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

Re: old-sat questions
by Auke de Jong, VE6PWN 27 Jan '08

27 Jan '08

hmm, that one's not in my Orbitron list.... If I add it's Keps to my "amateur.txt", they'll get wiped-out in the next update. Anyone know how to prevent this? Auke VE6PWN ----- Original Message ----- From: "Douglas Quagliana" <dquagliana(a)aol.com> To: "Auke de Jong, VE6PWN" <sparkycivic(a)shaw.ca> Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2008 3:51 PM Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] old-sat questions > Hi Auke, > > If you are listening for supposedly "dead" amateur radio > satellites, then you might also want to listen for SSETI > Express on 437.250 using NBFM. SSETI went silent > shortly after launch. If it ever wakes up, you should hear > 9600 baud data signals on 437.250. This will sound like > white noise - slightly different than static. > > Douglas KA2UPW/5 > > Auke de Jong, VE6PWN wrote: >> Hello List, >> >> With the recent "resurrections" of old sats lately, I have decided to do >> some listening for other old sats which might, one day, un-fail. I think >> that the most likely ones would be Oscar-6 and Oscar-8. According to >> what information I have found thus far, their original modes of failure >> were battery-shorts a-la AO-7/AO-40, therfore they might also un-short >> based on my extremely limited knowledge of their design(assumptions >> comparing to ao-7) and regain their power supply. >> The problem that I am having, is that I can't find much information about >> AO-6's beacon transmitter frequencies for which to listen. Can anyone >> here offer some information about the beacon transmitter frequencies used >> for AO-6, and perhaps any other tech info such as how they might behave >> without command-station intervention? >> >> '73 >> Auke >> VE6PWN >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. >> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite >> program! >> Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb >> > > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: > 269.19.11/1244 - Release Date: 1/25/2008 7:44 PM > >

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The sky is falling down
by Chris Bloy 27 Jan '08

27 Jan '08

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7211443.stm Looks like the US have lost control of there spy sat, and they are making big news about it... Thanks., Chris

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AO-16 reconfigured.
by Andrew Glasbrenner 27 Jan '08

27 Jan '08

Since AO-16 was recovered approximately 6 months ago, the command team has attempted to reload the satellite software almost a dozen times without success. Subsequently a series of memory tests were performed which points towards a hardware failure which prevents restarting the spacecraft software successfully. This team included Bruce Rahn WB9ANQ and Jim White WD0E advising Mark Hammond N8MH as the primary groundstation. Mark put in many early hours during the multiple reloads and test sessions, with Bruce, Jim, and others advising. Thank you to all involved for your hard work. After the conclusion that the spacecraft computer system was damaged and as discussions about decommissioning were taking place, Jim recalled a series of low level commands included in the spacecraft design by Tom Clark, K3IO during construction. One of these commands allows an uplink receiver to be directly tied to a downlink transmitter. The twist is that the uplink is regular FM but the downlink via the BPSK transmitter is DSB (Double Sideband). Mark placed the satellite in this mode early this week and some testing was undertaken. The satellite hears VERY well, and the reduced bandwidth by using either USB or LSB on the groundstation receiver allows for a very robust downlink. Tuning the downlink is just like on a linear transponder, meaning it is tight and with fast Doppler. Uplink tuning is not required, just as with the FM mode V/U satellites. QSOs were made between N8MH, WD4ASW, KO4MA, K5QXJ, and WA6FWF. My personal observations include being able to access and hear the satellite within one degree of the horizon, much lower than any other current bird for my QTH. This should be an easy satellite with omni antennas and a 70cm preamp. With that explanation, I'm happy to open the satellite to general use on voice for a test period. Please submit reports either to the -bb or to ao16(a)amsat.org . The uplink is 145.920 FM, and the downlink is 437.026 SSB +/- Doppler shift. Please restrict your uplink power to a reasonable level, and do not transmit without being able to hear the downlink. All the general single-channel guidelines apply. Enjoy this bird's new life! 73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Operations

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ANS-027 AMSAT Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 27 Jan '08

