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

thathamkid.com
by Alan Sieg WB5RMG 08 Feb '09

08 Feb '09

Andrew, Congratulations on your successful 4 years of being 'hammy' !! Congrats on your calendar and especially your satellite accomplishments. That bike looks really sharp - I'm sure you are already working on plans for your car... Over the years you will probably spend more on your car than on radios - although you have a good collection started already. > I always use the criteria "Can a 15 year old afford it?" :-) I still use that criteria sometimes, but just as importantly you might also ask "Can I afford to NOT do it?" ... I know money is powerful, but the educational benefits towards your understanding of technology will usually repay with interest at some point in the future. Building a downconverter kit, or 'adjusting' an old CalAmp MMDS converter will provide experience that can last a lifetime - and not break the bank. Keep up the good work, listen towards the horizon - maybe we can catch a mutual window on a satellite someday. Please feel free to visit my links below, hopefully you will find some useful/helpful info there. 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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The future of AMSAT is NOW . . .
by Alan Sieg WB5RMG 07 Feb '09

07 Feb '09

Topic Was :HEO naivete Michael said: > I usually tend to keep quiet during arguements such as this . . . But - this is not an argument .?. Hardly even a debate on specific points. What is happening here is genuine concern for our future, and well founded. Not only is AMSAT and ham radio facing uncertain times, the entire fabric of modern culture seems wobbling around like it may ALL come tumbling down. Stimulus, bailouts, layoffs, foreclosures - everything is connected to most everything else - always has been, always will be. So much of all this churn has been brewing for years, but no one really wanted to acknowlege, or take the gumption to creatively start solving the problems. Now we have to. None of us are ready to just lay down and say "I quit". But - the bright side is that humanity solves its' toughest problems when times get hardest. That can work to our advantage, not only for AMSAT, but for everything else that is connected to all this 'other stuff'. The early hamsats got built and launched because a handful of hams had a blistering passion, and didn't stop until they had accomplished what had been previously un-done. At the time I think a popular 2m rig was the ol 'Benton Harbor LunchBox'. The biggest thing I see missing today is this 'blistering passion' - not just in AMSAT, not just ham radio, but most everything that the masses do. The general public has been so numbed by 500 channels of nothing on TV, fast food on every corner, convenience in every WalMard - no one gets excited about 'stuff' anymore. It is easy (for me at least) to spot those who have some passion. They get stuff done, they promote worthwhile things, they teach and encourage others, etc, etc... I recognize many many folks on AMSAT-BB that exhibit passion - Great !!! I've always felt that the AMSAT community is one of the most passionate groups I've ever worked with. Unfortunately, victims of our own success, we now find a lot of folks who have gotten on the satellite bandwagon because it IS fun, and it HAS ignited some long lost passion - but not enough of these folks recognize the need to support the effort, not only with money - but with volunteer talent and recruitment. I really like Tim's challenge to rapidly ramp-up our membership. Talk it up ! Get em joined-up ! This IS actually rocket-science, and is hardly an arm-chair sport yet. This IS still a bleeding-edge of technology, and we need a few more folks willing to take an arrow or two 'for the team' ... Not that we should have to pay-as-you-go, but I'd suspect that each of us knows at least one satellite operator that has never paid a red cent, or contributed anything towards this incredibly fascinating, outrageously expensive, blatently addicting passion of operating with satellites. (Well, unless you include the purchase price of some personal radio gear.) In years past I shelled out plenty of cash, and had sweat equity in big antenna arrays, and I do miss them. But I'm looking forward to learning more about S-band, and X-band, and beyond if necessary - by building some Tx/Rx converters to front-end existing equipment. Just like long ago when I learned so much by building some Tx/Rx converters to work 2m with my FT-101... the future is coming - again - still . . . And these tiny antennas are so much easier to build and aim - wow. As usual, I had not intended to go off on such a rant, but sometimes my passion boils over, and quite often it becomes infectious, and someone else picks up on that passion, and passes it on. We need more collective passion - as THAT is what drives these discussions, fleshes out alternatives, gets through the chaff and cuts into the kernel. By participating in these discussions, WE are helping drive the future of AMSAT, and in the same sense - ALL of ham radio. Who knows - maybe the future of all humanity ! 73 for now, and Thanks for listening ... /;^) -- <- 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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ANS-039 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by JoAnne Maenpaa 07 Feb '09

