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

DN00_01 Reminder Saturday
by Mark Spencer 16 Oct '09

16 Oct '09

My adventure to DN00/01 is on track for October 17 (Saturday) and I will be on the AO27 2054Z pass. If you hear me, give me a call. No QSL or SASE necessary, just an e-mail reminder to check my logs to get your QSL. Mark Mark Spencer, WA8SME ARRL, the national association for Amateur RadioT Education and Technology Program Coordinator mspencer(a)arrl.org http://www.arrl.org/FandES/tbp/ 530-495-9150

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Off subject, but interesting
by David H. Jordan 15 Oct '09

15 Oct '09

Tune into Fox now for a runaway balloon situation. A child is reported inside. Dave Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

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On imaging AO-40 from the HST or ISS...
by Mark VandeWettering 15 Oct '09

15 Oct '09

> Not that it's practical, but what could Hubble see? The first question > would be can it be positioned to stare "down", and then how well > would it see something that close and fast? The HST is actually pretty interesting. It's in a 550 or so km orbit, which means that it's close approach to AO-40 would be about 500km. More importantly, it has a 2.4m mirror, which works out to about 94 inches. In theory, it's maximum resolving power is about 0.05 arc seconds, which at 500km (ballpark of the closest range it could achieve) would be on the order of 5 inches. I have no idea what the tracking requirements would be and whether it could image such an object, but I have little doubt that there are military satellites with that capability. The JWST (scheduled to launch in... 2014 or so?) has an aperature in excess of six meters, and would result in a corresponding increase in resolving power. The ISS has a nominal orbit altitude of around 350km, so would be a more challenging, and doesn't carry the kind of optical instruments that the HST carries. 73 Mark K6HX

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President's Annual Meeting Powerpoint Presentation Posted on the Web
by JoAnne Maenpaa 15 Oct '09

15 Oct '09

Hello Everyone, A link to AMSAT President, Barry Baines, WD4ASW Annual Meeting Powerpoint Presentation has been added to our web at http://www.amsat.org . -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm(a)amsat.org Editor, AMSAT News Service Copy Editor, AMSAT Journal

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Pass schedule for DM07 Oct 17th
by w6zkh＠comcast.net 15 Oct '09

15 Oct '09

The following pass times and satellites for a short trip up to DM07. I should be operating on at least 1 of the 3 passes, if not all. Sorry, no AO-51 passes fit my schedule. Oct 17, 2009 SO-50 @ 1759 utc AO-27 @ 2052 and 2231 utc QSL direct (sase not required) or eQSL.cc John W6ZKH DM06

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Mexico EK09vb Operation 15-18 October
by John Papay 15 Oct '09

15 Oct '09

Ismael, XE1AY, reports that he will be active on FM birds AO-51, AO-27 and SO-50 from EK09vb from 15 October through 18 October 2009. John Papay john(a)papays.com

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Re: Passive Receive Antennas
by Clint Bradford 15 Oct '09

15 Oct '09

>> ... Has anyone ever heard of a passive loop antenna indoors? About 36" square and quite good for receive... For receive only on that unit, just string a long wire high 'round the room. Sony made one - the AN-LP1. But for my clients, a long wire worked just as well. AGAIN - FOR RECEIVERS ONLY. Clint, K6LCS http://www.work-sat.com

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Hudsonvalley Satcon Group Net Tonight On Echolink N2EYH-L Oct.15
by Cotejaune2＠aol.com 15 Oct '09

15 Oct '09

Please join us tonight at 8PM ET for net. This is our second Net in our fourth year. Share your satellite experience with the net. Hope to hear you there. 73 Gary WA2AQH

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Subject: It's on! (Road trip to FN56, FN57, FN66, FN67, etc.)
by Richard Crow 15 Oct '09

15 Oct '09

Currently, the National Weather Service is forecasting sunny weather for Saturday October 17th and Sunday October 18th in Caribou, Maine. So Plan A, the N2SPI "grid-square DXpedition" to northern Maine, is on! See schedule below. ==================================================== N2SPI's Planned Schedule for Saturday, October 17th: Likely AOS LOS Operating Sat UTC UTC Grid Location Notes ----- ----- ----- ---- -------------- --------- AO-51 12:02 12:14 FN53 Topsham, ME Note 2 AO-27 19:11 19:25 FN56 "OnTheRoad", ME AO-51 21:38 21:52 FN66 Caribou, ME Note 2 AO-51 23:19 23:30 FN66 Caribou, ME Notes 2,3 ==================================================== N2SPI's Planned Schedule for Sunday, October 18th: Likely AOS LOS Operating Sat UTC UTC Grid Location Notes ----- ----- ----- ---- -------------- --------- AO-51 11:21 11:34 FN67 Van Buren, ME Note 2 **** Note 4 **** Note 4 **** Note 4 **** Note 4 SO-50 15:10 15:19 FN57 Stockholm, ME VO-52 15:49 16:00 FN56 New Sweden, ME Note 5 ==================================================== Note 1: The AOS/LOS times are for my operating locations as indicated. Note 2: I'll be using AO-51's 145.920 MHz_uplink/435.300 MHz_downlink. Note 3: I'll work this nighttime pass only if I can find a suitable location to work this in the dark. Note 4: On the morning of October 18th, I may work other passes of SO-50 and VO-52, as the opportunities present themselves. Note 5: Look for my VO-52 downlink around 145.910 MHz, +/- Doppler. ==================================================== 73, Richard, N2SPI

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Re: Can we get them to fix AO-40 first then?
by Larry 15 Oct '09

15 Oct '09

With all of the chatter lately in regards to HEO's (people putting their eggs in one basket with a hole in it) etc., it still brings up the point that even though the satellite doesn't work now, maybe it just "might" if the solar panels were attempted to be opened. I've received several emails in regards to that particular command & why it wouldn't work, but we will never know if AO-40 is in the proper attitude since it is off. If we could attempt to recover the satellite & just get SOME telemetry to see what's going on, we're in better shape than just letting it sit up there & "hope" the short goes away or that she "wakes up". Imagine if the "event" damaged a circuit by putting it to ground that is causing everything to short out, and moving a panel releases the short due to vibration! How many of you have hit your TV set to fix a jumpy screen? Or better yet, an analog meter to get the needle to move? Hopefully the transmitter comes back on the air sending telemetry once more if this could happen. It doesn't seem right that there's a battery up there that's only what, 2 years old, and it developed an internal short? I am by no means an aerospace expert, but I have batteries for my HT's that are older than that & still work fine. If this is what happened, I hope newer designs are including circuitry to prevent the total failure of the sat if this was to happen again. After the "event", there was talk about AO-40 possibly not being in one piece - was there a definite answer? I don't remember, nor did I check the archives. My final thought on this is - if you can't get the receiver to decode commands, it's a loss, end of story. If it will receive, make it open the panels to get more power to the bird. Once the satellite is fully illuminated by the sun during its rotation, then try to work on stabilizing the satellite. Until that is tried, I personally feel that not every last attempt at reviving AO-40 has been attempted, and we could very possibly have an operating (although partially crippled) HEO in orbit. Besides, if the propellant is still there, what's to say it won't leak out between now & whenever she decides to "wake up"? Who's going to be able to control it in 20+ years? Won't it be useless to hams then too? I'm not looking to start any heated arguments - this is all just my opinion. I haven't read every book there is on satellites, nor do I even remotely work close to the industry. I'm just an average ham who enjoys the sats from time to time, and would love to see someone "tinker" with AO-40 to get her back on the air!!!!! 73's... Larry N1MIW ...LEO's are satellites too!!!!!

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