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  • Moon Bounce – Using The Moon As a Satellite

    Moon Bounce – Using The Moon As a Satellite

    Moon Bounce – Using The Moon As a Satellite

    EME is a technique where the moon is used to reflect radio signals from one part of the world to another. The moon is reflective to radio waves and acts as a passive satellite.

    Amateur operations use VHF, UHF and microwave frequencies. All amateur frequency bands from 50 MHz to 47 GHz have been used successfully, but most EME communications are on the 144, 432, or 1296 MHz bands. To listen in you will need a radio capable of receiving CW and/or SSB as Morse code is commonly used with EME, Voice is used but is less common than morse. you will need a Yagi antenna with at least 12 dBd gain.

    Because the moon moves in relation to Earth, there is a slight doppler shift on EME signals. At moonrise, a 2m EME signal may be shifted up in frequency by as much as 350 Hz. The doppler slowly comes down, reaching zero when the moon is passing your longitude, then starts to shift in a negative direction, going as much as 350 Hz down by moon set.

    The moon follows many cycles. The distance between the Earth and the moon is not constant. It varies, and generally there will be a perigee (moon closest to Earth) and an apogee (moon furtherest from Earth) each month.

    Path loss to the moon and back is roughly 2 dB less at perigee than at apogee. This can make a very noticeable difference for small stations. Also, the sky behind the moon can be very noisy at certain times. All planets, stars, etc. emit noise across the radio spectrum, and most EME systems are sensitive enough to hear this noise. Sky noise is generally at its worst when the moon is crossing the galactic plane (moon appears in the milky way), which occurs twice each month, this can make receiving weak stations difficult.

    Signals also tend to exhibit a rapid, almost fluttery fading known as libration fading. This is caused by the irregular surface of the moon, which “rocks back and forth” slightly as viewed from Earth. Libration can cause signals to go above and below the average level. Libration peaks, which can last up to a couple of seconds at 2 meters, can actually help the small station make contacts they would not be able to otherwise.

    To transmit signals off the moon you will need a minimum of 150 watts and a low noise amplifier to amplify the weak signal that you may receive, when transmitting you will notice that when you stop to receive you will hear your own transmission as your own signal will reflect back to you

    By Daktologist

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  • Sending and Receiving Pictures by Radio

    Sending and Receiving Pictures by Radio

    Sending and Receiving Pictures by Radio

    Slow scan TV is a way to send still pictures by radio. Pictures can be sent by using SSTV software to convert pictures into audio tones which are then transmitted to who ever you are trying to send pictures to. SSTV generally takes between 8 seconds to a couple of minutes to send depending on the mode used, size and whether or not the picture is color or greyscale.

    The main SSTV modes in use are AVT, Robot, Martin and Scotty. It depends on the mode used and the settings used with a particular mode as to how long it will take to transmit, picture quality and color. e.g AVT 8 takes 8 seconds to transmit a greyscale picture 128×128 in size which is the smallest and fastest mode but has poor picture quality where Martin M1 takes 114 seconds to transmit a color picture with 240 scan lines and with good picture quality

    To receive SSTV all you need is a shortwave radio capable of receiving SSB signals, an audio cable and SSTV decoding software that can use the soundcard as an input.

    SSTV can normally be heard on the following frequency’s

    3845 kHz LSB
    7170 kHz LSB
    14,230 kHz USB
    21,340 kHz USB
    28,680 kHz USB

    By Daktologist

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  • How-to Be Classy at a Restaurant While on a Date

    How-to Be Classy at a Restaurant While on a Date

    How to be Classy at a Restaurant While on a Date

    Want to get laid after your date? Many people don’t realize that being classy while at dinner can have a huge impact on whether or not you get pussy. So, what should you do to be classy?

    First, dress for the venue. Bathe, smell good but don’t wear overpowering cologne or perfume. Do not dress like a stripper or pimp. Try to dress well, but make sure it’s appropriate for the venue. Dinner at Chilis is not the same as dinner at your local upscale sushi place. Dress for the venue.

