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

Re: Mir SSTV 10yr anniversary
by Dave Guimont 12 Mar '08

12 Mar '08

I don't know if this of any interest to the site, but I made the first satellite SSTV contact with Dick Richards on 3jul92. I have the one he sent to me, but cannot locate it. The pics attached are of the qsl's from him,(front and back) and also on my site: http://home.san.rr.com/doguimont/uploads as STS50SSTV1.JPG and STS50SSTV2.JPG I have never seen what he received from me, and they are probably so deep in the archives they will never be seen again!! The equipment I used was long before computer digital stuff was available, a ROBOT 1200, with all the mods, and I still have the equipment.. >ISS Amateur Radio Status: March 11, 2008 >By Miles Mann WF1F, >Slow Scan TV from Space Station Mir, 10 years later. >On December 12, 1998 the crew members of the Russian >Space station Mir activated the Marex SSTV system. >Over the next two years the system broadcasted over >20,000 SSTV images back to earth via Amateur Radio. >te the 10 year anniversary of the successful >imaging project, the Marx team is planning on >upgrading our web page system to accommodate the many >images that were transmitted during the projects 2 >year run. In 1998 we just did not have the resources >in place to handle the hundreds of images coming in >every day. As a result only a small select on of the >images were ever posted for public enjoyment. > >73 Miles WF1F MAREX-MG > >Until we meet again > > > > > > 73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1(a)san.rr.com Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E...

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Reminder
by Martha 11 Mar '08

11 Mar '08

I will be on holiday from March12th - March 24th. Hope to be back in the office on the 25th. -- 73- Martha

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AB2KT and the opera
by Bob McGwier 11 Mar '08

11 Mar '08

On Saturday evening, Frank Brickle (AB2KT), will have his opera performed by the Cygnus ensemble in the Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall in NYC. For those nearby, there are tickets available, but they are going fast. http://cygnusensemble.com/cms/2007-2008-season/index.php 73's Bob N4HY -- AMSAT Director and VP Engineering. Member: ARRL, AMSAT-DL, TAPR, Packrats, NJQRP, QRP ARCI, QCWA, FRC. ARRL SDR WG Chair "Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place. Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you are, by definition, not smart enough to debug it." - Brian W. Kernighan

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Website Store
by kim 11 Mar '08

11 Mar '08

Is there anyway to renew dues via paypal? The AMSAT store appears to be offline until further notice? Kim - AC7YY

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Some amateur satellite articles...
by Pedro A. Perez 11 Mar '08

11 Mar '08

Hi everybody from Pedro EB4DKA. I forward to the BB the following message from Juan Antonio EA4CYQ: ---------- Hi all, I have published several articles in relation to ham satellites in AMSAT and other magazines such as URE, CQ-DL, Megahertz Magazine and several Webs. But most of them were in Spanish. I have translated them into English, you can find the following issues: - The CJU antenna. It was designed by EB4DKA and EA4CYQ to improve the UHF reception with your HT, it is thought to uplink with your VHF mobile station. You will receive the UHF downlink in the same way a fix satellite station. - The IOio antenna. It was designed by EA4CYQ to work V/U and U/V amateur satellites with an HT. It has an amazing performance, it is even better than the Arrow antenna in some features. - A dual band portable yagui antenna. This is a very well known antenna into the amateur satellites world. Here you can find how to build it with normal stuff and an impressive performance. - The EGGBEATER II and TPM II antennas. They were designed by Jerry K5OE. In this article I tell my experience at the beginning in the amateur satellites world and all the vicissitudes to work amateur satellites from my shack with the minimal equipment. Here you will find all the details to build these fantastic antennas. - The 2.4GHz DISH ANTENNA. Taking advantage of my AO-40 experience I could go more deeply into the microwaves world. Here you can find all the details to build two different 2.4GHz dish feed systems, which you will be able to use in wireless terrestrial communications. - The LINEAR TRANSPONDERS. A lot of amateur satellites use this system. This article will help you to understand how they work. - HF or SATELLITES?. I try to demonstrate with this article that a satellite fix station is at least as good as an HF station. You will get the same performance with small antennas and low power out. - The DATA CONNECTOR. This connector has much more possibilities than to be hooked to a TNC. In this article I study its features and I propose to use it with a PC soundcard, to receive meteorological satellites and I even propose to build a cross band repeater. You will be surprised about its possibilities. - CIRCULAR POLARIZATION. If you want to know more about this kind of polarization and you want to see a comparative of VHF and UHF circular polarized commercial antennas, you should read this article. - TRANSCEIVERS TO WORK SATELLITES. If you are thinking about setting up a fix satellite station, here you can find all the transceivers in the market and combinations between them to be successful. - THE EA4CYQ SHACK. Here I describe my shack, perhaps it could be useful as a reference if you are thinking about setting up one. - THE EA4CYQ LOG. If you have contacted with my station between June 1.996 and March 2.008, here you can find it. It is in call sign alphabetical order. We will upload it in the near future. You can find them at the following Webs due to the generosity of Pedro EB4DKA and Rodolfo EA4CAX: http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com (also www.eb4dka.tk ). This Web is devoted to ham satellites and Pedro has an impressive collection of photos, videos and interesting articles. He is an authority working in portable conditions. http://personales.ya.com/ea4cax/ Rodolfo is specialized in LEO and Geostationary meteorological satellites. O hope you enjoy this articles devoted to promote the amateur satellites. Juan Antonio EA4CYQ(a)amsat.org 73s ---------- Best 73 from Spain Pedro EB4DKA eb4dka(a)amsat.org http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com

