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

CP Antenna questions
by Greg Dolkas 23 Sep '12

23 Sep '12

Hi folks, I've just obtained a nice, old, but disassembled, KLM 144-150-16C 2m circular antenna. I think I have all the pieces (yea!). That, plus a tree trimmer, and I should be in great shape for an upgrade. The old antenna is a linear (vertical) 8 element beam of unknown pedigree. It's been working fine, but I couldn't pass this one up. Three questions: 1. The antenna does not have a polarity switch. The instructions are for RHCP ("as used by Oscar-7" to give you an idea of it's age!). Given that I don't (yet) have a polarity switcher, is that still the best polarization? 2. I have a 2m preamp that I have mounted some 10' away from my current antenna, on the mast; I'd like to put it closer. Is it ok to mount the preamp on the antenna itself, between the elements? I'm guessing not. How about on the cross-arm, a couple of feet from the antenna boom? 3. The instructions recommend routing the cable out the back of the beam, and looping it over to the support mast. But that won't work well as it's rotated in elevation (it will get caught on the stuff below). My plan is to run the cable forward and then sideways out at the mount point in the middle. Will this have a significant effect on the polarization? The cross-arm is a wood closet pole, not metal, but I'm thinking that the antenna should be mounted in the X orientation instead of +, to lessen the effect of the cable shield on the pattern. Good idea, or not? Thanks, Greg KO6TH

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Satellites
by K4FEG 23 Sep '12

23 Sep '12

I guess I am fortunate, I just came to satellite radio about 15 months ago, I missed out on the HEO's and all of the great "Good Old Days" of satellite radio, but in those short 15 months that I have been on the satellites I have some how managed to work 669 grid squares, confirm 581 of them (and Yuri still owes me 40), I have worked all 50 states on the satellites, I managed to work all but 1 of the Canadian provinces, worked 11 European countries, 8 or so Central American countries and 5 South American countries. While this may not seem like anything to the people that had the opportunity to make use of the HEO satellites, it has been a hell of a lot of fun for me. In the last week I have had no less than 2 contacts with stations that I was their 1st satellite contact. I may not agree with how things are being handled with AMSAT, I damn sure can't get enough information to suit me but I am not going to quit operating the satellites until there ain't nothing to work up there. And by the way, I worked all of my contacts with 2 M2 terrestrial antennas set at a fixed elevation of about 20 degrees and they are mounted on a Glen Martin 8' Tower on my back deck. One thing for certain if you get off the satellites you have for sure made your last satellite contact, Heck with all the "beeping" & "booping" birds that are going up all that will be needed is a bunch of SWL's to listen to the telemetry! WORK 'EM TIL THEY FALL OUT OF THE SKY! That's my humble opinion! Everyone have a nice day K4FEG

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Fox Delta SP-2
by Matty Cunningham 23 Sep '12

23 Sep '12

Hi Kyle, I have the Foxdelta ST2 and it works very well, however as others have mentioned – and I wish I had myself – go for the ‘original’ LVB Tracker as profits from this go directly to Amsat. Matty MD0MAN ----- Original Message ----- From: "K&R Yoksh" <yokshs(a)gmail.com> To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Sent: Saturday, September 22, 2012 3:30:23 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] Fox Delta SP-2 Hi, I'm considering buying a Fox Delta SP-2 to control my rotators. Any suggestions / reviews? http://foxdelta.com/products/st2.htm Thanks, 73 Kyle K0KN

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The thrill of it all
by Thomas Doyle 23 Sep '12

23 Sep '12

Old geezers like me are prone to ramble on so please cut me a little slack. Almost 50 years ago I made my first contact on Ham Radio. While waiting for my novice license to arrive I got my station up and ready to go. The license arrived in the mail and I rushed into my room plugged in my only crystal, tuned up my DX-35 on 40M and made a contact. I let out an uncontrolled cheer when the guy came back to me. My mother rushed into the room afraid that I had hurt myself. I told her that I was ok and had just made my first contact. She asked me where the other station was located and I told her that he was in Milwaukee (about 90 miles to the west of our QTH). She said politely "Oh! Milwaukee". It was thrilling for me. A short while ago. I had a nice CW contact on FO-29 with a Ham in Illinois. Since I live in the Packer state, Illinois is not very far away. It was thrilling for me. 73 W9KE Tom Doyle

