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

SO-67 14Nov2009 1521z Audio
by John Papay 15 Nov '09

15 Nov '09

The central USA pass was much like the eastern pass. Signals from the satellite were very strong. Audio was very loud, even on the wideband rx setting on the TS2000. Audio cut off after a few seconds of transmission was prevalent. It seems that it took several seconds for the audio to come back when this happened. Lots of stations on the bird including KC8ZFN, KD8CAO, WB8OTH, WC7V, WA4NVM, KB1RVT, WA4SCA, KB0RZD, N5AFV, WD9EWK, N5UXT, WB2IOL, KF9L, AA5PK and others. The bird went over the horizon before it turned off. http://www.papays.com/SO-67_14Nov2009_152116z.mp3 The next Western USA pass is not visible in Cleveland. 73, John K8YSE EN91dh John Papay john(a)papays.com

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Re: DN93
by Rodney Waln 15 Nov '09

15 Nov '09

thank you to all that tried making contact today, i am still down here and will try again 11/15-16z from dn93TI area afternoon/evening passes FM sats, no card needed just email with the details for card. aprs iss kc0zhf-12, no regular aprs coverage with this setup?. have internet though, Rodney kc0zhf /p DN93 vucc sat #185

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Hawaii SSTV
by Robert Smith 15 Nov '09

15 Nov '09

Aloha All On the 0226Z AO51 pass today, I attempted to xmit QRP SSTV (2.5 W) to WH6BIE 5000 miles round trip back to Hawaii (4 deg max. el) Surprisingly, prior to my SSTV xmit, I picked up several new stations but as my digital recorder was in the xmit position and my hands full with my Arrow, HT, and digital recorder I was unable to log the calls received (I recall most QTHs) Also, if I happened to "step" on anyone with the SSTV xmission my apologies! WH6BIE was the last station I heard prior to my image xmit and the frequency appeared quiet at that point. If anyone happened to copy or hear the SSTV I would be enjoy hearing about. 73 to all. Mahalo. Respectfully, robert, NH7WN, Honolulu, Hawaii

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ANS-319 AMSAT Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 15 Nov '09

