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

Dutch Transponder on-baord HAMSAT VO-52 'Turned On'
by Mani VU2WMY 04 May '12

04 May '12

Dear HAMSAT VO-52 users, The commands to 'Turn On' the transponder # 2 (Dutch transponder, made by Williams PE1RAH) on-board HAMSAT VO-52 was successfully sent during 14:00 UT 35 deg ascending Node pass over Bangalore, India. The sent commands were successfully received, acknowledged and confirmed by the telemetry. Subsequently, the transponder # 2 is now 'ON' and Williams CW message beacon was heard again after a gap of approximately 6 years & 4 months. The beacon signal was heard loud and strong here at Bangalore. A detailed Initial reports addressed to: tprangan(a)istrac.org and a copy to wmy(a)isac.gov.in would be greatly appreciated. 73 de Mani, VU2WMY Secretary & Station-In-Charge Upagrah Amateur Radio Club VU2URC ISRO Satellite Centre HAL Airport Road, Bangalore-560 017. Phone:(O)91-80-25082054/2598/2192 Mobile: 91-80-98803 41456 E-mail ID: wmy(a)isac.gov.in vu2wmy_mani(a)yahoo.com isrohams(a)yahoo.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

9 12

How to measure the performance of my satellite station ?
by PA3GUO 04 May '12

04 May '12

Since I had been in-active for quite a number of weeks, of course I first wanted to check if my (70cm) satellite station was still functional. The first step I always take is listening to the stable beacon of HO-68, CW @435.790MHz. My goal is to have the antenna tracked automatically, and frequency PC controlled by HRD. When the result is that I hear the beacon, no doppler shift, I know this first step is taken (means hardware and software incl kepler sets seem to work). Now what next ? Signal strength of that CW beacon is one way to measure my station, another way is looking at RAX-2, which transmits at 437.345 MHz (9k6 FM packets, KISS mode). RAX sends these days each 10 seconds a short burst of data. Using the free decoding SW from the RAX team you can: a) analyze the satellite data yourself b) help the scientific experiments of the university by forwarding the telemetry c) test your own station ! http://rax.engin.umich.edu/?page_id=301 An example is this mornings pass, which had a max elevation of 46 degrees. With my 16 elements DK7ZB (http://pa3guo.com/ant_jun_2011.jpg) my station could hear the satellite starting at 2 degrees elevation, and decode at around 8 degrees. See the table below (decode timestamps from the decoding software) 4 May 2012 07:51:38 GMT (6.2 degrees elevation) 4 May 2012 07:51:49 GMT 4 May 2012 07:52:01 GMT 4 May 2012 07:52:09 GMT 4 May 2012 07:52:19 GMT 4 May 2012 07:52:29 GMT 4 May 2012 07:52:39 GMT 4 May 2012 07:52:50 GMT 4 May 2012 07:53:02 GMT 4 May 2012 07:53:10 GMT 4 May 2012 07:53:20 GMT 4 May 2012 07:53:30 GMT 4 May 2012 07:53:41 GMT 4 May 2012 07:53:51 GMT 4 May 2012 07:54:01 GMT 4 May 2012 07:54:11 GMT 4 May 2012 07:54:21 GMT 4 May 2012 07:54:32 GMT 4 May 2012 07:54:42 GMT 4 May 2012 07:54:52 GMT 4 May 2012 07:55:02 GMT 4 May 2012 07:55:12 GMT 4 May 2012 07:55:22 GMT 4 May 2012 07:55:33 GMT 4 May 2012 07:55:43 GMT 4 May 2012 07:55:53 GMT 4 May 2012 07:56:03 GMT 4 May 2012 07:56:13 GMT 4 May 2012 07:56:24 GMT 4 May 2012 07:56:34 GMT 4 May 2012 07:56:44 GMT 4 May 2012 07:56:54 GMT 4 May 2012 07:57:05 GMT 4 May 2012 07:57:15 GMT 4 May 2012 07:57:25 GMT 4 May 2012 07:57:35 GMT 4 May 2012 07:57:45 GMT 4 May 2012 07:57:55 GMT 4 May 2012 07:58:06 GMT 4 May 2012 07:58:16 GMT 4 May 2012 07:58:26 GMT 4 May 2012 07:58:36 GMT 4 May 2012 07:58:46 GMT (11 degrees) ... 4 May 2012 07:59:48 GMT (5 degrees) So at the end my station stopped decoding at 11 degrees elevation, it picked up a final beacon at 5 degrees. We could define a kind of 'Ground Station Effectiveness' as number of packets decoded (not heared!) between a certain elevation threshold (eg 10 degrees). When no packet would be missed my station would rate now for 100% (at 10 degrees). Or more scientifically: the GS effectiveness of PA3GUO's station is 100% (@10 degrees elevation) All kinds of items can bring this number down from 100% to lets say 80%: - hard mechanical stop of the rotor, forcing a full 360 degrees turn during a pass - interference of other signals/satellite during a pass (at the same frequency) - tumbling of the satellite (antenne pointing to wrong direction) - polarization changes (rotation of the satellite) Well, the above shows that my 1x16 elements (horizontal pol) antenna works fine to support missions like RAX. No need for circular antenna (admitted: other satellite give different results for circular (both better and worse) Just sharing some thoughts, looking forward to your feedback / reflections ! Henk, PA3GUO

