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

Illegal - for U.S. - Commercial Equipment
by Clint Bradford 12 Jun '09

12 Jun '09

Wow .. sure have faced a bunch of hostility from "friends" here (grin). No one has cited any specific US/FCC Code on any aspect of the matter - except for me, of course. I have a conference call set up for Tuesday with the FCC's OET and another department. We all can agree that "pure amateur radios" are exempt from Part 97 certification procedures. But I will be documenting - with facts and direct legal citations - whether or not U.S. hams can use non-certified commercial gear (HTs that cover 138-170 and/or 400-470) on the amateur bands in the U.S. I will not be reporting my findings here. I'll post it on my amateur site's blog. And have been approached by two publications (well, two print mags and one online mag) to write an article on this, which is in the works. Clint Bradford, K6LCS http://www.clintbradford.com 909-241-7666

5 5

Delaware on the A0-51
by Rick - WA4NVM 12 Jun '09

12 Jun '09

Hi all AMSAT'er, Rob, KD4ZGW asked me to post to the BB he would be on A0-51 Friday morning on the 1120utc pass. He will operate from FM29 in Delaware. Also, if you miss him on that pass, don't forget Jim, ND9M will be operating from Delaware this Sunday. Get'em while there hot! Good luck all, Rick - WA4NVM

1 0

AO-51 update
by Andrew Glasbrenner 12 Jun '09

12 Jun '09

This evening we upped the power on the 435.300 downlink to about 1 watt, and temporarily suspended the 435.150 telemetry downlink. This is about a 5db increase on 435.300, so it should be very noticeable. 73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Operations

1 0

New Satellites
by Vincenzo Mone 11 Jun '09

11 Jun '09

Hi folks, is it possible to know the Downlink and if any uplink frequencies and modes for these new birds: TACSAT-3 PHARMSAT HAWKSAT1 CP6 AEROCUB3 And also what to hear, if Packet at 1200 or 9600 baud ecc Or voice or any other mode? Thanks in advance. 73 de Enzo IK8OZV EasyLog 5 BetaTester EasyLog PDA BetaTester WinBollet BetaTester D.C.I. CheckPoint Regione Campania Skype: ik8ozv8520 *************************************** ***** GSM +39 338 9749786 ***** ***** SMS +39 338 9749786 ***** ***** FAX +39 328 7244294 ***** *** 2nd e-mail: vimone(a)tin.it *** ***************************************

2 1

Request cross test of satellite prediction. Thanks
by RFI-EMI-GUY 11 Jun '09

11 Jun '09

Could some kind sole with a trusted program please run some or all of the satellites below for the date June 15, 2009 for the coordinates for Virgin Gorda BVI (listed below) and cross check my sample results below? I am using keps 14 days old. Thanks! Location: Virgin Gorda British Virgin Islands Lattitude 18.433, Longitude - 64.416, 12 m AMSL Radio visibility - Multiple satellite schedule for : Ao-16 Ao-16, Ao-27, Ao-51, Iss, So-50 +------------------ AOS ------------------+MAX EL.+ ----- LOS ------ + UTC Date Time | Satellite Azm | Elev. | Time Azm | Duration 06/15/09 00:58:00 | So-50 313.1° | 21.1° | 01:10:00 183.3° | 00:12 06/15/09 05:10:00 | Ao-27 67.8° | 3.5° | 05:17:00 125.7° | 00:07 06/15/09 06:37:00 | Ao-16 48.3° | 12.5° | 06:48:00 150.6° | 00:11 06/15/09 06:46:00 | Ao-27 12.5° | 86.3° | 07:01:00 192.1° | 00:15 06/15/09 07:56:00 | Iss 181.1° | 13.0° | 08:04:00 64.5° | 00:08 06/15/09 08:15:00 | Ao-16 359.7° | 42.1° | 08:29:00 207.0° | 00:14 06/15/09 08:28:00 | Ao-27 325.0° | 5.3° | 08:37:00 250.9° | 00:09 06/15/09 09:29:00 | Ao-51 46.7° | 13.6° | 09:40:00 155.2° | 00:11 06/15/09 09:31:00 | Iss 250.1° | 17.4° | 09:40:00 22.1° | 00:09 06/15/09 11:06:00 | Ao-51 357.4° | 33.0° | 11:20:00 210.1° | 00:14 06/15/09 11:43:00 | So-50 146.4° | 6.1° | 11:53:00 61.9° | 00:10 06/15/09 13:21:00 | So-50 207.6° | 71.1° | 13:36:00 22.2° | 00:15 06/15/09 15:06:00 | So-50 279.1° | 4.1° | 15:13:00 339.5° | 00:07 -- Joe Leikhim K4SAT "The RFI-EMI-GUY"© "Use only Genuine Interocitor Parts" Tom Servo ;-P

