel to 5 put "report_" & foo2 into foo get foo go card it doMenu "Delete Card" put "savedscores_" & foo2 into foo get foo go card it doMenu "Delete Card" set the userlevel to savelevel go card report end mouseUp f. MSG: hide button "Print Score" g. MSG: hide button "Delete Saved" 6. a. MSG: go card "About...." b. Click Compact Stack button c. MSG: put false into hamstacktest d. go to Home stack by clicking on any house, UPDATE COMPLETE! ->Diana L. Syriac dls@genrad.com Ham: KC1SP (Sweet Pea) <- ->I'D RATHER BE FLYING! P-ASEL, INST CAP: 1LT, Freedom 690 Mobile<- ->GenRad AD ASTRA, PER ASPERA <- ->MS/6, 300 Baker Ave, Concord, Mass. 01742 (508) 369-4400 x2459 <- ------------------------------ Date: 14 Mar 91 19:31:19 GMT From: swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!rex!rouge!pc.usl.edu!jpd@ucsd.edu Subject: TH-77A mod info and observations To: info-hams@ucsd.edu Due to the recent comments about the TH-77A, I am reposting the modification info and a collection of observations about this HT: 20 NOV 1990: Here is the complete list of mods that are know to date for the Kenwood TH-77A Dual Band hand held: >From the factory, it can receive 138-174MHz and seems to do it quite well with the supplied rubber duck antenna. It also can receive 438-450MHz and, likewise, does this quite well too! One very interesting feature of the TH77A is that it can do *DUAL* UHF receive! To do this it uses the VHF receive section and you have less sensitivity, but I really haven't noticed much signal degradation at all. Kenwood has made this radio compatible with the new ICOM S-Series radios from what I can tell. It has DTSS (Dual Tone Squelch System) which means that your radio will not break squelch until it hears a particular sequence of three DTMF tones (ICOM has this also and they call it Coded Squelch which also use three tones). The TH77A also has a paging function that works *exactly* like the ICOM paging. You program the radio with a personal 3 digit DTMF code and someone pages you by transmitting YOUR 3 digit code, followed by a * character and then their own 3 digit code. The ICOM will start to ring to let you know that you have been paged and display the 3 digit code of the person that has paged you. The TH77A will beep once and open squelch as long as the person that paged you does not drop carrier (I prefer the ICOM method for this part, but there is a work around that I will mention in a bit). One thing the TH77A does at this point is bring up a timer so you know how long its been since you've been paged. Maximum time is 99 hours and 99 minutes. Let's see if your battery can hold out that long! The workaround so the TH77A will ring, rather than just beep and open squelch is to put the radio in the pager mode AND also put it in Tone Alert. When you get paged... the radio will "beep beep (pause) beep beep" five times and start up the timer. Kenwood has provided two different types of BEEPS for you. The second type is to ring like an electronic telephone. This one *REALLY* sounds nice!! For those of you that like autodial memories, there are 10 memories that can store 15 characters each. There are 40 regular frequency memories in this radio and you can make them all UHF if you like (no restriction). NOW! On to the *EXTRA* capabilities (there are other BASIC functions that I didn't mention, those were just the highlights). After making a few modifications to this radio, you can get it to do the regular stuff that the IC24AT will do, such as AM aircraft, expanded UHF (400-512 depending on PLL lock) and 800-950 (again, depending on PLL lock) in addition to cross band repeat. HOW DO YOU DO THIS!? Easy (if you've got a steady had for removing a chip resistor!). Open it up. There are 3 screws visible on the outside and 4 more underneath the battery pack. Unlike most radios, this one doesn't have a spring for the battery release switch. It gets spring action from the metal plate that you will remove when you take out the four screws. I love it! Anyway, the area you will be working in is on the control board which is fixed to the front section of the radio. In particular, look for the yellow electrolytic capacitor (its yellow in mine) that is at the dead center of the board (there are two IC's, one above this and 1 below this). You will have to remove the electrolytic capacitor (C124) and set it aside for a few minutes. You will be putting it back afterward. The reason for removing this is so that you can remove a chip resistor that is underneath it. To avoid tearing the flex board foil traces, do not bend the leads of the capacitor. There is a green wire that is connected to one side of this capacitor. If you disconnect one side of this green wire, you will get RX from 400-512 (PLL lock depends on the radio, but you can DIAL from 400 to 512). Orient the radio so that the volume controls and BNC are at 12 O'Clock on your table (farthest from you) and the bottom (where the battery connects) is at 6 O'Clock (nearest you). In the area where you removed the capacitor, you will see