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

FO-29?
by Bob Cutter 06 May '10

06 May '10

Is it operational? 73, Bob KIØG

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Re: Field Day AO-51 configuration - another option
by John Papay 06 May '10

06 May '10

There seems to be multiple goals at play here. I'm not sure that there is one mode that will be best suited for all of them. Goal 1: Provide a mode that will encourage non-satellite hams to become interested in AMSAT based on what they see at Field Day. Some think that if you reduce the qrm by using L/U or L/S, more will be likely to get into satellites because there is no crowding and no sign of chaos during Field Day. Why present a false impression? Things do get crowded; you find a way to make your contact in spite of the conditions. Think about it and find a way that works for you. Refine it based on experience. This is what ham radio is all about. There is no best way that works for everyone. You just work with what you have. If you want a clear private channel, satellites are not the solution. Limiting AO-51 to L/U or L/S means that not many clubs will be using AO-51 to demonstrate satellite operations to the non-satellite people. Not many have equipment for these modes; most will try a V/U bird and not bother with AO-51 if it is in L/U or L/S. The driving force for clubs to work satellites is the 100 bonus points. Since most people have FM radios, they are going to try for the V/U birds. This is the entry level for any new satellite operator. You don't start with L/U or L/S because it is costly compared to V/U and we don't have a bird that is in those modes very often. Goal 2: Make working AO-51 challenging It is certainly a challenge to get things working on L/S or L/U. Only a few have equipment that they use when AO-51 is in these modes. It's mostly the same people every time and a very small percentage of the total satellite population. You are not challenging very many by using these modes; only a few will try. Goal 3: Get more people to participate in the AMSAT contest that runs concurrently with Field Day. A voice contact on AO-51 mode L/U or L/S is worth one point. If you are trying win a contest, why expend all that effort to get on these modes when the reward is only one point? If you want people to spend the effort to get on these modes, make it worth their while. Give 25 points for an L/U or L/S contact. I might even take down my 13T W7LRD Helix and haul it over to field day for 25 points! Otherwise it's going to stay right where it is on the tower. Now a few notes about my experience from last year's field day contest: The Northern Ohio DX Association placed first in the AMSAT competition in 2009, Doug KD8CAO made the voice contacts and I made the CW contacts. We were the only entry that made both a L/U and a V/U contact on AO-51. Interestingly, we were not able to complete a contact on AO-27. We did make a contact on SO-50. We were also very fortunate to make a contact with the ISS and that, by far, created the most excitement at our Field Day even if it did not count as a qso for the ARRL or the AMSAT competition. You make your points on the SSB/CW birds. We had 24 SSB contacts and 15 CW contacts on AO-7, VO-52 and FO-29. If we have HO-68 in this mode for Field Day, you can expect scores to be higher than in 2009. The linear birds were pretty crowded and there was qrm. But it was no different than operating on the HF bands as someone else mentioned. Those that were watching and listening were certainly not discouraged. One of the top contenders in last year's AMSAT Field Day competition would not work us because they had made a contact with us on another bird. So you waste time trying to contact someone and finally get through only to be told you're a dupe. Yes, you are a dupe under the ARRL rules so you can't count the contact there, but you can and should count the qso for the AMSAT competition. There is no conflict here; you just don't submit those ARRL "dupes" as valid qso's. You can be in both contests and play by both rules. Suggestion for 2010: If at all possible, run the same modes as last year, L/U and V/U. Adjust the power levels to 400mw on each transmitter if the power budget will allow it. If only one transmitter can be supported, use V/U. Many more will try to make a contact and that is what we want to encourage. If you have it in L/U or L/S, not many will try. We should be striving for a mode that will be attempted by as many clubs as possible. AO-27 is a great bird but it is always at a high elevation over the US when it is "on." You can work AO-51 when it is much lower on the horizon, thereby reducing the number of stations trying to use it. You are more likely to make a V/U contact on AO-51 than you are on AO-27 because of that. Our experience last year bears this out. I think there is more potential to make qso's on AO-51 in the V/U mode this year because the first pass comes over the east coast very early, around 5am Sunday morning. If the bird is in L/S for Saturday's passes, the mode should be switched to V/U early in that pass out over the Atlantic if that plan is chosen. Last year the first pass was at 6:45am EDST. NODXA will be on the birds at Field Day this year but it is likely that we will not be out to win. I'm planning a very casual operation. Our callsign is W8DXA. Good luck in the contest! 73, John K8YSE John Papay john(a)papays.com