27 Jan '08

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-027 ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor(a)amsat.org In this edition: * New V/US Mode Operational on AO-51 * AO-16 Reconfigured for Voice Operations * AMSAT at Orlando Hamcation * AMSAT-DC Meeting Announcement * AMSAT President Testifies Regarding Antenna Restrictions * ARISS Status - 21 January 2008 SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-027.01 New V/US Mode Operational on AO-51 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 027.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. January 27, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-027.01 On January 25th, AO-51 was switched to a new mode. Currently both the S band downlink of 2401.200 and the 435.300 downlink are on and tied together to the 145.920 receiver. This creates a single repeater that can be heard on either downlink. In the past the satellite power budget would not allow simultaneous S and U downlinks for more than a few moments, but the current no eclipse season allows us try try this new combination. The L/U BBS and U band telemetry will be off during this period, except for brief periods when command stations will be collecting telemetry. During these passes, the S band downlink may be shut off temporarily. Give this new mode a try this weekend. If you like using S-band AND working lots of stations, this mode is for you. Currently we plan to run this mode through the end of the month. 73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Ops [ANS thanks Drew, KO4MA, for the above information] SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-027.02 AO-16 Reconfigured for Voice Operations AMSAT News Service Bulletin 027.02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. January 27, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-027.02 Since AO-16 was recovered approximately 6 months ago, the command team has attempted to reload the satellite software almost a dozen times without success. Subsequently a series of memory tests were performed which points towards a hardware failure which prevents restarting the spacecraft software successfully. This team included Bruce Rahn WB9ANQ and Jim White WD0E advising Mark Hammond N8MH as the primary groundstation. Mark put in many early hours during the multiple reloads and test sessions, with Bruce, Jim, and others advising. Thank you to all involved for your hard work. After the conclusion that the spacecraft computer system was damaged and as discussions about decommissioning were taking place, Jim recalled a series of low level commands included in the spacecraft design by Tom Clark, K3IO during construction. One of these commands allows an uplink receiver to be directly tied to a downlink transmitter. The twist is that the uplink is regular FM but the downlink via the BPSK transmitter is DSB (Double Sideband). Mark placed the satellite in this mode early this week and some testing was undertaken. The satellite hears VERY well, and the reduced bandwidth by using either USB or LSB on the groundstation receiver allows for a very robust downlink. Tuning the downlink is just like on a linear transponder, meaning it is tight and with fast Doppler. Uplink tuning is not required, just as with the FM mode V/U satellites. QSOs were made between N8MH, WD4ASW, KO4MA, K5QXJ, and WA6FWF. My personal observations include being able to access and hear the satellite within one degree of the horizon, much lower than any other current bird for my QTH. This should be an easy satellite with omni antennas and a 70cm preamp. With that explanation, I'm happy to open the satellite to general use on voice for a test period. Please submit reports either to the -bb or to ao16(a)amsat.org . The uplink is 145.920 FM, and the downlink is 437.026 SSB +/- Doppler shift. Please restrict your uplink power to a reasonable level, and do not transmit without being able to hear the downlink. All the general single-channel guidelines apply. Enjoy this bird's new life! [ANS Drew, KO4MA, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-027.03 AMSAT at Orlando Hamcation AMSAT News Service Bulletin 027.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. January 27, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-027.03 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! [ANS thanks Bob, N4HY, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-027.04 AMSAT-DC Meeting Announcement AMSAT News Service Bulletin 027.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. January 27, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-027.04 We will meet in Pioneer Hall at the Historical Electronics Museum. Same place as last year, same time as last year, for one more time. WHO: YOU are invited! Amateur radio operators, students, educators and the public are all invited. WHAT: Talks, demos, tutorials and socializing about amateur satellites and balloon experiments in the greater mid- Atlantic USA area. A full day of activities. WHEN: Saturday, March 15, 2008, starting at 11:00 A.M. local. WHERE: Historical Electronics Museum (HEM) at 1745 West Nursery Road, Linthicum, Maryland 21090 (near BWI airport). In Pioneer Hall. HEM directions at http://www.hem-usa.org/ WHY: Fun, education, public service, cool stuff, and more fun. HOW: Talk-in on 146.760 MHz (107.2 Hz PL on some receiver sites) HOST: Pat Kilroy, n8pk(a)amsat.org or Patrick.L.Kilroy(a)nasa.gov WEB: See http://patkilroy.com/amsat-dc/ for late breaking news. Download the AMSAT-DC-2008 flier PDF from the N8PK web page to share as widely as you can. Thank you! [ANS thanks Pat, N8PK, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-027.05 AMSAT President Testifies Regarding Antenna Restrictions AMSAT News Service Bulletin 027.05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. January 27, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-027.05 On January 24, 2008 AMSAT President Rick Hambly W2GPS testified before the Maryland State Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee in support of Senate Bill 80 that would prohibit "homeowners associations from restricting or prohibiting the design, placement, screening, height, or use of specified amateur radio equipment." It is hoped that we will also get a hearing before a House committee in a few weeks. There was no opposition to this bill during the hearing, unlike previous years. For more information see http://mlis.state.md.us/2008rs/billfile/sb0080.htm and http://n3ij.home.comcast.net/. /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-027.06 ARISS Status - 21 January 2008 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 027.06 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. January 27, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-027.06 1. ARISS School Contacts Status Due crew schedules onboard the ISS, no Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contacts are planned at this time. The ARISS team expects contacts to resume once STS-122 launches in early February. 2. Astronaut Training Status On Wednesday, January 16, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka, RN3FU, participated in a simulation of an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school contact. The Kenwood D700 radio in the JSC Service Module mockup was used for the contact. Skripochka spoke with the training support team who participated as students, asking Oleg questions about space and his visit on ISS. He is currently scheduled as an Expedition 17 backup crew member. 3. ARISS Annual Report Posted The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) FY2007 Annual Report has been posted to the ARISS section of the AMSAT Web site. See: http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Papers/Annual%20Reports/ ARISS_Annual_Report_2007_Final.pdf 4. Gail Borden Library Wins Award The Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin, Illinois was one of five libraries to win the 2008 John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award. The library won the award for its "Space: Dare to Dream" exhibit. A highlight of the exhibit, which ran for four months during 2007, was an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact. The Summer Reading program resulted in an increase in program participants, library card registrations and material circulation. [ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, for the above information] /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org

