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

Another Station and Grid to look for
by Rick - WA4NVM 22 Feb '09

22 Feb '09

Morning All, Dave, VP5/W2VV - FL31 was on A0-51 (upper pair of freq.) at 1107 utc. today. For those of us that might not get to work K5D, this is a nice consolation prize. 73 from Memphis, Rick - WA4NVM #1339

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WD9EWK on Saturday @ Yuma hamfest, DM22 only...
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 22 Feb '09

22 Feb '09

Hi! The second day at the Yuma (Arizona) Hamfest was a very good day. More people were passing through the exhibit hall and visiting the AMSAT table along with the other tables and booths. Throughout the day, my satellite and ISS demonstrations were generally well attended. The hamfest officially opened at 8.00am local time (1500 UTC), and as the hamfest started I was already working an AO-51 pass. Then a large crowd followed me outside for a VO-52 pass around 1720 UTC. Thanks to KG7EZ, AA5PK, and W7JPI for following me around the downlink for our quick contacts. There was a scheduled ISS contact around 1820 UTC, through a ground station in California. I was outside the exhibit hall for that, picking up the signals around 1823-1824 UTC and hearing the remainder of the contact from that point. I was only using an IC-Z1 HT and my Elk Antennas 2m/70cm log periodic, with a loudspeaker plugged into the HT, which was more than enough to let the crowd hear Mike Fincke's side of the QSO. The ISS came by again around 2000 UTC, and the cross-band repeater was on. More QSOs then, as well as two SO-50 passes and an AO-51 pass around 0030 UTC to wrap up my demonstrations and the hamfest. At 0100 UTC, there was a barbecue dinner - very good food! During the day today, I had two other hams who helped cover the AMSAT table when I went outside for the demonstrations. Thank you Alex XE2BSS/N2IX and David XE2DAK from the Red Digital del Noroeste radio club in nearby Mexicali. This is the club that I gave an impromptu presentation for on Thursday evening, recently formed and awaiting the issuance of its Mexican club callsign. Along with Alex and David, two other members from the club came out to the hamfest to visit the AMSAT table and see the other stuff at the hamfest - Antonio XE2SIV and Eliseo XE2TPJ. There were lots of hams stopping by, many of them "snowbirds" from the colder parts of the USA and Canada that live in and around Yuma during the wintertime. Alex XE2BSS/N2IX has posted another web page with photos taken today at the Yuma Hamfest: http://www.xe2bss.org/yumahamfest.html Again, this is a "work in progress" as he goes through the photos he took along with other photos. The text on the page is in Spanish, so Babelfish or Google's web-page translation service can be your "friend" if you need it translated to English or some other language. In all, WD9EWK was on 6 different passes Saturday from grid DM22qq - 2 AO-51 passes using the normal 145.920/435.300 MHz V/U transponder, 2 SO-50 passes, and one pass each for VO-52 and the ISS cross-band repeater - along with hearing the ISS school QSO. I logged 43 more QSOs today, for a total of 61 QSOs at the hamfest. As of tonight, I have logged 152 QSOs from grids DM22 and DM32 in Arizona, California, and Baja California since I left Phoenix on Wednesday. So far, a fun trip - with one more full day to go before heading home. More activity is planned from somewhere on the FM birds and *maybe* VO-52/FO-29, probably still in DM22, on Sunday. A special thank-you needs to go to Richard KC2LGR and the Yuma Amateur Radio Hamfest Organization. I was approached last summer by members of this group, asking if I could bring an AMSAT table to this hamfest. Richard and the group allowed me to set up a table, display AMSAT information and merchandise, and were very helpful for whatever I needed over the two days. The location in Yuma - near a freeway and within 3 to 4 hours' driving for many hams in Arizona, California, as well as northwestern Mexico - could help things improve in the coming years. I had good crowds for most of the demonstrations, even on Friday. And did I mention the great food at the barbecue this evening? :-) This was a good hamfest, put on by a lot of hard-working people in the ham community in and around Yuma, and I hope to return in 2010. Good night, and 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK - Calexico, California http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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IC-821 HELP
by ab0xe 22 Feb '09

