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

HELP ON LINEAR BIRDS
by Marc Tessier - VE3TES 22 Feb '11

22 Feb '11

Hello, after finally getting my uhf yagi to operate well again, I want to try my hand at the linear birds or SSB sats again, I am having troubles calibrating my uplink to the bird. I have read and followed the steps laid out in the FAQ, Yet I still have to recalibrate each pass. what could I be doing wrong??? my station is as follows Software - Satpc32 Radio - Kenwood TS-2000 Antennae are - 5 ele on 2m - 9 ele on uhf. Regards, Marc Tessier - VE3TES ve3tes(a)cogeco.ca

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Couple of 736r questions..
by Bill West 22 Feb '11

22 Feb '11

Hello: I had a few questions about the operation of the Yaesu 736r. 1: I am on one of the SSB satellites (440/2 meters) - I hear my signal coming back down and all seems fine. Shortly afterward the RX and TX frequencies are not in sync so I need to adjust one of them to find and hear myself again. Which is best to adjust RX or TX? 2: In trying to make life easier by using the Memories Recall (MR) on the unit. I put in the frequencies of the centerband of each of the satellites. It is easiest to quickly adjust my frequency by just selecting Memory Recall 1, 2, 3, etc. That works fine for the FM satellites, but I am locked into that frequency on the SSB birds and I cannot use the VFO to adjust +/- my frequencies. If I hit VFO I go back to the frequency I was using before I did the Memory Recall. Is there a way to use the Sat Memories yet have the VFO work when you get there without changing the Memory contents as you would if you used the VFO/M button? Any tricks? Thanks for your time. - Bill KA4GDV - Orlando

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ND9M/MM Ops: 22-23 Feb
by Clary, James T, Civilian 22 Feb '11

22 Feb '11

I'll be QRV on VO52 this evening at 22/0603Z. This will be a low pass for me at 8 degrees max, so it'll be mainly for testing my station's receiving capability. It's apparent that my problem with hearing my own downlink at low elevations on the linear sats will persist, at least until I can change out my antenna when we arrive in California next week. (I'll be putting an Elk on line in place of the Arrow that I've been using.) I should be able to rearrange my lunch schedule to take advantage of the first window opportunity on AO27 tomorrow afternoon when it turns on at about 22/2333Z. Later at 23/0155Z, a small window will open up on AO51, followed by AO7 with a footprint extending to the central states at 23/0249Z and another one the next morning at 23/1645Z. 73, Jim, ND9M / VQ9JC Grid AM43

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FW: Re: Considerate satellite operations behavior.
by Dee 22 Feb '11

22 Feb '11

-----Original Message----- From: Dee [mailto:Morsesat@optonline.net] Sent: Monday, February 21, 2011 8:26 PM To: 'Tony Langdon' Subject: RE: [amsat-bb] Re: Considerate satellite operations behavior. As with all HEO theories, we have to take this as one with a burden of expenses. My idea of a baseline is also an AO-10 or 13 type bird. Propulsion and getting a ride To the HEO orbit is very expensive. AMSAT, without having help from other interested parties, cannot possibly meet expenses on this. With a ride offer from one of the launch facilities, Satellite enthusiasts could possibly raise enough money to get this to happen. ITAR is not helping this AMSAT group bonding to give this a chance. Please let your wishes in this direction be known to any AMSAT people. I have been accused of having my own agenda for HEO birds. Remember, we cannot possibly afford this (unless a rich uncle leaves us a sizable amount) and this is why our officers want to stress the present usable LEO birds as our foreseeable future. Have faith and maybe the status of launches will change and all this will be a mute point. 73, Dee, NB2F -----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] On Behalf Of Tony Langdon Sent: Monday, February 21, 2011 4:51 PM To: Rocky Jones; wa4hfn(a)comcast.net; tjschuessler(a)verizon.net Cc: Amsat BB Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Considerate satellite operations behavior. At 04:11 AM 2/22/2011, Rocky Jones wrote: >My argument with AMSAT and others is that the organization should be >leading by pushing more linear devices AND birds with larger >footprints. Where I think things got off track badly was with the >notion of AO-40...the theory that we had to build a satellite that >people could work "worldwide" with not much antenna and other >equipment. Oscar 10 and 13 (along with Arsene) in my view is about >the baseline satellite that AMSAT should be building and trying to lead >the satellite movement. As long as "baseline" satellite access is a >handitalkie with a long whip...we are not going to see much different >in my view nor should we expect it Linear birds are a good idea, and the idea of creating an "off the shelf" transponder package that university groups can install into their projects has been discussed here before, to help that end. larger footprints would be nice (and extremely useful in this part of the world), but the trick there is getting the launch opportunities at an affordable price, since it seems most affordable launch opportunities are to LEO. You can only place your bird where the ride takes you, unless you add propulsion, which means extra weight and complexity (meaning more cost, fewer launch opportunities and higher risk of failure, and most likely fewer birds). One of these days, I'll have a crack at the linear birds we have. I have the gear, just have to get around to using it! :) 73 de VK3JED / VK3IRL http://vkradio.com _______________________________________________ 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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Fwd: 420 MHz in Jeopardy!
by wa4hfn＠comcast.net 22 Feb '11

