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

replacement pots
by George Burr 16 Sep '08

16 Sep '08

I found the pots on the old Kenpro rotors to be none standard. The mounting hole and the turning shaft are smaller than standard and this could require some more work to fit a "standard " pot because of the gearing. I don't know if this is true for the G5400. 73 Geo. Amsat# 26245

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Re: Double leo satellites
by Bob Bruninga 15 Sep '08

15 Sep '08

> Should it be possible to launch two Leo > satellites...(satellite A) retransmitts > what it hears to the other Leo satellite > (Satellite B)... I think in that way i > could work NA every day? That is the intent of the APRS constellation of satellites. All operating packet on 145.825. We want to get as many of these satellties in orbit as we can to not only provide continuity of coveratge, but also dual-hop capabilities as you suggest. APRS can inherently, auomatically, work via dual hops, since it uses a generic path which does not need to be configured for each satellite callsign. That is also why the ISS moved to 145.825 a year or so ago, to be on the same channel, with PCSAT-1,PCSAT2,ANDE, RAFT, and others. There have been several instances of dual hop packets. The longest one recorded was from Africa over the Atlantic to Maryland. See: http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/pec/pc2ops.html Unfortunately, only ISS and PCSAT-1 remain in orbit and PCSAT-1 only works under some conditions, and ISS only works under others. But if you can find them both working at the same time, then dual hops are possible. You can watch the downlinks from these two birds and look for activity and dual hops just by looking through the on-line real-time downlink logs: www.ariss.net for the ISS http://pcsat.aprs.org for the others You can see that ISS has been off the air for 79 days except for a brief period 2 weeks ago. And PCSAT-1 (W3ADO-1) continues to limp along with some lucky packets during northern hemisphere mid-day passes. Ideally, if we can get 6 to 10 small APRS satellites on 145.825, we can provide near continuous message/email/status capabiliy from anywhere on Earth at any time. That is why I encourage all Universities making CUBESATS or other small satellites to include a 145.825 1200 baud packet link so their satellites can be used in this constellation after their primary mission is over.. Our next Satellite from the Naval Academy will actually be two-cubesats-at-once. Both on 145.825 with APRS transponders. Please, if anyone is working with other universities, see if they would consider this global constellation mission for their transponder... Bob, Wb4APR

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ANS-259 ANS Special Bulletin - AMSAT BoD Election Results
by JoAnne Maenpaa 15 Sep '08

15 Sep '08

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-259.01 ANS Special Bulletin - AMSAT BoD Election Results AMSAT News Service Bulletin 259.01 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. September 15, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-259.01 AMSAT Corporate Secretary, Barry Baines, WD4ASW, announced the results of the 2008 election for the Board of Directors: Lou McFadin, W5DID - 738 Tom Clark, K3IO - 726 Gould Smith, WA4SXM - 665 Bill Ress, N6GHZ - 483 As a result of the 2008 board of directors election, K3IO, W5DID and WA4SXM will serve on the AMSAT BOD for 2 years. The alternate is N6GHZ. The total number of ballots cast was 919. Last year, the number of ballots received was 871. The Board will consist of: Richard Hambly W2GPS Barry Baines WD4ASW Gunther Meisse W8GSM Dr. Thomas A. Clark K3IO Lou McFadin W5DID Drew Glasbrenner KO4MA Gould Smith WA4SXM Bill Ress N6GHZ (First Alternate) The next Board meeting will take place in Atlanta, Georgia on October 23, 2008 prior to the start of the 2008 AMSAT Space Symposium. This meeting is open to all AMSAT members. Submitted by Martha Saragovitz Manager [ANS thanks Barry, WD4ASW and Martha for the above information] /EX

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Annual Report Discussion
by joe cassano aka jmario 15 Sep '08

