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

AMSAT-UK Colloquium 31 Jul/1 Aug - Hotel booking deadline
by Jim Heck 06 Jul '10

06 Jul '10

Hi Folks, Only a few days to go before the Holiday Inn in Guildford, Surry releases our reserved rooms., they will do this on 9 July, so there isnt a great deal of time to be sure of a room. Please contact Emily Morris in the Hotel's Business Centre on +44 (0) 1483 784437 emily.morris(a)ihg.com. Further info, prices etc is at http://www.uk.amsat.org/content/view/32/42/ Last year there were still rooms available after the deadline, but one or two delegates left it too late, and ended up in hotels in other parts of Guildford. SO PLEASE MAKE YOU BOOKING WITHIN THE NEXT WEEK TO BE SURE OF AVAILABILITY 73 Jim G3WGM Hon Sec AMSAT-UK

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VA7EWK on 0253 UTC AO7, 0307 UTC FO29, tonight
by Patrick STODDARD 05 Jul '10

05 Jul '10

Hi! I will work those two passes here in CO60gr before driving back to my motel 2+ hours down the island. Please feel free to call me if you hear me. 73! Patrick VA7EWK/WD9EWK - Port Hardy, British Columbia http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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Slovakia looking for trans-Atlantic sat skeds
by Bill Dzurilla 05 Jul '10

05 Jul '10

Hi, I am in Slovakia, grid JN88mf, for 3 more weeks and would like to make a few more trans-Atlantic sat QSOs before I leave. The windows are very short but it is doable. I have already worked Nick KB1RVT and Scott N1AIA via FM on HO-68. I have twice heard Joe K3SZH on AO-7 SSB with a good sig but have yet to complete a QSO with him. Please email me if we have a mutual footprint and you would like to make a sked. On AO-7, I usually call "CQ Stateside" around .160 when the bird is over W/VE. If you hear me, try to complete the QSO quickly, as my sig will go from strong to zero in a matter of seconds. 73, Bill NZ5N/OM9ACA

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QSL Cards - And an Apology
by Clint Bradford 05 Jul '10

05 Jul '10

I hate to admit it, but I have been neglectful in sending out QSL cards a couple times over the years. I remember receiving my first few when I started working the satellites with low power. Those were exciting to receive, indeed! But I let a couple slip by that wanted return QSL cards ... I will not do that again. I now realize that some hams are working on awards - awards that mandate physical, paper QSL cards. It takes only a minute or two to complete and run out to the mail box. And yours just might be the QSL card that makes an award happen for someone! So I apologize for my behavior in the past on this. I'll be a better, prouder "amateur radio operator" from now on. Clint Bradford, K6LCS 909-241-7666

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CO60 (or *maybe* CO50/CO60) tomorrow
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 05 Jul '10

05 Jul '10

Hi! I had planned on going to CO60/CO70 today, but could not find a good spot to work satellites out there. Lots of trees, hills, and being stuck at the bottom of valleys looking at obstructions up to almost 30 degrees of elevation to the east and southeast would have been no fun. I came back to Campbell River, where I spent last night after crossing the ferry from Vancouver, and went to the (very) nearby CN79/CO70 boundary. There is a monument near that spot, erected by the local Rotary group, to mark the 50th parallel. My GPS claimed the monument was just a little north of the actual line, and I spent the day working from that area. Being in Campbell River, I could simply take a short drive to get lunch and not have to pack food with me if I spent the day out in the forest not wanting to come back to town. I worked at least 13 passes, and logged at least 1 QSO on 11 of them. I worked SSB and FM, shallow passes and very high passes, and was able to put these grids in the logs of stations all over North America. Alvaro XE2AT was *very* happy with getting CO70 in his log this afternoon, and I'm sure there were others happy with either of both of these grids in their logs. I logged a total of 77 QSOs from CN79jx/CO70ja today. Adding in the 24 QSOs I logged last night from Vancouver, this is a great start for the radio part of my trip. And I'm doing sightseeing, and taking pictures as I go. Now for what will probably be the most ambitious driving I will do on this trip. I will go northwest from Campbell River into grid CO60 to some point where I get a good view of the sky for satellite work. If there are good roads beyond the town of Port Hardy at the far end of BC route 19, I may even be able to get out to the CO50/CO60 grid boundary. Port Hardy is at least 3 hours away from here, and it could be another hour or more from Port Hardy to the boundary line if there are roads good enough to drive out there. If I go out there, I have to come back from there, so you can imagine the distance I will cover (or visit a site like Google Maps to check it out for yourself). Depending on the surroundings at the times for the passes, I may stop and work some passes on my way to and from Port Hardy or the CO50/CO60 boundary, for more chances to get at least CO60 in logs. >From what I saw this morning, once I left Campbell River for at least the first 70km/43 miles or so away from this town, the GSM cell coverage went away. It does not pick up again until I am most of the way to Port Hardy. If, for some reason, I do not get to Port Hardy, the only way to know where I ended up would be to work passes in the daytime and early evening tomorrow. If I can get a signal on the cell, I should be able to scribble a quick e-mail here announcing my location. I will have my gear with me for both SSB and FM birds, and with AO-7 hopefully switching back to mode B late tomorrow afternoon I may even get on there before returning to Campbell River in the (late) evening. As for QSL cards, some have already said they were going to send me a card immediately. You may want to wait until after the coming week, so you can send requests for all QSOs that you may make with VA7EWK in a single envelope. For this trip, I would like to get QSL cards. SASEs are not required when working me via satellite, and I am happy to respond to QSL cards I receive with or without an SASE. I will most likely send out cards with SASEs, as I would like to see if I can reach VUCC after this week coupled with the trip I made to Vancouver in late 2008. It could be close. Thanks to all for the QSOs today. It was fun to work the passes and be in 16C/61F comfort for the entire day in Campbell River. Hope to hear you tomorrow from wherever I end up... 73! Patrick VA7EWK/WD9EWK - Campbell River, British Columbia http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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VA7EWK @ CO60 today (5 July)
by Patrick STODDARD 05 Jul '10

