[amsat-bb] Re: AMSAT bouncing email redirections?

[john heath]

This thread gives me the opportunity to say a long overdue thank you to Paul 
for giving the satellite community such a good service with the amsat-bb.

It has been re directing my satellite mail for 5 or 6 years or more, without 
any problems.

Thanks Paul

73 john G7HIA 

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[amsat-bb] Help - no antennas allowed

[john heath]

Hi Satelliters,

Moving QTH soon and expect to be in an area where there are no external 
antennas permitted.

Does anyone on the list have actual experience of working satellites with 
antennas mounted inside the roofspace?
I would be very interested to hear of your experiences and what type of 
antennas work best.

73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Thanks - attic Antennas

[john heath]

Thanks to everyone who replied.

It seems that small yagis and quagis are OK in roof spaces provided that the 
liner underneath the roof tiles is not metalised.
Contrary to my expectations, rain and snow on the roof doesn't cause problems.
DH5MK has some nice pictures of his attic antenna installation on his web site.

73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] The Moon is not our future

[john heath]

Thanks to all contributors for an enjoyable thread, with some very 
interesting ideas, however, there is a fundamental obstacle to transponders 
on the Moon. The science packages used and left on the Moon by the Apollo 
astonauts had radioactive heat sources which prevented the electronics from 
being destroyed by the extreem cold of the lunar night.

I don't believe there is any likelyhood that we can fly a radioactive source 
on an amateur radio payload.

73 John G7HIA 

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[amsat-bb] Moon Landing a Russian report

[john heath]

Hi,

Just a bit of evidence for your consideration:

Valentina Tereshkova and Valery Bykovsky were in Coventry England a few years 
ago and I was privilaged to be amongst the guests at a dinner held in their 
honour. During the after dinner conversation they were asked about the 
authenticity of the Amarican moon landings. Bykovsky said that they were 
monitoring the mission and there was no doubt in their minds that it was 
genuine.

73 John G7HIA

PS - I am also looking forward to some high resolution images so that we can 
bury the hoax theory once and for all.
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[amsat-bb] Re: FUNcube a UK Linear Transponder Satellite

[john heath]

Hi Bruce and the bb,

Re: Amsat-UK FUNcube

What a great name  Space Communicators Club

With potential worldwide participation by schools in the telemetry and 
physiscs experiments I hope that amsat-uk can come up with a receiver that 
can be mass produced and  achive an easily affordable unit for schools.

73 John G7HIA 

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[amsat-bb] Pollux tlm

[john heath]

Hi all telemetry fans

Copied just one frame from Pollux at 13:30 utc over England using my weather 
sat turnstile (no other antennas at present). 

POLLUX-1/TELEMCQUI,?,F0:
SYST 159093 0 0 33 0 01b1 12f0 0002 1190  1198 0066 1110 0044 0f50  
 0158 08d0 0fc0 003e 

73 John G7HIA

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[amsat-bb] Antenna pointing

[john heath]

Hi,

I agree with the comments that  high degrees of pointing accuracy are not 
required for satellite work. 
However, if you are super keen to improve your pointing accuracy then you may 
like to consider the modern version of the bore sight method.

A bore sight is basically a length of tube, you look through, you only get a 
view of the target when you are accuratly lined up with it. The longer the tube 
the greater the pointing accuracy.

For an antenna boom mounted bore sight I used about six inches of  15mm copper 
water pipe with a stop end soldered onto it. I drilled a 1/8 hole in the stop 
end and  fixed  a light dependant resistor in the eye end Attached to the 
boom and ran wires to the shack where I had a battery and voltmeter.

Point your antenna at where the Sun should be then hunt backwards and 
forwards, up and down until you see a peak reading on the meter = the sun.
Its a bit of work but the benefit of this method is that its on the tower and 
you can check it anytime the Sun is out.

Practical problems, waterproofing and true alignment to the boom.

It was a lot of work but a fun project, eventially destroyed by water 
penetration.

73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Re: Antenna pointing

[john heath]

Hi Tim and the list,

Thanks for the kind comments.

Its not my original idea.
I picked it up years ago, possibly from  Amsat-UK's journal OSCAR News, or 
possibly eleswhere.

Just happy to pass it on. Someone may find it usefull, or suggest a 
better/simpler implimentation of the same basic idea.

73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Fw: Re: best rotators

[John Heath]

- Forwarded Message 
From: John Heath g7...@btinternet.com
To: apbid...@mailaps.org
Sent: Thursday, 27 August, 2009 4:29:04 PM
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: best rotators


If you have the money the AlphaSpid is a very strong and well engineered unit. 
Probably last for many years.
The unit I got runs on AC or DC. I built a dedicated 24V AC supply for mine, 
nothing more complicated than a big toriodal transformer in a box with switch, 
fuses, and an on  light. Better than running it off the radio DC supply.

If its available, get the mouse control with it. They have used a computer 
mouse and connected to the up/down and left right controlls. Its very neat to 
use on the operating desk.

As in WA4SCA's post mine works fine with automatic satellite tracking. 

73 John G7HIA

PS - no financial involvement with the company, just a happy customer.





From: Alan P. Biddle apbid...@united.net
To: rswa...@twcny.rr.com; amsat-bb@amsat.org
Sent: Wednesday, 26 August, 2009 6:46:27 PM
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: best rotators

Randy,

Do take a look at the AlphaSpid RAK-1 rotator.  They are not cheap, but far
stronger than the Kenpro/Yaesu units, and can be controlled by the usual
computer programs.  Recently MFJ has started importing them, though they are
hard to find on the web site except in the catalog.

Alan
WA4SCA
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[amsat-bb] Water as a rocket fuel

[John Heath]

Thanks to Bob for starting an interesting thread. 

On boeard electrolysis of water to produce  Hydrogen/Oxygen rocket fuel.

An most interesting paper on the subject at 
https://e-reports-ext.llnl.gov/pdf/236614.pdf
It does work in space.

Could it get us from LEO to MEO?

Since Bob is a can do guy I will follow this one with great interest, way to go 
Bob.

73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Re: Cute 1.7 Re-Entry

[John Heath]

Hi Nigel,

Thanks for alerting me, and the list, to the upcommong re-entry.

I have been tracking the orbital changes of the Castor Pollux pair with an 
interest.
Their mass differences are showing up quite clearly in the Mean Motion.

Cute 1.7 is different again being such a small mass, and adds another level of 
interest.

Glad to have your prediction to add to the table.

73 John G7HIA

 





From: Nigel Gunn G8IFF/W8IFF ni...@ngunn.net
To: John Heath g7...@btinternet.com
Cc: Amsat amsat-bb@AMSAT.Org
Sent: Monday, 28 September, 2009 6:36:55 PM
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Cute 1.7 Re-Entry

I posted the following on this a week or so ago:

Spacetrack is predicting that CUTE 1.7 will decay on 10th October.
My predix software predicts that the first time the satellite hits terra firma 
will be 19th December.

What do others think?

John Heath wrote:
 Hi
 
 Based on day 271 keps from Celestrak the Perigee height  for Cute 1.7 Object 
 28941 has now dropped below 300km.
 
 Re-entry probably early October. Anyone care to predict the date and time?
 
 If you would,  how about sending it to me off list.  g7...@btinternet.com I 
 will complile a table and provide a small prize for the person who is nearest.
 
 Closing date midnight utc last day of September.
 
 
 73 John G7HIA
 
 
 
 
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 Checked by AVG - www.avg.com 
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-- 
Nigel A. Gunn,  1865 El Camino Drive, Xenia, OH 45385-1115, USA.  tel +1 937 
825 5032
Amateur Radio G8IFF W8IFF (was KC8NHF),  e-mail ni...@ngunn.net      www  
http://www.ngunn.net
Member of  ARRL, GQRP #11396, QRPARCI #11644, SOC #548,  Flying Pigs QRP Club 
International #385,
            Dayton ARA #2128, AMSAT-NA LM-1691,  AMSAT-UK 0182, MKARS,  ALC, 
GCARES, XWARN.

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[amsat-bb] Cute 1.7 Re Entry Competition

[John Heath]

Hi folks,

Thanks for the entries so far.

It has been pointed out that I didn't allow much time, so the closing date is 
now one day later, midnight October 1st

To enter this fun competition send me your best estimate for the re-entry date 
and time for Cute 1.7 Object 28941

Spacetrack suggests October 10th but I think it will be several days later.