07 Feb '09

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-039 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 India Sponsors VO-52 Operating Certificate * Volunteers Needed for AMSAT-DC Spring Conference * George Caswell, W1ME Silent Key * Satellite Shorts From All Over * ARISS Status Report for the Week of February 2, 2009 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 SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-039.02 Volunteers Needed for AMSAT-DC Spring Conference AMSAT News Service Bulletin 039.02 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. February 8, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-039.02 Maryland-DC AMSAT Area Coordinator, Pat Kilroy, N8PK will kick off planning sessions for the next AMSAT-DC gathering. If you would like to help with this event please send Pat an RSVP e-mail soon to n8pk(a)amsat.org. Pat will send you the call-in telephone number for the planning conference calls. Pat says, "Our first planning session conference call will take place during the week of February 8-14, most likely on Thursday evening at 7:00 PM EST. The first agenda item will be to discuss the location and date of the all-day event." Pat is proposing individuals and groups of Amateur Radio operators form teams who compete at this AMSAT-DC workshop to create and operate a simulated satellite mission. The first groups will build a PICetSat II flight module from a kit of electronic parts on a small printed circuit board. The second groups will set up simple satellite ground stations. The third groups will be in charge of setting up and loading software in the computers at the ground stations to decode the telemetry and to analyze it according to a set of instructions. This event will be perfect for beginners and advanced satellite users alike, all ultimately working together to "launch" the flight module, receive the downlink, and decode the telemetry. Instructions will be provided in advance of the event to enhance preparation. More details will follow as planning commences! [ANS thanks Pat Kilroy, N8PK for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-039.03 George Caswell, W1ME Silent Key AMSAT News Service Bulletin 039.03 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. February 8, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-039.03 AMSAT received the sad news that George Caswell, W1ME died peace- fully at the Maine Veterans Home on February 3rd after a lengthy illness. George was a very active AMSAT Area Coordinator in Northern New England. For a number of years, George conducted a weekly AMSAT net on a number of linked repeaters stretching from Rhode Island to Maine (including one on top of Mt. Washington). AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW reflected, "He brought enthusiasm, knowledge and a sense of humor to these nets which attracted check-ins. Needless to say, those 'wide area' nets attracted numerous newcomers to what we do, not to mention gen- erating countless new AMSAT memberships as a direct result. George enjoyed awarding 'Certificates of Recognition' to those that participated in these nets since he knew that 'wall paper' was one way to foster continued interest. I still have the 'Certificate of Recognition' signed by George in 1996 which he gave me when I visited him and participated in one of his nets." George served as a recruiter for AMSAT's Field Operations Team, encouraging AMSAT members to become area coordinators and to establish an AMSAT presence in their local areas. A number of area coordinators in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Maine were recruited and encouraged by George. He also repre- sented AMSAT at various hamfests in Northern New England. George and his wife Caroline, W1MRE brought AMSAT to Maine as they teamed up to organize the 18th AMSAT Space Symposium that was held in Portland, ME October, 2000. At this event people outside of New England and the Field Ops team got to know George. George set up and operated the first ISS school contact to take place in Maine. In February, 2005, he set up his radio station at the Rockland, ME high school as part of a PenBay radio club activity and contacted the International Space Station, allowing high school students to communicate with the astronauts aboard. It was one of the highlights of his amateur radio involvement. Barry sums it up, "For many of us, George Caswell, W1ME was the face of AMSAT in New England. His kindness, gracious outlook on life, infectious enthusiasm for satellite operations and amateur radio in general touched many people and made a difference in their lives." Donations in George's Memory may be made to: Alzheimer's Association Maine Chapter 170 US Route 1, Suite 250 Falmouth, ME 04105. [ANS thanks Barry Baines, WD4ASW for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-039.04 Satellite Shorts From All Over AMSAT News Service Bulletin 039.04 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. February 8, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-039.04 + YouTube video of the ARISS contact with Ellis Elementary School in Belleville, Illinois, is available on-line at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2TuJyNXx0c&eurl=http://livingstlouis. wordpress.com/2009/01/22/living-st-louis-video-ham-radio/&feature= player_embedded (watch line wrap on very long URL). + Audio and video from the Humber College, Toronto contact with the ISS is available at: http://www.cbc.ca/radioshows/AS_IT_HAPPENS/20090202.shtml (audio) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090202. wvspacestation0202/VideoStory/Technology/home?pid=RTGAM.20090202. wcollegeradio0202 (watch the line wrap). + Paul Willmott, VP9MU released an updated Reference Manual for the General Astrodynamics Library (GAL) at: http://homepage.mac.com/pclwillmott/GAL/index.html + Listen for Andy, W5ACM/MM between February 8 and February 14 via AO-51. He hopes to put some new grids on the air while we are out