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

DL7VTX Update
by Zachary Beougher 05 Feb '11

05 Feb '11

Hi All, I have been emailing back and forth with Jens, DL7VTX, over the past day or so, and he wanted me to fill you all in on a few of his trip details. ********** Message 1: Hi Zack , Tnx qso & qsl , I will send qsl direct if printed in abt 1..2 month . Was vy enjoyed working via sats during hikes at this very beautiful small tropical island . Had always good takeoffs either at sea - level or in 500...860 mtrs elevation . RIG : 2 Watts RF ; Handheld Kenwood TH-D7E & RH-770 telescope duoband ant.. see pictures I also had several aprs-contacts via NO-44 , once via ISS and once to KP4 digi from top of Saba-Isl. vy 73s , best wishes and cul de Jens , dl7vtx ********** Message 2: Hello Zack , Yes please feel free to foward this to the amsat-bb board . additional info : I wkd as many as 40 diffrent stns. via AO-27 and AO-51 from Saba - Isl. and Saint Marteen , last day at 29.th Jan.2011 also from Sint Maarten PJ7 Maho-Beach but only last reachable orbit of AO51 not got through the jam of stations at saturday night of course anymore ,sri. >From PJ6 I wkd. many W1,2,3,4,5, 8,9,0 , also FY,VE3, YV,KP4,TI,HI,HK,CO , EA8 hrd W7 fm DN45 ,DN42 PY and LU but not got trough the commercial-qrm or qro-jam at that time of orbits when real dx > 3000 miles would be possible . Was real fun work all you folks in this hemisphere - while try to make contacts via FM-SATs & ISS aprs-digi with qrp its much harder or really not possible at all in Central - Europe due to qrm .. RIG : 2 Watts RF ; Handheld Kenwood TH-D7E & RH-770 telescope duoband ant. DC-Pwr. 4 x R6 AA Battery-Pack . . PJ6 / PJ7 /FS QSLs ready in March 2011, promised qsl via HC DL7VTX ; info at qrz.com or via bureau 73s Jens DL7VTX my activity in DL see : www.df0yy.de and @findu.com/dl7vtx-1 73! Zack KD8KSN

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Linear xnspdr birds fm
by Ellis Foley 05 Feb '11

05 Feb '11

Return Mail to wa1rks(a)yahoo.com Nice to see I wasn't the only "Fool" around in those days! my first satellite station and contacts were made with an old Regency HR2A fm rig. I took one of the xstals, put an eraser to it to get it in the cw passband. of AO7,and cut and keyed the B+ line to the final transistor,brought that out thru a jack to my hand pump,and worked cw! no chirps, just rock bound,but worked tons of qso's with that before getting my FT221 SSB/CW rig.where there is a will, there is a way, de Ellis WA1RKS

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(no subject)
by John Hackett 05 Feb '11

05 Feb '11

http://angkorshop.orkun2u.com/mywork.html

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AO-7 Mode A anomaly
by Scott Armstrong 05 Feb '11

05 Feb '11

Has anyone experienced anything like this on AO-7 Mode A? Earlier today on pass 65777 ( AOS approx. 2207z) I was looking for my downlink signal shortly after my AOS. While searching for my downlink signal I could also hear a few other unidentifiable CW stations. I figured they were also looking for their downlink signal since it was in that part of the downlink passband where I usually find my downlink signal (29.452-29.454 MHz). I could finally identify one of the CW stations as W8TK. He kept sending his call and jumping around in frequency a little. I called him several times but to no avail. A few minutes later I heard a weak SSB station and heard the call WA7TFZ. I didn't hear anything else so I began calling CQ and had no replies for the remainder of the pass. I finally lost my downlink signal but still had a few minutes before the bird went over the horizon. I began tuning around and found 2 more CW stations one was W1MO and K7NJ this was about 2-3 minutes before the predicted LOS. They were high in the passband around 29.468 MHz. I could clearly copy K7NJ and he was calling CQ FOC. I copied the CW signals until just a little after the predicted LOS when they faded into the noise. I listened for several minutes after LOS and never heard any other signals. I thought that this was very strange for several reasons: 1. 4 new calls on AO7 Mode A ( Not a bad thing but very unlikely) 2. Only hearing stations shortly after AOS and just before LOS. 3. Stations operating high in the passband. 4. One station was calling CQ FOC. I started wondering if maybe I had a common window with both AO7 and VO52 since VO52s downlink overlaps AO7 mode A uplink. Threw this out real quick after seeing that VO52 was half a world away. I emailed W8TK and asked if he was on the satellite. He said that he doesn't have any equipment for bands higher than 10m and that he was on 20m CW chasing DX about that time. I also emailed W1MO but haven't heard back from him. I've played around with the numbers a bit but it doesn't appear to be a harmonic of one of the lower bands but maybe more like some oddball mixing product. I haven't ruled out something in my radio not working properly but have never heard anything like this before and only seemed to be present when the satellite was in view. Anyone else have similar experience? Scott AA5AM

