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

Oky-Doky
by Kevin Deane 24 Sep '11

24 Sep '11

I got stamps burnin a hole in my folder for anyone left for DN00,20,21 feel free to E-mail the Qsl info and I will send a card/cards your way. Got a bunch in the mail today goin out tomarrow. Looks like we are in luck, Jim is letting me take the good antenna to Cali so I can hear all you satellite people better. DM 4,5,6,7,8,13,14,15,16 CM 96,97,98 are in my path, wont be able to get them all of course. Takin I-5 one way 395 the other. Giving grids away was more fun than I thought!!! Plus I like doin the cards as well. Talk to ya on the air! Kevin KF7MYK HRD Rules!

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Re: Two Questions
by Jeffrey Koehler 24 Sep '11

24 Sep '11

I use a FT-726R. An Alliance az rotor. A yaesu elevation rotor. And computer control of none of them. And using them for both says and EME. Doppler is not a big deal on EME. But, I'm as dumb as a stump. Trial and error is the norm in my shack. If I can do it, any one can. Just keep doing it until you hear yourself on the downlink. 73. Jeff WB2SYK FN13xc

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SSB, SatPC32 and Doppler (was Two Questions)
by Carl Rimmer W8KRF 24 Sep '11

24 Sep '11

Steve N9IP did a very good job of explaining how to set up for VO-52 and other transponder type sats. I have the TS-2000 and use SatPC32 with it with great success on the FM birds especially ARISSat-1. There is one clarification I would like to make to Steve's SOP. The "C+" and "C-" should be "CW+" and "CW-". We don't want confusion between that and turning CAT control on and off. I used HRD Sat Track for years and always had problems with the Doppler correction. This has not been the case with SatPC32. I love it and will continue to use it for all my sat work. I am hoping to get more active since I will be installing two mast mounted pre-amps tomorrow. The anticipation is driving me nuts. I hope I am not let down. 73, -- *Carl W8KRF*

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AG-25 Icom Preamp
by Dee 24 Sep '11

24 Sep '11

Anyone have a schematic??? I have the manual but that gives no useful info on replacing the GASFET. Certainly not in the ICOM site. Thanks in advance... 73, Dee Interdonato 118 Westervelt Place Lodi, NJ 07644 morsesat(a)optonline.net

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Sea Launch this evening
by Trevor . 23 Sep '11

23 Sep '11

It looks like Sea Launch is back in business with a launch planned for this evening GMT. BBC News Report at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15021658 73 Trevor M5AKA

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Two Questions
by Thomas Doyle 23 Sep '11

23 Sep '11

I have two questions that I have wondered about for quite a while. There was a gap in my satellite activity of 20 years or so. AO-10 was the last satellite I used a lot. Not sure what sparked my interest again but I have been having a great time on the satellites. Right from the beginning I noticed that things have changed a lot. I have made about 70 contacts on CW, SSB and FM. Most of the contacts have been on FM. Question 1 relates to activity levels. I have 270 something countries on HF so I have been in my share of DX pileups. What I find really strange is how there will be the usual horrific pile up on AO-51 and then when an FO-29 pass comes a short time later there will usually be no one on. I realize the emphasis is all on "keeping it simple" but wonder how this change occurred. Did it happen all at once - did it happen when the last HEO satellite died. Are the linear sats too complicated. Do people not have SSB and CW equipment or are they just not interested anymore. Question 2 relates to the rest of the world. I notice that FO-29, which seems to be the best linear satellite, came from Japan. What is activity like in Japan/Europe and the rest of the world outside the US. Is it mostly just FM on V/U sats. I believe the current US effort is an FM only Fox with a linear sat in the "2015 time frame". Since the FO-29 activity is almost zero it would see strange to put up another US linear sat at any time. As old as I am the "2015 time frame" might be beyond my chicken little date so I wonder if there are there any LEO linear sats in the works in other parts of the world. I am not complaining I just wonder what happened and what the future holds. Feel free to reply directly. 73 W9KE tom ... AMSAT LM 0875

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SSB, SatPC32 and Doppler (was Two Questions)
by Stephen E. Belter 23 Sep '11