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S Band interference was RE: Re: Field Day mode for AO-51
by Gary "Joe" Mayfield 06 May '10

06 May '10

Joe, My neighbors have several "wireless" devices that operate close enough to our frequencies to raise my noise level or produce a series of clicks and other noises. The worst offenders are a wireless network and a cordless phone. During the AO-40 era I bought a cordless phone from a neighbor that was very troublesome. I have since moved to a country location, and find it interesting that I can tell what direction town is by moving my antenna (pointed at the horizon) and listening to the noise level on mode S. 73, Joe kk0sd -----Original Message----- From: Joe v Murray [mailto:k0vty@juno.com] Sent: Tuesday, May 04, 2010 10:43 PM To: gary_mayfield(a)hotmail.com Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: Field Day mode for AO-51 Hi Joe Your comment about Mode S interference interests me I have not been on since AO-40 In those days there was no interference on mode S. Unless it was another Ham. Would you kindly explain? Thanks Joe K0VTY =================== On Tue, 4 May 2010 22:22:54 -0500 "Gary \"Joe\" Mayfield" <gary_mayfield(a)hotmail.com> writes: > I have L band gear. When the bird is in L/U Luc and I have a great > time > talking to each other. When the bird is in V/U I'll make half a > dozen or > more contacts in a pass. I voted for mode L, because I didn't > believe V/U > was an option and S band is becoming too full of interference. > > I have a couple questions: > > 1. The folks who can't eek out a contact with the handheld and > Arrow during > Field Day, have you practiced? It's how I have done it the last > couple of > years without that much trouble, patience and timing are the keys > :-). We > have a good Field Day location where I can see down to the horizon. > > 2. Has the single contact per FM bird rule really helped anyone? > In the > old days a couple big stations got on and essentially ran the bird. > Is it > fair? NO! but they handed out a lot of QSOs and we seemed to get > more AMSAT > Field Day entries as well. > > The one bird one contact has been a noble experiment, maybe it is > time to > examine the results. > > Hats off to the controllers for starting the discussion! > > 73, Just My Thoughts, > Joe kk0sd > > > -----Original Message----- > From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] > On > Behalf Of Andrew Glasbrenner > Sent: Monday, May 03, 2010 4:33 PM > To: Ng, Peter > Cc: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org; ao51-modes(a)amsat.org > Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Field Day mode for AO-51 > > Ng, Peter wrote: > > ...sorry, I meant to vote for V/U mode as I only have VHF/UHF > equipment! > > > > > Keep in mind there will likely be three or four transponders birds, > and > two to four other FM birds available that weekend! > > It's been my perception that a good portion of AMSAT's sustaining > members leave and breathe the highest tech they can manage. Eight > out of > eight satellites being V/U seems counter to that goal. > > Mark and Bob both make good points supporting at least one area of > refuge for this portion of the AMSAT population. Personally, I think > the > V/U FM experience on Field Day is a big turnoff to newbies, > especially > since so many under-prepared, over-powered and out of practice > once-a-year sat ops fail miserably to get those bonus points on FM. > > I bet someone in your area has 1.2 Ghz capability! > > 73, Drew KO4MA > _______________________________________________ > 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 > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > > ____________________________________________________________ Penny Stock Jumping 2000% Sign up to the #1 voted penny stock newsletter for free today! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4be0eafed92c15962am03vuc

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Please help - ideas?
by Michae J. Wolthuis 06 May '10