a blank space where there could have been a chip resistor followed by two chip resistors side-by-side and in the next row below that, you will see 3 more that are side-by-side. There is one to the left of these two rows that is kind of off center. Now, there are three ways to configure this radio at this point: 1 - With one side of the green wire pulled, you will have 136-174 RX, 400-512 RX. If that's all you want, you are done. 2 - By removing the rightmost chip resistor (R129), in addition to keeping one side of the green wire disconnected, you will have 136-174 RX, 400-512 RX, 118-136 AM RX, 800-950 RX. 3 - By removing both of the chip resistors, in addition to putting the green wire BACK where it belongs, you will have 136-174 RX/TX, 400-512 RX/TX, 118-136 AM RX and 800-950 RX. All three of these options include, of course, putting the electrolytic capacitor back in place afterwards. NOTE! ONCE YOU START DOING THIS STUFF, YOUR MEMORIES AND POWER ON SWITCH CONFIGURATIONS WILL ALL BE LOST! MAKE A NOTE OF HOW YOU ARE SETUP BEFORE YOU BEGIN! -- -- -- || || || / \ / \ / \ -------------------------- | | | \-\ | | | /---------\ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | \---------/ | | | | -- -- -- | | || || <================== REMOVE THE RIGHT ONE | -- -- -- | FOR AM/800-950 RX. | -- | REMOVE BOTH TO ALSO | || -- -- -- -/ GET EXTENDED TX. | -- || || || / | -- -- -- | | | | /------------\ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | \------------/ | | | | | -------------------------- Layout shown with electrolytic capacitor C124 removed The best way to do this is to heat up both sides of the resistor and push it out of the way with something small. At least this was the best way for me! Once it's out, put the capacitor back in place and close it up. (Put the green wire back also, if you are making the out of band TX mod too!) TO OPERATE THE NEW FEATURES To receive AM aircraft, get the VHF side in the main band and hit the ENT key twice to go to the VFO. Once you are in the VFO, hit the UxU key twice. Once for dual UHF receive and the 2nd time for AM (118-136). To receive 800-950, get the UHF side in the main band and hit the ENT key twice to go to the VFO. Once you are in the VFO, hit the UxU key once. To enable crossband repeat, hold down the SUB BAND UP ARROW key while turning on power. To disable, do the same thing again. Kenwood says that both bands can contain shift information but only one band can include an encode/decode tone. One more thing. The POWER ON + 8 KEY that allows you to select the kind of memory recall will be a bit different. Now, you will have an extra option in the right side of the display. E1 or E2 which may be selected with the VFO control on the top of the radio. E1 mode will allow you to automatically make the radio switch to AM or switch to the 800MHz stuff as you use the VFO knob to move through your memory channels. E2 mode will skip over any memories that are AM or 800-950MHz. In E2, the only way to recall one of the *special* memories is to go to the VFO, hit the UxU key to go to AM or 800MHz and then recall one of these memories. Personally, I have mine in E1 and don't know any reason why anyone would want to be in E2, but its there if you need it! The Kenwood modification sheet says the following about AM sensitivity: While the receiver sensitivity is neither specified nor guaranteed for the AM range, the sensitivity is typically less than 1uV for 10dB signal plus noise to noise ratio between 123-131MHz. The band edges, however, measure between 8-20uV for 1dB S+N/N ratio. SOME PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS My radio seems to have a hole in it in the 800MHz band. I get this beeping sound when I try tuning between 864-875MHz (I believe the TH77A beeps when it can't lock). Also, the sensitivity could be better around 483MHz (local Sheriff). I did notice that using the dual UHF receive and tuning to 483MHz was better than using the straight UHF receive. (Remember, the dual UHF RX uses the VHF section with reduced sensitivity. Well, its reduced in the amateur portion, but seems to be enhanced out of the band!) At around 506MHz (Los Angeles PD) its VERY weak. I could barely hear anything WITH an outside antenna. Maybe some tweaking inside could improve this (I haven't really looked for the VCO yet). Many thanks to Pontus Hedman (rph@sq.com) for helping me put this information together! Thanks also goes out to James Dugal (jpd@pc.usl.edu). By the way, Pontus did mention that checking the input frequency was a bit annoying. You have to hit FUNCTION SHIFT to get the radio to REVERSE and listen to the input. I agree! Anyway, hope this information helps you get more from you new toy! Its a *REALLY* nice radio!! Gerald J. Walsh | Internet: gwalsh@kilroy.jpl.nasa.gov Jet Propulsion Laboratory | Phone : (818) 354-3913 RF and Microwave Subsystems Section | Fax : (818) 354-2825 M/S 238-528 | 4800 Oak Grove Drive | Pasadena, CA 91109 | ----- End Included Message ----- Looks good! One more feature worth mentioning