January 2008 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

Further indoor, ultra-cheap antenna success
by Bruce Robertson 24 Jan '08

24 Jan '08

Following my experiment reading AO-16 last night with an indoor 1/4wave magmount, I'd hoped to try today with a basic antenna attached to my FT-817. this antenna is a BNC connector with three stiff copper wires attached, two to the ground, one to the pin, in the classic 120 degree arrangement. Alas, by the time I made it home, the bird was only at about 2 deg, over the N. pole (its silence quite possibly due to inactivity) so I switched to CO-55's nominal 100mW CW signal. Again, indoors through about three walls and perhaps the roof of this wood-frame home I was able to hear CW. I engaged the narrow CW filter, which then made it intelligible, and then walked toward the other end of the house so that a single outer wall was between me and the bird. At about 2 deg. elevation to the North, I could no longer copy the CW. It was about a 559 until then. Granted, my house is surrounded by a 6 acre field and on slight hill. I have very little noise on 435MHz that I can tell. Nevertheless, there was enough of a signal above the noise that I think this could be reproduced easily in many locations. It strikes me as a very simple experiment, ideal for in-class or for a demo to a ham club. In fact, the constancy of the cubesat telemetry makes the demonstration easier to understand and conduct. One could get the sat tuned in then hand the knob over to someone else so that they can 'feel' the doppler as they catch up with the bird. 73, Bruce VE9QRP

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AO16 over South America
by Fabio Teixeira Magalhaes 24 Jan '08

24 Jan '08

AO16 passed at 19:50 utc orbit nr 94026. Signal was very good. Contacts with PY4ZBZ, PY5LF and PY2BBS. 73 es DX Fabio - PY4AJ Amsat nr 19748

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Re: AO-16 report
by Andrew Glasbrenner 24 Jan '08

24 Jan '08

Hi Ray, Thanks for the report, and I hope you don't mind that I have included part of it in this email to -bb in response to a few comments I've seen. As Ray and others have noticed, there is indeed some carrier on the downlink. It isn't what we might have designed for a voice system, but given how this came about, it's tolerable. The tuning of the downlink is indeed more rapid than a V/U linear transponder such as FO-29. Recall that an inverting transponder uses the Doppler on the uplink to cancel out part of the Doppler on the downlink. On this configuration we do not have that benefit. Thank you to everyone who has sent in reports, especially those who have described their stations. I'm particularly interested in reports of minimal and/or portable stations used successfully on AO-16. 73, Drew KO4MA ----- Original Message ----- From: RaySoifer(a)cs.com The uplink is very sensitive indeed, and the downlink is as expected given the power level. I would add, though, that in addition to the DSB audio, there is a carrier output which helps to tune in the downlink signal. It's not really DSBSC (suppressed carrier) but more like DSBRC (reduced carrier, relative to what it would be on AM).

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NA-EU on AO16
by Robert Turlington 24 Jan '08

24 Jan '08

Hi All on the 1828 mid atlantic pass of AO16 this evening I managed to work CU2JX followed by VE3NPC the uplink is very very sensitive. I was running less than 5w to a horizontally polarized 6 element Quad at the time and could even hear myself Q5 with the power turned right down on my FT847(1-2w)Regards Robert G8ATE _________________________________________________________________ Free games, great prizes - get gaming at Gamesbox. http://www.searchgamesbox.com

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N3TE / AO-7 Log
by SV1BSX 24 Jan '08

24 Jan '08

Congrat's to Steve, N3TE ! He is the 3rd US-station and the 9th WorldWide which reached the "1000 points" on AO-7's Online LogBook. http://www.planetemily.com/ao7/userStats.php Well done ! 73, Mak SV1BSX Email: sv1bsx "AT" yahoo .gr URL : http://sv1bsx.50webs.com --- avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean. Virus Database (VPS): 080123-2, 01/23/2008 Tested on: 1/24/2008 19:11:23 avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2008 ALWIL Software. http://www.avast.com

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AO-16 second try
by francesco messineo 24 Jan '08

24 Jan '08

Hello, AO-16 just passed on a 89 degrees pass, the doppler shift is quite severe, not like you hear on linear trasponders. Signal was very good with usual fades and also getting heard by the sat was easier. Had only one contact, QRM over europe is heavy as always, it's good to have another sat to use. Not many new stations though. best 73 de IZ8DWF

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Orbital Classroom - Future????
by Stefan Wagener 24 Jan '08

