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

FW: ANS-130 AMSAT Weekly Bulletins
by Dee 10 May '09

10 May '09

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-130 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 Activites at Dayton 2009 * AMSAT/TAPR Banquet Note * Live Feed from Dayton * ARISS SPACE DAY * VK5ZAI Receives Award * ARISS Schedule SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-130.1 AMSAT Activites at Dayton 2009 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. May 10, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-130.1 AMSAT Activities at Dayton Thursday May 14th AMSAT Get-Together at Tickets Pub and Eatery in Fairborn beginning at 18:30 Good Greek and American food as well as conversation with fellow AMSATers in a relaxed environment. Directions on the AMSAT web site. Friday May 15th Satellite Demonstrations outside the Ball Arena entrance Celebrating AMSAT's 40th Anniversary with 40 years worth of amateur satellite memorabilia and a special 40th Anniversary tee shirt and golf shirt. SuitSat-2 hardware demonstration Richard Garriott visiting the AMSAT Booth 14:30 - 15:15 New publications and trinkets LVB Tracker Box demonstration and boxes offered AMSAT/TAPR Banquet featuring Richard Garriott, W5KWQ starting at 18:30 Saturday May 16th AMSAT Forum 11:15 - 13:30 Satellite Demonstrations outside the Ball Arena entrance Celebrating AMSAT's 40th Anniversary with 40 years worth of amateur satellite memorabilia and a special 40th Anniversary tee shirt and golf shirt. SuitSat-2 hardware demonstration Richard Garriott visting the AMSAT Booth 15:00 - 15:45 New publications and trinkets LVB Tracker Box demonstration and boxes offered Sunday morning May 17th Satellite Demonstrations outside the Ball Arena entrance Celebrating AMSAT's 40th Anniversary with 40 years worth of amateur satellite memorabilia and a special 40th Anniversary tee shirt and golf shirt. SuitSat-2 hardware demonstration New publications and trinkets LVB Tracker Box demonstration and boxes offered [ANS thanks Gould, WA4SXM, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-130.2 AMSAT/TAPR Banquet Note AMSAT News Service Bulletin 130.2 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. May 10, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-130.2 The Dayton AMSAT/TAPR banquet is now here. Our Guest Speaker is Richard Garriott, W5KWQ. Monday May 11th is the final day to order tickets for the AMSAT/TAPR Banquet with Richard Garriott. Order your tickets online in the AMSAT Store. You MUST be pre- registered to attend. You cannot register at Dayton. -- [ANS thanks Martha, AMSAT Manager, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-130.3 Live feed from Dayton AMSAT News Service Bulletin 130.3 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. May 10, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-130.3 We will be broadcasting live streaming video and audio of the Dayton 2009 Hamvention this coming weekend. This is our 7th year to broadcast hamfest events. We are seen in over 150 countires and advertised to over 100,000 hams around the world. Frank Bauer KA3HDO has helped us to get Richard Garriott for an interview. Hams around the world will be able to watch this and even send in questions. The web site is http://w5kub.com and we actually start broadcasting with our "helmet cam" Wednesday morning May 13th at approx 1300 UTC and will be broadcasting our entire 550 mile drive from Memphis, TN to Dayton, OH. The video web site not only has the live video but also has a chat room where anyone can log in and talk to other hams around the world or to us. During our interview with Richard, if anyone sends in a question we will try to ask it. We can only get 15 minutes of his time as he is extremely busy and this was scheduled even after his schedule filled up. Note: Special pre-arranged LIVE interview with Richard Garriot 4:00pm - 4:15pm Saturday. And for those who can't go, you can attend "virtually" and have a great chance to win ham radio prizes. We have many great prizes. There is a link on the left side of our website which tells of the prizes and what days each will be given out. Follow us every move for the five days (May 13 - May 17). ARRS at the bottom of the page will show you our progress as we drive, or maybe you will recognize the road and landmarks. [ANS Thanks Tom,W5KUB, for the above info] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-130.4 ARISS SPACE DAY AMSAT News Service Bulletin 130.4 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. May 10, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-130.4 ARISS and AMSAT at Space Day in Washington DC On Saturday, May 2 ARISS and AMSAT operated from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum during Family Day and Space Day events. The contact, telebridged through W6SRJ in Santa Rosa, went like clock- work. Ten students and boy scouts at the National Air and Space Museum asked 19 questions to astronaut Michael Barratt, KD5MIJ on board ISS during the 9 minute contact opportunity. Audio from the contact was available via the AMSAT conference on EchoLink and via the 9010 Discovery reflector on IRLP. Also on-hand at the National Air and Space Museum for the contact was Ricky Arnold II, KE5DAU. Ricky answered questions from the audience prior to the contact, sent his greetings to Michael Barratt at the beginning of the contact and stayed with the audience after the contact to answer questions one-on-one and to allow time for individual photos. The AMSAT/ARISS Booth was well attended with lots of youth and adults stopping by. We had lot of material to handout from AMSAT, ARRL and NASA. And we gave out the last of the 2009 Space Station Calendars! Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, wrote from the event, "I want to thank all who helped at the booth: Perry Klein, Dave Taylor, Bob Davis, Dick Daniels, Janet Bauer, Bob Bruninga, Don Sylvain, and Bob McCown. While I do not have the final statistics, there were probably about 20,000 people that filtered through the museum during the day. A hearty tip of the hat to the W6SRJ folks for making the contact look so easy. And a big thanks to Wayne who was our contact moderator." The National Air and Space Museum web page can be found at: http://www.nasm.si.edu/events/eventDetail.cfm?eventID=1031 [ANS thanks Frank, KA3HDO for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-130.5 VK5ZAI Receives Award AMSAT News Service Bulletin 130.5 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. May 10, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-130.5 AMSAT Coordinator Tony Hutchison VK5ZAI receives Chris Jones Award Australia's WIA President Michael Owen VK3KI presented the Chris Jones Award to AMSAT Area Coordinator Tony Hutchison VK5ZAI at the WIA's Annual General Meeting at the Gippsland Campus of Monash University, Churchill on 2nd May 2009. The Chris Jones Award honours the memory of a man who was dedicated to the advancement of amateur radio and whose unfailing commitment and vision led to a new Wireless Institute of Australia and whose unfailing courtesy and genuine friendliness is fondly remembered by all who knew him. Tony's significant contribution to amateur radio was due to his ARISS activities which featured eight schools in the region took part in ARISS contacts (3 from New Zealand and 5 from Australia). Tony said, "Amateur Radio on International Space Station is a positive way of introducing our hobby of amateur radio to students, and others throughout the world by demonstrating how it's used to communicate with the crews on the International Space Station." Tony's concluding remarks, "I would like to thank everyone for their congratulations on winning the prestigious WIA Chris Jones Award. I would also like to thank the ARISS team, especially Shane VK4KHZ, who backs me up in VK, and all other Amateurs that have assisted by working with schools to make these ARISS educational linkups possible, also a big thanks to my wife Jill, although not licensed, assists me with my ARISS commitments. Without everyones continual support this wouldn't have happened." WIA's full story is on-line at: http://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/news/2009/20090505-4/index.php [ANS thanks Wireless Institute of Australia for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-130.6 ARISS Schedule AMSAT News Service Bulletin 130.6 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. May 4, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-130.6 Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report May 4, 2009 1. Upcoming School Contacts Flemish Space Days, organized by the Flemish Space Industry (VRI), was held May 8 - 10 in the Brabanthal in Leuven, Belgium. Interactive booths, educational workshops and movies on space, avionics and astronomy are some of the activities that attracted schools, youth and the public to this three-day event. On May 8, the event was open to school children, ages 3-18, only. A special program has been developed with the cooperation of ESA and ESERO (European Space Education Resource Office) for teachers and students. An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled for this event on Sunday, May 10 at 10:51 UTC. Telebridge station W6SRJ in California will facilitate the contact. JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata, KC5ZTA will participate in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with Besyo Elementary School in Saitama, Japan on Monday, May 11 at 11:01 UTC. Wakata is an alumnus of the school. The conversation will be in Japanese. 2. Space Day Contact with National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. participated in Space Day on May 2. Visitors participated in hands-on activities, met astronauts and learned about space from experts and museum displays. An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact was held in conjunction with these activities through telebridge station W6SRJ in California. Astronaut Ricky Arnold II was present to answer questions prior to the contact and for photo opportunities. The contact was recorded by the museum in high definition for future use. The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) and the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) members manned an exhibition booth and distributed AMSAT, ARRL and NASA education material including 2009 Space Station calendars. Approximately 20,000 people attended the museum throughout the day. 3. Astronaut Training Status Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) team provided training on its amateur radio equipment to NASA astronauts Nicole Stott, KE5GJN and Catherine Coleman, KC5ZTH. Energia has posted a photo report on the training. See: http://www.energia.ru/eng/iss/iss20/photo_04-23.html 4. ARRL Article on Dayton Hamvention Events The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) posted an article on its upcoming convention at the Dayton Hamvention to be held over the May 15-17 weekend. Richard Garriott will be available to meet and greet attendees and will give a talk about his amateur radio activities onboard the ISS. "The 2009 ARRL National Convention and Dayton Hamvention: Two Weeks and Counting!" may be found at: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/04/30/10793/?nc=1 5. JSC Education Office Meeting Held The NASA Education Office hosted a meeting with the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) team at Johnson Space Center over May 1-2. Program initiatives and educational outreach were addressed. [ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, for the above information] /EX 73, This week's ANS Editor, Dee Interdonato, NB2F nb2f at amsat dot org

