Re: [amsat-bb] WX SAT de W4BUE
Rich, The cheapest way to do it is a USB RTL-SDR dongle ($10-$20). You might need the AMSAT broadband preamp ($50) depending on the antennas you plan to use. I wouldn't recommend this in a high RF environment, though. The FUNcube Dongle would be easier to setup, is less likely to need the preamp, and has more filtering than the RTL-SDR. It does cost $215, but pair that with the crossed dipole antenna from AMSAT-UK ($63) ( http://shop.amsat.org.uk/shop/article_50/FUNcube-Telemetry-Receive-Antenna-System.html?shop_param=cid%3D4%26aid%3D50%26) and you have an excellent system to receive WX satellites as well as the FUNcube-1 and FUNcube-2 telemetry. 73, Paul, N8HM On Wed, Aug 20, 2014 at 7:32 AM, Rich/wa4bue richard.s...@verizon.net wrote: Would someone please suggest an inexpensive broadband receiver for the weather SATS? We are gearing up for the new school year in Chesapeake, VA. Rich W4BUE / K4AMG ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] Intercontinental DX on AO-73
Good evening, On the 0250Z pass of AO-73, I was delighted to hear and work Paulo, PV8DX, very soon after AOS. While I have worked Paulo many times (five other times in just the past week), this was my first intercontinental QSO on AO-73 and my first intercontinental QSO on any satellite other than AO-7 and FO-29 with their higher orbits. My elevation was between 2 and 3 degrees during the QSO. AO-73 is in a slightly elliptical orbit of 682 km x 595 km, but it was at it's perigee of 595 km during this QSO. The distance between Paulo and I is 4,337 km, 899 km short of the theoretical maximum of 5,236 km at perigee. I have posted audio and a graphic from SatPC32 showing the satellite's footprint at the time of the QSO on YouTube: http://youtu.be/HLzMV7MGz0U Although I rushed the QSO as I did not know how much longer Paulo would be in the footprint, he was heard for another 30 seconds or so. Equipment used was my normal satellite station: two Yaesu FT-817s, a High Sierra Microwave LNAA146FIL preamp, and an Arrow II 146/437-10BP handheld yagi. I was operating off my apartment balcony with a very good view of the southern horizon in southwest Washington, DC. 73, Paul, N8HM ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] 73 on 73 Award Announcement
I am pleased to announce that I will be sponsoring a new award to promote activity on AO-73 (FUNcube-1). The requirements for this award are simple: 1. Work 73 unique stations on AO-73. 2. Contacts must be made on or after September 1, 2014. 3. There are no geographic restrictions on your operating location. There will be no cost for this award (donations to AMSAT-UK and AMSAT-NA's Fox program are encouraged though). No QSLs are required. When you complete the requirements, email your log extract including the callsign of each station worked, UTC, and date to n...@arrl.net as well as the address where you'd like the award certificate sent. Enjoy AO-73's transponder! 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] AO-73 Telemetry Question
The signal in that graphic seems strong enough to decode. The best way to use HDSDR or any SDR program with the FUNcube Dashboard is with a Virtual Audio Cable driver like this ( http://vb-audio.pagesperso-orange.fr/Cable/). Then you set your SDR software audio output to the VB-Cable Input (which looks like an additional sound card on your system) and set the FUNcube Dashboard soundcard input to VB-Cable Output. I also decode and upload telemetry by recording audio of passes with my FT-817 onto an audio recorder and using VLC Player to output the audio to the VB Cable. I decoded and uploaded 60 frames from half a pass of FUNcube-2 on UKube-1 last night that way. 73, Paul, N8HM On Tue, Aug 12, 2014 at 5:18 PM, Thomas Doyle tomdoyle1...@gmail.com wrote: Hi, Recorded an AO-73 telemetry pass (RF recording) this morning with HDSDR. Later fed it from HDSDR into the sound card and then to the FCD Dashboard (see pic). It appears the signal is making it to the Dashboard but nothing seems to happen. I tired (Auto Tune) on/off, and narrowing the bandwidth of the HDSDR filter to better match the bw of the signal but still nothing. It does seem to lock on to the (Detected Frequency 2262 Hz) but that's about all it does. The Dashboard is brilliant and I would like to get it working. Due to deed restrictions no outside antennas are allowed so the signal is not that strong here (about 5dB above the noise) and it might never work from here. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Any suggestions that we move to a new neighborhood that allows outside antennas will be forwarded to my wife :-) http://www.tomdoyle.org/dashboard1sm.png Tnx W9KE Tom Doyle ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] AO-73 at 03:20Z
Good evening, I will be on the 03:20Z AO-73 pass that covers much of North America this evening. Last night was fun! Hope to hear a few people on the satellite. I will call CQ at around 145.965 MHz. The satellite will enter sunlight at 03:27:45 and the transponder will shut off. 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] AO-73 at 03:20Z
Great to hear and work AA5PK, AC0RA, and CO6CBF on that pass. A couple of CW stations and one or two stations who couldn't find themselves were also heard in the passband. Nice to hear the transponder alive with signals on these late evening passes. 73, Paul, N8HM On Thu, Aug 7, 2014 at 7:09 PM, Paul Stoetzer n...@arrl.net wrote: Good evening, I will be on the 03:20Z AO-73 pass that covers much of North America this evening. Last night was fun! Hope to hear a few people on the satellite. I will call CQ at around 145.965 MHz. The satellite will enter sunlight at 03:27:45 and the transponder will shut off. 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] AO-73 tonight at 02:58Z
Worked W5PFG and CO6CBF on the pass. Satellite sounded great as it always does. With my Arrow and 2 FT-817s, I was able to locate my downlink with the satellite at about 1.5 degrees of elevation. My signal was plenty loud at about 2.5 degrees. 73, Paul, N8HM On Wed, Aug 6, 2014 at 8:53 PM, Paul Stoetzer n...@arrl.net wrote: Good evening, I will be on AO-73 tonight at around 02:58Z, calling CQ at around 145.965 MHz. These passes usually don't have much, if any, activity and I'd like to drum up a bit more. The satellite will enter sunlight at 03:05:45, giving about 7 minutes of transponder time here in Washington, DC. I will be operating off a south facing balcony, so I will probably lose the satellite about 30 seconds before the transponder shuts off. Tips for working AO-73: -Do not use computer control, the transponder frequencies are not stable and this will only result in frustration. Besides, manual Doppler control is much more fun than letting the computer do all the work! -I usually start a pass by trying to find myself come into the top edge of the passband (145.970 MHz). To do this, I usually start transmitting around 435.130 MHz and tuning up slowly until I can hear myself enter the passband. Then I can move around the transponder easily. Remember to tune your uplink to maintain an constant downlink frequency (the opposite of FO-29). -Keep power output down. The transponder has a very sensitive receiver and a very active AGC circuit. Excessive uplink power will not make your signal louder - it will only reduce that available for others on the transponder. With a clear view of the horizon, 5 watts to an Arrow or Elk is plenty for horizon to horizon coverage. Very slightly more might be necessary if you are beaming through trees or other obstructions, but try to keep power to 25-40 watts ERP. Hope to hear you on this evening! 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] dx on fo-29
That'd be a nice catch. Hope we can find some info and hear him again. There is a 6m spot for 9Z4F from last October, but I can't find any other info anywhere either. 73, Paul, N8HM On Mon, Aug 4, 2014 at 7:06 AM, Lizeth Norman normanliz...@gmail.com wrote: Checked qrz and others. Nothing on the new station I heard today: 9z4f. Call comes back as Tridindad/Tobago. Anyone know anything? I was playing with my dongle and wasn't able to get the station reconfigured to come back to him. Strong 5/9 into the bird, 73 de Norm n3ykf ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] Who is Midori ?
Well, it's a Scottish satellite and I found this reference on Wikipedia:
Midori is known in Scotland for being mentioned in the comedy Still
Game, in which the character Big Innes has violent reactions
whenever he drinks the liquor. {Series 3, Episode 4}
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midori_(liqueur)
Perhaps there's a better explanation!
73,
Paul, N8HM
On Sun, Aug 3, 2014 at 10:10 AM, Keith O'Brien n...@yahoo.com wrote:
Caught a bit of FunCube-2 CW beacon on 145.840
Sunday AM local and it sent:
'UKUBE 1 CALLING MIDORI'
Who is Midori ??
Keith N4ZQ
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Re: [amsat-bb] SO-50 QSO's
Also heard over the past few days on SO-50: -Whistling -1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 -CQ satellite -November You are definitely correct about the primary cause - people need to put some effort into optimizing their receive setup as SO-50 has a weak downlink signal. I was on a 10 degree max eastern pass of SO-50 (mostly over the Atlantic Ocean) around 1400Z this morning and had a nice 4 minute chat with KG4JPL. Signals were S9+20 on my meter at 10 degrees. I am using an Arrow II 146/437-10BP, two FT-817s, and a High Sierra Microwave LNAA432 preamp. Here are a few tips: -If it's the middle of the day or the evening and the pass is covering most of the United States, there is someone on. Definitely wait to hear it before transmitting. Only the night owl passes are devoid of activity. -Be sure you can adjust polarity. I've seen SO-50 signals go from inaudible to S9 with a simple twist of the Arrow/Elk. -Use good quality coax (I use LMR-240UF at the moment) and the shortest run you can use. -Operate full-duplex. Baofengs are cheap and have adequate sensitivity to receive SO-50, get one to use as your receive radio if you're trying to use a dual band HT without full-duplex capability. You might even mount the receive radio directly to your antenna if you are using an Arrow to eliminate coax losses. -Listen to what's going on. If there's a QSO in progress, wait until it's complete. If a station calls someone else, don't call them unless the station called is obviously not responding. If there's a rare grid or other rarely heard entity on the air, let those who need the grid work that station, don't try to make other QSOs. If you key up and have clearly lost the battle with another station, unkey. -Throwing out your callsign once in a pass is OK, but it's better to call specific stations. The good news for FM satellite fans: EO-80 and the Fox-1 series are coming! They will be much easier to hear with nice, loud 2m downlinks! EO-80 is even capable of putting out 2 watts (http://www.amsat-f.org/site/spip.php?article82) which would make it a whopping 20 dB louder than SO-50, though it probably won't (and shouldn't) be set to 2 watts output very often. And remember to donate to the Fox project here: http://www.amsat.org/?p=2957 73, Paul, N8HM On Sun, Aug 3, 2014 at 3:18 PM, John Belstner jbelst...@gmail.com wrote: I heard lots of new calls on SO-50 today and I really wanted to give them a shout back and say welcome. Unfortunately, that's about all I heard was a bunch of folks throwing their call sign out. Is there some transmit only mode that I'm not aware of? ;-) On a more serious note, try to hear the downlink first before transmitting. It reduces QRM and greatly increases your chances of making a QSO! Thanks and 73, John W9EN ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] SO-50 QSO's
Glenn, You are probably right, though I do think there are a few subscribers out there that could use a reminder. Also, the BB archives do show up in web searches, so someone searching for SO-50 might come across this thread and learn from it. 73, Paul, N8HM On Sun, Aug 3, 2014 at 3:51 PM, Glenn Miller - AA5PK aa...@suddenlink.net wrote: Paul, I think you're preaching to the choir. The offenders are not likely subscribers to the BBS and probably don't even know it exists. Glenn AA5PK -Original Message- From: Paul Stoetzer Sent: Sunday, August 03, 2014 2:47 PM To: John Belstner Cc: amsat-bb Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] SO-50 QSO's Also heard over the past few days on SO-50: -Whistling -1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 -CQ satellite -November You are definitely correct about the primary cause - people need to put some effort into optimizing their receive setup as SO-50 has a weak downlink signal. I was on a 10 degree max eastern pass of SO-50 (mostly over the Atlantic Ocean) around 1400Z this morning and had a nice 4 minute chat with KG4JPL. Signals were S9+20 on my meter at 10 degrees. I am using an Arrow II 146/437-10BP, two FT-817s, and a High Sierra Microwave LNAA432 preamp. Here are a few tips: -If it's the middle of the day or the evening and the pass is covering most of the United States, there is someone on. Definitely wait to hear it before transmitting. Only the night owl passes are devoid of activity. -Be sure you can adjust polarity. I've seen SO-50 signals go from inaudible to S9 with a simple twist of the Arrow/Elk. -Use good quality coax (I use LMR-240UF at the moment) and the shortest run you can use. -Operate full-duplex. Baofengs are cheap and have adequate sensitivity to receive SO-50, get one to use as your receive radio if you're trying to use a dual band HT without full-duplex capability. You might even mount the receive radio directly to your antenna if you are using an Arrow to eliminate coax losses. -Listen to what's going on. If there's a QSO in progress, wait until it's complete. If a station calls someone else, don't call them unless the station called is obviously not responding. If there's a rare grid or other rarely heard entity on the air, let those who need the grid work that station, don't try to make other QSOs. If you key up and have clearly lost the battle with another station, unkey. -Throwing out your callsign once in a pass is OK, but it's better to call specific stations. The good news for FM satellite fans: EO-80 and the Fox-1 series are coming! They will be much easier to hear with nice, loud 2m downlinks! EO-80 is even capable of putting out 2 watts (http://www.amsat-f.org/site/spip.php?article82) which would make it a whopping 20 dB louder than SO-50, though it probably won't (and shouldn't) be set to 2 watts output very often. And remember to donate to the Fox project here: http://www.amsat.org/?p=2957 73, Paul, N8HM On Sun, Aug 3, 2014 at 3:18 PM, John Belstner jbelst...@gmail.com wrote: I heard lots of new calls on SO-50 today and I really wanted to give them a shout back and say welcome. Unfortunately, that's about all I heard was a bunch of folks throwing their call sign out. Is there some transmit only mode that I'm not aware of? ;-) On a more serious note, try to hear the downlink first before transmitting. It reduces QRM and greatly increases your chances of making a QSO! Thanks and 73, John W9EN ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] AO-73 at 03:30Z
Good evening, I have been on a few evening passes of AO-73 lately and have found little to no activity. With the loss of VO-52, AO-73 now carries our easiest to hear linear transponder. I will be on the 03:30Z pass over the United States that covers much of the United States if anyone cares to join me. I will be calling CQ at around 145.965 MHz. The transponder will shut off just after 03:37:15 when it enters sunlight. 73, Paul, N8HM ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] AO-73 at 03:30Z
