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

Call for Papers--2007 ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference
by Ford, Steve, WB8IMY 16 Jul '12

16 Jul '12

Technical papers are solicited for presentation at the 26th Annual ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference to be held September 28-30, 2007 in Hartford, Connecticut. These papers will also be published in the Conference Proceedings (you do NOT need to attend the conference to have your paper included in the Proceedings). The submission deadline is July 31, 2007. Please send papers to: Maty Weinberg ARRL 225 Main St Newington, CT 06111 or you can make your submission via e-mail to: maty(a)arrl.org Papers will be published exactly as submitted and authors will retain all rights. 73 . . . Steve, WB8IMY ARRL

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AO-16 Update and brief mode change
by Mark L. Hammond 02 Sep '08

02 Sep '08

Hello All, AO-16 has been in its "voice mode" continuously for nearly a month now. Many thanks to all the users of this "new" bird! It is time to pause voice operations long to receive some MBL telemetry (limited as it is, it's all we have). Around 0920 UTC on 17FEB08 I plan to return AO-16 to digital mode in order to receive some telemetry. If all goes as planned, it should be back to "voice mode" during the same pass. If not, I'll try to catch it on the 1056 UTC pass. Most of you will be asleep, so I don't think it will interfere with too many contacts. Looking to the future, we can see that after several months of continuous illumination, AO-16 will begin to experience eclipse periods at the end of March. The eclipse periods will increase and extend through the summer. This may impact AO-16's power budget such that the transmitter output will have to be reduced in order to protect its 18 year old batteries. We'll know more after the eclipse periods begin in late March and early April. In the meanwhile, enjoy AO-16 and her strong signals! 73 on behalf of the command team, Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

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Santa docks at the ISS
by Ed Tump 25 Aug '08

25 Aug '08

Happy holidays! I got a kick out of this video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=_Di8mZLu0VE <http://youtube.com/watch?v=_Di8mZLu0VE&feature=PlayList&p=26B9B2ACB4AAC849& index=7> &feature=PlayList&p=26B9B2ACB4AAC849&index=7 Maybe he dropped off some more amateur radio gifts. 73, Ed KC9GWK Grid EN52 AmSat Member

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Yaesu G500 bearings, KLM antennas
by KYLE YOKSH 07 May '08

07 May '08

Hello, I've got a KR-500 and G500a rotor that need a good servicing. I've found a lot of great info in the archives that will help me, but still have a few questions.. I've read that the original bearings were steel, and begin to rust almost immediately after installation. Can anyone suggest a better quality bearing, and perhaps a source and part number? I've also read that the bearing cages are subject to failure, and some folks prefer to ditch them altogether. I'm also curious if anyone has any suggestions to optimize my old KLM crossed yagis? I use a KLM 2m14c and 43518c, and they seem to work fairly well, but are not exactly top performers. I've never opened the polarization switcher units on either antenna, but suppose I might want to clean the relay contacts? Since my tower must be tilted over to service the rotator and antennas, I'd like to get several years of service out of this gear. Thank you for any help. 73, Kyle K0KN

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RF connectors in 736R
by n1jez＠burlingtontelecom.net 02 May '08

02 May '08

Howdy, A while ago I seem to remember a discussion on availability of the small push on RF connectors used inside the FT-736R to interconnect boards. These same connectors are used in quite a few radios. They were a crimp on style. Anyone remember the source? Tnx 73, Mike N1JEZ AMSAT #29649 "A closed mouth gathers no feet"

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help tuning AO-16
by W0DXZ＠aol.com 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

I have a lot of trouble tuning in stations on AO-16,,, strong sigs, but i just haven't got the knack of it,,, I put the receiver on USB,,, even the most minor adjustments dont do it... any hints? All sounds like you are listening to SSB on an AM radio... by the time I get a station tuned in, they are gone 73 Bob W0DXZ **************Need a new ride? Check out the largest site for U.S. used car listings at AOL Autos. (http://autos.aol.com/used?NCID=aolcmp00300000002851)

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SEEDS reception...
by Mark Vandewettering 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

Well, I didn't get anything from Delfi C3 on its first pass over the West Coast, but I had heard that some people managed to get some signals from some of the other cubesats, so I set up for SEEDS on the low, second pass. Maximum elevation was only 9 degrees, and I recorded the pass with my FT-817 and a little voice recorder, tuning the doppler by hand. My morse skills are feeble, but even I could pick out the SEEDS in the telemetry stream. Audio is here: http://brainwagon.com/images/seeds.mp3 Congrats to all the teams! Mark

