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

ARISSat-1 in Arizona @ 1332 UTC
by Patrick STODDARD 06 Aug '11

06 Aug '11

Hi! This was my first attempt on this satellite. CW telemetry at 145.920 was easy to copy, and I hear CW and SSB through the transponder. It wasn't hatd to hear the transponder after the satellite was up a few degrees from the horizon, and I heard my own CW near mid-pass. Maximum elevation here was 33 degrees. Above 20 or so degrees elevation, I could hear my CW. Near the midpoint, I briefly heard myself in SSB. Fading is there, but having to adjust my VFO more often than working VO52 makes this bird more of a challenge. Although I didn't complete a QSO, I think I heard KN6ZA in CW. I know I clearly heard AA5PK in SSB starting around 1337-1338 UTC. I will try again on the next pass at 1508-1517 UTC. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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ARISSat-1 over West Malaysia
by Sion Chow Q. C. (9W2QC) 06 Aug '11

06 Aug '11

Dear All, It was great to receive ARISSsat-1 over West Malaysia during 5th August 2011, 0223 UTC pass. Maximum elevation was 89 degrees. The downlink of both 145.919 MHz USB and 145.950 MHz FM was 59+60db, very strong but with huge QSB observed. A total of 3 SSTV pictures were forwarded to the ARISS SSTV gallery and some telemetry/Kursk data were forwarded by ARISSatTLM. Congratulations to all those involved with ARISSsat-1 and we look forward to trying out the transponder on the next pass. A few questions I have if someone could please help me clarify them: 1. Is it possible to have the callsign and forwarding telemetry option always set in ARISSsatTLM? This way, we do not have to manually enter the callsign and enable telemetry forwarding each time the program starts up. 2. Does the CW beacon needs to be really +/- 100 Hz of the yellow line? The reason for this is that I would like to see how much offset should I apply to doppler control, for possible automated reception. 3. In low power (eclipse) mode, how often does the BPSK1000 telemetry transmits? Thank you. 73, Sion Chow Q. C., 9M2CQC, Also: WQ2C /HL1, 9V1QC, JG1XHM ex: 9W2QC, AB3IO

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ARISSat1/RADIOSCAF-B doppler in SatPC32 problem
by Richard Ferryman 06 Aug '11

06 Aug '11

I set up an entry in Doppler.sqf, originally as ISS and now as RADIOSCAF-B for the ARISSat1 CW and telemetry frequencies. SSB receive only so TX set to 0 MHz, step 20Hz. Unfortunately the doppler correction is not following the received frequency correctly. The rate of change is wrong so I lose lock on the telemetry decode after less than 1 minute. Any ideas as to what I have missed? Dick G4BBH

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ARISSat-1 satpc32 files (RADIOSCAF-B)
by Eric Knaps, ON4HF 06 Aug '11

06 Aug '11

Hello all, Since we have the kepler data via celestrak.com I have configurated my satpc32 with the following lines in the doppler.sqf file: RADIOSCAF-B,145920,0,USB,USB,NOR,0,0,BPSK/CW-2 RADIOSCAF-B,145950,0,FM,FM,NOR,0,0,VOICE/SSTV RADIOSCAF-B,145930.0,435750.0,USB,LSB,REV,0,0,XPDR For those who uses satpc32. -- Amateur Radio Station ON4HF Eric Knaps Satellite manager UBA Tel. +32472985876 (mobile) http://www.on4hf.be

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ARISSat-1/Kedr - Low Elevations Pass in Florida
by Mike Schaffer 06 Aug '11

06 Aug '11

Heard ARISSat-1 voice identification on 145.950 FM on Saturday, August 6 at 0535 UTC in Tampa, Florida. Satellite tracking Az: 296, El: 5 over the Texas/Oklahoma border (0535 UTC) Az: 329, El: 8 over the Missouri/Illinois border (0537 UTC) 2M Cushcraft Oscar 14520T (10 vertical elements removed) antenna set at Az: 315, El: 30 RF signal strength was below 0.5 db. No RF preamp used. Mike Schaffer/KA3JAW

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Simple preamp improvement
by andy thomas 06 Aug '11

06 Aug '11

I found that a homebrew single transistor untuned preamp (page 4.42 of the RSGB's VHF/UHF handbook) was sufficient to lift pictures out of the noise - thought the funcube developers might reflect on this , looks like it's an essential feature for the ground station. 73 de andy g0sfj

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transponder at 4:00Z
by Bruce Robertson 05 Aug '11

05 Aug '11

I, and many others were able to get into the transponder at 4:00Z on August 6th. I used about 40w into a Lindenblad on TX and another omni on receive. One 'window' seemed much better for all of us than did the others, probably having something to do with the orientation of the RX antenna. I say this because the BPSK and FM signals were not very low in the other windows, whereas at the same time the linear band seemed quite less powerful. It's an amazing thrill to work our AMSAT SDX for the first time, and my sense is that any VO-52 class station should be able to hear its downlink. 73, Bruce VE9QRP -- http://ve9qrp.blogspot.com

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ARISSat-1 transponder worked over Australia
by Alex 05 Aug '11

05 Aug '11

Worked VK2ZAZ briefly around 0144UTC Signals quite weak but readable. A couple of other stations heard but too noisy to get call signs. Nothing heard on the following (low) pass. Alex / VK5ALX

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MacDoppler fixed by re-installing
by James Luhn 05 Aug '11

05 Aug '11

I could not make RADIOSCAF (ARISSAT) show up in MacDoppler earlier today. When all else fails, re-install! I downloaded the program file again and installed it. All appears working now. 73, James W5AOO

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Wisat32 Question
by Sion Chow Q. C. 05 Aug '11

05 Aug '11

Dear All, I am trying to use Wisat32 for unattended automated satellite tracking and have some questions if anyone could help me clarify: 1. Is it possible for Wisat32 to run a normal .bat batch file say 20 seconds before AOS and 20 seconds after LOS? This is used for power on and off to the satellite equipment. Previously WISP used to be able to do this, but I do not see the settings in Wisat32. 2. Is there any setting to ignore passes below a predefined elevation, for example below 5 degrees. Thank you. 73, Sion Chow Q. C., 9M2CQC, Also: WQ2C /HL1, 9V1QC, JG1XHM, ex: 9W2QC, AB3IO

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