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

Ham Sats Dead?
by Clint Bradford 02 Oct '11

02 Oct '11

In another forum, an unenlightened ham made the following allegation. Sorry, folks - I just cannot let this type of nonsense go unanswered ... (grin) ELSEWHERE >> ... I'm sure but the amateur satellite service is on life support right now ... things like the ARISSAT are just a novelty ... I am proud to report that NO, this aspect of the hobby is by no means "dead" nor dying. We received more than 100 applications for ARISS school-to-ISS contacts for the first part of next year. That means there's 100 school principals and 200 teachers who are interested - and their enthusiasm is transmitted (pun intended) to their students, numbering in the thousands. SO, there ARE educators and school children receiving information and whose lesson plans include amateur radio and the ISS. This is important. Those who demean projects like ARISSat-1 are not educators. This project alone has stimulated the minds of hundreds of thousands of school children around the planet - through the work of teachers. There's PLENTY to be taught and learned from such a project - and it IS being taught. One of the two popular study guides for amateur radio licensing - the "2010-2014 Technician Class by Gordon West" - has a sidebar with satelllite-related links for further information. Heck, Gordo ran a Technician class yesterday to a standing- room-only crowd, and he made his traditional "test call" on a local repeater ... I happened to be on the air, answered him, and gave those soon-to-be-hams a plug for working the satellites ... Of course we would like another high-altitude bird. It takes money. 99.999% of those who demean current AMSAT projects don't give a cent to AMSAT. The wildly-successful-by-ANYone's-standards AO-51 project cost approximately $500K to build, plus another $110K to launch. As a testament to how well that sat was engineered, it is continuing to transmit at 800mW+ the past two months - with one battery cell dead and another at 0.1V. It continues to be included in school lesson plans, as well as public demonstrations, Field Days, JOTA and Scout activities, and it's there for just you and me to step outside a few times a week and work with a Watt or two ... My bottom line? Folks who claim that this aspect of the hobby is "dead" or "dying" might be correct, in that for them in their small circles, they may not be excited with the current satellite projects. But in reality, the existing LEOs are wonderful teaching tools - being taught about and studied and appreciated - in classrooms and presentation rooms and hamfests and conventions and parking lots and public parks - across the planet. Donate to AMSAT. Today. Be a part of the future of the amateur satellite program. Amend your will, and include AMSAT-NA in your estate - there's a method to donate that doesn't "hurt" a bit. And volunteer to give a demo at your local middle school or high school. Be a part of the educational process - see how YOU can bring excitement to a classroom of future hams. OR, just sit back and without knowledge of reality declare "Ham sats are dead," in public message forums. The choice is yours. Clint Bradford, K6LCS NASA / ARISS school technical support volunteer AMSAT area coordinator 909-241-7666

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Re: AO-51 pass at 22:06 UTC 2011-10-01
by K5OE 02 Oct '11

02 Oct '11

Mike, K5TRI, writes: > p.s.: For the ironically challenged, this was irony. I don't run 1KW up > to any satellite as everybody knows it's not enough. Apparently, not even for FO-29 any more. That's a shame to, because I always had a nice signal on FO-29 when I ran the 1 KW amp. 73, Jerry, K5OE

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VY1RM VO-52, 1000th grid worked
by John Papay 02 Oct '11