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AMSAT goes to the races -- photos
by Tom Clark, K3IO 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

This past weekend, W2GPS, WA4SXM and I attended the premier of AMSAT.ORG in Grand-Am Racing at the Virginia International Raceway (VIR). As reported earlier, Jim Jaeger (K8RQ) arranged for the AMSAT logo to appear prominently on the yellow Doran Racing Kodak #77 Dallara/Ford car driven by Brad Jaeger (Jim's son) and Memo Gidley. The Doran Racing web site has a gallery of photos featuring their #77 Kodak & #47 BSi cars available for viewing at http://www.doranracing.com/08_vir/photo.htm. The VIR race can be seen this coming Saturday on the cable SPEED CHANNEL from noon to 3PM EDT (16:00-19:00 UTC). AMSAT's logo will again be flying this coming weekend at the Laguna Seca track in California (see http://www.grand-am.com/rolex/schedule/event.cfm?eid=10). Rick and I have HUNDREDS of additional photos of the AMSAT car in action which we will post soon for your enjoyment. You will be able to see (a large photo of) the car in the AMSAT booth at Dayton. 73, Tom

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COMPASS or Cute ?
by Henk, PA3GUO 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

... interesting: Maybe I have mixed up COMPASS and Cute 1.7 ? I believed this was Cute, but now I start to believe this was in fact COMPASS: http://home.vianetworks.nl/users/hamoen/pa3guo/cute_17_pa3guo_29apr08_1820u… .. which means that what I thought was COMPASS was in fact Cute, and that the CW from Cute is good and COMPASS not. Ahhh ...: to many satellites flying by at the same time at the same frequency to confusing for me - trying to jump from one to the next sat :-)) Henk - PA3GUO

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Re: Fresh Delfi-C3 Kepler & Nova!!!
by Cor 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

Hello All, In my previous messages all sentences were together. Here are fresh keps (30-April2008) in a delfiC3.txt file: http://pd0rkc.ontwikkel.nl/DELFIC3/delfiC3.txt New keps are also on the DelfiC3 website. http://www.delfic3.nl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=93&Itemid=1… 73's Cor PD0RKC Ham Radio In Space: http://iss.ontwikkel.nl

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COMPASS 2155UTC
by Mike Rupprecht 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

April 30, 2155UTC 00 COMPASS B3140100A41300210100B307FF 73, Mike DK3WN

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Fresh Delfi-C3 Kepler & Nova!!!
by Cor 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

Hello All,In a previos posting W8GUS mentioned he could not findDelfi-C3 in celestrak keps.That is correct I also could not find it after update.In the beginning (after DelfiC3 launch) I took the keps from the Delfi-C3 websiteand putted in an text file, and loaded manualy in my trackings software butThese where not accurate anymore.Earlier this evening I have spoken PE4WJ (DelfiC3 team) and he sended mefresh keps which was accurate (i checked AOS and previous pass.Put these two lines in a word txt file:Delfi-C31 32787U 08021E 08121.22875607 .00000324 00000-0 48264-4 0 1312 32787 97.9932 181.2525 0014422 294.5581 65.4118 14.81396579 300 Loading manualy in Nova:Go to the Nova menu: Kep. Elements---->Disk file update--->Manual update fromfile----> Press on the big UPDATE button (with satellite image!).Now scroll to the .txt file.Find Delfi-C3 in nova:Go to the Nova menu: Configure current view---> Satellites.See the little window left (below).Click on Artificial satellites.Now search Delfi-C3 on the left window (up).Drag Delfi-C3 to the right window and press on the OK button.Tip!!!! print this mail on a paper!73's Cor PD0RKCHam Radio In Space: http://iss.ontwikkel.nl

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COMPASS telemetry
by Mike Rupprecht 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

Apr 30, 2018 UTC compass 63140100a41300210100b20702 good signal strength but bad modulation (sounds like low batteries) 73, Mike DK3WN

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DelfiC3, Cute and Compass-1 20:12UTC pass
by Rob Hardenberg PE1ITR 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