24 Jan '08

Hi folks, As a follow-up to my email in December (see below) I would like to thank all of you that responded. Your feedback was very much appreciated and also very encouraging! Interestingly, the overall response in terms of numbers was minimal. I assume that some did not read the previous email and others were not able or willing to respond for various reasons. At the same time, I also assume that the biggest majority is not interested in this approach since they don't attend the annual AMSAT meeting either. Consequently, I will not pursue this idea any longer at this time and focus on other activities. However, I am still interested in working within a team to develop some sort of educational program within AMSAT if that is of interest. Thanks again. It was an eye opener. 73, Stefan VE4NSA ................. Thanks everyone. The comments (primarily offline) to my first post on the existence of the "Orbital Classroom" just pointed to the perceived sad state of education within AMSAT. Now, we can whine and do nothing or maybe put our heads together and see what there is to do. The first thing is to gauge the level of interest. I and others will NOT engage in this without some significant feedback from the members and those that are interested in amateur radio and satellites and education. Here are a few questions and I would kindly request your thoughts on these. 1. Would you be interested in attending pre-conference courses and workshops as part of the annual meeting or at other venues? 2. Would you be willing to pay a registration fee that would cover course material, instructor cost etc.? 3. Would you be interested in receiving a certificate for ongoing education as it relates to amateur radio and satellites? 4. What topics would you like to see taught at such courses? 5. Would you be willing in helping to organize and facilitate courses (you don't have to teach for this one, just help the instructor and take care of registration, etc)? 6. Would you be willing to teach a course and if yes, on which topics? That's a start and hopefully it sparks your interest as a participant, facilitator or instructor. Please email me your responses offline (don't hit the reply all button) and I will compile the answers in a response to the board and this mailing list. FYI, I have been asked to organize and coordinate these efforts. First of all, I will NOT assist, organize and/or coordinate these efforts unless I have equal partners in assisting and helping. Secondly, AMSAT has an official "Director of Education" who needs to be involved and work on this (with our help if necessary). This person serves at the discretion of the AMSAT president and I have no intention to do his work. Hope this helps to clarify positions and responsibilities! For now, it is time for the members to voice their needs for education and define if this is relevant or not. Folks, here is your opportunity! Some of us are listening and working on this. Let us know if you want this or not by answering the questions above. As always, your opinion counts and even more your help is greatly appreciated. Have a Merry Christmas, a wonderful holiday season and an even better 2008. My best wishes to you and your families. 73, Stefan VE4NSA

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ao-16 data?
by Mr Jeffrey L Ross 24 Jan '08

24 Jan '08

hi all, any data signals to be picked up off this alive sat? ready to listen on 1200/9600 baud packet kc8gkf

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AO-16 Insight ?
by John Henderson 24 Jan '08

24 Jan '08

All, With the re-birth of A0-16, it is really wonderful to see the reaction of all the folks who have worked the bird. Even with the odd configuration, fading signals and tuning problems ,every message posted has reflected an air of excitement and a sense of accomplishment. Maybe, there are some things AMSAT leadership and us members can garner from this event. - LEOS aren't all bad - Simple frequency plans are good - No specialized amateur equipment is needed for a sat contact - Push/advertise the use of your existing gear to a prospective member With all the talk and plans going on right now relative to new sats with 1.2g/2.4g and sophisticated modes ( I understand the technical advantages from the satellite point of view) that require expensive equipment and antenna setups, maybe what we need to excite the membership ( and attract new members) is to re-think where we should be heading. I am not suggesting HEO/GEO's are not needed because I want to work all states myself and would love a larger footprint. The major issue at hand is attracting ,building and retaining a membership base that will allow us to financially move forward with such products. We can't do that by requiring high dollar outlays by prospective members for new gear and antenna setups. That said, there is an argument for HEO/GEO's on that ground in that you don't need a lot more gear, etc. but you do need down converters and uplink transmitters for the higher freqs not normally found in the 2/70 rigs the majority of hams have in the shacks. The need for increasing the membership base is critical, not only in AMSAT, but in ham radio as a whole. We will not survive if ham radio in a broader sense does not do well. We are but a small percentage of that decreasing total. Ever wonder why Yaesu dropped the FT-847 and Icom hasn't built a IC910H Pro version? Maybe our number one priority, instead of human space missions and building facilities at a college, should be growing our membership base with a keep it simple approach in the near future. Certainly, my view is limited as compared to AMSAT leadership. They have a much broader and deeper view of the situation, but as an Area Coordinator who goes to ham fests and schools in our area, what I always hear is " the high cost of satellite setups". Once you get beyond the hand held they are correct, particularly if we move away from technology present in most ham shacks. I just re-read the Mission Statement on the AMSAT website and could not find much about new members. I did find a lot about human space flight, educational programs, HEO's and yes LEO's. If the stated objectives and mission statement reflects our members wants and desires, I must assume I am not in tune with the average AMSAT member when I read these statements and scratch my head and wonder if this reflects the correct direction. It all sounds very good, technically intriguing, and challenging but it also sounds expensive. Please understand this is not a condemnation of our officers and please do not let this start a thread like we had a month a so ago, but if you chose to reply be thoughtful and purposeful in your comments. I am willing to stand corrected. With regards, John John Henderson N4NAB Area Coordinator- Eastern NC 212 Bayside Drive Cape Carteret, NC 28584

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Orlando Hamcation and AMSAT
by Bob McGwier 24 Jan '08

24 Jan '08

AMSAT will have a large presence at the Orlando Hamcation. It will remind some people of Dayton. The Orlando Hamcation has grown in size and prominence in the U.S. After all, it is in a horrible place for Winter in the U.S.! http://www.hamcation.com/ The following AMSAT board members and officers will be there: AMSAT President Rick Hambly, W2GPS AMSAT President Emeritus, Tom Clark, K3IO (ex-W3IWI) AMSAT Executive V.P. Lee McLamb, KU4OS AMSAT V.P. Operations, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA AMSAT V.P. Field Ops, Gould Smith, WA4SXM AMSAT V.P. Engineering Bob McGwier, N4HY and others. Some of the above are board members. Additionally, board members Lou McFadid, W5DID and Barry Baines, WD4ASW will be in attendance. Barry Baines is our new Eagle/Intelsat project manager. AMSAT has been granted prominent times and rooms for presentations. AMSAT is bringing the operational SDX and will soon thereafter put an SDX based linear transponder on the air covering much of the state of Florida and in a prominent place in Maryland. Additionally, one of the SDX will be in use in Europe thanks to a generous offer and help from Viktor Kudielka. AMSAT will hold engineering planning meetings here for engineering management. This was decided because so many of these people were going to be in attendance anyway. Please come hear about Eagle and Phase 3 E in Orlando. I hope to see you there Feb. 8-10! Bob McGwier N4HY

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