The prize for the closest prediction is a 2.4GHz patch antenna kit as shown on 
the Amsat-UK shop page under hardware.

73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Orbital Decay - Model of the Atmosphere

[John Heath]

Hi

Need a model of atmospheric density at varying altitudes, then this site may be 
of interest.

http://omniweb.gsfc.nasa.gov/vitmo/msis_vitmo.html

73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Cute 1.7 Re-Entry

[John Heath]

Re-Entry Cute 1.7 Object # 28941

Update

Space Track have revised their re-entry prediction from October 10th to 
the 14th.

73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Cute 1.7 Re-entry

[John Heath]

Not  Yet

Perigee Height is now below 200km but Cute 1.7 Object  #28941 is still in orbit

Re-Entry predictions for around mid day October 13th from EI7IG and W7LRD 
therefore drop out of the competition.

Is she staying aloft long than expected because of a high mass to surface area? 

73 John G7HIA 
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[amsat-bb] Cute 1.7 re-entry

[John Heath]

Cute 1.7 Re-entry

Its still up !!

Space Track elements for 07:24 this morning (October 21st) assign a Mean Motion 
of 16.2309
and they have revised their re-entry forecast.

Unless something unexpected happens it looks like the only serious contender 
left in the competition is Dave Bowman G0MRF who predicted October 27th.

73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Cute competition winners

[John Heath]

Cute Re-entry Competition
 
Winners Declared
 
It seems that when a satellites,  reache an altitude as low as about 170km they 
will be down very quickly. According to Space Track elements, and InstanTrak 
tracking software Cute was still orbiting when the perigee was below 150 Km.
 
My theory is that cubesats stay in orbit longer because they have a large mass 
relative to their very small cross section and so experience far drag than 
bulkier objects.
 
Using that idea I ran the last element set for several orbits and made an 
arbitrary decision that re-entry probably took place at a perigee of 130Km or 
so thus putting re-entry pretty much dead centre between two competition 
entries.
 
I therefore declare Ib OZ1MY and David G0MRF as joint winners !!!
 
On receipt of current postal addresses I will mail out a patch kit to each of 
the lucky winners.
 
Thanks to Ib, David and everyone else who took part, it was fun to plot the 
curves and I learned a bit about atmospheric density and solar flux.
 
73 John G7HIA
 
PS 
IPS Radio and Space Services, have a useful paper on satellite orbital decay 
calculations. 
Thanks to Ken GW1FKY for sending me a copy.
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[amsat-bb] Re: Auto-Tune

[John Heath]

Hi Joe,
I didn't know about auto tuners used by musicians.
About 5 years ago I had a similar idea for tuning the Doppler without computer 
control.
Thought it would be a neat feature inside a transciever so sent the idea  to 
Yaesu Japan but got no reply.
73 John G7HIA





From: Joe Leikhim rhyol...@nettally.com
To: kc6...@cox.net
Cc: AMSAT-BB@amsat.org
Sent: Monday, 30 November, 2009 14:08:45
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Auto-Tune

The Auto-Tune software used by musicians, apparently can determine the spectral 
center of human voice and lock it to a particular musical key. If the same 
software were to be modified to identify when the pitch moved beyond a preset 
point (IF passband), then the receiver frequency could be automatically slewed 
by CIV or CAT serial commands. Imagine a standalone DSP like the Timewave 
having this feature.
-Original Message-
From: Art McBride kc6...@cox.net
Sent 11/30/2009 12:41:37 AM
To: rhyol...@nettally.com
Subject: RE: [amsat-bb] Auto-TuneJoe,
You have the IF pass band to consider. 
AFC on FM works well, commercially SSB receivers were designed to lock on to
a -16dB pilot carrier but, Amateur radios do not have that option for either
mode. Your Auto-Tune Idea could work on CW as long as it could also
increment the receiver LO to keep the signal inside the IF pass-band.
Art,
KC6UQH  
-Original Message-
From: amsat-bb-boun...@amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-boun...@amsat.org] On
Behalf Of RFI-EMI-GUY
Sent: Sunday, November 29, 2009 8:53 PM
To: amsat-bb@amsat.org
Subject: [amsat-bb] Auto-Tune
I have been having a debate with my son about the overuse of Auto-Tune 
in music. Personally, I find it irritating. Then it occurred to me that 
I had proposed on this BB a long time ago that it would be nifty to have 
a DSP (Like  Timewave DSP-599) that would correct for doppler. Has 
anyone tried Auto-Tune to correct doppler on a linear transponder?
-- 
Joe Leikhim K4SAT
The RFI-EMI-GUYC
Use only Genuine Interocitor Parts Tom Servo  ;-P
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[amsat-bb] XW-1

[John Heath]

Hi 
Great to have such positive news about China's entry into the amateur radio 
satellite field.
Alan Kungs recent posting was most encouraging. Will the space authorities in 
China will have a similar positve attitude towards amateur radio within their 
ambitious manned spaceflight program ? I  hope so, and wish them well. 
73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Re: AO-51 trasatlantic QSO possible now

[John Heath]

Hi Luc,

No satellite capability at present but I can confirm for anyone on the BB who 
hasn't tried it,  transatlantic contacts are perfectly possible via AO-51.  
With most of Europe out of the footprint you will probably have the satellite 
to yourselves.

Another great time to try, when the passes are sutiable is around midnight UTC 
into western USA and Canada. 5W is plenty. Just Nortyh amarica, Scandinavia and 
Scotland in the footprint.

73 John G7HIA





From: Luc Leblanc luclebla...@videotron.ca
To: amsat-bb@amsat.org
Cc: eu-am...@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, 11 December, 2009 9:36:21
Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-51 trasatlantic QSO possible now


Each 3 days AO-51 footprint reach eastern NA and Europe. This very early 
morning pass here at 0855 UTC put in range of the east of North 
America (me...at least): Northern Europe and most of Scandinavia. The next 
similar pass will be on Monday December 14 at 0837 UTC. This 
pass will cover from a line starting at the South of Spain to the north border 
of Italy covering near the whole western European continent  
UK as well Scandinavia will also be in range.

Signal on this morning low pass about 7 deg here was Q5 S6 to S7. If there is 
any takers i can set my alarm clock to be QRV next Monday 
morning but i know it is a working day could be not the best pass to have a lot 
of stations but it is not a too bad thing considering the 
limitation of a one channel sat.

Best time to have a look over the Atlantic from FN36KA.

-


Luc Leblanc VE2DWE
Skype VE2DWE
www.qsl.net/ve2dwe
DSTAR urcall VE2DWE
WAC BASIC CW PHONE SATELLITE



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[amsat-bb] Re: AlfaSpid RAS Predict

[John Heath]

Hi Ryan,

At first I ran my Alfa Spid off the shack 13.8V D.C. supply. I also got flicker 
plus some anomalous readings.
I put this down to voltage drops on my power supply.
You might be having a similar experience as under load from the Spid motors 
your car battery may not be giving 12 volts.

Here is my solution. The Spid will run on AC as well as DC so I got a largeish 
mains to 24V toroidal transformer. Put it in a box with the usual connectors, 
fuse, switch etc. With my Spid on a dedicated supply it works perfectly. Didn't 
cost much and is fully independant of the radio supply.

I think the Spid Alpha system is an excellent piece of kit, mechanically 
probably overkill for most satellite antenna installation but I expect mine to 
last many times longer that the alternatives. If you didn't get the mouse 
option its great. A computer mouse internally modified so that you can easily 
do up/down, left/right right from a mouse right next to you at the operating 
position

73 John G7HIA

PS - no commercial connection with Spid Alpa, just a satisfied customer.





From: Ryan Caron rca...@gmail.com
To: amsat-bb@amsat.org
Sent: Tuesday, 2 February, 2010 19:16:16
Subject: [amsat-bb] AlfaSpid RAS  Predict

Has anyone modified Predict export GS-232 as opposed to EasyComm 2?

I recently purchased an AlfaSpid RAS-1 rotator from Hy-Gain. The 
controller accepts either GS-232 or AlfaSpid's own protocol.

Additionally, has anyone noticed the digits on the controller display 
flickering? Its just a nuisance, but surprising since I'm feeding it 
from a lead acid battery so there can't be any ripple or rectification.

