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

VUCC FEE
by wa4hfn＠comcast.net 26 Jan '11

26 Jan '11

My division director recommends email your concerns to Dave Patton (nn1n(a)arrl.org) and copy their Division Director as well so lets flood them Im looking to AMSAT for new awards WA4HFN Damon

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Re: APRS via Satellite
by PA3GUO 26 Jan '11

26 Jan '11

And this is how it looks like in the dark, in passes when it is dark outside, but when ISS is still 'flying' in sunligth: you hear & see ISS on your THD7 ! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSFVTN2KKog (best seen in HD, as ISS is a bright, yet tiny little dot moving in the sky) Henk, PA3GUO >> Which APRS satellites are active and may be reached >> with a Kenwood THD-72? I'm trying to get some people >> interested in our hobby. > Well, the easiest and best is the ISS. Your normal terrestrial APRS >settings should work just fine. > >Just listen on 145.825 during mid-day in the Northern Hemisphere and you >can't miss it. I hear it every day. Of course it is moving earlier about >20 minutes a day, so use your tracking program to give you exact times. > >Bob, WB4APR

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UKuke-1 Announcement
by Graham Shirville 26 Jan '11

26 Jan '11

Sorry this time WITH the relevant link! http://www.ukspaceagency.bis.gov.uk/21973.aspx ----- Original Message ----- From: Graham Shirville To: amsat-bb(a)AMSAT.Org Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2011 3:42 PM Subject: Re: AMSAT-UK - Next Cttee Mtg 26 March Hi All, Here is some good news just released by the UK Space Agency about the UKube-1 project. You will see that the FUNcube system is formally part of the project. Whilst the release does not mention the FUNcube linear U/V transponder function during evenings and weekend, this functionality will be included in the same way that it is planned for the actual FUNcube-1 cubesat itself! The FUNcube development team is looking forward to the extra challenge of producing two sets of everything in the very short timescales required by both projects:) best 73 Graham G3VZV

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Re: AMSAT-UK - Next Cttee Mtg 26 March
by Graham Shirville 26 Jan '11

26 Jan '11

Hi All, Here is some good news just released by the UK Space Agency about the UKube-1 project. You will see that the FUNcube system is formally part of the project. Whilst the release does not mention the FUNcube linear U/V transponder function during evenings and weekend, this functionality will be included in the same way that it is planned for the actual FUNcube-1 cubesat itself! The FUNcube development team is looking forward to the extra challenge of producing two sets of everything in the very short timescales required by both projects:) best 73 Graham G3VZV

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Re: nano sail
by PA3GUO 26 Jan '11

26 Jan '11

Hi Jerry, That was O/OREOS: http://www.pa3guo.com/ooreos.html Try to catch some of it its packets: http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=NL&v=Qh6lH5vqw-Y (freq mentioned in this video is wrong, it is 437.305) Decoder of the telemetry is here: http://www.dk3wn.info/files/ooreos.zip Henk, PA3GUO > Just heard a packet signal on 437.305 - 437.300 . Did not print so don't know which sat it was . That was 15 minutes ahead of fast1 but was in the LOS path best I could tell . Didn't see anyother sat with that downlink anywhere close . Maybe NanoSail still ticking ?

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Palm Springs HamFest - Handouts
by Clint Bradford 25 Jan '11

25 Jan '11

For this weekend's Palm Springs HamFest, I have prepared a couple handouts. One is an "Intro to AMSAT"newsletter with membership form, the other an ARISSat-1 Update / Band Plan. Please feel free to use/adopt either for your projects and appearances. Both are posted at ... http://tinyurl.com/ps-handouts ... or, if your system doesn't like "re-direction" commands, http://preview.tinyurl.com/ps-handouts Clint, K6LCS http://www.work-sat.com

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HO-68 Pass Heard
by Giacobbe Lauser 25 Jan '11

25 Jan '11

I thought I would give a listen for the HO-68 beacon this evening, and even though I don't have CW on the FT-60R, I knew that you could listen low and hear a bit of the signal on the FM side bleeding through. Sure enough, I heard a weak, high-pitch CW identifier repeating itself waaaay down in the noise about S1 on 435.775 mHz at 0437 UTC. I caught "J1SA" pretty clearly with several pauses thrown in afterward before the repeat, confirming later that the call is B"J1SA"-11. Pretty cool! - Jake, K3UAZ Martinez, CA CM88wa

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LOTW & VUCC Discussion
by John Papay 25 Jan '11

