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

Icom 7000 vs. FT-857 on sats??
by James A. Carmody 21 Sep '08

21 Sep '08

Any thoughts? I had been using my FT-817 but it keeps blowing finals at 5W out. Very unreliable. Jim/nn5o James A. Carmody, Attorney & Arbitrator 6363 Woodway, Suite 820 Houston, TX 77057 carmody(a)lawyer.com Voice: 713 333 2002 FAX: 713 333 2003 www.carmodylex.com

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Re: Polarity questions
by Tony Langdon 21 Sep '08

21 Sep '08

At 09:23 AM 9/20/2008, n3tl(a)bellsouth.net wrote: >I don't-at-all disagree with the concept that working AO-27, AO-51 >and SO-50 isn't terribly difficult with a handheld station. Frankly, >that has really (and pleasantly) surprised me. However, I do believe >that adjusting polarity when hand-holding the Arrow provides >improved performance during many passes. It makes a big difference in many cases. 73 de VK3JED http://vkradio.com

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General Astrodynamics Library v0.4.0 Released
by Paul Willmott 21 Sep '08

21 Sep '08

Version 0.4.0 of the General Astrodynamics Library has been released. It can be downloaded from the project website here: http://homepage.mac.com/pclwillmott/GAL/index.html Updates in this release: Higher precision ephemerides for the Sun, Planets, and Pluto. Implemented using VSOP87. Heliocentric and barycentric routines for position and velocity provided. Support added for classical Keplerian models, circular, elliptical, parabolic, and hyperbolic orbits and trajectories supported. Keplerian propagation implemented using the Universal formulation. Release includes some additional support files, and minor updates. Work continues with the atmosphere, and remaining force models. The General Astrodynamics Library (GAL) is a numerical library for C and C++ programmers. It is free software under the GNU General Public License. The library provides a wide range of astrodynamical routines such as ephemerides, earth orientation, and orbit propagation. There are over 250 functions in total with an extensive test suite. Paul Willmott, VP9MU AMSAT-BDA

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Antenna question
by Michael Heim 21 Sep '08

21 Sep '08

I built one of Kent Britain's "Cheap LEO Antennas" as a handheld antenna, and I have a question. I built mine on a 3/4 inch ID PVC boom. works great!. Anyway, there are a good number of designs out there that use a folded dipole for the driven element, Kent's is of course "half" folded. However each of these folded elements I see, it is folded perpendicular to the plane of the antenna. (in otherwords, if the antenna lays flat on the floor, the element fold is vertical) I have a small 2 meter antenna that uses one and its perpendicular also. My question is, to simplify mounting to a small diameter insulated boom, could such an element be placed "laying down", so the element could be better supported by drilling 2 holes in the boom? In a normal folded element, balanced, I would assume the radiation center would be located at the center between the 2 parallel rods. The thoery that Kent uses for his states that the "j" portion of his, the J is the matching section, and the half wavelength rod, I would then assume to be the radiator. I'm building this one to replace a "permanent" station antenna, which uses tee matches for the drivens. Kent's is easier to build, and would be easier to do if the element could be laid down on its side. Would like to get your thoughts on the thoery. I wouldnt think it would matter, as either way, its a dipole, and they all radiate 360 degrees around the element. Just trying to figure out why theyre all designed in the orientation that they are. Michael Heim ARS KD0AR

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[ans] ANS-265 AMSAT Weekly Bulletins
by Dee 21 Sep '08

