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

2M1EUB/P ISLE OF SKY LAST FEW DAYS
by paul robinson 29 Sep '11

29 Sep '11

LAST 2 DAYS HERE IO67VJ MOVE EAST SAT MORN ...QRV AO7 MODE A&B 145.947 AND 29.447 ?? AND SOME FO29 DEPENDS ON WINDOW AS IM IN A VALLEY,SO NOT ALWAYS ABLE TO MAKE FULL PASS...DE PAUL 2M1EUB/P

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Nigeria satellite
by R Oler 29 Sep '11

29 Sep '11

http://onorbit.com/node/3896 I was in Nigeria while this sat was being built and got a great tour of the space facilities in Abuja...the implications for this sort of imagery for world security and peace is a good thing Robert G. Oler WB5MZO life member AMSAT ARRL NARS

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Re: HRD and open source software. AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 6, Issue 540
by Nigel A. Gunn, W8IFF/G8IFF 28 Sep '11

28 Sep '11

I believe that Simon didn't "open source" the code because it relied heavily on proprietary libraries and resources that he had license to use but no license to publish. On 09/28/2011 07:00 PM, amsat-bb-request(a)amsat.org wrote: > And what has that to do with Open Source software? Let's assume Simon would've opened the code > and other's would've been able to contribute.

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Re: ARISSat and Elk or Arrow
by GW1FKY＠aol.com 28 Sep '11

28 Sep '11

Hi Clayton, During the better day time passes here in the UK, I can confirm that using my "Elk" antenna I made many CQ calls via ARISSat-1 and heard my own down link sometimes quite strong, but also subject to changes and breaks in transmission from the satellite. I made two contacts one being in the UK and the other another European station, both of these have been confirmed. I also heard other users but did not get any response to my call even though I could hear my own down link. My equipment was a Kenwood TS 2000 and the Elk was mounted to track the satellite. Trust that this will help, good luck and trust that you will have some success. Ken Eaton GW1FKY Amsat -UK Amsat NA

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Office Closed
by Martha 28 Sep '11

28 Sep '11

The AMSAT Office will be closed on Thursday, Sept 29th. It will reopen on Friday, Sept 30th at 10:00 AM. -- 73- Martha

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ARISSat and Elk or Arrow
by Clayton Coleman W5PFG 28 Sep '11

28 Sep '11

I've been wondering if anyone besides me has tried to hear themselves using an Arrow or Elk antenna via ARISSat's linear transponder. If you have tried it and successfully heard yourself, please let me know. I'm curious as to what was your formula for success. The rig I've been using is an FT-847 and for an antenna either my Elk or Arrow mounted to a camera tripod. I've made about six attempts now on passes that I thought were very favorable to success. I've had zero trouble receiving telemetry or SSTV during these passes so I'm sure the bird was actually overhead during my attempts. I'm not ready to give up but time is running out. 73 Clayton W5PFG

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Re: R: Re: HB9DRV
by Simon HB9DRV 28 Sep '11

28 Sep '11

There's Gpredict http://gpredict.oz9aec.net/download.php As with all code - the best code is written by the user, especially with something like satellite tracking where the theory and UI challenge is quite demanding. There are many who can talk long and loud, but how many have actually written working tracking software? (I'm not getting at Dominic here.) Simon Brown, HB9DRV http://sdr-radio.com -----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] On Behalf Of Dominic Hawken Neither of those mentioned so far are Open Source, but I'd love to know too - Mike, which ones are you using?