Report good signals on: Delfic3 145.930, Cute 437.275 and Compass-1 437.275MHz (little higher freq than cute). 20080430 20:12 ~ 20:24 pass I made some nice recordings of cute and compass. After analyzing the files I pass the telemetry to ground stations. 73 Rob PE1ITR http://www.pe1itr.com

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Dish Controller Project Solicitation?
by Robert Bruninga 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

We are looking for someone to design a microcontroller for our Naval Academy 40 foot dish. The controller will be a small rack mount box with serial input port suitible for taking AZ/EL commands from any of the popular Tracking Programs. The output is an analog voltage from +/- 10 volts to drive the 75 HP hydraulic system as a closed loop PID controller. There are a few other discrete TTL signals involved to get the hydraulics running and to handshake with the various interlocks. The device will have front panel LCD readouts and buttons. See the web page where I am assembling ideas: http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/12m-dish.html There will be two such boxes. One at the dish and the other almost a mile away at the control station. One is the controller and the other is just a remote display. They are connected by a serial port operating at 9600 baud with the remote one also connected to whatever tracking program is controlling... This dish is an X/Y dish and not AZ/EL (X goes East and West, and Y goes North and South), but a few trig conversions can easily manipulate between the two. The optical shaft encoders are 16 bit+ and operate at 9600 baud serial also but at RS422 levels. We have been using the one I built 10 years ago that I programmed in Qbasic and runs on a PC104 bus DOS card. All of the TTL level interfaces are there... But I just don't have the time or patience any more to do this again... So we are going to contract it out. This will be a full blown Government procurement with all the overhead and other baggage. So only serious respondents should consider this. We have not yet written a formal spec, or procurment package. But this is just a heads up that we will be putting this together soon, since this must be completed this summer. Nothing in this email or web page in any way obligates the government to proceed with this project. It is just a way of getting out the word that we are looking for a solution to replacing our aging controller. Bob Bruninga US Naval Academy Satellite Lab

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CubeSats TLE number
by Mineo Wakita 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

Decision by Spase-Track and Using by each satellites GS: 32783 OBJECT A = CANTROSAT-2A 32784 OBJECT B = ? 32785 OBJECT C = ? 32786 OBJECT D = ? 32787 OBJECT E = DELFI-C3 32788 OBJECT F = ? 32789 OBJECT G = SEEDS 32790 OBJECT H = ? 32791 OBJECT J = CUTE-1.7+APDII 32792 OBJECT K = RUBIN 8/PSLV

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Re: Cute1 telemetry
by Henk, PA3GUO 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

Hi Alan, Here's the link to the project team for reports. I have submitted my report today, but haven't heared back from them yet (unfortunately). Hope it was useful. http://lss.mes.titech.ac.jp/ssp/cute1.7/ireceived_e.html Henk http://www.qsl.net/pa3guo ------------------------------------------------- I copied some CW from Cute 1 but it was not obvious where to send it so I will post it here. Hope that helps Alan ZL2BX

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Re: Cute-1.7+APDII over West Malaysia
by Henk, PA3GUO 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

Hi Sion, You have a much better (audio) signal as I get here in Europe: http://home.vianetworks.nl/users/hamoen/pa3guo/cute_17_pa3guo_30apr08_0920u… http://home.vianetworks.nl/users/hamoen/pa3guo/cute_17_pa3guo_29apr08_1820u… It sounds very, well, wobbely ? (new word, just invented by me :-)) You recording is much more normal. I used std CW mode, what did you use ? The other satellite is most likely COMPASS, which is on the same frequency. I hear it during the same pass few Khz lower, but that can be due to doppler differences. COMPASS has here 'normal' CW sounding. I did submit this report also to the Cute 1.7 team, but havent heared back from them yet. Henk, PA3GUO http://www.qsl.net/pa3guo -------------------------------------------------------------- Dear All, Here is an MP3 recording of Cute-1.7+APDII over West Malaysia. Satellite was tracked using Object - J and maximum elevation was 10 degree. Time was 2132 Local or 1332 UTC. The MP3 recording is unedited as I am copying this remotely via VNC/Teamspeak. I think I heard another satellite transmitting towards the end of the pass on top of Cute-1.7 + APDII. Sion Chow Q. C., 9W2QC.

