August 2006 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

News from the ESA International Space Station Human Spaceflight and Exploration pages
by Félim Doyle M3HIM 23 Aug '06

23 Aug '06

ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter's 3 August spacewalk from the ISS http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEM490815QE_iss_0.html ESA astronaut Hans Schlegel assigned to European Columbus laboratory mission to the ISS http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEM8VDBUQPE_iss_0.html German Chancellor makes in-flight call to ISS http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMHI0BUQPE_iss_0.html 73 de Félim M3HIM IO91ot Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, UK

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Re: High Power 10m Uplink to PCSAT2
by G0MRF＠aol.com 23 Aug '06

23 Aug '06

In a message dated 22/08/2006 22:31:17 GMT Standard Time, bruninga(a)usna.edu writes: We need high power 10 meter CW or PSK stations to test The PCSAT2 10m ==> 2m transponder asap. PCSAT2 mission ends on 30 August (just 8 days away) and To date, no one has reported using the 10m uplink to 435 MHz downlink transponder. We know the transponder Is quite deaf, but to date, for the last several months We have not had any reports of anyone making the transponder Or even trying. Hello Bob. For the record: I had a successful PSK31 QSO via PCSAT2 with Peter G3PLX shortly before the sensitivity dropped. At that time 100W to a dipole was QRO. 2 days later while testing Peter's 'doppler tracking' version of the PSK31 software, the sensitivity dropped by at least 15dB. Thanks David G0MRF

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Re: Missing postings to AMSAT-BB
by George Henry 23 Aug '06

23 Aug '06

Have you checked the archives to see whether your messages are, in fact, getting thru, but you're just not seeing them? Here is the "author index" listing for you from the current AMSAT-BB archive, as of today: Félim Doyle M3HIM Re: ISS SSTV Re: iss sstv? 144.490? Re: ISS SSTV Doppler Shift :-) Re: Doppler Shift :-) Re: 8 SSTV pictures received from ISS Space Station. Missing postings to AMSAT-BB Re: Missing postings to AMSAT-BB Re: Missing postings to AMSAT-BB Re: Missing postings to AMSAT-BB And here is the listing for you from the SAREX archive: Félim Doyle M3HIM Doppler Shift :-) Re: [amsat-bb] Re: Doppler Shift :-) Re: [amsat-bb] 8 SSTV pictures received from ISS SpaceStation. Looks to me like the message you referred to below actually DID make it.... George, KA3HSW -----Original Message----- >From: Félim Doyle M3HIM <Felim.M3HIM(a)ntlworld.com> >Sent: Aug 22, 2006 1:15 AM >To: George Henry <ka3hsw(a)earthlink.net>, amsat bb <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> >Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: Missing postings to AMSAT-BB > >An original message entitled "[amsat-bb] Doppler Shift :-)" did get through >but a subsequent follow-up with the same subject did not. However both >messages made it to SAREX. Hence I believe that MajorDomo(a)amsat.org does not >agree with my sense of humour and is filtering my jokes! Actually, this has >occurred with far less frivolous postings too, both with original postings >and replies to postings from others. So filtering based on the subject seems >to be an unlikely culprit. > >73 de > >Félim M3HIM >IO91ot >Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, UK

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Re: Noise level problem
by William Leijenaar 23 Aug '06

23 Aug '06

Hi Luc, I think when you want you hear and see things that are not there. You just hear/see them because you mind expect it to be there (even you are not aware of it). The face pictures on that webpage remembers me to the "face on Mars" picture taken from the Viking Orbiter 1 haha... Scientist were looking for life on Mars, so when they see the picture they immediatly think of a face... Later it seems to be a mountain :o) 73 William --- __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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OSCAR-11 Report
by Clive Wallis 23 Aug '06

