AMSAT-BB April 2012

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108 participants
161 discussions

Typing error IARU foundation year is 1925
by Raidel Abreu Espinet 11 Apr '12

11 Apr '12

Sorry, in previous e-mail the correct IARU foundation year is 1925 not 1961, it was a typing mistake... 73, Raydel Este mensaje ha sido enviado mediante el servicio de correo electronico que ofrece la Federacion de Radioaficionados de Cuba a sus miembros para respaldar el cumplimiento de los objetivos de la organizacion y su politica informativa. La persona que envia este correo asume el compromiso de usar el servicio a tales fines y cumplir con las regulaciones establecidas.

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Busy weekend for Cuba's satellite group
by Raidel Abreu Espinet 11 Apr '12

11 Apr '12

Hello all, This is going to be a busy weekend for Cuba's recently founded "Grupo de Radioaficionados para Operaciones Satelitales" (GROS). Three diferent activities had been schedule so far. * Friday night (20:30 EDT), Hector CO6CBF will be hosting a talk about amateur radio satellite on Pico San Juan 2m repeater (145.130). The topics will include: - The GROS presentation in the province. - Brief history of amateur radio satellites. - Current operational satellites. - Future projects. - Types of satellites and its transmissions methods. - Amateur radio recieving stations requirements and homebrew solutions. - Operating practices. - Amateur Radio Satellite operations in Cuba. - Special Guest: Arnaldo Coro, CO2KK, Cuba's second ham in perform a satellite QSO and Cuba's first in conduct a EME QSO. * Saturday morning (10:00 EDT) at Camagüey, Pavel CO7WT will be hosting a talk at Camagüey City Amateur Radio Club. The topics will include: - The GROS presentation in the province. - Brief history of amateur radio satellites and its operators. - Basics of orbital mechanics. - Operation methods. - Technical requirements for set up a APRS/Beacon Packet station using the ISS digipeater. - Amateur Radio Satellite Fleet Status. - Related examples. * Saturday morning at Havana (10:00 EDT) in Cuba's National Amateur Radio Federation (FRC). Raydel CM2ESP will be hosting the Official Presentation of the recently founded Group. The topics will include: - Origin and background of the Group. - Working profile and prospects. - Brief abstract about the Group's Rules. - Current Board of Directors. - Schedule of future activities and meetings. - Questions and Answers Session. All three events are jointly coordinated between GROS's members and each province radio club. The events will be also in commemoration of the first human manned spaceflight by Yuri Gagarin the April 12, 1961, the inaugural launch of NASA’s Space Shuttle on the same day of 1981 and the celebration of the 87th Anniversary of the founding of the International Amateur Radio Union, IARU, the April 18, 1961. Unfortunately in both saturday's activities we will not be able to perform a satellite demostration because ISS and AO-27 passes are too late and SO-50 is too early instead. We are right know working on more activities coordinations for the next week. 73, Raydel, CM2ESP Este mensaje ha sido enviado mediante el servicio de correo electronico que ofrece la Federacion de Radioaficionados de Cuba a sus miembros para respaldar el cumplimiento de los objetivos de la organizacion y su politica informativa. La persona que envia este correo asume el compromiso de usar el servicio a tales fines y cumplir con las regulaciones establecidas.

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Fwd: Freefest Ham Radio broadcast this weekend
by wa4hfn＠comcast.net 11 Apr '12

11 Apr '12

----- Forwarded Message ----- From: "Tom" <wa5kub(a)gmail.com> To: "Tom" <wa5kub(a)gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 9:59:40 PM Subject: Freefest Ham Radio broadcast this weekend Hamfest this weekend live world wide broadcast plus prizes for our viewers (Saturday April 14 from 1400 UTC until 2000 UTC) or 9:00 Am until 3:00 PM W5KUB.Com is broadcasting live streaming webcast of Memphis FreeFest. This is a regional hamfest and it is always at 100% capacity. Tune in and join in on the fun. Check in the chat room and talk to us or other hams around the world. During some of our events, we have had over 50,000 viewers in over 150 countries. This is a one day hamfest but it is a good one. Our next live broadcast will be the Dayton Hamvention and we go live on Wed May 18 and broadcast our 550 mile drive live. We will also be giving out over $7000 in prizes to lucky viewers. Just be present when we call you name from the list of those logged in and you win. You can see a sample of the prizes at http://tmedlin.com/prizesdayton2012.html Thanks, Tom W5KUB the video site is http://w5kub.com and is on 365 days a year. when not live we play recorded ham videos. http://w5kub.com ps please join us on our Ham radio broadcast facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/279273778772594/ -- Check out my website at http://tmedlin.com and my live video site for hamfests at http://w5kub.com Senior Member of the I.E.E.E

