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

KD8KSN/M Ops 9/8
by Zachary Beougher 09 Sep '11

09 Sep '11

Hi All, For those of you who worked me while mobile in EN83 yesterday, I will be sending out cards Monday and no sase/request is needed. I was hoping to get on a few other passes from EN75/74/81, but my RX antenna was sandwiched between two canoes which was impeding my receive ability. I will be back through these same grids in December, and I am hoping to be a bit more successful then. 73! Zack KD8KSN

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Elko Trip
by Kevin Deane 09 Sep '11

09 Sep '11

Ok DN01 is out sorry. However DN20-21 meet right above Jim's property so those are definatly in for Sun & Mon I will be up early for the 51 passes for sure and the rest I will basicly hit every pass I can. I am not gonna try and figure out exact times, if you hear me then there you go. :) DN00 I will try whatever passes are left on Sat afternoon from Toulon Lake off I-80. DN10,11 Meet perfectly just outside Winnemucca where I-80 bends up a little there, but I am not sure what time we will be passing through. If any FM Sats are overhead you know I will make him stop so I will try 00,10,11 comin and goin. Good Luck to all, I always have fun anyway, so this should be good for everyone. Kevin KF7MYK

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Re: Magnetic North vs True North
by jlv 09 Sep '11

09 Sep '11

Ed: That is true. For my position MONTEVIDEO - URUGUAY Latitude: 34° 54' 38.2" S Longitude: 56° 11' 35.9" W Magnetic declination: 9° 34' WEST Declination is NEGATIVE Inclination: -39° 37' Magnetic field strength: 23116.9 nT regards Jose Luis Vila CX2AN ----- Original Message ----- From: "Edward R. Cole" <kl7uw(a)acsalaska.net> To: "jlv" <jlv(a)fing.edu.uy> Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2011 1:12 PM Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: Magnetic North vs True North > At 07:30 AM 9/8/2011, you wrote: >>True North >> >>tip: >> >>Look for the magnetic north with the compass, read their geographical >>coordinate in the GPS, >>use this webpage >>http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomagmodels/Declination.jsp >>and calculate the magnetic declination for their place. >>You will know where this the true north using the magnetic north + / - the >>degrees of magnetic declination. >> >>Jose Luis Vila >>CX2AN >>CX0CFI op. >> >>-----Mensaje original----- From: Luc Leblanc >>Sent: Wednesday, September 07, 2011 10:07 AM >>To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org >>Subject: [amsat-bb] Magnetic North vs True North >> >>How i find my north! >> >>At noon always using standard time i pointed the beam in the direction of >>top tower pole shadow on the ground. Quite simple and accurate >>enough here. >> >>"-" >> >> >>Luc Leblanc VE2DWE >>Skype VE2DWE >>www.qsl.net/ve2dwe >>DSTAR urcall VE2DWE >>WAC BASIC CW PHONE SATELLITE > > thanks Jose, > > very useful as declination is moving +17min/year here > 17deg52min east > > I have old aviation maps of the region showing 26-deg declination. > > The sun shadow method works only if you know accurately what time solar > noon is. For our time zone it is 2202:52 utc (today) which corresponds to > 2:02:52 pm local time. So if you used the shadow at 12:00:00 local time > you would be off considerably from true north. Of course one hour is due > to daylight savings time which advances the clock one hour in summer and > the fact that our local time was permanently advanced by one hour for > political/business reasons (so we would only be +4 hours from EST in the > USA). > > This is the reason that one must know true north to orient a sundial. > > Sea navigators know they either need to know time precisely to "shoot the > sun" and find their location or know true north to determine the exact > time of meridian crossing at noon. > > > > 73, Ed - KL7UW, WD2XSH/45 > ====================================== > BP40IQ 500 KHz - 10-GHz www.kl7uw.com > EME: 50-1.1kw?, 144-1.4kw, 432-100w, 1296-60w, 3400-? > DUBUS Magazine USA Rep dubususa(a)gmail.com > ======================================

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Re: Magnetic North vs True North
by jlv 09 Sep '11

