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

YouTube - P5-A Mars Orbiter Video
by Trevor 29 Sep '07

29 Sep '07

A video featuring the Amateur Radio Mars Orbiter P5-A has been put on the YouTube website. Details at http://www.uk.amsat.org/ 73 Trevor M5AKA ___________________________________________________________ Want ideas for reducing your carbon footprint? Visit Yahoo! For Good http://uk.promotions.yahoo.com/forgood/environment.html

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Re: Terrestrial QRM to FM satellites
by Bob Bruninga 29 Sep '07

29 Sep '07

>> Today on passes of both SO-50 and AO-27, >> there were terrestrial QSOs going on. >> It was especially bad on AO-27... Three comments: 1) When you are not doing satellite passes, shift your two meter rig to 145.85 and LISTEN all day. 90% of the US population lives in cities (or something like that) and so the chances are that some one will hear them direct. 2) Its in the cities that the repeater density is so high that some new hams might feel there is no other place to put up a local non-coordinated repeater. So we probably have a good chance of somneone on this BB hearing them. 3) Listen for 9600 baud Packet noise bursts. At least they are identifiable. One of the packet uplinks on GO-32 shares the same 2m uplink as AO-27. This is why we have to prohibit unattended packet operation via GO-32 on its 145.85 uplink. I will modify my GO-32 APRS user operations web page to make sure this point is clear. Bob, Wb4APR

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SO-50 Frequency Change
by John Marranca, Jr 29 Sep '07

29 Sep '07

I, too, have noticed the difference between Orbitron and the ACTUAL frequency. I saw that the SO-50 page had mentioned this a while ago...so I've always just hunted around for it. I use an Eggbeater...so I'm not too concerned with this matter. However, I can see that it would be a SERIOUS issue for someone that is using a more elborate antenna setup. Any theories as to WHY this may have happened? Mine is simplistic...I had a Ten-Tec Argonaut 505, and it drifted somewhat due to the temps coming from start-up...then the amplifier finals, etc. So, it was pretty drifty. Well...it's a theory anyway. John KB2HSH -- _______________________________

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Fw: Satellite Database Update 9-27-2007 Union of ConcernedScientists
by Roger Kolakowski 29 Sep '07

29 Sep '07

For this quarter's perusing pleasure Roger WA1KAT ----- Original Message ----- From: "SatelliteData Mailbox" <SatelliteData(a)ucsusa.org> To: "SatelliteData Mailbox" <SatelliteData(a)ucsusa.org> Sent: Friday, September 28, 2007 4:00 PM Subject: Satellite Database Update 9-27-2007 Union of ConcernedScientists > A new version of the UCS Satellite Database, which includes launches > through September 25, 2007, has been posted at > http://ucsusa.org/satellite_database . > > The new Excel format file is called > *UCS_Satellite_Database_9-27-07.xls* and the tab-delimited text > version is called *UCS_Satellite_Database_9-27-07.txt*. > The tab-delimited text version in which the *Name* column contains > only the official name of the satellite in the case of government and > military satellites, and the most commonly used name in the case of > commercial and civil satellites is called > *UCS_Satellite_Database_officialname_9-27-07.txt*. > > The other changes to this version of the database include: > * The addition of 12 satellites > * The deletion of 14 inactive satellites > * The addition of and corrections to some satellite data > > We have incorporated your corrections and suggestions as we were able, > and continue to welcome your comments. > > The UCS Satellite Database Manager > SatelliteData(a)ucsusa.org > > > >

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SO50 frequency change today
by Robert Turlington 29 Sep '07

29 Sep '07

Hi all on the 1407utc pass over Greenland/Northern Europe the frequency on the downlink was up by approx 5 khz, however on the next pass at 1549utc it was back to normal, that is to say the centre frequency that I use in my doppler tracking software Regards Robert G8ATE _________________________________________________________________ 100’s of Music vouchers to be won with MSN Music https://www.musicmashup.co.uk

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SO50 frequency change today
by Robert Turlington 29 Sep '07

29 Sep '07

Hi all on the 1407utc pass over Greenland/Northern Europe the frequency on the downlink was up by approx 5 khz, however on the next pass at 1549utc it was back to normal, that is to say the centre frequency that I use in my doppler tracking softwareRegards Robert G8ATE _________________________________________________________________ Get free emoticon packs and customisation from Windows Live. http://www.pimpmylive.co.uk

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Time is Running Out!!
by Martha 28 Sep '07

28 Sep '07

Time is running out to book a hotel room for the AMSAT Space Symposium in Pittsburgh. A week from this Monday (Oct 8th), we have to return any remaining hotel rooms in our block. To read more about it, go to the AMSAT website. There you will find information on the hotel and the Symposium. You can also register on-line for the Symposium, banquet and tour. -- 73- Martha

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LOOKING FOR SOFTWARE
by Nick Pugh 28 Sep '07

28 Sep '07

Hi Amsaters I have ask the group before but did not find what I was looking for. I am looking for audio recording software that is started and stopped from the pc clock. thanks nick

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OSCAR-11 Report
by Clive Wallis 28 Sep '07

28 Sep '07

OSCAR-11 REPORT 27 September 2007 OSCAR-11 is back! During the period 31 August to 27 September 2007, the satellite's 145.826 MHz. beacon has been heard from 16 to 26 September. The switch-on date was later than expected. The solar eclipses finished on 20 August, and previous observations had suggested that the duration of sunlight after 10 August would be sufficient to support continuous operation. However, at the end of last year's eclipse season, some erratic behaviour was also observed. Unfortunately I was away on holiday when the satellite first switched ON, and only received the data on last two days of transmission. Signals were weaker than those received earlier in the year, ie. before the eclipse season. This has been confirmed by the many reports I have received. The on-board clock has continued to be of interest. At the end of this ON period the clock was 69.43451 days slow, showing a loss of about 31 days since the previous ON period. The day of the week counter appears to be consistant with the date on the satellite, but has changed in relation to the actual date. Previously, 0 represented Thursday, now it represents Monday. If the satellite's watchdog timer continues to operate normally, the beacon should switch ON around 06 October 2007. I am indebted to Peter ZL3TC, Ken W7KKE, Dave G1OCN, Jef KB2M, Graham G3VZV, Martin M0ADY, Gustavo LW2DTZ, John N7ZL, John N3NKC and Thomas HB9SKA for their reports. They were especially useful while I have been away. Many thanks. The satellite is now in continuous sunlight and this will continue until around 14 November, when there will be a short eclipse season, lasting until around 07 January. However the maximum duration of the eclipses will only be about seven ninutes. At this level the satelite might just survive. 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 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. 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. 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:U2RPT137.CWV, to prevent duplication. 73 Clive G3CWV xxxxx(a)amsat.org (please replace xxxxx by g3cwv)

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Marex Proposal for ISS, TurboFan
by Fred A Parker 28 Sep '07

28 Sep '07

You may contact me offline my Email address in QRZ is good. I am the Pearson that made up the heat sinks for the little switching power supply for the D700 and may be able to help you. Fred (KF0AK)

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