January 2011 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

Vucc and other $
by Ellis Foley 25 Jan '11

25 Jan '11

Return Mail to wa1rks(a)yahoo.com I have been a league member since 1972,and am on the verge of not being that.I see no justification for the monies that have been passed on to the members on a lot of things. I dub it poor management on their part.We seem to be getting less and less provided for us. Things that used to be free. I do all the awards, collect cards for all of them. For my own satisfaction. I will not pay those exorbitant fees ! Fixed incomes don't allow for such extravaganza's and I think it hurts all way round. As far as previous explanations,? you can put lipstick and a dress on a pig, its still a pig! My 2 cents worth.

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Android Sat Control
by Jeff Davis 25 Jan '11

25 Jan '11

SSTL using Android handsets to control satellites, conquer the final frontier. http://engt.co/esR2EK 73, Jeff KE9V

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more uploads by WD9EWK to LOTW
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 25 Jan '11

25 Jan '11

Hi! After a few hours of watching TV and crunching lots of data files, I now have a total of 7796 satellite QSO records in LOTW, with 985 QSLs from those. This is about 12.7% of my QSO records being confirmed already. Even one of my first two satellite QSOs from 2000 was QSLed as I uploaded data! As for a satellite VUCC for me from the Phoenix area (generally centered on DM33xp/DM43ap), I have 90 grids confirmed toward that just from my LOTW uploads. I'm not sure if I can get to 100 without others joining in and uploading their QSOs, but it's a good start. I still have over 2100 QSOs to upload, and those will have to wait for another night. I hope to have those uploaded by the end of this week. If you think you should have a QSL with me and you don't see it in your LOTW account, please e-mail me directly. I'll be happy to look at things on my side. Now, time for bed.... 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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help with pcsat32 - predictions wrong -e verything else is correct
by zach hillerson 25 Jan '11

25 Jan '11

I recently downloaded pcsat32 and find it pretty amazing. I have verified that the keps are current and the time and coordinates are all correct. The program also shows all of the sats that I track in the proper place. When i click the countdown, these times are correct as well. However, when i try to get a prediction through WinAOS, the times are off by approx. 15 minutes and the coordinates for the pass are wrong. I am comparing the satpc32 results to both amsat and satscape. Any ideas what might be causing this? I'd love to find a solution! Thanks, Zach KJ4ZVV

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TubeSats: a victory?
by George Henry 25 Jan '11

25 Jan '11

Well, it appears that someone got through to Interorbital Systems: as of today, they are no longer including a transceiver in the TubeSat kit, the TubeSat web page clearly states that licensing is required, and "for information about commercial operations from space", directs viewers to contact the FCC. (They're still a little technically borderline on some of their info, but WAY better than claiming that they're license-free!) They even include a link to the IARU Amateur Satellite Specification document (under "information about obtaining the required amateur radio frequency allocation"). Interestingly, the price hasn't changed... George, KA3HSW

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Re: Cell Phone based Sats
by Trevor . 24 Jan '11

24 Jan '11

--- On Mon, 24/1/11, Ron Overdrive <ronoverdrive(a)tehfurry.com> wrote: > If successful it may open the door to more homebrew amateur > satellites by simplifying the construction and possibly lowering > the cost. I'm also interested in seeing how the Pulse Plasma Thrusters on this satellite perform. 73 Trevor M5AKA Daily Amateur Radio Email/RSS News: http://www.southgatearc.org/ Email Your News To: editor at southgatearc.org Or Upload At: http://www.southgatearc.org/news/your_news_1.htm ----

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Re: [VHF] Re: Re: VUCC costs
by Tim Marek 24 Jan '11