22 Feb '11

----- Forwarded Message ----- From: "Rick Pinelli" <ka2bsm(a)gmail.com> To: "Damon" <wa4hfn(a)comcast.net>, "David" <kd4noq(a)arrl.net>, "Lee" <LRACE(a)ci.collierville.tn.us>, "Rick" <wa4nvm(a)comcast.net>, randyw4412(a)aol.com, "chris dowland" <chris(a)aleadingedge.com>, "Danny Banks" <dbanksd(a)bellsouth.net>, "Richard Martin" <kj4dxf(a)att.net>, n4gmt(a)comcast.net, wv5j(a)netscape.net, w5ema(a)arrl.net Sent: Monday, February 21, 2011 10:27:33 AM Subject: 420 MHz in Jeopardy! I received this info from one of the D-STAR groups about the 420 MHz band and thought I would pass it along. Rick - KA2BSM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Subject: 420 band auction imminent if HR 607 passes I think we need to be aware of this issue, since our repeater system lives there. This is being done "in order to offset the loss of revenue that would occur as the result of the allocation of the D-Block to Public Safety instead of commercial auction". So they are giving away some spectrum that they said they would auction, and we get to pay the price for it. This bill was introduced by the Horable Peter King, R-NY District #3. Read more about Congresman King's spin on this plan here. http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/ny03_king/bipartlegsdblock.html Note that there is NO MENTION of the 420-450 and 450-470 bands in his press release, and they are in a footnote in the bill (oh, by the way, we can make up the revenue shortfall by auctioning off these frequencies...) So these bands will be sacrificed to pay for the reallocation of the spectrum that was previously cleared by TV Broadcasters for acution in the name of "Homeland Security". The 450 band contains Broadcasting Remote Pickup and Studio to Transmitter links along with other coordinated use. 420 to 450 is our 70cm amateur band. ---------------------------------------------------------- *Spectrum Management Bill Threatens Amateur Frequencies* *On February 10, Representative Peter King (R-NY-3), Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, introduced HR 607, the **Broadband for First Responders Act of 2011**. The bill been referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which handles telecommunications legislation. * *HR 607 addresses certain spectrum management issues, including the creation and maintenance of a nationwide Public Safety broadband network. As part of that network, the bill provides for the allocation of the so-called "D-Block" of spectrum in the 700 MHz range for Public Safety use.* *The D-Block consists of two, 5 megahertz-wide segments of **spectrum (758-763 and 788-793 MHz) that became available when the FCC ended analog television broadcasts in June 2009 and reallocated the 698-806 MHz band for Public Safety and commercial broadband. It was anticipated that the D-Block would be auctioned for commercial use. * *There are several bills in Congress providing for the allocation of the D-Block for Public Safety use, and HR 607 is one of those. But HR 607 uniquely provides for the reallocation of other spectrum for auction to commercial users, in order to offset the loss of revenue that would occur as the result of the allocation of the D-Block to Public Safety instead of commercial auction. * *HR 607 lists the paired bands of 420-440 MHz and 450-470 MHz among the bands to be reallocated for commercial auction within 10 years of its passage. * Read more here< http://www.arrl.org/news/spectrum-management-bill-threatens-amateur-frequen… >

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HELP ON LINEAR BIRDS a reply
by Gkcarr 21 Feb '11

21 Feb '11

Marc, you did fine during our FO-29 QSO @ 2053Z today. I also heard you on the next pass. 73 George WA5KBH -----Original message----- From: "Marc Tessier - VE3TES" ve3tes(a)cogeco.ca Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2011 21:02:37 -0600 To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [Spam] [amsat-bb] HELP ON LINEAR BIRDS > Hello, after finally getting my uhf yagi to operate well again, I want to try my hand at the linear birds or SSB sats again, I am having troubles calibrating my uplink to the bird. > I have read and followed the steps laid out in the FAQ, Yet I still have to recalibrate each pass. what could I be doing wrong??? > > my station is as follows > > Software - Satpc32 > Radio - Kenwood TS-2000 > Antennae are - 5 ele on 2m > - 9 ele on uhf. > > Regards, > > Marc Tessier - VE3TES > ve3tes(a)cogeco.ca > _______________________________________________ > 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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AO-51 mode change 21 Feb 2011 2145utc
by Mark L. Hammond 21 Feb '11

