December 2007 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

Re: The Whole GEO Package - EMCOMM
by k0vty＠juno.com 20 Dec '07

20 Dec '07

I understand Roger. Since Katrina there has been reported activity by ARRL and Home Land Security that tend to reach for the GEO type capability Without the AMSAT ability I might add. At this stage it is all conjecture which hopes to not miss anything. Especially funds Joe K0VTY =============== Thu, 20 Dec 2007 13:35:18 -0500 "Roger Kolakowski" <rogerkola(a)aol.com> writes: > Joe noted... > > "...> The notion that Maybe ARRL should be the driver(s) of GEO's > for > emergency satellite radio flew past a moment ago....< > > Please don't misinterpret me...It has been mentioned many times that > ARRL > does not necessarily have Satellite interests as one of their > primary > objectives. > > The status of contesting through satellites is one example. > > I mentioned ARRL only in recognition of past efforts and > accomplishments in > supporting EMCOMM...a decision would have to be made as to whether > they have > expertise or influence remaining in that area, other than an > existing large > organization of amateur radio operators. Do we as AMSAT need to > generate > that pool of talent or do we choose to "borrow" from it to meet > satellite > EMCOMM goals? > > Roger > WA1KAT > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <k0vty(a)juno.com> > To: <rogerkola(a)aol.com> > Cc: <brobertson(a)mta.ca>; <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org>; > <kl7uw(a)acsalaska.net> > Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2007 12:58 PM > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: The Whole GEO Package - EMCOMM > > > > The notion that Maybe ARRL should be the driver(s) of GEO's > > for emergency satellite radio flew past a moment ago. > > At least it would appear the issue is larger than just AMSAT-NA > > > > Joe K0VTY > > ================== > > >

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OSCAR-11 Report
by Clive Wallis 20 Dec '07

20 Dec '07

OSCAR-11 REPORT 20 December 2007 RECEPTION REPORTS REQUESTED! Please send reception reports to xxxxx(a)amsat.org (please replace xxxxx by g3cwv) or post to amsat-bb. If you are able to record the satellite as a WAV file, please do so, but let me know what you have, before sending it! If you need to hear what the satellite sounds like, please visit my website www.users.zetnet.co.uk/clivew/ The satellite transmits on 145.826 MHz. set receiver to NBFM. --------- During the period 15 November to 19 December 2007 no signals have been received from the satellite. No reports of reception have been received. Eclipses have continued and are expected until mid January 2008. Although the maximum duration of the current eclipses is less than those earlier this year, it is doubtful whether the satellite will be heard for any sustained period. While in continuous sunlight during September and October the satellite was unable to support continuous operation. It is likely than the satellite will only be heard by chance, by stations listening for other satellites on 145.826 Mhz. 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 real time clock is showing a large accumulated error, although over short periods timekeeping is accurate to a few seconds per month. The day of the month has a bit stuck at 'one' so the day of the month may show an error of +40 days for some dates. The time display has switched into 12 hour mode. Unfortunately, there is no AM/PM indicator, since the time display format was designed for 24 hour mode. More data is required to determine exactly when the date changes. 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 23 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. The ON/OFF times have tended to be very consistent. 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. If you need to know what OSCAR-11 should sound like, there is a short audio clip for you to hear. There is an example of the latest telemetry received from the satellite. The website 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:U2RPT140.CWV, to prevent duplication. 73 Clive G3CWV xxxxx(a)amsat.org (please replace xxxxx by g3cwv)

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Separating Rx and Tx antenna connections on TS-2000-X
by Edward Cole 20 Dec '07

20 Dec '07

This was recently posted on the MoonNet reflector by Russ, K2TXB: http://www.k2txb.com/rxinput.htm I figured that many satellite users of the TS-2000-X might be interested in this. 73, Ed - KL7UW ====================================== BP40IQ 50-MHz - 10-GHz www.kl7uw.com 144-EME: FT-847, mgf-1801, 4x-xpol-20, 185w DUBUS Magazine USA Rep dubususa(a)hotmail.com ======================================

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Re: GEO sats and Australia
by Dave Guimont 19 Dec '07

19 Dec '07

> >Don't worry about the Southern Hemisphere, geostationary satellites >sit over the equator, by definition. However, of more concern is >coverage of the _Eastern_ Hemisphere... However, if the Intelsat >deal goes ahead, then it's quite possible we'll have multiple birds >to enable near global coverage, from what I've read here.... > >73 de VK3JED I really don't see much of a technical challenge with a geo, but if that is the lie of the lie, so be it. A cell phone has about the same degree of difficulty... And who gets the 1st third....or will all three be installed at the time?? I'd rather see one similar to AO7 or 8 with ssb/cw, and bandwidth to enable many users, rather than the dumb FM voice (2 user) bird AMSAT-NA spent all that money on... 73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1(a)san.rr.com Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E... 73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1(a)san.rr.com Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E...

