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

Re: Satellite gear for sale
by David Reinhart 23 Aug '11

23 Aug '11

I'm sorry, I should also have stated that I'll only ship to U.S. addresses. My apologies. Dave WA6ILT

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Satellite gear for sale
by David Reinhart 22 Aug '11

22 Aug '11

It's been more than two years since our move to the new QTH and it's very plain now that I'm not getting back on the birds, so I'm putting the following equipment up for sale: SSB Electronics 70cm GaAsFET preamp--$200 SSB Electronics DCW-15B Bias Tee/Preamp sequencer (Qty. 2) w/N connectors--$75/each. Above items are plus shipping and insurance from Zip Code 01520 (Holden, MA). Your choice of UPS or USPS. For local pickup, I also have a M^2 436CP30 in good shape for $150. Also only for pickup, the big item: US Tower TMM-433HD tower. This is a four section crank up, 33 ft. tower. It is complete with the base plate, lowering and crank-down fixtures (so you can both retract it and then lay it on the ground), four coax arms, and the inverted vee arm. The only thing it doesn't have are the "J" bolts that go into the foundation. I also have a 10 ft. fiberglass crossbeam that I will inlcude. The whole package for $1,750, way less than half the new price. Email me at wa6ilt(a)amsat.org 73, Dave

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Fwd: eHam.net ad
by Bob- W7LRD 22 Aug '11

22 Aug '11

I am just fowarding this email to the amsat-bb list. The IC-910H has the 1.2Ghz module in it. Jim told me he would be willing to ship the "shipable" items. 73 Bob W7LRD ----- Original Message ----- From: 57JNDenneny(a)comcast.net To: w7lrd(a)comcast.net Sent: Monday, August 22, 2011 10:39:27 AM Subject: eHam.net ad Bob Johnson Jim Denneny (K7EG) has sent you a ad for you to review. ----- start of message ----- Hello Bob I see you are WWDXC member. I am selling out satellite station. This ad plus an Icom 910H ad were just posted in Eham website. If you know of anyone in the area (or a better way to get the word out in our AMSAT region) that would be interested in a first class satellite station, let me know. Thanks /73 Jim K7EG Auburn WA 253-939-6107 The following is a ad from eHam.net: Title: VHF/UHF Satellite Antenna System Description: Complete Satellite Antenna System with G5500 AZ-EL rotator. Sell complete only. $1950. Pickup only Seattle area - too bulky to ship. Everything in excellent condition. X-Quads 144 & 430 with GasFET preamps. Helix antenna on 1200 Mhz with GasFET preamp. Parabolic small dish on 2400 with UEK 3000 down-convertor. Hardline, phasing networks. 253-939-6107 ----- end of message ----- You can see this ad in full at: http://eham.net/classifieds/detail/353061 This email was sent to you from Jim Denneny (K7EG) through a notification system on eHam.net.

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NASA to Carry ISS Cargo Ship Arrival
by Clint Bradford 22 Aug '11

22 Aug '11

Aug. 22, 2011 Michael Curie Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100 michael.curie(a)nasa.gov Kelly Humphries Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 kelly.o.humphries(a)nasa.gov MEDIA ADVISORY: M11-174 NASA TELEVISION TO AIR SPACE STATION CARGO SHIP ARRIVAL HOUSTON -- NASA Television will provide live coverage as a Russian Progress cargo spacecraft arrives at the International Space Station at 9:38 a.m. CDT on Friday, Aug. 26. NASA TV coverage will begin at 9 a.m., in lieu of the day's "ISS Update" program. The unpiloted Progress 44 spacecraft will automatically dock to the rear port of the station's Zvezda service module. The cargo ship will carry three tons of food, fuel and other supplies for the six crew members, Expedition 28 Commander Andrey Borisenko and Flight Engineers Ron Garan, Mike Fossum, Satoshi Furukawa, Alexander Samokutyaev and Sergei Volkov. It will be launched at 8 a.m. (7 p.m. Baikonur time) on Wednesday, Aug. 24, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. NASA TV will not air the launch live, but will show replays during the regularly scheduled 10 a.m. "ISS Update" program. For NASA TV downlink, schedule and streaming video information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv For information about the International Space Station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station -end- Clint Bradford clintbradford(a)mac.com

