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

Re: timing
by Wayne Estes 13 Dec '10

13 Dec '10

When you launch WinAOS, you have the opportunity to specify which Keps file to use. Make sure WinAOS uses the same "Source File" as SatPC32. Wayne Estes W9AE Oakland, Oregon, USA

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UO-SAT 11 1515z 13dec2010
by John Marranca, Jr 13 Dec '10

13 Dec '10

This morning, at 1515, I copied UoSAT-11 at near S5 as it approached FN02ox. The bird still sounds great after all these years! Too bad AO-16 can't wake up like that! John KB2HSH

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Dual Yaesu Rigs on SatPC32
by Howard Kowall 13 Dec '10

13 Dec '10

Hello to all Trying to cal my dual rig control on SatPC32 V12.8a I adjust the receive cat till I hear my voice proper aprox -1.3 kHz on FO29 I reset it to 0 then adjust the cat for transmitter to +1.3kHz I click change/store data file button,then click uplink cal button I restart SatPC32 and try again on FO29 now I am out aprox -2.6khz Anyone else had any Issues,I read the Doppler.sqf file and the math is correct Hmm Thanks all who read and reply Howard VE4ISP

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VO1DZX/VO2 in FO62 (Labrador) Until Dec31
by Zachary Beougher 13 Dec '10

13 Dec '10

Hi All, Daniel, VO1DZX is operating portable VO2 from Labrador (FO62) until December 31. Daniel reports that bad operating conditions and lack of transportation will probably keep him from working any additional grids. The morning passes are too early and the early afternoon passes take place while he is still at work, so the best time to find him will be on the late afternoon/early evening AO51 passes as long as he can get on. Weekends will be a good time to catch him as well. 73! Zack KD8KSN

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Re: Fwd: Alouette
by Andrew Squires 13 Dec '10

13 Dec '10

Well done Alan , you should put your reply up on the BBS I am sure we will weed out a VE who will know the whole story !How were you tied to the Alouette program ? From memory we used to command and record the data from the satellites a few times a day on a regular schedule.I was working at Orroral valley at the time. cheers Andy vk3as On 13/12/2010, at 2:29 PM, Alan Cresswell wrote: > Hi, > > I also had a lot to do with these satellites and may still have the handbooks somewhere but it was a long time ago. > The series of satellites was the Alouette/ISIS series (Canadian, 4 satellites) and ISIS-2 had the most sophisticated VLF receiver (And topside sounder) on board. > Essentially an audio amplifier attached to an antenna, and there is certainly a lot of interesting “whistlers” etc almost continuously available. > Just another option I guess. > > 73 > Alan > ZL2BX > > From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] On Behalf Of Andrew Squires > Sent: Monday, 13 December 2010 02:16 > To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org > Subject: [amsat-bb] Fwd: Alouette > > > > Begin forwarded message: > > > From: Andrew Squires <asquires(a)bigpond.net.au> > > Date: 13 December 2010 1:14:50 PM AEDT > > To: kd2bd(a)yahoo.com > > Subject: Alouette > > > > John read with interest you posting on the Amsat board.I used to work for NASA in the 70's and we used to track a satellite called Alouette (spelling?).It was a Canadian satellite and officially listed as a top side sounder.It would listen to the VLF band and the sounds it recorded were amazing,sounds of lighting and the aurora etc.You may be able to find something via google? > > cheers Andy VK3AS > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 10.0.1170 / Virus Database: 426/3311 - Release Date: 12/12/10 >

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Fwd: Alouette
by Andrew Squires 13 Dec '10

13 Dec '10

Begin forwarded message: > From: Andrew Squires <asquires(a)bigpond.net.au> > Date: 13 December 2010 1:14:50 PM AEDT > To: kd2bd(a)yahoo.com > Subject: Alouette > > John read with interest you posting on the Amsat board.I used to work for NASA in the 70's and we used to track a satellite called Alouette (spelling?).It was a Canadian satellite and officially listed as a top side sounder.It would listen to the VLF band and the sounds it recorded were amazing,sounds of lighting and the aurora etc.You may be able to find something via google? > cheers Andy VK3AS >

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Re: LF Satellite ideas?
by G. Beat 13 Dec '10