21 Feb '11

Hello All, Power up that L-band transmitter! AO-51 is about 2 days away from full sun. On-board temperatures are climbing, and it looks like we have just enough power to try to run both repeaters. It will take some tweaking of various power management parameters, and we'll see how things go. Right now 435.300 is at 420mW and 435.150 is at 300mW. Expect interruptions for telemetry collection by command stations; we'll try to keep the impact down to a minimum. You may also see the transmitters shutting off as we run right on the edge of the power budget. They should come back on when the batteries get a bit more juice in them. Both transmitters will be off during eclipses (which won't last much longer). We'll probably run dual repeaters until Sunday 27 Feb 2011. There is only about 3 weeks of full sun, then eclipses return. Dust off your S-band downconverters and antennas! We'll try to fit in some S-band activity before eclipses return (approx. 14 March or so). As of 21 Feb 2011 2145utc: Dual Voice Repeaters Mode V/U FM Voice Repeater (no PL tone needed) Uplink: 145.920 MHz FM Downlink 435.300 MHz FM Mode L/U FM Voice Repeater (no PL tone needed) Uplink: 1268.700 MHz FM Downlink 435.150 MHz FM On behalf of the command team, Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

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Re: Considerate satellite operations behavior.
by k6yk 21 Feb '11

21 Feb '11

There's nothing AMSAT can do about lids. Lids are lids and they are everywhere on the hambands, not just satellite. I would suspect that the ones you're complaining about don't read this list, or talk to any other hams. We do all this writing, but the people who need to read it don't. The madness on the birds is minor compared to what it is on HF at times. (Not all the time)... Doing a demo on a SSB/CW bird would be much nicer. It's much more civilized most of the time. 73, John K6YK On Mon, 21 Feb 2011 14:41:10 +0000 (UTC) wa4hfn(a)comcast.net writes: > This is and will be an ongoing problem until the powers to be at > amsat do something about the mess on the FM birds . Tom you are > preaching to the choir here because most of the offenders have no > idea that this BBS is here. If the FCC stopped long enough to > monitor this madness, they would likely have Amsat shut it down. BUT > it is our job to police the ham bands.I guess that might mean we > need to write down the bird,call sign ,date ,mode, and time and try > to contact the offender and explain to the operator the trouble they > are causing and offer them some advice on how to operate on the > birds. Amsat wants users and needs members but this madness has to > be corrected. I would not do a satallite demo any where and let > people hear the mess that is ever present now and even worse on the > weekends. Amsat needs to address this issue and offer a solution > before the responsible operators givenup and quite dealing with the > birds. > Thats my 2 cents worth AGAIN > WA4HFN Damon EM55 > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Tom Schuessler" <tjschuessler(a)verizon.net> > To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org > Sent: Sunday, February 20, 2011 11:29:20 PM > Subject: [amsat-bb] Considerate satellite operations behavior. > > Hi all, > > I do not have the dollars yet to upgrade to an all mode radio to be > able to > do SSB/CW operations so FM is my lot for now. I love early mornings > on > AO-51 and later in the evening SO-50 and SO-67 when available > because the > roar of the crowd is significantly less. That being said, I like to > give > AO-51 or AO-27 a try once in a while in the afternoons to make a few > Qs but > find myself more often than not put off by the sheer mess found > there. Only > been doing this for 8 months with 260 QSOs on an irregular schedule > so maybe > I am out of line here, but I will throw out some observations > anyway. > > The for me 2210Z 20-Feb, 2011 pass was a typical example of what > makes this > part of the hobby hard to promote. I know that many of you are > conscientious operators and do not try stomp on others but there are > some > out there who just don't seem to understand that there is a proper > way to do > this that will maximize the number of QSOs that actually get > completed on a > given pass. > > I don't know how many times I heard someone call another station but > when > that second station answers, somebody else comes right on top and > obliterates the poor guy with a totally unrelated call. I have had > a > station call me back only to have his exchange blown out of the > water by > somebody else who is apparently not listening to the fact that > several > seconds of an exchange has already occurred. > > I am sure I was the cause of some interference this afternoon > attempting to > jump in after an exchange to get my call out there. I try however, > if it > appears that I with my 5W handheld and Arrow, are not making it > through the > current pileup, will wait 3 or 4 minutes until the pass has > progressed some > and try it again. Yes I know it is FM and I should not expect > better but > honestly I know it can be. Several times I heard a weak voice that > sounded > like a youth trying to get in but nobody paused enough to give the > poor kid > a shot. I made three Qs that pass but the kid got none and probably > walked > away thinking he had just wasted his time. > > I will be at a hamfest in a few weeks and plan to do a few > demonstrations > of FM satellite work with my Arrow there and know that many folks > will just > wag their heads and decide to never try at all because of the noise > and > disorganization. > > Another issue I hear is stations calling but not apparently hearing > anything > but they continue to call anyway and cause interference. A recent > SO-50 > pass in the evening had 6 or seven stations calling but only one or > two QSOs > actually took place as nobody seemed to be listening to the right > frequencies. I would request that the person who keeps up with the > Satellite status pages on the AMSAT web site please post the reality > the > SO-50 downlink is really about 5Khz lower than the published > 436.795. If > that were really the case, than I should always be starting a pass > on my > handeld at 436.805 but if I go there, I hear nothing much and always > end the > pass way down at 436.780 instead of .785. Since we always recommend > that > new operators look to AMSAT.org for their basic information, it > needs to be > kept current. If the information is wrong then people have to go > through > the trial and error method to find out the truth. > > Hopefully these remarks will not offend but will serve to spur us > all to > improve the way we do things so others can too have a shot at > making > contacts. > > Tom Schuessler > 2713 Lake Gardens Drive > Irving, Texas 75060 > 972-986-7456 > 214-403-1464 (Cell) > n5hyp(a)arrl.net > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > ____________________________________________________________ $65/Hr Job - 25 Openings Part-Time job ($20-$65/hr). Requirements: Home Internet Access http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4d62a99cef9ab4c9af8st01vuc