21 Sep '08

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-265 ************************************************************** *** 2008 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting *** *** October 24-26 in Atlanta, Georgia *** **** Please see the AMSAT-NA Website for INFO **** ************************************************************** 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: * South African SumbandilaSat Launch Likely By Year-End 2008 * Richard Garriott W5KWQ ISS Operations Will Include SSTV * Increased Solar Illumination Allows AO-16 Operations to Continue * Flight 4 of Falcon 1 * Welcome Aboard AMSAT-Indonesia * ARISS Status - 21 August 2008 SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-265.01 South African SumbandilaSat Launch Likely By Year-End 2008 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 265.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. September 21, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-265.01 South African SumbandilaSat Launch Likely By Year-End 2008 ITAR-TASS published a news item stating that the first South African satellite Sumbandila "is likely to be launched into orbit along with a Russian spacecraft Meteor-M at the end of 2008, said the head of the Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos), Anatoly Perminov. "We are currently working toward adapting this cluster of satellite launch with the spacecraft Meteor-M, which will be launched this year." Perminov added that "in the near future to meet with experts from South Africa, perhaps even with the head of the South African Space Agency, to discuss the matter." According to Roscosmos, the South African side is ready to launch its first spacecraft to the new Russian launch vehicle Soyuz-2 ". ITAR-TASS said that in return for launch services Russia will have the opportunity to place on the territory of South Africa a tracking station to receive f telemetry from upper stages of launch vehicles. [Editor Note:] AMSAT South Africa has designed and built a control system to facilitate the following operations: + V/U voice transponder with an uplink in the 2 meter band and a downlink in the 70cm band. + A parrot repeater (voice digipeater) + A voice beacon [ANS thanks ITAR-TASS for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-265.02 Richard Garriott W5KWQ ISS Operations Will Include SSTV AMSAT News Service Bulletin 265.02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. September 21, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-265.02 Richard Garriott W5KWQ ISS Operations Will Include SSTV September 18, 2008 Silver Spring, Maryland Richard Garriott, W5KWQ, to communicate with Students and Ham Radio Operators World-wide through the Amateur Radio Station on-board the International Space Station (ISS) Through multiple agreements with NASA, the Russian Space Agency, RSC Energia, Space Adventures Ltd, and ARISS (Amateur Radio on the Inter- national Space Station), Richard Garriott will fly to ISS and will communicate with students, ham radio operators, friends, and family world-wide using the ARISS amateur radio station on-board the ISS. Richard Garriott, with the amateur radio callsign, W5KWQ is the sixth private citizen to be flown by the Russian space agency to the ISS. A legendary video game programmer and designer, Garriott will be travel- ing to orbit this October and will speak with hundreds of students while thousands more listen in during a series of ten-minute ham radio contacts. His on-orbit stay on Soyuz and ISS is planned for October 12 through 22, 2008. The locales for the worldwide student contacts include eight Challenger Learning Centers in the U.S., the Austin Liberal Arts and Sciences Academy in Austin, Texas, the Pinehurst School in Ashland, Oregon, the Budbrooke School in the U.K., and the National Space Challenge in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Garriott also plans to have random chats with scouts world-wide as part of the amateur radio "Jamboree on the Air" which is planned for October 18 and 19. "An important aspect of Richard Garriott's mission is to encourage students' interest in science and technology through the amateur radio contacts," said Rosalie White, ARISS International Secretary-Treasurer and ARISS Program Manager for ARRL (American Radio Relay League). "ARISS team members from all over the world volunteer their time every day so that students receive opportunities that we hope will cause them to study harder and learn more about any educational subject." The connection from the ISS to individual student locations will be established through an amateur radio station set up directly at the school or through the ARISS network of worldwide amateur radio ground stations utilized to link Garriott directly with students. The amateur radio system works similar to the way mission control centers in the United States and Russia talk to their space explorers. To date, the ARISS international working group volunteer team has conducted over 360 school contacts with crew members using ham radio on the ISS. The team has also set up radio contacts for family members of space explorers via ham radio. And have enabled countless contacts between the ISS crew members and hams on the ground. All previous Space Adventures private citizens who have flown to ISS have used the ARISS equipment to talk to school students, ham radio operators and friends and family. As part of Richard Garriott's science investigations, he will be taking highdefinition photographs of many parts of the Earth and comparing them to photos taken on previous space missions. In con- junction with his Earth science investigation, Mr. Garriott is flying special amateur radio electronics that will enable him to send and receive low resolution images from space, comparable to cell phone images. Through this ham radio system, called Slow-Scan Television (SSTV), Garriott will beam down images of the Earth to schools and ham radio operators on the ground so that they can actively participate in his mission. Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, ARISS International Chairman and AMSAT Vice President for Human Spaceflight Programs, states: "The ARISS team is quite excited about Richard's flight. He is very interested in bringing the wonders of space to those of us on Earth and he sees amateur radio as a great mechanism to make that happen. Through his school and scout voice contacts, his SSTV image downlinks and his communications with the world-wide amateur radio community, we see his mission as being "action packed" from an amateur radio perspective." Bauer continues, "What is extra special is that Richard Garriott's flight coincides almost 25 years from when his father, Owen Garriott, made history as the first ham radio operator to communicate with radio amateurs from space on the STS-9 Space Shuttle mission." Owen Garriott's call sign is W5LFL. Richard also hopes to link up with his father via amateur radio during his flight. Currently, Mr. Garriott is finishing his final spaceflight preparations at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre (GCTC) located in Star City, Russia. His launch date is scheduled for October 12, 2008, with ISS docking planned for October 14 and undocking planned for October 22. Mr. Garriott was trained thoroughly to be a member of the Soyuz TMA-13/ 17S crew. Since its first flight with Owen Garriott, in November 1983, Ham Radio has flown on more than two-dozen space shuttle missions, on the Mir Space Station and on the ISS. ARISS is the first and longest continuous operating educational outreach program to fly on the ISS. ARISS is an internationally-based working group, sponsored by the national amateur radio organizations and the international AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) organizations from each country as well as the ISS space agency partners. In the United States, ARISS is sponsored by the Ameri- can Radio Relay League (ARRL), the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation- North America (AMSAT-NA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Admin- istration (NASA). NASA's education office provides support to ARISS and guidance in the development of ARISS educational objectives. The primary purpose of ARISS is to allow students engaged in a science and technology curriculum to speak with an astronaut orbiting the Earth on the International Space Station. Using amateur radio, students ask questions about life in space or other space-related topics. Students fully participate in the ARISS contact by helping set up an amateur radio ground station at the school and then using that station to talk directly with the on-board crew member. Prep- aration for the experience motivates the children to learn about radio waves, space technology, science, geography and the space environment. In many cases, the students help write press releases and give presentations on the contact to their fellow students and to the local community. Through this hands-on experience, students are engaged and educated in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields, and are inspired to pursue STEM-related careers. For more information about amateur radio on the ISS and Richard Garriott's flight, go to: http://www.ariss.org http://richardinspace.com http://spaceadventures.com http://www.arrl.org http://www.amsat.org http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/reference/radio/index.html http://dln.nasa.gov/dln/content/catalog/details/?cid=634 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/ARISS.html Scout Jamboree on the Air: http://www.scout.org/jota Frank H. Bauer, KA3HDO AMSAT-NA V.P. for Human Spaceflight Programs ARISS International Chairman [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-265.03 Increased Solar Illumination Allows AO-16 Operations to Continue AMSAT News Service Bulletin 265.