02 Oct '11

It is difficult for me to believe that there have been 1000 grids active in the last 5 years. When I first started in satellites I thought two or three hundred grids would be about it, but many things happened to move that estimate up. Last night I worked VY1RM in the Yukon for grid number 1000 with VO-52 at 2-3 degrees. This total would not have been possible had it not been for the many who have gone to grids away from their home comfort zone and operated on the birds, sometimes under very difficult conditions. I thought it might be interesting to create a listing of those who have given me more than one NEW grid. Many have also operated in multiple grids that I already had. This list does not reflect the many who have given others NEW grids over the past five years. UT1FG/MM 175 2M1EUB/P 4 XE1AO 3 ND9M 113 G7MAR/MM 4 AJ9K 2 WD9EWK 31 KB5WIA 4 K0BAM 2 WC7V 21 KB9BIT 4 K7CWQ 2 KD4ZGW 16 KI6YAA 4 K7DRA 2 K5OE 10 KK0SD 4 K7TRK 2 KB0RZD 10 VE6AB 4 KA0RID 2 KD8CAO 9 W5ACM 4 KC2LRC 2 AA5CK 8 WA8SME 4 KE7DOV 2 N5AFV 8 XE2AT 4 KG6NUB 2 XE3DX 8 XE2JA 4 KL1WE 2 KC0YBM 7 AA5PK 3 KL7AC 2 N5ZNL 7 CO6CBF 3 N0RC 2 VE8EV 7 DL7VTX 3 N3TL 2 W6GMT 7 G7KES/MM 3 VA3BL 2 N0JE 6 KC0ZHF 3 VE3NKL 2 N2SPI 6 LA4FPA 3 VE7JMN 2 VO1ONE 6 N9AMW 3 WA5KBH 2 WA4NVM 5 W6ZKH 3 XE1BRX 2 XE1AY 5 WA6ARA 3 XE2JTS 2 WA7HQD 3 UT1FG/MM tops the list from operations onboard cargo ships in 2009-2010-2011. Yuri is the ship's Master and has sailed across the Atlantic, around South America, through the Panama Canal, into the Caribbean and up the Atlantic coast to the St. Lawrence Seaway. Pictures of his most recent voyage on the Mottler are on my website. They were taken by Walt WP4T, Carmen WP3PJ, and Walner, WP4NYS. Wes KP4WES was also on board the Mottler. You may recall hearing his voice on one of the ARRISat-1 broadcasts. http://papays.com/sat/mottlerweb/page_01.htm Next on the list is ND9M who recently operated /MM on a voyage from Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, across the Pacific, through the Panama Canal to Jacksonville FL and then on to Charleston SC. He got up in the middle of the night to work the birds. Jim has also operated from hundreds of grids in the US. He holds reverse-VUCC at 325 grids! Patrick, WD9EWK is an experienced satellite rover and has made trips to Canada to put on the rare ones. He is always active traveling to Arizona grids and setting up AMSAT tables at hamfests in the West. Next up is Kerry, WC7V. He has traveled to many of the DN grids by car and sometimes by flying there in his personal airplane. He continues to be active on all the birds. Rob, KD4ZGW, is an over-the-road truck driver who has traveled all over the United States. He was very active from his big rig in many rare grids. He holds reverse-VUCC at 100 grids! Many have had the chance to meet him when he has traveled through their home town. Jerry, K5OE, was a very active satellite operator years ago and has recently become active again. His cruise ship vacation netted quite a few water grids for me and for many others. Gail, KB0RZD, is a very active satellite operator and has traveled to many rare grids around his QTH. His photo qsl cards give an idea of where he actually operated from. He continues to be an active, away from home, grid expeditioner. My son Doug, KD8CAO, has traveled to many grids that I needed. He got me started in satellites and we have enjoyed the hobby together. He is on the AMSAT Operations Team and very active on the birds. He has designed both hardware and software that is used in my home station. The list is huge and there are stories associated with each operator. They all have made life on the birds more interesting. Interest in satellites is higher now than at any time since I started 5 years ago. In the DX world, dxpeditions create challenges and activity. It's no different in satellites. It can get very crowded at times but it would be very boring if there was nothing new to work. Most everyone lives close to another grid and sometimes those grids can be very rare. If there is no regular operator active in a particular grid, there will be many that need it. So if you are up for a challenge you will find the experience very satisfying. Thanks again to everyone that made this milestone possible. 73, John K8YSE

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Re: AO-51 pass at 22:06 UTC 2011-10-01
by Dave Webb KB1PVH 02 Oct '11

02 Oct '11

Jeff, Instead of complaining here on the BB, why don't you email the stations that are doing it and offer some suggestions to improve their operating practices and maybe point them to John K8YSE's website. You might be surprised at the response you get (in a good way) Dave - KB1PVH Sent from my Verizon Wireless DROID X

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2M1EUB/P NOW QRV NE.SCOTLAND
by paul robinson 02 Oct '11

02 Oct '11

Now qrv from my holiday cottage re qrz.com ...io87mc 1 WEEK de paul 2M1EUB/P

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Anyone up for late night fun??
by normn3ykf＠stny.rr.com 01 Oct '11

01 Oct '11

Will be out for so-50 and will try ao-27 again. 530 and 630z respectively. Anyone want to play?? Norm n3ykf fn11rx

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100 Year Star Ship Symposium
by Joe Leikhim 01 Oct '11

