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

CW SRMVU decoding software link
by Nader Omer 15 Oct '11

15 Oct '11

The link for down load http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7PWS7GEA 73's

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CW SRMVU decoding software
by Nader Omer 15 Oct '11

15 Oct '11

As a contribution from CubeSat Project Team in the University of Khartoum to SRM University for the success in launching SRMVU nanosatellite. Here is a version of Telemetry Decoding Software which was developed by University students for studying the University of Khartoum Cube satellite (KN-SAT1)telemetry data. A modification was made to be used with SRMVU data. click the following link to download it, please report any problems to the team. SRMVU Decoder http://cubesat.uofk.edu 73's

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AO-51 JOTA
by Omar Alvarez 15 Oct '11

15 Oct '11

AO-51 to support 54th Jamboree On The Air October 15-16 The AO-51 Command Team is happy to announce support of the Scouting Jamboree On The Air (JOTA) during the weekend October 15-16, 2011. The AO-51 satellite will remain in its current configuration, with an understanding that contacts involving Scouts will be given first priority during this period. The current operating mode of AO-51 is as follows: Uplink: 145.880 MHz FM (No PL tone) Downlink: 435.150 MHz FM The World Scouting Organization in Switzerland posted JOTA information. Visit the World Scouting Radio Library. The Boy Scouts of America has several resources on-line for amateur radio stations participating in JOTA. ******************************** M.C. Omar Alvarez Cárdenas Facultad de Telematica, U de C 316 1075 xe1aom(a)ucol.mx omar_ac(a)hotmail.com ********************************

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2011 MUD Webcast on Now
by JoAnne Maenpaa 15 Oct '11

15 Oct '11

Another news item going on right now ... would be too late if we waited for the ANS Bulletins: 2011 Microwave Update Conference is currently being webcast at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/microwave-update-2011 -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm(a)amsat.org Editor, AMSAT News Service

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Pass Duration vs Max Elevation
by Ed N8BBQ 15 Oct '11

15 Oct '11

Lynn, The correlation works well for birds in a circular orbit, but elliptical orbits are another story. A high elliptical orbit could result in a long pass at a very low elevation, or a very short pass at 90 degrees if perigee is over the ground station. Since the current fleet of birds are in circular orbits it won't matter but if you are coding a program you might want to account for possible future HEO birds. I find both numbers to be useful (pass duration and max elevation). Best '73 - de Ed N8BBQ

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FO-29 not listed on AMSAT.org sat status page
by Tom Schuessler 15 Oct '11

15 Oct '11

Am I missing something but is there not a listing for FO-29 on the Sat Status page?

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Pass Duration vs Max Elevation
by Lynn W. Deffenbaugh (Mr) 14 Oct '11

14 Oct '11

Another question from a satellite newbie. I'm working on a satellite pass information query system via APRS messaging and am currently providing future pass duration as a layman's indicator of the "quality" of an upcoming pass. I've been told that duration is "of little value" (see below for the full quote) and a max elevation is all that matters. In my (relatively short) time of watching various pass predictions, I've found a nearly direct correlation between the duration of a pass and the max elevation achieved. I've not noticed a "longer low pass" nor a short high pass for that matter. Low elevation passes are short, and high elevation passes are long. So, my question, to be answered from the perspective of hoping to get more people aware of satellite passes by making it easy to casually query their availability while at the same time providing useful information to people that frequently "work the birds" (if I've got that expression correct) while they're away from their normal prediction tools is: Would a forecast pass duration (expressed as a delta time) be useful in this context, or is that truly "of little value" and the Max Elevation of a pass should be provided necessitating a potentially greater education of the general populace? Lynn (D) - KJ4ERJ - Author of APRSISCE for Windows Mobile and Win32 PS. Here's my original reasoning for pass duration rather than max elevation and the comments I received in reply. The sender of the response is purposely kept anonymous so that I can get independently reasoned responses and not just agreements with the quoted source. > I went with a pass duration rather than max > elevation so novices can better plan their > time investment. They both basically > communicate pass "quality" and "ease of > working", but everyone understands time, while > the experts have a handle on elevation. Sorry, but time is of little value since it can be a longer low pass that one has no prayer of working from a mobile because it is so low. So elevation tells it all. A low max elevation is not worth bothering with no matter how long it is. A high elevation pass will have a nearly 10 dB advantage to the mobile operator and is very important information. And also, by definition it is longer. And satellite operators know the approximate length of a pass. For a mobile, the shortest is the ISS with about 5 minutes useable. For PCSAT1, about 10 minutes max. All other satellites are somewhere in between or are not usually workable from an FM mobile rig with omni antenna. So the few minutes difference is of little value. I dont think people are going to arrange their daily schedules around whether a satellite is going to be useable fo 5 minutes or 8 minutes. But they certainly will change plans for a 60 degree pass compared to a 10 degree pass.