on the water between Galveston, Costa Maya, Cozumel and Roi Tan. Radio will be a a DJ-580Ts with several LiPo battery packs. + A video tour of the Altair Lunar Lander is available at: http://tinyurl.com/d5btqx (via UniverseToday). + NASA and Google announced the release of a new Mars mode in Google Earth that brings to everyone's desktop a high-resolution, three- dimensional view of the Red Planet. Additional information is on- line at http://tinyurl.com/b567u9 (Via MarsDaily). + An interesting article about a planned 500 meter diameter radio telescope in China is available on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/b8sv2k In contrast the radio telescope at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico is 305 meters in diameter (via UniverseToday). [ANS thanks everyone for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-039.05 ARISS Status Report for the Week of February 2, 2009 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 039.05 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. February 8, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-039.05 1. School Contacts Humber College Institute of Technology and Higher Learning in Toronto, Ontario, Canada completed an ARISS contact on Monday, February 2. It has assembled the primary ground station right on the main campus, and it is hoped that it will inspire future students in conducting similar studies. Pilton Bluecoat Junior School in Barnstaple, Devon, England completed an ARISS contact on Friday, February 6. The school has planned an event with the theme "Our Home in Space - The Final Frontier," in which stu- dents learn about Earth as part of the wider universe. Städtisches Gymnasium Herzogenrath in Herzogenrath, North Rhine-West- phalia, Germany completed an ARISS contact on Saturday, February 7. The school has an amateur radio club whose members initiated the ARISS contact. College of Agriculture, Central Agricultural University in Imphhal, Assam, India has been scheduled for an ARISS contact on Sunday, February 8 at 10:06 UTC via telebridge station VK4KHZ in Australia. 2. Russian Students Radio ISS Students attending the Palace of Children's and Youth's Creativity in Tver, Russia experienced a successful ARISS contact on Tuesday, January 27. The children prepared 9 questions to ask cosmonaut Yuri Lonchakov, RA3DT. Approximately 300 people attended the event including cosmonaut S. Treshchev and ARISS delegate Sergey Samburov. The Governor of Tver Region, Dmitry Vadimovich Zelenin was also invited. The contact was made possible through the Amateur Radio Club, "Club-22," and its chairman, Sergey Kemov, RA3IS. 3. Successful Canadian Elementary School Contact On Tuesday, January 27, Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, participated in an ARISS contact with students attending Castor Valley Elementary School in Greely, Ontario, Canada. He answered all 16 questions posed to him by the youth as an audience of 750 students, parents and guests looked on. The students initiated the contact, thanked Mike for the contact midway through the session, and finished the rest of the questions. Media covered the event and the school was featured on the CTV 6 o'clock news. 4. French University Contact Successful Students attending CERAM EAI in Sophia Antipolis, France participated in an ARISS contact on Thursday, January 29 via telebridge station VK4KHZ in Australia. Students were able to ask 15 questions of Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, before interference made the downlink unreadable. Approximately 50 students, faculty members and guests witnessed the event which was covered by the media. The audio was fed into the EchoLink AMSAT and JK1ZRW servers and received 11 connections from 9 different countries. A short write up and contact audio have been posted to the ARISS-Europe Web site. See: http://www.ariss-eu.org/2009_01_30.htm 5. French School Contact Successful Youth attending Ecole & Collège Jean XXIII, a private primary & secondary school in Pamiers, France, experienced an ARISS contact on Friday, January 30. Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, answered 18 questions prepared for him by the students as 150 people gathered to watch. Media coverage included La Gazette Ariegeoise, Le Petit Journal, France 3 and Ariege News. The event is also expected to be reported by La Depeche du Midi, Radio Transparence, Radio Montaillou and Sud Radio. A summary with audio has been posted to the ARISS-Europe Web site. See: http://www.ariss-eu.org/2009_01_31.htm 6. General Radio Operations Mike Fincke, KE5AIT and Yuri Lonchakov, RA3DT made general voice contacts over the last week. Among those contacted were stations in the U.S., Canada, Russia and Brazil. They also had the radio running in packet mode and crossband repeater mode and transmitted several Slow Scan Television (SSTV) images. 7. ARISS International Team Meeting Held The ARISS team held its monthly teleconference on January 27. Among the agenda items discussed were the ARISS Face to Face Meeting to be held in the Netherlands in June, Richard Garriott's mission and SuitSat-2 status. Minutes have been posted. See: https://www.rac.ca/ariss/arisstel2009-01-27.htm 8. K6DUE Replaces NN1SS K6DUE, callsign of the late Roy Neal, will now be used for the Inter- national Space Station Amateur Radio Club, replacing the Greenbelt, Maryland telebridge ground station callsign, NN1SS. Neal was instrum- ental in persuading NASA to fly amateur radio on the space shuttle and helped establish the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) working group, which ultimately led to the internationally-based ARISS program. The story was reported on the Amateur Radio Newsline. [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. With that keep in mind if you show me a piano falling down a mine shaft I'll show you A-flat miner. 73, This week's ANS Editor, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM K9JKM at amsat dot org