25 Jan '11

We now know more about the VUCC fee changes than we did when the discussion started thanks to comments by Bill Moore and others. As someone stated, the sticker shock has everyone upset. If the costs of the VUCC program justify what is being charged, there's not much you can do about it unless you find someone in addition to Yaesu to sponsor the program. The money has to come from somewhere. As Americans, we are painfully aware of what happens when you spend more than you take in. The League should have been adjusting rates over the years. The Post Office, our government and businesses all do this gradually to avoid a rebellion. If this had been done, we wouldn't be having such a big outcry right now. I think the other problem with how this was done involved notification. Announcing that effective today, the cost for VUCC submissions is going up drastically, was not a good move. Rolling out the costs for LOTW VUCC submissions is one thing, but including the traditional filing rates as part of it without publishing an "effective date" ahead of time is another matter. It wasn't well thought out. Now that it is done, how do we proceed from here? I think there are two main issues that can be looked at by the Directors. They control what happens at the League. My Director has been very responsive to things that I have brought to him. I hope your Director is equally as responsive. Just make sure that when writing to them that you don't rant. State the facts and be specific as to what you want them to do. The first thing they should look at is the cost of the VUCC program. Bill Moore has suggested that they don't even break even considering everything involved. Ask your Director to get the numbers and validate the claim. Any evaluation should include monies derived from the website. Yaesu sponsors LOTW but it is unclear as to what extent they do. There may be other sources of funding as well. As a subset of the cost, ask your Director to find out why hybird applications are part of the DXCC LOTW program but are not provided for in the VUCC program. After all, it's the same system. I would expect that we will always be submitting some cards along with LOTW matches. Most of the cost of a paper submission is subsidized by the card checkers. It takes a lot of time to scrutinize a card to find the Grid. After the initial application, only the Grid numbers are sent to the ARRL. A typist can enter 4 character grids into a computer very quickly. Callsigns, date, time, band, etc. are not entered for VUCC. If you send your cards to the ARRL and a paid employee has to go through the cards, the cost is significantly higher than if a volunteer does it. Hybrid applications for a single filing fee should be part of VUCC as they are now for DXCC. The ARRL Membership was not given a warning about the fee increases. Establishing the fees for LOTW VUCC is one thing. Increasing the fees for paper submissions should have had an effective date into the future. This would allow those who were on the verge of filing the opportunity to do so at the current rate. Ask your Director to have the old paper fees reinstated until say, May 1st. This will give the applicants and the volunteer card checkers some time to process everything. If the new fees are found to be reasonable they go into effect after that date. I have been licensed for 50 years and prior to getting my license I was involved with ham radio for more than 10 years. I attended many club meetings with my older cousin. The topic of dissatisfaction with the ARRL was always a big deal. The hams talked about it all the time. But if you think that we would be where we are now with Ham Radio if the ARRL had not been there representing our interests, you are sadly mistaken. Radio spectrum is always in demand. You can't make more of it. You can digitize and process till you are blue in the face but there is never enough spectrum. Cellphones sound lousy because they don't have enough bandwidth. But we put up with it because they are portable and there is no other choice given the number of users. If the ARRL had not been there for us, we would all be on 80 meters. The League is our voice. If you don't like what they are doing, contact your Director or run for the position yourself. Ham Radio is a hobby but there are costs involved. You can choose what you want to spend. No one is forcing you. But do consider that we need the ARRL to preserve ham radio into the future. It takes money to run the organization and we are up against others who have very deep pockets. Supporting the ARRL makes good sense as does supporting AMSAT. They are our advocates. 73, John K8YSE

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Re: VUCC costs
by mlolmsted＠fuse.net 25 Jan '11

25 Jan '11

Nice explanation of the costs for VUCC in the Jeff Yanko blog. However, I did not see what happens with LOTW submisions. If the cost of awards keep going up, maybe the ARRL should offer award insurance as well as equipment insurance. Just a thought. :>) Merle, AA4QE

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Antenna Observations/Question
by Richard Lawn 25 Jan '11

25 Jan '11

I've been on the birds off an on for years. I have an M2 cir. polarized pair at home QTH and am looking into a more modest installation for a summer cottage. I've built the K5OE eggbeater imitations and founds them to be only fair.I could by M2 eggbeater pair but I'm trying to do this on less $. I also have an Arrow antenna which I've tried some with a HT with only fair results. Any other suggestions out there? Mount the Arrow more permanently but at a fixed elevation and use a simple rotor to change azimuth? How about a homebrewed quagi? Any suggestions appreciated. Rick W2JAZ

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