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Those using a Buxcomm adaptor
by Ed Tump 19 Dec '07

19 Dec '07

Greetings, I bought a Buxcomm adaptor for my FT60 to run some sound card packet. I really like the unit and it sure works great. The only thing I noticed is when you reboot or lose the packet engine, the unit "keys" the mic and transmits. It only stops transmitting when you restart the packet engine. I would not want to TX unless I wish to. Anyone found a way around this concern. Thanks. 73, Ed KC9GWK Grid EN52 AmSat Member

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GEO sats and Australia
by Andrew Rich 19 Dec '07

19 Dec '07

Will this recent talk of GEO sats leave the southern hemisphere out fo the picture ? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Rich VK4TEC vk4tec(a)people.net.au http://www.tech-software.net

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Re: GEO sats and Australia
by Tony Langdon 19 Dec '07

19 Dec '07

At 12:08 PM 12/20/2007, Dave Guimont wrote: >I really don't see much of a technical challenge with a geo, but if >that is the lie of the lie, so be it. You still have to have the ERP to get into the bird, whatever mode it uses. It's not going to be a "HT special". In fact, I doubt FM would be supported on it. More likely would CW, SSB and digital (both voice and data) modes, since these are spectrally more efficient. >A cell phone has about the same degree of difficulty... You've had to put up crossed Yagis to use your cell phone lately? ;) I certainly haven't. :D However, not having to rotate my antennas will be a major advantage. The cost and mechanical issues of rotators aren't feasible for me at this time. >And who gets the 1st third....or will all three be installed at the time?? That would be up to Intelsat I suspect.... >I'd rather see one similar to AO7 or 8 with ssb/cw, and bandwidth to >enable many users, rather than the dumb FM voice (2 user) bird >AMSAT-NA spent all that money on... Well, I would like to see something higher than a LEO, CW/SSB (at least when I tried on RS-12/13 a few years back) was very lonely. Everything here is so far apart that altitude is needed to get out of our backyard, so to speak. I'd also like to see Eagle up too (and work out some way of manually rotating the antennas. :) 73 de VK3JED http://vkradio.com

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AO-51 telemetry
by Ed Tump 19 Dec '07

19 Dec '07

Folks, Can I use a soundcard TNC connected to a radio to receive the 9600 telemetry from AO51 or must I have a hardware TNC? 73, Ed KC9GWK Grid EN52 AmSat Member

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OLPC
by Bruce 19 Dec '07

19 Dec '07

My laptop arrived a few minutes ago. I did not receive any email that it was shipping, but here it is. 73...bruce -- Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards ARRL Awards Manager (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0200z on W0KIE new satellite soon. Also streaming MP3 at http://www.amsatnet.com Latest satellite news on the ARRL Audio News http://www.arrl.org

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Bob's Message
by Jeff Davis 19 Dec '07

19 Dec '07

Friends, We've had little information about the P4 opportunity since the Symposium. But reading between the lines and reading N4HY's message of today it seems that most of us are missing what they are trying to tell us ... There aren't **any** easy/cheap/free rides to HEO to be had. That ship has sailed and everything that we ever knew about the launch business has changed. I'm not trying to put words in anyone's mouth here, but I take it from Bob's message and the solicitation letter from President Hambly that there is really no apparent option to launch Eagle without doing something radically different. Assuming that we could pay for even a cheap launch, it might cost a million dollars if we were just paying customers. Think about that -- a MILLION dollars. Maybe more. After two years of raising money for Eagle we are up to what, $70K? At this rate it would take a decade or more to raise enough funds to launch Eagle if AMSAT continues on the published path. This isn't about digging a little deeper -- this is about reality. I get the impression that if some agreement isn't worked out with someone -- like is being discussed with the P4 opportunity -- we won't get back to HEO. Ever. Unless the satellite business changes. Those who think that the option is to EITHER finish Eagle and launch it, OR work on P4 seem to be missing the point -- the first option may now be more dream than a viable option. I would be pleased to learn that I am reading this all wrong because my *only* satellite interest is in a high-orbit bird and my hopes for seeing another in my lifetime are beginning to fade. It's now been over 11 years since we had AO-13 and it's becoming a fond, distant memory... -- 73 de Jeff AMSAT-NA AMSAT-DL

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