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

the future is coming
by Rocky Jones 22 Oct '09

22 Oct '09

http://www.space-travel.com/reports/SpaceX_Completes_First_Stage_9_Engine_R… Robert WB5MZO _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Trusted email with powerful SPAM protection. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/177141665/direct/01/

1 0

ANS-294 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin SumbandilaSat Designated as SO-67
by JoAnne Maenpaa 22 Oct '09

22 Oct '09

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-294.01 SumbandilaSat Designated as SO-67 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 294.01 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 21, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-294.01 AMSAT's OSCAR Number Coordinator Bill Tynan, W3XO announced he has received an e-mail sent to the AMSAT-NA Board of Directors by Hans van de Groenendaal, ZS6AKV, Secretary SA AMSAT requesting that an OSCAR number be allocated to SumbandilaSat. In the e-mail Hans states that the amateur radio transponder on SumbandilaSat was successfully switched on from the ground by ZS6BPZ during the test phase on Sunday 18 October 2009 and that several QSOs were made through the transponder. The amateur radio payload on SumbandilaSat was developed by SA AMSAT and incorporated by the University of Stellenbosch into the main pay- load. The SA AMSAT payload was officially coordinated through the IARU Satellite Frequency Coordination Panel with an uplink of 145.880 and downlink of 435.350 MHz Bill replied, "Therefore, by the authority vested in me by the AMSAT-NA President, I hereby designate this latest amateur radio satellite as SumbandilaSat Oscar 67 or SO-67. On behalf of AMSAT-NA and the world's amateur radio satellite community I congratulate those responsible for building, testing and launching this new satellite. May it have a long and successful life." [ANS thanks Bill Tynan, W3XO for the above information] /EX

1 0

Re: Grid Square Map
by Wayne Estes 22 Oct '09

22 Oct '09

The ARRL sells a plain black 11x17 inch grid map of North America for $1. No color, no gray scale. Perfect for coloring in the grids as you work/confirm them. http://www.arrl.org/locate/gridinfo.html A smaller version of the map is also in the ARRL Operating Manual and perhaps in the ARRL handbook. I scanned, printed, and laminated the page from my ARRL Operating Manual. Wayne Estes W9AE Oakland, Oregon, USA, CN81ik

1 0

FW: Re: volunteering
by Steve Daniels 22 Oct '09

22 Oct '09

_____ From: Steve Daniels [mailto:steve@daniels270.eclipse.co.uk] Sent: 22 October 2009 00:31 To: 'G0MRF(a)aol.com'; 'amsat-bb(a)amsat.org' Subject: RE: [amsat-bb] Re: volunteering Hi David Happy to help in any way I can. I can see updating web pages as a way I can help to some small degree. Recently clicked on amsat sites where some pages have not been updated in years. Even if the info is still valid it looks bad. Having worked in education am happy to get involved in that direction, you will know that experience. Steve G6UIM _____ From: G0MRF(a)aol.com [mailto:G0MRF@aol.com] Sent: 20 October 2009 23:30 To: steve(a)daniels270.eclipse.co.uk Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: volunteering In a message dated 20/10/2009 22:00:31 GMT Standard Time, steve(a)daniels270.eclipse.co.uk writes: Hi David Sadly no I don't have any 2m design experience, my design experience is mostly high voltage switch mode PSU for powering Traveling Wave Tubes, and the microcontroller based management systems for controlling high power travelling wave tubes + PSUs. Mostly I have done the microcontroller aspect of that. Over recent years I have been mainly involved in I.T. admin in schools Steve Hi Steve. Thanks for the reply. Always good to know that someone is interested in supporting the AMSAT cause. The ESEO project is being funded (hardware only) by AMSAT UK while the launch is supplied by ESA Education. It's an educational project with a small role for AMSAT. Currently we need some expertise for a 2m TX and some satellite antennas...although hopefully the antennas shouldn't be too much of a problem. http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Education/SEMA0NEMKBF_0.html Great on the PSU for TWT's. - with the microcontroller aspect of management. Perhaps I can 'store' that in case we need a hand in those areas in the future. Is it the PIC variety or ARM or some other specialised type you are familiar with? I'm working at a school as a science technician at present, so possibly I can appreciate your working environment quite well. Half term in 3 days. - Yippee. Regards David