15 Nov '09

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-319 ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor(a)amsat.org In this edition: * AMSAT NextGen Progress * AO-51 38k4 BPS Operations 16-19 November * AO-7 has 35th Birthday on 15 November * SatPC32 V.12.8a Upgrade Available for Download * High Altitude Balloon Project Seeks Student Applications * ARISS Status - 09 November 2009 SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-319.01 AMSAT NextGen Progress AMSAT News Service Bulletin 319.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 15, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-319.01 Just to give everyone a little update on how the AMSAT NextGen Program is doing @ Binghamton University . . . (a) CONTROL & EXPERIMENT SYSTEMS - The Systems Engineering students are doing well analyzing the ARISSat documentation and will be scheduling meetings with the primary AMSAT engineering contact to discuss documentation questions. - Identified Design Changes Needing to Occur for NextGen: * The Control/Safety Timer needs to be adapted to conform with the CubeSat deployment switch standard * Consolidation of Camera functionality into a separate camera payload board (functionality is currently spread across a number of boards in the stack) (b) RF SYSTEMS - The Systems Engineering students are doing well analyzing the ARISSat documentation and will be scheduling meetings with the primary AMSAT engineering contact to discuss documentation questions. - Identified Design Changes Needing to Occur for NextGen: * Antenna design choice - single dual-band vs dual mono-band * New RF container design needed (c) POWER & STRUCTURE SYSTEMS - The Systems Engineering students are doing well analyzing the ARISSat documentation and will be scheduling meetings with the primary AMSAT engineering contact to discuss documentation questions. - The Hardware Engineering students have been busy creating a preliminary design for solar panel deployment and use of supercapacitors to replace the battery. A Preliminary Design Review is being scheduled in mid-November with the AMSAT Engineering Team. - Identified Design Changes Needing to Occur for NextGen: * Replace Battery with modular stacks of Supercapacitors in parallel to the Solar Panels * Shrink ICB (Interconnect Board) to fit within CubeSat frame * Reduce PSU footprint by moving camera power function to a Camera Payload Board (CPB) * Slight PSU voltage supply design change * Remove test/program load functionality from ICB to external test board (XTB) via standard CubeSat & PPOD maintenance ports (per CubeSat spec.) We are still on-target to have an engineering model ready for the AMSAT table at the 2010 Dayton Hamvention with readiness for launch later in 2010. [ANS thanks Alex, N3NP, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-319.02 AO-51 38k4 bps Operations 16-19 November AMSAT News Service Bulletin 319.02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 15, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-319.02 Okay 38k4 packet operators, get ready to start your engines!! AO-51 is scheduled for a four day period of high speed packet operations at 38k4 bps. It's been about 2 years since the satellite was configured in this mode. The satellite will be in high power mode (only TXA 435.150 transmitter ON) during this period. The posted schedule is as follows: November 16 - November 19 38k4 BBS, L/U Uplink: 1268.700 MHz 9k6 FM Downlink: 435.150 MHz 38k4 FM Usually this means the mode will run from around 22:00-23:00UTC November 15 (Sunday evening Eastern US) until around 22:00-23:00UTC November 19 (Thursday evening Eastern US). Users of the PacketBBS are encouraged to send me feedback/reports on your experiences during this period. Please note that 38k4 packet operations require a receiver with sufficient bandwidth and that your normal 9600 radio receive connection will not work. Users also need a TNC that is capable of running packet at 38k4. A special "wide" filter like the ones available through Symek (www.symek.com) need to be installed in the radio to "tap" a wide band signal. A few commercially available TNCs, like the KPC-9612+ and the Paccomm Spirit-2 (with satellite option) can be used. You can use a PCR-1000 or PCR-1500/2500 as a wide band receiver, without modification. Use the packet jack and set the receiver to FM (not FM-W) with a 50 kHz filter width. If you have one of these receivers, but not the right TNC, you might try Doug Qualigiana's KA2UPW sound card software here: http://www.quagliana.com/willow/ It will decode at 9600 and 38k4. There was a an article about his software in the AMSAT Journal just a few months ago. Hope to see you active on AO-51 at 38k4! [ANS thanks Mark, N8MH, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-319.03 AO-7 has 35th Birthday on 15 November AMSAT News Service Bulletin 319.