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

Re: future apogee calculation
by Vince Fiscus, KB7ADL 25 Feb '10

25 Feb '10

At 05:07 PM 2/25/2010 +0000, Bob- W7LRD <w7lrd(a)comcast.net> wrote: >Hello Is there a "easy" way of figuring out where/when a given apogee will >at a given lat.long?Â I want to try to predetermine when the apogee will >be on AO-7 to favor the northern hemisphere.Â To "maybe" help in dx >contacts.Â The difference is only bout 17km in altitude, it just might >streeeetch the footprint enough.Â Also just how much does the 17km add to >the footprint?Â 73 Bob W7LRD Bob, I don't think the difference between apogee and perigee on a LEO with a fairly circular orbit really makes that much of difference. So instead of the apogee, what you really want to know are all the longitudes where the sub satellite point reaches it's most northern most latitude. You could probably write on script for filtering the output of some of the older satellite tracking programs that only makes a date-time-latitude-and-longitude entry whenever the SSP gets above a certain latitude. KB7ADL

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CAMSAT Contacts
by Clint Bradford 25 Feb '10

25 Feb '10

If someone personally knows either Alan Kung, BA1DU or Shaomin Fan, BA1EO, would you please write me off-list for a personal inquiry? Many thanks. Clint Bradford, K6LCS 909-241-7666

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Request for information : Forecasting number of smallsats - worldwide
by Florio Dalla Vedova 25 Feb '10

25 Feb '10

Dear AMSAT-BB Readers, Please find here below the message I am sending out in these days to known Developers of smallsats. Should you be part, or be aware of ongoing projects please contact me and forward freely. TU "Our Company has been asked to forecast the number of nanosats (1-10 kg) and microsats (10-100 kg) to be launched in the coming years. May we kindly ask you to support our efforts in providing us information about all your current/future projects ? Thank you very much. Please format your information as per following : Mission or Satellite Name / Satellite Mass [kg] / Satellite stowed dimensions, without appendages (Side 1 [cm] x Side 2 [cm] x Height [cm]) / (future) Launch year / Number of satellites in launcher. If interested to do so, please attach in your reply whatever documentation you consider useful for our activity (i.e. describing mission objectives, ...) Once compiled, we propose ourselves to provide you (in June 2010) the results of our analysis. Please forward this message to other persons/entities you know are working on nanosats/microsats. Thank you for support," Best 73s de LX2DV/IW2NMB, Florio (AMSAT-Italia) for LuxSpace Sàrl, Luxembourg (www.luxspace.lu <http://www.luxspace.lu> )

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College Satellite next Thursday evening
by Dr. Jay Garlitz 25 Feb '10

25 Feb '10

It's time for another College Satellite night! We hope to see you on the birds Thursday evening March 4th from 22:00 UTC to 0500 UTC. College Satellite nights are a monthly event held the first Thursday of the month. Mark your calendar and spread the word to college hams/club stations that you know! College club stations plan on being on birds AO51, SO50, AO7, VO52, HO-68 and FO-29. Welcome and make QSOs with them as we are planning on creating an award for working college club stations on satellite. 73, Dr. Jay Garlitz, AA4FL Gator ARC Faculty Advisor at UF, W4DFU trustee www.gatorradio.org <http://www.gatorradio.org/>

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ND9M Road Trip Update #14
by claryco＠aol.com 24 Feb '10

24 Feb '10

I'll be on from EL06 during tomorrow's (Thursday) SO50 pass at 25/1951Z and AO27 pass at 25/2018Z. If we get into the grid in time, I'll also be on the earlier SO50 pass which rises locally at 25/1812. >From there, we'll overnight near Corpus Christi so that I can operate from the EL17 / EL18 line on Friday. SO50 comes up at 26/1840Z followed by AO27 at 26/1950Z. Saturday should see us pass through the Houston area, and I expect to be on the EL28 / EL29 line for two AO27 passes and a SO50 pass that afternoon. Then we'll head for DM91 at a rate of two or three grids per day. 73, Jim, ND9M / VQ9JC Laredo, TX / EL07 =

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patch antenna for AO-51
by Aa4mi＠aol.com 24 Feb '10

24 Feb '10

Can't find it on the UK web site. ???

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Next HV Satcom Group net nate
by Stuart Balanger 24 Feb '10

24 Feb '10

*To all, The next "HV Satcom Group net" date is Thursday March 4 2010 on the 146.97MHz. repeater Time 8PM (EST) or 0100UTC (March 5)' & the echolink node is N2EYH-L node More info: www.hvsatcom.org 73,.Stu Ballinger (WA2BSS) *

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FT857/ft897 on FM sats
by John Geiger 24 Feb '10

24 Feb '10

Is anyone on the list using a Yaesu FT857D or FT897D on the FM satellites? If so, could you please email me direct as I have a couple of questions I want to ask about them. 73s John AA5JG

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Re: AO-51 V/S
by Ron Miles 24 Feb '10

24 Feb '10

Angelo and All: Equipment here similar to Angelo's and perhaps common to many other operators. For S band downlink, I use the grill dish and the K5GNA AIDC 3731 downconverter directly behind feed. Receive downlink at 145Mhz IF then feeds an FT897D. RG6 coax works fine through a bias T for 13.8Vdc. S meter will easily reach full scale. FT736R operates 2M uplink. SATPC32 for doppler tuning and Unitrack for rotor G5500 control. No desense issues or front end overload with this crossband operation. For AO-40, I had a 3', off-set dish with helix feed for S band operation. However, that size dish had too much wind load. Also, found in my brag file: I use Keyspan and Prolific serial to USB adapters as these products seem to handle data packet transfer better than other adapters I've used. An Ultra 7 port USB hub from Tigerdirect handles the above operations as well as CAT control for all radios and PK232 TNC packet and Morse code operation. 73, Ron, n6paa *************** The equipment is very modest. A bbq grill dish 2x3 feet, the downconverter is the K5GNA with RG-6 running about 50 feet long. No additional preamp needed with the K5GNA downconverter. The noise level in the shack is about S3. I use two rigs when operating the V/S mode. With SatPC32, I have a second configuration setup. The IF is going to be rig #1 (Kenwood TS-2000) which is connected to the K5GNA downconverter. Rig #2 is connected to my ICOM 910 as the transmitter. SATPC32 also control the rotor system with the G8LVB tracker connected to the Yaesu G-5500. The dish and downconverter I paid if I recalled correctly was about 175.00 plus shipping for K5GNA. I do not know if he still makes the packages available anymore. I know he was waiting for Eagle or P3D to lauch before he goes back to selling them. Enjoy, 73 de Angelo

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Plastic weatherproof box
by Jeff Yanko 24 Feb '10

24 Feb '10

Hi all, I'm in a project which needs plastic weatherproof box. No holes in the box would be ok since I can drill them, run the cables then seal it very well. Looking for 10x10x4, 12x12x4. I've checked Home Depot and they have nothing. Does anybody know would might carry such an item? You can contact me off -bb. 73, Jeff WB3JFS

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