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Re: "Dee" Interdonato
by Mark L. Hammond 11 Apr '12

11 Apr '12

What horribly sad news. Dee certainly was a man who responded with "I'll be there." This is increasing rare in our busy world. Dayton won't be the same this year.....I'll miss him indeed. 73 to our SK friend. Prayers to Ginny and the family. Mark N8MH >On Apr 9, 2012 4:07 PM, "Martha" <martha(a)amsat.org> wrote: > >> Dee Interdonato, NB2F died on April 8th. He was a long time Area >> Coordinator for NJ. Not only did he handle the booth at many NJ hamfests >> throughout the year but was also an invaluable help at Dayton. Several >> years ago, we needed help at the Greater Baltimore Hamboree & Computerfest. >> Dee and his wife,Ginny, drove down and worked the booth for 2 days.I could >> always count on him to"elmer " any new ham who had technical questions. >> Before retiring, Dee was the supervisor of the Radio Shop of the Port >> Authority of NY/NJ. He was a member of ANJRPC, BARA, Bergen County CERT, >> AMSAT and the Treasurer of BC FM Association. His funeral will be on Friday >> at 9:00 AM at Santangelo Funeral Home, 300 N Main St, Lodi NJ . In lieu of >> flowers, memorial contribution may be made to the Vietnam Veterans of >> America, 8719 Colesville Rd #100, Silver Spring MD 20910 or AMSAT, 850 >> Sligo Ave #600, Silver Spring MD 20910. >> >> 73- Martha >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 >> >_______________________________________________ >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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W1AW 4-10
by Mark Spencer 11 Apr '12

11 Apr '12

Thanks to all for your patience. I had a heck of a time hearing the bird.there are some serious downlink issues at the station that need to be address. Having said that, there were a number of successful contacts. If you'd like a QSL for the contact, send me the specifics direct (e-mail below) and I'll make sure you get confirmation. Apologies to the west coast folks, timing didn't work out. I will try to get back to the station within the next two weeks for a pass that favors the west coast. I'll keep you posted. Mark Mark Spencer, WA8SME Education and Technology Program Director ARRL, the national association for Amateur RadioTM 43 Pinelock Dr. Gales Ferry, CT 06335 860-381-5335 860-460-1139 (cell) mspencer(a)arrl.org

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"Dee" Interdonato
by Martha 11 Apr '12

11 Apr '12

Dee Interdonato, NB2F died on April 8th. He was a long time Area Coordinator for NJ. Not only did he handle the booth at many NJ hamfests throughout the year but was also an invaluable help at Dayton. Several years ago, we needed help at the Greater Baltimore Hamboree & Computerfest. Dee and his wife,Ginny, drove down and worked the booth for 2 days.I could always count on him to"elmer " any new ham who had technical questions. Before retiring, Dee was the supervisor of the Radio Shop of the Port Authority of NY/NJ. He was a member of ANJRPC, BARA, Bergen County CERT, AMSAT and the Treasurer of BC FM Association. His funeral will be on Friday at 9:00 AM at Santangelo Funeral Home, 300 N Main St, Lodi NJ . In lieu of flowers, memorial contribution may be made to the Vietnam Veterans of America, 8719 Colesville Rd #100, Silver Spring MD 20910 or AMSAT, 850 Sligo Ave #600, Silver Spring MD 20910. 73- Martha

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temp qrt
by Bob- W7LRD 11 Apr '12

11 Apr '12

to all my friends on the birds I will be temp qrt while rebuilding all my antenna systems. The details of which would take too long to explain. See you when I'm done. 73 Bob W7LRD Seattle

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Re: DELFI C3 Close Approach Message
by Peter Portanova 10 Apr '12