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AO-16 Doppler tuning using SatPC32
by Wayne Estes 26 Jan '08

26 Jan '08

SatPC32 users, what Doppler.SQF text are you using for automatic Doppler tuning of AO-16? Here's my guess, based on the published AO-16 info. AO-16,437026,145920,USB,FM,NOR,0,0 Exact tweaks of the frequencies would be appreciated. I suppose downlink mode can be USB or LSB. Or AM, with reduced sensitivity but relatively immune to tuning errors. Wayne Estes W9AE Oakland, Oregon, USA

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I: footprint edge
by Francesco Grappi 26 Jan '08

26 Jan '08

Hi Bob, W7LRD Unfortunatelly on previous pass AO-7 was active in "A" mode, (145,900 USB "UP" and 29,450 USB "DOWN") I had a good window to US and Canada ....,I called cq ... for entire pass on the middle frequency of the transponder ... but I didn't heard nobody else on frequency ... See you next window. 73 Frank IW4DVZ North of Italy JN54IL -----Messaggio originale----- Da: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] Per conto di w7lrd(a)comcast.net Inviato: sabato 26 gennaio 2008 20.58 A: AMSAT-BB Oggetto: [amsat-bb] footprint edge Hello-The next few passes of AO-7 will have a small window from Seattle to parts of Northern Europe. If you are in that area look for me on about 145.952. It might just work! 73 Bob W7LRD Seattle, Wa. CN87 -- "if this were easy, everyone would be doing it" _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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old-sat questions
by Auke de Jong, VE6PWN 26 Jan '08

26 Jan '08

Hello List, With the recent "resurrections" of old sats lately, I have decided to do some listening for other old sats which might, one day, un-fail. I think that the most likely ones would be Oscar-6 and Oscar-8. According to what information I have found thus far, their original modes of failure were battery-shorts a-la AO-7/AO-40, therfore they might also un-short based on my extremely limited knowledge of their design(assumptions comparing to ao-7) and regain their power supply. The problem that I am having, is that I can't find much information about AO-6's beacon transmitter frequencies for which to listen. Can anyone here offer some information about the beacon transmitter frequencies used for AO-6, and perhaps any other tech info such as how they might behave without command-station intervention? '73 Auke VE6PWN

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footprint edge
by w7lrd＠comcast.net 26 Jan '08

26 Jan '08

Hello-The next few passes of AO-7 will have a small window from Seattle to parts of Northern Europe. If you are in that area look for me on about 145.952. It might just work! 73 Bob W7LRD Seattle, Wa. CN87 -- "if this were easy, everyone would be doing it"