73,
Ryan, KB1LKI
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[amsat-bb] Re: Spacewalks

[John Heath]

Spacewalks are easy to monitor. Your regular 2m antenna will work.
In the UK we get some interference from Air band Communications but can 
generally get a good part of the conversation.

Note - It only works with the Russian spacesuits. American suits use a 
different system.

73 John G7HIA

.



From: Elan Portnoy elanport...@yahoo.com
To: amsat-bb@amsat.org
Sent: Friday, 12 February, 2010 17:14:37
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Spacewalks

Hi,

I'm sure you don't mean intercept but monitor. 

Have a look at this page http://www.orbitessera.com/html/space_shuttle.html

Has the frequencies listed--never tried to copy them myself.

Elan - WB2IOL

--- On Fri, 2/12/10, Vince Fiscus, KB7ADL vlfis...@mcn.net wrote:

 From: Vince Fiscus, KB7ADL vlfis...@mcn.net
 Subject: [amsat-bb]  Spacewalks
 To: amsat-bb@amsat.org
 Date: Friday, February 12, 2010, 10:22 AM
 
 I was thinking while watching last nights EVA on the ISS,
 has anyone here 
 ever tried to intercept the space suit communications
 during EVA's?  I'm 
 not sure what the output of the transmitters are, but with
 a good system 
 you still should be able to hear 100 - 200mw. 
 Probably a weird digital 
 transmission mode so you still wouldn't be able to tell was
 they were 
 saying, but that's why there is NasaTV.
 
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[amsat-bb] antennas for AO-51 V/S

[John Heath]

Enjoy V/S on AO-51 

Visit www.uk.amsat.org and go to the shop.
There you will find an easy build complete kit for a patch antenna ideal for 
AO-51

73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Re: Current Handheld

[John Heath]

No full duplex handheld - here is a simple solution. 

Use two rigs. Buy a 5w 2m radio for the uplink.
Several good ones available available at low cost. 
If using an Arrow run separate cables for each radio, this avoids the diplexer 
which some on this list report as a source of extras loss.

Works fine for me

73 John G7HIA

 




From: Clint Bradford clintbra...@earthlink.net
To: amsat-bb@amsat.org
Sent: Sunday, 7 March, 2010 20:23:12
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Current Handheld

 ...  what is the best current handheld for FM sats??

We do not have a currently-manufactured TRUE DUPLEX HT available. Alinco tried 
- but the sub-band receive performance on their DJ-G7T is gruesome.

I use and like the Yaesu FT-60R - for MANY reasons ...

-Receives 108 to a gig
-bulletproof case
-strongest belt clip of any amateur HT chassis on the market
-easy to manually program
-1,000+ memories
-large, easy-to-read display
-and a battery situation that is great. Load up the optional FBA-25 AA alkaline 
tray with alkalines or NiMH cells, and you have FULL TX POWER available, is 
needed. Do that on, say, a Kenwood TH-F6a, and you have ONE-HALF WATT TX power.

Oh - and the Yaesu FT-60R can be programmed for split freq ops - where is 
receives on 440 and transmits on 2M.

Overall, it is a tremendous value for your money. Under $200 at HRO and AES and 
other authorized Yaesu dealers.

Clint Bradford, K6LCS
909-241-7666
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[amsat-bb] Re: Space Debris:

[John Heath]

hi steve,
thanks for an informative post.
good to see the bb doing what it does best.

73 john g7hia





From: Stephen Melachrinos melac...@verizon.net
To: amsat-bb@amsat.org
Sent: Wednesday, 14 April, 2010 0:22:34
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Space Debris:

Greg -

I didn't see anyone else reply, so I'll try.

No, it's not coincidence. After the Iridium collision last year, the US Air 
Force decided it was in everyone's best interest for them to run conjunction 
analyses against many more space objects than they had previously analyzed, and 
report their predictions to system owners. Previously, their concern was 
primarily the US government's spacecraft, so we (in the amateur community) and 
many commercial operators never knew what was happening to our birds unless we 
did (or paid for) the work ourselves. But the collision (as well as the Chinese 
ASAT demonstration) showed that the resulting debris fields were a major hazard 
to everyone, themselves included. So they must have allocated more resources to 
the problem, as this is a massive undertaking. (Note that some reports say that 
the US has about 20,000 objects that are tracked and cataloged. In theory, this 
means propagating the ephemeris of all of these for some number of days and 
comparing all possible
 combinations across the ti!
me period of the analysis.)

Unfortunately, many (if not most) of the objects no longer have maneuvering 
capability. If a vehicle can maneuver, these warnings give them time to try and 
increase the separation prior to the predicted close approach. (You might have 
heard of some times when a space shuttle does one of these maneuvers.) But if 
you can't maneuver (as is the case with AO-51), all we can do is watch and wait.

Steve
W3HF


Apr 13, 2010 01:45:32 AM, ko6th_g...@hotmail.com wrote:

 Is it just a coincidence that these warnings seem to be coming pretty often 
 recently, or did NORAD change their reporting procedures, or is 
 all the junk up there getting to critical mass where nothing is safe? It 
 seems like we're heading into a situation like nuclear fission, where 
 you get enough stuff interacting, and it sets up a chain reaction of 
 collisions.

 Greg KO6TH

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[amsat-bb] Re: Falcon 9 video - moving early?

[John Heath]

A few years ago at the Amsat Colloquium University of Surrey we were privilaged 
to have astronaut Ron Parise (SK) as a guest speaker. He explained the ignition 
suquence for the shuttle in a very entertaining way, as best I remember it went 
like this

As the engines come up to thrust the explosive bolts fire and away she goes. If 
one of the pyrotchnics fails its no problem the bolt  just gets ripped out of 
the concrete 

73 John G7HIA




From: Jeff Moore tnetcen...@gmail.com
To: amsat-bb@amsat.org
Sent: Sunday, 6 June, 2010 20:43:11
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Falcon 9 video - moving early?

That sort of thing is actually common practice.  The Shuttle, for example, 
fires the main engines and allows them to get up to thrust and stabilize 
while the vehicle is still clamped down, then they fire the solid boosters, 
then they let it go.

Jeff Moore  --  KE7ACY
BAR - Born Again Rocketeer
CN94

- Original Message - From: Elan Portnoy elanport...@yahoo.com


 That's been the case even earlier as well. Listen to
 any of the countdowns for the Apollo lunar missions.
 The Saturn V's engines would ignite at about T-9 and take a
 few seconds to produce full thrust before lift-off at T =
 0.


I remember the announcer saying something to the effect of, T minus 9, 
ignition sequence has started.

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[amsat-bb] Cubex antennas- any feedback?

[John Heath]

Hi,

Just moved to a new QTH in southern england and considering new satellite 
antennas.
The Cubex 2 and 70 dual band quad Yellow-Jacket 46 looks interesting at 
www.cubex.com

Anyone using this antenna on satellites?

Any problems with desense with the two antennas on the same boom?

Feedback welcome


73 John G7HIA  on IO80JE
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[amsat-bb] Connector Loss ?

[John Heath]

Hi Satelliters,
 
Setting up a shack at the new QTH.
 
Does anyone have  measured loss figures for N type connectors in a cable run 
on 145 MHz and 437.
 
I have seen 0.5dB per connector quoted but have no idea if this accurate, 
theoretical,  or measured.
 
 
73 John G7HIA
 
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[amsat-bb] Re: UHF antenna help

[John Heath]

Hi Larry,

Just a thought about your problem.
I don't know the antenna but with a 30 in the code number I expect it is a high 
gain/narrow bandwidth antenna. 

If so your experience may be like mine.

I had a 2x21 element for a while and it was just too narrow beam. Its not the 
3dB lobe thats the problem. Its the incredibly deep null on either side.
reception goes from good to nil with just a small pointing error. Eventually I 
took a hack saw to mine and made it about 1/3 shorter and it was much better.  
Since the system worked before, could it be that you have an alignment problem 
which means that the you are tracking with the null and not the main lobe. 


73 John G7HIA


 




From: Anthony Monteiro aa...@comcast.net
To: zm1...@gmail.com; amsat-bb@amsat.org
Sent: Tuesday, 30 November, 2010 11:55:44
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: UHF antenna help

Hi Larry,

Did you check your new QTH's magnetic declination?