22 Feb '09

Hello I am running an IC-821 with Satpc32 software Occasionally when I am using 2 meters as the uplink the radio will jump down exactly 400k cycles on the transmit The software shows the correct freq, but the radio is off by minus 400K To prevent this I usually have to turn the CAT off and use the radio manually to track the freq. It certainly is not the end of the world to do this, but I sure would appreciate any advice that would allow me to keep the CAT connected. Thanks from cold and snowy MN Steve Howard AB0XE

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Re: Fw: Re: VO 52 Certificate
by Nitin 22 Feb '09

22 Feb '09

All, AMSAT India has received 20 submissions till date and the certificates will go for printing and dispatch after we hit 50 numbers. More informtion can be found at the AMSAT India February newsletter at www.amsatindia.org/Newsletter 73's Nitin [VU3TYG] www.amsatindia.org > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Alan Sieg WB5RMG" <wb5rmg(a)somenet.net> > To: <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> > Sent: Sunday, February 22, 2009 7:24 AM > Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: VO 52 Certificate > > > > MM3YCG said : > > > >> Hi all, Does anyone know or have they heard any more regarding the > >> special certificate being issued by AMSAT India for having a QSO on > >> the VO 52 satellite as was mentioned In a previous posting on this > >> digest as I am unable to find any Information regarding this anywhere ?? > > > > Callum, > > I am about to send some cards, but haven't heard anything further. > > Here is the original AMSAT Bulletin from ANS a few weeks back. > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-039.01 > > AMSAT India Sponsors VO-52 Operating Certificate > > > > AMSAT News Service Bulletin 039.01 > >>From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. > > February 8, 2009 > > To All RADIO AMATEURS > > BID: $ANS-039.01 > > > > Nitin, VU3TYG announced AMSAT India will issue a certificate for > > Amateur Radio operators who establish two way contact thru VO-52 > > between January 26, 2009 until May 5, 2009. > > > > The first fifty certificates have been sponsored by a well-wisher > > which includes postage. After the 50 certificates have been issued > > a fee will apply. AMSAT India will announce these details when the > > information is available. > > > > Please send your QSL card containing the details of the QSO on VO-52 > > AMSAT India at the following address: > > > > AMSAT India (Regd.) > > No. 201, 2nd Main Road, > > Mahalakshmi Layout, > > Bangalore 560086 > > India. > > > > Also include your mailing address where you would like to have the > > certificate sent to. > > > > [ANS thanks Nitin, VU3TYG for the above information] > > > > /EX > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > > > I have only indoor antennas currently, but work VO-52 fairly reliably. > > (Not enough muscle to get thru on the orbiting repeaters...) > > > > There was also a report recently about the upcoming launch of ANUSAT. > > http://www.spacemart.com/reports/ISRO_To_Launch_A_Breakthrough_Satellite_99… > > I haven't seen any details, but mention was made of store and forward... > > Perhaps it will perform as an APRS digipeater as well as a BBS. > > That might be useful I would think. > > 73 for now /;^) > > -- > > <- 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' -> > > > > _______________________________________________ > > 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 > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.11.2/1965 - Release Date: 02/21/09 > 15:36:00 > > > > > > > > > > > > > No virus found in this outgoing message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.11.2/1965 - Release Date: 02/21/09 15:36:00 > ________________________________________________

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ANS-053 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by JoAnne Maenpaa 22 Feb '09