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 15, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-319.03 Thirty-five years ago this Sunday (15 November), AO-7 reached orbit. The following is from the AO-7 page on the AMSAT-NA Web site: "AMSAT-OSCAR 7 was launched November 15, 1974 by a Delta 2310 launcher from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Lompoc, California. AO-7 was launched piggyback with ITOS-G (NOAA 4) and the Spanish INTASAT. The second phase 2 satellite (Phase II-B). Weight 28.6 kg. Orbit 1444 x 1459 km. Inclination 101.7 degrees. Octahedrally shaped 360 mm high and 424 mm in diameter. Circularly polarized canted turnstile VHF/UHF antenna system and HF dipole." If you're not set up for the linear satellites but have a receiver with CW/SSB capability on 2 meters, try listening to a pass. The middle of her Mode B downlink passband is 145.950 mHz, and you will find most of the activity occurring between 145.940 mHz and 145.960 mHz. Generally, you'll hear CW operators below 145..950 and SSB operators above 145.950. Here is a link to the online log for AO-7: http://www.planetemily.com/ao7/ao7log.php [ANS thanks Tim, N3TL, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-319.04 SatPC32 V.12.8a Upgrade Available for Download AMSAT News Service Bulletin 319.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 15, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-319.04 Erich, DK1TB has uploaded an upgrade of SatPC32 (V. 12.8a) on his website http://www.dk1tb.de. The V.12.8a update includes the following: 1. The main program SatPC32 can now manage up to 4 different configurations. Configuration #1, for example, could steer a single satellite transceiver to work the normal V/U and U/V satellites. Configuration #2, for example, could steer a separate radio (FT-817, IC-706MKIIG) as RX and the satellite transceiver as TX. This configuration is useful for AO-51, mode V/S. Most users will receive S-band with a 13cm/2m down converter and a 2m RX. Configuration #1 would not work because the satellite transceiver cannot simultaneously receive and transmit on the same band (2m). The Keplerian data only needs to be updated with one configuration. The new data will be used by the all configurations. The configurations can be switched via mouse click in menu 'Setup', 'Configurations'. 2. In 'Real Time' mode the program updates it's calculations once per second. With previous versions the update interval could not be changed. Now the speed can be increased by 5 and 10 fold (menu 'CAT'). On the higher bands the Doppler shift can change by 50 Hertz per second and more. That will cause scale effects on the received signal. Due to the narrow filters CW signals even can be lost. Increasing the update speed can prevent these effects. 3. In menu 'CAT' a bottom line has been added. It displays the complete data line from file Doppler.SQF. So, the optional comments at the end of a data line can also be seen. That is particularly helpful with satellites that provide multiple modes (i.e. AO-51 and ISS) and therefore require multiple data lines in Doppler.SQF. 4. CAT steering of the Icom radios IC-706MKIIG, IC-7000 and IC-910H has been simplified. With previous program versions the IC-706MKIIG and IC-7000 required an extra line between the radio's ACC jacket and the PC's COM port to inhibit frequency changes while the radio is transmitting (because that would cause frequency errors). The IC-910H required the line with SatPC32ISS. This line is no longer necessary. 5. The programs now works flawlessly on 64-bit Windows systems, except rotor steering with the interfaces FODTrack, KCT, IF-100 and RifPC. The kernel driver that is used to output data to these interfaces is a 32-bit version. A 64-bit version is not available yet. The KCT and RifPC could not be used anyhow with 64-bit systems because they require an ISA slot which is no longer supported by newer PCs. The program also works flawlessly under Windows 7. It supports the 96-dpi (100%) and the 120-dpi 125%) fonts. It does not work properly with the new 144-dpi (150%) fonts. Program versions 12.8 and older work only with the 96-dpi fonts. 6. The CD and the Internet Setup File now include the tool DataBackup.Exe. Via a single mouse click, the program can generate a backup copy or restore the entire SatPC32 data folder (all personal settings). That is particularly helpful when the program is upgraded. 7. Some bugs have been fixed (concerning, i.e., downlink correction and transverter operation). THANK YOU to Erich Eichmann DK1TB for creating and continuously enhancing SatPC32 for the global amateur satellite community. And for donating it to AMSAT-DL, AMSAT-NA, and AMSAT-UK. SatPC32 is surely the most lucrative fund raising item for these AMSAT groups. Please support these AMSAT groups by registering your copy of SatPC32. [ANS thanks Erich, DK1TB, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-319.05 High Altitude Balloon Project Seeks Student Applications AMSAT News Service Bulletin 319.05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 15, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-319.05 The SpaceDaily Express newsletter carried the announcement that NASA is accepting applications from students at U.S. colleges and univers- ities who want to send their experiments to the edge of space on a high-flying scientific balloon. The annual NASA project provides near