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomagmodels/Declination.jsp

73,
Tony AA2TX
---
At 08:14 PM 11/29/2010, larry wrote:
Good evening,

    Name here is Larry, N1MIW. I recently moved to a better (higher) QTH and
finally got around to setting up the satellite station almost like it used
to be, but am experiencing some reception difficulties on UHF. I'm hoping
someone out here can help me diagnose what I'm doing wrong, or what the
problem is. I am using a Yaesu FT-847 which is computer controlled, as well
as the Yaesu G-5400 rotator. The antennas are mounted on a solid fiberglass
mast only ~17 feet off the ground, and fed with LMR-400. The frequencies are
correct for the satellite I want to use.

    My problem is with the 436CP30 antenna. I cannot seem to find good
results with it since my move - terrestrial or sat related. My SWR is around
1.5:1 at 435MHz, and the polarity switch is working. I tried changing
feedlines and removing the pre-amp, but I still cannot seem to make it work
correctly. I am trying to receive SO-50 D/L, and VO-52 U/L, but both are
just not working like I remember it being before the move. I don't have any
broken or mis-aligned elements (that I noticed - I'll look again). The only
thing I was looking into was instead of having it placed on the boom in a
+ pattern was making it an x pattern - would that make a difference? I
don't remember hearing or reading about that anywhere, so I was looking for
your opinion.

    On a side note, what's your opinion of this antenna? Like I said, I used
to have good luck with it, but I'm not sure what's different, except the new
home. Should I get horizon to horizon coverage (plus or minus a few
degrees)? Oh, I also looped the coax off the back like the manual states,
but the improvement is very minimal. I checked the jumpers at the tuning
box, and they seem OK too.

    I'm running out of ideas, and any guidance would be appreciated. Thanks 
looking forward to working the birds again!

73's... Larry N1MIW

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[amsat-bb] ARISSat-1 Soundcard help

[John Heath]

Hi,

Getting ready for ARISSat-1 and need a new soundcard.
The PC is an old HP dx 6050 2.08Ghz with windows XP pro.

Any recomendadations for a low cost soundcard for digi modes.
Don't do any gamimg or activities that need high performance card.
Just for radio purposes.

Any advice appreciated.

Off list if you prefer g7...@amsat.org

73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Satellite OPS9328 Launched 1967?

[John Heath]

Just been looking at the tracking site    http://www.n2yo.com/satellites
Some great stuff on this site and thanks for posting the URL to the bb.

At the bottom of the amateur radio satellite page there is a listing for 
OPS9328 
(IDSCS 15)

Were they ham satellites, I don't recal reading about them. 
Is this just a simple mistake in the listing? 

73 john g7hia.
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[amsat-bb] Re: KYSat-1 Keps

[John Heath]

Hi,

In my experience, pre launch keps don't have a checksum. They just show the key 
numbers that define the orbit.
My tracking software wont load them automatically. If you key them in manually 
it should work fine. You can then run the software and see how the passes will 
look for your QTH.

I did this for KYSat-1 on Instanttrack and it worked fine.

There are plenty of places on the net to find the make up of the NASA 2 line 
element set.

73 John G7HIA

 




From: charlie Cantrill ki4...@yahoo.com
To: Dave Webb KB1PVH kb1...@gmail.com
Cc: amsat-bb@amsat.org
Sent: Friday, 4 March, 2011 0:26:08
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: KYSat-1 Keps

Curious, I just tried both the Cubesat.org and Henk's corrected Keps here on 
the 
computer at home and neither would work. I did the exact same thing at the 
schools computer earlier today and it worked fine. 
--- On Thu, 3/3/11, Dave Webb KB1PVH kb1...@gmail.com wrote:

From: Dave Webb KB1PVH kb1...@gmail.com
Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] KYSat-1 Keps
To: charlie Cantrill ki4...@yahoo.com
Cc: amsat-bb@amsat.org
Date: Thursday, March 3, 2011, 7:08 PM

That did the trick!
Thanks 

Dave - KB1PVH

Sent from my Verizon Wireless DROID X
On Mar 3, 2011 7:04 PM, charlie Cantrill ki4...@yahoo.com wrote:
 
 
 
 --Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2011 
14:15:00 -0500

 From: Dave Webb KB1PVH kb1...@gmail.com
 Subject: [amsat-bb]  KySat-1
 To: AMSAT -BB amsat-bb@amsat.org
 Message-ID:

     aanlktimytadn3gavwo5ih4oy_t5pxhyf5ckeet7j8...@mail.gmail.com
 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
 

 I just tried using the TLEs off of the KySat-1 page, but couldn't get them
 to work, nothing showed up.
 
 http://ssl.engineering.uky.edu/missions/orbital/kysat1/operations/

 
 Dave - KB1PVH
 
 Sent from my Verizon Wireless DROID X
 
 
---
-

 
 
  I was wondering too if it was the checksum. When the web page was created, 
 the 
keps got pasted wrong.
 Use the Keps from the  cubesat.org page, they work.http://www.cubesat.org/

 1 9U 0    11063.43259919 0.  0-0  0-0 0  
 2 9  97.9564  8.4412 0007658  67.0214 113.6793 14.7726555100If this 
copy does not work, go to the cubesat.org page.

 Charlie CantrillKI4RDT
 
 
 
 
      
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[amsat-bb] Re: AO-40 range record ??

[John Heath]

My best DX on AO-40 was VK5DG south Australia from central england.
70cms up  2.4GHz down.

Happy days !!

73 john G7HIA





From: P.H. bbjun...@f2s.com
To: amsat-bb@amsat.org
Sent: Sunday, 20 March, 2011 1:17:40
Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-40 range record ??

Hi,

For a small club satellite presentation I will be mentioning the
benefits of HEO over LEO and the range advantage.

Can anyone tell me the distance record set when AO-40 was alive?

Thanks

73

2i0VAX

Pete
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[amsat-bb] Gagarin Anniversary

[John Heath]

Geoff Dover G4AFJ sent this to me today.

You may be interested in this one from this week's ARRL DX Bulletin.

KAZAKHSTAN, UN.  Special event stations R50YG and R50SK are QRV from
Baikonur until April 14 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first
flight of Yuri Gagarin.  This includes an entry in the Gagarin Cup contest.
In addition, special call R50KEDR will be QRV on April 12 from 0507 to 0655z
to commemorate the 108 minutes of Gagarin's first flight.  QSL via
operators' instructions.

73,

John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] ARISsat-1 not heard

[John Heath]

0107  AOS pass in range UK - nothing heard on 145.950

73 john g7hia
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[amsat-bb] R50KEDR Heard on 14.190

[John Heath]

0520 UTC

The gagarin station R50KEDR on 14.190 working split listening 5 up.

Weak signal at my QTH in southern England

73 john g7hia
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[amsat-bb] SSB Operation on the Satellites

[John Heath]

Hi Satelliters,
 
Might cause some flames with this  but here goes:
 
With a good few years of operating on the SSB sats, AO's-10,13,40, RS10, 
FO-20,FO-29 and 98 countries confirmed I can agree totally with the one true 
rule in theory. When stations at each end of the QSO use the method it works 
flawlessly, I have done it with QSO partners using Fod track and with 
Instantrak 
computer Doppler correction, but there is the problem.
 
Many of the stations that you want to work will be using manual tuning methods, 
so as you maintain your frequencies at the satellite, according to the rule, 
your QSO partner will have to search for you. Then when its your turn to 
transmit he will have to search for you. 

 
The practical solution that I and I believe most of the ops. I have worked seem 
to use is to have short overs and to adjust frequencies the TX to try and keep 
the QSO in a fixed spot on the receiver.
 
Following the other often recommended method of adjusting the higher 
frequency 
irrespective of its function, up link or down link, cause QSO's to drift across 
the pass band causing problems for other users.
 
The other point worth making for newcomers to the SSB birds is to start on the 
easy passes/satellites first to get the knack of manual tuning. For example, 
try 
VO-52 with its 2m downlink, and to pick low elevation passes where the rate of 
change of frequency due to Doppler shift is less. Don't expect to get it right 
with near overhead passes of FO-29 until you have delevop  your skills.
 
We were all beginners once so don't be afraid to have a  go and make a few 
mistakes.
I am pleased to say that in my experience the SSB satellites have a great user 
community who maintain high operating standard and welcome new ops.
 
