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

ARISSat-1 descending rapidly
by Alan P. Biddle 03 Jan '12

03 Jan '12

According to the morning numbers from Space Track, ARISSat-1 is down to 191 km, and losing about 1.5 km per orbit, or about 1 km per hour. The drag effects are increasing rapidly, so TODAY would be an excellent time to make any last minute QSOs through the transponder. Thanks to those who are keeping live telemetry flowing. This is one tough satellite! 73s, Alan WA4SCA

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Broadcast
by Craig Gagner 03 Jan '12

03 Jan '12

I will be doing a live broadcast of the 1610 EST pass over new England at http://www.livestream.com/w1msgsat it will be a 65 degree pass and should be pretty good if things aren't already cooking inside the satellite. Craig

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ARISSAT-1
by Pedro Cruz 03 Jan '12

03 Jan '12

Hello to All Just copy sstv on 145950 FM , at 19:59 utc max elev. 4 dgr with good signals. Best 73! Pedro Cruz - CU2JX

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arissat
by graham mcphee 03 Jan '12

03 Jan '12

Arissat was not heard here in VK QF54ce this morning at 1900utc. I was right on the termination line at the time and local time was 0600 daylight saving time, maybe I will not hear it any more as it is getting earlier each day and going further back into eclipse Graham McPhee VK2AYE

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Re: Looking for a G3RUH dish
by Andrew Glasbrenner 03 Jan '12

03 Jan '12

You probably have one of the K5GNA "BBQ" dishes. The G3RUH is a solid round spun dish. 73, Drew -----Original Message----- >From: Bob Bruninga <bruninga(a)usna.edu> >Sent: Jan 3, 2012 2:19 PM >To: 'Andrew Glasbrenner' <glasbrenner(a)mindspring.com>, 'amsat-bb' <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> >Subject: RE: [amsat-bb] Looking for a G3RUH dish > >> I'm looking for one of the 60cm G3RUH dishes > >Got one, (but not available). > >Questions: I measured reflector grid separation as .88 inches which works >out to be about 0.18 wavelength. I always thought the grid had to be >tighter than 0.1 inches to be an effective "surface". > >Maybe the difference with almost double the spacing is not that significant? >(especially for a steel one which would be quite heavy. > >Reason I am asking is that I also need another S band dish (at 70 MPH on the >roof of a tracking van) and we are thinking about building one by using an >old solid 6' TVRO dish as a form and laying in copper wire and soldering it >to copper straps. With all that labor, I'd not want to get the spacing >wrong. > >Bob, Wb4APR >

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Looking for a G3RUH dish
by Andrew Glasbrenner 03 Jan '12

03 Jan '12

Hi all, I'm looking for one of the 60cm G3RUH dishes, with or without the patch feed. Maybe someone who was active on AO-40, but not on the LEOs? Email me if you can help. 73, Drew KO4MA

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FUNcube-1 Project news update
by g.shirville＠btinternet.com 03 Jan '12

03 Jan '12

FUNcube -1 – Launch details and time frame finalised An agreement has now been reached with ISIS Launch Services BV, who are based in Delft in the Netherlands, for them to provide a launch of the FUNcube-1 CubeSat. It is anticipated that FUNcube-1, which has been created by a team of volunteer radio amateurs and other specialists over the past two years, will be launched with a number of other spacecraft from a DNEPR rocket sometime in the third quarter of 2012. The flight is planned to take place from the Yasny launch facility which is in southern Russia near to the Kazakhstan border. The spacecraft needs to be completed by the end of July 2012, ready for shipping from the Netherlands to Russia. The orbit is still to be defined precisely but it is expected to be nearly circular and approximately sun synchronous. This will ensure that the spacecraft has the necessary solar illumination and that it will appear at regular times for educational outreach activities at schools and colleges. The FUNcube-1 spacecraft will transmit signals that can be easily received directly by schools and colleges for educational outreach purposes. This telemetry will give details of the spacecraft’s health – battery voltages and temperatures and from this it will be possible to determine its spin rate and attitude by plotting simple graphs. Additionally, experimental data and messages can be displayed in an attractive format and provide stimulation and encouragement for students to become interested in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects in a unique way. The target audience for this project is students at both primary and secondary levels and a simple and cheap “ground station” – actually it looks just like a USB dongle, for schools to use, has already been developed. In addition to providing educational outreach for schools and colleges around the world, the spacecraft will also provide a U/V linear transponder for radio amateurs during local “night”, at weekends and during holiday periods The production and testing of the spacecraft itself has already been funded via a legacy and other sources. It will however really help the project if radio amateurs and other interested supporters could contribute something towards the cost of the actual launch itself. With this in mind a special donation scheme has been setup using the Virgin Giving charity donation website http://tinyurl.com/funcubegiving/ All donations of £25 (or equivalent) or more will be specially acknowledged by the spacecraft itself – exact details will follow shortly! All donations received from UK tax payers can be “Gift Aided” which will add 20% to the value of your donation. More information about this exciting project will be made available over the coming months at the website http://www.funcube.org.uk/

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Re: arissat-1 current keps
by Clint Bradford 03 Jan '12

03 Jan '12

My pass this morning (1003AM PST) was actually about three minutes AHEAD of AMSAT-NA's Keplerian data from last Thursday. Clint Bradford clintbradford(a)mac.com

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arissat-1 current keps
by Bob- W7LRD 03 Jan '12

03 Jan '12

Just to make sure I'm on schedual. I see the next pass at about 1933Z at CN87 with a elevation of about 76 degrees. I realize the keps on this thing can change by the minute. 73 Bob W7LRD Seattle, Wa.

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Re: Arissat-1 reentry?
by G0MRF＠aol.com 03 Jan '12

03 Jan '12

Hi David I heard that pass, and it seemed to be in low power mode, so on for 30 seconds and then off. It should be around for a few hours more. Thanks David G0MRF In a message dated 03/01/2012 17:34:39 GMT Standard Time, at746david(a)gmail.com writes: Hello everybody: This is David EA4SG. Just a moment ago at 16:54 UTC while the Arissat-1 was over the vertical of Madrid, I was listening to the SAT and it stopped/interrumped suddenly its transmissions while it was still in a theorical "sunny or iluminated area". Not sure if it was the final re-entry but It could be. So I decided to leave this info here. The last sent voice message sent was the italian one and at the end of the secret word, it stopped. A moment before, I was able to record around 40 seconds of CW telemetry in 145.919 Khz but very poor signal/noise rate. Best 73s David EA4SG _______________________________________________ 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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