October 2010 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

Re: N. Europe AO-7
by Bato, Andras 13 Oct '10

13 Oct '10

Hi Bob W7LRD, I just would like to let you know that I often call CQ WVE but on CW ! I use CW because it is much more reliable for DX activity. PLEASE USE CW ON AO-7 and on HO-68 as well. Canada and even KL7 can be reached using these birds not only from Northern Europe but from Central Europe as well. For God's sake use CW please! gl de ha6nn Andras

1 0

Experimental Web Radio from New Zealand and Europe
by Mike Rupprecht 13 Oct '10

13 Oct '10

All, You can now listen to 3 stations via internet - ZL2BX, PA3GUO and DK3WN. Go to my SatBlog and follow the link to Web Radio or simply click here http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?page_id=17689 Alan (ZL2BX) in New Zealand is streaming some hours per day and you can listen to the satellites at the other end of the world ;-) Henk (PA3GUO) is mostly following AO-51 or HO-68 in FM. I provide what I hear. If you follow my audio stream you can listen what I receive momentarily. It could be any satellite from AO-7 up to the NOAA's. We are open for any ideas. Let us know what you want to hear. Any suggestions are very appreciated. New stations are welcome, hihi. Let's share our receiver to the other ones. 73, Mike DK3WN

1 0

Symposium Audio
by Clint Bradford 13 Oct '10

13 Oct '10

Are any of the sessions from the Symposium posted online? And I am sorry if this was already published info - I missed it. Clint, K6LCS

1 0

N. Europe AO-7
by Bob- W7LRD 13 Oct '10

13 Oct '10

Hello Northern European sat ops. At 1929Z we will have a mutual footprint very near your LOS. 73 Bob W7LRD Seattle, Wa. CN87

1 0

Hamfest @ Tucson AZ, Saturday (16 October)
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 13 Oct '10

13 Oct '10

Hi! On Saturday (16 October) morning, AMSAT will have a table at the annual Old Pueblo Radio Club hamfest in Tucson, Arizona. This is a half-day hamfest, located at the Kino Community Center on Ajo Way, east of I-10 and the Tucson Electric Park baseball stadium. The hamfest starts early in the morning, and will probably wrap up by midday. Along with the AMSAT table, WD9EWK will be on various satellites for demonstrations - both in SSB and FM. I am obviously aware that Saturday is also the Jamboree on the Air, and will try to do my part to help that activity while at the hamfest. If there are Scouts at the hamfest, I will offer them the opportunity to work passes. I did this in 2008, allowing a Boy Scout from Tucson a chance to work AO-51 and make his first satellite contacts as I managed the radio and antenna for him. If I have a chance to repeat that, I will. If the Scout is a licensed ham, the Scout's call may be heard on the satellites instead of mine. Otherwise, as in the last couple of years, I will try to work stations with Scouts and also listen in on their QSOs with others. After the hamfest, I haven't decided on the route I will take for the drive home. I may take a longer route to visit some other grids, or possibly the Arizona/New Mexico state line, or I may linger around Tucson before taking the direct route home. I will post more about my post-hamfest plans on Friday or Saturday. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

1 0

Proceedings of the 2010 Symposium at AMSAT Online Store
by Bruce 13 Oct '10

13 Oct '10

I have just added the 2010 Symposium Proceedings to the AMSAT Online Store. I will have an actual copy in a few days and make necessary adjustments if the topics are not exactly correct. Will also add the number of pages and post a cover picture. Please be aware that it is heavy and shipping overseas will be expensive. Martha will add the shipping charges at time of mailing and notify you of the exact amount for postage. http://www.amsat.org click on Online Store in the left margin 73...bruce -- Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards ARRL Awards Manager (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0100z on Echolink - Conference *AMSAT* Also live streaming MP3 at http://www.amsatnet.com Podcast at http://www.amsatnet.com/podcast.xml or iTunes Latest satellite news on the ARRL Audio News http://www.arrl.org AMSAT on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/amsat

