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

Amateur Satellite Service: Read the rules before posting
by John Klingelhoeffer 08 Dec '11

08 Dec '11

Several recent postings by individuals show that they have clearly not taken the time to read the international agreements to which all of our amateur satellite service spacecraft abide. There are MANY allowable uses of the amateur satellite service spectrum other than launching transponders for hams to jawbone back and forth. If you'd take time to educate yourself on the rules that your hobby abides by, you would find that the following applies: "The purposes of an amateur satellite should be to: (1) Provide communication resources for the general amateur radio community and / OR [emphasis added] (2) Self training and technical investigations relating to radio technique. [See RR 1.56, 1.57, and 25.2.] "Radio technique" means having a reasonable possibility of application to radio communication systems. Examples relating to radio technique include, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO [emphasis added]: · communication protocols · attitude determination methods · command and control procedures · receivers, transmitters, and transponders · antennas · sensors to study spacecraft performance · telemetry protocols · power controls and supplies for use in space · spacecraft computers, memory, operating systems, programs, and related items · radiation effects on electronic components · radio wave propagation · meteor trail reflection · measurements of the orbital environment" There is NOTHING in these criteria that says that a satellite operating in the amateur satellite service MUST carry a communications transponder capable of relaying communications from ground stations. That is but ONE allowable operation, but NOT the only one. This may or may not fit your perception of the amateur satellite service, but that is of little matter since the rules very clearly allow other uses. Read the rules.

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2 Meter TV Interference
by Wyatt Dirks 08 Dec '11

08 Dec '11

Just recently I have been having troubles with a neighbor while I am working the FM satellites(SO-50 and AO-27). The setup I am currently using is my mobile setup because I am unable to put a base station up for many reasons. I am using a FT8900 with 50 watts out into a 1/4 wave or 1/2 Larson mobile antenna.The 1/4 wave is mounted permanently via a hole in the roof of my truck an the 1/2 wave is mounted on a mount opposite the factory installed FM/AM radio whip. It doesn't seem to matter what antenna I use for the problem to occur. Then I use either the arrow antenna or my cju for the downlink. The problem occurs while I am transmitting. The neighbor says that his tv receives the interference in that the picture is disturbed and sometimes cuts out completely. He is getting his tv from hdtv over the air. He has an antenna in the attic that goes to a powered splitter which then goes to several tvs. That is about all i know on his setup but I do know that if he cuts the power to the splitter he receives nothing. Also the problem seems to be on every channel. Today I had another local ham over at the request of the neighbor and his mobile Kenwood radio did the same thing to the neighbors tv when he transmitted on 2 meter with 50 watts out. He also recommended that they get a filter. I did not see the specs on the filter nor do I know what bandwidth it was for. If anyone has any ideas on what would solve this problem and could share that would be great. Catch you on the birds Wyatt AC0RA

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Link to Holiday Ham Song
by Kevin Deane 08 Dec '11

08 Dec '11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_9REVC4dtc hmm works for me thought it was pretty good. Kevin KF7MYK

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Re: LARES To Test Einstein's Theory
by Trevor . 08 Dec '11

08 Dec '11

--- On Thu, 8/12/11, Giulio AB2VY <giuliop70(a)aim.com> wrote: > The Microsatellite on the left of LARES > http://spaceflightnow.com/vega/vv01/111207lares/ > is "AlmaSat", first microsatellite of the University of Bologna (ITALY) IARU Coordinated frequencies at http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=39 also see http://www.almasat.org/ 73 Trevor M5AKA

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No launching capability is not the only threat
by Hans Lourens 08 Dec '11

08 Dec '11

Hello fellow hams, Just today I wash reading an article about new treats for the ham community as a hole, watt are the problems of transmitting and receiving on frequencies ho are also used by medical applications and watt are the consequents if they are complaining about male functions in the same band. Read it for yourself at the address here below <http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-grants-secondary-service-allocation-to-wireles s-broadband-medical-micropower-networks> http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-grants-secondary-service-allocation-to-wireless -broadband-medical-micropower-networks 73, Hans.

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Re: LARES To Test Einstein's Theory
by Giulio AB2VY 08 Dec '11

08 Dec '11

The Microsatellite on the left of LARES http://spaceflightnow.com/vega/vv01/111207lares/ is "AlmaSat", first microsatellite of the University of Bologna (ITALY) 73 from Giulio AB2VY --- On Thu, 8/12/11, Bob- W7LRD <w7lrd(a)comcast.net> wrote: > can't we squeeze a little bird in there? They'll be some CubeSat's on the launch I believe going into a 1500 by 300 km orbit see http://www.esa.int/esaMI/Education/SEM3N03MDAF_0.html 73 Trevor M5AKA

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Re: LARES To Test Einstein's Theory
by G0MRF＠aol.com 08 Dec '11

08 Dec '11

Hi Bob. We did try. A member of AMSAT-UK was one of twenty something teams who travelled to the Netherlands to present a case for inclusion. Sadly not successful as we were not seen as an educational organisation. We have been working on that image and educational outreach and hardware ever since. Maybe next time 73 David G0MRF In a message dated 08/12/2011 07:46:57 GMT Standard Time, w7lrd(a)comcast.net writes: can't we squeeze a little bird in there? Bob W7LRD ----- Original Message ----- From: "B J" <va6bmj(a)gmail.com> To: "amsat-bb" <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Sent: Wednesday, December 7, 2011 6:00:26 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] LARES To Test Einstein's Theory http://spaceflightnow.com/vega/vv01/111207lares/ 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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Re: 9 cubesats on board Vega
by Andrew Glasbrenner 08 Dec '11