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GPS position
by Kevin Deane 28 Sep '11

28 Sep '11

I know this sounds lame but anyone know where I can enter lat and lon and get my location. All my gps does really is give lat&lon which is fine, but all the things I have found you click on the map and it gives everything with grid but I want to do the reverse, so when I am driving around I can punch in my gps cooridnates and get my location /grid on the map. Thanks for any help. :) Kevin KF7MYK

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Tsh!
by Kevin Deane 28 Sep '11

28 Sep '11

Just enter the cooridinates on Google maps LAMO! Kevin KF7MYK

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HB9DRV
by Dave Marthouse 28 Sep '11

28 Sep '11

Does anyone on this list have a working E-Mail address for HB9DRV the developer of Ham Radio Deluxe? I would like to get in touch with him as I have a few questions regarding the satellite tracking portion of the software. Thanks in advance. Dave Marthouse N2AAM dmarthouse(a)gmail.com

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Partial remains of UARS fall in Canada
by Rick - WA4NVM 28 Sep '11

28 Sep '11

As you may now know, UARS left a burning ionized trail right over WA and into Canada, where some of it crashed into a car. Here's a video about the incident. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgTyiaDmytw

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Radio Shack Rotator Help
by Keith O'Brien 28 Sep '11

28 Sep '11

I was given a Radio Shack antenna rotator, model number 15-1245A, that I figured was good enough to turn my small Cushcraft Dual Band 3 element yagi I sometimes use for some satellite work. But the rotator is need of some clearing and lubrication. Has anyone taken one of these apart and can share some insight as to what I might expect to find once I remove the motor and gear assembly from it's housing. I assume the 4 large bolts inside the bottom cover where you would attach the wires are holding the motor assembly in place. Are there any ball bearings that I might expect to come rolling out if I disassemble it? I looked for a You Tube video for some help but came up empty. Figured the next best place to ask would be with other satellite operators. Keith N4ZQ

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Re: HB9DRV
by Greg Beat 27 Sep '11

27 Sep '11

Excerpt from Press Release of September 19, 2011 Tampa FL, St. Paul MN, Pittsburgh PA - September 19, 2011 - Mike Carper (WA9PIE), Randy Gawtry (K0CBH) and Rick Ruhl (W4PC) have acquired the source and rights to the Ham Radio Deluxe (HRD) suite of software. All three principals have more than 25 years of experience with radio data communications. Rick Ruhl (W4PC) is the president of W4PC Software, Inc. whose products include the PakRatt, PKTerm and Radio Operations Center software suites. Randy Gawtry (K0CBH) is the president of Timewave Technology Inc. whose products include the PK and DSP families of data controllers and other commercial data products. Mike Carper (WA9PIE) is an experienced Fortune 500 technology executive, educator, and featured speaker in the areas of wireless technologies and IT Service Management. "After many years writing the HRD software it's necessary to take a break and hand the whole project over to another team," said Simon Brown (HB9DRV). "The support effort required has become more than I can realistically manage - with many thousands of users, new radios and other hardware appearing all the time and unexpected changes to the infrastructure used by HRD such as QRZ.com I no longer have any time at all for other projects. As some of you will know I have formed a company SDR-RADIO.com GmbH and am now working in the Software Defined Radio arena with RFspace. This is the technology of the future; a future which I want a part of. In 2012 I plan to return to England and get back on the air, something I haven't done much during the last 25 years." The new owners of HRD are in the process of building a development environment for HRD and plans to begin by addressing some of the bugs in the existing "To Do List" for an upcoming 5.1 release. The 5.1 release will be made available at no charge to registered users when completed. ==== Message: 1 Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:42:14 -0400 From: "Dave Marthouse" <dmarthouse(a)gmail.com> To: <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Subject: [amsat-bb] HB9DRV Does anyone on this list have a working E-Mail address for HB9DRV the developer of Ham Radio Deluxe? I would like to get in touch with him as I have a few questions regarding the satellite tracking portion of the software. Thanks in advance. Dave Marthouse N2AAM dmarthouse(a)gmail.com

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AubieSat-1 Launch information for 25 October 2011
by wersinger＠physics.auburn.edu 27 Sep '11