space access for 12 under- graduate and graduate student experiments to be carried by a NASA high-altitude research balloon. The flights typically last 15 to 20 hours and reach an altitude of 23 miles. Experiments may include compact satellites or prototypes. The experiments are flown aboard the High Altitude Student Platform, or HASP, a balloon-born instrument stack launched from the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility's remote site in Fort Sumner, N.M. The goals of the project are to provide a space test platform to en- courage student research and stimulate the development of student satellite payloads and other space-engineering products. HASP seeks to enhance the technical skills and research abilities of students in critical science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines. The project is a joint effort between NASA and the Louisiana Space Grant Consortium. NASA's HASP houses and provides power, mechanical support and communi- cations for test articles and instruments. It can support approximately 200 pounds of student payloads. Since 2006, the HASP program has selected 44 payloads for flight, the work of more than 200 students from across the United States. The deadline for applications is Dec. 18. NASA is targeting fall 2010 for the next flight opportunity. NASA expects to make selections in January 2010. Information is available on-line at: http://laspace.lsu.edu/hasp/Participantinfo.html [ANS thanks SpaceDaily Express and the Louisiana Space Grant Consortium for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-319.06 ARISS Status - 09 November 2009 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 319.06 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. November 15, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-319.06 1. Upcoming School Contacts An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been approved for Institut Don Bosco in Bruxelles, Belgium. The contact will take place on Monday, November 16 at 09:41 UTC via telebridge station WH6PN in Hawaii. Don Bosco is a secondary industrial technical school with an enrollment of approximately 750 students and offers courses in carpentry, electricity, mechanics, computing, printing and electronics. Flanders District of Creativity and the Department of Education of the Flemish Government have teamed up for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Tuesday, November 17 at 13:44 UTC via station LU8YY in Argentina. The groups have partnered to organize the very first congress for kids in Belgium. A conference is being set up with keynote speakers and interactive workshops for 1200 twelve year olds. Dirk Frimout & Sijtn Meuris will give a presentation about astronomy. 2. Westbrook Intermediate Experiences ARISS Contact On Tuesday, November 3, an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact was held with Westbrook Intermediate School in Friendswood, Texas via telebridge station LU8YY in Argentina. Eleven students were able to ask Robert Thirsk, VA3CSA 11 questions before losing the connection with the ISS. Thirsk's son offered his father a surprise with the third question using his newly acquired ham radio license, KF5DRU. 3. Successful ARISS Contact John Taylor Collegiate On Wednesday, November 4, an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact took place between John Taylor Collegiate in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and Robert Thirsk, VA3CSA on the ISS. Telebridge station WH6PN in Hawaii provided the link. Fifteen people gathered for the event and observed the students as they asked 13 questions of the astronaut. Media coverage was provided by the Winnipeg Free Press. 4. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Speaks with Stott Through ARISS Students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) in Daytona Beach, Florida experienced an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Thursday, November 5. The connection was made through the telebridge station VK4KHZ in Australia. Approximately seventy students and educators were present for the event and eighteen questions were asked and answered. This was a school crew pick of Nicole Stott, KE5GJN, an alumna of ERAU. The ERAU Web site boasts a news release as well as a photo of Stott on the ISS holding an Embry-Riddle banner. 5. ARISS Contact with Tokaisonritsu Muramatsu Elementary School Tokaisonritsu Muramatsu Elementary School in Tokai Village, Ibaraki, Japan participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Friday, November 6. Eight students posed two questions each to Nicole Stott, KE5GJN on the ISS as an audience of 110 students and parents watched. Media coverage was provided by three newspapers, one magazine and other outlets. 6. Astronaut Training Status A basic operations session on the ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) program was held with astronaut Mike Fossum, KF5AQG on Monday, November 2. Fossum is scheduled to fly with Expedition 28 in May 2011. [ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, for the above information] /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org

