Monday 7/15/19 at 7:00 PM
Norman P. Murray Center, 24932 Veterans Way, Mission Viejo CA
Robert MacHale (KE6BLR) will be expanding on his Space Communicator presentation delivered at the DX Convention in April 2017. The focus of this presentation is on making contact with the International Space Station by sending and receiving APRS text messages to and from the RS0ISS callsign. We will discuss the basics of tracking satellites in real time with Two Line Elements (TLEs).
He has developed a home brew Az/El rotator with robotics parts from ServoCity and Arduino parts from Adafruit. This project code named “R2D2M2” mounts either the Arrow II antenna or the Elk antenna. These are the two most commonly used portable antennas for 2m/70cm and satellite communications.
Robert also works with Boy Scouts achieving merit badges in Radio, Robotics, and Space Exploration. He is a leading member of Space Communicator Club providing tools for iGates sharing Satellite APRS traffic over the APRS-IS network.
Ham Radio Examinations will be administered at 6:00 PM, prior to the start of our general meeting. Cost is $15/attempt. Pre-registration is not required and you don’t need to be a SOARA member to take the test.