27 Sep '11

Fellow satellite enthusiasts; We fervently request your assistance in receiving transmissions from an upcoming satellite, AubieSat-1, immediately after its launch from Vandenberg AFB, California, USA, 25 October 2011 at 9:52 UTC. AubieSat-1 (AS-1) is an undergraduate - built CubeSat satellite developed by Auburn University. AS-1 is designed to transmit with a power of about 800 milliwatts on a frequency of 437.475 MHz, plus or minus Doppler correction. The beacon signal, along with telemetry, will be sent using A1A continuous wave Morse code at 20 words per minute. Additional telemetry from the onboard science experiment will use CW transmissions up to 60 WPM. Based on the pre-launch orbital data provided by NASA, AS-1 will activate after deployment at 12:21 UTC, 25 October 2011. At that time, the sub-satellite point will be at 34.52 S latitude and 1.52 W longitude over the South Atlantic Ocean. Our predictions are that the first flights over the contiguous United States will begin as shown in the following table: Orbit AOS Apogee LOS General Locale 3 15:54 UTC >50 deg 16:01 UTC New York 4 17:28 UTC >26 deg 17:35 UTC Texas 5 19:07 UTC >48 deg 19:14 UTC California This information will be updated should there be launch scrubs or performance changes in the launch, and additional information will be available upon request for specific locations. Reception reports with data contents are welcomed to the following email addresses: wersijp at auburn dot edu and tam0013 at auburn dot edu An internet Echolink conference group is also planned to begin one-half hour prior to launch and continue until about 30 minutes after confirmation of the first receipt of signals from the satellite. Information on the conference groups title will be distributed nearer to the launch for interested stations. Please email wersijp at auburn dot edu if you require additional information and can assist in the reception and tracking of AS-1. Thank you. -- -------------------------------------------------- J-M Wersinger, PhD KI4YAU Professor Emeritus Director, AU Student Space Program 334-844-4223 Physics Department Auburn University, AL 36849 -------------------------------------------------- "Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." Einstein

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IC-910H with SATPC32ISS
by Sion Chow Q. C. (9W2QC) 27 Sep '11

27 Sep '11

Dear All, Previously we have been using the ICOM IC-910H transceiver with SATPC32ISS for doppler control for our ARISS school contacts. Due to ISS has both its TX and RX frequencies in the 2M band, we had to use an extra wire between the IC-910H's ACC jack and the PC's COM port to inhibit frequency changes while the radio is transmitting. Based on the "What's New" document of SATPC32ISS (http://www.dk1tb.de/What's%20New.txt), it is noted that the extra wire between IC-910H's ACC jack and the PC's COM port is no longer needed from version 12.8a onwards. However, when we did a simulation of this, we notice that should the frequency changes (due to doppler shift) while the radio is in transmit mode, the TX and RX frequency swaps (TX frequency becomes RX while RX frequency becomes TX) - as what used to happen during previous version when the ACC wire is not installed. I wonder if there are some configurations that we need to check? Or is there something that we are doing wrong here? The IC-910H is connected via a G4ZLP ICOM CI-V cable to the PC's build in COM port. Any pointers or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thank you. 73, Sion Chow Q. C., 9M2CQC, Also: WQ2C /HL1, 9V1QC, JG1XHM, ex: 9W2QC, AB3IO

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Re: Nothing from ARISSat-1?
by GW1FKY＠aol.com 27 Sep '11

27 Sep '11

Hi Gordon, I did not hear even a whisper today -Monday morning - at my QTH in south Wales UK. Thanks for your posting it confirms that I was not alone. Regards Ken Eaton GW1FKY

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Ref my ARISSat-1 report 26th Sept.
by GW1FKY＠aol.com 27 Sep '11