Have fun on the birds
 
73 John G7HIA
 
Lamenting the loss of our lovely HEO birds, Happy Days !!
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[amsat-bb] ARISSat Heard G7HIA

[John Heath]

0203 UTC SSTV
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[amsat-bb] ARISSat-1 reception report

[John Heath]

0048 UTC  South West of England  IO82ej
Strong SSTV signal heard but not decoded.
Satellite at 5 degrees elevation.

73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] ARISSat 70cms antenna?

[John Heath]

Hi satelliters,

Delighted to see on the satus page http://oscar.dcarr.org/ that the transponder 
is working.
Congratulations to everyone involved.

What was the problem/fix for the antenna problem that delayed the launch to 
later in the spacewalk.

Can't find anything new on the amsat.org web site

73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] AO-40/P3D image wanted

[John Heath]

Hi,

Can anyone on the list point me to source of high resolution images of 
AO-40/P3E.
Need it for a magazine article. The images found via google are all low res.

Tried Peter DB2OS at amsat-dl but no reply as yet, and my deadline is two days 
away.

Thanks

John 

G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] AO-40 Image found - thanks

[John Heath]

Hi
I can now meet the publication deadline.
Thanks to everyone who replied, including Peter DB2OS Amsat-DL

73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Re: Fibreglass tube for G5500?

[John Heath]

Hi Cris

There is an additional benefit with Fibreglass tube.
Just use the wood inserts on the clamping areas, rotator and antenna clamps.
Then the tube will flex in high winds and absorb some wind enegy.

73 John G7HIA





From: Howard Long how...@howardlong.com
To: Chris Bloy ch...@photofuture.co.uk
Cc: Amsat - BBs amsat-bb@AMSAT.Org
Sent: Tuesday, 23 August, 2011 8:24:38
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Fibreglass tube for G5500?

Chris

Haydon Communications stock (or at least did stock) various diameters/lengths.

Howard

Sent from my iPhone

On 23 Aug 2011, at 08:03, Chris Bloy ch...@photofuture.co.uk wrote:

 Hi all,
 
 Thank you all very much for your input and as expected the aluminium pole 
 isn't 
an option, so I am going down the route of fibreglass tube with wood insert.
 
 Just need to source a UK company that can supply the tubing! I have contacted 
Engineering Composites and will await a price!
 
 All the best!
 
 Chris - M0DQO
 FUNcube Educational Outreach :)
 
 www.funcube.org.uk
 
 www.projectoscar.co.uk 
 
 Sent from my iPhone
 
 On 22 Aug 2011, at 16:28, Alan P. Biddle apbid...@united.net wrote:
 
 Chris,
 
 As has been pointed out, an aluminum liner won't work.  I have a fiberglass
 tube, and found a solid wood rod at a local building supply store.  It is a
 perfect friction fit.  I cut it about 2 inches shorter than the tube,
 leaving about an inch space at each end.  I stood it on end, and filled one
 end with RTV.  After it hardened, I swapped ends and sealed the other end.
 It has been in use for almost 15 years with no failures or leakages.
 
 73s,
 
 Alan
 WA4SCA
 
 
 
 
 
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[amsat-bb] Antenna advice please

[John Heath]

Hi,

At a new QTH and  setting up a dual band quad antenna for 2m and 70cm.

I plan to make the 70cms antenna,the vertically polarised one,  2m horizontal, 
as I believe this is the normal arrangement.
If anyone has practical experience that goes against this assumption I would be 
interested, either direct on on the bb.

I don't have polar phasers, switchable delay lines or anything else its just a 
straight choice, which one goes vertical.
They are on the same boom so I suppose I could go slant for both ?

Main activity here will be phone, VO-52, AO-51, FO-29 plus satellite telemetry 
from cubesats etc.

Thanks in advance

John
G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Is Prospero still TX'ing?

[John Heath]

Is Prospero still transmitting?

Sometime ago, I think in 2007 the BBC TV program Coast was on the Isle of White 
where there had been a test stand for rocket testing. 

They talked about Prospero and had a short piece with some people trying to 
hear 
it with a small yagi. Apologies but the memory is a bit hazy.

Subsequently I spent quite a few hours listening for it with a tower mounted 
5el 
X yagi, an up to date set of keps, and an FT847 - after several days, nothing 
heard.

73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Re: Is Prospero still TX'ing?

[John Heath]

Hi Trevor,

Many thanks for the link to DD1US, great to have these recordings preserved.

73 John G7HIA 





From: Trevor . m5...@yahoo.co.uk
To: amsat-bb@amsat.org
Sent: Tuesday, 6 September, 2011 12:52:32
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Is Prospero still TX'ing?

Although funding to command the satellite ceased in 1996 the Prospero real-time 
oribtal tracking page says it was heard in 2006.
http://www.vk3ukf.com/Space/GadgetSatProspero.htm

I would image now the Mullard Space Science Laboratory in Surrey are attempting 
to command the satellite again the 137.560 MHz beacon would become operational 
if enough of the satellite is still working.

Given the 40th anniversary of this historic UK spacecraft takes place in 
October 
I would expect the media would be very interested if any amateur succeeded in 
receiving it in the coming weeks.

Audio recordings of the 0.3 watt phase modulated signal with PCM at 2048 bit/s 
from Prospero on 137.560 MHz can be heard on the Sounds from Space website of 
Matthias Bopp DD1US
http://www.dd1us.de/spacesounds%204.html

Bernhard VA6BMJ says that there's an item about Prospero in the Space Boffins 
podcast:
http://audioboo.fm/boos/431009-space-boffins-podcast2

73 Trevor M5AKA


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[amsat-bb] Info on Prospero

[John Heath]

Hi,

Looked to see what I had on Prospero from the previous attempts to hear it.
This might be of interest. I only have this fragment, not the entire paper, or 
section 4.4  more's the pity.
73 John G7HIA

Accession Number : AD0734634
Title :   Orbital Operations Handbook for the X3 Satellite.
Descriptive Note : Technical rept.,
Corporate Author : ROYAL AIRCRAFT ESTABLISHMENT FARNBOROUGH (ENGLAND)
Personal Author(s) : Adams,V. W.
Report Date : AUG 1971
Pagination or Media Count : 63
Abstract : The X3 satellite, the first technological spacecraft in the British 
National Space Programme, is scheduled to be launched on a Black Arrow vehicle 
in late 1971. The spacecraft carries experiments to investigate performance of 
solar cells, characteristics of thermal surfaces, micrometeoroid flux and 
performance in orbit of a hybrid electronics package: section 4.4 gives 
details. 
In addition newly developed data, telemetry, telecommand and power system will 
be tested in orbit. The micrometeoroid flux experiment has been contributed by 
the University of Birmingham, England. (Author)
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[amsat-bb] Astronaut autographs

[John Heath]

Hi,

Buzz Aldrin, Scott Carpenter, Ed Michel and Bruce Candless will be at the 
Autographica Event Radisson Edwardian Hotel Heathrow London 
14-16th October 2011. 

When Buzz visted the National Space Centre in Leicester England a year or two 
ago he gave a lecture but did not sign autographs, as far as I know he rarely 
does. This is a good oportunity if you like that sort of thing. There is an 
admission charge and you have to pay Buzz and the others for their autographs. 
The small print on the advertisement says, guests apprance is subject to work 
commitments, guests may not be signing on both days, check the web site for 
details. See www.autographica.co.uk

I have no personal or business connection with this event but I was very 
grateful to them bringing for creating the opportunity a few years ago to meet 
and get the autograhs of several Russian cosmonauts including Alexi Leonov and 
Valentina Tereshkova. Those are treasured memories.

73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Images of Prospero Ground segment

[John Heath]

Hi,

not sure if the -bb supports attachments but will give it a try.

I have images of the control station complete with 1970's computers, and the 
receiving station.
Nice picture of the antenna array which appears to be four crossed yagi's in a 
square, each one has 8 pairs of elements.

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[amsat-bb] ARISSat in sunlight

[John Heath]

Interesting thread regarding  MET and ARISSat-1 switch on.
 
Someone made the very good point that the transition in or out of sunlight 
(eclipse) is not an on/off event. I remember many MIR visuals, and as she 
passed 
from sunlight in the west to darkness in the east there was a significant time, 
perhaps a minute or more when she changed colour from bright and silver white 
to 
orange then disappeared into blackness. I always interpreted that as passing 
through the penumbra, or semi shadow area.
 
