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

news from DM31 tonight...
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 17 Nov '08

17 Nov '08

Hi! John K8YSE showed up on AO-51 and SO-50 this evening from a campground at the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in southern Arizona, in grid DM31. There has been very little satellite from that grid in recent years, especially considering that most of DM31 is in Mexico, and almost all of it is in a desert that is inhospitable in summer. I'm sure there are a bunch of satellite operators that appreciate his efforts to make DM31 a little less rare. I spoke to John after the AO-51 and SO-50 passes between 0030 and 0100 UTC tonight. As he announced previously, he will be down there through Wednesday morning's AO-51 passes. I asked him if he had any way to get on at least AO-16. John said that he does not have anything to receive SSB, so he will only be on the two FM birds. So, if you want to get DM31 in your log, John will be more than happy to make that contact with you. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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Sat Demo / Presentation in Pasadena, CA 11/25/08
by Clint Bradford 17 Nov '08

17 Nov '08

AMSAT supporter Clint Bradford, K6LCS, will be giving his "How to Work AO-51 with your HT" multimedia extravaganza presentation at the W6KA Amateur Radio Club meeting in Pasadena, CA on 11/25. "We will meet on the roof for the 6:09pm pass," Clint reports. Then we'll conduct the regular-scheduled meeting and satellite presentation at 7pm." The W6KA ARC meets at the Walnut Center location of Kaiser Permanente, 393 E. Walnut St., Pasadena CA 91188. Enter at the northern entrance to the parking structure on Los Robles north of Walnut. Press the button and tell the security officer "Radio Club" to get the gate opened. Sign in at the security desk and follow the crowd to the meeting room on the first floor. Call Clint for additional information at 909-241-7666, or send email to clint(a)clintbradford.com The handout used for the presentation, as well as frequency programming charts for both AO-51 and SO-50, are available on the amateur radio pages at... http://www.k6lcs.com /end/

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Re: ISS/STS-126 Position?
by Alan Sieg WB5RMG 17 Nov '08

17 Nov '08

WB2UZR sed: > Do the keps for the shuttle become in accurate at some point .. ? Scott, The KEPs published before a shuttle launch are typically for orbital insertion at an altitude and velocity that allows them to 'catch up' to ISS in it's orbit. Once they match up, the shuttle has to 'slow down' a bit to keep from passing ISS. They are obviously perfectly matched when docking occurs. Once they are hard-latched together and properly oriented along the velocity vector - it becomes stable again and the old ISS KEP set will begin to drift from accurate as slight adjustments have been made. Look for a new set of ISS KEPs with a date 'after docking' to have the best positions during joint ops. Sometimes before the shuttle leaves ISS, they use 'shuttle power' to increase ISS altitude - again a new KEP is needed. In general, a KEP data set is only useful, until something changes . . . Enjoy /;^) -- <- WB5RMG is Alan Sieg * http://wb5rmg.somenet.net ->

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iss/ ST126 keps
by Jim Danehy 17 Nov '08

17 Nov '08

I have to disagree that the keps change when they start the engine . . . they change when the object moves off the ground Jim W9VNE

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ISS/STS-126 Position?
by Scott Schmautz 17 Nov '08

17 Nov '08

Hi All: Do the keps for the shuttle become in accurate at some point during a docking mission? My tracking programs show STS-126 on the other side of the world from the ISS now, even though they are docked. They were showing them approaching each other yesterday up to a point, then they began to diverge. I notice they are very far apart this AM with updated keps. The ISS position is the correct one, and it's not that big of a deal, just curious as to why this happened? Scott/WB2UZR PS Had a nice view of the launch the other night from the backyard! -- Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others. Groucho Marx

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ao-51 mode
by Eric Fort 16 Nov '08

16 Nov '08

will ao-51 channel A in mode uv at 01:28 utc per schedule? Does a mode change require command team action? Eric Af6ep

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Re: Some doppler observations/questions
by mlunday＠nc.rr.com 16 Nov '08

16 Nov '08

Thanks to all who replied! For HRD, how would I enter this offset? ---- Alan Cresswell <alancresswell(a)xtra.co.nz> wrote: > Hi Mark, > > Almost all the linear sats have some offset due to variations in frequency > of the internal oscillators etc. In the case of AO-07 the offset is > temperature related and varies slowly depending on the amount of sunlight > etc. (AO-07 at the moment is about 4.5kHz) The technique I use to determine > the offset at any time is to set my receiver to the centre of the satellite > downlink passband (+/- Doppler) and then adjust my transmitter frequency to > hear myself correctly on the downlink. The difference between my actual > uplink (+/- Doppler) and the nominal centre of the uplink passband is the > offset. I save this value and use it built into my Doppler correction until > any change warrants a re-calculation. > > Alan > ZL2BX > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf Of Mark Lunday, WD4ELG > Sent: Sunday, 16 November 2008 04:58 > To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org > Subject: [amsat-bb] Some doppler observations/questions > > I am using HRD with Sat tracker module (thanks, Simon!) > > I notice that for the non-FM birds I am working (AO7, FO29, VO52) the > Doppler is never quite exact. Or I guess I should say there seems to be a > constant *offset* that needs to be included in the Doppler calc. Tonight on > AO7 mode B pass, my actual downlink frequency seemed to be about 4 kHz lower > than what it should be according to the Doppler. As the bird passed by, I > followed the "one true rule" and only adjusted the higher freq (uplink in > this case). It was consistently about 4 kHz lower. > > On FO29 pass, there seemed to be about a 2 kHz offset. When the bird passed > overhead, the Doppler "flipped" quickly and I had to find my signal again. > > How can I consistently determine this offset so I can include it in with the > Doppler correction? Or is it on a case-by-case basis? > > PS Thanks, Frank, K9CIS, for the nice CW rag chew on FO29 tonight. > > Mark Lunday > WD4ELG > wd4elg(a)arrl.net > http://wd4elg.net > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > > _______________________________________________ > 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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Invitation for students to take part in the GENSO project.
by David Johnson 16 Nov '08

16 Nov '08

Hi, The Groundstation Educational Network for Spacecraft Operations (GENSO) is a system is aimed at CubeSat operators and Amateur Satellite users to enable more effective use of the devices by providing better wordwide opportunities for telemetry recovery. The ESA Education Office would like to invite students to apply to take part in the development of the system. More details can be found at http://www.genso.org and http://www.esa.int/esaED/SEMSOC5KXMF_index_0.html The project is being sponsored by member agencies of ISEB. AMSAT-UK is participating in the project by providing equipment recommemdations, setting up reference ground stations, software for predictions and hardware driver. 73 Dave, G4DPZ AMSAT-UK 1267 AMSAT-NA LM-2268 GENSO Project Software Engineering Mentor

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Ft. Wayne Hamfest update
by Doug Kuitula 16 Nov '08

16 Nov '08

Hi all, Just got back from the Ft. Wayne, Ind. Hamfest and wanted to thank Gerd, WB8IFM, for his AMSAT forum. I also wanted to say thanks to Carl, K9LA, for his talk about amateur radio and amateur astronomy. That makes me wonder how many folks on this BB use their satellite gear for any sort of radio astronomy. I would think that if you're working any EME, the same setup may possibly be used for other ventures. 73, de Doug KA8QCU

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India on the moon
by Luc Leblanc 16 Nov '08

16 Nov '08

Congratulations a new moon club member http://www.isro.org/pressrelease/Nov14_2008.htm "-" Luc Leblanc VE2DWE Skype VE2DWE www.qsl.net/ve2dwe WAC BASIC CW PHONE SATELLITE

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