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AO-7 Mode A at 0020 UTC
by Tim - N3TL 15 Nov '09

15 Nov '09

AO-7 just finished her first pass over North America as a 35-year-old. She is in Mode A tonight, and appears to be working well. I called CQ in CW for about 10 minutes, and one station tried to answer me. That operator sent the letters F and I in CW, but there were long tones, too, that suggested some kind of keying problem. If you are that operator, you were a solid 579 into EM84, and I was using an end-fed longwire not very high up as my receive antenna on the 10 meter downlink. AO-7 should switch over to Mode B in about 4 hours. I hope to hear many folks celebrating her 160,000+ orbits of service to the amateur satellite community beginning in the morning. 73 to all, and Happy 35th to AO-7, Tim - N3TL Athens, Ga. - EM84ha

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DN93
by Gary Lockhart 15 Nov '09

15 Nov '09

Rodney, Terrific effort trying to break thru the party line of regulars so others could get a rare DX grid contact. Maybe I'll get you another time. Regards, 73 Gary AB3ID

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Re: From CO8LY
by Jarek Stopczyk, KB9IIZ 14 Nov '09

14 Nov '09

Eduardo, Here is some info I've dug up. 2SC2290 was manufactured by Toshiba link http://www.toshiba.com/taec/components2/Datasheet_Sync//63/21686.pdf 2SC3240 was manufactured by Mitsubishi Turns out that 2SC2290A, SD1487 AND MRF454 are good replacements for 2SC2290. MRF454 is manufactured by MA-COM. RF Parts http://rfparts.com/transistors.html shows both 2SC2290A and MRF454 as available. I did not find any information on the 2SC3240 but there might be a close replacement on the RF Parts site. Regards, Jarek, KB9IIZ ---------------------- Hello dears freinds : I write to you to ask for a big favor. I own an old YAESU FT-747 which final RF power transistors 2SC2290 or 2SC3240 were damaged. I have not been able to find them, allthough I have searched ansiously. A friend of my city gives myself two trasistores of low power and alone I can to transmit with 45 watt in these moments I need you to help me, for that Radio is my unique HF Station. If you could help me find the two transistors I would be profoundly thankfull. Best regards for you and your family. 73.- Eduardo CO8LY

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AO51 KB9IIZ/P in EN51/52/61/62 13Nov09 2205z
by Jarek Stopczyk, KB9IIZ 14 Nov '09

14 Nov '09

I've activated 42N 88W with grids EN51,52,61,62 on 10/31/09 AO51 2230Z and again on 11/13/09 A051 2213Z and SO50 2342Z. The point is easy to access, just a few feet off the curb in a residential area, please see the below link for location details: http://confluence.org/confluence.php?visitid=12435 John, K8YSE has made a recording (thanks John)of the 11/13/09 A051 2213Z pass, listen at 07:10 file marker. http://www.papays.com/AO-51_13Nov2009_220507z.mp3 I hope to venture back often and announce operation on the amsat-bb. This was a solo activation and another pair of hands would be appreciated. If interested, please send me a note (email below). QSLs: All QSOs will be logged in the Logbook of the World. Direct QSLs with SASE (preferred) will be answered within a week. Equipment: Standard C528A at 2.7W Elk 2M/440 handheld Nokia N810 with Palm OS emulator running PocketSat+. Site: kb9iiz.myanthill.org email: "mycall"-at-arrl-dot-net Regards, Jarek, KB9IIZ

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Re: Satellites need to be open source
by Clint Bradford 14 Nov '09

14 Nov '09

>> ... Why aren't the schematics ... posted on the internet? Geeze, I am holding AO-51 schematics in my hand ... and at the last AMSAT-NA convention, the proceedings book has a ton of info ... I think the info IS out there. AMSAT-NA doesn't seem to be hiding anything. Clint Bradford, K6LCS 909-241-7666

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How configure a TS2000 for SO67
by ON5UE 14 Nov '09

14 Nov '09

Hello sathams. I've tested and found out that CTSS tone in a TS2000 in sat-mode can't by set. Neither via a satprogram. But how to configure the TS2000 to work SO67 Set sat mode off Set split off Set the main VFO for uplink 145.875MHz Set to FMN mode Push the CTSS button and CT must appear in de main VFO display. Push sequelly FUNC and CTSS/SEL button and select 233.6kHz by turning the MULTI/CH knob Push sequelly FUNC and CTSS/SEL button again to enter the CTSS tone. Push the SUB button. Push the CTRL button so the CTRL-indicator appear on the VFO B display. Select the 70cm-band by using the + and - buttons. Set to FMN mode Press the 1MHz button en use the MULTI/CH knob to adjust. Finaly use the tunerknob to finetune the frequentie 435.345MHz. Make sure the step is 5kHz. Turn down the MAIN AF. Turn up the SUB AF. Listen with a headset so there is no sing arround when you transmit. Use less power as possible. ( EU?) Cu on sats. 73 Dan ON5UE

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