09 Sep '11

Ed: That is true. For my position MONTEVIDEO - URUGUAY Latitude: 34° 54' 38.2" S Longitude: 56° 11' 35.9" W Magnetic declination: 9° 34' WEST Declination is NEGATIVE Inclination: -39° 37' Magnetic field strength: 23116.9 nT regards Jose Luis Vila CX2AN ----- Original Message ----- From: "Edward R. Cole" <kl7uw(a)acsalaska.net> To: "jlv" <jlv(a)fing.edu.uy> Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2011 1:12 PM Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: Magnetic North vs True North > At 07:30 AM 9/8/2011, you wrote: >>True North >> >>tip: >> >>Look for the magnetic north with the compass, read their geographical >>coordinate in the GPS, >>use this webpage >>http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomagmodels/Declination.jsp >>and calculate the magnetic declination for their place. >>You will know where this the true north using the magnetic north + / - the >>degrees of magnetic declination. >> >>Jose Luis Vila >>CX2AN >>CX0CFI op. >> >>-----Mensaje original----- From: Luc Leblanc >>Sent: Wednesday, September 07, 2011 10:07 AM >>To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org >>Subject: [amsat-bb] Magnetic North vs True North >> >>How i find my north! >> >>At noon always using standard time i pointed the beam in the direction of >>top tower pole shadow on the ground. Quite simple and accurate >>enough here. >> >>"-" >> >> >>Luc Leblanc VE2DWE >>Skype VE2DWE >>www.qsl.net/ve2dwe >>DSTAR urcall VE2DWE >>WAC BASIC CW PHONE SATELLITE > > thanks Jose, > > very useful as declination is moving +17min/year here > 17deg52min east > > I have old aviation maps of the region showing 26-deg declination. > > The sun shadow method works only if you know accurately what time solar > noon is. For our time zone it is 2202:52 utc (today) which corresponds to > 2:02:52 pm local time. So if you used the shadow at 12:00:00 local time > you would be off considerably from true north. Of course one hour is due > to daylight savings time which advances the clock one hour in summer and > the fact that our local time was permanently advanced by one hour for > political/business reasons (so we would only be +4 hours from EST in the > USA). > > This is the reason that one must know true north to orient a sundial. > > Sea navigators know they either need to know time precisely to "shoot the > sun" and find their location or know true north to determine the exact > time of meridian crossing at noon. > > > > 73, Ed - KL7UW, WD2XSH/45 > ====================================== > BP40IQ 500 KHz - 10-GHz www.kl7uw.com > EME: 50-1.1kw?, 144-1.4kw, 432-100w, 1296-60w, 3400-? > DUBUS Magazine USA Rep dubususa(a)gmail.com > ======================================

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Massive Power Failure(s)?
by Clint Bradford 09 Sep '11

09 Sep '11

Southern CA is suffering a major power failure ... the AMSAT.org Web site is down ... What am I going to do tonight??? Clint Bradford, K6LCS

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G5500 and LVB tracker interface
by Chris Bloy 08 Sep '11

08 Sep '11

Hi Group, I have finally order the fibre glass pole from Moonraker of all places and am awaiting its replacement after being damaged in post! Anyway, I have also received and played with my new shiny LVB tracker to interface to the G5500 and have a couple of questions that may you guys could help me with! a) I have calibrated the rotator with the G5500 and it would appear at 0 degrees on the LVB tracker, the control box is at 0? If I use the controls on the control box it moves about 2 degree to the stop point. Is this normal or have I missed something as I have recalibrated several times! b) The tracker has a USB interface and uses a virtual serial port to communicate with, but it seems to disconnect quite a lot when using NOVA during the testing? c) What are the recommended settings for NOVA as I am not sure I understand them 100%! I know it uses the G232A command set and does control the rotator, but I am not sure I have set the interface section correctly.. Do I set the maximum azimuth to 450 and leave the azimuth setting to 0-360? Sorry for the questions, but I know how to use it once its been working, just never had to create all this from stratch. I have checked the archive on AMSAT-BB and not found much to help, although some hints to actually get the rotator talking did come from the group! Many Thanks, Chris Bloy - M0DQO

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Elko
by Kevin Deane 08 Sep '11

08 Sep '11

I am getting some requests for more Grids. We will be transmitting Sat, Sun, Mon not sure from where or when yet will post a better scheduale this evening. So Far DN 00,10,11,20 Hope to work in DN 21 maybe O1 Can only do FM Sats. Kevin KF7MYK

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Re: Magnetic North
by jlv 08 Sep '11

08 Sep '11

Hi Tom, another useful page http://www.n2yo.com/?s=5580 enjoy..!! jlv - CX2AN ----- Original Message ----- From: Tom Deeble To: jlv(a)fing.edu.uy Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2011 1:36 PM Subject: Magnetic North Jose, That's a very handy site. Thanks for the info on the AMSAT bb. 73's, Tom - KA6SIP

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Magnetic North vs True North
by Carl Rimmer W8KRF 08 Sep '11

