Lupi

@lupi

cow of tailed snake (gay)

they/them/moo
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you can say "chimoora" instead of "cow of tailed snake" if you want. its a good pun.

i ramble about aerospace sometimes
I take rocket photos and you can see them @aWildLupi

I have a terminal case of bovine pungiform encephalopathy, the bovine puns are cowmpulsory

they/them/moo where "moo" stands in for "you" or where it's funny, like "how are moo today, Lupi?" or "dancing with mooself"

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Lupi @lupi5/2/2023, 1:37 AM

amateur radio question

i want to up my launch viewing outreach game, and I know that for NASA launches, KSC broadcasts the feed on VHF 146.940 MHz and UHF 444.925 MHz, FM mode.

That's not going to have delay like webcasts are, between broadcast production and internet. If i got a 20 dollar baofeng uv-5r and a better antenna for it, could i rig that up with a 3.5mil patch cable to a portable speaker i've got? What's the range gonna be on a radio like that, will it do 10 miles across clear water fine?

rx only obviously, i'm not gonna pursue a license yet for tx

#amateur radio

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in reply to @lupi's post:

@kyogi5/2/2023, 3:39 AM

Yes, can confirm you should be able to easily receive within 10 miles for the VHF (146.940) or UHF (444.925) assuming level terrain. You can improve your reception cheaply by elevating your receiver and/or getting a slightly better antenna like the Nagoya 701/771. Also recommend that your recording device is battery powered to eliminate any grounding issues.

Pro-tip: You can practice receiving and set levels using the local weather broadcast - it will be in the range of 160.400 to 160.550MHz, at 50KHz steps.

@AndreL5/2/2023, 5:37 AM

You'll need an adapter to hook in the 3.5 mm patch cable, and you'll find the adapter costs almost as much as the radio. The 'Feng uses a two pin Kenwood-style speaker-mic. Be aware that plugging in the adapter with the radio on may cause it to briefly transmit. @kyogi is spot on that you should use the weather stations, for practice. You may find the radio is loud enough without the speaker.

If you use software to program the radio you should disable transmitting.

Range from the Baofeng is a complicated question, depending a lot on terrain, antennas, weather, and operator skill. From the right mountain tops contacts over 100 miles are easy, but in flat Florida your range is going to maybe 3 miles. BUT: N1KSC will have their repeater on a tower with either 25 or 50 watts into the feed. You should hear them from 10 miles over water just fine even with the duck antenna.

Lupi @lupi5/2/2023, 7:41 AM

oh, so it requires you to have both the 3.5mil and 2.5mil jacks on the side populated in order to use the 3.5 audio out? that's somethin' i wouldn't have figured out from just looking at product pages, good to know.

my intended setup is taking this to any one of the parks on the river (where I go along US1 varies, oftentimes it's Space View because I'm lazy, but Ozzy (the guy who successfully petitioned for us to get the 321 area code) generally has outreach covered there)
and hooking it into a loudspeaker (i've got this ryobi-branded one that runs off drill batteries) for the convenience of others to have a less-delayed launch feed, for what few launches support that option.

Ie, it's only the NASA ones, since SpaceX and other contractors don't broadcast their loops the same way. ULA usually offers a dial-in webex, NASA does as well, but I don't have the number for ULA's, and i'm not sure it'd be any easier to get a phone call to play over a loudspeaker.

The loudspeaker being necessary not because the signal's gonna be faint, but because it's gonna need to be decently loud to carry any amount of distance for a crowd to enjoy.

@AndreL5/2/2023, 7:26 PM

Here’s the pinout. The audio out is the 2.5 jack, the 3.5 is mic input. If you had a 2.5 to 3.5 cable (not sure if such exists ready made) you might be okay without anything in the mic, not sure.

If you’re on Reddit you might have better luck there.

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