01 Oct '11

I have attended the 100 year SSS the past two days. The real eye opener was a presentation by Claudio Maccone about using the Sun's gravitational field as a lens for optical and RF path enhancement. The effect works with any orbital mass (moon perhaps?), but the proposal was to establish fixed interstellar comm links with little path loss. I present this here because it might be food for discussion about placement of relay satellites in orbits around masses other than Earth, may have an apparent and usable gain. There are a bunch of links, you can start here. Perhaps some might want to take the math and work out how we could use our sun or moon for a gain lens for the next OSCAR, and perhaps with a wideband RX experiment. Secondly, I think SETI can benefit! The topic of "ET" knowing this trick was suggested. http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=785 -- Joe Leikhim Leikhim and Associates Communications Consultants Oviedo, Florida www.Leikhim.com JLeikhim(a)Leikhim.com 407-982-0446

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ANS-275 AMSAT Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 01 Oct '11

01 Oct '11

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-275 ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor(a)amsat.org In this edition: * Lance Ginner, K6GSJ 2011 AMSAT Symposium Banquet Speaker * OSCAR 1 Prototype Will Be Operating at the 2011 Symposium * Auburn University AubieSat-1 Scheduled for Launch from Vandenberg * K6LCS Satellite Presentation at the Anchorage Hamfest * ARISS Status - 26 September 2011 SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-275.01 Lance Ginner, K6GSJ 2011 AMSAT Symposium Banquet Speaker AMSAT News Service Bulletin 275.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 2, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-275.01 AMSAT is privileged to have Lance Ginner, K6GSJ as our banquet speaker. As AMSAT and the amateur radio community celebrate the 50th anniversary of the launch of OSCAR 1 (placed in orbit on 12 DEC 61), we look forward to Lance's remarks about how OSCAR 1 was developed and the impact of amateur radio satellites on his professional career. We will hear about the personal, technical, political, and security issues regarding the early OSCARs. First licensed in 1954 at the age of 16, Lance started his amateur career as a novice (KN6GSJ) and quickly upgraded to become K6GSJ, the same general class license he holds today. Following his grad- uation from college in 1959, he joined Lockheed Missiles and Space Division in Sunnyvale, CA. While at Lockheed, Lance became involved with Chuck Towns, K6LFH and others in Project Oscar and helped build OSCAR 1 (Launched on 12 DEC 61) and OSCAR 2 (Launched on 2 JUN 62) and test and integrate those spacecraft to the Discoverer host vehicle. OSCAR 1 became one of the first free flying 'secondary payloads' to be flown into space. Lance's involvement with amateur radio spacecraft continued with his work with OSCAR 3, OSCAR 4, OSCAR 5 (the first for the newly formed Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation in 1970), OSCAR 6, OSCAR 7, and OSCAR 8. Lance's involvement with the early OSCAR satellites continued with AMSAT, working with Jan King, W3GEY (AMSAT VP-Engineering), Perry Klein, W3PK (AMSAT's first President), and Dick Daniels, W4PUJ (AMSAT Propulsion). You are invited to read more of Lance's career as one of Amateur Radio in Space pioneers on the 2011 Symposium web page: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/symposium/2011/BanquetSpeaker.php [ANS thanks the 2011 Symposium Committee for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-275.02 OSCAR 1 Prototype Will Be Operating at the 2011 Symposium AMSAT News Service Bulletin 275.02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 2, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-275.02 The AMSAT 2011 AMSAT Space Symposium will be held on Friday, November 4th through Sunday, November 6th at the Windham Hotel in San Jose, California. This year's Symposium coincides the cele- bration of the 50th anniversary of OSCAR 1. Symposium Banquet Speaker and OSCAR 1 developer Lance Ginner, K6GSJ provided Bob Allison, WB1GCM of ARRL's Technical Lab and his team with technical advice to help getting the satellite operational again. Bob will also be at the Symposium and will give a brief talk on the refurbishment process. The refurbished OSCAR-1 was on display at the ARRL exhibit area at the 2011 Dayton Hamvention. We look forward to having the OSCAR 1 prototype on display during the AMSAT Symposium as well as hear the CW transmissions (now managed by a PIC controller) in the 145 MHz band. Additionally, the AMSAT News Service will re-run the weekly Project OSCAR Newsletters to commemorate the 50th anniversary of OSCAR 1. During the November/December 2011 time frame you will be able to share the excitement of the launch campaign that started it all 50 years ago. Watch for the re-publication of the Project OSCAR Newsletters in the AMSAT Journal. The Newsletters were hand-typed back in 1961. Thanks to Don Ferguson, KD6IRE for scanning the original documents announ- cing OSCAR 1. [ANS thanks the 2011 Symposium Committee for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-275.03 Auburn University AubieSat-1 Scheduled for Launch from Vandenberg AMSAT News Service Bulletin 275.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 2, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-275.03 JM Wersinger, PhD, KI4YAU, Professor Emeritus and Director of Auburn University Student Space Program in Alabama wrote this week, "We fer- vently request your assistance in receiving transmissions from an up- coming satellite, AubieSat-1, immediately after its launch from Van- denberg AFB, California, 25 October 2011 at 9:52 UTC. AubieSat-1 (AS-1) is an undergraduate - built CubeSat satellite developed by Auburn Uni- versity. AS-1 is designed to transmit with a power of about 800 milliwatts on a frequency of 437.475 MHz, plus or minus Doppler correction. The beacon signal, along with telemetry, will be sent using A1A continuous wave Morse code at 20 words per minute. Additional telemetry from the on board science experiment will use CW transmissions up to 60 WPM. Based on the pre-launch orbital data provided by NASA, AS-1 will acti- vate after deployment at 12:21 UTC, 25 October 2011. At that time, the sub-satellite point will be at 34.52 S latitude and 1.52 W longi- tude over the South Atlantic Ocean. Our predictions are that the first flights over the contiguous United States will begin as shown in the following table: Orbit AOS Elevation LOS General Locale ----- --------- ---------- -------- ------------ 