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FM interference on VO-52
by Andrew Glasbrenner 07 Feb '09

07 Feb '09

I never thought I'd have heard this...around 0300 tonight on VO-52 I was calling CQ around 145.910 and heard some FM. I switched over and had almost perfect copy on a Spanish language music broadcast of some sort. I quickly started recording it and have about a 2 Mb file I can send anyone who is interested. I always though U/V was generally safe from this sort of unlicensed garbage, but sadly I was wrong. BTW, still had a nice QSO with W0EOZ in North Dakota, and VE3NPC, K9QHO, and YV4DYJ on the FO-29 pass right afterwards. 73, Drew KO4MA

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tracking tools
by Greg Wycoff 07 Feb '09

07 Feb '09

for those of you who have the ipod touch here is a couple of apps you might want to check out. "GoSatWatch" under reference release date Dec 18 2008 "ISS" under utilities release date jan 29 2009 Greg N0ZHE

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Fwd: [PNWVHFS] Dish available
by w7lrd＠comcast.net 07 Feb '09

07 Feb '09

I am not involved with this item. I am just passing the information along. Someone might post it on a EME BB, I am not familiar with EME. 73 Bob W7LRD ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: lhurd(a)pacifier.com To: "PNWVHFS" <PNWVHFS(a)googlegroups.com> Sent: Saturday, February 7, 2009 12:06:14 AM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Subject: [PNWVHFS] Dish available A friend of mine in the Seattle area is quitting his downlinking business, and has a couple of dishes on trailers for sale . One is a 3 meter and one is a 3.7 meter. Both are fiberglass and made by AFC (Which I believe was Microdyne). The are both capable of ku band. They are on dual axle trailers. He is Ken Staeger and can be contacted at KenStaeger(a)aol.com. Prices are negotiable, but he needs them gone soon. Lynn WB7UNU --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ ~The Voice of the Pacific NorthWest VHF Society~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PNWVHFS" group. To post to this group, send email to PNWVHFS(a)googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to PNWVHFS-unsubscribe(a)googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/PNWVHFS -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---

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HEO sat
by Howie DeFelice 07 Feb '09