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Re: Delfi Question
by John Marranca, Jr 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

Rod: Go to C:\Program Files\Orbitron\tle\amateur.txt and add these TLE's: DELFI-C3 1 32783U 08021A 08119.33805163 .00165610 00000-0 23146-1 0 23 2 32783 097.9217 179.2401 0029749 230.8058 129.0516 14.76344380 27 Restart Orbitron. Delfi-C3 will appear in your satellite list. Good Luck! John KB2HSH -- _______________________________ John Marranca, Jr PBX Technician/Shop Steward CWA Local 1122 BN Systems, Inc Orchard Park, NY (716)972-2006

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Re: Cute-1.7+APDII over West Malaysia
by Sion Chow Q. C. (9W2QC) 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

Dear All, Here is another recording during the 2307 Local or 1507 UTC pass, 30 degree elevation. Using Object-J again, and MP3 recording is again unedited as I was out of the shack operating remotely. Sorry for not posting this earlier, but I had Internet problems, which thankfully happened about 5 minutes after LOS. http://www.9w2qc.net/amsatbb/cute30apr2307.mp3 73, Sion Chow Q. C., 9W2QC. From: Sion Chow Q. C. (9W2QC) [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 10:22 PM To: 'amsat-bb(a)amsat.org' Cc: 'hiroki(a)lss.mes.titech.ac.jp'; 'Sangat Singh' Subject: Cute-1.7+APDII over West Malaysia Dear All, Here is an MP3 recording of Cute-1.7+APDII over West Malaysia. Satellite was tracked using Object - J and maximum elevation was 10 degree. Time was 2132 Local or 1332 UTC. http://www.9w2qc.net/amsatbb/cute30apr0932.mp3 The MP3 recording is unedited as I am copying this remotely via VNC/Teamspeak. I think I heard another satellite transmitting towards the end of the pass on top of Cute-1.7 + APDII. 73, Sion Chow Q. C., 9W2QC.

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Satellite Frequency Control
by RFI-EMI-GUY 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

Sounds like a good idea! I was at SVHFS last week and there was a lot of discussion and design effort toward GPS derived frequency control for EME and microwave roamers. -- Joe Leikhim K4SAT "The RFI-EMI-GUY"© "Treason doth never prosper: what's the reason? For if it prosper, none dare call it treason." "Follow The Money" ;-P

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Delfi-C3 Not Heard In Northern CA
by Bill Ress 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

Delfi-C3 wasn't heard from during today's 1725Z and 1858Z passes over Northern CA. Anyone have different results?? Regards...Bill - N6GHz

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Delfi-C3 status update 30 April 2008 08:00 UTC
by Wouter Jan Ubbels 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

Hi all, Delfi-C3 is in orbit and healthy, despite some minor issues, please find a status update below: 1. Telemetry indicates that all solar panels and antennas have deployed properly 2. Telemetry indicates nominal values for all housekeeping values 3. We have already obtained payload data, and have been able to generate IV curves of the Thin Film Solar Cell experiment, note that those uring RASCAL can view the IV curves by clicking Options-->show IV curves in RASCAL. 4. The spacecraft is operating in science mode, we have had one orbit in emergency mode, which was most probably due to a databus issue 5. Up till now we have received 7000+ (!) frames from amateurs using RASCAL around the globe, amazing, thank you all so much!! 6. We have verified command uplink functionality yesterday, and were able to command the spacecraft today on the low elevation (4.9max) pass over our GS at 0737UTC 7. The spacecraft has decided to consistently use the backup radio on 145.930MHz for its telemetry downlink, we were able to request a full on-board database dump while in range of our groundstation yesterday and analysis of the database confirms this. We currently have a good understanding why this is the case. We will try to switch downlinks to the primary radio on 145.870MHz during the next good pass over our GS, so amateurs in Western Europe might want to check that frequency also and might experience intermittent telemetry while we are commanding. Note that we suspect that the TX frequency could be 1 to 2 kHz lower on this radio, so tuning around slowly is the best strategy. 8. The spacecraft seems to have an issue with the downlink TX switching off into the orbit, which is the reason while Delfi-C3 has not been heard on most descending passes over VK/ZL, we think we have a good understanding of why it is. The TX itself is fine, but it switches off automatically when it does not get data from the OBC for a certain amount of time. We are working on resolving this issue. This also happened during the pass over our GS at 0737 UTC but we were able to command it back on. For those in Western Europe we would like to ask to keep tracking Delfi-C3 even if you can not hear it at first, as we will try to turn the TX back on as soon as we notice that it has been turned off. 9. Thank you all for your observations on the spin rate, these are really helpful! We currently think that the spacecraft is tumbling with approx 10deg/second, which corresponds to a 36 second period. Since the s/c downlink antenna is almost truely circular, polarization sense can change from RHCP to LHCP completely depending on s/c orientation, we use circular antennas on our GS as well, and when we switch to the opposite polarizaiton sense the signal is wiped out completely, switching back gives solid copy with strong sigs. 10. NORAD object E #32787 seems to match best thanks for all your observations and efforts so far! 73 on behalf of the Delfi-C3 team, Wouter Jan Ubbels