05 Jul '10

Hi! I am in Port Hardy on Vancouver Island, at the north end of the highway that runs most of the length of the island in grid CO60gr. During the morning, I took a detour just as I reached this town to CO50 on a logging road off route 19. Easy to navigate, but too many mountains without still more driving and maybe even some hiking to get to a workable spot. I backtracked to Port Hardy, found a parking area along the waterfront, and will operate from here. Some lower hills from 90 to 180 degrees, but workable. I have already worked 2 SO50 passes and an AO27 pass. I will try later passes on AO27, AO51, FO29, AO7 once it switches back to mode B, and even a couple of HO68 passes. If anyone in the far northern reaches of Europe can work HO68 later today at 2310-2317 or 0051-0101 UTC, those are times when I am in the footprint. Maybe we can hook up on one of those passes. As for tomorrow, I am looking at possibly CN78 on the Pacific side of this island as my destination for most of the day. Then Wednesday will be more sightseeing heading down toward the provincial capital of Victoria before crossing back to Vancouver for the remainder of the week. Probably not a lot of radio on Wednesday, but some - most likely from Victoria in CN88. I won't worry about working from CN89 on the island - it is regularly heard on the satellites. 73! Patrick VA7EWK/WD9EWK - Port Hardy, British Columbia http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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GO-32 not-operational
by Chris Bloy 05 Jul '10

05 Jul '10

Hi All, I have received the UK copy of Oscar news and there is an article stating that GO-32 is now non-operational and has completed its 11 year mission successful. However, due to the degraded state of the solar panels it cannot keep the software in a stable condition. The ground operating station has asked that we mark this satellite as no longer able to support any continued operation. It's a shame to hear as this was a great strong satellite for operating APRS on. All the best, Chris, M0DQO

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VA7EWK Arrived in CO60 5 July
by John Papay 05 Jul '10

05 Jul '10

Patrick has finally made it to Port Hardy BC on some very bad roads. He reports that his car looks like it was in the Baha road race. He tried SO-50 from CO50 at 1524z but heard no stations. He is now in CO60 and will be on the SO-50 pass at 1847-1900z. He should be on other passes including AO-27, AO-51 FO29 etc. today. Plans are indefinite for tomorrow. 73, John K8YSE

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Did Hayabusa Bring Back Asteroid Pieces?
by B J 05 Jul '10

05 Jul '10

http://spacecoalition.com/newsroom/japan-sample-probe-may-contain-bits-of-a… It may take a while before the investigators know for sure. 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL

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VA7EWK CO60 CO50
by John Papay 05 Jul '10

05 Jul '10

Patrick, WD9EWK/VA7EWK is on the road to Port Hardy BC this morning. He will likely be on the SO-50 passes at approximately 1533z, 1714z and 1857z as well as the one after that to the west. Operation will likely be from CO60 along the way, ending up in CO50 later this afternoon for the AO-27 passes. Patrick reports that there are a lot of trees so it is difficult to find places where he can see the horizon. He mentions all equipment is working well and he will be on the linear transponders as well as the fm ones. There is an FM HO-68 pass around 1745z today (5 July) that he will likely be on. 73, John K8YSE

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