06 May '10

I have an ongoing problem with my Elevation rotor of my g-5500 setup. It has been in to Yaesu who said it was fine. The controller was not sent in only the actual EL hardware because when I first got it this occurred right away when I installed my new site and the AZ rotor seemed to work fine on either the AZ or the EL terminals, so Yaesu determined it must be the EL itself, it appears maybe not. The problem is that sometimes hitting the up button or the down button results in no change. It acts as though it is stuck. Now some observations maybe to help. 1) It didn't happen in the cold all winter 2) Sometimes it can be fixed by hitting the opposite direction of what I am trying to move and then quickly flipping to the other direction 3) If I wait sometimes 10-15mins it will then work perfectly 4) Once it has been moved it seems to easily continue moving 5) Problem usually occurs at low and high angles but not in between 6) Sometimes if I throw the power switch off and on then it will start working 7) I have confirmed things are well balanced Does anyone have any recommendations? This is very frustrating when an AO-51 80deg pass comes over and the antennas are stock at 3deg. The AZ works every time perfectly. Now that it is warmer this is getting to be a greater and great issue and happening nearly every few passes I try to work. Please note the ham shack does not have the AC on yet and sits around 75degs currently during the peak of the day.. Thanks to all for suggestions and ideas, this is really beyond frustrating. I know this may be a repeat post also, but when it started working in the colder winter months I thought it was fixed and deleted any suggestions previously sent. Mike Kb8zgl

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Re: FO-29? Look at the report page
by Bob Cutter 05 May '10

05 May '10

I did, but the yellow "sometimes" arrows prompted my inquiry. Sorry. 73, Bob KIØG On May 5, 2010, at 2:58 PM, "OZ1MY" <oz1my(a)privat.dk> wrote: Hi Bob, It is always a good idea to look at the report page: http://oscar.dcarr.org It is there to help us :-) 73 OZ1MY Ib ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bob Cutter" <ki0g(a)yahoo.com> To: "amsat-bb" <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 2010 7:52 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] FO-29? Is it operational? 73, Bob KIØG _______________________________________________ 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

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Indian Small Satellite Systems Conference -1
by Prathap Kumar 05 May '10

05 May '10

Hi All A week late , sorry thought I had posted it here but heres the report. Amsat India was invited to attended the Indian Small Satellite Systems Conference -1 conducted 28 April 2010 , at ISRO Bangalore. Amsat India was represented by Ganesan ( our Hamsat 2 designer) and myself VU2POP ISSSC was a one day programme from 9 am to 5.30 pm . It was very interesting and as many papers were presented & topics discussed the time was short it got over by 7 pm. One day is too short and hopefullu next year it will be 2 days. However we thank ISRO for kickstarting a very interestng platform for interaction of ISRO with various educational institutions including Amsat India who are into ham satellite projects. Important topics were on the current Small satellite develpoments and the future trends of small satellites including Mini, Micro, Pico sats etc. Hamsat VO-52 too falls into the small sats, to add many students all over the world have been building student sats as projects and in India too, nearly 26 Universties have got into building student sats with various payloads. Most Ednl. intitutions already have a ham club and some institutions are now setting up ham clubs in their institutions to help learn more of ham satellite operations and facilitate building ham band payloads. As of now most of them are either digital with only beacon downlink and no voice transponder. In the next couple of months you will find many cube sats etc with experimental payloads launched. Amsat India has 2 linear tranponders ready and we Amsat India are asking ISRO for a higher orbit to cover a larger foot print and longer pass duration. Its no use having another LEO as HAMSAT 1 Hamsat 1 will be celebrating its 5th birthday on 5 May and ISTRAC has been monitoring its health and its utilisation, they report that Hamsat 1 is in good health and should serve the hams for many more years. In this regard there was an email by VU2WMY Mani a few days ago asking for USER feedback like utilisation & experiences by hams all over the world with Hamsat 1 Please send in your reports , utilisation and experiences with Hamsat by email and the same will be forwarded to ISRO. Looking forward to all your reports comments. We would like to thank ISRO for the HAMSAT 1 and we look forward to HAMSAT 2 Finally we thank Programme Dir and Project Director - Small Satellite & Uppagrah Amateur Radio Club for the kind invitaion to particpate in the ISSSC-1 and we look forward to many such platforms for the development of small satellite systems with the participation Educational Institutions & Amsat India. Best regards Pop VU2POP Dir Technical Amsat India Hams who attended VU2WMY, VU2GDX, VU2RVJ, Ganesan , Chandraskar new hams & myself VU2POP.