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Re: AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 7, Issue 312
by Mark Spencer 23 Sep '12

23 Sep '12

Just out of curiosity what would a reasonable estimate of the launch costs be for a P3E class satellite ? Regards Mark Spencer VE7AFZ (long lapsed former AMSAT member (: ) > > Message: 5 > Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2012 21:16:48 -0700 > From: "Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)" <amsat-bb(a)wd9ewk.net> > To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org > Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: 22% votes > Message-ID: > <CAN6TEUcLvknCfBbjyyyt=0C5OG3h=W0CF+HjxyduqSMssNZv7Q(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > Hi! > > Since this discussion started around the topic of the 700 > ballots AMSAT-NA received for the Board election, let me > add one point to that thought. Thanks to those who > voted > in the election, whether or not you voted for me. > Thanks > for taking the time to consider each person who was on the > ballot, and for selecting the person or persons you voted > for. > > > Amsat is living in a brave new world where launches are > fully commercialized > > and nobody gets a free ride anymore. We will either > adapt to that paradigm > > shift or we will cease to exist. > > This is the point some want to overlook. It is > unfortunate > that we are not able to get the free or extremely cheap > launches that we had in the past. When there are more > satellites to be launched than launches, the launch > providers > set the prices. Other than some opportunities like > AMSAT > has for Fox-1 from NASA, the days of free launches are > pretty much a thing of the past. So we adapt to the new > reality. >

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FW: Re: dismantling satellite antennas
by Art McBride 23 Sep '12

23 Sep '12

-----Original Message----- From: Art McBride [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, September 23, 2012 11:31 AM To: 'John Spasojevich'; 'TuZZio' Cc: 'AMSAT-BB' Subject: RE: [amsat-bb] Re: dismantling satellite antennas TO All, This is just another thread documenting Pioneers, (the ones with the arrows in their backs). Isn't this the same as 200 Meters and down that happened almost 100 years ago? The experts at the time decided any communications on frequencies above 1,500 KHz would only carry a hundred miles or so and were useless for most communications. Everything above 1,500 KHz was given to the Radio Amateurs to experiment with. Once the experts were proven wrong, the government took most of the spectrum from the Radio Amateurs, assigning it to commercial and government interests. Amateur Radio Operators pioneered communications by satellite with the OSCAR satellite series. Communications by Satellite has been led by Government and Commercial interests since the 80's of the last century. At least this time they haven't reassigned spectrum, but government support is no longer provided for experimentation or emergency communication via satellites. New innovations now come from groups, not individuals because of the combination of skills needed in engineering to develop a new innovation. It is difficult to assemble a group of Amateur Radio Operators with the needed skill sets to compete with commercial development and the development of IC's to support new technology is economically beyond our reach. The days of Edison and Bell with new inventions are gone. If we all hit the lottery, would we rush out and buy a launch for a HEO? Amateur Radio Operators represent 1/2 of 1 % of the US population, even the politicians have no interest in us. Art, KC6UQH -----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John Spasojevich Sent: Sunday, September 23, 2012 4:46 AM To: TuZZio Cc: AMSAT-BB Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: dismantling satellite antennas Ok..then I can do this. No HEO so I wont pay my dues. I think AMSAT Italia should start right now building a real satellite. I have been waiting and complaining for years. Why wont they build it. Come on who cares about money just do ir so I can stop writing daily about how schools are stealing our frequencies. When did hams own frequencies? Nevermind. Beep sats and bleep sats and leo sats and easy sats are all suck sats so I will not support any AMSAT So how about I post that again and again day after day, week after week, month after month. You can after all simply delete it when you see the subject line. John, AG9D On Sep 23, 2012 1:36 AM, "TuZZio" <fabio_selva(a)virgilio.it> wrote: > Il 22/09/2012 23.00, John Spasojevich ha scritto: > > Then I guess we won't have to read any more complaining e-mail anymore > > > > John, AG9D > > > Sorry to say but after the first reading, you can suppose the e-mail > content from the subject, so you always have the "Canc" key; let people > expose their free opinions until their are in topic. > > Good DX - 73 - I0NLK > ______________________________**_________________ > 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<http://amsat.org/mailman/listin fo/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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Re: dismantling satellite antennas
by TuZZio 23 Sep '12