15 Sep '08

AMSAT Members: There have been several recent postings on the topic of an AMSAT Annual Report. At the time of writing this (September 15, 2008) as near as I can determine the most recent annual report available to the membership is for the year 2006 (see http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/AboutAmsat/documents/finance.php). On reading the AMSAT bylaws the closest thing I can find to a requirement for an annual report is in Section 1 which states: "An Annual Meeting of the corporation shall be held during October or November of each year at such time and place as the Board shall determine. At this meeting, the President shall present a report to the members." I believe the bylaws should be changed to incorporate the following: 1. assign responsibility for the production of an annual report to the the AMSAT President 2. specify a list of topics which must be addressed in the annual report 3. require no more than a 3 month interval between the close of the calendar year and the publication of the annual report 4. specify that publication must consist of mailing a copy to each member or posting a copy on the AMSAT website It might be appropriate to post the annual report on the AMSAT website and then later in the year distribute a printed copy of the annual report in the same mailing that is used to distribute BOD candidate's CVs and the BOD candidate ballot form. If you are a current AMSAT member your comments are solicited... Joe Cassano - K3FMA AMSAT member

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(no subject)
by Sammy Jenkis 15 Sep '08

15 Sep '08

Our club has a 5400 Elevation Rotor with a bad potentiometer (wires on the winding broken). The part number is Vertex Q9000408, but I contacted them and they say this part is no longer available. Anyone have a source for an equivalent part or another alternative? Thanks, Scott W0SJE

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FW: AMRAD Van Re-listed
by Robert Bruninga 15 Sep '08

15 Sep '08

This comms van (satellite truck) needs to stay in Ham radio. It is 4 wheel drive I think and has the 35 foot pneumatic mast, etc.. -----Original Message----- Subject: AMRAD Van Re-listed I have re-listed the van on eBay. We got lots of lookers on the last listing but no bids. This time the starting bit is $1. I hope we will see some spirited bidding this time. You can see it at http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140267405928 Let anyone that might be interested know about it. Frank K0BRA

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Sumbandila satellite news
by Andrew Glasbrenner 15 Sep '08

15 Sep '08

I found a link to this news item today about the long delayed launch of Sumbandila. I thought it might be of interest to the group. The link is the translated version. <http://translate.google.com/translate?sourceid=navclient&hl=en&u=http%3a%2f…> 73, Drew KO4MA

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DM31 trip postponed
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 15 Sep '08

15 Sep '08

Hi all! I have received e-mails from a few operators that AO-27 was not operating during Sunday afternoon passes over North America. I also saw a note on the http://oscar.dcarr.org/ web site that shows a Japanese station did not hear AO-27 earlier today. Since this satellite was the one I was planning to use for my DM31 trip later today, and I don't want to make a long day-trip where there is a high probability that the satellite won't be operational, I am postponing this trip. I will not go out there today. I am looking to reschedule this trip for another time in the next few weeks, where I can spend more time out there and use other satellites instead of just AO-27. I will post details when I decide on a date for that trip. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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FW: [Discuss-gnuradio] USRP2 Announcement
by Bob McGwier 15 Sep '08