1 0

NC trip
by wa4hfn＠comcast.net 13 Oct '10

13 Oct '10

Hitting the road today heading east to N.C. I will be traveling on I-40 EM 85 should be my 1st stop for AO51.I will be staying in FM06 I will post later grids as time allows www.aprs.if and Im using wa4hfn no extra numbers WA4HFN Damon

1 0

SO-67 operating practice
by Ib Christoffersen 13 Oct '10

13 Oct '10

Hi all, I have been told that a lot of operators use too high deviation on SO-67. Here is a repetition of my experience from last time SO-67 was active over Europe. 1. Used FMN and the CTCSS tone. LF level OK but the transponder lets the tone through. That does not sound nice. 2. Used normal "old" FM deviation and NO CTCSS tone. Sounds better to me. 3. Used "old" deviation and the CTCSS tone. That sound really horrible. Try to listen to your own modulation and adjust the deviation (mike gain) down until it sounds good. 73 OZ1MY Ib

1 0

Fwd: [Gpredict-discussion] Gpredict 1.2 released
by Charles Suprin 13 Oct '10

13 Oct '10

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Alexandru Csete <oz9aec(a)gmail.com> Date: Tue, Oct 12, 2010 at 8:06 AM Subject: [Gpredict-discussion] Gpredict 1.2 released To: gpredict-discussion(a)lists.sourceforge.net Greetings, After one year of development, bug fixing and testing we have decided that it was time to make a new release of Gpredict. This release features several new features such as the rewritten layout engine as well as lots of bug fixes. The new layout engine allows any combination of views to be created in a NxM grid, see an example screenshot: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/eF3tizT-Xj-az6VcykUzaA The sky at a glance widget has been improved to look nicer and to be more interactive. Moving the mouse over a pass pops up an info widget showing infor about the pass. Clicking on the pass brungs up the pass details dialog. http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/anU9WhY4_40Gk-WVCP7ZWw The info pop-ups have also been added to the map view and the polar video. Moving the mouse over a satellite will show the current position of the sattelite as well as time until next AOS or LOS. You can see a demo video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJC4A6onbBg Complete list of changes: - New layout engine that allows any combination of views to be created in a NxM grid. Closes feature request 2821408. - Sky at a glance is now more interactive. Show pass summary when mouse hovers over pass and click on pass shows the details. - Added satellite tooltips in polar view showing current Az, El and time to LOS. - Added satellite tooltips in map view showing current SSP Lat, Lon, Az, El and time to AOS/LOS. - Fixed bug 2877974: Incorrect uplink Doppler. - Fixed bug 2918672: Trailing whitespace and newline in satellite names. - Fixed bug 2914679: Unable to save Future passes. - Fixed bug 2674626: Process 100% CPU load with one kepler element. - Fixed bug 2792349: Segfault on certain satellites (Geo). - Fixed bug 3050068: Unable to update TLE from local files. - Fixed bugs 3057771 and 3058753: Crash if module file is empty. - Fixed bug 3074990: Crash if directory does not exist - Fixed bug 3080019: Corrupted hw file cause crash. - Applied patch 2876485: Fix a memory leak in the rotator controller (Thanks to Charles Suprin AA1VS). - Applied patch 2877878: Change Flag to Lock in tle-update (thanks to Charles Suprin AA1VS). - Applied patch 2877918: Fixes segfault in TLE updater (thanks to Charles Suprin AA1VS). - Applied patch 2881367: Updated Flags to Locks (thanks to Charles Suprin AA1VS). - Applied patch 2893617: Patches for fixing Windows build (thanks to Valentin Yakovenkov). - Applied patch 2916646: Minor fixes to documentation (thanks to Paul Schulz). - Applied patch 2929816: Fixes Bound Checking in gtk-rot-knob.c (Thanks to Charles Suprin AA1VS). - Applied patch 2930342: Improved robustness of pass prediction (Thanks to Charles Suprin AA1VS). - Applied patch 2933879: Check for AOS before burning computational resources (Thanks to Charles Suprin AA1VS). - Applied patch 2943018: Potential Double Free in qth-data.c (Thanks to Charles Suprin AA1VS). - Applied patch 2942658: Ground Tracks with Narrow Windows (Thanks to Charles Suprin AA1VS). - Applied patch 2943024: Eliminate Segfault in gtk-sat-map.c (Thanks to Charles Suprin AA1VS). - Applied patch 2943448: Remove Segfault from corrupted module (Thanks to Charles Suprin AA1VS). - Applied patch 2945525: Sort list of modules in open module dialog (Thanks to Charles Suprin AA1VS). - Applied patch 2947459: Make Module List Scrollable (Thanks to Charles Suprin AA1VS). - Applied patch 2951724: Allow TX Doppler correction for FT-817, 857 and 897 (Thanks to Charles Suprin AA1VS). - Applied patch 3002344: Remove Uninitialized Jump (Thanks to Charles Suprin AA1VS). - Applied patch 3002345: Free catfilename (Thanks to Charles Suprin AA1VS). - Applied patch 3002348: Option context never freed (Thanks to Charles Suprin AA1VS). - Applied patch 3005548: Cut and Paste Error In print_pass.h (Thanks to Charles Suprin AA1VS). - Applied patch 3009725: Delete Explicit Call to gtk_set_locale (Thanks to Charles Suprin AA1VS). - Applied patch 3009727: Free satellite hash references (Thanks to Charles Suprin AA1VS). - Applied patch 3050047: Improve sat search and prediction of upcoming passes (Thanks to Patrick Strasser OE6PSE) - Applied patch 3059022: Fix gpredict crashed with NULL pointer exception (Thanks to Charles Suprin AA1VS). - Slightly improved UI for the single-satellite view. - Command line options for cleaning user's TLE and transponder data, see --help for list. - Satellite Map: Added shadow to satellite marker and label to enhance visual appearance over light background map regions. - Fixed incorrect uplink and downlink frequencies for HO-68, mode V/U packet. - Modules that are docked in the main window can be reordered by dragging the tabs. - Updated translations for CS, DE, EN_GB, EN_US, FI, FR, IT, LT, RU and TH The new release can be downloaded from https://sourceforge.net/projects/gpredict/files//Gpredict/1.2/ Currently only the source package is available. Binary packages for Windows, Mac and various Linux distributions should become available shortly. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this release! Happy satellite tracking Alex OZ9AEC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Beautiful is writing same markup. Internet Explorer 9 supports standards for HTML5, CSS3, SVG 1.1, ECMAScript5, and DOM L2 & L3. Spend less time writing and rewriting code and more time creating great experiences on the web. Be a part of the beta today. http://p.sf.net/sfu/beautyoftheweb _______________________________________________ Gpredict-discussion mailing list Gpredict-discussion(a)lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/gpredict-discussion

