[amsat-bb] re: AO-40 Spreadsheets

[Tovar <tvr@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

   Using Office X I have enabled macros on the startup of the spreadsheet and
   also in turned off "macro virus protection" in the preferences -- all with
   no effect. Funny, but I've found Excel X to be extremely compatible with its
   Windows counterpart and swap files every day - but I've not really done
   anything to duplicate the button macros so maybe that is another Microsoft
   "feature."

That's discouraging, and as i understand it, both are Microsoft products.
Maybe they want you to have to buy their most recent version (even if it
isn't available for the Mac -- hey, that way you get to buy their O/S as
well...)  Sorry for the cynicism, folks; i've developed software under/for
Windows NT, etc., and i don't enjoy it (and alas, the company i worked for
ceased operations last February, so i can't try it there).

Maybe the fix for Mac folks is for someone to save copies of this spread-
sheet on their WWW site after clicking on each of the comment/useful uplink/
downlink configurations.  It sounds tedious, but there aren't that many 
modes currently in active use (or likely to be) and at least that way the
Macintosh folks can figure on something beside 436 MHz uplink and 2.4 GHz
downlink? Perhaps it might work at least partially for 'gnumeric' as well??

AL7EB's response was very helpful and explained why i was having problems 
before.  It might even be sufficient for me to come up with a workable 
uplink antenna.  K9KK's posting on a related topic was also a useful datum.

But one question still remains. The working spreadsheet on the Mac is quite
pretty and a credit to the person who developed it.  But the calculations 
can't be so complex that they requires fancy software and can't be done by 
hand.  The formulae should be well known, but the needed values aren't 
necessarily going to be in the books.

How does someone calculate the uplink/downlink requirements without using
Microsoft software?
				 -- KD6PAG


P.S.  I'm not just asking someone else to do the work.  While i am just a
programmer and not a tech. writer, if someone can explain to me how to do
it for AO-40 (perhaps making reference to ARRL publications, many of which
are available in my local library system), perhaps i can either write up
the explanation for general consumption and/or generate an open source
solution (perhaps even a CGI) that makes this information accessible to 
everyone.
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