15 Sep '08

Announcement from Matt Ettus: ======================================================================== USRP News and Announcements September 2008 ======================================================================== 1 USRP2 Now Available 2 Status of the original USRP 3 Daughterboard Status 4 Upcoming Events ======================================================================== 1 USRP2 Now Available We are very happy to be able to announce that the USRP2 is now available for purchase. The USRP2 builds on the success of the original USRP, and adds these new features: - Gigabit Ethernet interface - 25 MHz of instantaneous RF bandwidth - Xilinx Spartan 3-2000 FPGA - Dual 100 MHz 14-bit ADCs - Dual 400 MHz 16-bit DACs - 1 MB of high-speed SRAM - Locking to an external 10 MHz reference - 1 PPS (pulse per second) input - Configuration stored on standard SD cards - Standalone operation - The ability to lock multiple systems together for MIMO - Compatibility with all the same daughterboards as the original USRP At this time, the USRP2 is in "beta release" state. Not all of the software and/or features are currently ready for production use. The USRP2 is initially supported on Linux, and we anticipate that drivers for Windows, Mac OS X, and other systems will be developed in the coming months. We are currently offering the USRP2 for a special introductory price of $1400, which may change in early 2009. Due to the high initial demand, and the beta release status, we have made some modifications to the normal order fulfillment process: - You may order as many systems as you like, but we can only ship up to 2 units to each customer from the first batch. The remainder will be held as a back-order, and will be shipped when available. You can cancel the remainder at any time, if you wish. - Precedence will be given to longtime members of, and contributors to, the GNU Radio / USRP community. - There are no quantity, academic, distributor, reseller, or other discounts. We will not be selling to resellers for the time being, only directly. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but we feel that this policy will ensure that we can get systems to the maximum number of users in the short term. The USRP2 package includes the USRP2 motherboard, an enclosure, 2 SMA-SMA Bulkhead cables for RF, an ethernet cable, power supply, SD memory card, and a hardware packet. The USRP2 is only available in this complete package configuration. Also available are extra ethernet cables, extra SD cards, and SD memory reader/writers for USB ports. The power supply is the same as the one used for the original USRP. For those wishing to use their USRP2s in a MIMO configuration, we are selling the USRP2 MIMO cable for $70 each. You only need 1 MIMO cable for every pair of USRP2s. The beginning of a wiki page for the USRP2 is at: http://gnuradio.org/trac/wiki/USRP2 ======================================================================== 2 Status of the original USRP We will continue to produce and support the original USRP for the forseeable future. We have no intention of discontinuing it. There is no trade-in or upgrade program available. ======================================================================== 3 Daughterboard Status Unfortunately, the release of the WBX0510 has been significantly delayed. We hope to have it ready in early 2009. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. The RFX400, which covers 400 to 500 MHz has been reintroduced, at the original price of $275. These are available to order immediately. ======================================================================== 4 Upcoming Events The USRP2 will demonstrated at the TAPR Digital Communications Conference, and will be the subject of a technical talk given by Matt. The DCC is being held in Chicago from September 26th through 28th. http://www.tapr.org/dcc Ettus Research is proud to be a sponsor of the 2008 IEEE DySPAN conference on Dynamic Spectrum Access Networks. Johnathan Corgan of Corgan Enterprises will be giving a half-day tutorial on GNU Radio and the USRP, and there will be public demonstrations of the USRP and USRP2. DySPAN 2008 will be held from October 14th through 17th in Chicago, Illinois. http://www.ieee-dyspan.org/2008 Ettus Research will be exhibiting at the SDR'08 Technical Conference and Product Exposition, being held from October 26th through 30th in Washington, D.C. Matt is also the chair for the "Open Source Hardware and Software" session which will feature several exciting papers. Additionally, Ettus Research is proud to be a sponsor of the 2008 Smart Radio Challenge, a competition between university teams to solve real world communication problems using software radios. http://sdrforum.org/sdr08/index.html http://www.radiochallenge.org/ If you attend any of these events, please make sure to stop by and introduce yourself! ARRL SDR Working Group Chair Member: ARRL, AMSAT, AMSAT-DL, TAPR, Packrats, NJQRP, QRP ARCI, QCWA, FRC. "Trample the slow .... Hurdle the dead" -----Original Message----- From: discuss-gnuradio-bounces+rwmcgwier=gmail.com(a)gnu.org [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Matt Ettus Sent: Friday, September 12, 2008 2:06 PM To: discuss-gnuradio(a)gnu.org Subject: [Discuss-gnuradio] USRP2 Announcement

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strategic plan, budget, etc.
by Robb Hill 15 Sep '08

15 Sep '08

Hi All, I read the last AMSAT journal and saw the very well written history of the Eagle project in the most recent issues of AMSAT Journal. The bit I felt was missing was the plans for the future including a plan, schedule, and budget. To that end I want to ask if anyone knows where one can access the strategic plan, budget, committee assignments, and annual report? Thanks, Robb

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