3 2

Chile - EchoLink
by Clint Bradford 13 Oct '10

13 Oct '10

Listening to EchoLink CE1RXF and another station very close to the rescue ... THIS is "reality TV" and ham radio shining. What an evening. Clint, K6LCS

1 0

Correction - ND9M schedule for Wednesday, Oct. 13
by Rick - WA4NVM 13 Oct '10

13 Oct '10

It was a test and John, K8YSE passed. The last pass on AO-51 should be 2337Z, not 2237Z. Thanks again John..... I would hate to have everyone off an hour. CU on the birds, Rick WA4NVM > Hi again, > > Jim asked me to post his plans for tomorrow, Oct. 13. > > He plans to spend the night in DN56. Not in concrete, but may be on the > morning pass of AO-51 at 1223Z from DN56. > > A chance he may be on SO-50 at 1445Z. I tried to talk him into this pass. > > Look for him on the HO-68 SSB pass at 1635Z from the DN56/DN57 grid lines. > > Then next up for Wednesday afternooon is AO-51 at 2200Z from DN66/DN67 > grids. Followed with a FO-29 pass at 2316Z (same grids) > > And finally another AO-51 pass at 2237Z from those same grids. > > I sure hope I didn't miss any passes he told me over the phone. If so, > I'm very sorry. If a bird flies..... I listen for Jim! > > 73 all, > Rick WA4NVM > _______________________________________________ > 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 >

