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

College Station Night Thursday Sept. 18
by Dr. Jay Garlitz 12 Sep '08

12 Sep '08

A college Satellite night will be held Thursday September 18, 2008 (local time). This event is a great opportunity for hams that are satellite active to interact with college students and elmer a new generation! Do you know a college student who would find amateur satellites interesting and intellectually challenging? Have them as a guest at your station and introduce them to amateur radio in a way they will never forget. Look for college stations and students on all the birds that evening and please give them preference for operation. With the new school year just starting, new student guests and thus potential young hams will be present in college shacks around the country. They look forward to meeting you through the exciting venue of Orbiting Satellites carrying Amateur Radio! 73, Hope to see you on the birds! Dr. Jay Garlitz, AA4FL Faculty Advisor, Gator Amateur Radio Club at the University of Florida

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Uh, ISS, We Have a Problem...
by Clint Bradford 12 Sep '08

12 Sep '08

> How does Houston Control control the ISS when they have to close shop due to, say, a fierce, approaching hurricane? Well, it’s happening right now. Eleven laptop computers in a nearby hotel are controlling the ISS, since NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston closed Thursday due to the approaching storm. The storm has also caused the delay of the docking of a Russian module scheduled for Friday. Russian flight controllers will execute a maneuver to place the spacecraft into a safe orbit away from the station until docking, which is now planned for Wednesday, September 17. If Johnson is not restored to full capability for docking, one of the backup facilities may be used to command station systems. Station Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko and Greg Chamitoff are awaiting the arrival of the cargo ship, which is carrying more than 2 tons of supplies including a new shipment of food and fuel. http://web.me.com/clintbradford/Site/Blog/Blog.html Clint Bradford, K6LCS

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NASA closes Johnson Space Center
by Rob Rousseau 12 Sep '08

12 Sep '08

Clint, Thanks for the heads up. That is pretty cool they can do all that from laptops from a hotel room no less. The (large-ish) company I work for has about 42% of their employees working working from home. I found a news article about NASA here: -Rob, KI4BKE http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5996566.html By MARK CARREAU Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle Sept. 11, 2008, 6:55PM NASA closed the Johnson Space Center, including Mission Control, at midday as Hurricane Ike neared the Texas coast. The agency activated a temporary control center near Austin to watch over the international space station until the storm threat passes. As part of the storm precautions, NASA postponed the docking of a Russian Progress cargo capsule with the station, which had been scheduled for Friday, just after 4 p.m. CDT. The station's three-man crew includes American Greg Chamitoff, the science officer and two Russians, commander Sergei Volkov and flight engineer Oleg Kononenko. "We will assess any damage, and decide when it's safe to come back," said NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries as Johnson prepared to release its 16,500 workers, many of them residents of the communities around Galveston Bay. The temporary control center, set up in a hotel outside Austin, is equipped to communicate with the space station's crew around the clock through NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The space agency dispatched more flight controllers to Marshall, home to the station's payload operations center, which supervises scientific research aboard the orbital outpost. In an adjoining control center established as an emergency backup to Houston's Mission Control, NASA was prepared to take over long-term support of the station if the Johnson Space Center sustained severe damage from Ike. The Progress cargo capsule was launched from Kazakhstan on Wednesday with fuel, food, water, spare parts and other supplies for the 220-mile high orbital outpost.

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14-Sept. WX balloon launch with UHF->VHF FM transponder.
by Cor 12 Sep '08

12 Sep '08

Hello All, At 14 September is a balloon Fox hunt in Holland. On the Weather balloon is mounted: UHF -> VHF FM transponder. ATV video transmitter (with camera on balloon looking down to earth). The ATV video stream is also to follow (live) via internet. The ATV video transmitter TX on 2330Mhz. The FM transponder frequenties are: Uplink: 432.550Mhz FM Downlink: 145.475Mhz FM In the past I was been able to work hams from five (nearby) countries via the balloon transponder. More info is to see on: http://www.ballonvossenjacht.nl/gbtaal.html 73's Cor PD0RKC Ham Radio In Space: http://iss.ontwikkel.nl

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Re: DO-64
by Robert Turlington 12 Sep '08

12 Sep '08

Same here Mike even running 50w into a 13xy yagi gives a barely perceptable return signalRegards Robert G8ATE > Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2008 07:52:10 -0700> From: k9qho6762(a)sbcglobal.net> To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Subject: [amsat-bb] DO-64> > Anyone hear DO-64 lately? I hear a beacon but the transponder seems to be off.> > > Mike K9QHO> AMSAT 33589> _______________________________________________> 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 _________________________________________________________________ Make a mini you and download it into Windows Live Messenger http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/111354029/direct/01/

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We Want to See You!
by Martha 12 Sep '08

12 Sep '08

People- We want to see you at the AMSAT Space Symposium in Atlanta on October 24th. Go to the AMSAT website and register now! Good talks, good food, good people and good prizes! -- 73- Martha

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WA3GOV
by Martha 12 Sep '08

12 Sep '08

For those in the Washington area, a small ceremony will be held for Howard Ziserman at the Chesed Shel Emes Cemetery on Friday, September 19th at 10:00AM. If you are interested in attending, please let me know and I will give you directions.. Also, if you would like to make a donation in Howard's name, please make your check out to the Hebrew Free Burial Society, c/o The Jewish Social Services, ATTN: Sandy Rubenstein, 6123 Montrose Rd, Rockville, MD 20852. -- 73- Martha

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2008 ARRL SW Division convention (12-14 September)
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 12 Sep '08

12 Sep '08

Hi! I will be part of the AMSAT table at the 2008 ARRL Southwestern Division convention in Mesa, Arizona, over the next 3 days (Friday 12th through Sunday 14th). There will be satellite-related presentations at the convention, and on-air demonstrations. I plan on trying to work many passes on the FM satellites (AO-51, AO-27, SO-50) and also FO-29 and VO-52 from outside the convention. For more information about the convention, please see: http://www.azhamcom.org/ Stations making contacts with WD9EWK during the demonstrations at the convention will receive a QSL card. The convention is in grid DM43ck. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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Grid CO-45
by John W Lee 11 Sep '08

11 Sep '08

Hello Folks, Randy, WI7P was just on AO-27 from Ketchikan, AK CO-45. About 2245Z Thursday. Maybe he'll show up on AO-51 tonight? If you need it, keep an ear peeled! 73 John K6YK ____________________________________________________________ Click here for free information on earning a criminal justice degree today. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/Ioyw6i3nNLMpfSCElIHEw8t8Iqtc7IN…

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AO51 mode: 23cm SSB up / 70cm FM down ?
by Henk, PA3GUO 11 Sep '08

11 Sep '08

Dear all, I was considering to submit the following mode to the AO51 command team. (I did this already a while ago but my emails seems to bounce) Objective: provide a means for stations with small ERP to test their 23cm uplink channel into AO51. Uplink 23cm SSB (!) Downlink 70cm FM (preferably 435.300) With 23cm FM uplink I seem not to have enough ERP to get over the sat. That is, I never made it through the squelch level of the AO51 receiver (using Kenwood TS2000X/10W, and a small cubicle quad antenna only). In SSB mode with the squelch open I could try even CW to see how weak my uplink is. Maybe just below squelch level, maybe far down in the noise. And: with SSB we can even have multiple stations testing their links at the same time ! Any thoughts of anyone else before I submit this request ? Henk, PA3GUO (... and I have a 33 elements beam now) http://www.pa3guo.com

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