Worked W5PFG and heard one or two others tuning around trying to find themselves. I think someone came back to me right as the satellite went behind my building and probably seconds before the transponder turned off. Maybe next time! 73, Paul, N8HM On Sun, Aug 3, 2014 at 10:39 PM, Paul Stoetzer n...@arrl.net wrote: Good evening, I have been on a few evening passes of AO-73 lately and have found little to no activity. With the loss of VO-52, AO-73 now carries our easiest to hear linear transponder. I will be on the 03:30Z pass over the United States that covers much of the United States if anyone cares to join me. I will be calling CQ at around 145.965 MHz. The transponder will shut off just after 03:37:15 when it enters sunlight. 73, Paul, N8HM ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] Current Launch Costs From Spaceflight
The last time I saw this site, they did list prices for 1U and 2U CubeSats. Wonder why they don't anymore. 73, Paul, N8HM On Fri, Aug 1, 2014 at 12:16 PM, M5AKA m5...@yahoo.co.uk wrote: The $295,000 for a 3U CubeSat to LEO (which presumably means a 600 km or lower LEO) seems comparable with prices from others using proven launchers (typically $100k for 1U). It highlights the importance of partnering with others, such as Educational establishments to defray costs. 73 Trevor M5AKA On Friday, 1 August 2014, 16:45, Bill Ress b...@hsmicrowave.com wrote: Spaceflight has released it's latest pricing for launching various satellite sizes and orbit. Read it and weep. Pricing continues to rise. http://spaceflightservices.com/pricing-plans/ Regards...Bill - N6GHz ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] Current Launch Costs From Spaceflight
The Wikipedia article on CubeSats (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CubeSat) has a very nice summary of why they are the present and future of the small satellite industry: The CubeSat specification accomplishes several high-level goals. Simplification of the satellite's infrastructure makes it possible to design and produce a workable satellite at low cost. Encapsulation of the launcher–payload interface takes away the prohibitive amount of managerial work that would previously be required for mating a piggyback satellite with its launcher. Unification among payloads and launchers enables quick exchanges of payloads and utilization of launch opportunities on short notice. I've noticed from reading this board's current posts and archives that there is a bias against CubeSats from some due to a belief that they are somehow inherently limited in capability, unreliable, and short lived, but there is nothing inherent in the CubeSat format that makes it that way, it's simply a standardized way to build a satellite. 73, Paul, N8HM On Fri, Aug 1, 2014 at 1:01 PM, John Becker w0...@big-river.net wrote: Can some explain to me and others the big deal about cube sats? I just dont get it. John ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] Current Launch Costs From Spaceflight
True. That is a problem, though it's certainly a separate issue from the design and construction of the satellite. The best the amateur satellite community can do is cultivate relationships with those who wish to use our frequencies and hopefully receive some benefit. For example, several CubeSats have been launched using the ISIS TRXUV Transceiver as their communication system. That transceiver has the capability of being used in loopback mode that provides an FM-to-DSB single channel transponder. Perhaps if we ask nicely, we can get use of one or two of those when the organization that built and launched them are done with them. 73, Paul, N8HM On Fri, Aug 1, 2014 at 1:59 PM, B J va6...@gmail.com wrote: On 8/1/14, Paul Stoetzer n...@arrl.net wrote: The Wikipedia article on CubeSats (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CubeSat) has a very nice summary of why they are the present and future of the small satellite industry: The CubeSat specification accomplishes several high-level goals. Simplification of the satellite's infrastructure makes it possible to design and produce a workable satellite at low cost. Encapsulation of the launcher–payload interface takes away the prohibitive amount of managerial work that would previously be required for mating a piggyback satellite with its launcher. Unification among payloads and launchers enables quick exchanges of payloads and utilization of launch opportunities on short notice. I've noticed from reading this board's current posts and archives that there is a bias against CubeSats from some due to a belief that they are somehow inherently limited in capability, unreliable, and short lived, but there is nothing inherent in the CubeSat format that makes it that way, it's simply a standardized way to build a satellite. snip I think part of the opposition from the amateur radio community comes from an attitude of certain cubesat users that they have a right to use spectrum which is specifically allocated for amateur use. All they do is claim that they're amateurs (by not being affiliated with government or industry) and the law appears to let them get away with it. If hams have objections to it, they're told to get lost by those same users, almost as if hams have no right to those frequencies. Then again, what do you expect from a segment of the population that regards amateur radio as an anachronism? 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] Equatorial Crossing Data (EQX)
i8CVS posted the directions to calculate EQX and everything else needed to use an OSCARLATOR from Keplerian elements back in 2003. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/archive/amsat-bb/200203/msg00749.html I haven't done any programming in forever, but maybe I'll try to write a short program to automate those calculations at some point (unless someone already has). 73, Paul, N8HM On Thu, Jul 31, 2014 at 10:51 PM, EMike McCardel mccard...@gmail.com wrote: Does anyone know of a tracking application or program or some other software or existing source that will still produces or publishes equatorial crossing data for current satellites? EMike EMike McCardel, KC8YLD VP for Educational Relations AMSAT-NA Sent from my iPhone ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] Dual IC706 MKII-G operation
Tom, All you'll need is two good quality USB to CI-V cables. I've played with one with my Icom IC-R10 receiver that I got on eBay, but I'll let others who use more Icom equipment than me make specific recommendations. The problem with some of the cheap ones is the proliferation of counterfeit and poor quality USB to RS-232 chipsets from China. When you get the cables, set the two IC-706 CI-Vs to different addresses in the menu, and you can set them up in SatPC32 no problem. Of course, you can always just tune each radio manually! I find manual Doppler correction to be fun and even if I had a permanent home station, I'd probably operate manually a good portion of the time. 73, Paul, N8HM On Wed, Jul 30, 2014 at 8:09 AM, Tom Warren mtn...@hartcom.net wrote: Hello to the group…….. Does anyone have the specifics on how to setup two IC706 MKII-G’s for satellite ssb/cw operation (duplex). I’ve done a bit of browsing and read the manual but remain confused on the hardware needed when using my Compaq laptop (no serial port), only USB’s. Any advise would be appreciated. 73 Tom W4TMW ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] WB5H?? on AO-73
Good evening, I heard a station calling CQ on CW at the upper end of the passband on AO-73 at around 0318Z. He drifted up and out of the passband before I could get the full call, but I'm reasonably certain it was WB5H??. No other activity but the sound of my voice was heard for the six usable minutes before the satellite entered sunlight. Was it anyone here? Or does anyone know who that might have been. Admittedly, my CW is not very good. 73, Paul, N8HM ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] I want this. I want that. Here comes another FM LEO sat.
Off the top of my head: AO-51 - Battery failure (Problem fixed in Fox series - shorted batteries will be cut loose from the circuit and the satellite will operate when in the sun) AO-27 - Likely radiation damaged memory (Problem fixed in Fox series - IHU failure will cause it to become a dumb FM repeater) HO-68 - Failed relay (Problem fixed in Fox series I think - no relays) 73, Paul, N8HM On Tue, Jul 22, 2014 at 10:09 AM, John Becker w0...@big-river.net wrote: I dont keep up with these things at all but what happen to the others? failed, dropped out of orbit, what? One day someone is going to be saying sorry, ghost rider the pattern is full JAB ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] FM birds
Damon, They can certainly be frustrating when you have all these lids calling CQ and keying up who obviously cannot hear the satellite, but there is a ton of popular demand for FM satellites. I had a lot of people ask me what FM satellites were working at Dayton and at the hamfest I did a demo at in February. There are also a ton of callsigns that haven't been heard from on any satellite since the demise of AO--51. I've worked several new grids and states on FM. I have two states only on FM - AR and DE. I've never heard anyone on SSB/CW from either state. I also wouldn't have worked Dominica without an FM satellite. They are a very useful tool! Now, as far as the bad behavior on SO-50. At least 75% of that is due to people who can't hear the thing, but the Fox satellites are going to be 13 dB stronger than SO-50 (9 dB advantage due to the 2m downlink, about 4 dB due to the 750 mW power output compared to SO-50s 250 mW), so hopefully things will a bit more civilized when everyone can hear the satellite. Of course, we should be encouraging those interested in satellite communications to add linear transponder capability to their stations. There are quite a few stations that never miss an SO-50 pass. Why not get on the linear birds? It's not that difficult or expensive at all and it's a lot of fun! 73, Paul, N8HM On Tue, Jul 22, 2014 at 10:49 AM, wa4...@comcast.net wrote: I hope someone can launch a 100 of them, single channel ,pileup ,total chaos ,someone keying down on the entire pass what more would you want. All we need to bust a crazy pile up is a 300 watt mfj amp right? Lets all work to the good of the satellite part of the hobby. SSB/CW birds are the only way to go and if you build it they will come . Now if someone can build a multi channel FM bird then do it. Lets face it guys ,everyone got mad trying to work AO51 and AO27. Was it fun making a call to a grid you wanted only to have someone key down on him coming back to you, Is this what you want , Then go to 20 meters DX. Single channel FM birds are obsolete, Damon ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] AMSAT where are we going for what it is worth.
Rich, From your email: It is hard to use the birds in our K4AMG mentoring program since their orbits are mostly incompatible with classroom times. NO SOLUTION IN SITE. I would disagree that no solution is in site. Check the pass times for EO-79, EO-80, and UKube-1. You'll find they are very convenient for classroom demonstrations. We just need to be patient and wait until they are activated for us to use. AO-73 also passes over at good times for classroom telemetry demonstrations. 73, Paul, N8HM On Tue, Jul 22, 2014 at 1:18 PM, Rich/wa4bue richard.s...@verizon.net wrote: Been a member of AMSAT since the early 80s. Like most of you joined to support the SAT Program. Most of us probably joined for the same reason. How does AMSAT survive? Survival is through volunteers and financial resources. Where does that come from Like any other amateur radio club only a few help do!! A while back I asked what is AMSAT's STRATEGIC PLAN? Technology has changed drastically since I joined. Has the plan changed. I agree FM satellites are the easiest point of entrance for a new SAT communicator. I disagree with I one frequency SAT. That is an expensive way to fill in the GAP. FOX seems to be a great answer to entry levels operators, possibly the majority of the operators. With that said, Linear Transponders like AO 7 and FO 29 at higher altitudes are needed. We have lost VO 52. It is hard to use the birds in our K4AMG mentoring program since their orbits are mostly incompatible with classroom times. NO SOLUTION IN SITE. So there is a need to plan ahead for more accessible birds with more Linear transponders and other features. How do we get there? A strategic plan accesses the current mission and goals to achieve a future vision. Your volunteer time and money can make this happen. One step would be enhanced Field Organization. When we started the K4AMG MARC, Inc. there was no field organization in our area. Plenty of help from A FAR but no one with hands on experience locally. Just a member Rich W4BUE PRES K4AMG.org ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] I want this. I want that. Here comes another FM LEO sat.
Jerry, Thanks for the clarification. It is unfortunate that it got removed, but understandable. Hopefully the batteries will last the entire 11 year lifetime of the orbit and, if not, that newer and better satellites will continually be launched! Is the feature that allows the FM transponder to function in the event of IHU failure still on board? 73, Paul, N8HM On Tue, Jul 22, 2014 at 1:19 PM, Jerry Buxton am...@n0jy.org wrote: On 7/22/2014 9:21 AM, Paul Stoetzer wrote: Off the top of my head: AO-51 - Battery failure (Problem fixed in Fox series - shorted batteries will be cut loose from the circuit and the satellite will operate when in the sun) This is an original conops for Fox-1 that did not make it to reality. In fact this requirement was removed over a year ago because it could not be suitably implemented to fit in the space available on the PCB. You see, at that time new inhibit requirements that were received from the launch providers caused us to have to re-engineer the battery board. Moving the battery fail feature to another board was not possible because we could not afford to be redesigning the whole satellite, moving things around from each board to another to find room, in the time left to delivery (at that point the launch had not yet slipped to 2015 and we were due to deliver in March 2014). The choice had to be made to cut the battery fail protection from the battery board in order to incorporate the inhibits, to make the launch. The removal of this feature was brought forth at the Symposium last year, but the tale lives on. Yes, it was an outstanding feature but as has been pointed out in some of the other emails going on right now, there is a real limit to what we can fit in a 1U CubeSat and in the time and under the provisions allowed by our rideshare. Don't think it didn't get cut without a fight! :-) The Fox-1A Engineering Unit is sitting on the official AMSAT test table in my shack right now, having arrived FedEx this morning after some time in the shop for fixes to hardware that we found in the first round of EU testing and having a new IHU all installed. I'm getting ready to load new software with the latest DSP and flight features. Stay tuned... Jerry Buxton, NØJY ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] [amsatindia] Good Bye HAMSAT-VO52 - Rest In Peace