1 0

Scout Jamboree on the Air -- Please let the Scouts have the birds.
by Tom Schuessler 13 Oct '10

13 Oct '10

Greetings satellite enthusiests, With the notice earlier today from the SO-67 ground crew opening up worldwide passes for this coming Jamboree on the Air weekend, there are now multiple opportunities for Amateur Satellite communications for the many JOTA stations globally. As an AMSAT member and as a organizer for a JOTA operation at the National Scouting Museum in Irving, TX (K2BSA/5), I am very excited for the possibility to have now many good passes for satellite demonstrations during our operating day. I am very invested in developing a great experience for the many Scouts who I expect to come through our event and also the many thousands worldwide who will experience Ham Radio and satellites, some for the first time. My request of the many regular satellite operators around the globe is this; please let Scout stations have preference on the birds this weekend. Like our effort, so many of these JOTA satellite demos will be low power and handheld. If they have to compete with big fixed guns, they can find themselves with little chance of making meaningful contacts with other Scout JOTA groups. My experience of being unable to bust through the din of an AO-27 pass at a Scout demo several weeks ago is still fresh. Our hope on JOTA weekend is to provide a meaningful introduction to Ham Radio to the Scouting community. Please let Scout JOTA demos have first chance at a pass. Please inhibit Packet activity on HO-68 as the satellite will be in "FM" only mode. Observe the "QRP" request for the AO-51 second repeater. And let's all slow down on AO-27 despite the short windows. Many Ham Radio operators got their first exposure during Scout events like JOTA. Let's hope this year we pick up some more. 73 de N5HYP Tom Schuessler 2713 Lake Gardens Drive Irving, Texas 75060 972-986-7456 214-403-1464 (Cell) n5hyp(a)arrl.net

1 0

ND9M schedule for Wednesday, Oct. 13
by Rick - WA4NVM 12 Oct '10

12 Oct '10

Hi again, Jim asked me to post his plans for tomorrow, Oct. 13. He plans to spend the night in DN56. Not in concrete, but may be on the morning pass of AO-51 at 1223Z from DN56. A chance he may be on SO-50 at 1445Z. I tried to talk him into this pass. Look for him on the HO-68 SSB pass at 1635Z from the DN56/DN57 grid lines. Then next up for Wednesday afternooon is AO-51 at 2200Z from DN66/DN67 grids. Followed with a FO-29 pass at 2316Z (same grids) And finally another AO-51 pass at 2237Z from those same grids. I sure hope I didn't miss any passes he told me over the phone. If so, I'm very sorry. If a bird flies..... I listen for Jim! 73 all, Rick WA4NVM

1 0

ND9M Update
by Rick - WA4NVM 12 Oct '10

12 Oct '10

Hi All, The plan right now is AO-51 tonight. First pass at 2239Z from grid DN58 and the 0018Z (10/13) from DN57. I will update tomorrows sked later. 73 all, Rick WA4NVM

1 0

Fwd: Counterfeit ICOM Alert
by Bruce 12 Oct '10

12 Oct '10

Be on the lookout. 73...bruce -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [CLARC] Counterfeit ICOM Alert Date: Tue, 12 Oct 2010 13:35:03 -0500 From: Alfred Perez <perez.alfred(a)gmail.com> To: N5VEV(a)ymail.com FYI to all, http://www.icom.co.jp/world/notice/index.html Alfred Perez Emergency Radio Communications N5VEV (832) 380-5867 24/7 Emergency Contact This also number accepts SMS - Text Messages (713) 927-7080 Backup Cell / / / Member:/ // <http://www.arrl.org/>/Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) <http://www.arrl.org/>/ /ARES STX DIST 14 South East (Harris County) <http://www.harriscountyares.org/>/ /ARES STX DIST 1 (Galveston County) <http://www.arrlstx.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=bl…>/ /Clear Lake Amateur Radio Club <http://www.clarc.org/>/ /Galveston County Emergency Communications Group <http://www.gcecg.org/>/ /Houston Amateur Mobile Society (H.A.M.S.) <http://www.2meterhams.org/>/