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My road trip to EM35 and EM69
by Rick - WA4NVM 10 May '09

10 May '09

Hi to all on the board, Just got back from my road trip to Indianapolis in EM69. I worked 35 contacts in 24 hours on a few FM birds. Anyone that needs EM69 confirmed, just let me know. I will be happy to send you a QSL to confirm. Also, the same goes for those stations I worked last weekend from Mt. Nebo, AR in EM35. I used our contest call for that trip. NE5BO EM35 I sure hope to meet a lot of the AMSAT gang and satellite operators in Dayton next weekend, either at the booth or Friday night's dinner. 73 to all, Rick WA4NVM

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VO-52 experimenting this morning...
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 10 May '09

10 May '09

Hi! Earlier today, I went to my favorite Phoenix city park (the park that straddles the DM33xp/DM43ap grid boundary that I operate from regularly) to work a VO-52 pass starting at 1705 UTC. I have worked many VO-52 passes from here over the past few months using my two FT-817NDs and a directional antenna - initially an Arrow Antennas 2m/70cm Yagi, and now the Elk Antennas 2m/70cm log periodic. This satellite can hear well, since I have been able to make QSOs through VO-52 with as little as 500mW using either of these antennas. Today, I wanted to try something other than a directional antenna on this satellite to make a QSO. Just like I have done with dual-band HTs on the FM satellites, I decided to try my Maldol AH-510R telescoping whip for today's pass. This antenna is similar to the AL-800 whip that many use for portable satellite work. I connected a 6-foot length of coax between the whip and the diplexer I use to feed my two radios, so I could move the antenna around without it being connected directly to either radio. I left the transmit power setting at 5W today; adjusting the power output can be done in a future experiment. This pass had a maximum elevation of 54 degrees to the east for me, and I hoped to hear someone on there to complete a QSO with this setup. I heard K8YSE calling CQ around the center of the passband at 1706- 1707 UTC, when the satellite was only up 8-10 degrees from the horizon. After sending some dits to align my two radios (I know, I really need to get SatPC32 working with them to simplify my non-FM stellite operating), I called John. We started our brief QSO at 1707-1708 UTC, when VO-52 was up 15 degrees from the horizon for me. I used the rear hatch of my truck as a reflector under the whip, along with moving the whip around to improve the signal in my receive radio. Using that improvised reflector, along with the satellite continuing to move higher in the sky, it was easy for me to keep up with the Doppler shift and the adjustments for the whip. John and I chatted for a couple of minutes, and signed off before John's LOS. Thanks for the QSO! Now that I have completed a VO-52 QSO with the telescoping whip at 5W, I will try other experiments with lower power output using the same antenna. I will also swap antennas, trying others like longer duckie antennas (around 20"/50cm in length), to see how small I can go with antenna and power output when working this satellite. And, eventually, doing any or all of this with my little netbook and SatPC32 controlling the frequencies on my FT-817NDs. :-) 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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Sierra Vista AZ hamfest (2 May) and post-hamfest road trip - report
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 10 May '09