3 15:54 UTC >50 deg 16:01 UTC New York 4 17:28 UTC >26 deg 17:35 UTC Texas 5 19:07 UTC >48 deg 19:14 UTC California This information will be updated should there be launch scrubs or per- formance changes in the launch, and additional information will be available upon request for specific locations. Reception reports with data contents are welcomed to the following email addresses: wersijp at auburn dot edu and tam0013 at auburn dot edu An internet Echolink conference group is also planned to begin one-half hour prior to launch and continue until about 30 minutes after confir- mation of the first receipt of signals from the satellite. Information on the conference groups title will be distributed nearer to the launch for interested stations. Please email wersijp at auburn dot edu if you require additional infor- mation and can assist in the reception and tracking of AubieSat-1. Long-time AMSAT Member John Klingelhoeffer, WB4LNM serves as the Tech- nical Advisor in Auburn University's Student Space Program. [ANS thanks Professor Wersinger, KI4YAU at Auburn University for the above information]. /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-275.04 K6LCS Satellite Presentation at the Anchorage Hamfest AMSAT News Service Bulletin 275.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 2, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-275.04 Craig Bledsoe, KL4E of the Anchorage Amateur Radio Club (AARC) noted their September 17 Hamfest featured a first ever remotely-delivered keynote presentation by Clint Bradford, K6LCS. In order to facilitate this full-duplex two-way video Skype conference between Clint's studio in Riverside, California and the Anchorage Ham- fest a team of hams assembled the technology to make this happen. Led by Rich Gillin, AL4S, and Eric Thompson, N6SPP, the team installed an AT&T active remote phased-array WiMax antenna at the hamfest and aimed it towards the AT&T Alascom headquarters on Government Hill many miles away. The resultant broadband signal enabled Clint to present over a hundred PowerPoint slides through a laptop computer and projec- tion system while his audio was delivered via a Skype connection. Two way internet video streaming allowed the audience to see Clint and he was able to see the crowd at the Hamfest. Clint delivered a fascinating look across the spectrum of amateur sat- ellite operations. From the earliest days of the first OSCAR satellites first launched over a half-century ago to the organization of AMSAT and today's comprehensive international efforts to get the latest amateur technologies into outer space, his presentation covered it all. Clint also taught the basics, showing step-by-step how a beginning ham can use a simple handheld radio and antenna to work the satellites with great success. In addition to all of the on-line satellite discussions, the AARC also conducted real-life satellite QSOs from the hamfest before and after Clint's presentation. Using AO-27, SO-50, and AO51 the host operators N6SPP and KL4E worked over a dozen amateur satellite stations in three countries. Then a number of guest operators who were attending the Hamfest got on board as well. Several visiting hams made their first satellite QSOs that day - and they were thrilled! All-in-all everyone had a great time at the Anchorage Amateur Radio Club Hamfest, and many visitors said that they thoroughly enjoyed Clint's presentation. Clint's satellite pages can be found at: http://www.work-sat.com [ANS thanks Craig Bledsoe, KL4E of the Anchorage Amateur Radio Club for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-275.05 ARISS Status - 26 September 2011 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 275.05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 2, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-275.05 1. First ARISS Contact for Louisiana On Thursday, September 22, the first Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact to be held in Louisiana took place between students attending Kiroli Elementary School in West Monroe and Satoshi Furukawa, KE5DAW on the ISS. Approximately 500 students were on hand for the event. Representatives from the school board, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) and the media were also present. The contact was a featured activity held in conjunction with a well developed education plan covering space and communications. The University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) will open its observatory in an upcoming month to Kiroli Elementary to allow students to view various celestial bodies and events, as well as the planets and stars within our solar system. Contact information and links to articles, video and audio may be found on this Web site: http://www.cs.ulm.edu/~pdw/KiroliARISS/ 2. ARISS International Team Teleconference Held The ARISS monthly teleconference was held on Tuesday, September 20. Among the agenda items discussed were the upcoming Houston face-to-face meeting and the HamTV project that ESA plans to support through a contract with Kayser-Italia. The Project Selection and Use committee will discuss HamTV and a second Kenwood radio for the Columbus module once the proposals are submitted. Minutes have been posted. See: http://www.rac.ca/ariss/arisstel2011-09-20.htm 3. Astronaut Training Status Three simulated ARISS contacts were held on Wednesday, September 21. Chris Hadfield, KC5RNJ/VA3OOG spoke with youth at the Euro Space Camp in Belgium. Kevin Ford, KF5GPP contacted the Manhattan Challenger Learning Center (CLC) and Tom Marshburn, KE5HOC answered questions from students at the CLC of Indianapolis. The training sessions were terrestrial-based amateur radio contacts using ARISS equivalent equipment that will prepare the astronauts for participation in ARISS contacts during their upcoming missions on the ISS. Ford is slated to launch with Expedition 33 in September 2012 and Hadfield and Marshburn are scheduled to fly with Expedition 34 in November 2012. 4. EE Times - ARISSat Blog On September 17, a new entry was made to the EE (Electronic Engineering) Times "Chips in Space" blog about amateur radio satellite ARISSat-1. This week the blog covers the project's lessons learned. See: http://eetimes.com/electronics-blogs/other/4227392/Chips-in-Space--Lessons- learned--Part-1 5. World Radio Magazine Covers ARISSat-1 The World Radio Magazine October 2011 issue featured an article about ARISSat-1. To view the story, "Amateur Satellites: A Bumpy Ride for ARISSat-1 on its Way to Space," see: http://www.worldradiomagazine.com/ [ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, for the above information] /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org