1 0

Re: LVB Tracker Problem
by WILLIAMS MICHAEL 12 Oct '10

12 Oct '10

Bob, I built the LVB tracker up from one of Howard's early bare boards. I had these problems interfacing to an old Wilson 550 rotor. I added relay circuits inside the old rotor box. The relay coils had supression diodes. The relays were switching 120 VAC which I think was the root cause. I started this project with the LVB tracker's power supplied from the rotor. I eventually gave the LVB tracker its own supply. Then I added supression circuirtry inside the LVB Tracker cabinet. I finally solved the problem and ran for years until the rotor just gave out mechanically. The spikes would stop the tracker in a pass when there was relay activity. Sometimes I could just power down/up and the LVB tracker everything would be OK. Sometimes reload SATPC32, and occassionally it would corrupt the calibration constants so I had to reload. One thing is certain, the LVB Tracker is a tough one. When the rotor gave out, I purchased a 5500. No problems using the 5500. Food for thought, and I don't want to send you down the wrong path. Listen to Howard. Good luck with your problem. Mike K9QHO

1 0

Reports on SO-67 over Europe please
by Ib Christoffersen 12 Oct '10

12 Oct '10

Hi all, Due to renovation of our house I do not have the possibility to monitor SO-67 and the rest of our satellites at the moment - and for the next couple of month. I would very much like to follow what is happening so please report on: http://oscar.dcarr.org/ This week SO-67 is scheduled to be active over Europe as seen in the e-mail from Andrew. Also the schedule is on: http://www.amsatsa.org.za/ As always we are secondary "passengers" so all the planned active passes may not be on. Thanks in advance. 73 OZ1MY Ib

1 0

Re: check your logs (please)
by John Becker 12 Oct '10

12 Oct '10

Thanks Bob. I would but can't since I did all the logging on a computer (only) at the time and it get hit by the big big lightning. Along with a ton of other stuff..... At 09:17 PM 10/11/2010, you wrote: >I'll check my AO-40 (sobsob) logs and if I can find you in there I'll send you a card > >73 Bob W7LRD

1 0

New PJs on the satellites
by John Geiger 12 Oct '10

12 Oct '10

Does anyone know if the DXpeditions to the "new" PJ entities plan on any satellite operation? I figure they are busy with HF operations right now but getting on for a few satellite passes once they have worked down the pileups on HF would sure be fun for the sat operators. 73s John AA5JG

1 0

Fw: Sumbandila schedule until 2010-10-17
by Andrew Glasbrenner 12 Oct '10

12 Oct '10

The Sumbandilasat and SA-AMSAT team has released their tentative activation times for this weekend, and it looks like North and South America will have many active passes. Keep in mind that many Scouts will be active for JOTA this weekend, so please make an extra effort to contact them and welcome them to amateur satellites. 73, Drew KO4MA PS Thank you to the Sumbandilasat and SA-AMSAT team, and also to Ed, N8BBQ for calculating the pass times. >----- >Sumbandila ham payload activations (times in UTC; active for 15 minutes): > >Africa > >2010-10-12 20:24 >2010-10-13 08:25 >2010-10-14 08:07 >2010-10-15 20:53 >2010-10-16 20:36 >2010-10-17 20:18 > >Europe > >2010-10-12 19:10 >2010-10-12 20:46 >2010-10-13 08:08 >2010-10-13 09:42 >2010-10-13 17:20 >2010-10-13 20:25 >2010-10-14 07:50 >2010-10-14 09:24 >2010-10-14 17:00 >2010-10-14 20:07 >2010-10-15 07:30 >2010-10-15 09:05 >2010-10-15 10:40 >2010-10-15 18:14 >2010-10-16 07:12 >2010-10-16 08:45 >2010-10-16 10:20 >2010-10-16 16:25 >2010-10-17 06:52 >2010-10-17 10:00 >2010-10-17 17:37 >2010-10-17 19:09 > >Americas (JOTA special event) > >2010-10-16 10:39 >2010-10-16 12:12 >2010-10-16 13:37 >2010-10-16 15:09 >2010-10-16 16:42 >2010-10-16 18:14 >2010-10-16 19:47 >2010-10-16 21:20 >2010-10-16 22:38 >2010-10-16 22:54 >2010-10-16 23:55 >2010-10-17 00:14 >2010-10-17 01:28 >2010-10-17 01:44 >2010-10-17 03:00 >2010-10-17 03:19 >2010-10-17 04:55 >2010-10-17 06:35 >2010-10-17 10:20 >2010-10-17 11:53 >2010-10-17 13:15 >2010-10-17 13:32 >2010-10-17 14:50 >2010-10-17 16:23 >2010-10-17 17:56 >2010-10-17 19:29 >2010-10-17 21:01 >2010-10-17 22:35

