January 2012 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

HI4/AJ5C report for Sunday Jan 29, 2012
by Bob Herrell 30 Jan '12

30 Jan '12

Good contacts on AO-27 at 1756z pass with XE3ISS, WA8SME, N1AIA, N2BX, KE3LB, AA5PK and N1RCN. I appreciate the contacts guys as difficult as it was today. 73 de Bob HI4/AJ5C for a few more days.

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Re: Phase 3 Express Launch Opportunities?
by Andrew Glasbrenner 29 Jan '12

29 Jan '12

> >Drew's Evil Twin ?? > That would be KU4OS. Or more correctly I am -his- evil twin (the one with the black beard, sash, and dagger). Back to P3E. I like David's idea. I'd like even more to hear something similar from Peter or Hartmut. I've donated to P3E in the past, and voted as a BOD member to help fund their lab out of the -NA reserves several years ago. I love the project, but until I hear a little more positive about what's currently going on over there, my money will continue to go to Kiwisat, FunCube, and first and foremost, Fox. I am the proud sponsor of a solar cell on Fox, and hope to be able to do more this year. Have you heard we find out if we (AMSAT-NA and Fox) get one of the NASA launches on Monday? 73, Drew KO4MA

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Re: [aprssig] RK3KKPK? (CONNECTED Igates?)
by Alan P. Biddle 29 Jan '12

29 Jan '12

Got this from the IGate manager. Thanks to all who provided the pieces and clues needed so track this down. 73s, Alan WA4SCA ============================== Subject: Re: I-Gate I see what happened. RK3KPK is a BBGATE user who frequently telnets or netroms into BBGATE. He's a curious follow who stumbled across the gateways RF port servicing the APRS packets on 144.390. That port has not, yet, been restricted. So, when rk3kpk checked the heard list on the port, he thought there were lots of keyboard stations available for contact. Ergo, he attempted to initiate a connection in hopes of chatting with a 'local' laptop or tnc. There's nothing clandestine about his activity. If anything, it's my bad for leaving that RF accessible to the general ham community. As it turns out, I believe he as been the only user who actually tried going out on that port to connect with INDIO or any other station listed on the APRS port heard list. Good catch guys. 73, Jack

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Mediocrity vs. minimalist approach
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 29 Jan '12

29 Jan '12

Hi Frank! Let's clear the decks on this one.... you posted: > The preamp that you don't need, unless you want to push the envelope! > If mediocrity is your ultimate goal, use the minimalist approach, simple, > cheap, but if you wish to truly enjoy the full limits of satellite > communications, give yourself the tools to do the job! Let's correct one glaring error in the statement above... MINIMALIST <> MEDIOCRITY (yes, I capitalized both words intentionally) One can go with a minimalist station, and not have something that is mediocre. You can push the envelope, without having to build or buy a fully-equipped station, complete with a satellite-ready transceiver, computer control, long-boom Yagis, an az/el rotator, and even preamps. Also don't forget operator skill. Without that, the fully- equipped station could be mediocre. Until we get an HEO satellite in orbit, a minimalist satellite station can work just as well as the fully-automated station. I've said it many times on this forum. I enjoy satellite operating. I started with portable gear, mainly due to restrictions on antennas and no safe place to set up my gear at the apartment I lived in for a few years. I now live in a nice house, but it comes with antenna restrictions. I'm making use of the back yard to work with my gear (which you could see in the videos I posted last weekend), and may be able to set up antennas on a tripod that can be put up only when I'm using it. Until then, I continue to work with the same portable gear I have been using for while - the same gear that I used to work you last night from the DM23/DM24 grid boundary, when I took a detour on my way home from Palm Springs and pulled off a state highway in western Arizona. I have over 11,000 satellite QSOs in my log from the past 6+ years. Not a record, as there are others who have many more in the same timeframe, but all but about 10 of the 11,000 were made with portable gear from almost 200 different locations across the USA and 3 other countries. When I looked at those QSOs a little while back, about 10% of those QSOs were in SSB or CW. I have gear that allows me to work FM or SSB/CW satellites down to the horizon or the local surroundings, and I'm not afraid to work signals that are not strong. Is this mediocre? I think not. I already have the tools to do the job and enjoy it. Eventually, I will make a QSO with what I will consider the smallest station I can probably assemble for a non-FM satellite QSO - a TH-F6A HT sending CW to FO-29, listening to the downlink on the all-mode receiver in that HT. As for preamps, there are situations where they may be needed. For example, I talked with Bob KO6TZ at the hamfest in Palm Sptings yesterday morning. He explained that he has a 125-foot coax run from his antennas into his shack. Short of buying very low-loss coax that is cost-prohibitive (if there is a type of coax for that length), he uses preamps at his antennas. That's one example where preamps are called for. That's a far cry from those using HTs with antennas like the Arrow Yagi, Elk log periodic, or similar homebrew designs - where coax runs are only a few feet at most, not 125 feet. As for the rest of Frank's post: > JOB WELL DONE WYATT! > YOU AND ERIC (ON4HF) DESERVE A ROUND OF APPLAUSE! Now this I will agree with 100%. Great job by Wyatt for working ON4HF yesterday morning! Later in the day, I worked AC0RA just after working K4FEG out in the desert on my way home, adding a new grid to his satellite log. Wyatt was very busy yesterday. :-) 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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Mediocrity
by Clint Bradford 29 Jan '12