22 Feb '09

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-053 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: * Satellite News From AMSAT-India * AMSAT Awards * KiwiSAT News from New Zealand * Satellite Shorts From All Over * ARISS Status Report for the Week of February 16, 2009 SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-053.01 Satellite News From AMSAT-India AMSAT News Service Bulletin 053.01 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. February 22, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-053.01 AMSAT-India Project Manager for the U/V HAMSAT-II Linear Transponder project, Prathap Kumar, VU2POP provided technical details of this new Amateur Radio transponder in the February, 2009 issue of the AMSAT- India Newsletter: Type: Linear (Mode B) Transponder Uplink: 434-438 MHz PLL controlled 50 KHz steps. Downlink: 144-146 MHz PLL controlled 25 KHz steps. IF: 21.4 MHz RF Power: 1-3 Watts PEP. Bandwidth: 50 KHz Communication: CW/SSB/FM Dimensions: 165mm x 115mm x 30mm Power supply: 12V @400mA, 20V@50mA for PA Photos and other news in the AMSAT-India Newsletter can be found on-line at: http://www.amsatindia.org/Newsletter In other amateur satellite news from India word has been received that Anna University in Chennai, India is working with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to develop a micro-satellite named ANUSAT. This satellite will be a cube 600mm on each side. The Amateur Radio payload is planned to include a digital store and forward mode with a VHF uplink and UHF down link operating in the amateur frequency bands. Telemetry downlink from the primary scientific payloads is planned to be transmitted around 137 MHz using PCM/FSK/AM at 256 bits/sec. Additional information can be found on-line at: http://beswaminathan.googlepages.com/anusat - and - http://beswaminathan.googlepages.com/Anusat.pdf Mineo Wakita, JE9PEL along with Ralph Wallio, W0RPK provided information of the next ISRO launch which will carry Amateur Radio satellites: Launch : 25Apr2009 (Maybe postponed) Vehicle: PSLV C12 Site : ISRO Satish Dhawan Space Centre Sriharikota India Main Payload: Oceansat-2 Satellite Country Downlink Mode ----------- ----------- -------- ------------------ BeeSat Germany 436.000 GMSK 9600/4800bps UWE-2 Germany 437.385 CW, AFSK ITU-pSat Turkey 437.325 CW, High speed TLM SwissCube-1 Switzerland 437.505 CW, AFSK 1200bps Additional information can be found at: http://showcase.netins.net/web/wallio/CubeSat.htm http://www.amsat.org.uk/iaru/finished.asp?order=sat [ANS thanks AMSAT-India, Mineo JE9PEL, and Ralph W0RPK for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-053.02 AMSAT Awards AMSAT News Service Bulletin 053.02 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. February 22, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-053.02 AMSAT Director Contests and Awards, Bruce KK5DO reported the past few weeks have been real busy for AMSAT Awards. We have a lot of new satellite operators to welcome to the hobby. These have made their first satellite contact and are now members of the AMSAT Satellite Communicators Club: + John Hengel, W0JPH + Andrew Schmidt, N2FTR + Tom Deeble, KA6SIP + Robert Warshel, KG6MGE + Harry Strahlendorf, KC2OJN + Bruce Pendleton, KD8DQ + Rodney Waln, KC0ZHF The following have earned the AMSAT Satellite Communications Achievement Award: + Peter Nintzel, KB9ZLK #480 + Douglas Anoman, KC9MLN #481 + Gary Lockhart, AB3ID #482 The following have earned the AMSAT South Africa Satellite Communications Achievement Award: + Douglas Anoman, KC9MLN #US130 The following have upgraded their AMSAT W4AMI Satellitie Communication Achievement Award: + Wilse Morgan, WX7P from 1,000 to 2,000 + Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK from 3,000 to 4,000 Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK earned the AMSAT W4AMI 5,000 Satellite Communication Achievement Award #21. To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org. [ANS