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AMSAT Plug in New Technician Study Guide
by Clint Bradford 05 May '10

05 May '10

I have a couple of pages in the back of the new Technician Study Guide published by Gordon West / W5YI. It is shipping this week. And it will be at Dayton. AMSAT is, of course, prominently mentioned! Clint, K6LCS

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IARU Amateur Services Spectrum Requirements Updated
by Trevor . 05 May '10

05 May '10

Revised requirements for the Amateur and Amateur Satellite Services are now available on the IARU website at http://www.iaru.org/ac-09spec.pdf Of interest to the Amateur Satellite community are: 3.10 50–54 MHz The Amateur Service requires retention of the exclusive 50-MHz allocation where it now exists, and provision of an allocation of at least 2 MHz in other geographic areas, with at least 500 kHz on an exclusive basis. A harmonised allocation for the Amateur Satellite Service is also sought, to bridge the gap between 28 MHz and 144 MHz. 3.12 420-450 MHz The Amateur Service requires retention of the existing allocations in the 420-450 MHz band and opposes new uses by other services or low-power devices except where sharing or compatibility studies have been satisfactorily concluded. The Amateur-Satellite Service relies heavily on the sub-band 435-438 MHz, which presently is the only space-to-Earth amateur allocation between 146 MHz and 2.4 GHz. Because of the crowding of the existing band 435-438 MHz with unmanned amateur satellites and manned space stations, it is desirable to study expansion of the band. Sharing in this band with the Radiolocation Service has been successful over many decades because of geographic separation and other factors. Recently, in the United States there has been interference from amateur stations to radiolocation stations, which has been resolved on a case-by-case basis by mitigation techniques or by taking amateur repeaters off the air. A growing concern to the Amateur Service is the proliferation of low power devices in the ISM band 433.05-434.79 MHz (centre frequency 433.92 MHz) permitted in some European countries under RR No. 5.280. 3.13 1240-1300 MHz The Amateur Service seeks retention of the band 1240-1300 MHz. The Amateur-Satellite Service seeks retention of the band 1260-1270 MHz and deletion of the "Earth-to-space only" restriction. WRC-2000 allocated the band 1240-1300 MHz to the radiodetermination-satellite service for space-to-space use. In addition, WRC-2000 allocated the band 1260-1300 MHz to the radiodetermination-satellite service for space-to-Earth use such as for the European Galileo positioning system. These actions do not change the Amateur and Amateur-Satellite Service allocations but present new sharing situations and potential operating restrictions. It is particularly good to see the inclusive of an Amateur Satellite Service allocation at 50 MHz. Hopeful satellite users and AMSAT organisations will continuing working through their National Societies I sure we could all think of some other "it would be nice to have" allocations for the Amateur Satellite Service such as 1240-1250 and 2390-2400 but achieving the above is a good first step. 73 Trevor M5AKA Daily Amateur Radio Email/RSS News: http://www.southgatearc.org/ Email Your News To: editor at southgatearc.org Or Upload Using Form At: http://www.southgatearc.org/news/your_news_1.htm ----

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SSB/CW bird
by Dave Guimont 05 May '10

05 May '10

Hi Pop, Great news on ur ssb/cw satellite!! FM users, find yourselves some real radios, and get in on the fun.. I see loads of them on the various used markets, and at good prices...they don't have all the bells and whistles, but certainly usable... And now another satellite available... Continued successes, Pop.... 73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1(a)san.rr.com Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E...

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USB to Serial Converters
by Frank Woolfe 05 May '10

05 May '10

Is anyone using a USB to Serial converter successfully to control a FT847?? Frank VK5KV..

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