2 1

Re: Full Duplex HT's (Howard Kowall) (Ben Jackson)
by Clint Bradford 11 Jun '09

11 Jun '09

Partially sorry about my tirade last night. I am just sick of those hams who are cheapskates, and love their "bargains" that they find from questionable sources ... no matter whether or not the equipment carries an FCC ID number or not. The use of such illegal equipment demeans us all. Just Clint's opinion, of course. Clint Bradford, K6LCS 909-241-7666

13 15

Re: Commercial Imports
by Clint Bradford 11 Jun '09

11 Jun '09

This was - I thought - common knowledge, George. After working selling Motorola/Kenwood commercial systems and also working amateur retail, the differentiation was sure clear to me. -Clint, K6LCS GEORGE>> While it may be legal to USE said radio on the amateur bands, if the radio is designed to operate on frequencies in certain services , such as the public service bands, it MUST be FCC type accepted ("certificated") for those services in order to even be IMPORTED into the U.S. They must also meet Part 15 interference standards ....

2 1

Re: DJ-G7T programming cable question
by Nigel Gunn G8IFF/W8IFF 11 Jun '09

11 Jun '09

Hi Tim. Something that bugs me with e-groups in general is the number of people who have a relatively simple question/problem and give no indication that they have tried to solve it for themselves. The questions that are basically ohms law, you know the things, "I need to charge this battery, what size resistor do I need and which side of the battery do I put it?" Now be reasonable, that was in your Tech exam syllabus. Tell me what you've tried to solve the problem and I'm more likely to help. Don't expect me to be your Google operator! As for the piggies, well.... piggies are generally simple minded beasts. On-off keying and anything that cycles faster than every 3nS or so is beyond most of them. Most piggies can't even spell "satellite". n3tl(a)bellsouth.net wrote: > Hey Nigel, > > Thank you for posting that. As I read the original post just now (before > I opened your response), I found myself thinking ... "um ... try it?" hihi > > Hope all is well with you. Did you see my post to the piggie reflector > about including CW/SSB satellite contacts in the 10th Anniversary > contest? No response, either on the reflector or off. That's a shame. > > 73, > > Tim - N3TL

12 15

Full Duplex HT's
by Howard Kowall 11 Jun '09

11 Jun '09

Hello to all Just a follow up to the posting of full duplex handhelds Came across this ht,that a local ham ordered He was not sure if it was full duplex or not I will see if I can download a manual to see Just for a point of interest. I once had a VHF of a similar ht didn't work to good in the ham band And not sure if theses are type approved or FCC approved just a little head scratched for all of you out there Howard VE4ISP

5 5

Re: Commercial Imports
by Clint Bradford 11 Jun '09

11 Jun '09

>> ... Now on to using these radios. Clint - since you have been stridently insisting on the illegality of using non-FCC-certified radios on the US ham bands, could you please show us the specific law/rule/regulation that states that hams cannot use non-certified commercial gear in the ham bands? Some random - but pertinent - citations ... 47 U.S.C. § 302(b) of the Act provides that "[n]o person shall manufacture, import, sell, offer for sale, or ship devices or home electronic equipment and systems, or use devices, which fail to comply with regulations promulgated pursuant to this section." Section 2.803(a)(1) of the Rules provides that "[e]xcept as provided elsewhere in this section, no person shall sell or lease, or offer for sale or lease (including advertising for sale or lease), or import, ship or distribute for the purpose of selling or leasing or offering for sale or lease, any radio frequency device unless in the case of a device subject to certification such device has been authorized by the Commission . . . ." Radio transceivers operating in the 136 MHz - 174 MHz and the 400 MHz - 470 MHz bands are subject to the equipment certification process and must be certified and properly labeled prior to being marketed or sold in the United States. 47 U.S.C. § 503(b) of the Act provides that any person who willfully or repeatedly fails to comply substantially with the terms and conditions of any license, or willfully or repeatedly fails to comply with any of the provisions of the Act or of any rule, regulation or order issued by the Commission thereunder, shall be liable for a forfeiture penalty. The term "willful" as used in Section 503(b) has been interpreted to mean simply that the acts or omissions are committed knowingly. The term "repeated" means the commission or omission of such act more than once or for more than one day. I will dig up my notes from a conversation with Bll Cross later n the week. Clint, K6LCS

3 2