for humour value: If you hold down M and PTT and power up, the HT enters "game mode". You get "0000" on the left of the screen. Press "0" and digits start changing rapidly in hex (consequently all appearing as "8"). By pressing 1,2,3 or F you stop the appropriate column. If they all come up the same, er, well I guess you win... maybe something good happens then. Maybe it enables transmit on, cellphone, air, and 30cm :-). At 1 chance in 65536 I'm not about to try to find out, though... (Somebody with the service manual told me the above) -- Pontus Hedman rph@sq.com {uunet|utzoo}!sq!rph VE3RPH (416) 963-8337 Despite what I said in my previous msg about not wanting to try it, I just did. Much to my amazement, after only one or two minutes, I won! By timing the keypresses very carefully, one can improve the chances from 1 in 4096 significantly, it seems [ignore my "1 in 65536" in my previous mail, obviously I wasn't thinking straight.. obviously there are 16 winning combinations out of 65536] And yes, something Interesting does happen when you get all four numbers the same (at least when you get "2222" like I got). More specifically, the display starts doing something humorous. Subject: Re: Your mod results To: jpd@pc.usl.edu (Dugal James P.) From: gwalsh@kilroy.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (Gerald J. Walsh) > I have serial number 20603908. I have serial number 20603539. > UHF receiver beeps in the following ranges: 400-417, 460-468, 860-880. The 400-417 seems to match mine exactly! The other two are different. Mine beeps between 460-464 and 864-874. Wow, that's quite a big hole in the 800 band on yours! > VHF receiver in UHF mode beeps in the 489-512 range. It does appear > to be more sensitive below 489 than the 'real' UHF receiver. Yep! This is exactly like mine! > VHF receiver in 118-136 mode seems most sensitive around 121 MHz. > I could receive aircraft around 133.65, but had difficulty in > setting the squelch to still be able to hear weak signals there. Well, I haven't played much with AM to be sure where its more sensitive. It does copy 124.900 quite well (LAX approach). I only hear the planes though and I haven't been able to hear an ATIS stuff. > I did have to separate the cap > from the glue holding it down. In fact, I separated the glue from > the plastic film over the IC, and later applied a spot of epoxy to reattach > the glue to the plastic. Yeah, I had to use a lot of force to cut that glue away. I was VERY scary doing that! I didn't think of gluing it back though. > All in all, I'm pleased so far. It looks like I'll use the small coaxial > power plug from Radio Shack to power it at work; but the plug is hard to > remove since the top is so crowded. I wonder if the Kenwood plug has this Yeah, I am using the Radio Shack plug also and its small enough to be a bumber at pulling out! I just wonder how long the little rubber cap can take the punishment of being opened and closed (the one that covers the DC jack slot). I've been using the PB-7 on it a lot. That 1100mA sucker lasts forever! I don't mind the size of the radio with it on either. I kinda like it a bit better. I used to have the Yaesu FT-727 and upgraded to this one. I really couldn't stand the large antenna on it. This one is very nice and doesn't seem to have the problems that the IC-24AT does (people have been saying its more of a dummy load than an antenna!). -> Gerry 3/14/91 -- A few more observations: Many of the TH-77a's with 206* serial numbers have problems with memory loss when they are operating and the pack runs down. This is cured by a resistor change. AES replaced it in my TH77 without charge. I don't know which resistor needs to be changed, however. Also, some of the newer TH77a's seem to have a tone mixing with the audio. PL disable has no effect; speculation points to a dc-dc converter in the LCD display circuitry. Due to the weak audio I generally run the volume near max. And I find that my ears are hurting from the high-pitched noise when the HT squelch closes. This is most irritating! I recently did some sensitivity measurements of the TH77a. Here are the results again: SENSITVITY MEASUREMENTS TH-77A USING AN IFR MOD 1000S SERVICE MONITOR 1000 HZ TONE REFERENCE IS 2 LCD SEGMENTS LIT FREQ. SIGNAL MHZ MICROVOLTS 118 1.6 AM 123 0.5 128 0.5 133 0.7 136 0.8 136 0.3 FM 141 0.3 146 0.4 151 0.4 156 0.4 161 0.5 166 1.0 171 2.0 174 2.5 FREQ. SIGNAL SIGNAL MHZ uV. uV. VHF VFO UHF VFO 400 8.0 NO RX 410 3.0 20.0 420 2.0 5.0 430 0.8 1.0 440 0.5 0.3 450 0.7 0.3 460 1.0 NO RX (birdie?) 470 1.7 3.5 480 3.0 20.0 490 5.0 40.0 500 7.0 50.0 512 NO RX 80.0 800 30.0 810 15.0 820 5.0 830 3.0 840 2.0 850 1.7 860 NO RX 870 3.5 880 4.5 890 5.0 900 6.0 910 8.0 920 11.0 930 15.0 940 15.0 950 15.0 -- -- James Dugal, N5KNX Internet: jpd@usl.edu Associate Director Ham packet: n5knx@k5arh Computing Center US Mail: PO Box 42770 Lafayette, LA 70504 University of Southwestern LA. Tel. 318-231-6417 U.S.A. ------------------------------ End of Info-Hams Digest ******************************