ARRISat-1 is at at around 370km, does anyone know how to find the width of the 
penumbra  at that altitude?
Working out the transit time through that region might be informative.
 
 
73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Re: Heard ARISSat-1 Monday

[John Heath]

Hi Ken and the bb,

ARISSat-1 heard in south Devon 1080ej this morning 10:00 utc pass.
It didn't switch on until quite late into the pass. Voice tlm gave MET as 16 
minutes.
I timed the announcement it at 10:11:16 UTC. (radio controlled clock)

73 John G7HIA





From: gw1...@aol.com gw1...@aol.com
To: gordon...@gjcp.net; amsat-bb@amsat.org
Sent: Monday, 26 September, 2011 11:39:34
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Nothing from ARISSat-1?

Hi Gordon,
I did not hear even a whisper today -Monday morning - at my QTH  in south 
Wales UK.
Thanks for your posting it confirms that I was not alone.
Regards
Ken Eaton
GW1FKY  
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[amsat-bb] Width of the Earth's penumbra

[John Heath]

This bb never fails to amaze me with how helpful folks can be.

It was G0SFJ's postings about ARISSAt-1 MET time which set me thinking about 
the 
width of the half shadow (Penumbra) experienced by the satellite before and 
after eclipse.

I was pointed to the simulation option in the satellite tracker Orbitron 3.17 
which shows the selected satellites Eclipse condition 

No, Penumbra, Umbra. To activate this option click on the data tab at the 
bottom 
of the satellite listing. 

The simulation mode offers a variety of time steps down to 0.25 seconds.

Selecting the ISS and stepping through an eclipsed part of the orbit tonight I 
estimated that it took the ISS 8.75 seconds to cross the Penumbra.
If 7km per second is about right for the ISS then the Penumbra is 59.5 
kilometres wide +/- about 1.75km.

My workings may well be adrift but you get the idea.

What an interesting utility, for us telemetry nuts it will add an extra 
dimension to solar panel data.

Off to try it on some higher flying birds.

73 All  G7HIA

Happy Weekend
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[amsat-bb] Re: Width of the Earth's penumbra

[John Heath]

Hi Greg,

Making my head hurt too. Buts it interesting.
I though I might get a 70cms antenna up and try the telemetry from FO-29 which 
flies much higher = wider penumbra.
Perhaps the changed light level will be detectable in the solar panel current. 
I 
don't know how dark it is in the penumbra either.

73 John G7HIA



 




From: Greg D. ko6th_g...@hotmail.com
To: g7...@btinternet.com; amsat-bb@AMSAT.Org
Sent: Saturday, 1 October, 2011 5:18:47
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Width of the Earth's penumbra


The ISS isn't going straight through the Penumbra, top to bottom, but rather 
diagonally through it.  Neglecting that the ISS isn't going in a straight line 
either (it's an arc), the 8-ish seconds are the hypotenuse of the triangle.  We 
still don't know the height.

I wonder if we can figure out more about the shape of the Penumbra by looking 
at 
the transit times for satellites at different elevations?

Sorry, this is starting to make my head hurt,

Greg  KO6TH


 Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2011 23:17:08 +0100
 From: g7...@btinternet.com
 To: amsat-bb@amsat.org
 Subject: [amsat-bb] Width of the Earth's penumbra
 
 This bb never fails to amaze me with how helpful folks can be.
 
 It was G0SFJ's postings about ARISSAt-1 MET time which set me thinking about 
the 

 width of the half shadow (Penumbra) experienced by the satellite before and 
 after eclipse.
 
 I was pointed to the simulation option in the satellite tracker Orbitron 3.17 
 which shows the selected satellites Eclipse condition 
 
 No, Penumbra, Umbra. To activate this option click on the data tab at the 
bottom 

 of the satellite listing. 
 
 The simulation mode offers a variety of time steps down to 0.25 seconds.
 
 Selecting the ISS and stepping through an eclipsed part of the orbit tonight 
 I 

 estimated that it took the ISS 8.75 seconds to cross the Penumbra.
 If 7km per second is about right for the ISS then the Penumbra is 59.5 
 kilometres wide +/- about 1.75km.
 
 My workings may well be adrift but you get the idea.
 
 What an interesting utility, for us telemetry nuts it will add an extra 
 dimension to solar panel data.
 
 Off to try it on some higher flying birds.
 
 73 All  G7HIA
 
 Happy Weekend
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[amsat-bb] Its not your Keps

[John Heath]

Hi Kevin,

I doubt the problem is your keps if you have an up to date set from any of the 
sources suggested.

You might want to check the following:

Your PC clock may not have the correct time
There may be something in an initialisation routine that has set a default time 
zone, or an offset from UTC
This can be tricky with some PC's and software. You might have to set your PC 
clock to UTC.
Entering your lat/long, East or West of the Grenwich (0) meridian. There is no 
convention on this some programs want a plus sign ahead of your longitude some 
a 
minus.

Those are the things that have caught me out in the past.

BTW - dont expect agreement to the second between different tracking software. 
Its only a prediction and not all programs use the exact same algorithms to do 
the calcs.

Good Luck

73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Re: Satellite Tracking?

[John Heath]

Hi folks,

The Celestrak web site has some great in depth stuff on keps and tracking. 
I think most people just drop onto the site to get the keps,  but its certainly 
worth a more detailed look.

A big thank you to Dr. Kelso for a great site.

73 John G7HIA





From: Geoff vk2...@ozemail.com.au
To: amsat-bb@AMSAT.Org
Sent: Wednesday, 2 November, 2011 21:42:08
Subject: [amsat-bb] Satellite Tracking?

On Thu, 3 Nov 2011 04:16:13 am Armando Mercado wrote:
 Greetings,

 Well, in all seriousness, Who would
 like to post a set of keps for one (or
 all) of the amateur satellites now flying
 using the methods pioneered by
 Karl Meinzer, DJ4ZC and James Miller,
 G3RUH?

 I recall a few weeks ago someone
 decrying the lack technical discussion
 on the board.

 ...Well, here go you folks!

 Best 73's  Armando  N8IGJ

snipped

Hi Armando et al,

I don't know about the methods written up by Karl  James. For a long time 
I've had a project using Doppler shift curves in the back of my mind 
(the target doesn't need to cooperate). I have most of the hardware based 
around my HPSDR box and a t'bolt frequency reference. The software hasn't 
even progressed beyond ideas and algorithms. I haven't even picked a language 
or development environment (one day).

I can see a very accurate Doppler shift curve being useful in the early days 
after a multiple cubesat launch. How accurate would you need to be to 
pick your cubesat from the crowd? One pass? multiple passes?

Anyway that's this morning's breakfast coffee ideas from me. Have fun 
y'all :-).

73 de Geoff vk2tfg (/3). 

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[amsat-bb] ARISSat-1 BPSK

[John Heath]

Hi folks,

Just got my first 1000 BPSK frames of data using the ARISSat-1 Telemetry 
software.
Appreciate most of you  on the bb have probably already done it already.
I just wanted to say a public thank you for a superb and easy to use piece of 
software.
Looks cool on screen too.

Using the CW beacon as a reference to stay on tune is brilliant, worked well, 
even with manual Doppler tune.

Anyone not yet tried it, give it a go. WX4SXM's quick Start Guide will put you 
on the right track.

73 All

off to get a few more frames

G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Uplink power for working ARISSat-1?

[John Heath]

Hi,

Thought I would give the ARISSat transponder a try.
Any recomendations from those that have worked it.

I have available a 9 element yagi and about 20W at the feed point  

Is this likely to work or do I need a few kW ?

Thanks

John 

G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Re: OSCAR or not OSCAR ?

[John Heath]

Just my 2 cents worth,

Whichever side of the debate you happen to be on, and I can see both sides,
there is one thing to be said in favour of the so called beep sats

They keep our frequencies warm whilst we wait for bigger and better satellites

73

John 

G7HIA




From: i8cvs domenico.i8...@tin.it
To: William Leijenaar pe1...@yahoo.com; Amsat - BBs amsat-bb@amsat.org
Sent: Saturday, 12 November, 2011 19:55:25
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: OSCAR or not OSCAR ?