    When you arrive, the man should open the door. Be polite to the host/hostess. Be patient if you have to wait. If you can’t wait for a table, go somewhere else. Acting impatient when you first get to a restaurant is a big red flag: it shows you don’t deal well with minor inconveniences. Either wait patiently or go somewhere else.

    Be polite to your waitress/waiter. Women love when guys show signs of compassion. You can show compassion by being very polite to the server. They’re working hard (usually) and often have a shitton of things to be doing. If they don’t return immediately to refill your glass or whatever, let it go.

    Order an appetizer and an alcoholic drink (unless you’re out with a muslim or mormon, in which case you should murder/suicide for being retarded). If you know about beer/wine/sake/etc. you should show that by ordering something classy and maybe even showing your worldliness by telling your date a few things about proper tasting, etc. Order an appetizer so you can munch on something before your meal comes out. It makes a date less stressful and gives you both something to do. Ordering drinks shows you aren’t cheap and that you know a thing or two about alcohol, which makes you look classy, depending on what you order. If you order something stupid, you’ll look like an alcoholic. If you order a glass of nice Cabernet Sauvignon or a 300ml bottle of Yaegaki Nigori sake to share with your date, you’ll look classy.

    Drink slowly. Eat somewhat slowly. Take your time. Chew with your fucking mouth closed. This should be self explanatory, but lots of people fail to do this.

    Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze.

    Do not talk with your mouth full. If you have to, cover your mouth with your hand. No one wants to see half-chewed food chunks in your mouth.

    This is important, but often overlooked: Tip well. No one likes a stingy person (except maybe another stingy person). Obviously tipping customs vary by country, but in the US 20% is standard. If they were ok, you tip 20%. If they were outstanding, you tip 25%, 30% or more, depending on how outstanding they were. If they fucked something up big time, you should still tip 10 or 15%. Never tip less than 10% unless they were the worst server ever. It’s insulting to the server, shows you’re stingy and makes you look like you have no sense of compassion.

    After dinner, chew gum or have a mint. Go for a walk, maybe get dessert at an ice cream place if you didn’t pig out at dinner. Men should always walk on the outside of the curb (closest to the street). In any case, open the car door for her, drive her home, walk her to her door, and kiss her. If she lets you kiss her, she might even let you inside. If she’s giving you the signs, go for it. Congrats! Your behavior at dinner got you laid.

    By fanglekai

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  • 5 Vegas Classic Cigar

    5 Vegas Classic Cigar

     5 Vegas Classic Cigar

    Many of you haven’t tried many cigars. I got into them a while back. 5 Vegas is an excellent brand, and their classic cigar is perfect for people who have some cigar smoking experience, but even total noobs can enjoy it as well. It’s a Churchill size, colorado claro (medium brown) cigar. It’s 7 inches (18cm) long, and 47-50/64ths of an inch wide, or 19-20mm wide.

    Take your well-humi’d cigar and inspect it. Make sure it’s free of tobacco beetle holes.

    Look at the label. Enjoy its nice color and how well it matches the cigar’s leaf wrapper. You’ll notice that I was a dumbfuck and cracked the outer leaf below the label. It didn’t affect my smoking experience much, but it was sad.

    This is a moderately priced cigar from Nicaragua. It’s hand made, as are all fine cigars.

    Inspect the cigar for tobacco beetle holes. Look at its gorgeous color. It’s a deep, rich golden caramel brown color. Smell the cigar, but slowly. Take several deep breaths to inhale the rich tobacco odor. It’s very pleasant, slightly sweet, and has lovely leather and wood undertones from spending several months in my humidor (thank you humidor!).

    This is definitely a medium bodied smoke. It’s a nice long burning one, easily 2 hours. Has a delicious tobacco taste, notes of cedar, leather, maybe molasses. Slightly peppery finish.

    It’s a great cigar for not a lot of money. Check www.cigarsinternational.com for pricing and deals.

    By fanglekai

  • Installing Satellite TV

    Installing Satellite TV

    How To Install a Satellite Dish and Receiver

    This guide will introduce you to the world of satellite TV. Receiving free satellite TV is cheap and easy, and can be installed by someone with even very limited technical experience.