1 0

EM-97 West Virginia Operation Saturday 24 Oct
by John Papay 22 Oct '09

22 Oct '09

A grid dxpedition to EM97 in West Virginia is planned for Saturday afternoon October 24th. It's about 600 miles round trip so the first pass of AO-27 at 1734z will likely be the beginning of the operation. Then AO-27 at 1912z, AO-27 a 2054z followed by AO-51 at 2200z and possibly 2339z if it's not too dark. West coast stations should try for the 2054z AO-27 pass since the 2339z AO-51 pass could be dropped. West Virginia is very mountainous and it is difficult to find a high point that can see down low to the horizon. That and the fact that there are not that many hams in this grid are likely the cause of it being uncommon. There are no digi's close to where I will operate but there may be coverage from mountaintop digis far away. Track with k8yse-8. I'll also have the ISS APRS radio going which might relay the position to the aprs servers. Unfortunately, there will not be any ISS passes while I'm at the operating location, however, there will be passes in the morning on the way down. The APRS radio is k8yse-9. I will attempt to operate on the way down while in motion. I'll have HF capability on the way, probably on 40 meters most of the time. The weather forecast is for rain and possible thunderstorms. I hope they will not be too severe. As long as it is not lightning, I will operate in the rain somehow. Please email with suggestions and/or schedule requests. As always, no qsl card is necessary. All contacts will be confirmed. 73, John K8YSE

1 0

Grid Square Maps
by Tom 22 Oct '09

22 Oct '09

Back in my county-hunting days I had purchased, from somewhere, a poster size black on white map of the continental USA with all counties shown. As each county was confirmed I could "color in" that county with a felt-tip marker. So I could quickly see if I needed a county heard on the air. Is anyone aware of a similar commercially available map for the USA that shows grid squares which could be colored in as they were confirmed? How about for Europe or other areas? Thanks. Tom, KØTW

7 6

Re: volunteering
by Steve Daniels 22 Oct '09

22 Oct '09

Hi David Happy to help in any way I can. I can see updating web pages as a way I can help to some small degree. Recently clicked on amsat sites where some pages have not been updated in years. Even if the info is still valid it looks bad. Having worked in education am happy to get involved in that direction, you will know that experience. Steve G6UIM _____ From: G0MRF(a)aol.com [mailto:G0MRF@aol.com] Sent: 20 October 2009 23:30 To: steve(a)daniels270.eclipse.co.uk Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: volunteering In a message dated 20/10/2009 22:00:31 GMT Standard Time, steve(a)daniels270.eclipse.co.uk writes: Hi David Sadly no I don't have any 2m design experience, my design experience is mostly high voltage switch mode PSU for powering Traveling Wave Tubes, and the microcontroller based management systems for controlling high power travelling wave tubes + PSUs. Mostly I have done the microcontroller aspect of that. Over recent years I have been mainly involved in I.T. admin in schools Steve Hi Steve. Thanks for the reply. Always good to know that someone is interested in supporting the AMSAT cause. The ESEO project is being funded (hardware only) by AMSAT UK while the launch is supplied by ESA Education. It's an educational project with a small role for AMSAT. Currently we need some expertise for a 2m TX and some satellite antennas...although hopefully the antennas shouldn't be too much of a problem. http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Education/SEMA0NEMKBF_0.html Great on the PSU for TWT's. - with the microcontroller aspect of management. Perhaps I can 'store' that in case we need a hand in those areas in the future. Is it the PIC variety or ARM or some other specialised type you are familiar with? I'm working at a school as a science technician at present, so possibly I can appreciate your working environment quite well. Half term in 3 days. - Yippee. Regards David

1 0

Cute 1.7 re-entry
by John Heath 22 Oct '09

22 Oct '09

Cute 1.7 Re-entry Its still up !! Space Track elements for 07:24 this morning (October 21st) assign a Mean Motion of 16.2309.... and they have revised their re-entry forecast. Unless something unexpected happens it looks like the only serious contender left in the competition is Dave Bowman G0MRF who predicted October 27th. 73 John G7HIA

2 1

SAT STATUS upgrade
by Andrew Rich 22 Oct '09

22 Oct '09

Hello I have added more detail to the data stream, and have started adding stats graphs I would also like to make a calender so you can see when the satellites were active. http://vk4tec.no-ip.org/sat_status/ Andrew VK4TEC

1 0

New Kenwood HT for 2010?
by Clint Bradford 22 Oct '09

22 Oct '09

Well, the best info source for Kenwood-Amateur/US is still out of the office with a back injury. Leo might be back in a week or two ... Personally, I would be surprised if Kenwood dedicated a lot of engineering talent to a new, true full-duplex amateur handheld. The profit for them is not in the amateur world - but in the land mobile / commercial arenas. I hope I am wrong, though! Clint Bradford, K6LCS http://www.work-sat.com 909-241-7666

4 3