27 Sep '11

Thanks to the feedback from operators in Europe whom advised me that they had in fact heard ARISSat-1 on the morning passes on Monday 26th Sept. It appears that I did not wait long enough for its activation after coming from eclipse, I followed up the pass today (Tuesday ) at approx. 0900 hrs GMT. Sure enough it did activate OK but longer than I had anticipated and perhaps rather like the situation in the earlier days for Europe after it was released. Today ( using tracking ) it came over the horizon - a reasonable clear view - at approx. 0900hrs and reached its max. elevation of only 14 degrees for my QTH at approx. 0904hrs. It had not turned on at this stage and I did not hear the FM transmissions until 0909 hrs at which time it had tracked down to an elevation of only 7 degrees. Not able to work via the SSB link at such a low angle so can't comment except to say that under better operating situations during the month, I have heard my own down link quite strongly and had two confirmed contacts. Many thanks and apologies if my earlier report caused confusion. Ken Eaton GW1FKy

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post that dudnt go
by Kevin Deane 27 Sep '11

27 Sep '11

Hello From Don KA9QJG , Hope Everyone is doing Well I have Heard and Read and ask a lot of Questions about Hams using the Oscar Sub Band 144.3-144.5 and as You can guess I Got a lot of Opinions From the ARRL, FCC And others, So I thought the Best thing to go was to actually get the Answers from You the users. Yes I know that and as a Responsible Ham I think We all should use the Guidelines , But in this Case From what I have found the Oscar Sats have not been on the Air since in Many Years , and NO Other Sats or ISS Is using the Freqs or set aside for them , So a Lot of Hams in the US are using the Freqs for FM/ SSB CW DIGTAL And Look the Well Established APRS And long time and still used 144.34 FM for Conducting ATV And I have seen on the Internet Some States actually adding the 144.300-144.5 As Simplex FM The Problem is I have Heard People Jamming and Arguments about this over the Air , I have even seen on the Internet when doing searches for Info Some States even include this NON Used 144.300 TO 144.500 For FM Simplex Etc.. Because NO Oscar Sats Exist or Nothing else to Interfere with But I agree 100Percent if there Was the Freqs should NOT Be used for anything other then what it was intended for Thanks 73 De Don KA9QJG PS as You know We have a lot of older Hams kind of set in their ways and the New ones Are Listening and looking for ways to Fit in, and We need as Many New Responsible Hams in this Hobby as We can get But How Could We get on these Freqs Some are using and Say Hey We are not allowed here Because of the Oscar Sub Band Something that has been Gone for over 20 Yrs

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SoCal Grids
by Kevin Deane 27 Sep '11

27 Sep '11

Does not look like there is much left, I heard someone in DM04 and I think KI6YAA is in DM22. DM 12 maybe, I think I hear that one too? I will stick to the plan and get DM6,7,8 on the way back. 8 is easy right by my brothers. Kevin KF7MYK

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Fw: Strong Geomagnetic Storm on Sept. 26
by George and Cheryl Abbott 27 Sep '11

27 Sep '11

FYI George,W1GMA- 73's -----Original Message----- From: SpaceWeather.com Sent: Monday, September 26, 2011 4:02 PM To: SpaceWeather.com Subject: Strong Geomagnetic Storm on Sept. 26 Space Weather News for Sept. 26, 2011 http://spaceweather.com GEOMAGNETIC STORM: A strong geomagnetic storm is in progress following the impact of a coronal mass ejection (CME) today, Sept. 26th, at approximately 12:15 UT. Analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab report a "strong compression of Earth's magnetosphere" and the possibility that satellites in geosynchronous orbit have been exposed to solar wind plasma and magnetic fields. Mid- to high-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras after nightfall. Observing tip: The hours around local midnight are usually best for spotting Northern and Southern Lights. Check http://spaceweather.com for images and updates. DON'T MISS THE STORM: Would you like a call when geomagnetic storms are in progress? Storm alerts are available from http://spaceweathertext.com (text) and http://spaceweatherphone.com (voice). You are subscribed to the Space Weather mailing list, a free service of Spaceweather.com. New subscribers may sign up for free space weather alerts at http://spaceweather.com/services/ . To unsubscribe click here: http://www.spaceweather2.com/u?id=602373K&n=T&l=spaceweather or send a blank email to leave-spaceweather-602373K(a)www.spaceweather2.com