We will all miss her, but thanks to all who were involved in the project. It served us well over the past 9+ years and served as an excellent gateway to linear satellite operations with it's excellent downlink signal. I remember fumbling through my first full-duplex linear satellite QSO just under two years ago on VO-52. That success eventually got me hooked! Carrying the first Mode B linear transponder launched and activated since AO-13 in 1988, the popularity of VO-52 has led to the launch of Mode B linear transponders on AO-73, EO-79, and UKube-1, so her legacy will continue to live on. 73, Paul, N8HM On Mon, Jul 21, 2014 at 11:07 AM, R Oler orbit...@hotmail.com wrote: What a wonderful asset the satellite has been built by good people it accomplished the goal we should all be part of, of extending the hobby to others. I'll keep listening on occassions...you never know eventually it might do an Oscar 7 Congrats to all who built her. Robert G. Oler WB5MZO Sent from my iPad On Jul 21, 2014, at 10:05, 'Mani [VU2WMY/KJ6LRS]' w...@isac.gov.in [amsatindia] amsatin...@yahoogroups.com wrote: Dear Friends, With heavy heart, I sadly convey, that our little angel ‘HAMSAT VO-52’ would no more be able to offer her services to the ‘Amateur Radio Fraternity. HAMSAT VO-52 succumbed in Space on 11th July 2014, while she was on her 49,675th orbit, due to the failure of on-board lithium ion batteries that have met their end of life. Although her desires were to be at work with other systems and sub-systems working normal as per the latest telemetry received, the on-board computer recurring to ‘Reset’ mode due to the failure of batteries is preventing her to do so. Hence, it is decided not to expect any more meaningful and reliable services from HAMSAT VO-52. Since 11th July, every best possible effort has been put in by the spacecraft controllers here in ISTRAC Bangalore to revive her back to life and to help her with work load, so she won’t be swamped when she returns, but with no luck. Though it is hard, the HAMSAT VO-52 designers and controllers insist that the time has come to let the little angel free in space to go drifting on her own from their care and custody. Thus, today 21st July 2014, ISRO have decommissioned 'HAMSAT-VO52' officially. We all here in ISRO do definitely hope that ‘HAMSAT VO-52’ worked tirelessly and was a good friend to the ‘Amateur Radio Fraternity’ around the World. We are sure that HAMSAT was loved by all who worked through her. Though, we are deeply saddened by the loss of HAMSAT VO-52, but she will never be forgotten and far from our hearts, minds and memories. HAMSAT VO-52 will always be remembered by all of us here in ISRO as one of the greatest satellites of ours. Dear ‘HAMSAT’, looking at the sky, we all say ‘Good Bye’ to you. You’ll be greatly missed. Rest in Peace. Nevertheless, at this point of time, on behalf of the World Amateur Radio Fraternity, we thank each and everyone who contributed to the great success of ‘HAMSAT’. Particularly, our sincere thanks to the Chairman ISRO, Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, past chairmen Dr. Kasthurirangan, Dr. G. Madhavan Nair, Director-ISAC Dr. S.K.Shiva Kumar, past ISAC Directors Dr. P.S. Goel, Dr. Shankara, Dr. T.K. Alex, Director-ISTRAC Shri. B.S. Chandrasekhar, scientific secretary Dr. Koteshwar Rao, Project Director-Shri. J.P. Gupta, Deputy project Directors, Mission Director-Shri. R.Suresh, Operations Director-Shri. Parimalarangan and each and every person directly or in-directly contributed. At this point of time, we also thank AMSAT-India and in particular, late Shri. Nagesh Upadhyaya-VU2NUD, Shri. B.S. Gajendra Kumar-VU2BGS, Shri. Prathap Kumar-VU2POP, Air Commodore. Subramanian-VU2UV, Shri. V.P. Sandlas-VU2VP, Dr.R. Ramesh-VU2RMS, Shri. Nitin-VU3TYG, Mr. Williams Leijenaar PE1RAH and each and every member. Pasted below is the message from Mr. R. Suresh, Mission Director: HAMSAT, the first small satellite by ISRO has been Decommissioned after nearly a decade of service to the World Ham community. A true masterpiece among small satellites, designed for one year mission life, but exceeded all expectations by serving for almost 10 years. A truly autonomous satellite, with “Zero maintenance“ in terms of Mission operations, it provided a springboard to test many new concepts such as BMU. LI-ion based power system, automatic Spin rate control and Auto SAOC for maintaining the Satellite attitude without any ground commanding. HAMSAT known as “OSCAR-52” among the Amateur HAM operators has been very popular because of its high sensitivity receiver and strong transmitter. Indian Radio Amateurs on many occasions conveyed to us that they have been
Re: [amsat-bb] going digital
I'm not totally unsympathetic to Phil's ideas. They have quite a bit of merit, but clearly AMSAT would also have to develop the ground station equipment in order for it to get a user base that would make it worthwhile. I know this was planned for Eagle, but that was for a HEO which would have many hours a day of visibility for everyone. It's difficult to rationalize spending money on equipment good for a single LEO satellite at this point, especially one that would be as complex as is contemplated here. I am intrigued by digital operations. My current operating situation prevents me from doing much in that field (I have to carry the radios and hold the antenna, no more hands for a computer). I followed the unsuccessful FreeDV via FO-29 trials between W0DHB and NX9G last year. When the DSTAR parrot repeater that was recently launched is activated, I will certainly borrow a DSTAR radio to try it out. Maybe I'll even buy one! AMSAT's limiting factors are money and volunteer time. Unfortunately, neither money nor people's time grow on trees. I do think that multiple launches by AMSAT-NA will lead to a resurgence of interest in North America, especially when people realize just how easy Fox is going to be to hear. The launches are also going to occur at a time when solar activity is falling, those with limited antenna situations might look to other aspects of amateur radio while conditions on the higher HF bands are poor. Hopefully those factors will help to provide the resources for more complex projects! 73, Paul, N8HM On Mon, Jul 21, 2014 at 5:00 PM, Gus g...@8p6sm.net wrote: On 07/21/2014 01:00 PM, Phil Karn wrote: Next questions: Does a DirecTV receiving station cost $5K? Actually, DirecTV is not available for purchase in my neck of the woods. I can get a system installed, but it wouldn't be my system to fiddle with. Are its components hard to source or esoteric? Well, I know where I could nick one, but I'd rather not. Otherwise, I guess I could source one overseas, ship it in, then bow down before the Customs Excise godlings. ham gear is 10 + 17.5% but there's no way they'd pass that as ham gear, so probably 115 + 17.5% or worse. That might satisfy Rx needs, but wouldn't include a transmitter Does that sound hard to source or esoteric? If not, what makes you think that a digital ground station for an AMSAT satellite should be? Phil, I'm not saying it /should/ be, but that if it is, you won't get many users on the system. So, part of the system design for any such bird had better include design of low cost, easy to find, simple to use hardware that will allow me -- or any other doofus like me -- to get QRV without too much hardship. -- Gus 8P6SM The Easternmost Isle ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - AMSAT Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced
Getting the $125,000 to launch a 1U cubesat into LEO should be plenty doable, but raising $10-$15 million for a launch to HEO? AMSAT-DL has been raising funds for P3E now for nearly a decade. If they thought they had a chance of success, I'm sure there'd be a much more public push to raise those funds. Unfortunately, there are not enough amateur radio operators interested in the amateur satellite program to put up that kind of money. Million dollar DXpeditions are doable because of the broad interest among the amateur radio community in funding those projects. A good number of amateur radio operators are only vaguely aware of the amateur satellite program and consider it to be quite esoteric. Heck, on the extremely rare occasion that the amateur satellite program merits a mention in a QST column these days, it's often in WB8IMY's Eclectic Technology column. That, unfortunately, shows you how the amateur radio community as a whole views the amateur satellite program. The bottom line is that AMSAT-NA needs a significant boost in membership and visibility and that boost needs to be soon. Putting two satellites into orbit that nearly every single ham will be able to easily hear (even a $30 Baofeng and it's stock duck should hear high passes of the Fox-1 satellites) along with the accompanying publicity should provide that boost. ARISSat-1 and the heavy publicity in QST and other amateur radio news sources is what got me involved in amateur satellites, though it would take me another two years before I really got into it seriously. Now I've really been bitten by the bug: 293 grids, 48 states, 4 Canadian provinces, and 27 DXCCs in my log plus I've done two public demonstrations of amateur satellites and assisted the AMSAT booth and demo station at Dayton. That's all because of a project derided by many on this board as a waste of AMSAT's time and resources! 73, Paul, N8HM On Sun, Jul 20, 2014 at 12:42 PM, Bob- W7LRD w7...@comcast.net wrote: a different slant-not wanting to enter the fm vs linear ongoing debate or the easy sat concept-I started satellites not because it was easy, but because it was hard, and at times still is! This was back in the days of the RS satellites. I believe if you present the challenge they will come. Unfortunately we need the money upfront not after the fact. Perhaps this incremental effort toward HEO or MEO is required, however we (AMSAT's) have been doing this for a long time and I think should have had our ducks lined up by now. We're a bunch of cleaver people and should develop a method getting the necessary funds for launches. Everything is now bottom line driven. We should just do it. 73 Bob W7LRD Seattle From: Paul Stoetzer n...@arrl.net To: Phil Karn k...@ka9q.net Cc: amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2014 12:28:12 PM Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - AMSAT Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced Are FM repeater satellites what we all want in orbit? No. Personally, I'd like a Mode J linear transponder in a sun synchronous circular orbit of about 2,000km (if we can't get anything to HEO). However, the Fox-1A, Fox-1B, Fox-1C, and Fox-1D satellites will eventually lead to the Fox-2 series of satellites. The software designed transponders on board the Fox-2 series will be capable of operating in any number of digital communications modes as well as operating as linear transponders. AO-51's V/U FM repeater was probably the most popular amateur satellite ever launched. Since the loss of AO-51, AMSAT-NA membership has been declining and is at the point where membership dues alone do not sustain the operating costs of the organization. Right now, those who are mildly interested in amateur satellites have one satellite to try with a minimal investment: SO-50, which is a satellite that for about half the days of each month is not convenient for most people who work 9-5 and sleep 10-6 and has a weak downlink that is often very difficult for newcomers to hear. Even experienced satellite operators are at times heard to transmit without being able to hear the satellite. With EO-80 (QB50p2), Fox-1A, and Fox-1C hopefully in orbit and operational next year, there will be three easily heard FM satellites (the 9 dB advantage of the 2m downlinks on these satellites will be quite welcome) - two in sun synchronous orbits with relatively consistent pass times. Having those satellites in orbit will mean that more hams get bitten by the satellite bug, join AMSAT, and progress to improving their stations to operate on the linear transponders and, potentially, on digital satellites. Bottom line - an AMSAT with more satellites in orbit means an AMSAT with more members and that's how we are eventually going to get our ideal satellites in orbit. 73, Paul, N8HM On Sat, Jul 19, 2014 at 2:54 PM, Phil Karn k...@ka9q.net wrote: On 07/18/2014 12:08 PM, Joseph
Re: [amsat-bb] ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - AMSAT Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced
The Fox-1 series of satellites will lead to the Fox-2 series with many more interesting modes and capabilities. Yes, the priority is on building and launching the Fox-1 series, but a good portion of that work will be done by next year and then the lessons learned can be applied to constructing and launching the Fox-2 series. The reality is, of course, that FM satellites are extremely popular. I have read through much of the AMSAT-BB archives and I find a ton more posts about grid and country activations from back when AO-51 was alive than what you see now. Getting on the linear satellites is not expensive or complicated at all, but for whatever reason, we just have not been able to communicate that it's both fun, extremely rewarding, and that won't break the bank doing it to the amateur radio community as a whole, so for those of us who enjoy chasing grids, states, provinces, DX, etc, we do rely on the availability of FM satellites to activate those areas. Also remember that AMSAT is a membership organization. If members are not happy with the direction of the organization, they are free to select directors who prioritize what the membership desires. Non-members, however, have no voice in the proceedings. 73, Paul, N8HM On Sun, Jul 20, 2014 at 1:19 PM, John Becker w0...@big-river.net wrote: On 7/20/2014 12:00 PM, Paul Stoetzer wrote: IN PART The bottom line is that AMSAT-NA needs a significant boost in membership and visibility and that boost needs to be soon. I gave up on AMSAT when it seemed that the main afford was put into FM in and FM out satellites. Membership ran out many (15) years ago. John ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] WD9EWK from FN56 starting @ 1727 UTC today...
AC0RA tells me that he worked both Patrick in FN56 and F6CTW on the 1727 UTC AO-7 pass using just 5 watts from an FT-817 and a half Arrow (4 of the 7 70cm elements) for his uplink. Maximum elevation of the pass for AC0RA was just 2 degrees. It doesn't take much power or even antenna to get into the satellites! The lesson here is to concentrate your efforts on improving your receive setup! 73, Paul, N8HM On Sun, Jul 20, 2014 at 10:53 AM, Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) amsat...@wd9ewk.net wrote: Hi! I plan on working several passes from grid FN56 in Maine, starting with the AO-7 pass at 1727 UTC. After a couple of hours up there, I will head back towards southern Maine or New Hampshire for the night. Hope to work lots of stations, including some in Europe. Time permitting, and depending on the local scenery, I might park on the FN56/FN66 boundary. Otherwise, I will be firmly in FN56. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK - Bangor, Maine http://www.wd9ewk.net/ ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] CQ Hawaii
Good evening, Thanks to Shane, NV7SW, in Nevada, I have now worked 49 states on the satellites. All that remains is Hawaii, a significant challenge. AO-7 is the only satellite with a footprint that reaches both the DC area and Hawaii; suitable passes generally occur every other day, with maximum elevations of 1-1.5 degrees on both ends. I can arrange to set up a station that can work AO-7 down to the horizon within the allowable distance from my home QTH under WAS rules, but I need to find someone in Hawaii who can also work AO-7 down to the horizon. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC (FM18lv) ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - AMSAT Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced
Are FM repeater satellites what we all want in orbit? No. Personally, I'd like a Mode J linear transponder in a sun synchronous circular orbit of about 2,000km (if we can't get anything to HEO). However, the Fox-1A, Fox-1B, Fox-1C, and Fox-1D satellites will eventually lead to the Fox-2 series of satellites. The software designed transponders on board the Fox-2 series will be capable of operating in any number of digital communications modes as well as operating as linear transponders. AO-51's V/U FM repeater was probably the most popular amateur satellite ever launched. Since the loss of AO-51, AMSAT-NA membership has been declining and is at the point where membership dues alone do not sustain the operating costs of the organization. Right now, those who are mildly interested in amateur satellites have one satellite to try with a minimal investment: SO-50, which is a satellite that for about half the days of each month is not convenient for most people who work 9-5 and sleep 10-6 and has a weak downlink that is often very difficult for newcomers to hear. Even experienced satellite operators are at times heard to transmit without being able to hear the satellite. With EO-80 (QB50p2), Fox-1A, and Fox-1C hopefully in orbit and operational next year, there will be three easily heard FM satellites (the 9 dB advantage of the 2m downlinks on these satellites will be quite welcome) - two in sun synchronous orbits with relatively consistent pass times. Having those satellites in orbit will mean that more hams get bitten by the satellite bug, join AMSAT, and progress to improving their stations to operate on the linear transponders and, potentially, on digital satellites. Bottom line - an AMSAT with more satellites in orbit means an AMSAT with more members and that's how we are eventually going to get our ideal satellites in orbit. 73, Paul, N8HM On Sat, Jul 19, 2014 at 2:54 PM, Phil Karn k...@ka9q.net wrote: On 07/18/2014 12:08 PM, Joseph Spier wrote: Fox-1C is the third of four Fox-1 series satellites under development, with Fox-1A and RadFXsat/Fox-1B launching through the NASA ELANA program. Fox-1C will carry an FM repeater system for amateur radio for use by radio hams and listeners worldwide. YET ANOTHER analog satellite? I'm not interested. ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] Another Successful Launch For SpaceX
If only Elon Musk were a ham! 73, Paul, N8HM On Mon, Jul 14, 2014 at 11:56 AM, B J va6...@gmail.com wrote: http://www.parabolicarc.com/2014/07/14/falcon-9-launches-orbcomm-satellites/ http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2014/07/spacex-falcon-9-v1-1-orbcomm-og2-mission/ 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] LO-78 Transponder On
LO-78's transponder was reported on during the last pass over North America. I'll be on the next pass at around 1534Z. Hope to hear a few stations! 73, Paul, N8HM ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] Not a peep from LituanicaSAT-1
The latest update: Currently it is off, tomorrow we plan to turn it on. Please follow the announcements. https://www.facebook.com/Lituanicasat1 73, Paul, N8HM On Sat, Jul 12, 2014 at 11:46 AM, Rick Walter wb3...@gmail.com wrote: I did not hear LO-78 on this 15:32-15:41Z pass just now. Rick - WB3CSY Sent from Rick's iPad2 ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] Sprout sstv
There's a pass from 1737Z-1750Z here...I'll give it a listen. 73, Paul, N8HM On Sat, Jul 12, 2014 at 12:47 PM, andy thomas andythomasm...@yahoo.co.uk wrote: Sprout was on SSTV today as previously announced on their website. I copied sstv in Scottie-1 at 1248 utc on 437.6. However, the signal seemed to be very weak. I wonder if anybody else received the satellite, and iof so, and comments about signal strength? I could see the signal in SDR-sharp but could not adequately decode the picture. After several attempts at replay with various flters I could read onlySSTV, CQ and parts of the callsign. 73 de andy g0sfj ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] Sprout sstv
It was heard in CW mode only, on 437.525 MHz. Clearly readable, but several decibels weaker than other satellites with 70cm CW beacons. No deflection on my S Meter at even 60 degrees (the 100 mW FO-29 beacon usually shows S7 or S8 at that elevation). 73, Paul, N8HM On Sat, Jul 12, 2014 at 1:50 PM, Dave Webb KB1PVH kb1...@gmail.com wrote: Nothing heard on 437.600 on 1737z-1750z pass. Dave-KB1PVH Sent from my Verizon Wireless Droid RAZR ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] LO-78 FM Transponder
A couple of hours ago, this was posted on the LituanicaSAT-1 Facebook page: LituanicaSAT-1 decays in a couple of weeks. Transponder always-on and no more other experiments? (https://www.facebook.com/Lituanicasat1) I'm not sure if that means that the transponder has already been turned on or will soon be turned on for the remaining life of the satellite, but it's worth it to check it out. Current decay prediction is July 24th: http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?cat=157 Remember to use fresh keps, preferably from CelesTrak as they are updated daily. 73, Paul, N8HM ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] VO-52 Status
Any word on VO-52? Looks like it hasn't been heard from at all today. I last listened for VO-52 a couple of days ago. I had trouble getting into the transponder due to a very high noise floor, which I thought might have been local, though I could hear AO-7 which was passing by at the same time. Also, the beacon was found about 3 kHz higher than normal. I'll try to listen for the next pass at 2224Z, but I operate outside and a storm is on it's way. 73, Paul, N8HM ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] ARRL Centennial QSO Party W1AW Portable Satellite Operations - Halfway Point
Good evening, This week marks the halfway point and a break in the W1AW portable calendar for the 2014 World Radiosport Team Championships coming up this weekend during the IARU HF World Championship. As this is the halfway point, I wanted to compile some statistics on satellite operations during this event. All of this data comes from the W1AW logs as uploaded to LoTW and reported on the Centennial QSO Party Leaderboard ( https://centennial-qp.arrl.org/index.php ). The QSO statistics reflect unique callsigns worked on any satellite, not total number of separate QSOs. If you work W1AW/x during a week on AO-7 Mode A, AO-7 Mode B, AO-73, FO-29, VO-52, and ISS Packet, you still only get credit for 1 QSO towards the Centennial QSO Party points challenge. Satellite participation has not been great. Of the 55 operations that have taken place so far, only 18 have reported making any satellite QSOs (WI and UT from this past week are not yet uploaded, but I do not believe they had any activity and have marked them at 0 for now). A total of 780 unique QSOs have been made. The leading operation at this point is W1AW/9 in Illinois the week of June 25th with 122 unique callsigns worked by AA9LC. There are still lots of opportunities to have the chance to use the W1AW callsign on the satellites coming up during the second half of the year. If your state still has a week assigned, be sure to contact your state's coordinator ( http://www.arrl.org/files/file/On%20the%20Air/W1AW_2014_sked.pdf ) and sign up to be the satellite operator. Lots of big states with plenty of satellite operators have not appeared on the satellites! I personally look forward to my opportunity to activate W1AW/3 from the District of Columbia in October. Wisconsin, New York, Utah, Minnesota, and Nebraska are the only states that have had both of their weeks pass at this point. We ease back into the W1AW operations with South Carolina next week. I hope this table comes out OK in most email readers: Call State Week Of Sat QSOs W1AW/9 IL 6/25 122 W1AW/7 AZ 3/12 101 W1AW/5 LA 6/4 75 W1AW/1 MA 4/9 61 W1AW/7 ID3/5 58 W1AW/5 MS 4/16 49 W1AW/4 VA 4/9 49 W1AW/0 CO 5/21 49 W1AW/2 NY 1/22 40 W1AW/2 NY 5/21 38 W1AW/3 MD 6/25 31 W1AW/0 MN6/11 29 W1AW/0 MN1/29 22 W1AW/8 MI 2/19 20 W1AW/KL7 AK 6/18 15 W1AW/0 MO5/28 8 W1AW/2 NJ 4/23 7 W1AW/KH6HI2/5 6 W1AW/KP4PR 4/9 0 W1AW/KH2GU 3/19 0 W1AW/KG4KG42/22 0 W1AW/9 WI 2/12 0 W1AW/8 OH 3/12 0 W1AW/8 WV 1/1 0 W1AW/7 MT 6/18 0 W1AW/7 WY 5/28 0 W1AW/7 NV 4/30 0 W1AW/7 OR 4/2 0 W1AW/7 WA 2/26 0 W1AW/7 UT 1/8 0 W1AW/6 CA 2/12 0 W1AW/5 AR 6/11 0 W1AW/5 NM3/19 0 W1AW/5 TX 1/29 0 W1AW/5 OK 1/22 0 W1AW/4 AL 6/4 0 W1AW/4 TN 3/19 0 W1AW/4 KY 3/5 0 W1AW/4 FL2/19 0 W1AW/4 GA 2/5 0 W1AW/4 SC 1/8 0 W1AW/4 NC 1/1 0 W1AW/3 PA 4/2 0 W1AW/3 DE 1/15 0 W1AW/1 CT 4/30 0 W1AW/1 NH 4/23 0 W1AW/1 VT 3/26 0 W1AW/0 SD 5/14 0 W1AW/0 NE 5/7 0 W1AW/0 ND 4/16 0 W1AW/0 IA3/26 0 W1AW/0 KS 2/26 0 W1AW/0 NE 1/15 0 W1AW/9 WI 7/2 0 W1AW/7 UT 7/2 0 Total 780 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC (FM18lv) ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] Dnepr Upper Stage Apogee
Good morning, I noticed that after the last Dnepr launch, it's upper stage was raised to an apogee of 1454 km, putting it in a 1454 km x 609 km orbit with a 97.9 degree inclination, in order to avoid collision with any of the 37 satellites it released. Would it be possible for a future amateur satellite to be deployed AFTER the Dnepr completes it's final burn to take advantage of that high apogee? This would provide service similar to FO-29 with opportunities for intercontinental communications every few months. 73, Paul, N8HM ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] Dnepr Upper Stage Apogee
Obviously beggars can't be choosers and we are lucky that we have been able to get several new satellites launched that are providing and will provide amateur communications, regardless of the orbits. However, look at the most popular satellites in use now: FO-29 and AO-7. Both can provide intercontinental communication and up to 22 minute long passes. FO-29 is also popular because of the advantages of Mode J, especially for portable operations. AO-7 is nearing it's 40th birthday and can be quite quirky, especially during it's eclipse cycles, which are getting longer and longer each year as it's orbit precesses. FO-29 is 18 years old and, though I haven't checked this out, will probably enter eclipse cycles of it's own in the next year or so. When the eclipses get too long, the control stations are likely going to have to turn the transponder off to save the batteries, meaning we are probably going to lose use of FO-29 for several months; and, it's always possible that it will fail completely. As a matter of attracting hams to the amateur satellite service and keeping them interested, the possibility of intercontinental communication is important and hopefully launches to take satellites up higher than 1,000 km can be found in the future, whether it's an elliptical orbit like FO-29 or this Dnepr's upper stage, the common high LEO circular orbits above 1,200 km (as these are not cubesat launches, I'm guessing the costs are prohibitive), or to MEO/HEO (and we know the difficulties there). 73, Paul, N8HM On Sat, Jul 5, 2014 at 9:47 AM, M5AKA m5...@yahoo.co.uk wrote: However, the question of meeting orbital debris mitigation requirements remains There are, however, no legally binding requirements regarding debris mitigation. In the case of amateur transponder satellites they can be assumed to have an operation lifetime of 40+ years (think OSCAR-7), as I recall debris mitigation suggests re-entry within 25 years of the end of mission. For amateur transponder satellites this might imply 65 years in orbit. But we can see plenty of examples of satellites currently being launched that will still be in orbit thousands of years from now. Certain missions require that satellites are placed in (or achieve through on-board propulsion) near circular orbits in the 1200-2500 km range - it is accepted that such missions could be up there for many tens of thousands of years. The amateur service could certainly justify transponder satellites in in near circular orbits at that altitude because that is what is required to fulfill the communications mission. In the case of the Dnepr Upper Stage it looks like it does have a satellite attached to it although that was unintentional - BRITE-Montreal failed to deploy. 73 Trevor M5AKA On Saturday, 5 July 2014, 13:43, Andrew Glasbrenner glasbren...@mindspring.com wrote: You are not the only one to notice! All I can say at this point is that it is being investigated. However, the question of meeting orbital debris mitigation requirements remains. 73, Drew KO4MA Sent from my iPhone On Jul 5, 2014, at 8:28 AM, Paul Stoetzer n...@arrl.net wrote: Good morning, I noticed that after the last Dnepr launch, it's upper stage was raised to an apogee of 1454 km, putting it in a 1454 km x 609 km orbit with a 97.9 degree inclination, in order to avoid collision with any of the 37 satellites it released. Would it be possible for a future amateur satellite to be deployed AFTER the Dnepr completes it's final burn to take advantage of that high apogee? This would provide service similar to FO-29 with opportunities for intercontinental communications every few months. 73, Paul, N8HM ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] GTO opportunity
Graham, Dan Schultz, N8FGV, gave a presentation at the AMSAT Symposium last year entitled Cubesats in HEO - A Challenging Mission for AMSAT. A copy of the presentation is located here: http://mstl.atl.calpoly.edu/~bklofas/Presentations/AMSAT-NA_Symposium2013/Schultz_CubeSats_in_HEO.pdf 73, Paul, N8HM On Wed, Jul 2, 2014 at 6:28 AM, Graham Shirville g.shirvi...@btinternet.com wrote: Hi All, I know that this subject is a very “old chestnut” but I came across this website earlier today http://spaceflightservices.com/ You can see, perhaps for the first time?, a list of opportunities and pricing structures. I have been pondering : Whether a 3U CubeSat to GTO could be funded by the community Whether it would have enough power for attitude control and a sufficiently powerful transponder Whether it could have deployable antennas as well as solar panels? Combined? and, of course, lots more questions come to mind. This could make the subject of an interesting debate/discussion at the upcoming AMSAT-UK Colloquium at the end of the month? I am looking forward to it already! best 73 Graham G3VZV ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] AMSAT FD 2014 debrief
Bill, For the ISS, use the SatPC32ISS application instead of the main SatPC32. That will appropriately control your radio for the ISS. 73, Paul, N8HM On Tue, Jul 1, 2014 at 9:31 AM, Bill (W1PA) w...@hotmail.com wrote: Floyd, Makes perfect sense. I wonder why, when ISS is selected, SatPC32 does not configure the radio to a single VFO with a non-standard repeater offset, rather than loading 2M into both VFOs in satellite mode. Should I have taken it out of Satellite mode manually? Something to research. Bill -Original Message- From: Floyd Rodgers Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2014 8:50 AM To: Bill (W1PA) ; amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] AMSAT FD 2014 debrief The 847 does not allow dual in band operation. If you think about it you would need very respectable filtering more than 100db isolation between the transmitter and receiver to be able to pull this off. In effect you are asking it to be a repeater. It can do this only when transmit and receive frequencies are not on the same band because then it only has to deal with the much smaller 3rd harmonic signal. On 6/30/2014 9:57 PM, Bill (W1PA) wrote: When I tried to run the ISS passes (2m up and down), the 2nd VFO on the FT-847 came up reset in the rig display when SatPC pushed the frequencies over -- is that a rig issue or SatPC issue I need to discuss with Erich? ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] LO-78 Decay Date
I noticed that AMSAT-UK and the ARRL have both published posts that state that LO-78 will decay by the end of this week. That's probably based in part by information I posted on the BB from satflare.com, which predicts decay on July 2nd (http://www.satflare.com/track.asp?q=39571#TOP) However, the keps they are using appear to be incorrect. They are showing an altitude of just 226 km. Celestrak keps are showing an altitude of 317 km. Interestingly, the map view of the satellite's current position appears to be correct. SATVIEW's decay predictions seem to be based on the 317 km current altitude and show a predicted reentry of August 5th. (http://www.satview.org/decay.php) I think SATVIEW's prediction is more accurate. Anyone else have any input? 73, Paul, N8HM ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] Heard VO-52 conversation on FO-29