08 Sep '11

The earlier discussion on this topic caused me to think about my setup. I know the tracking programs use True North; my question: If my declination is 8 º 6' West, is my true north East or West of Magnetic North. I am currently setup to where my True North is 8º East of Magnetic North. I have looked a various sights on the Internet but I have always had a problem wrapping my thick brain around this topic. Thanks, -- *Carl W8KRF*

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K2BSA/5 at National Scouting Museum, Irving, Texas
by Tom Schuessler 08 Sep '11

08 Sep '11

Hello all, I will be leading a Radio Merit Badge class at the National Scouting Museum in Irving, Texas, EM12, this Saturday, September 10th. We will be using K2BSA/5 as our active call for the day and I will attempt a low angle AO-27 pass with an AOS for me of 18:22 (+ for satellite turn on), an AO-51 pass with an AOS of 21:08 and maybe but not likely, a SO-50 pass at 21:44. Rig will be my Arrow antenna and the HT but maybe a small amplifier for a bit extra punch. There will be Scouts in tow observing and maybe throwing out the all-be-it not so rare EM 12 grid. Please help me out and pro-actively call for K2BSA/5. You will bring a level of excitement to the Scouts taking the class and maybe helping to spur further interest in our fine hobby. Also please look for us on the HF bands near the Scout frequencies and for those local in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, on the Irving 146.72 and the Cedar Hill 442.400 repeaters as we demonstrate Ham Radio to the Merit badge Scouts and other visitors to the National Scouting Museum. Schedules are welcome. 73 and hope to see you on the birds this Saturday. Tom Schuessler, N5HYP n5hyp(a)arrl.net

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SO-67
by Helmuth Kump 08 Sep '11

08 Sep '11

I think this is new information...at least I haven't seen it yet. http://www.amsatsa.org.za/ under the heading of "Breaking News", says: SO67 SAFE BUT PROBLEMATIC The Ground Control Station Engineers at SunSpace in Stellenbosch are still working to restore SO67. SumbandilaSat developed a problem with the Power Distribution Unit, similar to what happened some time back. The other sub-systems are in a healthy state and SO67 is in no immediate danger . 73 Doc KT3L

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VUCC RULES
by Kevin Deane 08 Sep '11

08 Sep '11

(e) Stations who claim to operate from more than one grid locator simultaneously (i.e., from the boundary between two grid locators or from the intersection of four grid locators) must be physically present in all locators to give multiple locator credit with a single contact. These stations should be prepared to validate their claim. For a mobile station, this means parking the vehicle exactly on the line or corner. For a portable station, this means that the total area occupied by the station's physical setup, including operating position(s), power source(s), and antenna(s), must occupy some portion of each of the two/four grid squares simultaneously. Operators of boundary/corner stations should be prepared to provide evidence of meeting the simultaneous occupation test if called upon to do so. Two photographs -- one showing the placement of the GPS receiver in the station setup, and a close-up legibly showing the GPS reading – are typically needed as evidence of compliance. Video footage showing an overview of the operating site and then, uncut and in real time, zooming in on the GPS display coordinates is even better (f) Grid boundary lines and grid corners must be established using a GPS receiver whose map datum is set to WGS84, the global default for current GPS receivers. The GPS receiver should be set to use WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) if so equipped, since this improves the error figure to as little as 5 feet. In no case may the GPS receiver show an error figure in excess of 20 feet. Any modern GPS receiver equipped with WAAS will easily meet this requirement, as will most older units without WAAS. 6. For VUCC awards on 50 through 1296 MHz and Satellite, all contacts must be made from locations no more than 200 km apart. For SHF awards, contacts must be made from a single location, defined as within a 300-meter diameter circle. SOOO I still dont see where it says I cannot OBTAIN a grid from down the street or whatever. The above says I can basicly make contacts 124 miles from my QTH. Right? Kevin KF7MYK

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Astronaut autographs
by John Heath 08 Sep '11

08 Sep '11

Hi, Buzz Aldrin, Scott Carpenter, Ed Michel and Bruce Candless will be at the Autographica Event Radisson Edwardian Hotel Heathrow London 14-16th October 2011. When Buzz visted the National Space Centre in Leicester England a year or two ago he gave a lecture but did not sign autographs, as far as I know he rarely does. This is a good oportunity if you like that sort of thing. There is an admission charge and you have to pay Buzz and the others for their autographs. The small print on the advertisement says, guests apprance is subject to work commitments, guests may not be signing on both days, check the web site for details. See www.autographica.co.uk I have no personal or business connection with this event but I was very grateful to them bringing for creating the opportunity a few years ago to meet and get the autograhs of several Russian cosmonauts including Alexi Leonov and Valentina Tereshkova. Those are treasured memories. 73 John G7HIA