thanks Bruce, KK5DO for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-053.03 KiwiSAT News from New Zealand AMSAT News Service Bulletin 053.03 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. February 22, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-053.03 The KiwiSAT linear flight transponder is now "on air" in New Zealand from the Whangaparaoa area with beam antennas pointing South. It features: Transponder: Inverting type (Orbital Doppler shift compensation) Transmit Power: 2 Watts PEP. Beacon frequency: 145.885 MHz Uplink: 435.265 to 435.235 MHZ LSB Down link: 145.850 to 145.880 MHz USB The team says they are currently looking to ISC Kosmatras for a DNEPR launch in mid to late 2009. Full details can found on-line at: http://www.kiwisat.org.nz/index.html [ANS thanks the KiwiSAT team for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-053.04 Satellite Shorts From All Over AMSAT News Service Bulletin 053.04 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. February 22, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-053.04 + From Japan Mineo Wakita, JE9PEL reports that PRISM satellite team at Tokyo University have seen first light with the Wide Angle Camera. Data from this first test will be used to calibrate the camera and future photos are expected to be less overexposed. This picture was taken when the PRISM satellite was over Hokkaido, Japan. The first photograph can be at: http://tinyurl.com/ag7way + A video re-creation of the Iridium 33 and Cosmos 2251 Collision can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/ap3ydx (UniverseToday.com) + Winter is turning to spring in Mars' southern hemisphere. Photos taken by the HiRISE camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/bwu4wv. An entertaining video named "Springtime on Mars 2020" is on-line at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjiGH9QNiU0 (via UniverseToday.com) + The second repeater aboard AO-51 (Uplink: 145.880 MHz FM /Downlink: 435.150 MHz FM) remains ready for use by the K5D Desecheo Island 2009 DXpedition when the satellite is within range of the island (near Puerto Rico). When AO-51 is not within range of Desecheo Island this repeater is open for general use following the QRP guidelines. The transmitter power on both repeaters is ~800 mW. If you use circular polarization on the UHF downlink 435.150 is LHCP, and 435.300 is RHCP. Watch the blog at http://www.kp5.us/ for hints at satellite operation and other operating plans. + Registration is now open for the 35th Eastern VHF/UHF Conference on on April 17-19, 2009 in Enfield, Ct. Papers for the Proceedings are due March 10, 2009. More info at: http://www.newsvhf.com/vhfconf.html [ANS thanks everyone for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-053.05 ARISS Status Report for the Week of February 16, 2009 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 053.05 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. February 22, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-053.05 1. School Contacts An ARISS contact was completed with South Park Elementary Center in South Park, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, February 17 via telebridge station K6DUE in Maryland. Students participated in a contest to determine which questions will be asked of astronaut Mike Fincke, KE5AIT. They learned about astronauts, shuttles and NASA and created posters or wrote essays (depending on grade level) about space related topics. Salluit Schools in Salluit, Quebec, Canada completed an ARISS contact on Thursday, February 19 via telebridge station W6SRJ in California. Approximately 400 students from Kindergarten through Secondary are enrolled in the schools located in a remote North-West Quebec Inuit community. Teachers have included space related topics in their curri- culum. All students have created artwork for the event and have sub- mitted questions to ask the astronaut. During morning announcements, a "cool