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LoTW troubles
by George Henry 21 Feb '11

21 Feb '11

Although the LoTW FAQ shows "ARISS" and "AO-7" as the valid satellite names, TQSL bounced all of my QSOs for those two for "Invalid Satellite Name"... I looked in the ADIF file, and the Sat_Name fields are all correct, and it processed all of my other QSOs successfully. I also tried "ISS" and "AO-07", and it bounced those, as well. Any hints? George, KA3HSW

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Considerate satellite operations behavior.
by Tom Schuessler 21 Feb '11

21 Feb '11

Hi all, I do not have the dollars yet to upgrade to an all mode radio to be able to do SSB/CW operations so FM is my lot for now. I love early mornings on AO-51 and later in the evening SO-50 and SO-67 when available because the roar of the crowd is significantly less. That being said, I like to give AO-51 or AO-27 a try once in a while in the afternoons to make a few Qs but find myself more often than not put off by the sheer mess found there. Only been doing this for 8 months with 260 QSOs on an irregular schedule so maybe I am out of line here, but I will throw out some observations anyway. The for me 2210Z 20-Feb, 2011 pass was a typical example of what makes this part of the hobby hard to promote. I know that many of you are conscientious operators and do not try stomp on others but there are some out there who just don't seem to understand that there is a proper way to do this that will maximize the number of QSOs that actually get completed on a given pass. I don't know how many times I heard someone call another station but when that second station answers, somebody else comes right on top and obliterates the poor guy with a totally unrelated call. I have had a station call me back only to have his exchange blown out of the water by somebody else who is apparently not listening to the fact that several seconds of an exchange has already occurred. I am sure I was the cause of some interference this afternoon attempting to jump in after an exchange to get my call out there. I try however, if it appears that I with my 5W handheld and Arrow, are not making it through the current pileup, will wait 3 or 4 minutes until the pass has progressed some and try it again. Yes I know it is FM and I should not expect better but honestly I know it can be. Several times I heard a weak voice that sounded like a youth trying to get in but nobody paused enough to give the poor kid a shot. I made three Qs that pass but the kid got none and probably walked away thinking he had just wasted his time. I will be at a hamfest in a few weeks and plan to do a few demonstrations of FM satellite work with my Arrow there and know that many folks will just wag their heads and decide to never try at all because of the noise and disorganization. Another issue I hear is stations calling but not apparently hearing anything but they continue to call anyway and cause interference. A recent SO-50 pass in the evening had 6 or seven stations calling but only one or two QSOs actually took place as nobody seemed to be listening to the right frequencies. I would request that the person who keeps up with the Satellite status pages on the AMSAT web site please post the reality the SO-50 downlink is really about 5Khz lower than the published 436.795. If that were really the case, than I should always be starting a pass on my handeld at 436.805 but if I go there, I hear nothing much and always end the pass way down at 436.780 instead of .785. Since we always recommend that new operators look to AMSAT.org for their basic information, it needs to be kept current. If the information is wrong then people have to go through the trial and error method to find out the truth. Hopefully these remarks will not offend but will serve to spur us all to improve the way we do things so others can too have a shot at making contacts. Tom Schuessler 2713 Lake Gardens Drive Irving, Texas 75060 972-986-7456 214-403-1464 (Cell) n5hyp(a)arrl.net

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