08 Dec '11

> >Well my point exactly. Somebody a while back jokingly put the concept out to tape 2 woxoun ht's together, mount 2 antennas on some solar panels and throw the thing out the window ... > >I mean just think about it for a second: : take a 2 U cubesat frame, put the guts of 2 HT's in there, together with a battery and some charging electronics, mount antennas and of you go ? Do you think that will pass thermal, vaccuum or vibration testing? Without that, you aren't getting on a launch, period. Designing, building, testing, and passing those tests, takes effort, time, and money. >Do we really _need_ remote command capability ? Yes, it's a regulatory requirement. If your satellite interferes with some other system, say a SARSAT or early launch warning satellite, you have to have the ability to shut it down. > >I mean the concepts of Fox & friends and great. But I think we are at the 'less is more' point. I think many of us would prefer a simple-and-dirty fm repeating sat which is actually flying, rather then all the great plans and concepts >which take years and many many dollars to complete. ARISSAT was great, that the antenna was missing not our fault. Cant we put another ARISSAT in cubesat format together rather >quickly, instead of re-inventing the wheel over and over again ? I agree with the sentiment, and have made the argument myself many times, as some of the AMSAT engineering guys will loudly attest to. However, there is a minimum level of responsibility and sophistication that has to go into a satellite to meet launch requirements, and regulatory requirements. The division of Fox into two satellites, one simple, and one more complex, is an attempt to address the urgency of the situation now. A pair of HTs strapped together would likely just make it harder to get on the next launch. What we CAN do is provide two-way packages to other, usually larger, missions for inclusion into their satellites. SO-67 and UKube are good examples of this, but it could certainly be tried more often. 73, Drew KO4MA

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Re: 9 cubesats on board Vega
by Andrew Glasbrenner 08 Dec '11

08 Dec '11

I have a feeling that if a ESA member nation AMSAT group had a cubesat ready to fly, it might be able to go. This situation is part of the Fox plan as I understand it, to build more than one satellite, and have a "hot spare" for such an opportunity. 73, Drew KO4MA PS Andy, we do a little better than every 5 years. If you look at DO-64, ARISSat-1, SO-67 and HO-68, we've averaged one a year over the past 4 years. -----Original Message----- >From: Stefan Wagener <wageners(a)gmail.com> >Sent: Dec 8, 2011 10:17 AM >To: Andy Kellner <hawat1(a)yahoo.com> >Cc: "amsat-bb(a)amsat.org" <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> >Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: 9 cubesats on board Vega > >Hi Andreas, > >very simple, politics. > >ITAR is killing AMSAT-NA and AMSAT-DL's leadership has openly >denouced Cubesats. So two of the biggest AMSATs either can't or don't >want to. Talk about a pathetic situation for our community. > >Stefan VE4NSA > > >On Thu, Dec 8, 2011 at 7:28 AM, Andy Kellner <hawat1(a)yahoo.com> wrote: >> I'll be darned. 9 (nine!) cubesats on board of this launch vehicle and the whole world wide amateur radio community has major problems finding somebody to launch 1 every 5 years ? >> Whats wrong with this picture ? I would like to find out why ESA for example has no problems launching the cubesats by the dozend (for free i bet you), >> but refuse to carry just one for us. Does somebody has ESA's email address ? :) Is it really all about the educational aspect of things ? We can use that sales pitch, too. >> >> >> Andreas - VK4HHH >> >> >> >> ________________________________ >> From: Trevor . <m5aka(a)yahoo.co.uk> >> To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org >> Sent: Thursday, 8 December 2011 9:56 PM >> Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: LARES To Test Einstein's Theory >> >> --- On Thu, 8/12/11, Bob- W7LRD <w7lrd(a)comcast.net> wrote: >>> can't we squeeze a little bird in there? >> >> They'll be some CubeSat's on the launch I believe going into a 1500 by 300 km orbit see >> >> http://www.esa.int/esaMI/Education/SEM3N03MDAF_0.html >> >> 73 Trevor M5AKA >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. >> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! >> Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. >> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! >> Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb > >_______________________________________________ >Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. >Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! >Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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Re: cube sats and turn signals
by Andrew Glasbrenner 08 Dec '11

08 Dec '11

There is nothing that says they have to be useful to the general ham community in order to exist. What they do is provide a mechanism for university students to learn engineering and science. Elementary students don't contribute to mathematics by learning to multiply, and likewise there isn't necessarily an expectation that cubesats contribute to the state of the art of anything. Yet, they often do. Commercial users are now looking at cubesats and the technologies developed within them, as alternatives to the VW bus sized satellites of the past. NASA is doing real science through cubesats and NSF grants (although I agree these are a poor fit for the amateur bands). In the long term view, inclusion and support of cubesats into our community will benefit all the AMSATs more than derision and ridicule has to this point. Several cubes have attempted or will attempt to support amateur two-way packages, i.e. DO-64, CO-65, PWsat, FunCube, UKube, Fox. Let's encourage that, and stop with the self-centered view of the service. 73, Drew KO4MA -----Original Message----- >From: wa4hfn(a)comcast.net >Sent: Dec 8, 2011 10:36 AM >To: AMSAT <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> >Subject: [amsat-bb] cube sats and turn signals > >Cube sats are about as worthless to the ham op as turn signals are on our cars, who uses them. How much can be learned from them that hasnt already been done. Why cant the schools all get together and use the info from all the ones in the past or did they really learn anything. beep beep beep >_______________________________________________ >Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. >Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! >Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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