10 Apr '12

FYI 73 WB2OQQ -----Original Message----- From: JSpOC/Space Correspondence Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 8:58 PM To: Peter Portanova Cc: Dewitt, James L CTR USAF AFSPC 614 AOC/OL-D ; Petruna, Stacey L CTR USAF AFSPC 614 AOC/OL-D ; JSpOC/Space Correspondence Subject: DELFI C3 Close Approach Message Sir/Ma'am, The United States Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) has identified a predicted conjunction between DELFI C3 (SCC# 32789) and SCC# 31461. Primary Object: DELFI C3 (SCC# 32789) Secondary Object: SCC# 31461 Time of Closest Approach: 13 APR 2012 19:28 UTC Overall miss distance: 883 meters Radial (dU) miss distance: 123 meters In-Track (dV) miss distance: -535 meters Cross-track (dW) miss distance: 693 meters Primary Radial Error (U): 18 meters Primary In-track Error (V): 1205 meters Primary Cross-track Error (W): 6 meters Secondary Radial Error (U): 241 meters Secondary In-track Error (V): 21408 meters Secondary Cross-track Error (W): 81 meters Very Respectfully, JSpOC Orbital Protection Team Joint Space Operations Center Vandenberg Air Force Base, California USA NO WARRANTIES: The United States provides the enclosed Space Situational Awareness (SSA) services or information "as is" and makes no warranty, either express or implied, as to the condition or suitability of the information and services, nor its fitness for a particular purpose. IMMUNITY: The United States, any agencies and instrumentalities thereof, and any individuals, firms, corporations, and other persons acting for the United States, shall be immune from any suit in any court for any cause of action arising from the provision or receipt of SSA services or information, whether or not provided in accordance with 10 USC 2274, or any related action or omission.

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Dee
by Clint Bradford 10 Apr '12

10 Apr '12

Dave Taylor sent me THE email we were waiting for yesterday morning: with word of the exact time NASA set up for our ARISS contact out here in Jurupa Valley, California. On an emotional high, and as I was sending out our updated media alert to several recipients, I received the AMSAT-BB digest of messages - with its several-message-long thread simply entitled, "Dee ... " I couldn't bring myself to read it until late last night. No thread with that simple of a title and so many instant replies could have been good news. I regret never got to personally shake Dee's hand in appreciation. Quietly and "behind the scenes," Dee assisted me with many an inquiry and the explanation of concepts. What a wonderful reference person we have lost. Clint Bradford

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UT1FG/MM Welland Canal
by John Papay 10 Apr '12