    Equipment Needed

    • Satellite Dish
    • Ku Band LNBF ( if one isn’t provided with the dish )
    • Mounting Bracket
    • Heavy Duty Wood Screws ( if they don’t come with the bracket)
    • Satellite Finder
    • RG6 Coax
    • Wire cutters
    • Spanners
    • Knife
    • “F” Connectors
    • Satellite Receiver
    • Compass
    • Weather Proof Sealant ( Silicone)

    Satellite Finder:

    LNBF:

    How the dish works

    First off, The satellite dish. Basically it acts as a reflector that focuses and reflects the signal to a small device called an LNBF. The LNBF receives the satellite signal and converts it to a lower frequency that can easily be transferred down regular coaxial cable. As you can see below the pic shows how the dish works

    Setting up your dish:

    Firstly assemble the dish according to the manufacturers instructions, Next you will want to look on www.lyngsat.comand search for satellites in your part of the world. After finding the satellite you want to receive from go to http://dishpointer.com and select the satellite you chose from lyngsat from the drop down list, enter in your address and it will give the compass bering and elevation settings for your dish.

    Next mount the bracket on your house [B]( south side if you live in the northern hemisphere or on the north side if in the southern hemisphere )[/B], ensure the spot has a [B]good view of the sky[/B]. Coat around the mount with sealant so water doesn’t rot the timber its attached to Attach the dish to the bracket as shown in the manufacturers instructions. tighten the bolts just enough so you can still move the dish side to side and up and down. Next take your compass and aim your dish so the arm ( The pole in front) points to the compass bering you wrote down earlier. tighten the d-clamp nuts so you cant move the dish side to side. Now connect the cable to the LNBF as shown in the instructions. if you have done it correctly it should look like this

    Correct mounting :

    LNBF Connection :

    Ensure you place the supplied rubber weather boot over the connector before connecting it so water doesn’t leak in and damage the LNBF

    Now run the coaxial cable from your receiver to where the dish will be mounted, attach “F” connectors to each end

    Alignment of your dish

    Next connect your receiver as shown in the instructions, you wont get a signal yet as you need to align the dish. Switch the receiver on, this provides power through the coax to power the LNBF and the satellite finder. Now take a short piece of coax about 2 feet long and attach f connectors to each end. this forms a jumper cable so you can attach your satellite finder. if done correctly you should see the needle on the satellite finder moving and it may make a whining sound (depends on the satellite finder).

    Connecting the Receiver :

    Now move the dish so the elevation arrow points to the elevation you got from dishpointer.com. as you can see in the next pic it shows the arrow and numbers that indicate the elevation

    Elevation :

    Arrow is the indent on the black part below the silver numbers pointing to 45 degrees.

    Now tighten the elevation nut on the dish so the dish doesn’t move up and down. Now rotate the LNBF so you get a higher reading on the meter stop once you get to the highest reading you can get, if it goes full scale turn the gain knob down and keep adjusting the LNBF until the reading doesn’t get any higher, tighten the screw on the LNBF bracket when done. Congratulations you have now aligned your dish, ensure all nuts and bolts are tight to prevent movement. it should look something like this

    Dish :

    Tuning Receiver

    Following the instructions that came with the receiver set the Local Oscillator frequency ( Printed on the LNBF) next find the satellite you are trying to receive in the satellite database of the receiver select it and save your settings. The following pics explain the reason behind selecting the correct satellite from the database:

    I’m trying to receive Optus D1 as you can see I’m getting a signal when OPTUS D1 is selected

    However if I select OPTUS C1, I have low signal and no signal quality

    Next find the signal meter on the receiver menu and ensure that the signal strength and signal quality bars are at full or near full, if not check your alignment and cabling. now select auto scan and scan for channels. If all goes to plan it will find channels and you can now sit back and enjoy the satellite TV that you just installed

    Signal strength menu (Taken from my DVB-T Receiver but is similar on most satellite receivers

    Local Oscillator Freq ( Marked L.O) :

    Well that mostly sums it up, If you have any problems let me know and I will do my best to help you sort it

    By Daktologist

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