23 Sep '11

This e-mail is my feeble attempt to provide a helpful response to how to set-up SatPC32 for Doppler correction when operating SSB. I'm not an expert, but I just went through this process because I'm migrating from Nova to SatPC32. Since I'm out-of-town, I don't have access to my satellite station, so I'm doing this from memory. I also deleted your original post, as I was hopeful that an expert would step forward to help you. Your station is fine, with the Kenwood TS-2000 (?) and SatPC32. Your success operating the FM satellites is a good proving ground. Here is the approach I took: (1) Install SatPC32, update the Keplarian elements, and synchronize the PC clock to a national standard like WWV/NIST. (2) Get your radio and SatPC32 communicating, and verify the operation (including Doppler correction) using the FM satellites (AO-27, SO-50, and AO-51). (3) Wait for a good pass of VO-52, for example 60+ degrees maximum elevation. I suggest VO-52 because it is the newest (compared to AO-7 and FO-29), it is more tolerant of using too much transmit power, and it has the smallest transponder correction. (4) Open the "CAT" window. You can move the Window so that it doesn't block access to the main SatPC32 window. Tune the radio above the center of the satellite passband to reduce the QRM to other users. Make sure you are in SSB mode on the radio ("C-" on SatPC32). (5) Using your call and "Test 1-2-3", listen for yourself while you are transmitting. You probably won't hear yourself at all, at least I didn't. Using the +100 and -100 buttons in the Transmit Correction part of the CAT window, try to find yourself. For VO-52, you should hear yourself within +/- 1500 hertz. (I think I was about +800, but that is from memory.) (6) Once you hear yourself using the +/-100 buttons, fine tune using the +/-10 buttons. (7) You can improve the tuning of your uplink/downlink using CW mode ("C+" on SatPC32). Zero-beat the Kenwood's CW sidetone with your received signal. (8) *Save* the result by using the "Save" button in the CAT window. When given the choice, save the transmitter correction. (9) Verify that things are working by working a few VO-52 QSOs. (10) Repeat using FO-29 and AO-7, in that order. You may need to search over a wider frequency range (+/-3000 hertz). (11) One other important change when moving from FM to SSB. Your power output is important! Learn how to reduce your power and use the minimum power needed to hear yourself on the satellite. If you use too much power, you'll trash other conversations on the satellite and your transmissions will be badly distorted! Good luck! 73, Steve N9IP --

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Re: Two Questions
by Buckley, Jack 23 Sep '11

23 Sep '11

I love it :) Controversy that is! Real men use Linux/UNIX anyway (sorry couldn't resists and a bit of controversy is always fun ;) ). 73 Mike K5TRI Mike, I thought real men could use anything or rather make anything work including computer operating systems (OSes)? :O ;) :) Boy does a discussion regarding OSes open a can of worms or what? Around here it can get downright bloody FYI: W1AKN uses all the OSes (not by choice) Love the AMSATBB - great source of knowledge. Just had to chuckle and throw my nickel in the pot :( It is always nice to see someone chime in with a bit of humor. Thank you for the grin and laugh this morning Mike - --... ...-- Jack Buckley Callsign: W1AKN Locator: FN41mv - Cape Cod <;))))>< E-Mail: w1akn(a)arrl.net<blocked::mailto:w1akn@arrl.net> The information in this e-mail is intended only for the person to whom it is addressed. If you believe this e-mail was sent to you in error and the e-mail contains patient information, please contact the Partners Compliance HelpLine at http://www.partners.org/complianceline . If the e-mail was sent to you in error but does not contain patient information, please contact the sender and properly dispose of the e-mail.

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Re: Two Questions
by Ted 23 Sep '11