24 Jan '11

Hi Randy... I spent weeks and weeks over 2 years hand typing ALL of my old paper logs (HF and VHF) into a database program and kept it updated fairly regular till 2006 or so... My old database didnt work well under the then latest version of windows and it became a project that fell by the wayside.. 2 years ago I sorted that file (100,000+ records) based my my callsign, then on the grid I was in at the time... I took all the DM09 contatcts and dumped them into LOTW. That filled in my DXCC, and WAS files fairly well for HF and VHF... I then gathered up all the Cabrillo submission files from them to now, signed them individually, and sublitted them to LOTW as well. With the advent of LOTW VUCC support, I am now converting ALL my files(sorted by call then location) into individual files, converting them into the propper format, digitally sign, and then upload them into LOTW. At that point, ALL of the data from my various ham radio efforts will then be backed up at LOTW, and... in a position to be of use to me (and others) for many years to come. No one said it would be easy to get up to speed... Nothing worthwhile ever is... you assumed I have done it all electronically from day one... I HAVE NOT! What I did do was the hard work of hand typing them all in (and yes it sucked) but now all that hard work is showing me that it was all well worth it. 73s de Tim - K7XC - DM09nm... sk ----- Original Message ----- From: "Randy" <hamradio(a)oz.net> To: "Tim Marek" <K7XC(a)charter.net> Sent: Monday, January 24, 2011 8:40 PM Subject: Re: [VHF] Re: [amsat-bb] Re: VUCC costs > Hi Tim: > I agree LoTW will be a great thing for VUCC, especially for future, > computer-logged contacts where uploading to LoTW is simple. But I wonder > about older QSOs. I guess if you have lots of computer-logged QSOs and > can convert them into VUCC compatible files easily, sure why not go ahead. > But even for those, and especially for old paper logged QSOs, I wonder. > > For one thing, if somebody really wanted your QSL in the past (for VUCC or > anything else) they would have already exchanged paper cards. And for > another thing, I find that for my operating from CN74 and CN75, at least, > I only get requests for cards from maybe 10% of the QSOs I make, > indicating that nobody really cares about QSLs for the vast majority of > QSOs, even from a semi-rare grid like CN74/CN75. > > Of course for an even rarer grid there would be some increase in QSL > interest. But really, unless you are one of the extremely rare breed of > operator that can see the possibility of actually getting ALL grids for > FFMA in their lifetime, one grid is as just good as another, rare or not. > > So I guess my point is, as a by-product of computer logging of future > QSOs, LoTW will be really great. Especially for operators that make large > numbers of contacts each year. But as far as everyone hustling to put all > their old QSOs in LoTW it seems like a lot of collective work with very > little payback except to a very few. > > Randy, W7HR > Port Orchard, WA > > >> >> Personally, I dont understant why everyone isn't getting setup right now >> to dump their logs online to (at the very least protect those rare and >> precious contacts from being lost forever) and collect those contact >> credits w/o lifting a pen to paper or licking a single stamp... >> >> 73s de Tim - K7XC - DM09nm.... sk >> >> PS: I have been pushing LOTW for years to make this happen. Its not >> perfect, but compared to the old ways, its a VAST IMPROVEMENT! > > > > > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 10.0.1202 / Virus Database: 1435/3400 - Release Date: 01/24/11 >

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Anyone going to Palm Springs CA hamfest on Saturday (29th)?
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 24 Jan '11

24 Jan '11

Hi! I'm planning on making the trek across the desert to attend the hamfest at Palm Springs CA on Saturday (29 January). I have not decided on whether to drive over Friday evening after work, or set out early Saturday morning. Unlike most hamfests I attend, this one won't open up until 0930 local (1730 UTC), so a true day-trip over there and back is a possibility. Are there any other satellite operators - besides Clint K6LCS, who will have an AMSAT table at the hamfest - be there? 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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Cell Phone based Sats
by Ron Overdrive 24 Jan '11

24 Jan '11

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12253228 Considering how powerful smart phones have gotten I'm happy to see someone take the chance to see how well a cell phone holds up to LEO situations. If successful it may open the door to more homebrew amateur satellites by simplifying the construction and possibly lowering the cost. Just thought I would share even though it seems like its yesterday's news. ~73, AC2RF Ron

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VUCC GREED at ARRL
by wa4hfn＠comcast.net 24 Jan '11

24 Jan '11

http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Awards/VUCCRULE1a.pdf WA4HFN Damon

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