Good evening, I realized shortly before the last FO-29 pass that both FO-29's and VO-52's AOS were seconds apart on the east coast of the United States, so I decided to scan the upper half of the passband in LSB to see if I could hear any signals. I heard a weak CW signal and also a conversation. Unfortunately, I could not copy any callsigns, but I clearly heard a voice saying 73 as my dial read 435.902 MHz LSB about halfway through the FO-29 pass. Cool to hear! I know I've heard the AO-73 beacon via FO-29 before, but never a conversation from another satellite. 73, Paul, N8HM ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] Field Day
If you are referring to the FUNcube-3 board on QB50p1, that will not be available until the satellite's primary mission is completed in about six months. 73, Paul, N8HM On Fri, Jun 27, 2014 at 6:29 PM, Jim Sanford wb4...@wb4gcs.org wrote: All: Has the new FunCube been released for use, or is it still being commissioned? Thanks 73, Jim wb4...@amsat.org --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] LO-78 (LituanicaSAT-1) Field Day Availability
Earlier today, I asked on the LituanicaSAT-1 Facebook group whether or not the satellite's FM transponder could be turned on this weekend for the US/Canada Field Day and this was the reply: Paul, we'll the situation tomorrow our time and let you know. Need to check telemetry after this night. Because we had some issues with our ground station which are solved now. Hopefully the battery level allows them to turn it on to give us an extra satellite on Field Day. 73, Paul, N8HM ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] LO-78 (LituanicaSAT-1) Field Day Availability
Just saw that they posted earlier that they expect to turn it on Sunday. If they are able to do so in time, there are some passes over North America early Sunday morning. Regardless of whether or not it's available for Field Day, satflare.com lists it's predicted decay as July 3rd (http://www.satflare.com/track.asp?q=39571#TOP), so it's rapidly approaching it's last hurrah. 73, Paul, N8HM On Fri, Jun 27, 2014 at 8:45 PM, Paul Stoetzer n...@arrl.net wrote: Earlier today, I asked on the LituanicaSAT-1 Facebook group whether or not the satellite's FM transponder could be turned on this weekend for the US/Canada Field Day and this was the reply: Paul, we'll the situation tomorrow our time and let you know. Need to check telemetry after this night. Because we had some issues with our ground station which are solved now. Hopefully the battery level allows them to turn it on to give us an extra satellite on Field Day. 73, Paul, N8HM ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] Field Day 2014
LO-78 may or may not be active for Field Day. I will continue to monitor their Facebook page and will let the BB know if they turn it on (if they don't post a message themselves). AO-73 should be available in sunlight, but that depends on the command stations switching it into continuous transponder mode on Friday evening. They normally send a message on Friday evening UK time to the BB that the command has been sent. Don't count on your Doppler software to work 100% out of the box on this one. Your transmit frequency will be 6.5+ kHz higher than it should be for Doppler correction alone. AO-7 has been mode jumping as the solar angles at this point in it's orbit are not optimal for supplying full power to the satellite. With so many stations likely to be running way too much power this weekend, it seems likely that it will mode jump to Mode A or Mode D (transponders off), especially on ascending passes. FO-29, VO-52, and SO-50 should all be working great! 73, Paul, N8HM On Wed, Jun 25, 2014 at 1:49 AM, Jim Reicher w...@sbcglobal.net wrote: Thanks to all who responded to my query about tracking software. I have another question. I've been ignoring the reflector for a while, and I've lost track of the satellites that are currently usable for voice/cw contacts. After some research, I have the following in my list: AO7, FO29, SO50, VO52, AO73, LO78. Am I missing any? Are the above birds (especially the newer ones) actually available? Thanks! 73 de W0HV, Jim in Raymore, MO ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] what birds for field day
Jim, SO-50 will be a zoo, of course, but will be available for 1 QSO only! FO-29 is a fine satellite and I'm sure much of it's 100 kHz passband will be teeming with signals. VO-52 is also a fine satellite and it's 60 kHz passband will also be teeming with signals. AO-73 should be available for the weekend if the command stations switch it to full time transponder mode on Friday. They usually post to the BB after the command is sent. If it's not set to full time transponder mode, the transponder will be active when the satellite is eclipsed, but at this time of the year, it's not eclipsed very often. There are two things to keep in mind: a narrow passband of just 20 kHz and it's frequency instability which means that your uplink signal usually has to be 6.5+ kHz higher than it should be for a given downlink frequency. Even on a normal Saturday afternoon, there are usually plenty of hams who are lost on the passband. AO-7 has been a little tricky lately. On ascending passes in the afternoon, high power signals have been causing the satellite to mode jump to Mode A or Mode D (transponders off) as the angle of the sun on it's solar panels is not ideal at this point in the year. As most seem to run way too much power on Field Day, don't expect AO-7 Mode B to be of much use, at least not on the afternoon passes. Descending passes in the morning might turn out better. If you have Mode A gear, be ready for it to switch or to come up in Mode A and give that a shot. LO-78 (LituanicaSAT-1)'s FM transponder has not been activated in a few weeks. There is no indication when they will turn it on again. Maybe it will be on, maybe not. The ISS packet digipeater is also an option, unless the astronauts are using the radio used for the digipeater to make voice contacts. 73, Paul, N8HM On Wed, Jun 25, 2014 at 9:16 PM, Jim White j...@coloradosatellite.com wrote: I've just rebuilt my sat station and was planning to be on for Field Day to give out some contacts from home. What birds are folks planning to use? I assume SO-50 and FO-29. Any others? Jim WD0E ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] ANS-159 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
The Field Day exchange is the same: Operating class and ARRL/RAC section (or DX for DX stations). 73, Paul, N8HM On Mon, Jun 9, 2014 at 3:44 PM, Rich/wa4bue richard.s...@verizon.net wrote: What is the FD exhange on QSCAR? ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] LO-78 added to LoTW
Just got a message from W3IZ stating that a new TQSL configuration file has been released adding LituanicaSAT-1 (LO-78) to the satellite tables. Here are the instructions for updating your configuration files: TQSL 2.0 user have nothing to do. When opening TQSL for the first time of the day the TQSL program will detect the update and ask you to confirm installation. TQSL 2.0 users can manually check for updates under the help button in the TQSL toolbar. See www.arrl.org/instructions More TQSL Checking for updates. Users of older versions of TQSL will have to download the file from their user account under the tab Your Account then select Your Certificate then select Download Current TQSL Configuration File. The file can be saved to a folder on your computer then loaded in TQSL using the TQSL CERT - Load File utility. 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] VUCC via Satellite
Congrats, Ed! I got #248 back in March, so 7 issued in 3 months isn't too bad! 73, Paul, N8HM On Mon, Jun 9, 2014 at 9:27 PM, Bruce kk...@amsat.org wrote: Congrats to Ed, WA7ETH. Got his VUCC today #255. Ed says, Just arrived today! Finally made it. 73...bruce ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] DC Mini Maker Faire - Satellite Demo Report
Good evening, Thanks to all for the many QSOs on several passes of SO-50, AO-73, AO-7, and FO-29 from the DC Mini Maker Faire at Yards Park (named for the nearby Washington Navy Yard, which used to also occupy the area that is now a park) on the Anacostia River waterfront in Washington, DC. I got quite sunburned and will not be updating my log tonight, so I'm not 100% sure how many QSOs were made. Despite some technical problems on my end (didn't remember I had to turn my demo speaker on to charge it's battery), we were able to demonstrate ham radio and amateur satellites to many people. Being a Maker Faire, this was not your normal hamfest crowd, and there was a good crowd of especially younger people, who already possess some interest in electronics and technical projects. Some have licenses but haven't done anything with them, others have had licenses but have not been active in a while, and still others indicated that they were thinking about getting their license. Hopefully some will follow through with it and hopefully some will get involved in amateur satellites and join AMSAT! If there are any Maker Faires in your area, consider setting up amateur radio and AMSAT exhibits. It is a good way to make demonstrations to a different, but potentially interested crowd. After all, the 2014 AMSAT apparel is branded AMSAT: The Satellite Makers. Thanks to Lee Ciereszko, N4TCW, for deciding to setup an amateur radio exhibit at the outdoor faire (a last minute decision he made on Thursday). He brought a TS-2000 (which we could have used for satellites, but I used my normal 2 FT-817 setup), a solar panel, batteries, and HF/VHF/UHF antennas. We also made a few HF QSOs during the day. By the way, the 436.795 MHz birdie on the TS-2000 is so strong, I had to turn that radio off while working SO-50, despite being a good 10-15 feet away from it. 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] AO 7
Always check here: http://oscar.dcarr.org/ It looks like it's been in good shape today based on the satellite status page and log comments: http://aar29.free.fr/sat/ao7/ao7log.php Of course, it can't be guaranteed that it'll stay in Mode B on each pass. 73, Paul, N8HM On Sat, Jun 7, 2014 at 11:46 AM, Rich/wa4bue richard.s...@verizon.net wrote: What mode is AO 7 in today? ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] One More Time for the Slow People [ LituanicaSAT-1 ]
Les, The LituanicaSAT-1 team applied for an OSCAR number a couple of weeks ago. They are still waiting for it's assignment. Hopefully it will be before it reenters! It's tradition that a satellite has one name before launch and a different one upon launch and activation. You should use the CelesTrak keps as they are updated more frequently. The atmospheric drag at the satellite's altitude requires frequent updates. The LituanicaSAT-1 keps are located in the cubesat.txt file. not amateur.txt. The name is LITUANICASAT-1. A detailed tutorial of how to add new satellites to SatPC32 is located here: http://www.dk1tb.de/FAQ_e.htm#NewSat 73, Paul, N8HM On Sat, Jun 7, 2014 at 3:22 PM, Les Rayburn l...@highnoonfilm.com wrote: I'd really like to work a contact or two through the new bird while it's still up. Can someone walk me through how to add this to SATPC32 and/or Nova for Windows? I've downloaded the latest KEPS, but have no idea which one might be LituanicaSAT-1. Frankly, the naming conventions are confusing, especially for newcomers. What, exactly was wrong with OSCAR-1, OSCAR-2, etc? Thanks in advance, for both assistance and patience. -- -- 73, Les Rayburn, N1LF 121 Mayfair Park Maylene, AL 35114 EM63nf 6M VUCC #1712 AMSAT #38965 Grid Bandits #222 Southeastern VHF Society Central States VHF Society Life Member Six Club #2484 Active on 6 Meters thru 1296, 10GHz Light ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] Satellite Demos - DC Mini Maker Faire - Sunday, June 8th
Good morning, I just found out that a local club is setting up a demo station at the DC Mini Maker Faire at Yards Park on the Anacostia River waterfront in Washington, DC (FM18lu) on Sunday, June 8th. As this location is under a mile from my apartment and weather is supposed to be great, I plan to bring my portable satellite station and conduct demos on the following passes: SO-50 - 1457Z-1510Z AO-73 - 1535Z-1548Z SO-50 - 1638Z-1650Z AO-73 - 1713Z-1722Z (10 deg max - depends on our surroundings) AO-7 - 1948Z-2008Z (Hopefully it comes up and stays in Mode B) 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] [Starcom-bb] AO7
All stations, please QRP From everything I've read about the behavior and history of the satellite and heard from other operators monitoring these passes, stations running excessive uplink power are responsible for the recent mode jumping. There are AMSAT demonstrations scheduled this weekend that are relying, in part, on AO-7 being in Mode B. Please keep your uplink power to no more than 100W ERP. If you wish to calculate your ERP, please consult this page: http://www.csgnetwork.com/antennaecalc.html If you cannot hear your own signals with 100W ERP, please QRT and make improvements to your receive setup. Thank you, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM On Fri, Jun 6, 2014 at 5:59 PM, ingej...@cox.net wrote: Pass at 2155 utc time started on mode B and after approx. 1 minute switched to mode A ! Heard K4FEG and WA4NVM on mode B then all of a sudden it turned off and went into Mode A... Or am I hallucinating again ?? Jack/KC7MG DM42 ___ Starcom-bb bulletin board starcom...@star-com.net http://lists.star-com.net/listinfo/starcom-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] AO-7 Telemetry
I have listened several times and never heard the CW beacon, so that's neat. The channel 6D value shows the telemetry to be nothing more than gibberish, unfortunately, as that number should be 50 +/- 1. 73, Paul, N8HM On Wed, Jun 4, 2014 at 9:24 AM, KERRY LA*DUKE kladuke1...@msn.com wrote: AO-7 seemed to be transmitting cw telemetry today. I copied the following around 1300Z Frequency 145.969mhz. Mode B 252 252 252 324 324 324 324 496 496 v 496 568 568 568 568 696 696 696 696 hi hi 180 180 180 180 252 252 ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] AO-7 mode change
I find it odd that they did not reply to you in Mode A. Given that the warnings about excessive power can lead to random mode switching on AO-7 stretch back 37 years, one can only conclude that they wanted the satellite to be in Mode A. 73, Paul, N8HM On Wed, Jun 4, 2014 at 6:09 PM, Glenn Miller - AA5PK aa...@suddenlink.net wrote: I was listening to AO-7 in Mode B as it rose at 2153Z. At 2158Z, AO-7 suddenly switched from Mode B to Mode A. At the time of the switch, there were two stations using excessive power (badly FMing) on the bird. Not sure if that was a coincidence or not. Called CQ on Mode A in both CW and SSB with no response. 73 Glenn AA5PK ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] LituanicaSAT-1 FM Transponder Report 04-Jun-2014 UTC
Good evening, I was on two passes of LituanicaSAT-1 over North America this evening. Signals sounded good, though I noted that the uplink sensitivity makes it difficult to work with just five watts of power output to a handheld antenna, except at higher elevations. My signal was in and out except at the middle of both passes. I neglected to make fine tuning adjustments on the uplink for Doppler as I had on previous passes. That might have made a difference had I done that. On the first pass, around 0031 UTC, KC9ELU in Indiana was the only station heard and worked. On the second pass, around 0207 UTC, KC9ELU was worked again as was KB1PVH in Massachusetts. Also heard were W0DHB in Colorado and KK4VAU in Tennessee. 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC (FM18lv) ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] Fwd: LituanicaSAT-1 Transponder Off