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DN 00,10,11,20
by Rodney Waln 08 Sep '11

08 Sep '11

i would not fret you can put them towards the rVUCC award?? that is my next goal, and be helping alot of people in the long run, Rodney kc0zhf

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thank you for the grids
by Rodney Waln 08 Sep '11

08 Sep '11

hi, all just checked the mailbox today and there was the Vucc endorsements for the the grids covering 100-250, i could not have done it without all of the people that give out grids and do grid expadetions in this country and others, again many thanks. Rodney kc0zhf WY Amsat area Coordinator

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DN 00,10,11,20
by Kevin Deane 08 Sep '11

08 Sep '11

So much for that idea, I dont mind making myself look stupid. Oh well, at least somebody will get some new grids. :( Kevin KF7MYK

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Fast 2
by jerry keeton 08 Sep '11

08 Sep '11

(P 22:40 FAST2>BEACON>UI,?,F0 (1200 baud): F21001633 38263.461363903952.94 -3773326.54 +4430538.23 +0.00000 +0.00000 +0.00000+1372283286 017 017 014 018 027 09/07/2011 2240Z Jerry WB5LHD

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Elko
by Kevin Deane 07 Sep '11

07 Sep '11

Looks like I will be passing though: DN00 DN10 DN11 DN20 I think someone was interested in DN10 there is a spot on I-80 where 10 & 11 meet. Now I want these Grids myself so I guess I have to work my brother 10 feet away to get them. Seems pretty lame to me but I suppose Rules are Rules. Kevin KF7MYK

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WD9EWK back on the satellites - soon...
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 07 Sep '11

07 Sep '11

Hi! Due to a series of events over the past 3 weeks, I have had no time to work on the satellites. I've moved to a new QTH, one with a yard where I can work the satellites from. I won't have to go out to a park or parking lot to get on the satellites, unless I want to. I still plan on making occasional trips to the DM33/DM43 grid boundary in Phoenix, if there isn't much activity from the DM33 side of metro Phoenix. Since my mail goes to a PO box, that's one thing that will not change as a result of this move. I still have some packing to do at my apartment, and pulling things out of storage (including some items that have been packed away since my last move a few years back), so the moving process probably won't be finished until later this month. Once things settle down, I will start operating from the back yard. I'm not able to install antennas on the house, but I can look at using tripods for antennas in the yard. I will also have time to do more with the computer and my radios, and possibly get my FT-817NDs working with SatPC32. I'm looking forward to spending more weeknights on the radio, since I won't have to drive somewhere to do that. Going out to hamfests and other parts of Arizona will also return to my schedule, starting with the first hamfest of the upcoming Arizona hamfest "season" in Tucson next month. One observation... it has been neat to see all the posts about ARISSat-1. It may not be in a high orbit, and its 70cm antenna is not what it should have been, but it has been fun to see the posts and look at the ARISSat-1 telemetry web page from time to time. I'm hoping to get things going at home to try the transponder again, something I was not successful at last month. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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NASA to Broadcast Soyuz Landing 09/15
by Clint Bradford 07 Sep '11