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Re: 16 Feb ISS EVA sked
by Bob- W7LRD 05 Feb '11

05 Feb '11

Does anyone have a "guesstimate" as to long the ISS keps will work for ARISSAT, before it takes on life of it's own? 73 Bob W7LRD ----- Original Message ----- From: "Masahiro Arai" <m-arai(a)a.email.ne.jp> To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Sent: Friday, February 4, 2011 5:37:56 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] 16 Feb ISS EVA sked NASA TV Live Events Programs show the 16th Feb EVA begins at 1315z (0815EST). The live show start at 0745z on NASA TV. ARISSat-1 deployment will be seen live! http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Breaking.html 73 Masa JN1GKZ _______________________________________________ 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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2401 MHZ Beacon usage request
by Charlie -K3VDB- 05 Feb '11

05 Feb '11

Hello AMSAT-BB;......I am trying to determine if the W3HMS beacon on 2401MHZ is being use by the Satellite community located in South/Central PA. We have not received any reports for some time and will not continue to support it if not needed. It Is located in FM19qv (S/E of York PA.) It has been heard in MD and NJ. For those who are not familiar with it, it has been on 24/7 for >3 years and located at 1000ft on a 130ft tower. Its output is 1W to a RHCP Lindenblad Ant. Its CW Message contains 4 Telemetering channels and about 15 sec of solid carrier (then it repeat). A spread sheet decoder is available on request. The beacon is useful for Receive system testing and propagation analyzing etc. The 2401MHZ beacon is co-located with a 1296MHZ beacon and a 5760MHZ beacon. The ID message and telemetering is common to all 3 beacons. More info is available from k3vdb(a)amsat.org Please Let me know if any of these beacons are useful to you!!! TNX Charlie K3VDB

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Re: Rideshare missions to GTO, $800K for 3U Cubesat
by Daniel Schultz 05 Feb '11

05 Feb '11

I hope that Amsat can make Fox the highest quality, longest lived Cubesat ever built. But a Cubesat in high altitude orbit will be very disappointing to most hams, only the big-gun ham stations will ever be able to work it. We need a larger satellite with a larger power budget, high gain antennas and an attitude control system to aim those antennas at the Earth. We need to build and launch multiple satellites so that a single failure will not be so devastating to the user community. Those of us who work in or near the space program are looking under every rock to find a flight opportunity to a high altitude orbit. Please don't sell your AO-40 gear just yet, I think that you will need it again someday. Dan Schultz N8FGV

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Re: Linear Xpndr Operating Economics & more again
by k6yk 05 Feb '11