13 Dec '10

Bob - I apoligize for the tardinesss of reply to your query. December is a busy time for me with projects finishing and planning for 2011 projects. I would suggest the University of Alaska's work with Red Sprites and Blue Jets. http://elf.gi.alaska.edu/ What are Red Sprites and Blue Jets? Red sprites and blue jets are upper atmospheric optical phenomena associated with thunderstorms that have only recently been documented using low light level television technology. The first images of a sprite were accidently obtained in 1989 (Franz et al. , 1990). Beginning in 1990, about twenty images have been obtained from the space shuttle (Vaughan et al. , 1992; Boeck et al. , 1994). Since then, video sequences of well over a thousand sprites have been captured. These include measurements from the ground ( Lyons, 1994; Winckler, 1995) and from aircraft (Sentman and Wescott, 1993; Sentman et al. , 1995 ). Numerous images have also been obtained from aircraft of blue jets ( Wescott et al. , 1995 ), also a previously unrecorded form of optical activity above thunderstorms. Blue jets appear to emerge directly from the tops of clouds and shoot upward in narrow cones through the stratosphere. Their upward speed has been measured to be about 100 km per second. Anecdotal reports of "rocket-like" and other optical emissions above thunderstorms go back more than a century (Lyons, 1994), and there have been several pilot reports of similar phenomena (Vaughan and Vonnegut, 1989). Possibly associated gamma ray bursts and TIPPS have also recently reported. Together, these phenomena suggest that thunderstorms exert a much greater influence on the middle and upper atmospheres than was previously suspected. ==== Specific to your VLF capabilities on this satellite ...... Look at the 1997 PhD disseration by Steve Cummer submitted to the Department of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University: Lightning and Ionospheric Remote Sensing Using VLF/ELF Radio Atmospherics http://www-star.stanford.edu/~vlf/publications/theses/cummerthesis.pdf at Stanford University: Lightning and Ionospheric Remote Sensing Using VLF/ELF Radio Atmospherics http://www-star.stanford.edu/~vlf/publications/theses/cummerthesis.pdf This research was supported by the Office of Naval Research through grants N00014-93-1-1201 and N00014-95-1-1095, by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research through grant F49620-97-1-0468, and by the Air Force Phillips Laboratory through grant F19628-96-C-0149. ==== That should get you started Bob. Greg w9gb ------------------------------ Message: 16 Date: Sat, 11 Dec 2010 14:13:33 -0500 (EST) From: "Bob Bruninga " <bruninga(a)usna.edu> Subject: [amsat-bb] LF Satellite ideas? To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Message-ID: <20101211141333.AGV57516(a)msan1.usna.edu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Is 137 KHz possible from space? Our next Cubesat will have a 1100 meter long antenna (think tether satellite). It will ultimatelly be an electrodynamic tether but the first one will have NO ACTIVE ELECTRONICS connected to the tether. So I have asked them to make it 1100m long instead of a generic 1km tether to try to make it resonant in an amateur band. THe path loss at 137 KHz is 60 dB LESS than it is at 2 meters, so it shouldn't take much to communicate with an 1100m long antenna. I'm sorry I didnt think of this sooner, but I need a real SCIENCE justification for this. Maybe LF that low will never punch through the ionosphere, or maybe it will be completely absorbed. Can give good science on this idea? Bob, WB4APR ------------------------------ Message: 16 Date: Sat, 11 Dec 2010 14:13:33 -0500 (EST) From: "Bob Bruninga " <bruninga(a)usna.edu> Subject: [amsat-bb] LF Satellite ideas? To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Message-ID: <20101211141333.AGV57516(a)msan1.usna.edu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Is 137 KHz possible from space? Our next Cubesat will have a 1100 meter long antenna (think tether satellite). It will ultimatelly be an electrodynamic tether but the first one will have NO ACTIVE ELECTRONICS connected to the tether. So I have asked them to make it 1100m long instead of a generic 1km tether to try to make it resonant in an amateur band. THe path loss at 137 KHz is 60 dB LESS than it is at 2 meters, so it shouldn't take much to communicate with an 1100m long antenna. I'm sorry I didnt think of this sooner, but I need a real SCIENCE justification for this. Maybe LF that low will never punch through the ionosphere, or maybe it will be completely absorbed. Can give good science on this idea? Bob, WB4APR

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Re: Amateur Satellite Frequency Allocations (LF)
by Trevor . 12 Dec '10

12 Dec '10

Hi Art, Thanks for the reply. --- On Sun, 12/12/10, W4ART Arthur Feller <afeller(a)ieee.org> wrote: > The general principle is that the amateur-satellite service has > frequency allocations in bands where the amateur service has frequency > allocations in all three ITU regions. I'm not so sure that's so. The amount of new Amateur Satellite Service spectrum allocated by ITU since the mid 1970's is ZERO but the Amateur Service world-wide has gained spectrum. > The only exceptions are in the bands 1260-1270 MHz and 5650-5670 MHz, > which are limited to the Earth-to-space direction, and 3400-3410 MHz, > which are available in Regions 2 and 3. See RR 5.282. As you say back in the 70's 1260 and 5650 MHz were made Earth to Space only. Does anyone know why this restriction was put in place ? Or even if the reason for this restriction still applies 35 years later ? > So, until broadcasters vacate 7100-7200 in Regions 1 and 3, the > amateur-satellite service won't have a frequency allocation. > Make sense?? No, an Amateur Satellite Service allocation at 7.1-7.2MHz is not on the agenda for the next WRC in 2012 and currently IARU has no plans to ever ask for one! See IARU spectrum requirements at: http://www.iaru.org/ac-09spec.pdf In it's entire history the IARU has not gained any ITU Primary Amateur Satellite allocations in the bands above 146 MHz. We have no Primary allocations above 146MHz until you get to 24GHz. While it is encouraging to see that IARU would like to see Amateur Satellite Service allocations at 50MHz and 3400MHz there are no other proposed Amateur Satellite Service allocations on its agenda. The ARRL is by far the largest financial donor to IARU and so carries the most clout. If ARRL isn't persuaded of the need for additional Amateur Satellite Service allocations they won't happen. 73 Trevor M5AKA

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LF Satellite ideas?
by Bob Bruninga 12 Dec '10

12 Dec '10

Is 137 KHz possible from space? Our next Cubesat will have a 1100 meter long antenna (think tether satellite). It will ultimatelly be an electrodynamic tether but the first one will have NO ACTIVE ELECTRONICS connected to the tether. So I have asked them to make it 1100m long instead of a generic 1km tether to try to make it resonant in an amateur band. THe path loss at 137 KHz is 60 dB LESS than it is at 2 meters, so it shouldn't take much to communicate with an 1100m long antenna. I'm sorry I didnt think of this sooner, but I need a real SCIENCE justification for this. Maybe LF that low will never punch through the ionosphere, or maybe it will be completely absorbed. Can give good science on this idea? Bob, WB4APR

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timing
by Jack Barbera 12 Dec '10

12 Dec '10

Thanks everyone for getting back to me! I did go thru and check the settings for both program and they look good. There are two areas that could be the culprits ,if the WinAos is a sperate program how do I up date the keps? the second area is that I am 205 mtrs about sea level and could not find where to set in the WinAos program if it is necessary/. thanks for any help Jack WA1ZDV

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