23 Aug '06

OSCAR-11 REPORT 19 August 2006 OSCAR-11 IS BACK! During the period 17 July to 19 August 2006 the satellite was heard on 26 July for a few orbits, and then from 16 August. At the time of writing it is currently transmitting. Observation of the 145.826 MHz. beacon transmission times, indicate that the watchdog timer has timed out for five periods of 20.5 days during the eclipse season. The eclipses have now ended, and the satellite should be in continuous sunlight until next year. If the normal watchdog timer sequence continues, the beacon should switch OFF around 26 August, and restart around 06 September. On 26 July real time clock showed an error of 64.5 days, an increase of 41.7 days since it was last heard on 05 May. The clock is now showing further problems, the date is now 53 July, but is still incrementing. The hours are showing an erratic behaviour. I am indebted to Peter ZL3TC, Dave G1OCN, and Dave WB6LLO for their reports and for monitoring the satellite, during this period. Many thanks. The current status of the satellite is that all the analogue telemetry channels, 0 to 59 are zero, ie they have failed. The status channels 60 to 67 are still working. The spacecraft computer and active attitude control system have switched OFF, ie. the satellite' attitude is controlled only by the passive gravity boom gradient, and the satellite is free to spin at any speed. When telemetry was last received it showed that one of the solar arrays had failed, and there was a large unexplained current drain on the main 14 volt bus. After 22 years in orbit the battery has undergone around 100,000 partial charge/discharge cycles, and observations suggest that it cannot power the satellite during eclipses, or sometimes during periods of poor solar attitude. The watchdog timer now operates on a 20 day cycle. During the three months before May (when the eclipses started), the ON/OFF times were very consistent, and the average of many observations show this to be 20.7 days, ie. 10.3 days ON followed by 10.4 days OFF. However, poor solar attitude may result may result in a low 14 volt line supply, which may cause the beacon to switch OFF prematurely, and reset the watchdog timer cycle. When this occurs, the beacon is OFF for 20.7 days. The Beacon frequencies are - VHF 145.826 MHz. AFSK FM ASCII Telemetry UHF 435.025 MHz. OFF S-band 2401.5 MHz. OFF Listeners to OSCAR-11 may be interested in visiting my website which contains an archive of news & telemetry data. It also contains details about using a soundcard or hardware demodulators for data capture. There is software for capturing data, and decoding ASCII telemetry. The URL is www.users.zetnet.co.uk/clivew/ If you place this bulletin on a terrestrial packet network, please use the bulletin identifier $BID:U2RPT124.CWV, to prevent duplication. 73 Clive G3CWV xxxxx(a)amsat.org (please replace xxxxx by g3cwv)

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Delfi-C3 launch date announced
by Bruce Robertson 22 Aug '06

22 Aug '06

According to the following link, http://www.delfic3.nl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=65&Itemid=71 Delfi-C3 has a launch date set for 30th June 2007, when it and several other Cubesats will fly onboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from India. With an altitude of 630 km, its UV linear transponder, when switched on after 3 months of research, will have a footprint similar to that of VO-52. Hams should heartily encourage and avidly support this large cubesat, which plans to give so much back to the amateur community. 73, Bruce VE9QRP

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Announcement for Area Coordinators about September Hamfests
by Gould Smith 22 Aug '06

22 Aug '06

Just a reminder to Area Coordinators that Martha will be out of the office, Aug 28 - Sept 8. If you have a hamfest scheduled to do an AMSAT table in the next three weeks you need to get in touch with her ASAP to get your materials. We will not be able to send AC Hamfest boxes out until the about Sept 13th. 73, Gould, WA4SXM Director Field Operations

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High Power 10m Uplink to PCSAT2
by Robert Bruninga 22 Aug '06

22 Aug '06

We need high power 10 meter CW or PSK stations to test The PCSAT2 10m ==> 2m transponder asap. PCSAT2 mission ends on 30 August (just 8 days away) and To date, no one has reported using the 10m uplink to 435 MHz downlink transponder. We know the transponder Is quite deaf, but to date, for the last several months We have not had any reports of anyone making the transponder Or even trying. We'd sure like to hear someone confirm that they transmitted 500W Or more and are certain that they did not hear anything. Anyone Can hear the downlink with just a simple 435 MHz FM rig. The Downlink carrier comes up just fine. What we need are high power Signals on the 29.401 uplink. CW, PSK, anything. So even if you don't have a KW on 10m, pair up with an HF friend That can generate lots of power and have him transmit on 29.401 MHz During a pass, while you listen on the 235.275 MHz downlink (+/- Doppler). Anyone can SWITCH-ON the transponder by simply sending a 1200 baud Packet CONNECT-REQUEST to "PCSAT2" on 145.825 uplink. That "connection" will trigger The 29.401 to 435.275 MHz transponder to come up for the duration Of the connection or 1 minute which ever ends first. During that time, everyone will hear he downlink which is just The audio out of the 29.401 SSB receiver. We want to see if Anyone can get in on 29.401 or 29.402 MHz CW or PSK uplinnk. Send results... De WB4APR, Bob

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Missing postings to AMSAT-BB
by Félim Doyle M3HIM 22 Aug '06

22 Aug '06

Hi all. Why might it be that very occasionally my postings to the AMSAT-BB never seem to arrive? It has happened three times (I think) in the past month or two but I have not established a pattern. It appears to occur whether it is a reply to another message or an original composition. It may happen when there are other addresses in the To: or Cc: list but similar messages do get through. I sent one the other day (a reply to another posting) and included SAREX in the To: list but only the SAREX copy arrived. So could it be an intermittent fault with the AMSAT-BB mailer daemon? All suggestions welcome. 73 de Félim M3HIM IO91ot Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, UK

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AMSAT Space Symposium
by MARTHA SARAGOVITZ 22 Aug '06

22 Aug '06

The 2006 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting will be held in Foster City CA. The dates are October 6-8. The Banquet speaker will be Bill McArthur, KC5ACR. Bill was the ISS Expedition 12 Commander. An ARISS meeting will be held on Monday, October 9th and Tuesday, October 10th. For more information on the meeting, go to the AMSAT Website (www.amsat.org)

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