January 2009 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

03 Jan '09

I was wondering if anyone has tried to record a .WAV file of this bird & decode it later on. I've seen some archived posts where MixW was used, but it wasn't clear what the individual did to set up the software. I've tried tinkering around myself with MixW - I played the file back & ran a cable from the speaker out to the line in on my computer, but I don't think I had the 9K6 protocol set properly in the program (basic changing of the parameters didn't work either). I guess I'm looking to "cheat" from you guys since I can't get any decodes. Is what I'm trying to do even possible? For a little info on my station setup: FT-847 audio is captured from the DATA port for 9K6 & higher speeds auto track for antennas & doppler Audio recording in 8khz mono (could there be a problem here???) ...I receive GO-32 quite well with an S-5 or better on some passes, so receiving the signal is not an issue. Even if it's just sending telemetry right now, it would be fun to play with the high-speed data. Is there another program I could use for decoding the data? Any help is appreciated! 73's from FN41 ...Larry N1MIW

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Active- ISS L / v Repeater 01.50utc UK / Europe Pass
by David Barber 03 Jan '09

03 Jan '09

Repeater active for 01.50utc UK / Europe Pass. Worked Peter, MW0CXH, many thanks, very good signal through repeater. It was worth getting up! No other stations heard. David G8OQW

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KC0TOH
by Andrew Glasbrenner 03 Jan '09

03 Jan '09

Are you on this list, or does someone have a working email for him? 73, Drew KO4MA

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An Off-Topic Question
by D. Mynatt 02 Jan '09

02 Jan '09

I asked sometime ago in the group, but sometimes things change and stuff comes along so I thought I'd ask again and see if any one had a mini-computer like a PdP-11 with tapes drives and the large external disk drives in the floor boxes. As I mentioned before, just trying to find a unit to show students the older technologies as well as how to program with Cobol/Fortran. Using PCs is the best way to do a lot of stuff, but a mini-mainframe is the visually appealing idea. Just thought I'd ask in case things changed out there! Dave // DM78qd // KA0SWT

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Re: LOTW &/or eQSL ?
by Alan Sieg WB5RMG 02 Jan '09

02 Jan '09

WB5RMG (showing his lack of understanding) said : > Reckon is there any harm in also doing LOTW ? Thanks to BB-responses and several email replies (and some good'ol RTFM) I now recognize that LOTW is not 'just another QSL/log toolbox'... A simple definition for LOTW : a contact database to make it easier for the ARRL to confirm 2-way contacts by those requesting ARRL awards. I'm sure that there are other benefits that I may learn of as I go down that path; but not being an award collector, the biggest benefit I see now with LOTW is to add my few contacts that others may be waiting for confirmation - for their award... Seems simple enough, and I will probably start that process before long. Thanks again for the guidance ... HNY /;^) -- <- Licensed in 1976, WB5RMG = Alan Sieg * AMSAT#20554 -> <- http://www.somenet.net * http://wb5rmg.somenet.net -> <- http://www.linkedin.com/in/alansieg * My 'Day Job' ->

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ISS: L band repeater 04:40utc pass Europe
by Henk, PA3GUO 02 Jan '09

02 Jan '09

89 degrees elevation pass over Europe Nothing heared this time. I did not get over the L band uplink. Close to max elevation while TXing I heared squelch open/close but that was all. For G8OQW: Thanks a lot for joining me during these nighttime experiments David !!! Henk, PA3GUO (... now back to bed )

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Re: Ham-Mag
by Clint Bradford 02 Jan '09

02 Jan '09

>> ... The first English issue of the free electronic Amateur Radio magazine Ham-Mag is now available and features an article on working satellites with your HT by K6LCS ... Thanks for mentioning that! As always, the original document will be posted on the amateur radio pages at ... http://www.clintbradford.com Clint Bradford, K6LCS / KAF3359 909-241-7666

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AO-16 back on and very strong
by w4upd 02 Jan '09

02 Jan '09

Thanks to the control station turning AO-16 back on. Heard the sequence and then the bird was really kicking butt on its signal. I lowered my power to 5 watts and was still banging in and this with some very "bad" verticals that I have difficulty with on the other birds. Heard to satellite quit during the pass and then obviously, control station came back and turned it on again. Other then some "junk" only a couple of stations were on. I had a choice of AO-16 or SO-50. No brainer, stuck with AO-16. Good work fellows, 73, Reid, W4UPD

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FT 736 Question
by Dimitrios Pallis 02 Jan '09

02 Jan '09

I wish happy new year to the group.I would like to ask if i can use lower step than 100 hz in sat mode on FT 736.I cannot turn on the clar on sat mode!thank youDimitrios Pallis (JIMMY)73 de SW1JGWwww.sw1jgw.com _________________________________________________________________ It’s the same Hotmail®. If by “same” you mean up to 70% faster. http://windowslive.com/online/hotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_hotmail_acq_broad1_…

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Delfi-C3 / DO-64 status update January 2nd 2009 14:00 UTC
by Wouter Jan Ubbels 02 Jan '09

02 Jan '09

Hi all, please find a status update of the Delfi-C3 / DO-64 satellite below. 1. On behalf of the Delfi-C3 / DO-64 team we would like to wish you all a very happy 2009! 2. Delfi-C3 is currently operational in basic mode, transmitting housekeeping telemetry at 1200Bd BPSK AX.25 on 145.870MHz. Basic mode is the "safest" mode the spacecraft can be in, since it transmits continuously and furthermore commanding is easiest when in this mode. The craft has been in this mode for a while so that we can analyze a possible issue with the linear transponder :(. As some of you may have noticed, the transponder has been hard to access during its last weeks of operation, contrary to the first weeks where it performed fine. We have performed a number of tests in order to assess this issue, up till now it seems like the issue is in the receiver frontend. Over the coming weeks, we will continue to investigate this issue, so whenever the satellite is over Europe and in range of our groundstation, it may be switched to transponder mode. In this mode, a CW beacon is transmitted at 145.870MHz. When you hear the satellite in this mode, please DO NOT transmit to the satellite until further notice. This will allow us to further characterize the issue and work out a solution, if possible. 3. All other subsystems continue to perform fine on orbit. 4. In the meantime, telemetry can still be received using the RASCAL software package, and forwarded to our server. We have again received a lot of frames already from various hams worldwide, thank you all for your efforts! Note that the primary server at 83.138.144.157 is not operational, but the backup server is and will continue to be operational. 5. During our free time at Christmas, we have implemented a number of improvements / bug fixes in RASCAL, the most noticeable one being an improved tuning range of the demodulator, allowing the input audio carrier to be between 900 and 2300Hz, instead of 1400-1800Hz. This makes tuning much easier. These fixes have been implemented in RASCAL version 1.1.0, which is available for download as of now from the website at: http://www.delfic3.nl/rascal on this page, in the "upgrading RASCAL" paragraph, you can also find instructions on how to upgrade to this newer version without losing your original settings and telemetry repository. 73 on behalf of the Delfi-C3 / DO-64 team, Wouter Jan Ubbels PE4WJ

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