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

M2 Xyagi sat 2 meter antenna
by Norman W Osborne 27 May '09

27 May '09

Hi Everyone, Anyone out there using m2 Xyagi sat antenna with switching? Would like to hear your comments. I have settled on the gulf alpha for 70cm but I am looking for more gain for 2 meters. 73, Norman.

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SSTV on ISS
by santanaamt＠aol.com 27 May '09

27 May '09

Hi all: I also can atest that ISS is doing SSTV, just got 2 images, which are from the window. Used MMSSTV. Cheers Angel - WP3GW

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ND9M - Oops!
by claryco＠aol.com 27 May '09

27 May '09

Sorry about forwarding the entire digest of BB postings in my last one; it certainly wasn't intentional. I guess I should've had some coffee first. 73, Jim, ND9M / VQ9JC

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CO-66 SEEDS II Telem Over CHILE
by Raul Romero 27 May '09

27 May '09

SEEDS AFSK Telemetry Decoder (c) Mike Rupprecht, DK3WN ======================================================== Satellite Time: 1519d 01:43:25 Data Type 11111000 EEPROM page addr 0 EEPROM ROM addr DFD4 Satellite Time 131247805 sec EPS reset times 0 FMR reset times 1 C&DH reset times 1 CW reset times 1 ROM number # 0 Page address stored 0 ROM address stored 0 Temp Solar Cell 1 -33,94 °C Temp Solar Cell 2 -26,10 °C Temp Solar Cell 3 -23,63 °C Temp Solar Cell 4 -26,06 °C Temp Solar Cell 5 -20,08 °C Temp Solar Cell 6 -25,72 °C Curr Solar Cell 1 1,33 mA Curr Solar Cell 2 0,78 mA Curr Solar Cell 3 0,33 mA Curr Solar Cell 4 1,33 mA Curr Solar Cell 5 3,88 mA Curr Solar Cell 6 0,78 mA Li-Ion Batt Volt 4,03 V Bus Voltage 5,00 V Gyro Sensor X -0,03 rad/s Gyro Sensor Y 0,00 rad/s Gyro Sensor Z -0,02 rad/s Geomagn Sensor X 0,14 gauss Geomagn Sensor Y 0,33 gauss Geomagn Sensor Z 0,03 gauss Temp Li-Ion Batt 1 2,82 °C Temp Li-Ion Batt 2 2,91 °C Temp Gyro Sensor X 0,12 °C Temp Gyro Sensor Y 5,13 °C Temp Gyro Sensor Z 5,69 °C Temp Digitalker -4,43 °C Temp Transmitter -4,35 °C Temp Receiver 1,05 °C

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GO-32 status
by David Giles 27 May '09

27 May '09

Hello All, What is the status of GO-32? Is the BBS back up and running? 73 de David VK5DG

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AMSAT UK Shop under new management
by Ciaran Morgan 26 May '09

26 May '09

After several years of running the AMSAT-UK shop, Jim G3WGM has handed the reins to Ciaran Morgan M0XTD. Ciaran obtained his full license in April 2008 and enjoyed organising a very successful ARISS contact between Budbrooke School in Warwick, England and Richard Garriott K5KWQ whilst he was onboard the International Space Station in October 2008. The AMSAT-UK shop has been an important source of funds in the past and Ciaran is revamping the current shop to help it to continue to make a valuable contribution to the funds into the future. The shop has had a policy of only stocking items that are difficult to obtain in the UK and, initially, that policy will remain whilst Ciaran gets familiar with the stock and identifies other possible options. Suggestions are always welcome and a new email address (amsat-uk-shop(a)amsat.org) has been setup. Please send the suggestions in and keep checking the web site for updates. Due to the level of sales of software, and compatibility issues with the more recent Microsoft Operating Systems, it has been decided to stop selling InstantTrack and QuickTrack. WiSP and SatPC32 licenses will continue to be issued from the shop Also, there are currently no books for sale - we are looking at this but suggestions are always welcome. On the hardware front, we have restocked with the ever popular LVB motherboards and we also have a limited number of complete kits for the LVB Tracker unit. Half of the new kits also include the AMSAT-NA enclosure with compatible display unit! We are also investigating restocking the 2.4GHz signal sources from G0MRF and the G7HIA 2.4GHz patch kits - please keep a watch on the website for more details. The AMSAT UK website can be accessed via http://www.uk.amsat.org/ - the shop is accessed via a link on the left hand side of the web page. 73 Ciaran M0XTD

