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

Second Call for Papers - 2007 AMSAT Space Symposium
by Kevin J. Smith 26 Jun '07

26 Jun '07

2007 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting - Call for papers This is the second call for papers for the 2007 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting to be held October 25-28, 2007 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Proposals for papers, symposium presentations, and poster presentations are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite program. An emphasis for this year is an educational outreach to middle and high school students. In particular, papers on the following topics are solicited: Students & Education, ARISS, AO-51, P3E, Eagle and other satellite-related topics. We request a one-page abstract as soon as possible. Camera ready copy on paper or in electronic form will be due by September 1, 2007 for inclusion in the printed symposium proceedings. Papers received after this date will not be included in the printed proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be sent to: Daniel Schultz N8FGV by e-mail to: n8fgv(a)amsat.org

1 0

Re: Can't download keps in Nova
by Joseph Trombino Jr 25 Jun '07

25 Jun '07

Just for fun I re-entered my call sign and password into Nova for Space-track.org and now I can download the keps all OK. My callsign and password were already in Nova but for some reason they wouldn't work.....I had to re-enter them into Nova and now the bloody program will download the keps....ain't computers and software great??? (grin) OK...no more dumb questions for a while. 73, Joe W2KJ

1 0

Can't download keps in Nova
by Joseph Trombino Jr 25 Jun '07

25 Jun '07

Haven't used Nova in several months and saw the alerts on the amsat BB about problems caused by Celestrak. I brought up Nova and used Space-Track to try and download via the Internet. It doesn't appear that Nova is not connecting to Space-Track via the Internet...I get a dialog box that says "downloading" but only receive 618 bytes or such and then the Nova program locks up. Looks like something is missing or messed up in Nova 2.2b. I just downloaded Satscape from the Amsat web page and tried downloading keps and it appeared to work perfectly. Something is wrong with Nova and I can't figure it out...any ideas out there that might help me in finding the problem??? 73, Joe W2KJ

2 1

IC-970 for sale
by Eddy GORA 25 Jun '07

25 Jun '07

If anyone interested I still have IC-970 for sale. Best regards, Edi, YO3HCV No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.9.6/865 - Release Date: 6/24/2007 8:33 AM

1 0

FS: TrakBox
by Francisco Costa, CT1EAT 25 Jun '07

25 Jun '07

Dear AMSAT friends My TrakBox is for sale. Details: * current installed version is 3.40e The sale include: * DC cable * rotor cable (Yaesu G-5xxx series) plus: * TrakBox-II upgrade kit * KD6IRE upgrade kit * CD with manuals, mods, photos, etc. I did both upgrades (one at the time), but for some reason I can't remember, I returned to original configuration. The box was made by me and it has no labels. It has some minor scrachs and dents however. Price: 250 Euro, including shipping to anywhere in the world via registered airmail. Payment methods: Euro countries buyers: Bank money transfer only! Elsewhere: Western Union or PayPal. Photos: please visit http://ct1eatsale.no.sapo.pt/ Thanks for your attention. See you on P3E or Eagle. 73 F.Costa, CT1EAT www.qsl.net/ct1eat

1 1

Beginner question - Tracking software / hardware.
by Wayne Heil 25 Jun '07

25 Jun '07

Hi, I am just getting started in satellites. I have a Yaesu G-5400B. What interface would be good to use to interface the G-5400B to my computer for automatic tracking? I have a new Dell with Microsoft Vista. What software to use with the tracker? "73, Wayne, KB6OQj wjheil(a)gmail.com

1 0

Re: FD Contacts!
by Reicher, James 25 Jun '07

25 Jun '07

I managed my one contact per FM bird also and then concentrated on AO-7 and VO-52. I didn't manage as many as George, but we did pretty well. I found the FM birds to be much more orderly than in years past. I thought that the one station who was handing out quick contacts to the others worked very well. The REAL annoyance was the guy who was trying to play traffic cop over the satellite saying "one contact per station!" over and over and over again. BTW, did anyone else hear some music being played over SO-50 during the first FD pass, at about 1900Z? 73 de N8AU, Jim in Raymore, MO Light travels faster than sound... This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak. Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2007 19:06:31 -0500 From: "George Henry" <ka3hsw(a)earthlink.net> Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: FD Contacts! To: "amsat bb" <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Message-ID: <002e01c7b6bc$b5077460$0500a8c0@parents> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=original Heard LOTS of stations on the first passes of AO-27, SO-50, and AO-51 (V/U) that obviously didn't read the new rules, making one contact after another, even after being told "only ONE contact per FM satellite!" I did manage to make my one contact each, and then focused on AO-07 and VO-52 for the rest of the contest. Made 20 more contacts on those. AO-07 is very interesting to listen to when she's being hit with too much power on CW... hearing someone's voice being "bounced" by the ditty-dots! Sure did miss FO-29!!! George, KA3HSW

2 1

Space-Track.org problems
by Joseph Trombino Jr 25 Jun '07

25 Jun '07

Are there any other sites than can be configured into Nova for automatic downloading of keps for at least the amateur satellites??? 73, Joe W2KJ

3 2

Re: AO-51 Mode L uplink LHCP or RHCP?
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 25 Jun '07

25 Jun '07

> Ok, in a little panic here... Building a helix to get a bit more gain on > the AO-51 mode L uplink, and I just realized that I don't know if it should > be Left or Right-hand polarized. Which way should it go? Not sure which way will really matter, since the AO-51 L/S antenna is not circularly polarized. It's explained in Gould Smith's AO-51 book, and also in the following PDF: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/echo/OSCAR-E_Status_Report_5.pdf Page 7 in the PDF has a photo of the antenna and a brief description of it. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

3 2

Re; FD Contacts!
by tom＠bloomington.com 25 Jun '07

25 Jun '07

Did I miss a memo somewhere that said someone would be appointed Contact Cop for each FM satellite? I knew that each FM pass would be a zoo, it was really annoying when someone with high power came on, didn't identify (!), and said (in a long, drawn-out admonishment), that only one contact was allowed. It probably wiped out two or three potential contacts. Plus, it was pretty much an embarrassment, as people were watching us try work around this bozo. Does anybody think this helps? Tom WB8WOR

1 0