23 Sep '12

Il 22/09/2012 23.00, John Spasojevich ha scritto: > Then I guess we won't have to read any more complaining e-mail anymore > > John, AG9D Sorry to say but after the first reading, you can suppose the e-mail content from the subject, so you always have the "Canc" key; let people expose their free opinions until their are in topic. Good DX - 73 - I0NLK

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Fox Delta SP-2
by K&R Yoksh 23 Sep '12

23 Sep '12

Hi, I'm considering buying a Fox Delta SP-2 to control my rotators. Any suggestions / reviews? http://foxdelta.com/products/st2.htm Thanks, 73 Kyle K0KN

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FW: [keps] orb12264.2l.amsat
by Tom Schuessler 23 Sep '12

23 Sep '12

I have asked the question before and never really got an answer so I am asking it again. Ray Hoad, WA5QGD, keeper of the AMSAT Keps distribution, works pretty hard to aggregate the keps for the different satellites, some pure Ham, some University Cubesats, a few weather sats and even the Hubble telescope. Well even though these orbital elements come out on a weekly basis, the "Passes" page of the AMSAT.org web site does not include any of the new satellites beyond HO-68. My request is that our web master please update the dropdown script to match the current keps distribution so that users of the site can easily find pass times for all the newer satellites out there. Thanks and 73 Tom, N5HYP -----Original Message----- From: keps-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ray Hoad Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2012 9:57 PM To: KEPS Subject: [keps] orb12264.2l.amsat SB KEPS @ AMSAT $ORB12264.N 2Line Orbital Elements 12264.AMSAT HR AMSAT ORBITAL ELEMENTS FOR AMATEUR SATELLITES IN NASA FORMAT FROM WA5QGD FORT WORTH,TX September 20, 2012 BID: ORB12264.N DECODE 2-LINE ELSETS WITH THE FOLLOWING KEY: 1 AAAAAU 00 0 0 BBBBB.BBBBBBBB .CCCCCCCC 00000-0 00000-0 0 DDDZ 2 AAAAA EEE.EEEE FFF.FFFF GGGGGGG HHH.HHHH III.IIII JJ.JJJJJJJJKKKKKZ KEY: A-CATALOGNUM B-EPOCHTIME C-DECAY D-ELSETNUM E-INCLINATION F-RAAN G-ECCENTRICITY H-ARGPERIGEE I-MNANOM J-MNMOTION K-ORBITNUM Z-CHECKSUM TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT AO-07 1 07530U 74089B 12264.59272424 -.00000027 00000-0 10000-3 0 4857 2 07530 101.4097 258.1445 0012099 094.8200 265.4259 12.53591471732005 FO-29 1 24278U 96046B 12264.58114096 .00000116 00000-0 15128-3 0 9366 2 24278 098.5882 352.7670 0351012 142.3073 220.3302 13.52989333794858 SO-33 1 25509U 98061B 12263.87287313 .00000106 00000-0 81545-5 0 03256 2 25509 031.4347 157.8292 0352674 311.8232 045.2742 14.28811648726200 RS-22 1 27939U 03042A 12264.54099526 .00000383 00000-0 81336-4 0 7407 2 27939 097.8046 100.4444 0013014 327.9227 032.1183 14.64131813479835 