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PACIFICON October 14-16
by Clint Bradford 01 Oct '11

01 Oct '11

Any AMSAT members (or satellite enthusiasts) attending PACIFICON October 14-16 in Santa Clara this month??? YOU can help AMSAT! I have a table in the main hallway reserved JUST FOR US! How 'bout manning the table for an hour or two Saturday? TENTATIVE satellite passes for the show ... FRIDAY 10/14/11 4:31PM PDT - AO-51 SATURDAY 10/15/11 2:43 PM PDT - AO-27 3:52 PM PDT - AO-51 7:51 PM PDT - ARISSat-1 10:16 PM PDT - SO-50 ... so I'll be outside working those at those times. And giving my presentation at 11AM and 1PM Saturday. SO ... Bring your rig and show it off at the Sat Comms table! Bring some QSL cards, too ... or biz cards from your own club ... If it is satellite-related, bring it and get it in front of a few hundred fellow hams! Call me at 909-241-7666 (or my Skypename is clintbradford). Or send email to clint(a)clintbradford.com if you are able to help out! Clint Bradford, K6LCS

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XE2RCE in DM11 qsl manager KI6YAA
by Larry Teran 01 Oct '11

01 Oct '11

I will be the QSL Manager for this date at the Ensenada Baja Mexico Radio Club Annual meeting, please be advice that the QRZ.COM info is wrong, please request QSL to KI6YAA email or Direct is ok Thanks you all for your patiente and attention! There will be some cub members operating also.... 73" Larry KI6YAA

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