The LituanicaSAT-1 FM transponder should be on over North America later this evening. 73, Paul. N8HM -- Forwarded message -- From: Laurynas Mačiulis aviator...@gmail.com Date: Mon, Jun 2, 2014 at 7:25 PM Subject: Re: LituanicaSAT-1 Transponder Off To: Paul Stoetzer n...@arrl.net Cc: TLM LituanicaSAT-1 l...@qrz.lt, amsat-bb@amsat.org amsat-bb@amsat.org, Ken Swaggart k.swagg...@charter.net Hello, I confirm the transponder was turned on during 2300z pass over our ground station. It will remain on for today provided there will be no malfunction in the satellite. CW beacon and packet telemetry where switched off to save power. 73 de LY1LM On Mon, Jun 2, 2014 at 10:06 AM, Laurynas Mačiulis aviator...@gmail.com wrote: Hello guys, Thanks for your reports! We figured out that due to some software error we have had a watchdog timer reset and due to that the transponder got shut down. We will try to put it on back again for today. Good news is that the battery is charging slowly again due to decreased current draw. 73, Laurynas On Mon, Jun 2, 2014 at 4:29 AM, Paul Stoetzer n...@arrl.net wrote: Good evening, It appears that the LituanicaSAT-1 FM transponder was off over North America at 0121Z. Strong signals were heard from the FM morse beacon. I will listen to my recording and decode the telemetry. 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC (FM18lv) ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] LituanicaSAT-1 FM Transponder Report From Washington, DC
I was the only person on the 0855Z pass over North America. Maximum elevation was 70 degrees. The satellite still sounded good. I again noted that Narrow FM and making the fine adjustments for Doppler on the uplink worked better. Downlink signals were stronger than SO-50, likely due to the lower orbit. I will try again on 2-Jun at 0121Z and 0256Z. Audio from the pass is here: https://soundcloud.com/paul-stoetzer/lituanicasat-1-0855z-01-jun-2014 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC (FM18lv) On Sat, May 31, 2014 at 11:04 PM, Paul Stoetzer n...@arrl.net wrote: Here is the audio I captured on the 0232Z pass over North America. https://soundcloud.com/paul-stoetzer/lituanicasat-1-0232z-01-jun-2014mp3 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC (FM18lv) On Sat, May 31, 2014 at 10:48 PM, Paul Stoetzer n...@arrl.net wrote: Just worked the last pass, a 70 degree maximum elevation pass over Washington, DC. The satellite sounded good with strong signals. Lots of interference on the uplink made things challenging. I worked KK4VAU in Tennessee and KQ2RP in New Jersey. Also heard AA5PK and N5AFV, both in Texas. 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC, USA (FM18lv) On Sat, May 31, 2014 at 9:27 PM, Paul Stoetzer n...@arrl.net wrote: Good evening, I heard the CW ID, voice message, and my own downlink briefly on a 6 degree maximum elevation pass in Washington, DC (FM18lv) at about 0058Z on 1-Jun-2014 until my receive was unfortunately wiped out by my preamp battery dying. Next pass at 0232Z is a much higher elevation pass and I will have my preamp battery charged! The station here is 2 FT-817s, an Elk handheld LPDA, and a High Sierra MIcrowave LNAA432 preamp. I was operating on my balcony with an excellent view of the southern horizon. I used Narrow FM on the uplink and that seemed to work out better for getting into the satellite than my last attempt on 1-May. Here is the audio from the pass: https://soundcloud.com/paul-stoetzer/lituanicasat-1-in-washington-dc-usa-fm18lv-0058z-01-jun-2014 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC, USA (FM18lv) ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] LituanicaSAT-1 FM Transponder Report From Washington, DC
Unfortunately I did not listen for the CW beacon. Sorry! 73, Paul, N8HM On Sun, Jun 1, 2014 at 6:37 AM, Laurynas Mačiulis aviator...@gmail.com wrote: Hello Paul, Many thanks for your reports! Maybe you have also made a record of the CW telemetry during the last pass? It is interesting to know the battery voltage level. We may have to power off the CW beacon during the next pass over Lithuania on 2100z to save some power. Geriausi linkėjimai / Best Regards, Laurynas On Sun, Jun 1, 2014 at 12:13 PM, Paul Stoetzer n...@arrl.net wrote: I was the only person on the 0855Z pass over North America. Maximum elevation was 70 degrees. The satellite still sounded good. I again noted that Narrow FM and making the fine adjustments for Doppler on the uplink worked better. Downlink signals were stronger than SO-50, likely due to the lower orbit. I will try again on 2-Jun at 0121Z and 0256Z. Audio from the pass is here: https://soundcloud.com/paul-stoetzer/lituanicasat-1-0855z-01-jun-2014 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC (FM18lv) On Sat, May 31, 2014 at 11:04 PM, Paul Stoetzer n...@arrl.net wrote: Here is the audio I captured on the 0232Z pass over North America. https://soundcloud.com/paul-stoetzer/lituanicasat-1-0232z-01-jun-2014mp3 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC (FM18lv) On Sat, May 31, 2014 at 10:48 PM, Paul Stoetzer n...@arrl.net wrote: Just worked the last pass, a 70 degree maximum elevation pass over Washington, DC. The satellite sounded good with strong signals. Lots of interference on the uplink made things challenging. I worked KK4VAU in Tennessee and KQ2RP in New Jersey. Also heard AA5PK and N5AFV, both in Texas. 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC, USA (FM18lv) On Sat, May 31, 2014 at 9:27 PM, Paul Stoetzer n...@arrl.net wrote: Good evening, I heard the CW ID, voice message, and my own downlink briefly on a 6 degree maximum elevation pass in Washington, DC (FM18lv) at about 0058Z on 1-Jun-2014 until my receive was unfortunately wiped out by my preamp battery dying. Next pass at 0232Z is a much higher elevation pass and I will have my preamp battery charged! The station here is 2 FT-817s, an Elk handheld LPDA, and a High Sierra MIcrowave LNAA432 preamp. I was operating on my balcony with an excellent view of the southern horizon. I used Narrow FM on the uplink and that seemed to work out better for getting into the satellite than my last attempt on 1-May. Here is the audio from the pass: https://soundcloud.com/paul-stoetzer/lituanicasat-1-in-washington-dc-usa-fm18lv-0058z-01-jun-2014 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC, USA (FM18lv) ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] LituanicaSAT-1 Transponder Off
Good evening, It appears that the LituanicaSAT-1 FM transponder was off over North America at 0121Z. Strong signals were heard from the FM morse beacon. I will listen to my recording and decode the telemetry. 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC (FM18lv) ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] LituanicaSAT-1 Transponder Off
Here is the telemetry frame decoded at about 0124Z in Washington, DC, USA (FM18lv): ly5n v 427 372 370 85 c 014 0124 t p 31 s 6 3 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC (FM18lv) On Sun, Jun 1, 2014 at 9:29 PM, Paul Stoetzer n...@arrl.net wrote: Good evening, It appears that the LituanicaSAT-1 FM transponder was off over North America at 0121Z. Strong signals were heard from the FM morse beacon. I will listen to my recording and decode the telemetry. 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC (FM18lv) ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] SO-50 Frequency Drift
Just was on the last pass of SO-50. I was not hearing the satellite at first even as it rose above the trees. At the middle of the pass, I was expecting to find it at around 436.795 MHz, but I found it around 436.786 MHz. Has anybody else noticed this? 73, Paul, N8HM ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] LituanicaSAT-1 FM Transponder Report From Washington, DC
Good evening, I heard the CW ID, voice message, and my own downlink briefly on a 6 degree maximum elevation pass in Washington, DC (FM18lv) at about 0058Z on 1-Jun-2014 until my receive was unfortunately wiped out by my preamp battery dying. Next pass at 0232Z is a much higher elevation pass and I will have my preamp battery charged! The station here is 2 FT-817s, an Elk handheld LPDA, and a High Sierra MIcrowave LNAA432 preamp. I was operating on my balcony with an excellent view of the southern horizon. I used Narrow FM on the uplink and that seemed to work out better for getting into the satellite than my last attempt on 1-May. Here is the audio from the pass: https://soundcloud.com/paul-stoetzer/lituanicasat-1-in-washington-dc-usa-fm18lv-0058z-01-jun-2014 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC, USA (FM18lv) ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] LituanicaSAT-1 FM Transponder Report From Washington, DC
Just worked the last pass, a 70 degree maximum elevation pass over Washington, DC. The satellite sounded good with strong signals. Lots of interference on the uplink made things challenging. I worked KK4VAU in Tennessee and KQ2RP in New Jersey. Also heard AA5PK and N5AFV, both in Texas. 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC, USA (FM18lv) On Sat, May 31, 2014 at 9:27 PM, Paul Stoetzer n...@arrl.net wrote: Good evening, I heard the CW ID, voice message, and my own downlink briefly on a 6 degree maximum elevation pass in Washington, DC (FM18lv) at about 0058Z on 1-Jun-2014 until my receive was unfortunately wiped out by my preamp battery dying. Next pass at 0232Z is a much higher elevation pass and I will have my preamp battery charged! The station here is 2 FT-817s, an Elk handheld LPDA, and a High Sierra MIcrowave LNAA432 preamp. I was operating on my balcony with an excellent view of the southern horizon. I used Narrow FM on the uplink and that seemed to work out better for getting into the satellite than my last attempt on 1-May. Here is the audio from the pass: https://soundcloud.com/paul-stoetzer/lituanicasat-1-in-washington-dc-usa-fm18lv-0058z-01-jun-2014 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC, USA (FM18lv) ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] LituanicaSAT-1 FM Transponder Report From Washington, DC
Here is the audio I captured on the 0232Z pass over North America. https://soundcloud.com/paul-stoetzer/lituanicasat-1-0232z-01-jun-2014mp3 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC (FM18lv) On Sat, May 31, 2014 at 10:48 PM, Paul Stoetzer n...@arrl.net wrote: Just worked the last pass, a 70 degree maximum elevation pass over Washington, DC. The satellite sounded good with strong signals. Lots of interference on the uplink made things challenging. I worked KK4VAU in Tennessee and KQ2RP in New Jersey. Also heard AA5PK and N5AFV, both in Texas. 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC, USA (FM18lv) On Sat, May 31, 2014 at 9:27 PM, Paul Stoetzer n...@arrl.net wrote: Good evening, I heard the CW ID, voice message, and my own downlink briefly on a 6 degree maximum elevation pass in Washington, DC (FM18lv) at about 0058Z on 1-Jun-2014 until my receive was unfortunately wiped out by my preamp battery dying. Next pass at 0232Z is a much higher elevation pass and I will have my preamp battery charged! The station here is 2 FT-817s, an Elk handheld LPDA, and a High Sierra MIcrowave LNAA432 preamp. I was operating on my balcony with an excellent view of the southern horizon. I used Narrow FM on the uplink and that seemed to work out better for getting into the satellite than my last attempt on 1-May. Here is the audio from the pass: https://soundcloud.com/paul-stoetzer/lituanicasat-1-in-washington-dc-usa-fm18lv-0058z-01-jun-2014 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC, USA (FM18lv) ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] AO-7 Report
Rick, It's not you. It's been switching off (or into Mode D) quite often. Hopefully this is just a temporary condition due to sun angles at this point in it's orbit. 73, Paul, N8HM On Fri, May 30, 2014 at 5:29 PM, Richard Lawn rjl...@gmail.com wrote: Was just about to enjoy a CW QSO with PV8DX on AO-7 and everything disappeared. Has it been acting up lately or is it me? Rick W2JAZ ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] looking for sat skeds for WAS
I second Maine! I also need Nevada, Utah, and Arkansas - I'm QRV on any satellite. 73, Paul, N8HM On Fri, May 30, 2014 at 5:32 PM, Ken Holland dutchboy47...@gmail.com wrote: Hello, I am working on my WAS for satellite contacts and need the following states: Maine, North Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Oregon. I am active from EM68 in Indiana on SO-50. If anyone can help me from these states, please let me know. Ken KC9TTR EM68 ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] AO-7 Report
WC7V confirmed to me that AO-7 was in Mode A after the Mode B transponder shut off. This likely means that my theory of a power drain causing the satellite to automatically switch into Mode D is incorrect and this is just a manifestation of the random mode switching that has been a part of AO-7's character for the past 39+ years. One of the likely causes of random mode jumping, however, is an excessive power drain caused by too much power on the uplink. Please limit your uplink power to no more than 100w ERP. As stated numerous times over the past 39 years, if you cannot hear your downlink on AO-7 Mode B with 100w ERP, you need a better receive system, not more power! 73, Paul, N8HM On Fri, May 30, 2014 at 5:29 PM, Richard Lawn rjl...@gmail.com wrote: Was just about to enjoy a CW QSO with PV8DX on AO-7 and everything disappeared. Has it been acting up lately or is it me? Rick W2JAZ ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] BNC Elbow Adapters
Good evening, I've been having a problem with my BNC elbow adapters that I use at a few points in my portable satellite station. After a short time in use, they start to loosen and the connection loosens when there's movement. For example, I use a BNC elbow adapter to route the coax on my Elk antenna. When I twist the antenna to match polarity while transmitting on FO-29, I get desense as the connection loosens. Does anyone know of a very high quality BNC elbow adapter that will hold up to the rigors of portable use? 73, Paul, N8HM ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] some videos from 2014 Dayton Hamvention weekend
Bill The equipment is W5IU's. The radios are two FT-817s. The antennas are homebrew, circular polarized yagis (no relays, sense can only be changed by adjusting the feedpoint) based on WA5JVB's Cheap Yagi designs on a homebrew mount made of PVC pipe and pipe fittings along with a tripod. There are two mast-mounted RF-switched Advanced Receiver Research preamplifiers, the MSP144VDG-160 and the MSP432VDG-160. Feedline was LMR-400. The setup worked quite well, with S9+ signals on all satellites. Everything was powered by car batteries. No automation was used. Although a laptop with SatPC32 and CAT cables to connect to each radio was available for Doppler, we chose to operate manually. The person manning the antennas was using an iPhone app to follow the satellite. Thanks for the QSO on SO-50. We did not expect much success on the pass I worked you on due to the position of the building. The satellite just barely rose over the building on that pass. 73, Paul, N8HM On Tue, May 27, 2014 at 1:54 PM, Bill (W1PA) w...@hotmail.com wrote: Paul, Can you guys share details of the station? qty 2 817's correct? No amps, right? Antennas? No automation on doppler or tracking, correct? (one guy on rigs, one guy on tripod?) Bill W1PA ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] AO7 D
Interesting that this seems to only happen on ascending passes. This problem has not been reported on descending passes. Hopefully this is just a symptom of sun angles on the solar panels at the present point in it's orbit and when panel illumination improves, it will become more reliable. Of course, any orbit with the transponder functioning is and has been a bonus for the last 12 years. 73, Paul, N8HM On Tue, May 27, 2014 at 4:24 PM, PY5LF py...@falautomation.com.br wrote: Paul AO7 don't support our QSO ( PY5LF, PV8DX, PT9BM) today and stop again around 20:20UTC , even when advise the people onboard to reduce the power. Sorry 73 PY5LF Luciano Fabricio Curitiba-PR-BR GG54jm http://www.qrz.com/db/PY5LF ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] bounces