29 Jan '12

>> ... If mediocrity is your ultimate goal, use the minimalist approach ... Was this just a poor choice of wording, or did you intentionally mean to insult hundreds of satellite operators who are enjoying the LEOs - as well as thousands of students and educators working the ISS annually? Clint Bradford, K6LCS

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Doppler correction on ICOM 821H using WISP DDE
by Nitin Muttin 29 Jan '12

29 Jan '12

Friends, I am using orbitron + Wispdde for auto doppler correction on my ICOM 821H. I noticed that the frequency correction at the Radio is not happening in 1Hz steps when on CW/SSB , the frequency correction is in 10 Hz steps but it shows in 1Hz in Wisp DDE. Any pointers to resolve the issue will be appreciated. 73 Nitin [VU3TYG]

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Wyatt AC0RA, a skilled and dedicated operator
by Clayton Coleman W5PFG 29 Jan '12

29 Jan '12

Wyatt Dirks AC0RA is very passionate about his satellite operations. Having started with a home brew antenna, he has experimented with several portable station configurations including LPDA’s, commercial Arrows, and recently added a 13-element M2 beam. Just today, January 28, he made a 6,941km contact with ON4HF using AO-7 mode B. While this is several hundred kilometers below the distance record for mode B contacts, it is important to note that Wyatt performed this feat completely portable, without a set of cross-polarized beams, without automated antenna tracking, and more importantly – out in the cold Iowa weather. He’s recently been making contacts with other stations in Europe. This does not come easily in a portable setting from the mid-USA states. Many folks who have been around for a long time, who have “been there and done that,” may not see this as much of an accomplishment. I assure you if we had satellites capable of greater distance contacts, Wyatt would be on them pushing the limits of their capabilities with minimal equipment. Not only does Wyatt posses the right equipment, he demonstrates skill and dedication, something uncommon in young men his age just shy of 20 years old. We should encourage operators of this caliber as they will be our future engineers and friends in the space frontier. 73, Clayton W5PFG

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New version of HamSatDroid
by David Johnson 29 Jan '12

29 Jan '12

Hi, There is a new version of the free HamSatDroid app now available on the Android Market. I've changed it: - to use my SGP4 implementation, as used in GENSO. - plot three orbits ahead on the map - plot the footprint - take keps from celestrak I've got quite a few more changes in development, thanks to the feedback we've had from the existing users. Opinions are sought about making a small charge and paying the income into satellite buidling funds and supporting a server which might be introduced to improve functionality of the app. 73 Dave, G4DPZ AMSAT-NA Life Member AMSAT-UK Committee Member FUNcube Data Warehouse Developer -- David A. Johnson Senior Software Engineer Black Pepper Software Limited t: +44 1926 886 467 m: +44 7733 106 990 e: david.johnson(a)blackpepper.co.uk Web: www.blackpepper.co.uk Black Pepper Software Limited The Mews, Trinity House, Trinity Street, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. CV32 5YN Registered in England, No. 3763392 VAT No. 747 8497 68

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ARISSat-1 TLM decod tool
by Masahiro Arai 29 Jan '12

29 Jan '12

Is there any tool to display ARISSat-1 telemetry date form CSV files and binaly files on ARISSat Telemetry Archives which are decoded by ARISSatTLM? Thank you for you help 73 Masa JN1GKZ

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Hawaii Command Station for PCSAT-1
by Bob Bruninga 29 Jan '12

29 Jan '12

We are again in need of a quality PCSAT command station in Hawaii. This is for our Arctic Buoy experiment at the North pole! (off Barrow Alaska). The problem is that the ISS digipeater only gets gets 1.5 degree above the Horizon in Barrow. Probably won't work. Fortunately, PCSAT-1 overflies the Arctic area 5 times a day listening on 145.825. Unfortunately, the Buoy is set to digi via ARISS and will not digi via PCSAT-1 unless the PCSAT-1 alias is commanded to match the ISS alias of ARISS. This is a fundamental design of PCSAT, but when we set the ARISS digipeater alias, it only lasts until the next eclipse 30 minutes later, and so this command will have to be sent from Hawaii on EVERY pass where we want to check on the health of the Buoy. So we also need to train a Hawaii command station. This will -not- be a daily task. Just occasionally when time permits to allow us to get back one health-packet from the Buoy every now and then. If there is anyone fully conversant with conventional packet and Kantronics remote-logon and remote control of a KPC TNC, and is interested in this project, let us know. Bob, Wb4APR

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