05 Feb '11

Whoops! I forgot to mention that the antennas were an omni vertical ground plane on 2 meters for the uplink and tri-band beam for the 10 meter downlink. 73, John K6YK On Fri, 4 Feb 2011 09:33:46 -0800 k6yk <k6yk(a)juno.com> writes: > Boy, that sounds familiar ! > My first Oscar station was a Regency HR-2B FM rig > with ONE crystal in the middle of the uplink band on 2 meters, > keying the high-low power switch. You couldn't hear the low > power but the 15 watts on high power made it fine. > > And the receivers were an HW-101 and Hallicrafters SX-117. > Bought an AMECO preamp for HF, which helped out on 10 meters. > > That was good enough to work lots of stations, maybe a total of > 600 QSO's on OScar 6 and 7! > > Then when the RS-10, 11 came along, I tried some mobile work > using an ICOM 230, again only one frequency, keying the PTT line, > no chirp, and Yaesu FT-301 for receiver. Larson 2 meter antenna > and > Hustler 10 meter antenna on the pickup. Worked quite a few QSO's > that way, too! > > All CW only, of course on mode A. Didn't get an all-mode rig > until about 1986 during the "RS" era. > > 73, > John > > > On Fri, 04 Feb 2011 09:59:28 -0600 Joe <nss(a)mwt.net> writes: > > My first Oscar Station,,, > > > > I do not remember if it was Oscar 6 or 7, but it was 1975, and we > > > listened to many passes on the ten meter downlink. > > > > We got from a local ham, an old AM vfo controlled 2 meter rig. > It > > was > > AM only. it had a Red face and was BIG like the size of a heathkit > > > SB-200 amp. two VFO's one for transmit and a separate one for > > receive. > > > > anyway we connected out Hallicrafters TO Keyer to the PTT line of > > > the > > mic, (with no mic installed) and it worked amazingly well. That > > > was > > out Oscar station back then, we made like 25 states or so on that > > > setup, > > > > Joe WB9SBD > > > > The Original Rolling Ball Clock > > Idle Tyme > > Idle-Tyme.com > > http://www.idle-tyme.com > > > > On 2/4/2011 9:16 AM, Roger Kolakowski wrote: > > > Simple answer...FM rigs will tend to "chirp" as you key the mic > > > line as > > > the VCO pulls onto frequency...crystal matrix FM radios such as > > > the old > > > Standard will be T-9... > > > > > > The purists will cry about the chirpy signal...but, most people > > > who work > > > CW on satellites would relish a new operator/contact even if > they > > were QLF. > > > > > > That being said...I have works scores of stations with my own > > "chirpy" > > > signal and even have received some polite 599's back. > > > > > > Roger Kolakowski > > > WA1KAT > > > > > > On 2/4/2011 9:30 AM, Rich Dailey wrote: > > >> Let's not forget about the funcube dongle as a terrific > > economical > > >> solution for receiving. And any decent FM transmitter can key > > > CW, > > >> no? Assuming someone already has a vhf/uhf rig, I can see > getting > > qrv on linear > > >> transponders today for under $200. > > >> Or am I being too simplistic? > > >> > > >> Rich, N8UX > > >> > > >> _______________________________________________ > > >> 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 > > > > ____________________________________________________________ > $65/Hr Job - 25 Openings > Part-Time job ($20-$65/hr). Requirements: Home Internet Access > http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4d4c3904dcafa1f976cst01vuc > _______________________________________________ > 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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16 Feb ISS EVA sked
by Masahiro Arai 05 Feb '11

05 Feb '11

NASA TV Live Events Programs show the 16th Feb EVA begins at 1315z (0815EST). The live show start at 0745z on NASA TV. ARISSat-1 deployment will be seen live! http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Breaking.html 73 Masa JN1GKZ

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CH-19 11 Meters
by Kevin Deane 05 Feb '11

05 Feb '11

Hello alll, I would just like to see if there was anyone that would like to comment on someones childish coments over the air on the AO-51 this weekend. Being new at this I did have some feedback on my transmissions. I corrected the problem with some headphones. I am saying flat out that the "CH19 few channels down" and "11 Meters check in now" and " get a real radio" were unprofessional and certainly uncalled for. I doubt that the person making these comments will step up now, I just wanted to see if anyone had the guts to comment on this. I know that others heard this. The person guilty of this childish behaviour, at the time stated "Hey ----- So-67 in 4 hours" I was on that pass and made a couple contacts, but do to the different audio was unable to identify this child. I did hear some dead keys, may or may not have been directed towards me. This kind of thing is unacceptable to me and if I get the call sign of anyone doing these things I will report it. Kevin S. Deane KF7MYK

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