23 Sep '11

A statement/opinion like that is worthless without some solid data. You can't just malign the guy. Simon says he used David Taylor's open source satellite-tracking library to get started and wrote his own library, shipped as a dll with HRD and based on NORAD SGP4/SDP4 implementations by Michael F. Henry. I don't have a clue what all that means but it sounds like Simon's program was not just cobbled together. SATPC32 looks to me like an 80's dos program. Very unattractive. It is not logical to state that 'Everybody' in the entire sat community has problems with HRD's Doppler. I want more proof K7TRK _____ From: kq6ea(a)verizon.net [mailto:kq6ea@verizon.net] Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2011 4:23 PM To: k7trkradio(a)charter.net; tomdoyle1948(a)gmail.com; AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: Two Questions try SatPC32. *Everybody* I know who uses HRD has problems with the Doppler correction. Jim KQ6EA On 09/22/11, Ted<k7trkradio(a)charter.net> wrote: "Are the linear sats too complicated? Do people not have SSB and CW equipment or are they just not interested anymore." Tom, speaking only for me, I have tried several times to work a linear. I have a TS 2000 with the sat function and HRD sat program which allegedly adjust the Doppler, 2m/440 SSB and a Elk on a rotor w/fixed el.. Try as I might, I cannot get the tx and rx to match so I can duplex. There just does not seem to be single primer that one can follow on how to accomplish the process. There are multiple opinions from individuals, but not much of a consensus on a good standard process. Admittedly, I have problem not given a fair amount of time on my technique as I was concentrating on VUCC. Now that that will go to the card checker tomorrow, I need to spend some time on the linear. I just wish there was a 'manual' 73, Ted K7TRK -----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] On Behalf Of Thomas Doyle Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2011 12:02 PM To: AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Two Questions I have two questions that I have wondered about for quite a while. There was a gap in my satellite activity of 20 years or so. AO-10 was the last satellite I used a lot. Not sure what sparked my interest again but I have been having a great time on the satellites. Right from the beginning I noticed that things have changed a lot. I have made about 70 contacts on CW, SSB and FM. Most of the contacts have been on FM. Question 1 relates to activity levels. I have 270 something countries on HF so I have been in my share of DX pileups. What I find really strange is how there will be the usual horrific pile up on AO-51 and then when an FO-29 pass comes a short time later there will usually be no one on. I realize the emphasis is all on "keeping it simple" but wonder how this change occurred. Did it happen all at once - did it happen when the last HEO satellite died. Are the linear sats too complicated. Do people not have SSB and CW equipment or are they just not interested anymore. Question 2 relates to the rest of the world. I notice that FO-29, which seems to be the best linear satellite, came from Japan. What is activity like in Japan/Europe and the rest of the world outside the US. Is it mostly just FM on V/U sats. I believe the current US effort is an FM only Fox with a linear sat in the "2015 time frame". Since the FO-29 activity is almost zero it would see strange to put up another US linear sat at any time. As old as I am the "2015 time frame" might be beyond my chicken little date so I wonder if there are there any LEO linear sats in the works in other parts of the world. I am not complaining I just wonder what happened and what the future holds. Feel free to reply directly. 73 W9KE tom ... AMSAT LM 0875 _______________________________________________ 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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How about DM 6,7,8
by Kevin Deane 23 Sep '11

23 Sep '11

These maybe? DM 6, 7, 8 Kevin KF7MYK

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Cali Grids
by Kevin Deane 23 Sep '11

23 Sep '11

Would anyone be interested in Grids From Placerville Ca to Temecula Ca? I did not do that good (3 out of 5) on the last trip but practice makes more better. MOON that spells GRIDS. CM 96,97,98 DM 13,14 Kevin KF7MYK

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Reverse VUCC Award Standings Updated for Satellites
by John Papay 23 Sep '11

23 Sep '11

The Central States VHF Society has just updated their website to reflect applications for VUCC-r, Reverse VUCC, filed some time ago. http://www.csvhfs.org This award is given to those who have operated via satellites in more than 100 grids away from their home grid. There are now four operators who have achieved this distinction. They are N7SFI-200 grids, N5AFV-109 grids, ND9M-325 grids, and KD4ZGW-100 grids. The rules require that applicants submit proof of contacts made from these away from home grids. So if you work someone signing "portable" (meaning they are operating away from home), please remember to include your grid as well as the grid they were operating from on your qsl. This will provide the proof of contact required by the Central States VHF Society. Congratulations to all of these operators and especially to the newest additions to the list, Jim ND9M and Rob KD4ZGW. Well done! 73, John K8YSE

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PCSAT32 -Doppler.SQF
by Rob Styles 22 Sep '11

22 Sep '11

In the process of reading the manual for PCSAT32 but it would be nice to have up to date Doppler.sqf file until I i get around to changing my own , so If your willing to send me you file,thanks in advance send to m0tfo(a)m0tfo.co.uk Rob

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Sounds of NASA
by Clint Bradford 22 Sep '11