VO-52 1 28650U 05017B 12263.64630463 .00001026 00000-0 13108-3 0 02134 2 28650 097.5902 289.9610 0027609 090.2054 270.2328 14.83178198398974 HO-68 1 36122U 09072B 12264.75666891 -.00000044 00000-0 00000 0 0 8464 2 36122 100.3513 322.1326 0007098 250.3514 109.6843 13.16297997132968 UO-11 1 14781U 84021B 12263.74041042 .00000528 00000-0 75711-4 0 09868 2 14781 097.9450 322.3862 0010185 085.7684 274.4692 14.80560597533927 AO-16 1 20439U 90005D 12264.80803619 .00000081 00000-0 46168-4 0 5626 2 20439 098.4372 205.5376 0009956 235.9119 124.1121 14.32084400183684 LO-19 1 20442U 90005G 12264.60701360 .00000023 00000-0 24225-4 0 4937 2 20442 098.4049 208.0188 0011159 225.6503 134.3767 14.32300374183847 AO-27 1 22825U 93061C 12264.79002903 .00000140 00000-0 71837-4 0 2014 2 22825 098.5822 206.1492 0008656 005.1445 354.9831 14.29486675990130 IO-26 1 22826U 93061D 12264.77253663 .00000058 00000-0 39616-4 0 9524 2 22826 098.5767 206.4787 0009170 358.9383 001.1778 14.29762389990265 GO-32 1 25397U 98043D 12263.67001765 .00000124 00000-0 72872-4 0 08802 2 25397 098.3732 237.7814 0001924 040.4249 319.7079 14.23293203737463 NO-44 1 26931U 01043C 12263.54333749 -.00000319 00000-0 -91604-4 0 01420 2 26931 067.0496 237.1461 0006418 254.6123 105.4269 14.29828629572733 SO-50 1 27607U 02058C 12264.72993511 .00000640 00000-0 11751-3 0 8693 2 27607 064.5601 004.2342 0076880 229.4768 129.9620 14.72515572524030 CO-55 1 27844U 03031E 12263.55300088 .00000172 00000-0 99442-4 0 04677 2 27844 098.7064 270.5702 0009313 316.5936 043.4506 14.21072719478299 CO-57 1 27848U 03031J 12263.57333859 .00000138 00000-0 83962-4 0 4161 2 27848 098.7124 269.9649 0009272 321.7165 038.3347 14.20818012478231 AO-51 1 28375U 04025K 12263.86344721 .00000172 00000-0 63782-4 0 03708 2 28375 098.1587 224.7930 0084113 113.6187 247.3853 14.40987442432404 CP3 1 31129U 07012N 12264.58727455 .00000615 00000-0 14908-3 0 2680 2 31129 097.8835 266.7678 0100658 185.5638 174.4446 14.53208556287833 CO-65 1 32785U 08021C 12263.83483213 .00000562 00000-0 75096-4 0 4193 2 32785 097.7892 322.6070 0015916 111.1234 249.1660 14.83189325237794 PRISM 1 33493U 09002B 12264.72952567 .00001767 00000-0 21688-3 0 889 2 33493 098.1840 047.6705 0018632 350.8744 009.2140 14.84331568197921 SOHLA-1 1 33496U 09002E 12263.92287743 .00000113 00000-0 27069-4 0 08646 2 33496 098.1127 015.0758 0007722 098.4721 261.7360 14.70042847196165 SO-67 1 35870U 09049F 12264.77292378 .00002971 00000-0 12354-3 0 3446 2 35870 097.2245 297.1592 0002249 146.2661 324.6715 15.24532243167173 TISAT-1 1 36799U 10035E 12264.73630149 .00001173 00000-0 15372-3 0 3639 2 36799 098.0568 341.7541 0013890 219.3068 140.7156 14.82248082118640 STUDSAT 1 36801U 10035G 12263.82809909 .00003353 00000-0 39795-3 0 04823 2 36801 098.0630 342.0089 0011655 209.6174 