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AO-7 observation
by Bob- W7LRD 26 Sep '11

26 Sep '11

I notice when AO-7 is out there at 4000km I can notice the delay in cw from my monitor to the 8000km round trip to and from AO-7. Kind of shades of AO-40 (sobsob) when the delay was really noticable, and when we listened to ourselves (ssb) we had to turn down the rx volume a little as no to sound like a babbling fool. 73 Bob W7LRD

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A Modest Proposal
by Thomas Doyle 26 Sep '11

26 Sep '11

The bulletin board system AMSAT is using is well suited for information that is useful for only a relatively short time. If there is a trip to a rare grid location that information is of little use after the event takes place. IMHO what is missing is a way to share information that has relevance beyond a few days. When I became active again on the sats I asked a question on the board. I received an email telling me that "that question has been asked several times before". It was helpful beyond belief. In the last few days someone posted a nice check list of things to do to try and get your SatPC32 station running. A bit later someone posted a correction that added a vital step that was missing in the first posting. Suppose a newbie subscribes to the board today - he has already looked at the articles from 1997-2004 in the new users section on the AMSAT website but needs a little current info. He posts a message on the board asking about getting his SatPC32 station working. Lets hope no one sends him a message telling him that "that question has been asked before". I also hope no one sends him a message suggesting he uses the search funtion. That would be like the 4th grade teacher who responded to my question "How do you spell pneumonia ?" - by telling me to "Look it up in the dictionary" - I spent a lot of time looking for words that started with "N" before asking my folks when I got home. If they did search - what would they look for. What are the chances that they would find the initial post AND the correction post. I realize everything is perfect as it is but perhaps it would be nice to have something similar to the Yahoo Groups where subscribers can post files and pictures of things that would be of interest for more than a day or two. Take a look at the SDR-Radio or Softrock groups on Yahoo. There are files and pictures that have been very helpful to me. There was a recent posting here from someone asking for a current Doppler.SQF file. I sent him mine but it would have been better if there was a place to store it where anyone could access it. Some people have their stations working well but are not all that excited about spending a lot of time documenting it and posting it for a handful of people who might look at it before it disappears into the abyss of the message archive. You may not like what you read but be thankful I fought the urge to include some sort of Jonathan Swift reference.

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WB0KFC ARISSat-1 Signals
by Farrell Winder 26 Sep '11

26 Sep '11

To WB0KFC : Heard your signals Sept 25, 2011 on the 15:41 U pass at Cincinnati. On 145.934.5 where I have fixed my receive for experiment with another station, heard your CW transmissions, CQ CQ WB0KFC, then voice CQ CQ Kilo Foxtrot Charlie. In your setup what antenna are you using on the uplink. Do you leave your Uplink fixed and tune downlink or vice versa? Appreciate your comments and suggestions for best technique to make contacts on ARISSat-1.. Have received my own transmissions for very very short time with weak cw return. Thanks, 73, Farrell Winder, W8ZCF, Cincinnati, Ohio

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Thanks for third certificate for arissat-1
by andy thomas 26 Sep '11

26 Sep '11

Thanks for the sstv certificate, a commendably fast turnaround from CT-land ! 73 de andy g0SFJ

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Arissat-1 silent over UK: Explanation
by andy thomas 26 Sep '11

26 Sep '11

As reported over the weekend, Arissat-1 is no longer audible in the UK, because she does not switch on until after about 14 minutes from entering sunlight. I believe the sequence is: enter sunlight: MET starts: timer activated 14 minute wait before tx - other systems live Tx on with data at a MET of 14 minutes Tx sequence We in the UK now have to wait unril the orbit continues to precess to the late evening (about 10 days' time) 73 de andy G0SFJ

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