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ARISSat-1 CW2 beacon active
by Francisco Costa, CT1EAT 22 Aug '11

22 Aug '11

Hi all Last pass over EU (1622-1631) CW2 beacon was active. BPSK TLM decoded fine. 73 F.Costa, CT1EAT http://ct1eat.no.sapo.pt

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Turn off AGC when receiving BPSK-1000
by Phil Karn 22 Aug '11

22 Aug '11

I forgot to offer some advice when receiving the ARISSat-1 BPSK-1000 telemetry beacon: turn off your receiver AGC if at all possible. If you can only choose between fast and slow, pick slow. If this causes a large variation in audio level, reduce the gain to avoid clipping on the peaks. A sound card A/D is 16 bits so you have plenty of dynamic range; don't be afraid to use it. Ideally the background noise level should be constant with the signal going up and down. This greatly helps the demodulator and decoder to distinguish signal from noise. The error correction uses the Viterbi algorithm, and one of its big features is the ability to distinguish between "strong" and "weak" bits; a strong '1' or '0' is considered less likely to be in error than a weak '1' or '0'. The decoder can even accept "I don't know" for a limited number of bits. The decoder can still fix errors in strong bits. But it can fix more of them in the weak bits and still more in the "I don't knows" (known technically as "erasures"). This is especially important when the signal fades deeply, as it often does with ARISSat-1. With the AGC off, the audio signal level falls during a fade and the decoder can recognize it as a burst of erasures or near-erasures. As with many questions in life, "I don't know" or "I think it's X but I'm not sure" are better answers than being sure of the wrong answer. 73, Phil

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Seriously Get Over It!
by Kevin Deane 22 Aug '11

22 Aug '11

Enough with the friggin ARISSAT-1 reports, gee I heard it too. Post your reports here http://oscar.dcarr.org/ I mean really . Kevin KF7MYK

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Keps
by Carl Rimmer W8KRF 22 Aug '11

22 Aug '11

Thank you Mark, Alan, and Erich. It is now working as I wanted. I see that I have two options now. I can load my file OR load the keps "live" from Celetrack. I was finally able to copy some of the telemetry last night and SatPC did a very nice job of keeping up with the Doppler. I have to fine tune it but it was exciting to finally copy something and be able to upload it to the website. Thank you all again for the very timely response. 73, -- *Carl W8KRF *

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Flex 5000
by Nick Pugh K5QXJ 22 Aug '11

22 Aug '11

I am struggling to get my Flex 5000 and satpc32 to work. Has anyone on the list been able to get this combination to get the performance we get with the vintage radios? My best success has come with version 2.0.2.2 . The latest release Friday make thing worse. Thanks nick Office 337 593 8700 Cell 337 258 2527 Helping UL become a world Class Engineering and Educational School

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ARISSAT & FCD dongle I/Q recording
by Bernard f6bvp 22 Aug '11

22 Aug '11

Hello, Bonjour, ARISSAT satellite was received 2011-08-21 around 1906 UTC via FCD dongle on a vertical VHF antenna (+13dB), 35 metres long coaxial feedline and indoor SSB electronics preamp. Location in Paris, JN18DV. I/Q signal were saved using Audacity (stereo 96000 samples/sec 16 bits .wav file. Size 45MB) http://f6bvp.free.fr/ARISSAT-FCD-dongle/HDSDR_20110821_190634Z_145922kHz_RF… SpectraVue replay of .wav file analysis screen capture http://f6bvp.free.fr/ARISSAT-FCD-dongle/ARISSAT_FCD_20110821_1906UTC_ORB_27… 73s de Bernard, f6bvp

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