FYI - With Gmail, you can set up a filter to prevent list messages from being sent to your Spam folder, which solves this problem. 73, Paul, N8HM On Tue, May 27, 2014 at 4:50 PM, Glen Zook gz...@yahoo.com wrote: I just got a similar E-Mail from the automatic responder for the AMSAT BB. Yahoo.com, as well as, I have been told, several other E-Mail clients made certain changes several weeks ago that results in certain, but not all, messages from a reflector bouncing. Frankly, I have been getting E-Mails from the AMSAT reflector every day including today. I participate in several reflectors and have gotten similar automatic letters about messages bouncing. The person, in charge of the reflector, contacted Yahoo, and the other E-Mail clients, to see what changes had to be made to the reflector so that messages will not bounce. There are a lot of amateur radio operators, as well as I, who use Yahoo, G-Mail, etc., for reflectors because, like it or not, reflectors seem to be a target of SPAM and the desire to keep such SPAM away from our primary E-Mail addresses. Glen, K9STH AMSAT 239 / LM 463 Website: http://k9sth.com On Tuesday, May 27, 2014 3:40 PM, Burns Fisher bu...@fisher.cc wrote: John, it completely depends on what your ISPs (or more specifically your email supplier's) policy is for email that comes marked as check that my address is correct). As I mentioned before, gmail puts it in spam rather than bouncing it. It's a pain in the neck for sure! 73, Burns W2BFJ On Tue, May 27, 2014 at 4:12 PM, John Becker w0...@big-river.net wrote: Just a guess but was there not something about this some years ago that had something to do with the posting of HTML message to a plain text list or am I thinking of something else. I myself have never had a problem. John W0JAB ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] bounces
There's a down arrow next to the TO field on emails received via the mailing list? Click that. You'll see a item listed named mailing list and next to it will be a option to Filter messages from this mailing list. Click that and click Create filter with this search. On the next page click Never send it to Spam and then Create Filter and you'll be good to go. 73, Paul, N8HM On Tue, May 27, 2014 at 11:08 PM, Greg D ko6th.g...@gmail.com wrote: How? Greg KO6TH Paul Stoetzer wrote: FYI - With Gmail, you can set up a filter to prevent list messages from being sent to your Spam folder, which solves this problem. 73, Paul, N8HM On Tue, May 27, 2014 at 4:50 PM, Glen Zook gz...@yahoo.com wrote: I just got a similar E-Mail from the automatic responder for the AMSAT BB. Yahoo.com, as well as, I have been told, several other E-Mail clients made certain changes several weeks ago that results in certain, but not all, messages from a reflector bouncing. Frankly, I have been getting E-Mails from the AMSAT reflector every day including today. I participate in several reflectors and have gotten similar automatic letters about messages bouncing. The person, in charge of the reflector, contacted Yahoo, and the other E-Mail clients, to see what changes had to be made to the reflector so that messages will not bounce. There are a lot of amateur radio operators, as well as I, who use Yahoo, G-Mail, etc., for reflectors because, like it or not, reflectors seem to be a target of SPAM and the desire to keep such SPAM away from our primary E-Mail addresses. Glen, K9STH AMSAT 239 / LM 463 Website: http://k9sth.com On Tuesday, May 27, 2014 3:40 PM, Burns Fisher bu...@fisher.cc wrote: John, it completely depends on what your ISPs (or more specifically your email supplier's) policy is for email that comes marked as check that my address is correct). As I mentioned before, gmail puts it in spam rather than bouncing it. It's a pain in the neck for sure! 73, Burns W2BFJ On Tue, May 27, 2014 at 4:12 PM, John Becker w0...@big-river.net wrote: Just a guess but was there not something about this some years ago that had something to do with the posting of HTML message to a plain text list or am I thinking of something else. I myself have never had a problem. John W0JAB ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] Appearing on http://www.ariss.net/
Attended use is certainly appropriate! It's those mindlessly beaconing all day on 145.825 MHz all day clogging the channel that aren't. If you can exchange messages with someone, that's even better. Unfortunately, there seem to be fewer IGates listening on 145.825, which means less likelihood of making it through to the Internet. The AMSAT-BB is certainly an appropriate forum for this discussion. Any and all discussion of amateur satellite operations is most welcome! 73, Paul, N8HM On Mon, May 26, 2014 at 12:41 PM, Mike Sprenger mikespren...@gmail.comwrote: The goal overall, is to get the digi functionality working via the ISS, to use the capability live/attended for educational value part of the Radio Merit badge work for scouting. Is my intended use inappropriate ? Being a technical question, is the Amsat-BB right vehicle for a technical discussion as to why I'm no longer able to digi via the ISS or shall I look elsewhere ? On Mon, May 26, 2014 at 11:58 AM, Robert Bruninga bruni...@usna.edu wrote: The beacon while-unattended into a very valuable limited channel such as the ISS and PCSAT digipeaters are disappointing to me. The purpose of the APRS digipeaters in space are for humans to contact humans, or for the rare -out-in-the-atlantic or Pacific lone traveler or experiment. The unattended beacons are intereference to that mission and are not welcome. Bob, WB4aPR On Mon, May 26, 2014 at 11:24 AM, Clayton Coleman kayakfis...@gmail.com wrote: These days I'm finding less and less stations on APRS via the ISS. This is a major reason as to why packets digipeated by the ISS aren't making it into the terrestrial APRS Internet Service. If there are only one or two stations within your mutual footprint and they can't hear very well, chances are your position digipeated by the ISS won't be heard by them. Therein lies your problem and why your packets aren't making it to the Internet. It is no fault of the APRS-IS or the ISS digipeater. I was on a pass this morning, 63 degree elevation, that covered most of the western half of the United States. Of that entire pass I only copied 5 stations, all of which were automated with no live individuals at the keyboard. I was getting a 100% solid copy of the ISS. I've never quiet understood the fascination with transmitting a packet and showing up on the Internet. Nowadays there's an app for that. The APRS-IS, ISS digipeater, and our terrestrial APRS networks are great resources. Unfortunately operating trends come and go and I think we are in a down cycle with less people active on the ISS digipeater over North America. 73 Clayton W5PFG On Mon, May 26, 2014 at 10:10 AM, Mike Sprenger mikespren...@gmail.com wrote: Used to be able to show up on the ariss.net web page when I digi my position via the ISS, now I can't figure out what I've done to cause it to not work any longer(and I can successfully appear by using the new-n paradigm on terrestrial APRS on 144.39) It's not an RF path problem, I can Digi via the ISS no problem on 145.825, hearing my return packets from the ISS. I've digi'ed dozens via the ISS, yet, I can no longer gateway to the ARISS web page. Referring to this page: http://www.aprs.org/iss-faq.html ISS145.825145.825ARISS | APRSAT | WIDEAdding an optional SGATE,WIDE on your path allows your I have tried to digi via ARISS using several paths, some of which are: CQ,ARISS,SGATE,WIDE CQ,ARISS,SGATE,WIDE CQ,ARISS,WIDE1-1 So, 2 questions, using UI-View32: 1. What's the most common Is there something that could cause it *not* to gateway to the www.ariss.net page ? 2. What is the Digi Path to end up on www.ariss.net ? -- Thanks, Mike W4UOO (37.9167N 81.1244W is the Summit) ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb -- Thanks, Mike Sprenger (37.9167N 81.1244W is the Summit) ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the
Re: [amsat-bb] AO-7 Recent Behavior
Bill, I did not observe the 17:48Z pass. DJ8MS reports that the satellite got much weaker at 17:58Z (http://aar29.free.fr/sat/ao7/ao7log.php). It apparently shut down at 19:45Z on the second pass. If it simply got much weaker as observed on the prior orbit, I could not hear it. Right before it shut down, I observed KB1RVT's signal start to FM while the transponder's noise floor was modulated by a strong CW signal in the passband. I replied to him and that was the last I heard of it. I'll be on next orbit around 21:28Z. Hopefully it stays on the whole pass. 73, Paul, N8HM On Mon, May 26, 2014 at 4:08 PM, Bill Bordy, NJ1H n...@comcast.net wrote: Is it just me or did AO-07 shutdown today after working for a few minutes? The passes I observed this on were: 26 MAY 2014 17:48 - 18:04 UTC 26 MAY 2014 19:37 - 19:57 UTC This pass in particular was a Max El of 59 for me. at my QTH in FN42. 73, Bill NJ1H On 5/25/2014 2:42 PM, PY5LF wrote: Paul On this pass , finishing 18:43UTC , AO7 works all the time ! 73 PY5LF Luciano Fabricio Curitiba-PR-BR GG54jm http://www.qrz.com/db/PY5LF -Mensagem original- De: amsat-bb-boun...@amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-boun...@amsat.org] Em nome de Paul Stoetzer Enviada em: domingo, 25 de maio de 2014 12:49 Para: amsat-bb@amsat.org Assunto: [amsat-bb] AO-7 Recent Behavior Good morning, AO-7 seems to be showing some odd behavior. For about three weeks of the eclipse cycle, it had been operating perfectly in Mode B with strong and clear signals on each and every pass. However, yesterday it was off during two ascending passes over the United States. It was back in Mode B during a pass over the Western United States around 23:30Z last night. PY5LF reported that it was in Mode B for 5-6 minutes after leaving eclipse and then it abruptly shut off. Reports from Europe on the AAR29 log also indicate it had shut off on ascending passes. My theory is that the sun angles on the solar panels are not ideal at this point. When it powers up after eclipse in Mode B, voltages fall such that the undervoltage detector kicks in and switches the satellite to Mode D (both transponders off). The satellite would then stay in Mode D until it loses power on the next eclipse and restarts in Mode B. If this is the case, my recommendation to Southern Hemisphere stations would be to wait a couple of minutes after it comes out of eclipse to start uplinking to the satellite and to keep power levels low until the panels are better illuminated. This behavior has not been reported on descending passes, though signals were reported to be weak and distorted at times this morning over the United States. Weak and distorted signals on the two meter downlink may be partially explained by Sporadic E as six meters has been open most of the morning. 73, Paul, N8HM ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] AO-7 Recent Behavior
Worked PV8DX, K4FEG, and K4TB on the 21:28Z pass across the middle of the United States. Signals were nice and strong at the beginning of the pass, but seemed to weaken in the middle of the pass. It stayed on the whole time, though. 73, Paul, N8HM On Mon, May 26, 2014 at 4:13 PM, Paul Stoetzer n...@arrl.net wrote: Bill, I did not observe the 17:48Z pass. DJ8MS reports that the satellite got much weaker at 17:58Z (http://aar29.free.fr/sat/ao7/ao7log.php). It apparently shut down at 19:45Z on the second pass. If it simply got much weaker as observed on the prior orbit, I could not hear it. Right before it shut down, I observed KB1RVT's signal start to FM while the transponder's noise floor was modulated by a strong CW signal in the passband. I replied to him and that was the last I heard of it. I'll be on next orbit around 21:28Z. Hopefully it stays on the whole pass. 73, Paul, N8HM On Mon, May 26, 2014 at 4:08 PM, Bill Bordy, NJ1H n...@comcast.netwrote: Is it just me or did AO-07 shutdown today after working for a few minutes? The passes I observed this on were: 26 MAY 2014 17:48 - 18:04 UTC 26 MAY 2014 19:37 - 19:57 UTC This pass in particular was a Max El of 59 for me. at my QTH in FN42. 73, Bill NJ1H On 5/25/2014 2:42 PM, PY5LF wrote: Paul On this pass , finishing 18:43UTC , AO7 works all the time ! 73 PY5LF Luciano Fabricio Curitiba-PR-BR GG54jm http://www.qrz.com/db/PY5LF -Mensagem original- De: amsat-bb-boun...@amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-boun...@amsat.org] Em nome de Paul Stoetzer Enviada em: domingo, 25 de maio de 2014 12:49 Para: amsat-bb@amsat.org Assunto: [amsat-bb] AO-7 Recent Behavior Good morning, AO-7 seems to be showing some odd behavior. For about three weeks of the eclipse cycle, it had been operating perfectly in Mode B with strong and clear signals on each and every pass. However, yesterday it was off during two ascending passes over the United States. It was back in Mode B during a pass over the Western United States around 23:30Z last night. PY5LF reported that it was in Mode B for 5-6 minutes after leaving eclipse and then it abruptly shut off. Reports from Europe on the AAR29 log also indicate it had shut off on ascending passes. My theory is that the sun angles on the solar panels are not ideal at this point. When it powers up after eclipse in Mode B, voltages fall such that the undervoltage detector kicks in and switches the satellite to Mode D (both transponders off). The satellite would then stay in Mode D until it loses power on the next eclipse and restarts in Mode B. If this is the case, my recommendation to Southern Hemisphere stations would be to wait a couple of minutes after it comes out of eclipse to start uplinking to the satellite and to keep power levels low until the panels are better illuminated. This behavior has not been reported on descending passes, though signals were reported to be weak and distorted at times this morning over the United States. Weak and distorted signals on the two meter downlink may be partially explained by Sporadic E as six meters has been open most of the morning. 73, Paul, N8HM ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] AO-7 Recent Behavior
Good morning, AO-7 seems to be showing some odd behavior. For about three weeks of the eclipse cycle, it had been operating perfectly in Mode B with strong and clear signals on each and every pass. However, yesterday it was off during two ascending passes over the United States. It was back in Mode B during a pass over the Western United States around 23:30Z last night. PY5LF reported that it was in Mode B for 5-6 minutes after leaving eclipse and then it abruptly shut off. Reports from Europe on the AAR29 log also indicate it had shut off on ascending passes. My theory is that the sun angles on the solar panels are not ideal at this point. When it powers up after eclipse in Mode B, voltages fall such that the undervoltage detector kicks in and switches the satellite to Mode D (both transponders off). The satellite would then stay in Mode D until it loses power on the next eclipse and restarts in Mode B. If this is the case, my recommendation to Southern Hemisphere stations would be to wait a couple of minutes after it comes out of eclipse to start uplinking to the satellite and to keep power levels low until the panels are better illuminated. This behavior has not been reported on descending passes, though signals were reported to be weak and distorted at times this morning over the United States. Weak and distorted signals on the two meter downlink may be partially explained by Sporadic E as six meters has been open most of the morning. 73, Paul, N8HM ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] AO-73 to FO-29
I have heard that a few times. A month or so ago, I was talking to AC0RA on FO-29 one night when the beacon started coming up right under us. What would be really neat is to decode the telemetry that way, though I doubt you'll ever hear it strong enough to do so. 73, Paul, N8HM On Sun, May 25, 2014 at 9:12 PM, Bob- W7LRD w7...@comcast.net wrote: I think I heard the beacon of AO-73 on the FO29 down link. Both satellites were over lapping I have no idea how to figure the Doppler from two satellites in conjunction. The signal stopped at FO-29 LOS. The time was 0055Z. 73 Bob W7LRD CN87wk ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] GOT GRIDS ?