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Special Event Station K7P
by Dale Hershberger 14 Oct '11

14 Oct '11

I know is very short notice. I have just put my gear together to operate portable from BO40 tomorrow afternoon and possibly Saturday afternoon as well. I will be in Homer, Alaska for the annual Refuges on the air event. We will be operating on the HF bands as well. We are located at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge center. We operated last year from there as KL7YY. This is to celebrate National Wildlife Refuge Week. 73, KL7XJ

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Re: Which preamp to buy for 2m?
by Burns Fisher 14 Oct '11

14 Oct '11

First, my sincere apologies...I think I managed to resend the entire digest to the list. I HATE it when people do that but now I know how easy it is to do accidentally. Sorry. ---- Now to what I was going to say: I have the SSB SP-2000 and I'm also very happy with it. It seems to do auto RF switching well down to under 2 watts. (Some auto-switching are only spec'ed to switch down to 8 or 10W). It also bypasses itself if you just cut the power (to be expected, I guess). I'm using it with a second power feedline (which you can connect with a PL259) since I don't happen to have 13.8V phantom power available. On the other hand, it is about the most expensive 2m preamp you can find :-( Where to get it in the US? ssbusa.com appears to be a distributer. No one answered the phone, and they never returned my call. Another vendor (take it from whence it came) said they were phasing out. But in any case, Array Solutions was very helpful and fast and sent me my SP-2000 in a very short time. As I recall I had to talk to them on the phone since they did not have the SSB stuff fully integrated into their web site yet, but it was worthwhile. Array Solutions also advertises in QST :-) Burns, W2BFJ > Message: 14 > Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2011 10:19:24 -0400 > From: "Stephen E. Belter" <seb(a)wintek.com> > To: Tim Goodrich <tim(a)timgoodrich.net>, "amsat-bb(a)amsat.org" > <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> > Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Which preamp to buy for 2m? > Message-ID: > <51668A33220E754EABE6583357ECEE2D79CD61B2(a)Exchange.wintek.local> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > Tim, > > I own SSB preamps, the SP-2000 (2 meter) and SP-7000 (70 cm). They have > worked very well for me, both on my Icom IC-821 (powered by the radio) and > with my FUNcube Dongle (powered with an external bias-T from ARR). The SSB > preamps have helical filters on the front end which should help in your Los > Angeles RF environment. > > You have at least four sources for the SSB preamp: > > 1. Direct from SSB in Germany, www.ssb.de > > 2. From SSB-Electronics USA, www.ssbusa.com > > 3. From Array Solutions, www.arraysolutions.com > > 4. From Universal Radio, www.universal-radio.com > > 73, Steve N9IP > -- > > -----Original Message----- > From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] On > Behalf Of Tim Goodrich > Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2011 2:04 AM > To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org > Subject: [amsat-bb] Which preamp to buy for 2m? > > Hi all, > > I just got a M2 2M4 and 420-50-11 to mount on my az/el rotor and go with my > 736R. As I'm hoping to potentially work some EME with the big guns when > conditions are just right, I'm wondering if anyone can provide advice on > which preamp to get for 2m. I live in the Los Angeles metro area, so lots of > noise/QRM, and also would like something to take advantage of the 736's > preamp switch/voltage over coax option. In other words, something that > doesn't require any complicated power/switching controls, if possible. > > > > Any suggestions? > > > > Thanks, > > Tim > > K6TW > >

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Ham Radio Deluxe Sat Tracking Question
by Dave Marthouse 14 Oct '11

14 Oct '11

I have a strange problem in hrd's satellite tracking program. When I am tracking arissat-1 the satellite name is written on the screen correctly but the voice announcements for aos, los and other alerts call it the international space station. How can I fix the voice alerts? What files if any can I edit to remedy this problem? Other than that odd behavior the program works well. Any information would be appreciated. Dave Marthouse N2AAM dmarthouse(a)gmail.com

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