- Original Message -
From: William Leijenaar pe1...@yahoo.com
To: amsat-bb@amsat.org
Sent: Saturday, November 12, 2011 12:32 PM
Subject: [amsat-bb] OSCAR or not OSCAR ?

On Saturday, November 12, 2011 12:32 PM, William Leijenaar wrote:

Hello AMSATs,

As we all know OSCAR is the abbreviatie of Orbiting Satellite Carrying
Amateur Radio.
To my opinion the function of OSCAR satellites is to facilitate
communication between amateur radio stations using amateur radio
frequencies and/or do experiments on those radio frequencies.

Can someone tell me how it is possible that many of the newer small
satellites get a license to use ham radio satellite frequencies for only
broadcasting data ?
Many of these satellite  missions are even not ham related, and those
satellites only have a broadcast (downlink) radio onboard.

Is this nowadays seen as amateur radio communication ?

The word Education I read in many of the university CubeSat projects.
Doing experiments on ham radio frequencies is like education, and I fully
support this even when it is only available as a downlink at a CubeSat.
When it comes to the education of building a satellite, with no ham related
experiments, and where the amateur frequencies and the amateur community is
used to collect only none ham payload data, I don't see this as a ham
satellite.
Then a 433MHz remote control toy-car should also be named a ham radio.
We just ask one of those ISS astronauts to throw this toy-car out of the
space station and we have another amateur satellite :o)

I just wonder where is the border between an OSCAR and a satellite that uses
ham radio frequencies for downloading its (none ham)
payload data ?

73 de PE1RAH, William Leijenaar

Hi William, PE1RAH

Yes, I agree with you, but you and I we are talking always to the same
people and some of them probably with their own interest as they are
closely connected to some CubeSat projects.

Most of them have no satellite ham spirit since they did not make the
experience we did with OSCAR-6-7-8 + the RS + the FO and than with
OSCAR-10, OSCAR-13 and AO40

My experience is, that they even don't want our support and advise..
from experience here in Italy, they don't trust and know everything better
anyway.. they even don't trust other Universities within the same
country, they see it more as a competition rather than a cooperation..

Every time I writeto my opinion the function of OSCAR satellites is
to facilitate two way communication between amateur radio stations using
amateur radio frequencies and/or do experiments on those radio frequencies
I get insult from the above people because probably you and I we are
considered as two of those old RF dinosaurs that like to experiment into
space RF circuits building equipments and antennas  from the VHF to
Microwave.

I believe that things will change only when a HEO satellite will be in
orbit, hopefully P3E, because everyone will switch to it abandoning the
actual non ham payloads and will stop to collect telemetry data for no
ham related experiments.

Best 73 de

i8CVS Domenico

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[amsat-bb] Re: ARISSat-1 (37772) decay

[John Heath]

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the update on your AMSAT Journal article.
There are several people on the bb who are following  this topic and are busy 
plotting data.
Any futher thoughts you have, as we move towards January would, I am sure be of 
interest.

73 John G7HIA





From: DeYoung James deyoung_ja...@yahoo.com
To: amsat-bb amsat-bb@amsat.org
Sent: Tuesday, 15 November, 2011 17:29:31
Subject: [amsat-bb] ARISSat-1 (37772) decay

Greetings,
 
First, thank you Mineo for reading the AMSAT Journal and making several of my 
papers available
on your web site.
My AMSAT Journal
paper published in the March/April 2011 issue is actually still fairly valid
for the scenarios shown in the paper. The solar flux has turned out to be
somewhat higher than was used/predicted in the paper. This has caused the
atmospheric densities to be higher which results in higher decay rates. When I
wrote the paper I had this nagging feeling that stopping the 
release height
scenarios at 370-km was not going to be high enough. We are very fortunate that 
the ISS was boosted to such a height before release of ARISSat-1 and not after
release! 
 
There is a
valuable lesson, I think, to be made with respect to predicting satellite decay
dates far into the future. The future state of the atmosphere, i.e. the
atmospheric density that the satellite will pass through is poorly predictable
in the long-term, say starting greater than a week or two into the future.
Predictions of satellite decay dates months in the future should be
evaluated with the understanding that your date of prediction errors may be
large. The errors 
are due to the future uncertainties of the orbital path which
grow quickly with time in a prediction. The atmospheric density is not the only
source of error. Your orbit model, the integrator, and the accounting of the 
gravitational and
drag forces among others will affect your results.
Predictions of
satellite decay dates are not do-and-forget. The general process is to make a
prediction, get new measured observations of the height in the future, and at
some point re-do your prediction when the errors become significant to you. 
With that all
said here is my current prediction using the same tools used in the AMSAT J.
paper and produced as of 2011 November 13th. The decay of ARISSat-1 (37772)
will happen nominally on 2012 January 30th with a 10% rule-of-thumb error
allowance of 18 days around this date. The 
errors may be larger than the rule-of-thumb indicates!
Jim, N8OQ
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[amsat-bb] Re: SSTV Pictire Successful via ARISSat-1/RadioSKAF-V TRANSPONDER

[John Heath]

Hi Farrell,

great post and congratulations.
I am currently having fun with the 1000BPSK telemetry.
Next experinment will be a QSO through the transponder.
Its good to have a satellite that presents a few challenges.

I echo your thanks to the entire ARISSat team.

73 John G7HIA





From: Farrell Winder fwin...@fuse.net
To: AMSAT AMSAT-BB@AMSAT.Org
Sent: Sunday, 20 November, 2011 13:56:45
Subject: [amsat-bb] SSTV Pictire Successful via ARISSat-1/RadioSKAF-V 
TRANSPONDER

  



On November 12, 2011 at 1908 Z my son Jeff, KB8VCO and I were successful in 
transmitting a picture and receiving back an image via the 
ARISSat-1/RADIOSKAF-V 
transponder.




Separate MMSSTV software setups on 2 computers with mode Robot 36 were used to 
Tx 435.750 LSB up and Rx 145.930 MHz down. It was a challenge, over several 
days 
of trying , to find the satellite in a favorable position with its 
(inadvertently) shortened antenna. Doppler along with Tx and Rx antennas were 
manually controlled.




A picture of the original (my auto license plate) and the received picture from 
the satellite has been submitted to the ARISS SSTV Gallery. 





It is hoped others will try a similar experiment via the transponder and 
perhaps 
pictures could be exchanged. It is noted that Henk, PA3GUO also sent and 
received an SSTV picture as may be seen in the Gallery. 





Respectively submitted, with much thanks to Lou McFadin, W5DID, ARISS Hardware 
Engineering Manager and his team along with Sergej Samburov, RV3DR, Chief of 
Cosmonaut Amateur Radio Department for his engineering and testing 
contributions 
in Korolev, Russia. A very exciting and challenging satellite for Amateur Radio 
has been provided. Launch was August 5, 2011 but Re-entry according to recent 
reports may occur within the next few months. 





Farrell Winder, W8ZCF

Cincinnati, Ohio
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[amsat-bb] Re: ARISSat-1 (37772) decay

[John Heath]

Hi Nico,
 
Good to see postings on this topic.
 
I plotted daily change in Mean Motion, and then plotted Solar Flux for the same 
period. (15days).
It'snot obvious from the shapes of the two graphs that SF is producing the 
daily variation.
I tried the correlation function in Excel which returned a figure of -0.54 for 
the two data sets. ( 1= perfect correlation)
 
Fairly new to orbital decay predictions so would be interested in any 
comments you may have, or anyone else on the list who is knowledeable on this 
subject.
 
73 John G7HIA



From: Nico Janssen ham...@xs4all.nl
To: amsat-bb@amsat.org 
Sent: Monday, 28 November 2011, 20:36
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: ARISSat-1 (37772) decay

Hi,

With its relatively high area to mass ratio, ARISSat 1 is
quite sensitive to space weather changes. In the past two
weeks solar flux values have been relatively low, around
140, while they were around 180 in the weeks before. Also
there have not been any magnetic storms.

As a result of this low solar activity, the expected decay
date of ARISSat 1 has now slipped to the end of December.
My current prediction is 27 December. But if solar activity
stays at these low levels, the decay date will even shift
into early January. So it is still too early to make any
sensible predictions.