Thanks, Damon! Thanks to W5PFG for his trip to the USA side of the DL field earlier this year and also to W6RQR in CM99 who managed to hear my weak signal near the end of last night's FO-29 pass to the west. The other eight fields are pretty easy and heard on a regular basis here in FM18. 73, Paul, N8HM On Sat, May 24, 2014 at 9:45 AM, wa4...@comcast.net wrote: Congratulations to Paul Stoetzer N8HM for Got Grids? award #6 good job Paul and it was great to have met you at the Amsat Banquet Thanks WA4HFN em55 Damon www.starcommgroup.org ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] LitSat-1 decayed
Looks like LitSat-1 decayed overnight. 39570 LITSAT 11998-067EP LTU 2014-05-23 11:22:00 2014-05-23 0:00:000.0885 decay_msg TLE Historical Too bad we never got to try out the linear transponder over North America. LituanicaSAT-1 is still up there and expected to decay around June 29th (per http://www.satflare.com/track.asp?q=39571#TOP). Interesting that the orbits of two CubeSats deployed at the same time are decaying much differently. Since the two satellites are identical in size, the antenna configuration and mass must be more favorable on LituanicaSAT-1. 73, Paul, N8HM ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Re: [amsat-bb] GRID MASTER award
The ARRL documentation for the Fred Fish Memorial Award states that there are 488: http://www.arrl.org/ffma Regardless of whether or not John was the 1st or 2nd to do it, it's certainly a rare accomplishment worth celebrating. 73, Paul, N8HM On Tue, May 20, 2014 at 2:24 PM, Bruce kk...@amsat.org wrote: i don't think so randy, n7sfi, did this years ago. he is now going after all u.s. counties on satellite. thought there were 499 grids in lower 48. h Confirmed: 499 (100%) Completed on September 22, 2001 73...bruce On 5/20/2014 1:18 PM, wa4...@comcast.net wrote: Star Comm Group has a new award Grid Master We announced the award at the Amsat Banquet Friday night and John K8YSE is the first to have work all 488 U.S. grids and confirm contacts on amateur satellites. Go to www.starcommgroup.org click the picture tab. Left to right John K8YSE Damon WA4HFN Rick WA4NVM also click the award tab to see the 1st Grid Master award. Star Comm Group encourages the use of the amateur satellites and Amsat NA. WA4HFN em55 Damon ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb -- Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards ARRL Awards Manager (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0100z on Echolink - Conference *AMSAT* Also live streaming MP3 at http://www.amsatnet.com Podcast at http://www.amsatnet.com/podcast.xml or iTunes Latest satellite news on the ARRL Audio News http://www.arrl.org AMSAT on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/amsat ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] Re: AO-07 Telemetry
I have no idea. It's something interesting at about 145.975 +/- Kind of sounds like the RTTY telemetry. I recorded this on May 2nd at about 2100 UTC. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9V9poEfvbabd0N2R1RfRkRnOGc/edit?usp=sharing 73, Paul, N8HM On Thu, May 8, 2014 at 9:06 PM, E. Michael McCardel mccard...@gmail.com wrote: Can anyone answer or point me in the right direction here. What telemetry, if any, is AO-07 transmitting? Mode and frequency? Thank you EMike McCardel, KC8YLD Sent from my iPad ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] Re: AO-07 Telemetry
By the way, I heard nothing on the 2 meter beacon frequency while AO-7 was in constant sunlight. I only started hearing this transmission once the eclipse cycle started. I never heard the 435.100 MHz beacon when AO-7 was in Mode A (I tried three times on nearly overhead passes). I also never heard anything on the 29.502 MHz beacon frequency, though that may be more due to using inadequate antennas. 73, Paul, N8HM On Thu, May 8, 2014 at 9:06 PM, E. Michael McCardel mccard...@gmail.com wrote: Can anyone answer or point me in the right direction here. What telemetry, if any, is AO-07 transmitting? Mode and frequency? Thank you EMike McCardel, KC8YLD Sent from my iPad ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] Re: Fox-1 launch delay
My thoughts regarding the two launch possibilities: I hope that, if given the choice, that AMSAT sticks with ELaNa-12. The 11 year orbit and 780 km apogee is much better than an apogee in the 600 km range and a 6.5 year orbital life. Given that Fox-1 is the first amateur satellite designed for it's batteries to eventually die, we should give it the opportunity! Also, since it's so hard to get a launch these days, it's best that when we do get a launch, it can stay in orbit for as long as possible. And for everyone waiting for a new FM satellite who is disappointed by the delay: The good news is that we should get a new Mode U/V FM satellite at approximately the same time Fox-1 was supposed to launch. The QB50p2 satellite is scheduled for launch on June 19th with an AMSAT-F U/V FM transponder on board. After six months, the satellite is supposed to be turned over for amateur use, if all goes well. Regardless of what happens, best of luck to everyone working on the Fox program. I am making a small recurring monthly contribution to the program and I hope that everyone who is able to do so provides whatever support they can. 73, Paul, N8HM On Tue, May 6, 2014 at 11:52 AM, Jerry Buxton am...@n0jy.org wrote: Hi Nick, You did not miss anything, the information you read in the Journal is as new to you as it is to us. It was learned at the time Barry was writing his Apogee View in March but due to Tony's illness and passing the Journal issue was delayed a week or two in order to include the information about Tony. That then, slightly delayed the delivery of this news about the launch delay. I will talk about it at Dayton. See you there! 73, Jerry NØJY On 5/6/2014 9:35 AM, dnku...@myfairpoint.net wrote: Perhaps I missed this information earlier someplace else, but reading in the March/April 2014 AMSAT Journal just received yesterday, I note in Barry Baines column, Apogee View, that the launch date for the ELaNa-12 group of satellites, which includes Fox-1, has been re-scheduled from December, 2014 to August 2015 due to changing govermental priorities. Barry points out, that while AMSAT is dissappointed in the launch schedule slippage, it will result in more time to to complete and test the satellite prior to delivery and allow greater confidence in the spacecraft's readiness. Reading further, it also appears the possibility exists FOX-1 might get moved to the ELaNa-11 mission currently scheduled for March/April 2015. ELaNa-11 is projected for a slightly different orbit, resulting in a lower apogee and shorter orbital life. More news may be available at the AMSAT forum in Dayton later this month. 73, Nick, KB1RVT ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] Re: Old FT-847 and doppler control
Bill, As you know, manual Doppler correction is going to be a quite a bit different than on AO-40, but still relatively simple with practice. Always adjust the higher of the two frequencies and leave the lower frequency fixed as far as possible (slight corrections may be needed at times, of course, depending on how the person you are in QSO with is tuning). Be sure to get on the sats and practice before Field Day. This goes for everyone who rarely gets on the satellites at other times! Perhaps the first or second weekend in June should be a practice session for Field Day to make sure that the kinks are worked out before the live event. 73, Paul, N8HM On Tue, May 6, 2014 at 11:40 AM, Bill (W1PA) w...@hotmail.com wrote: I did some testing last night. To be clear, I have a FT-847 that has single direction CAT. Rigs with serial numbers later than 8G05 have bi-directional, rigs younger are likely to have single (Yaesu did go back and offer uProc replacements for a time, so if a rig is older, it may still do bi-directional CAT). More here: http://www.supercontrol.de/cat/ft847faq/page4.htm#catcontrol I installed and tried Gpredict on Ubuntu. The software and the rig won't link up for more than a few seconds, so there must be some bi-directional handshaking, and then a timeout. I ruled out my cable, etc, by using the Grig executable that comes with Hamlib. With Grig I can push changes to the rig, but no response to anything I do on the rig. More here: http://www.neodux.com/read/HOWTO:_Configure_Hamlib_for_Linux_Hams_-_Part_2 So then I tried SatPC32 on a WinXP machine. Actually, out of the box, it works somewhat... changing birds will correctly set up both VFOs and the modes. However, driving the VFO from the software, or letting the doppler correction take over, only effects the main VFO on my rig, not the sub-VFO. Greg suggested that I let the PC control the rotor instead, and manually adjust doppler on the rig. Probably a good suggestion, and something I had no problem doing in the AO-40 days, but I won't have a computer controlled rotator, a different FT847, or the skill to swap out a surface mount quad flatpack (the processor in the FT847 than needs to be swapped to get bidirectional) by FD; I'll take what automation I can get. I'll continue playing. Bill W1PA ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] Re: Is anyone hearing LITSAT-1
Telemetry was recorded at 0714 UTC this morning: http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?p=44813 Perhaps the telemetry beacon is only on over Lithuania. I have not heard it myself. Also, remember that LituanicaSAT-1 and LitSAT-1 are different satellites. There has been confusion on that point. LitSAT-1 transmits on 2 meters, LituanicaSAT-1 transmits on 70cm. 73, Paul, N8HM On Sun, May 4, 2014 at 9:03 AM, John / NS1Z ns1zj...@gmail.com wrote: I am looking for reception reports on LITSAT-1 if it is operational. Not hearing anything here ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] Re: AO-73 booming signal
Agree. It isn't quite as loud or as easy to get a signal into as VO-52, but it's very close. I had a 70+ degree pass yesterday and my return signal was S8 with 500 mW to an Elk antenna. Unfortunately, all I heard were people trying to find their signals until the end of the pass. Looking forward to the FUNcube-2 payload on UKube-1 and the FUNcube-3 payload on QB50p2, apparently both launching June 19th, but I see conflicting information about the DNEPR launch for QB50p1 and QB50p2 (with a FM transponder from AMSAT-F). Can anyone confirm that date? 73, Paul, N8HM On Mon, May 5, 2014 at 12:52 PM, D. Craig Fox d...@rwglaw.com wrote: I was on AO73 last night from southern Cal (DM13) at around 0555z, calling many CQs. I kept my downlink at about 145.955. My sigs peaked at S9 (no preamp), 5 el fixed at 30 deg. AO73 was very loud. I had no replies and heard no one but myself. It does take a little more work to keep up with the Doppler, but this is a great sat and I encourage you to take advantage when the transponder is turned on. NOTICE: This communication may contain privileged or other confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient of this communication, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this communication to the intended recipient, please advise the sender by reply email and immediately delete the message and any attachments without copying or disclosing the contents. Thank you. ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] AO-7 - strong signals!
Five days into it's eclipse season, AO-7 is operating very well. Strong Mode B signals on the last pass over eastern North America. I worked PV8DX, N8RO, KV1J (his first AO-7 QSO), and KB1RVT. My 25 watts ERP was plenty until the satellite started going behind the trees to the north. Hope to hear everyone on the next pass in just under an hour. All of North America will be comfortably in the footprint. 73, Paul, N8HM ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] Re: QB50p1 (FUNcube-3) QB50p2 delivered
Yes, that is certainly nice that they included those payloads as a favor! Another thing is that some of the ISIS transceivers used in many of the CubeSats that are on the drawing board or have been launched use the ISIS transceiver that includes a loopback mode, which can be used as a single channel transponder. It'd be great if a few of them could turn on the loopback mode and open them up for use by the amateur community when they complete their missions. 73, Paul, N8HM On Sun, May 4, 2014 at 3:55 PM, g0...@aol.com wrote: Hi Trevor. Thanks for all the info on two more transponders, one linear and one FM due for launch in June I thought this comment from the owners was really nice: and an amateur radio payload provided by the AMSAT-NL and AMSAT-FR. These last payloads serve as a return favour to the satellite radio amateur community for the fact that the QB50 main mission can use the amateur bands during the full flight in 2016. Just goes to show that use of amateur frequencies can have substantial benefits. 73 David -Original Message- From: M5AKA m5...@yahoo.co.uk To: AMSAT BB amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Sun, 4 May 2014 19:37 Subject: [amsat-bb] QB50p1 (FUNcube-3) QB50p2 delivered + Tim Peake now KG5BVI Two QB50 satellites with ham radio payloads delivered http://amsat-uk.org/2014/05/04/two-qb50-satellites-with-ham-radio-payloads-delivered/ Astronaut Tim Peake is now KG5BVI http://amsat-uk.org/2014/05/04/tim-peake-is-now-kg5bvi/ Trevor M5AKA AMSAT-UK Website http://amsat-uk.org/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/amsatuk Twitter https://twitter.com/AMSAT_UK ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] Tuning on the transponder's center frequnecy
Good evening, On the last pass of FO-29 over the United States, there were a couple of stations tuning and one that started calling CQ in CW right on the center frequency. HK3Z was already calling CQ on that frequency when the satellite rose over North America. I did work him, but several others could have as well if not for the QRM. Please go up or down a ways to find your signal so you are out of the way. Remember that FO-29's passband is 100 kHz wide - 435.800 MHz to 435.900 MHz. There's more than enough room for everyone. If I decide to call CQ, I generally start calling 10-15 kHz above center and move down only if nobody is responding there. Now, there was also non-ham FM QRM on the center frequency, but that's a different story and there's not much we can do about that. 73, Paul, N8HM ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] AO-7 in Mode B Today
It looks like eclipse season has started for AO-7 as it was reported to still be in Mode B this morning over Europe and South America. This means it should be in Mode B daily for the next 16 weeks or so. Enjoy! 73, Paul, N8HM ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] Re: 'HAMSAT VO-52' completes 9 successful and fruitful years in orbit !
I second the congratulations. It remains the easiest of our current satellites to hear and put a strong signal through. Even 5 watts to an Elk antenna is too much power at times on high elevation passes. 73, Paul, N8HM On Fri, May 2, 2014 at 8:33 AM, Burns Fisher bu...@fisher.cc wrote: May all our birds be so successful! Congratulations and thanks to AMSAT-Inda, as well as to PE1RAH for the Dutch transponder. 73, Burns W2BFJ On Fri, May 2, 2014 at 8:23 AM, Mani [VU2WMY/KJ6LRS] w...@isac.gov.inwrote: Dear Friends, It gives us great pleasure to inform that 'HAMSAT - VO-52' is successfully completing 9 years of fruitful services on 4th May 2014 and entering into her 10th year of services on 5th May. HAMSAT was launched as a piggy back aboard PSLV-C6 on 5th May 2005 (5-5-5). We do hope that the contribution of 'HAMSAT' by India/ISRO to the 'Global Amateur Radio Fraternity' has served its purpose. It gives us great pleasure and satisfaction to note that 'HAMSAT VO-52' has remained as one of the most sought after and favorite 'Linear Birds' among the radio amateurs for her sensitivity, strong down link signals, stability and the ease to work. Though expected to work for two years (mainly, considering the battery), HAMSAT VO-52 has really out lived and still doing strong. Latest telemetry indicates all the parameters and systems to be normal and satisfactory. We do hope that 'HAMSAT' would continue to provide her good services to 'Amateur Radio fraternity' for many more years. On this happy occasion, we place on records our sincere thanks and appreciations to, Chairman ISRO, Scientific Secretary ISRO, Director ISRO Satellite, Mission Director, Operations Director, 'HAMSAT' project team at various ISRO centres, AMSAT-India and Williams Leijenaar PE1RAH for their contribution in achieving this this milestone. 73 de Mani [VU2WMY/KJ6LRS] Secretary Station-In-Charge Upagrah Amateur Radio Club VU2URC ISRO Satellite Centre HAL Airport Road, Bangalore-560 017. Phone:(Office)91-80-25082598/25082054/25082192 Mobile: 91-9880 341 456 E-mail ID: w...@isac.gov.in vu2wmy_m...@yahoo.com isroh...@yahoo.com -- Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message. -- ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] Re: LituanicaSat-1 transponder remains on
The transponder was indeed on for the 2140Z pass over North America. I heard a station in DN45 (I guess it was WC7V) right as the satellite came up above about 10 degrees (lots of buildings and trees in the way), worked AC0RA, but there was some difficulty getting into the satellite with just 5 watts and an Elk antenna, and then I heard and half-worked WB3CSY (probably not a valid QSO) before I lost the bird at about 12 degrees. I also heard the ID and greeting about halfway through the pass. The signal is a few dB down from SO-50 and the uplink receiver is definitely less tolerant of being off frequency. My best signal into the bird was in narrow FM while tuning for Doppler on the uplink. At TCA, an elevation of about 55 degrees, the downlink signal was S9 on my FT-817s meter. SO-50 is usually S+ above 35 degrees here. My station here is two FT-817s, an Elk Antenna, and a High Sierra Microwave LNAA432 preamp. I was having some desense issues and further inspection revealed a nick in my feedline as the probable cause. I look forward to trying it out again in the remaining weeks before it decays. 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC (FM18lv) On Thu, May 1, 2014 at 3:29 PM, Ken Swaggart k.swagg...@charter.net wrote: Received an email from the LituanicaSat-1 control ops that transponder remains on today and we're welcome to use it. During a late morning west coast pass I was able to access the transponder using the 67 Hz PL and the downlink sounded very good using Yagis, with some slow QSB probably due to tumbling. It seems to have a very good receiver and only a few Watts were required to achieve full quieting. 73, Ken, W7KKE CN75xa ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] Re: LituanicaSat-1 OSCAR
It's entirely up to the owners. It certainly meets the criteria. If they want one, they can request one: http://www.amsat.org/amsat/amsat-na/oscar.html 73, Paul, N8HM On 5/2/2014 1:25 AM, Mike Rupprecht wrote: Hi all, wouldn't it be fair to assign an OSCAR number to LituanicaSat-1? 73 Mike DK3WN ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] LituanicaSAT-1 FM Transponder - Possible NA Activity
Good morning, According to the latest update from the LituanicaSAT-1 team posted on the AMSAT-UK website this morning ( http://amsat-uk.org/2014/04/30/lituanicasat-1-fm-transponder-active-may-1/), the LituanicaSAT-1 FM transponder will be active from 0930Z-1400Z tomorrow. That window includes three passes over North America at around 0940Z, 1115Z, and 1245Z (if I've got the TLEs right - Object 39569, I believe) The uplink is 145.950 MHz, PL 67.0 Hz and downlink is 435.180 MHz. 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
[amsat-bb] LituanicaSAT-1 TLE Confirmation
Can anyone confirm if these are the proper TLEs for LituanicaSAT-1? From Celestrak, it's object 39569U, other sources seem to give a different object number. LITUANICASAT-1 1 39569U 98067EN 14120.05707906 .00127956 0-0 12069-2 0 1884 2 39569 51.6459 334.7226 0006240 190.0958 300.7756 15.66112809 9450 73, Paul, N8HM ___ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