22 Sep '11

THE SOUNDS OF NASA AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- Historic and interesting sounds and sound bites from NASA space missions are available for download as ringtones or on your computer for events, errors, alarms and notifications. The public now can hear the roar of a space shuttle launch or Neil Armstrong's, "One small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind," every time they get a phone call. A new NASA web page now has a collection of more than 35 different sounds, each approximately 20 seconds. Examples include: - Apollo 13's John "Jack" Swigert commenting "Houston, we have a problem" - Crackle of the historic last launch of the space shuttle, STS-135 - Segments from President John F. Kennedy's historic moon speech - Sound wave conversions of the light curve waves created by stars discovered by NASA's Kepler mission and other sounds of planets and stars "NASA has been making historic sounds for over 50 years," said Jerry Colen, NASA App project manager at the agency's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. "Now we're making some of these memorable sounds easy to find and use." The NASA sounds are available in both MP3 and M4R (iPhone) files. NASA will update the collection as new sounds become available. To listen to and download the sounds, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/connect/sounds The NASA App for Android allows users to easily preview and set the sounds as ringtones. To download the most recent version of the NASA App for Android, visit: https://market.android.com/details?id=gov.nasa -end- Clint Bradford clintbradford(a)mac.com

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EM45
by wa4hfn＠comcast.net 22 Sep '11

22 Sep '11

If work will allow, I will be on from em45 on AO27 today 9/22 WA4HFN

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Re: Amplifier Suggestions?
by Tom Clark 22 Sep '11

22 Sep '11

James, KF6RFX asked: > We are looking for a UHF amplifier (430-440MHz) for a transceiver to go from > 10 mW to ~ 75W. Most of the amps were are funding require a much stronger > input power than we can do. Note, it's a transceiver, so we want to be able > to receive through the system as well. This is for half duplex satellite > communication using a USRP radio. > > Do you have any suggested amps? You might want to check with some of the "custom" amateur shops like Pure RF (http://www.purepowerrf.com/), Downeast Microwave (DEMI, http://www.downeastmicrowave.com/) or DB6NT (http://www.kuhne-electronic.de/en/home.html). In particular, DB6NT has 50mw in, ~50w out amplifier (http://www.kuhne-electronic.de/en/products/power-amplifiers/mku-pa-4047-60-…) that is close to what you ask for. You didn't mention price constraints. Any of the "conventional" amateur "bricks" are will probably set you back $500-$750. There are some commercial alternatives you might look at. In particular check out MiniCircuits; at the $2000 level, the LZY1+ (http://www.minicircuits.com/pdfs/LZY-1+.pdf) has 39+ db gain and will produce 50 w of RF on either 2M or 70cm. Their older ZHL-50W $1400 brick (http://www.minicircuits.com/pdfs/ZHL-50W-52.pdf) is also a good unit. On the MiniCircuits units, I'd strongly advise that you get it with their BIG heatsink/fan. You say you need fast half-duplex. I presume that the downlink will be on a different band (like 2M). If not, the selection of T/R transfer relays will not be easy, especially if you want to avoid zapping your LNA. Good luck & 73, Tom Clark, K3IO

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Amplifier Suggestions?
by James Cutler 22 Sep '11

22 Sep '11

Hello, We are looking for a UHF amplifier (430-440MHz) for a transceiver to go from 10 mW to ~ 75W. Most of the amps were are funding require a much stronger input power than we can do. Note, it's a transceiver, so we want to be able to receive through the system as well. This is for half duplex satellite communication using a USRP radio. Do you have any suggested amps? Thanks, --James, KF6RFX

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Arissat-1 Voice telemetry analysis from G0SFJ
by andy thomas 22 Sep '11

22 Sep '11

I have submitted for a tlm certificate my analysis of the voice telemetry from Arissat-1 on certain orbits in September (when I was present, hi). The dates of the receptions in September are in the analysis spreadsheet. The MET is decreasing, I think this is because the satellite comes out of eclipse and swithches on nearer the observation, as the orbit is precessing I think the analysis shows that as the MET decreases, the IHU temperature decreases, and the battery current increases (this is a lesser negative number). Put that another way, as the MET in sunlight increases, the IHU temperature increases and the circuit current decreases (greater negative number). However I don't know why the circuit reports a negative current, or even if the voice tlm is accurate. I'd be grateful for any comments. 73 de Andy G0SFJ .