07 Feb '09

I think anyone who has ever worked or even just listened to one of the HEO birds really miss them. However, I agree that the notion we will be able to get another VHF/UHF HEO is unlikely and probably just not a good idea anymore. I don't buy the notion that the microwave bands are a restriction, actually, I think it's just the opposite. When AO-40 was launched how many people had S-band receiving equipment? I bet not that many. When it became apparent that was going to be the band of choice the ham community got together and came up with solutions for both "builders" and "buyers". After a short period of time the AO-40 downlink sounded like 40 meters with all the stations online. The notion that ther is no equipment for 3.4/5.6 Ghz is also not exactly true. Yes, not from Kenwood/Yeasu/Icom, but E-bay is littered with C-band LNB's that will downconvert 3.4 Ghz. to L-band. It would be pretty simple to convert that to UHF for the rigs we already have. The same goes for the transmit side. the 5.6 Ghz. uplink is very close to the commerical 5.8 Ghz. uplink and I would be very surprised if a relatively simple mod could not geet some low power C-band BUC's retuned to there. I also don't subscribe to the notion that LEO birds are the main attraction to newcomers. I think most people find that haveing a satellite visible for hours makes it much easier to figure out what is going on and develop the required skills to work the satellite, which in my opinion are less stringent than trackin a fast moving object acroos the sky while compensating doppler and fighting the 20 other people on the channel. I think we are all in agreement that the chance to launch our own HEO is not looking good at the moment. The best chance we have is to piggyback onto a commercial GEO. That is going to take a concentrated effort and this is where my frustration comes in. We were told about an MOU with Intelsat but none of the details. Are they proprietary (I'm sure they are)? Even so, they should be made available to members upon execution of a non-dislcosure agreement. If we want to get a payload hosted on a commercial sat it has to have minimum impact on the satellite weight and power and should offer some benefit to the hosting company, such as proving new technology, public relations or even writing off a portion of the satellite capacity as a donation. In order to accomplish this, we need to have joint effort between the "marketing" savy members that can sell the idea to Intelsat (and possibly others) and the "tech" savvy members that can develop the hardware to fit the opportunity. As an organization, we need to adapt to our environment or die. Instead of lamenting the fact of what we don't have, let's move the discussion toward what we DO have and how can we pull that together to get what we want. I'll even start... 1. What can the BOD tell the membership in a public forum about the MOU with Intelsat concerning the requirements for a hosted payload? 2. A lot of work was started on the ACP project and was written up in the Journal, can we put together a "labsat" to take to hamfests and more importantly, prospective satellite operators to show what we are doing? How can the membership help? 3. During AO-40's lifetime, a lot of good information was passed on the BB about getting on 2.4Ghz. Can we start doing the same thing with C-band (3.4/5.6). As a start, maybe people can start reporting when they find C-band LNB's and feeds being sold especially in quantity. 4. For the more marketing savvy, how do we answer the question "Why should I use some of my valuable satellite assets to support AMSAT?" If we all picked just one of the above 4 topics and acted on it, we would generate more progress toward a HEO opprtunity than any of the discussion so far. Ok..time for someone elses rant ..de Howie, AB2S _________________________________________________________________ Windows Live™: E-mail. Chat. Share. Get more ways to connect. http://windowslive.com/explore?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_t2_allup_explore_022009

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Re: HEO naivete
by Mike and Paula Herr 07 Feb '09

07 Feb '09

Bob, You are 100% right! After reading the latest AMSAT Journal, I have absolutely no idea where AMSAT is going! Frankly, it appears to be chaos. I have donated and was on the verge of more donations as well as signing up for Life Member, but I have held back, waiting to see if AMSAT will even survive. I have volunteered, 3 times, and never have even gotten a courtesy response. Experience? I worked in the aerospace industry and have equipment flying on the Shuttle every flight and am involved with CEV. Frustrated? you bet! See you on AO-7 and VO-52. 73 Mike WA6ARA

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WSR-036 Weekly Satellite Report and other credibility issues
by G0MRF＠aol.com 07 Feb '09

07 Feb '09

Just received my weekly update on the satellite scene. Read through and found. 1) A number of satellites proposed for launch that were in fact launched last month. 2) Eagle : Proposed for launch 2009 3) P3E: Proposed for launch late 2008 4) Delfi C3 listing "proposed frequencies" when in fact it's been in space for nearly a year. No doubt there are other errors but I gave up reading. Clearly there is a lot of copy and pasting going on here with no serious updating at all. I know it is really important that information for the report comes from the mission controllers, but somewhere along the line a little common sense editing is appropriate if any degree of credibility is to be given to this service. David

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HEO and future of AMSAT
by Greg Wycoff 07 Feb '09

07 Feb '09

HEO, the question is not can we do it, the question is how do we get there, and are we willing to do what it takes to get there? first of all, all AMSAT organization's must focus on one project and one project only, that way you have all of your top builders and designers working on the same project, and most importantly is the fund raising, funds can grow more rapidly as one project. I personally believe you must build the satellite first before you go looking for a ride. that way you don't get bumped from a ride if you don't have the satellite completed, and then it becomes more difficult for the next available ride. Its time "AMSAT" becomes one, not one of many AMSATs, as you look at business in todays world many are merging together as one just to survive, all AMSATs must do the same, and the ones who don't want to come together as one, must drop the "AMSAT" title. Has AMSAT-NA given any thought to donating the money they have raised for project eagle to AMSAT-DL to help with the launch cost of their HEO that seems to be already built and waiting for a ride? Greg N0ZHE

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