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. September 21, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-258.03 Increased Solar Illumination Allows AO-16 Operations to Continue AO-16 Command Station, Mark N8MH commanded AO-16 ON and restored it to voice mode on September 15. Mark commented, "At the time of my message we are up to 30 hours of continuous uptime, which is a 'good thing.' Our predictions regarding sustained activities seem to be right on the mark. Recording your observations about AO-16 at http://oscar.dcarr.org/ has been, and will continue to be, very helpful to us." It is possible that the transmitter will turn OFF; this requires some commanding to get it running again, which means a pass over the Eastern US coast is required for a change in status. The command team is hoping that the bird will remain ON more often than OFF for the next several weeks. Illumination projects (and subsequent temperature predictions) suggest that AO-16 might be able to sustain operations until early November. So, if you want some AO-16 contacts, you had better get them before then. After November 2008, it may be a long, long, time before the orbit pro- vides favorable temperatures for the bird to remain operational for more than a few seconds or minutes at a time. Current operational mode for AO-16 Mode FM Voice Repeater ( Downlink is DSB) Uplink : 145.9200 MHz FM Downlink 437.0260 MHz SSB [ANS thanks Mark, N8MH for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-265.04 Flight 4 of Falcon 1 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 265.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. September 21, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-265.04 Flight 4 of Falcon 1 As mentioned in my update last month, we do expect to conduct a launch countdown in late September - as scheduled. Having said that, it is still possible that we encounter an issue that needs to be investigated, which would delay launch until the next available window in late October. If preparations go smoothly, we will conduct a static fire on Saturday and launch sometime between Tuesday and Thursday (California time). The SpaceX team worked hard to make this launch window, but we also took the time to review data from Flight 3 in detail. In addition to us reviewing the data, we had several outside experts check the data and conclusions. No flight critical problems were found apart from the thrust transient issue. Flight 5 production is well underway with an expected January completion date, Flight 6 parts are on order and Flight 7 production will begin early next year. We are now in steady state production of Falcon 1 at a rate of one vehicle every four months, which we will probably step up to one vehicle every two to three months in 2010. --Elon-- [ANS thanks Lee, KU4OS for the above information] EX/ SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-265.05 Welcome Aboard AMSAT-Indonesia AMSAT News Service Bulletin 265.05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. September 21, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-265.05 Welcome Aboard AMSAT-Indonesia Hakim Satar YB0AN, contacted AMSAT-NA President Rick Hambly W2GPS this week with the announcement that AMSAT-Indonesia has formed. Rick replied, "Congratulations on the new AMSAT. I have added you to the AMSAT Web site and included various AMSAT-NA mail groups on this reply so everyone will receive the good news." Two web links are available: http://www.amsat-id.net http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/links/Asia.php [ANS thanks Hakim Satar YB0AN, President AMSAT-Indonesia for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-265.06 ARISS Status - 21 September 2008 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 265.06 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. September 21, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-265.06 ARISS Status Report for the Week of September 15, 2008 1. Upcoming School Contact - Status The ARISS team continues working to schedule the next contact. Contact approvals for the week have been delayed due to the closure of Johnson Space Center, which was closed for Hurricane Ike. 2. Boy Scouts Contact Successful On Saturday, September 13, Prairielands Council Scouts attending the Space Jamboree at Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Illinois partici- pated in an ARISS contact with Greg Chamitoff, KD5PKZ. Telebridge station WH6PN in Hawaii assisted with the contact. Thirteen Scouts were able to ask 17 questions of the astronaut during the pass. Scout leaders replayed the question and answer session later in the day for all 3,000 Scouts attending the Jamboree. The audio was fed into the EchoLink AMSAT server and Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP) Reflector 9010. The News-Gazette printed a press release for the event: http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2008/09/12/scouts_at_jamboree_set_to_ talk_with_space_station_astronauts 3. ARISS at Launchfest On Saturday, September 13, the public was invited to Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland to attend Launchfest. There were plenty of exhibits and demonstrations of space related activities including model rocket launches and space robots. The event also celebrated NASA's 50th anniversary. ARISS members supported Launchfest and distributed ARISS lithographs. 4. Garriott Prepares for Ham Radio Activities Spaceflight participant Richard Garriott, W5KWQ, is scheduled to launch on October 12 with the Expedition 18 crew. He plans to take part in several ARISS activities while onboard the ISS. His activities include speaking with children at Challenger Learning Centers throughout the U.S. He mentioned his radio training in his recent blog. See: http://www.richardinspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.welcome&theyear=&the month=&view=77#77 [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, Dee Interdonato, NB2F nb2f at amsat dot org