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keps3 Jules Verne
by Udo Schneider 11 Mar '08

11 Mar '08

ISS (ZARYA) 1 25544U 98067A 08071.36697444 .00026865 00000-0 17085-3 0 902 2 25544 051.6387 160.6387 0002052 220.5225 222.9055 15.76254185533099 OBJECT A 1 32686U 08008A 08071.23432194 .00091566 15163-4 13931-3 0 106 2 32686 051.6413 162.0966 0014020 263.6519 139.3580 16.04167161 323 OBJECT B 1 32687U 08008B 08069.69664560 -.04773439 77562-2 -81171-2 0 31 2 32687 051.6396 170.3503 0008051 199.5483 317.9464 16.01301421 70

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STS-123 NORAD id 32699 ?
by jean-claude.aveni 11 Mar '08

11 Mar '08

Spacetrack id 32699, perhaps Endeavour STS-123 ? 73 TK5GH -- *Jean-Claude Aveni* Tel portable : *06 80 92 38 79* Courriel prime : jean-claude.aveni(a)wanadoo.fr '' alternate : aveni(a)lma.cnrs-mrs.fr Site web à l'URL : http://astro-notes.org Call radio amateur : TK5GH

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Re: Jules Verne Keps
by Clint Bradford 11 Mar '08

11 Mar '08

Isn't this project so "maneuverable" that any keps posted today are almost immediately out of date? Clint Bradford, K6LCS / KAF3359 909-241-7666

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Nice view of STS-123 ascent from Boston.
by Joe Fitzgerald 11 Mar '08

11 Mar '08

I hiked out into the cold clear night at about 07:30 UTC tonight and was rewarded with a nice view of Endeavor as she climbed uphill following her launch at 07:28 UTC. She was a lot brighter than I expected - easy to see under the bright skies within Boston city limits. She gradually increased in brightness as she passed from southwest to southeast, and then I saw rapid flashing - I am guessing main engine cut off, external tank separation followed by separation maneuvering. T.S. Kelso of celestrak.com made a very nice "scenario" describing the launch using the viewer software from his company AGI. I used it to help plan my observation - check it out at http://celestrak.com/events/sts-123-launch.asp. It is worth the gigantic (100MB) download. I encourage all who live on the US East Coast to go out during the next night Shuttle launch and look. Great fun! -Joe KM1P

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IT-1.50 _vs_ new TZ rules
by Alan Sieg WB5RMG 11 Mar '08

11 Mar '08

I guess I wasn't tracking as much last year when they re-arranged the Daylight Saving TZ rules... It appears that InstantTrack is confused. The clock time is ok, but it thinks it is still Standard Time which throws the UTC offset... Only thing that comes to mind is to force it in the file "it.ini" with a line "timezone = CDT5" ... Unless there is a better workaround that I missed, thought I'd offer this solution for anyone else that may still enjoy InstantTrack. This has been one of my favorite programs for almost 20 years now. Thanks again Franklin and Paul !!! 73 Bravo-Zulu -- <- WB5RMG is Alan Sieg * http://wb5rmg.somenet.net ->

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