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

Re: sirius orbit name?
by melachri＠speakeasy.net 22 Feb '08

22 Feb '08

> Strictly speaking, you can't have a truly geosynchronous orbit that's > elliptical (it must be circular). It must also have an inclination of > zero. Rick - You are confusing geosynchronous with geostationary. Geosynchronous simply means that the orbit period is equal to one sidereal day, so it's "synchronized" with the earth's rotation. As a result, it will always trace the same pattern on the earth's surface. The orbit shape can be just about anything as long as the period is 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4.1 seconds. A special case of geosynchronous orbits is the geostationary orbit, which as you point out, is circular with zero inclination. As its name indicates, it appears stationary to an earth observer, so the "pattern" on the earth's surface is simply the single sub-satellite point. Steve W3HF

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USA-193 destroyed
by Daniel Schultz 22 Feb '08

22 Feb '08

The 11pm TV news reports that the Navy sucessfully destroyed USA-193 tonight at about 10:30 pm EST, or 03:30 GMT February 21. I suggest you keep watching the predicted passes, you might see some nice meteors in the next few days as the debris falls back to Earth. The latest keps posted on heavens-above are: 1 29651U 06057A 08050.77400802 .00256405 00000-0 29678-3 0 02 2 29651 58.5208 31.8067 0009932 58.7181 301.4893 16.08191854 02 Epoch (UTC): 6:34:34 PM, Tuesday, February 19, 2008 Eccentricity: 0.0009932 Inclination: 58.5208° Perigee Height: 245 km Apogee Height: 258 km Right Ascension of Ascending Node: 31.8067° Argument of Perigee: 58.7181° Revolutions per Day: 16.08191854 Mean Anomaly at Epoch: 301.4893° Orbit Number at Epoch: 0 Dan Schultz N8FGV

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sirius orbit name?
by Auke de Jong, VE6PWN 21 Feb '08

21 Feb '08

Hi all, What, if any, is the name given to the type of orbit that the three "Sirius" broadcast satellites use? It shows as a figure-eight and altitude is between 24000KM, and 47000KM. Auke de Jong VE6PWN DO33go Edmonton, AB

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The moon is gone!
by Vince Fiscus, KB7ADL 21 Feb '08

21 Feb '08

Nice lunar eclipse tonight. KB7ADL

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Just shot down by Navy!!Re: Re: Malfunctioning Navy Satellite
by W3NJ＠aol.com 21 Feb '08

21 Feb '08

...just heard it on news,details to follow I'm sure ************** Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL Living. (http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-campos-du… 002598)</HTML>

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Re: Malfunctioning Navy Satellite Elsets?
by Alan Sieg WB5RMG 21 Feb '08

21 Feb '08

> Subject: [amsat-bb] Malfunctioning Navy Satellite Elsets? > From: Rick Mann <rmann@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2008 09:36:56 -0800 > > Does anyone know the Space Track catalog ID for the Navy satellite > they're about to shoot down? I don't even know if they're available, > but if they are, I wanted to see the track before it's destroyed. There is a lot of interesting discussion and observation details to be found on the www.satobs.org/seesat mailing list. In particular, this post by Ted Molczan has a link to a chart he has made ... http://www.satobs.org/seesat/Feb-2008/0420.html This chart references the same element set others here mention. Should be an interesting event (or at least the press coverage thereof)... /;^) -- <- WB5RMG is Alan Sieg * http://wb5rmg.somenet.net ->

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Re: How to mount sat antenna on camera tripod?
by GW1FKY＠aol.com 21 Feb '08

21 Feb '08

Hi Bill, A quick fit solution that I have used on many demos is to use a plastic clip,the type used for fixing central heating copper pipe to a surface. The older type seems better (and stronger) - It is ready drilled with a central hole which in my case also simply self tapped onto the thread of the camera fixing bolt. The other option is to remove the camera fixing bolt and replace it of course with a nut and bolt long enough to fit the plastic clip. I used it with an Arrow antenna which is of course "square" tubing, it was not a secure fit. --- MY SOLUTION - was to fit a short piece of central heating copper pipe to the Arrow antenna "At the correct point of balance" . If you want to make it more secure a cable tie will help with this problem. Regards Ken Eaton GW1FKY Amsat- UK Amsat NA

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Re: Cute sat telemetry (CO-55. CO-57, CO-58)
by Jeff Mock 21 Feb '08

21 Feb '08

Robert Smith wrote: > Aloha > > I have sent a lot of 57 and 58 CW to Japan over > the months and in my convervations with them they claim that the packets > are over Japan only. > So I guess it XIV and UT1 code CW groups are it for now. > > robert NH7WN Honolulu > Mahalo, That's about what I figured. It would be nice if they left the AFSK on, but I guess they are trying to converse the batteries. You might be able to catch some of the japan passes from Honolulu with a fancy antenna. jeff

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Cute sat telemetry (CO-55. CO-57, CO-58)
by Jeff Mock 21 Feb '08

21 Feb '08

I can clearly hear the beacons for CO-55, CO-57, CO-58, but I have been unsuccessful hearing any FM AFSK telemetry signals from these satellites (west coast of California). Are the telemetry transmitters disabled or are these just enabled during passes over Japan? thanks, jeff AD6EO

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PCSat
by Fred (VE3FAL) 20 Feb '08

20 Feb '08

Another question for the gang: I run a Kenwood TMD700 in the truck for APRS. My home station consists of a 2 meter rig (Yaesu) and I use UI-View for APRS (I am a digistation) and WinPack AGW V6.80 and AGW packet Engine. I am unsure of how or what I need to work PCSat without changing a bunch of my settings in UI-View.. Is there another program to use with my radio that will allow me to work PCSat without playing with my settings? Fred VE3FAL --- avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean. Virus Database (VPS): 080220-0, 20/02/2008 Tested on: 20/02/2008 5:00:07 PM avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2008 ALWIL Software. http://www.avast.com

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