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Space-X to launch flight 4
by G0MRF＠aol.com 21 Sep '08

21 Sep '08

Hi all. I see Space X have an initial launch period scheduled for flight 4. The web site says anytime from Tuesday to Thursday (next week?) from their Kwajalein Atoll base in the Pacific. After the unfortunate loss of flight 3 due to a very minor glitch, does anyone know if the planned RazakSAT is flying of flight 4? Would be a shame if it isn't and the payload is a mass dummy only. Thanks David ( Good luck Space-X )

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re help needed on chip ID
by Angus 21 Sep '08

21 Sep '08

Hi been to a local radio ralley and bought a nice looking ex mod board for £1 (2USD) and found that its a an amplifier for 400-470mhz (board marked as such but tuned somewhere I would have thought. The chip inside is a single chip that is marked as 'TRW Bordeaux France MX7,5-3 2.2880' anyone have any information on this chip at all, voltages, current input/output power etc? many thanks regards Gus M0IKB -- I am using the free version of SPAMfighter for home users. SPAMfighter has removed 3128 spam emails to date. Paying users do not have this message in their emails. Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len

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FS - Symek TNC3S high speed packet controller
by st797＠dcpages.net 21 Sep '08

21 Sep '08

Hello, I have a nice used Symek TNC3S high speed packet controller http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&ite… Good for satellite or ground high speed packet. Search ebay item 320301584793 if the link above breaks. -- Best regards, st797 mailto:[email protected]

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first impression
by Jim Danehy 21 Sep '08

21 Sep '08

I operated OSCAR satellites back in 1974-1976. It was simple with 2 meters up and 10 meters down. Not much doppler effect either. I got back on a month ago after a lapse of 32 years. I would like to give my impressions to date. I have had QSOs on 6 or 7 different birds using CW, SSB and of course FM. By far the most productive mode is FM. It is also the easy way to get on OSCAR. The transponders on AO7, VO52 and FO29 go aching for use. On 15 minute passes you can find just one or two other users. Sadly nobody at times. Of course you need to be able to manage doppler and to track the bird with some degree of accuracy. I guess I have had over 400 QSOs during the past month. I have worked 42 states and 7 countries along with about 110 grid squares. Being newly retired the XYL encourages me to stay in the shack. However of the 400 QSOs I have probably only worked 120 different stations. The biggest disappointment for me is the lack of information in QST and CQ magazines on OSCAR. I had no idea that there were that many potential birds flying and providing the opportunity to make contacts. Having been a ham for 56 years and always active I don't miss a lot. Oh I see the AMSAT booth at Dayton. But there is little effective public relations going on to attract hams to use OSCAR satellites. There is some but not to the extent that is needed. I just rejoined AMSAT. It is obvious that there is plenty of transponder "spectrum" going unused. It is a very modest challenge to use satellites other than FM birds, in my opinion. I have some M Square yagis that I put together along with an elevation and azimuth rotators. I put them up about 15 feet off the ground. I learned a few things about switching polarity too. We did not have circular polarity being used in 1974 if my memory is working. The best part about being back on is the opportunity to meet a new group of hams. I have learned about SatPC32 and struggle to get it working with the Vista operating system. I also got the RHCP vs. LHCP wrong on my 2 meter antenna. I owe thanks to K9QHO and K9CIS for helping me on that issue. Most use AO51 as the bird of choice. I wonder why there is so little use of SO50 ? It works great and is under used too. These are my first impressions. There really is a lack of public relations about how much is out there in the way of satellite opportunities. Of course that is just my opinion. One thing for sure you do not need to count the sun spots to see if you can make contacts. I would like to see folks give a little opening to some of the Central American stations who come on frequency but get stepped on. A QSO with a TI4 or a KP4 is still DX even for a guy like me who has been around long enough to have worked them all. One day HR1LW called me on VO52. What a thrill. There was no one else on. A few weeks later he called me again and called me by name. Same for a few European QSOs that I have had. My XYL wants to thank all of those that have kept me in the shack and out of her hair as she adjusts to my retirement. I do too. 73 Jim W9VNE Cincinnati, Ohio EM79tb

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NASA Prepares...
by Clint Bradford 21 Sep '08

21 Sep '08

This spectacular NASA photo from the Kennedy Space Center shows how, for the first time since July 2001, two shuttles are on launch pads at the same time. Atlantis is in the foreground on Launch Pad A, and Endeavour is behind it on Launch Pad B. http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/271560main_08pd2730.jpg Endeavour was moved into position Friday so it could be on standby in the unlikely event that a rescue mission is necessary for the Atlantis' planned October 10 mission to repair NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, the agency said. Once Endeavour is cleared from its rescue spacecraft duty, it's scheduled to move to Launch Pad A for planned November 12 mission to the International Space Station. What makes the Hubble repair mission particularly dangerous is that if Atlantis gets seriously damaged during flight, the seven astronauts would be stranded--they couldn't just hang out at the International Space Station waiting for a ride. Plus, as the Associated Press points out, Atlantis "faces an estimated 1-in-185 chance that a piece of space junk or a micrometeoroid will cause catastrophic damage to their ship." Those odds are greater than for a typical shuttle flight because of Hubble's unusually high and debris-filled orbit. Clint Bradford, K6LCS / KAF3359 909-241-7666

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