07 Sep '11

Sep. 07, 2011 MEDIA ADVISORY: M11-188 NASA TV WILL BROADCAST SOYUZ LANDING ON SEPT. 15 HOUSTON -- NASA Television will broadcast the return to Earth of three crew members who have called the International Space Station (ISS) home for more than five months. On Sept. 15, Expedition 28 Soyuz Commander Alexander Samokutyaev, NASA Flight Engineer Ron Garan and off-going station Commander Andrey Borisenko will undock from the station's Poisk module to return to Earth in their Soyuz TMA-21 spacecraft. They are set to land on the southern region steppe of Kazakhstan near the town of Dzhezkazgan at 11:01 p.m. CDT on Sept. 15 (10:01 a.m. local time, Sept. 16). Their return was delayed a week due to the Aug. 24 loss of the unmanned ISS Progress 44 cargo craft. Expedition 29 station Commander Mike Fossum of NASA, Russian Flight Engineer Sergei Volkov and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa will remain aboard the complex to conduct research until their planned return to Earth in mid-November. The schedule to launch three new Expedition 29 crew members, NASA Flight Engineer Dan Burbank, Soyuz Commander Anton Shkaplerov and Russian Flight Engineer Anatoly Ivanishin, is under review as NASA and its international partners assess the readiness to resume Soyuz launches. The full schedule of the Expedition 28 Soyuz TMA-21 hatch closure, undocking and landing coverage is below. All times are CDT. Wednesday, Sept. 14 4:40 p.m. - Expedition 28-29 change of command ceremony (Borisenko hands over station command to Fossum) Thursday, Sept. 15 4 p.m. -¬ Soyuz TMA-21 crew farewells and hatch closure (hatch closure scheduled at 4:35 p.m.) 7:15 p.m. - Undocking coverage (undocking scheduled at 7:37 p.m.) 9:30 p.m. - Deorbit burn and landing coverage (Deorbit burn scheduled at 10:06 p.m., landing in Kazakhstan scheduled at 11:01 p.m.) Friday, Sept. 16 2 a.m. - Video File of the landing and post-landing activities (repeated at 4 a.m. and 6 a.m.) 11 a.m. - Video File of the landing and post-landing activities that includes post-landing interview with Garan and the cosmonauts' return to Chkalovsky Airfield near Star City, Russia For NASA TV downlink, schedule and streaming video information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv For more information about the International Space Station and its crew, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station -end- Clint Bradford clintbradford(a)mac.com

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Magnetic North vs True North/ARISSat-1
by Carl Rimmer W8KRF 07 Sep '11

07 Sep '11

Thanks to all who responded. I was doing the right thing. Another dilemma was whether to orient the antenna to True North and not make any corrections in software or set it to Magnetic North and do the declination adjustment with the rotor software. Six of one, half dozen of the other. Right now I have it oriented to True North. But, like Pete said: For the work we do, a few degrees off one way or the other will not stop the show. BTW, I have noticed somewhat of a deterioration in the signal strength of ARISSat-1. I have not been able to copy any of the telemetry for the past several passes. I have copied a few of the SSTV pix and FM Voice, but even they seem noisier. Doesn't help that I have a power substation a few blocks away that obviously needs to have some of the insulators replaced. I called the power company and asked that they check things out. We'll see if they respond. Keep em flyin' *Carl W8KRF*

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EM35 this weekend
by Rick - WA4NVM 07 Sep '11

07 Sep '11

Hi All, I will make my annual trip to Mt. Nebo, AR for the Sept VHF contest. I will use our contest call NE5BO from Thursday afternoon (9-8-2011) until Monday morning (9-12-2011) If you work me and need a card from EM35, just send me an email with the information, and I will send you a QSL next week. Also, there will be other operators in our group using their own call. So, there's no reason you can't mark that grid off your list. Also, Frank K4FEG will be on another mountain top operating from EM24. FM birds only. Good luck, Rick WA4NVM

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Elko
by Kevin Deane 07 Sep '11

07 Sep '11

Going to Elko this weekend and plan on hitting all the grids along I-80. I will bring all my brothers equipment so it should be alot better than when I went to So Cal. I will be taking pictures of GPS cooridinates and radio/antenna setup at each stop. I think that makes it official??? Will post more info tonight and am open to any suggestions. Thanks also to all the recent ISS Digi contacts been fun! Kevin KF7MYK

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EN85 Activation by VE3HZQ
by John Papay 07 Sep '11

07 Sep '11

Patric, VE3HZQ, announced on the air that he would be operating from EN85 on Wednesday, 14September2011. This is a fairly rare grid spanning the US and Canada. He has been active recently from his home grid, EN96. 73, John K8YSE

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Re: ARISSatTLM under Wine?
by Guy Mallery 07 Sep '11

07 Sep '11

> Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2011 20:49:52 -0700 > From: "Greg D." <ko6th_greg(a)hotmail.com> > Subject: [amsat-bb] ARISSatTLM under Wine? > Message-ID: <BLU133-W13504FBB09F771D8BA572DA91C0(a)phx.gbl> > > > Has anyone had any success running ARISSatTLM on Linux under Wine? > > It seems to install ok (I'm using Crossover Office), but when I launch it I see the briefest glimpse of a telemetry screen, and > then it goes away (exits or crashes). No log files that I can find for what it didn't like. > > If it matters, I'm running OpenSuSE 11.1 / KDE 3.5 on a 3.2 GHz Pentium-4 HT. > > Thanks, > > Greg KO6TH Howdy, Looks fine (under wine) with Ubuntu LTS. Also looks like one of those cygwin runtime module deals. GL 73, Guy - W6MSU

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