10 May '09

Hi! Sorry for the delay in posting this. It's been a busy week since this quick trip to a hamfest in southeastern Arizona and the post- hamfest road trip I took. The Cochise Amateur Radio Association had its annual Larry Warren Hamfest at its "Green Acres" field in Sierra Vista. I was at this event last year with an AMSAT table, and made a return trip this year. This is not a large event, and - like many hamfests here in Arizona - wraps up by midday. During the morning, I did 4 satellite demonstrations (2 on AO-51, 2 on VO-52), plus listened in on a scheduled ISS contact. The first AO-51 pass, at 1335 UTC, had 14 QSOs - 5 Mexican stations, and 9 stations from all over the US. After that, at 1514 UTC, the second AO-51 pass had 5 more QSOs (2 Canadians, 3 US stations). Then the ISS passed by, and we listened to half of a scheduled contact. This is always fun to do, even if the questions are very similar from contact to contact. Later in the morning, I worked 2 VO-52 passes, logging 5 QSOs on those passes to complete the satellite demonstrations. Again, thanks to the Cochise Amateur Radio Association for allowing an AMSAT table at their hamfest. It was nice being down there once again. Thanks also to the stations that worked WD9EWK on those 4 passes during the hamfest. Having stations on all those passes to work makes the demonstrations successful. After lunch and spending a couple of hours in Sierra Vista, I drove about 60 miles/100km to the DM51bx/DM52ba grid boundary. I was at this spot after the same hamfest in 2008, and made a quick stop here last month. This time, I planned to stick around for 2 AO-51 passes followed by one SO-50 pass. This was a productive stop. :-) The first AO-51 pass I worked, starting around 0042 UTC, was busy. Lots of stations from all over North America. Even an Alaskan showed up at the end of the pass. In all, I worked 17 stations - the Alaskan (KL7XJ - thanks Dale!), a Canadian, 4 Mexicans, and the rest were spread out all over the US. The 0222 UTC AO-51 pass, to the west, had a good turnout as well. Nine QSOs logged, from one Mexican to two Alaskans. SO-50 at 0305 UTC only had 4 QSOs logged, but came close enough to the last AO-51 pass so I waited for it before moving on. With 31 QSOs in the log on these 3 passes, it was time to move on. Since the I-10 freeway was closed through the center of Tucson during this weekend, I used that as my excuse to repeat the drive I took in April after the Tucson hamfest I attended. I drove north along US-191 toward Safford AZ, then on US-70 followed by US-60 to get back to the Phoenix area. With this route, I would cross the DM52/DM53 grid boundary again. It was 90 miles/144km from the DM51bx/DM52ba grid boundary to the DM52ax/DM53aa boundary along US-70. Google Maps says this is a 104-minute drive, and I made it in 90 minutes - keeping to the speed limits on the various highways the whole time. I made it to DM52ax/DM53aa about 2 minutes into an SO-50 pass starting at 0445 UTC, and logged 5 QSOs to finish my operating for this day. Three hours and 150 miles/241km later, I got home at 0100 local (0800 UTC). Including the drive from Phoenix to Sierra Vista the night before the hamfest, I drove a total of 555.5 miles/894km for this hamfest and the post-hamfest stops. If anyone worked me on 2-3 May and needs confirmation for any QSOs logged with WD9EWK, please e-mail me directly with the QSO details. If you're in the log, I will mail a card. The next hamfest I will attend with an AMSAT table will be on 30 May in Prescott AZ (grid DM34). Hope to hear you on during that hamfest - and on passes later that day, from wherever I might visit on my way home. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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1. AO-10 (WILLIAMS MICHAEL)
by pb0ahx 09 May '09