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Netbooks again
by ANTHONY JAPHA 21 Sep '11

21 Sep '11

All, I received many helpful comments about the use of netbooks. Thanks to all. As it turned out, I got an ASUS netbook, which takes more than 5 pounds off the weight of the equipment used for my occasional portable satellite work. The hard part was finding a USB to serial port adapter that works. The job is to run 2 of these adapters to control the frequencies of 2 FT817 transceivers to correct for doppler shift. One FT817 is used for Rx, the other for Tx. The doppler shifts for Rx and Tx differ. What's needed is CAT control by SatPC32 software, which is a terrific program. The computer runs Window 7. After trying 3 adapters that didn't work, the problem was finally solved by using the USB to serial adapter made by Sabrent, Item CB-FTDI. This adapter is sold by Elecraft as the CAT cable for the K3 (Elecraft part KUSB). Now I have full freq. control to use with the CW/SSB satellites, just as I had with the much heavier laptop that the netbook replaces. (It needed only 1 adapter because it had a serial port, and an old Radio Shack adapter worked well.) 73, Tony, N2UN

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FM02 K3NXH/4 AO-51
by Chuck Gress 21 Sep '11

21 Sep '11

FYI for those who may be in need of FM02 on AO-51.I will work the 20:09 UTC pass on Saturday September 24th. ChuckK3NXH

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Ao51 reports.
by mm0kjg 21 Sep '11

21 Sep '11

Hello there. Am looking for any reports of my Call being received Stateside during any of the Ao51 passes. I only have a small humble station consisting of Ic-910 in to a dualband vertical on my chimney and am considering buying a pre-amp for 70cm . If am not being heard Stateside on the West passes from my locator Io85iv Ill maybe not spend money on a preamp?. I have had 2xcontact with KB1RVT so we shall see. Please email me or send a message on here. Thanks and 73's Kev MM0KJG

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UARS Keps Enclosed
by Bryan Herbert 21 Sep '11

21 Sep '11

These are current as of this morning and seem to be accurate when compared to the NASA mission status page. UARS 1 21701U 91063B 11263.18833764 .01299762 11120-4 56017-3 0 6054 2 21701 56.9440 281.4376 0013731 14.2607 345.8929 16.21836581108546 Until last night the altitude of UARS varied between 130-140 miles. As I type this it is at 127 miles and appears to be gradually dropping. If you have Ham Radio Deluxe v.5 add the 'Visual' sats group and you will see UARS listed. -- Bryan Herbert - KE6ZGP Newhall, CA. DM04RJ USA http://bryanherbert.com http://twitter.com/ke6zgp

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TP50CE Special Event Station Satellite Operation
by JoAnne Maenpaa 21 Sep '11

21 Sep '11

This would be too late if we waited for the weekend AMSAT News Service news cycle: DXNL 1746 DX Newsletter - Sep 21, 2011 included this item: F, FRANCE The "Council of Europe Radio Amateur Club" (CERAC-TP2CE) is going to activate the special event station TP50CE in all modes on all bands (maybe also satellite) on Sep 23/24. Occasion is the 50th anniversary of the European Social Charter. OPs will be Sergiy,F0EQE, Oleg,RV3DH, and Sparky,RW3AH. QSL via F5LGF. See also: http://ewwa.free.fr -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm(a)amsat.org Editor, AMSAT News Service

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CubeSat Deployable Boom
by Trevor . 20 Sep '11

20 Sep '11

Drexel University are doing some work on a deployable boom for Cubesats, see http://www.uk.amsat.org/2011/09/20/cubesat-deployable-boom/ 73 Trevor M5AKA Join AMSAT-UK at http://tinyurl.com/JoinAMSAT-UK Sample newsletter: http://www.uk.amsat.org/on_193_final.pdf ----

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Observations of arissat signal at 52.48 degrees North
by andy thomas 20 Sep '11

20 Sep '11

Guys and gals I have a modest setup here observing Arissat-1 with a yagi fixed in azimuth and elevation and automatically reording. The sstv signal is detectable without a one transitor preamp but only reproducable with it. The most important thing about the setup is the orientation of the receive antenna. It is pointing at approximately 210 degrees and is fixed. You might ask why not set it at the aizmuth of the maximum elevation, which is what I always do for telemetry cubesats. First of all my answer is that I get better pictures at this azimuth. Secondly as I said to Colin G1IVG I think I know why. If you go to the front page of my website http://www.andythomas.eu and scroll down you'll see a sequence of photos I took of the ISS as seen in my telescope. I was surprised how the attitude of the spacecraft changed as it approached 51.6 degrees (the orbital inclination and therefore the maximum latitude subsatellite), then went away relatively southbound (and of course eastbound). We are at 52.48 degrees North. My thesis is that Arissat-11, which is on more or less the same orbital inclnation, exhibits the same change in attitude as it reaches 51.6 latitude, relative to us, so the antenna is not shielded and therefore the signal level peaks. As the signal level is marginal I can detect this slight improvement. I've sent a copy of this to theWelland Valley ARS for comments and would appreciate your comments too. 73 de andy g0sfj

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