1 0

PBS Newshour Report On SpaceX
by B J 04 May '12

04 May '12

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/science/jan-june12/spacex_05-03.html 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL

1 0

Re: VO-52
by K5OE 04 May '12

04 May '12

Confirmed. Nothing heard at 2357. 73, Jerry, K5OE

1 0

VO52
by py5lf_ 03 May '12

03 May '12

Hi VO52 not heard last two passes over SA . I hope there is no problem with the sat. 73 PY5LF Luciano Fabricio www.qrz.com/db/py5lf Curitiba-PR-Brazil GG54jm

1 0

Sierra Vista AZ hamfest on Saturday (5 May)
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 03 May '12

03 May '12

Hi! I will be at the Cochise Amateur Radio Association's annual Larry Warren Hamfest on Saturday (5 May) morning in Sierra Vista, Arizona. This, like most Arizona hamfests, is a half-day event, and I will have an AMSAT table there along with on-air satellite demonstrations. More information about the hamfest is available at: http://www.k7rdg.org/HamfestFlyer2012.html It looks like I will have only AO-7 in mode B and VO-52 available for the demonstrations Saturday morning. I will be ready for those two satellites with my portable all-mode satellite station. After the hamfest, depending on when things wrap up, I am looking at paying a quick visit to one or two of the rarely-heard grids in southeastern Arizona. Or I might try to work from along I-10 at the Arizona/New Mexico state line. To see where I'm going, I will run APRS as WD9EWK-9 while driving. You can see my travels at (among other places) http://aprs.fi/wd9ewk-9 If you work WD9EWK on Saturday - at the hamfest, or wherever I stop after the hamfest - and would like a QSL card to confirm the contact, please e-mail me the QSO details. No need to send me a card or SASE first. If you're in the log, I will be happy to send you a card. I will also upload my Saturday QSOs to Logbook of the World. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

2 1

Re: Delphi-C3 (DO-64) 4 years in orbit.
by WILLIAMS MICHAEL 03 May '12

03 May '12

Raydel, Delphi-C3 with its fold out solar panels is a great satellite and probably one of the most interesting cube sats ever launched. I made many QSOs through it before its amateur transponder quit. 145.870 USB will work. Its signal is very strong, you cant miss it. It has no batteries so operates only in sun light. It will shut off at times as it starts its North American pass (even in sunlight). You will hear it at AOS for a short time then it suddenly shuts off. At other times, it's on the entire pass. When receiving, try to get the tuning indicator to stay at 1200 Hz. The no sync indicator will change to sync and turn green. It's interesting to watch the sats performance and the data come in. Having up to date Keps and your computer clock synchronized helps a lot. GL, Mike (K9QHO)

1 0

Out of the Office
by Martha 02 May '12

02 May '12

I will be out of the office Thursday, May 3rd and Friday, May 4th. -- 73- Martha- AMSAT Manager

1 0

AMSAT Awards
by Bruce 02 May '12

02 May '12

Here are our latest AMSAT Awards recipients. The following have entered into the Satellite Communicators Club for making their first satellite QSO. Brent Ocken, KJ6MRG Elizabeth Royer, KB3WSW The following have earned the AMSAT Communications Achievement Award. Hector Luis Martinez Sis, CO6CBF, #547 Marcelo Teruel, IK0USO #549 The following have earned the South Africa Satellite Communications Achievement Award. Hector Luis Martinez Sis, CO6CBF, #US178 The following have earned their Robert W. Barbee, Jr. W4AMI Award Tom Deeble, KA6SIP #77 Clayton Coleman, W5PFG #78 To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org or http://www.amsatnet.com Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards ARRL Awards Manager (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0100z on Echolink - Conference *AMSAT* Also streaming MP3 at http://www.amsatnet.com Podcast at http://www.amsatnet.com/podcast.xml or iTunes

1 0

Communications test of F-1 CubeSat
by Trevor . 02 May '12

02 May '12

F-1 should be launching to the ISS in July for deployment in September. It's Vietnam's first Cubesat and carries two Yaesu VX-3R transceivers. The Fspace website has published a well illustrated report of a ground based communications test using the satellite, see http://fspace.edu.vn/?p=557 73 Trevor M5AKA

1 0