2 1

YouTube and ad income for AMSAT
by Andrew Glasbrenner 12 Oct '10

12 Oct '10

I've gotten an email from YouTube about adding ads to my AMSAT videos and getting paid for it. This might be a little bit of easy income for AMSAT, but I have a hard time believing it'd be worth it. Has anyone done this, and can you give me an idea of the amount of revenue per view? They don't even pay out until you reach $100. Drop me a line off -bb if you have insight into this. 73, Drew KO4MA

1 0

ND9M Road Trip Update #7
by claryco＠aol.com 12 Oct '10

12 Oct '10

We're looking at DN48 and DN58 during the AO27 passes that rise locally at about 12/2002Z and 12/2142Z (VOX a couple minutes later) and possibly DN57 when AO51 comes up locally at 12/2239Z. 73, Jim, ND9M / VQ9JC Great Falls MT / Cascade Co. / DN47

1 0

LVB Tracker problem
by Bob Herrell 12 Oct '10

12 Oct '10

Hi all, Lately my LVB Tracker (USB) has been stopping in the middle of a pass. It does not happen all the time, but lately it has been happening more often. When this happens I have to turn the G-5500 off/on then restart SatPC32. Has anyone experienced this with their tracker? I wonder if I should remove the USB chip and use the RS-232 port. Thanks. 73, Bob AJ5C

2 1

WD9EWK - Hardest Workin' AMSATter
by Clint Bradford 12 Oct '10

12 Oct '10

We have to create a "Hardest Workin' AMSAT Member" award, and give the first one to Patrick. When I perform my demos, he's ALWAYS out there. When he slides into his car, he is ALWAYS stopping alongside a highway to work a satellite. (Did you see the video he posted yesterday? He is LITERALLY stopped alongside a highway just to work a bird for our benefit.) I have seen him in action at a hamfest in Arizona ... I hope some of his energy and enthusiasm rubs off on us all. I am working on my PACIFICON presentation for this weekend in Sam Ramon, CA. Tentative passes to work while there are ... Friday, October 15 AO-51 4:56PM Pacific Daylight / 11:56 GMT Saturday, October 16 SO-50 9:12AM Pacific Daylight / 16:12 GMT AO-51 4:17PM Pacific Daylight / 2317 GMT Clint, K6LCS http://www.work-sat.com 909-241-7666

6 5

ARISSat-1 Info Added to AMSAT Web
by JoAnne Maenpaa 12 Oct '10

12 Oct '10

Hello Everyone, Thanks to the ARISSat-1 team for providing a copy of their Symposium presentation materials. Links to the following have been posted at http://www.amsat.org 1. ARISSat-1 color frequency guide 2. PDF copy of ARISSat-1 Overview presentation slides (~3MB) Lots more information will be published in the AMSAT Journal. -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm(a)amsat.org Editor, AMSAT News Service Copy Editor, AMSAT Journal

1 0