09 May '09

yes the beacon i heard him last day's

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Equipment/Software
by Mike 09 May '09

09 May '09

Okay, I am starting to build my station after playing around with the portable. So far I have acquired an IC-910 with 1.2G, power supply, G-5500 AZ/EL rotor, M2 2MCP14 and 436CP30 antennas. To finish I have the following questions. 1. What radio, rotor and tracking software are you using and why? (I am using Orbitron right now) 2. What interface are you using for an IC-910H and why? 3. What interface are you using for your G-5500 rotor and why? 4. What are you using for the radio side for 2.4G? 5. What antenna are you using for 1.2G? 6. What antenna are you using for 2.4G? Thank you in advance for your time and help. 73 Mike

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Re: Hygain Sat Antenna's and SSB UEK3000 Sat.
by Edward Cole 09 May '09

09 May '09

Norman, By your questions I guess you have heard that coax loss between antenna and input of preamps degrades noise figure (which is why we put preamps at the antenna in the first place). You do not mention frequencies for the RG-213 but I am guessing you mean 145 and 435 for satellite. Ten foot probably will not matter too much on those frequencies though the higher the frequency the more coax loss gets (and coax loss adds to the noise figure directly; e.g. 1-dB loss add 1 dB noise figure to the noise figure of the preamp - not good if the preamp is < 0.5 dB NF). MY best advice then, is to use the lease length of coax in front of the preamp. Compare how it hears with the coax and without the coax and decide for yourself. For 2401 MHz the situation is totally different. 80-feet of RG-6 will kill the low-noise performance of the UEK3000. Install the UEK at the antenna with no coax or as short as possible a jumper cable. If you meant to use RG-6 from the output of the UEK that is quite OK. I use a MKU-232A2 + Drake downconverter on 2401 and run over 100-foot of RG-6 from the Drake to my FT-847. But the MKU preamp is directly connected to my 6-turn helix feed for my 85cm dish. I am considering the purchase of a 10-dBi patch antenna to use on 2401 Leo-sats as it will be easier to point and should not need as much antenna gain. This will be coupled with a 2400 DEMI preamp and my second Drake converter. 73, Ed - KL7UW At 07:44 AM 5/9/2009, Norman W Osborne wrote: >Hello to All, > >Looking for suggestions for feed lines to my preamps, could I use RG213-U ? >I am thinking this should be ok as both lines will be only about 10ft in >length. > > >From the preamps, I am using hard line. > >I also have a UEK3000 receive converter for 2.4 , for feedline, could I get >away with RG6, same cable used for sat TV. >the run will about 80 ft.... > >Getting setup for future HEO.s > > >Any suggestion greatly appreciated and many thanks in advance. > > >Norman >_______________________________________________ >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

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Cal Poly's CP6 Satellite Launching
by Luc Leblanc 09 May '09

09 May '09

>From NASA webcast page. Posted by RCC on 2009-05-09 at 00:01:20 EDT We will not try a launch attempt on May 9. A new launch date is expected to be set next week. "-" Luc Leblanc VE2DWE Skype VE2DWE www.qsl.net/ve2dwe WAC BASIC CW PHONE SATELLITE

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GSBARC HAMFEST TODAY
by Peter 09 May '09

09 May '09

Correction: I will be attending the Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club's Hamfest today, May 9th, 2009. The Hamfest will be held at Fireman's Memorial Park, Lindenhurst, LI, if anyone is near the area. I'll have an AMSAT table at the Hamfest and will be conducting a Satellite demonstration for the AO-51,14:03 pass, this morning, it is a shallow one for us, I hope I can hear you! More information about the Hamfest is available at: http://www.gsbarc.org/ 73,Pete WB2OQQ

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ANUSAT spectrogram
by Mineo Wakita 09 May '09

09 May '09

http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/anusatin.htm JE9PEL, Mineo Wakita

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