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

AO-27 Scheduler
by David Wing 29 Sep '11

29 Sep '11

Has the schedule on AO-27 changed radically? Here in the western US I've been used to being able to work AO-27 twice during the early afternoon but now it seems like the transmitter operation is during the wee hours of the morning. Has something changed in the last few months while I have been off the birds? David K6CDW

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Re: NA1SS Chats with Lompoc, CA
by AJ9N＠aol.com 29 Sep '11

29 Sep '11

Hi all, I post all upcoming ARISS contacts times to the SAREX BB. You might want to subscribe to that one if you don't already. You can also use the link that is posted on the AMSAT main webpage. Yes, you were hearing Lompoc have a great contact. The ISS crew will ignore any callsign it hears except for the school one. Plus they are not using the public uplink frequencies. We welcome all listeners; that is why the 145.8 MHz frequency is used for all voice contacts (general or school). Perhaps this will get you started getting involved with a school that may want to do an ARISS contact. Thanks for listening! 73, Charlie AJ9N One of the ARISS mentors In a message dated 9/29/2011 11:48:48 A.M. Central Daylight Time, david(a)cdwing.com writes: I was checking out my equipment and had the ISS rising out of the Pacific. I rarely try to work the ISS but thought I would give it a try and manually swung the antennas over to the correct azimuth. I heard some chatter and was initially irritated that someone would be having a QSO on the downlink frequency but then from the conversation I realized that it was someone on the ISS describing seeing hurricanes in the Pacific. I could not believe my luck that NA1SS was actually working contacts! Not being able to hear the uplink, I gingerly threw out my Callsign a couple of times hoping to get into the rotation and then to my great embarrassment, it became apparent that NA1SS (Mike Fossum) was working a school contact in Lompoc, CA. I sure am glad that I just threw out my callsign twice before I clued in on things. At any rate I was able to monitor NA1SS down to about 3 degrees.really clean, strong signal. First time for me hearing the ISS because I rarely check it out and typically don't have SatPC32 even tracking it. Sure glad I decided to use it as a test target! 73 David K6CDW _______________________________________________ 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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ARISSat-1 Silent? (& Request)
by Stuart Balanger 29 Sep '11

29 Sep '11

*Hi All, I was listening on the 145.95 Voice telemetry Beacon Freq. @ 1310 UTC pass here in ENY & didn't hear a peep from ARISSat-1 , & was wondering if it has gone silent? My Grid Square is FN31! 73,.Stu (WA2BSS) PS (a request) Was wondering if someone has a Duplexer? *IE a Box, on 1 nd is where the Coax gets connected, & on other end is 2 short coax cable lengths; & 1 length goes to 2 meters; & the other length goes to 70 CM1) (I have a Kenwwod TS-2000) *

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NA1SS Chats with Lompoc, CA
by David Wing 29 Sep '11

29 Sep '11

I was checking out my equipment and had the ISS rising out of the Pacific. I rarely try to work the ISS but thought I would give it a try and manually swung the antennas over to the correct azimuth. I heard some chatter and was initially irritated that someone would be having a QSO on the downlink frequency but then from the conversation I realized that it was someone on the ISS describing seeing hurricanes in the Pacific. I could not believe my luck that NA1SS was actually working contacts! Not being able to hear the uplink, I gingerly threw out my Callsign a couple of times hoping to get into the rotation and then to my great embarrassment, it became apparent that NA1SS (Mike Fossum) was working a school contact in Lompoc, CA. I sure am glad that I just threw out my callsign twice before I clued in on things. At any rate I was able to monitor NA1SS down to about 3 degrees.really clean, strong signal. First time for me hearing the ISS because I rarely check it out and typically don't have SatPC32 even tracking it. Sure glad I decided to use it as a test target! 73 David K6CDW

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My long absence
by David Wing 29 Sep '11

29 Sep '11

Hello to my friends on the birds. I have been gone for several months and hope to be back soon. I've had some hardware issues and I have to admit I've not been diligent about resolving them as so many other things pop up that take my time. I think I can get things corrected and be back on the satellites this weekend so I'm looking forward to working you all again soon. 73 David K6CDW

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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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