space fact of the day" has been announced daily. An ARISS contact with Erie Planetarium in Erie, Pennsylvania took place on Saturday, February 21 via telebridge station W6SRJ in California. The Planetarium offers astronomy programs, interactive stations and science experiments throughout the year. 2. Italian Students Contact ISS On Tuesday, February 10, students from Istituto Comprensivo Pietra- santa1-Scuola Secondaria 1° Grado "Padre Eugenio Barsanti" partici- pated in a successful ARISS contact. Students posed 12 questions to Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, in front of an audience of 350. Contact video was streamed live on the Web and was seen in 14 countries and in more than 36 different towns around the world. Local television stations and newspapers covered the event. Video of the contact has been posted to the OndaForte TV Web site. See: http://www.ondaforte.tv/eventi/ariss_school_contact/index.php 3. Greek Contact Successful On Wednesday, February 11, an ARISS contact took place with students from Alexandroupolis School of Special Education and 11th Alexandrou- polis Primary School in Greece. Students asked 20 questions of Sandra Magnus, KE5FYE, in front of an audience of approximately 200. Another 700 students from four schools listened to the contact in the garden. A representative of the Greek Minister of Telecommunications and the Director of Education of Evros also attended. Three television stations, two radio stations and newspapers covered the event. 4. ARISS Presentation at MACUL Conference The Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning (MACUL) will host its 33rd annual conference in Detroit, Michigan on March 18-20. MACUL aims to bring educators together to share knowledge about edu- cational uses of computers and technology. ARISS member Steve Michalski, KB9UPS, will participate in the conference and give a talk on the ARISS program, showing clips of the Martin Luther King Academy (Mount Clemens, Michigan) ARISS contact which took place in September 2007. The MACUL conference draws 3,000 educators annually. 5. Photos of German Contact Posted Städtisches Gymnasium Herzogenrath in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany participated in an ARISS contact with Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, on Saturday, February 7. Photos of the contact have been posted on the Web. See: http://picasaweb.google.de/Rueliman/ARISSContact?feat=directlink# 6. ARRL QST Covers ARISS News The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) published two ARISS news items in its March 2009 issue of QST. Under "Media Hits" (page 12) is an item on the Ohio Department of Edu- cation Web story about the September 2008 ARISS contact with students at the Challenger Learning Center of Lucas County in Toledo. Also listed is the Ann Arbor Chronicle article about the Ann Arbor, Michigan Hands On Museum contact. The ARRL monthly journal has a circulation of 150,000. 7. ARISS Member Dieter Schliemann Dies ARISS team member Dieter Schliemann, KX4Y, passed away on Monday, February 9. Dieter had been responsible for coordinating and expanding the educational outreach of ARISS through the use of Voice over the Internet Protocol (VoIP) with Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP) and EchoLink. As his health deteriorated, Dieter continued his support, making sure that others would carry on in his absence. He will be sorely missed. Dieter was a member of the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) and the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). ARRL posted an article on his contributions: https://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/02/12/10647/?nc=1 [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. And, with that keep in mind that you know you are getting older if you and your teeth don't sleep together. 73, This week's ANS Editor, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM K9JKM at amsat dot org