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CP6 received at last...
by Shamai "SAM" Opfer 26 May '09

26 May '09

Hi all, Finally succeeded to copy and record CP6 CW beacon. The digital mode sounds difficult to inercept, as it is very short, imediately following the CW transmission, and appears only every 30 seconds,which i think makes it impossible to manually tune on the SSB signal. In addition, when using SatPC auto Doppler compensation (programming the IC910H via CAT), the received frequency "jumps"every 1 second. As far as I remember, this rate can not be changed. I guess that updating the transceiver every 100mS would make the audio pitch much more constant and smooth. I will try later on to activate CalPoly's parsing software. (Tips are welcome... :-) thanks! 73 Shamai, 4Z1WS

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Computer control of Alliance U-100 and similar rotors
by Bill Dzurilla 26 May '09

26 May '09

Very cool, my first homebrew project in 20 years appears to be a complete success (knock on wood). For about $65, I was able to build a modified version of the K8DAV U-100 Rotor controller, and now my Elk antenna turns automatically and follows the satellites during each pass. My particular rotor is the Alliance HIR, which is electrically the same as the U-83 and the U-98, and which I bought for $25. The K8DAV controller for these rotors is the same as the one for the U-100, except for the value of the motor start capacitor. The U-110 takes the same capacitor as the U-100. This was a fun weekend project and a very useful addition to my satellite setup. I picked up two of the most expensive parts, the transfomers, for $1 each at the Goodwill store, in the basket of assorted wall-warts in the electronics section (bring a VOM and test the wall-wart before purchasing). You could also use the transformer and capacitor from the rotor's original controller, but I was afraid to cannibalize it without being sure I could get the new one to work. Otherwise, the project box was $18, the Basic Stamp board was about $20, and the solid state relays were $7 each on eBay. All other parts were inexpensive. Full plans, files, photos, and links for parts at: http://www.k8dav.com/ and http://www.cnyara.com/index.php?name=Content&pid=18&page=1 73, Bill NZ5N

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ISS SSTV Batteries Flat
by David Barber 26 May '09

26 May '09

UK 20.20utc pass. SSTV still active but batteries on VC-H1 now flat. David G8OQW

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DJ-G7T and full-duplex satellite operating
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 26 May '09

26 May '09

Hi! I spent this afternoon using my new DJ-G7T HT on a few passes, with mixed results. Working with the incomplete manual that came with the HT has been a challenge. I still need to use it more, and be ready to make more changes to settings. So far, I'll say it is a good radio for satellite work. Not great, but good. I first tried this HT on the satellites during the weekend of the Dayton HamVention. The first report I received on it related to my transmit audio - sounding quiet and compressed. There is a mic gain setting in the firmware, which I put to the maximum setting. Over this weekend, I received the EDS-10 speaker/mic adapter cable to go into the speaker/mic jack on the top of the HT - a 4-conductor 1/8" (3.5mm) plug with threads around the base of the plug. Without this cable, I did not want to risk trying full-duplex operation on the birds. With this, I could feed audio through a splitter to my earpiece and audio recorder. I tried AO-27 and SO-50 passes this (Monday) afternoon around 2120- 2140 UTC. The 5W transmitter and change to the mic gain setting meant I could be heard, but I had difficulties hearing the satellite. Also, I could not hear myself while transmitting. I tried another AO-27 pass at 2301 UTC, and part of the pass was covered up by a loud bout of intermod (Phoenix Fire Department VHF dispatch channel swamped the receiver). Not good. Before the first AO-51 pass I had this afternoon at 0027 UTC, I talked with John K8YSE about the radio and the problems I had. He suggested I turn off the extended-receive capability of the HT, limiting it to just the ham bands. I did that, and then tried the AO-51 pass. Things went much better. I had an easier time hearing the satellite, and could hear myself through the satellite while transmitting - something I've never been able to do with my IC-W32A. I still need to go back to AO-27 and SO-50, to see if limiting the receiver to just the ham bands yields any improvement when working those satellites. I can't wait to see a new and improved version of the instruction manual, and improvements to the firmware to fix some of the idiosyncracies I've seen in trying to get this radio set up. Even with those issues, I'm glad I bought the radio. I plan to continue working with this radio, to see if I can improve on what I heard this afternoon on AO-51. This may turn out to be a nice radio for the satellites. For now, it's a work-in-progress. Maybe others who picked this radio up at Dayton - or have ordered it since then - will chime in with their comments about the radio. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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