10 Apr '12

Yuri, UT1FG/MM, left Thunder Bay Ontario on Lake Superior a few days ago with a cargo of Oats and Wheat destined for San Juan Puerto Rico. He had gone through the Welland Canal which connects Lake Ontario to Lake Erie on the way to Thunder Bay and would come back through on his way out. The Welland Canal is very long, has 8 locks and takes the boat from a water elevation of 572' in Lake Erie to 246' in Lake Ontario. On the way in it took him about 8 hours to go through. My thought was to drive up there and watch him go through and hope we could get within shouting distance of one another. But where you do go to get close and how do you find your way around in unfamiliar territory? You may have heard VE3RCN on the birds, sometimes from different grids and sometimes on the warship Haida. Kevin is in the Royal Canadian Navy (hence the callsign) and makes his home in Welland! After some email exchanges and some research on Kevin's part he offered to host my time in the area. That took all of the stress out of the situation. He knew everything about the canal. Yuri sailed out of the Detroit River on Saturday night and into Lake Erie. I was able to contact him on 144.200 sideband where we chatted for almost an hour, much different than the quick grid square exchange on the birds. He estimated being at Lock 8 in the Welland Canal around 8am. After 4 hours of sleep and a quick shower I was on the road at 3:15am. After a few questions by Canadian Customs (they know what to ask to determine if you are telling the truth), I was in Canada. About 15 minutes out of Port Colborne, the entrance to the canal, Yuri called on 146.52 to say he was about 15 miles out. Fifteen miles later I was at Tim Horton's (the Canadian Starbucks equivalent) where I was to meet Kevin, VE3RCN/VA3OR. He arrived their shortly after me and we were off to the Lake Erie shore to catch a glimpse of the MV Barnacle. And there she was off in the distance. It was all coming together. The Lake was calm, the sun was shining, it was about 32 degrees but there was no wind. The fish were jumping. After the ship started moving closer to the channel we got into position to watch it come in. As it rounded the bend and we could see the bridge, Yuri spotted us immediately and was waving. He seemed as excited as we were. As he got closer we were able to shout back and forth. At Lock 8, the first lock, we were able to talk back and forth; we were very close. There are places on the canal where you can stand on the bank and put your hand on the ship going by. The clearance may only be six inches. After that we went to get some breakfast; then we lost track of where Yuri was. Kevin made a quick call to his xyl Donna, VE3WIZ, and she was able to relay his position so we could catch up with him again. We waited for him to pass over the highway at Thorold. The road actually goes under the canal! Next stop, Lock 7. We were waiting for Yuri at Lock 7 where the Canal Pilot changes. We were standing at the fence when things started to come together. The invitation to come on board was given and before I knew it I was ushered over the lock to the other side of the ship and boarded as the ship lowered to the dock level. A minute later I was on the bridge with Captain Yuri UT1FG. Finally I was able to meet a guy that I've been working on the satellites in hundreds of water grids since April 2009! At that point Kevin went back home to get Donna and they then followed us down the canal, waving and watching us at every highway crossing and vantage point. An experienced Canal Pilot takes command of the ship through the locks. He stands on the port or starboard side of the bridge so he can see the ship's hull with respect to the edge of the canal. There may be only inches to spare so it is a tedious effort. The Pilot calls out the commands (Starboard 20, Port 10, Slow Ahead etc) and the first officer carries out the orders. Yuri is usually with the Pilot and helps relay the commands etc. There is very little time for anything else except when you are actually stopped in the lock. It's one thing to see the ship going through the locks from land but quite another to experience the change of level from inside the lock itself. It truly was an experience of a lifetime. Yuri took me to his cabin one level below the bridge. His quarters are quite nice and private. This is where he operates with his IC706, manually tuning the radio and doing a great job at that! The power supply from HP1CQ sat on the table in the corner and a computer running Orbitron is on the other side. Yuri now has an ELK antenna installed (thanks to the efforts of Rick, WA4NVM). It is mounted on a manually rotatable mast that goes up from the bridge, starboard side, directly above his cabin. The ELK is tilted up at 15 degrees and was just installed on the way back from Thunder Bay. The CJU antenna is mounted on the crossboom next to the ELK. A vertical for 2 meters is on a separate mast above those antennas. Until this season Yuri only used the 2 meter vertical for transmit and receive. It is amazing that he was able to make any contacts with just that antenna. The CJU improved things greatly and the ELK takes it to a new level. He worked PV8DX right at his horizon on FO-29 with it. Yuri has SatPC32 but has not installed it yet due to time constraints. When he is out in the Ocean again, he will install it and get his radio interfaced. This will make it much easier for him to stay on frequency and focus on operating. Yuri also has a 6 meter rotatable dipole and a end fed long wire that goes from the bridge to the top of the first two cranes. The MV Barnacle is a sister ship to the Mottler, the ship that he captained last season. It was also built in 2009 and is owned by a Canadian company based in Montreal. The engine room boasts a 10,000 horsepower plant and is controlled by state of the art electronics. I was able to experience an excellent meal on the ship in addition to touring the ship with the Chief Engineer. Time passes quickly and soon we were at Lock 2 where it was decided I should depart. Kevin and Donna were waiting there for me; we were 30 miles away from where my car was parked. We stopped at McDonald's to demonstrate my remote control setup but the wifi failed so we couldn't do that. After a nice drive and some good conversation we were back at Tim Horton's in Port Colborne. At the US border crossing the agent questioned me as to why I would drive all that way on Easter Sunday just to see a ship go through the canal. After I explained that the captain was a ham radio operator that I had talked with around the world but never met he handed back my passport and said "GO!" I want to thank Kevin VA3OR/VE3RCN and his wife Donna, VE3WIZ, for spending their Easter Sunday hosting my visit to the Canal. I'm sure they had better things to do but they decided to take me all around and make my visit a memorable one. I hope they enjoyed the day as much as I did. And a big thanks to Master Yuri Bodrov and his crew for their hospitality. And also to the Canal Pilot who guided this massive ship through the locks with great precision. It was an experience that very few will ever have. Yuri is headed down the seaway and should be traveling through new water grids on the way to San Juan PR. He is due there on 4/20. He will stay on until at least the end of May. He does not know where he will go after San Juan. He has truly made operating the birds exciting. QSL to his manager UX0FY (on qrz.com). He has ordered 5000 more qsl cards which should arrive shortly. 73, John K8YSE

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AMSAT-BB April 2012