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Re: AO-16 report
by Tom Clark, K3IO 26 Jan '08

26 Jan '08

Mark, N8MH commented > Actually, this is a great idea, Greg. It's the basis for AE4JY Moe Wheatley's > AO40RCv program--the 400BPSK demodulator. In fact, his source coded is > posted--it should help with the programming I'd think. It provided button > pushes, com port selection, radio choices, etc. > > Not sure there is ENOUGH carrier..at least from what I've been hearing. But I > haven't looked at it with a waterfall yet; Drew KO4MA was doing that during > our initial tests--he could see the carrier well as I recall. > The BPSK modulator should have zero carrier in the middle unless it has drifted out of balance. I would be surprised if the carrier rejection is any greater than ~-20 dB below the sideband level -- this corresponds to the supposed 180° phase shift being off by about 0.1 radians (i.e. ~6°). If you try to inject carrier by simply turning on a BFO and receiving the signal as DSB, you will get distortion. This is because you want to extract the 2 sidebands with the same phase. You will be better off throwing away half the signal and receiving it as a SSB signal. One way to properly phase the signal is with a Costas loop demodulator. Such widgets were the hardware PSK demodulators offered by TAPR (designed by K3IO & N7CL) and a different design by G3RUH; the TAPR design was sold commercially by Paccomm as the PSK-1 (Google Paccomm PSK-1). These designs have been built with both 400 BPS (for AO-40) and 1200 BPS (for the PACSATs) data filters. These devices have a PLL to generate a coherent carrier and do not suffer the 3dB SNR loss; the PLLs will also help to track the satellites Doppler. As Mark pointed out, a similar design was done in software for use with a Soundblaster for AO40's 400 BPS BPSK by Moe Wheatley, AE4JY. You can fetch a copy at Moe's web site at http://www.moetronix.com/ae4jy/ao40rcv.htm. Moe's web site has the source code in C++ and you will probably want to modify the data filters by a factor of 3-4. Moe has also implemented a DSB demodulator in his SpectraVue SDR software that supports N4IP's RF Space SDR-14 and SDR-IQ receivers (see http://rfspace.com/Home.html). For those of you using a Flex SDR (http://www.flex-radio.com)like the SDR-1000 or -5000 (or the SoftRock, or a similar QSD design)as your receive IF, you should be able to do a proper demod on the AO-16 signal (including a properly phased carrier generated in a software PLL) using the [DSB] mode (also please try the Synchronous AM [SAM] detector)in PowerSDR. I haven't tried any of the SDR approaches myself, so I don't know about the AFC characteristics in [DSB] and [SAM]. Perhaps AE4JY or N4HY or AB2KT can comment. 73, Tom

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OSCAR-11 Report
by Clive Wallis 26 Jan '08

26 Jan '08

OSCAR-11 REPORT 26 January 2008 This report covers the period from 19 December 2007 to 26 January 2008. After two months of silence from 20 November, when eclipses started, the satellite resumed transmissions on 22 January 2008. This was three complete 20.7 day watchdog cycles after the satellite switched off. At the time of writing signals are consistantly strong, although the polarisation is very variable, with a cycle time of around 20 seconds, causing deep fading if the antenna polarisation is fixed. This suggests that the satellite may be tumbling. If the current watchdog cycle continues uninterrupted, the 145.826 Mhz. beacon should switch off around 01 February and on again around 11 February. However, if low battery voltage causes the watchdog timer to reset, then the beacon should switch on 21 days later. The real time clock in now very stable although it has lost a further 7.09 days since 20 November. On 26 January it is 81.36403 days slow. I am indebted to Peter ZL3TC, Mark KU7Z, Gene WA4UKX, SWL Mark in CM87, Ron G4PGY, Julian WB9YIG, John HB2HSH and Edward BX1AD for their reports. Many thanks. The satellite is now in continuous sunlight, and this is expected to continue until mid March, when eclipses will start again. Unfortunately eclipses will then become a permanent feature of the orbit, which is likely to prevent any periods of sustained operation after March. 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:U2RPT141.CWV, to prevent duplication. 73 Clive G3CWV xxxxx(a)amsat.org (please replace xxxxx by g3cwv)

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