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Re: ISS Igates?
by Alan Sieg WB5RMG 22 Feb '09

22 Feb '09

WB4APR said: > What happened to the West Coast ISS Igates? I think it is not just the west coast Bob... The last opportunity I had to listen (while ISS was in APRS mode), it seems like I only heard a few packets downlink, but they weren't appearing in the APRS-IS. I only copied one or two beacons, neither was mine. I couldn't tell if it was my station, the ISS digi, or just that the Igates of the southeast US were all asleep... Checking the map tonite tho, I see that the most recent activity was a few days back. I'm afraid that with the irregularity of the schedule, some are finding it difficult to dedicate the resources to that frequency 24x7 ... I hope to have mine back on the air soon, I hope there will be enough in the schedule to keep it on freq. /;^) -- <- 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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Re: VO 52 Certificate
by Alan Sieg WB5RMG 22 Feb '09

22 Feb '09

MM3YCG said : > Hi all, Does anyone know or have they heard any more regarding the > special certificate being issued by AMSAT India for having a QSO on > the VO 52 satellite as was mentioned In a previous posting on this > digest as I am unable to find any Information regarding this anywhere ?? Callum, I am about to send some cards, but haven't heard anything further. Here is the original AMSAT Bulletin from ANS a few weeks back. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-039.01 AMSAT India Sponsors VO-52 Operating Certificate AMSAT News Service Bulletin 039.01 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. February 8, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-039.01 Nitin, VU3TYG announced AMSAT India will issue a certificate for Amateur Radio operators who establish two way contact thru VO-52 between January 26, 2009 until May 5, 2009. The first fifty certificates have been sponsored by a well-wisher which includes postage. After the 50 certificates have been issued a fee will apply. AMSAT India will announce these details when the information is available. Please send your QSL card containing the details of the QSO on VO-52 AMSAT India at the following address: AMSAT India (Regd.) No. 201, 2nd Main Road, Mahalakshmi Layout, Bangalore 560086 India. Also include your mailing address where you would like to have the certificate sent to. [ANS thanks Nitin, VU3TYG for the above information] /EX ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have only indoor antennas currently, but work VO-52 fairly reliably. (Not enough muscle to get thru on the orbiting repeaters...) There was also a report recently about the upcoming launch of ANUSAT. http://www.spacemart.com/reports/ISRO_To_Launch_A_Breakthrough_Satellite_99… I haven't seen any details, but mention was made of store and forward... Perhaps it will perform as an APRS digipeater as well as a BBS. That might be useful I would think. 73 for now /;^) -- <- 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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More from K5D ops
by Andrew Glasbrenner 22 Feb '09

22 Feb '09

Gentlemen, Please give these guys a chance to answer one call at a time. If you can't hear the downlink, don't transmit. All sixteen stations could have made the QSO with some cooperation. 73, Drew KO4MA > Drew, > > I tried ao51 this evening during a good pass. They guys on it just kept > keying up constantly and didn't give me a chance to get on. W4AS > mentioned > this on the air and they just kept sending their signals without giving me > a > chance to answer. I heard 16 different stations but only worked Wp4cnu, > n5znl, ve3npc. It was getting dark and about half way thru when I was > changing the downlink frequency I forgot to go back on transmit and > screwed > up the last 3 or4 min of the pass by not transmitting. I am going to try > to > make at least 1 contact per day but can't make every pass. Ao51 seems > much > better than so50 on my downlink but please put out the word to give the > callsign and have everyone wait about 5 seconds after they hear a callsign > for me for me to answer. Hopefully I will be able to be on for 1 or 2 > passes per day. >

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Can I cross-band my way to L-band BBS?
by Greg D. 22 Feb '09

22 Feb '09

This may be too crazy of an idea, so I should probably ask before I put too much effort into it... The only 9600 BPS packet capability that I have is with my Kenwood TH-D7A, but the BBS system on AO-51 is currently in mode LU, and now we hear that CO-65 will be doing the same. I have L-band capability in my Yaesu 736R. Would it be possible to link the two? AO-51's downlink is on 70cm; I'd need to use 2m as the link between the radios. D7 listens on 70cm, and transmits on 2m. (I believe the D7 can work split band on packet, right?) The 736 listens on 2m and transmits on 1268. Since the 736 can't do "cross band repeat", in the traditional sense, my thought is to use the satellite mode on the 736 and cross-connect the audio at the data in/out jack and use the VOX on 1268 to key the transmitter. I can think of two issues with doing this. First, is the VOX operation going to be quick enough to get the whole packet through? I'll probably need to extend the transmit delay to compensate; how long? Second, is the audio response going to be adequate going in and out of the Data jack? It's supposed to be right off the demodulator, without any audio shaping, but the rig is unmodified in this area and I thought the 736 didn't do 9600 very well out of the box. I've got the 736 hooked to the computer for Doppler tracking; at least that part should work. Oops, no, not quite; I'd need to modify the PC's Doppler control client so that the 2m side stays static. Not a big deal. So, is this worth trying? (I know, buying a "real" TNC would be a lot easier...) Greg KO6TH _________________________________________________________________ Windows Live™ Hotmail®…more than just e-mail. http://windowslive.com/howitworks?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_t2_hm_justgotbetter_how…

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VO 52 Certificate
by Callum Graham 22 Feb '09

22 Feb '09

Hi all, Does anyone know or have they heard any more regarding the special certificate being issued by AMSAT India for having a QSO on the VO 52 satellite as was mentioned In a previous posting on this digest as I am unable to find any Information regarding this anywhere ?? Cheers Callum MM3YCG

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