73,
Nico PA0DLO


On 2011-11-18 15:05, Nico Janssen wrote:
 Hi,

 So far all my analyses of the evolution of the orbit of ARISSat 1
 have resulted in a predicted decay date sometime in December 2011.
 Actually my current predicted decay date for this satellite is
 December 17. Obviously it depends very much on how solar activity
 develops in the coming weeks.

 So now we have seen decay predictions ranging from December 2011
 to April 2012. Let's see how we converge to the actual decay date.

 73,
 Nico PA0DLO


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[amsat-bb] ARISSat-1 Orbital Decay

[John Heath]

Hi Satelliters,
 
Using Keps from Space-Track for ARISSat-1  (37772)  I have been plotting 
various parameters including Mean Motion.
Rrecent results were unexpected.
 
From day 328to 334 the daily change in Mean Motion has been exactly the same.
The orbital decay is going at a very steady rate. This is completely different 
from earlier observations where there is quite a bit of daily variation.
 
My interpretation is that the atmospheric density along the orbital track has 
been remarkably unchanged over 6 days or so.
This is something I have not seen before.
 
73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Orbital Decay and Atmospheric Density

[John Heath]

Hi Gents,
 
I have been working on an excel spreadsheet regarding ARISSat-1, orbital decay 
and atmospheric density.
Its a small workbook with some calculations and a  chart.
 
The idea is to work out the volume that ARISSat-1 sweeps through per orbit, 
then calculate the mass of atomic material it will colloid with. 
Math is NOT my best subject
.
Is there a math guru on the list willing to take a quick look and tell me if I 
am on the right lines.
 
Let me know and I will send it off list.
 
Thanks
 
John 
G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] The cubesat Debate

[John Heath]

Hi Gents,
 
A couple of years ago I was privilaged to work with university students on a 
cubesat project. They were mostly space science and engineering students of 
very high calibre indeed. It was a pure delight to be in the company of such 
focussed and inteligent youngsters. They had no interest in grid squares and DX 
type ham radio, but they did want to know how to get their command signals up 
to the space craft and how to get their data down.
Whatever your views about cubesats, if you get an opportunity to work with a 
cubesat group go for it. Its a blast.
 
73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Orbitron Help ?

[John Heath]

Hi Orbitron users.
I find the simulation feature is very useful but I can't find out how to pause 
it. 
Does anyone have the required key strokes, or is that feature not included in 
the software.
 
Thanks
 
John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Orbitron Help thanks

[John Heath]

 
Orbitron Help
Thanks to those who replied.
Now that I know how to pause the Orbitron simulation I can get on with the 
orbital decay project I am working on.
 
I just love it when members of this bb are so helpful.
Its what its all about.
 
73 John
G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Doppler Curves ?

[John Heath]

hi guys,
 
in the olden days a satellites TCA could be determined by using pencil and 
graph paper and plotting time v frequency.
 
Is there a modern and more elegant way of doing it with signal anaysis software 
like Spectravue, Spectran or similar.
Need it for an education outreach project and I just know that graph paper and 
pencils will not be cool.
 
73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Re: ARISSat-1 RADIOSKAF-V KEDR

[John Heath]

Hi Jim,
 
Looking forward to your ARISSat-1 decay posting.
My plots suggest the bird will be down to 140km around 11th of January,  
provided the SFI and A index stay  similar to current values
73 John G7HIA



From: DeYoung James deyoung_ja...@yahoo.com
To: amsat-bb amsat-bb@amsat.org 
Sent: Tuesday, 27 December 2011, 14:05
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: ARISSat-1 RADIOSKAF-V KEDR

Farrell,
 
An often used rule-of-thumb in astrodynamics for decay height is about 140 
kilometers 
which is about 87 miles.  A satellite that gets that far into the atmosophere 
will burn up during  
it's final orbit in short order!  I would recommend you just keep trying until 
you are sure 
the satellite is no longer in orbit.  I will post an updated decay prediction 
on AMSAT-BB this
afternoon for operator planning purposes.
 
Jim, N8OQ
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[amsat-bb] ARRISSat-1 Decay from Space-Track

[John Heath]

 
Hi,
 
60 day predictions on the Space-Track web site has ARISSat-1 object 37772  re 
entering  30th December.
Based on the posts on this topic from  Nico, Roland and James, and my 
calculations, I think we have a bit longer.
But only a few days.
 
73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] ARRISAT-1 re-entry?

[John Heath]

Hi,
Nothing heard on the 10:10 Z pass over the south of England.
I was monitoring from 5 minutes before predicted AOS to take into account the 
rapid changes in the keps.
73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Chibis-M?

[John Heath]

Hi,
 
Any UK stations copied Chibis-M ?
 
73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] MASAT Client question

[John Heath]

Hi,
 
MASAT client working nicely, have captured a few frames this afternoon, but 
more by accident than judgement. 
The ARISSAT software was fairly tolerant of an off tune signal.
How close do we need to hold the waterfall display to the frequency markers? 
 
If the MASAT team are watching the bb then congratulations.
 
73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] MASAT packet uploads working

[John Heath]

Hi,
 
Just had an e-mail from the Masat team confirming receipt of my telemetry 
packets via their  masat client software.

Before I started I installed the latest version of Java as recomeneded ( I 
already had an earlier version on the PC).
Running on an oldish PC  under XP and the standard Windows anti virus and 
firewall + Malwarbytes anti Malware.
Everything worked fine, no error messages or firewall issues.
 
Hope this helps.
 
73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Anyone in Europe copying PW-SAT

[John Heath]

Hi,
 
Tried a afternoon pass today ( Friday) Listening for PW-SAT but nothing heard.
I only have an omni + mast head pre-amp but expected to hear it. Using Hamscope 
I could decode the signal just after launch
 
I may have the wrong keps, although I did listen for about 10 minutes on either 
side of the predictions.
 
73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] Re: Technical question about radar reflectivity

[John Heath]

Length might work if its a suitable fraction of the wavelength of the radar 
signal.
See the British use of Window in the 1940's. Aluminium foil strips were 
dropped from aircraft to confuse enemy radar.
 
73 John G7HIA



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[amsat-bb] Re: AMSAT-UK Symposium streaming this year?

[John Heath]

Hi Jim,
 
I am sure I am expressing the views of the many who would dearly like to attend 
but can't due to personal circumstances.
 
 
 
 
 
The live stream is a great way for us to have some involvement, the emphasis 
being on live.
 
 
 
 
 
Of course the recorded stream will be welcome but hope for the live experience.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Wishing all a great Symposium.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
73 John G7HIA



From: Jim List jiml...@milnet.uk.net
To: apbid...@mailaps.org; 'AMSAT-BB' amsat-bb@amsat.org 
Sent: Wednesday, 12 September 2012, 10:23
Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: AMSAT-UK Symposium streaming this year?

Hi,

  The BATC team will be there and will be making recordings of the
presentations. At the present time we are uncertain about live streaming as
we are uncertain about the quality of the hotels internet access. If its
good, then we will stream, otherwise we will try and upload to the server
asap after each presentation finishes.

73s Jim G3WGM

 -Original Message-
 From: amsat-bb-boun...@amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-boun...@amsat.org] On
 Behalf Of Alan P. Biddle
 Sent: 11 September 2012 14:07
 To: AMSAT-BB
 Subject: [amsat-bb] AMSAT-UK Symposium streaming this year?
 
 Hi,
 
 In the past, BATC has streamed the symposium.  Will they be doing so
 this year?
 
 Alan
 WA4SCA
 
 
 ---
 
 We haven haven't got the money,
 so we we've got to think.
 
 Lord Rutherford
 
 
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 author.
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[amsat-bb] Orbitron help please

[John Heath]

Hi All,
Just updated keps for noaa weather satellites from Celestrak and find the the 
file contains mostltly birds that are no longer operational.
How can I delete the unwanted birds.
 
Thanks
John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] orbitron question thanks

[John Heath]

Thanks to everyone who replied.
 
There were two solutions, 
 
Pre filter the download from Celestrak so that only the wanted sats go into the 
TLE file.
Edit the TLE file in Orbitron to remove the unwanted sats.
 
Both good solutions.
 
73 John G7HIA
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[amsat-bb] From G7HIA

[John Heath]

Hi guys,
Currently in hospital on intravenous Meds for a serious blood infection.
Hope to be home in week or two.
Wishing you all best.
John G7HIA
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