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Re: Delfi-C3 status update -THANK YOU!!!
by Stefan Wagener 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

Thanks! What a great example of keeping the community informed. By providing us with a very interesting satellite, a nice software tool, access to data and the opportunity to share in your experiences your team has done a tremendous job for the satellite amateur radio community and the promotion of our hobby and interests. Thank you and please keep it up. I am looking forward to tonight catching more telemetry. :-) 73, Stefan VE4NSA > Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:16:58 +0200> From: wjubbels(a)gmail.com> To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> CC: rascal(a)delfic3.nl> Subject: [amsat-bb] Delfi-C3 status update 30 April 2008 08:00 UTC> > Hi all,> > Delfi-C3 is in orbit and healthy, despite some minor issues, please find a> status update below:> > 1. Telemetry indicates that all solar panels and antennas have deployed> properly> > 2. Telemetry indicates nominal values for all housekeeping values> > 3. We have already obtained payload data, and have been able to generate IV> curves of the Thin Film Solar Cell experiment, note that those uring> RASCAL can view the IV curves by clicking Options-->show IV curves in> RASCAL.> > 4. The spacecraft is operating in science mode, we have had one orbit in> emergency mode, which was most probably due to a databus issue> > 5. Up till now we have received 7000+ (!) frames from amateurs using RASCAL> around the globe, amazing, thank you all so much!!> > 6. We have verified command uplink functionality yesterday, and were able to> command the spacecraft today on the low elevation (4.9max) pass over our GS> at 0737UTC> > 7. The spacecraft has decided to consistently use the backup radio on> 145.930MHz for its telemetry downlink, we were able to request a full> on-board database dump while in range of our groundstation yesterday and> analysis of the database confirms this. We currently have a good> understanding why this is the case. We will try to switch downlinks to the> primary radio on 145.870MHz during the next good pass over our GS, so> amateurs in Western Europe might want to check that frequency also and might> experience intermittent telemetry while we are commanding. Note that we> suspect that the TX frequency could be 1 to 2 kHz lower on this radio, so> tuning around slowly is the best strategy.> > 8. The spacecraft seems to have an issue with the downlink TX switching off> into the orbit, which is the reason while Delfi-C3 has not been heard on> most descending passes over VK/ZL, we think we have a good understanding of> why it is. The TX itself is fine, but it switches off automatically when it> does not get data from the OBC for a certain amount of time. We are working> on resolving this issue. This also happened during the pass over our GS at> 0737 UTC but we were able to command it back on. For those in Western Europe> we would like to ask to keep tracking Delfi-C3 even if you can not hear it> at first, as we will try to turn the TX back on as soon as we notice that it> has been turned off.> > 9. Thank you all for your observations on the spin rate, these are really> helpful! We currently think that the spacecraft is tumbling with approx> 10deg/second, which corresponds to a 36 second period. Since the s/c> downlink antenna is almost truely circular, polarization sense can change> from RHCP to LHCP completely depending on s/c orientation, we use circular> antennas on our GS as well, and when we switch to the opposite polarizaiton> sense the signal is wiped out completely, switching back gives solid copy> with strong sigs.> > 10. NORAD object E #32787 seems to match best> > > thanks for all your observations and efforts so far!> > 73 on behalf of the Delfi-C3 team,> > Wouter Jan Ubbels> _______________________________________________> 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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Delphi Elements Download Help
by Ronald Long 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

PE4WJ wrote: >Furthermore, Delfi-C3 is now listed on celestrack with identifier DELFI-C3 , >as object #32787, these TLE's are also on our mission ops page. I am using Nova download from celestrak but do not find Delphi-C3. In the download setup I have selected NORAD/elements and stations, amateur, visual, science, engineering and other categories. What am I doing wrong? ron w8gus

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