150.4376 14.85131728118566 FO-69 1 37227U 0 12264.18928652 .00000351 00000-0 57406-4 0 02872 2 37227 071.9681 102.3098 0016478 148.6454 211.5694 14.77169783050125 FO-70 1 37380U 0 12264.21088706 .00000292 00000-0 49307-4 0 02924 2 37380 071.9712 102.9407 0016856 145.1543 215.0726 14.76919445050011 ALMASAT-1 1 38078U 12006B 12264.70048037 .00022181 00000-0 61808-3 0 5816 2 38078 069.4762 100.4424 0743532 129.0715 237.9195 14.12368769 31025 XATCOBEO 1 38082U 12006F 12264.66083395 .00058001 00000-0 14097-2 0 5639 2 38082 069.4783 095.6446 0702473 126.4542 240.3952 14.23797052 31145 NOAA-10 1 16969U 86073A 12264.69176688 -.00000008 00000-0 14558-4 0 695 2 16969 098.5772 292.0188 0011719 319.2145 040.8157 14.27577169353493 NOAA-11 1 19531U 88089A 12264.32339215 -.00000227 00000-0 -94735-4 0 610 2 19531 098.7296 347.4658 0010820 317.4446 042.5878 14.14979982237964 NOAA-12 1 21263U 91032A 12264.64622166 .00000048 00000-0 39298-4 0 5473 2 21263 098.7245 285.8447 0013025 286.0182 073.9558 14.25518415110158 MET-3/5 1 21655U 91056A 12264.48875413 -.00000289 00000-0 -78336-3 0 5082 2 21655 082.5524 084.8580 0014453 086.0039 274.2736 13.17043225 14434 MET-2/21 1 22782U 93055A 12264.75193025 .00000048 00000-0 30074-4 0 5323 2 22782 082.5486 316.6943 0021016 243.4588 116.4423 13.83688631962388 OKEAN-4 1 23317U 94066A 12263.97700204 .00000531 00000-0 60654-4 0 00056 2 23317 082.5401 302.5809 0023016 043.0031 317.2979 14.83948400968864 NOAA-14 1 23455U 94089A 12264.65287679 -.00000011 00000-0 17362-4 0 272 2 23455 098.8240 346.9320 0010322 046.7470 313.4566 14.13870487914280 NOAA-15 1 25338U 98030A 12264.19158237 .00000149 00000-0 82154-4 0 4074 2 25338 098.7005 250.2503 0010456 187.3498 172.7516 14.25119434746386 RESURS 1 25394U 98043A 12263.95883827 .00000013 00000-0 23413-4 0 02175 2 25394 098.3292 247.2500 0001506 006.6629 353.4569 14.24296357737891 FENGYUN1 1 25730U 99025A 12263.89829852 .00000122 00000-0 94286-4 0 07139 2 25730 098.8525 221.2707 0020350 087.7185 272.6296 14.09745082687952 OKEAN-0 1 25860U 99039A 12263.94184177 .00000345 00000-0 59560-4 0 07625 2 25860 097.9474 224.7093 0000888 042.5837 317.5438 14.74300927708534 NOAA-16 1 26536U 00055A 12264.22252652 -.00000037 00000-0 48415-5 0 8967 2 26536 099.0843 307.7708 0010659 172.3830 187.7496 14.12781288618452 NOAA-17 1 27453U 02032A 12264.27069534 -.00000032 00000-0 36692-5 0 8412 2 27453 098.3302 286.4825 0010853 235.2997 124.7158 14.24482219532293 NOAA-18 1 28654U 05018A 12264.32401044 -.00000047 00000-0 -59576-6 0 3234 2 28654 099.0574 223.2551 0013443 246.7041 113.2736 14.11699173377989 NOAA-19 1 33591U 09005A 12264.35334929 -.00000120 00000-0 -42275-4 0 5128 2 33591 098.8703 202.9893 0014877 109.9323 250.3459 14.11385264186430 HUBBLE 1 20580U 90037B 12263.23787721 .00001168 00000-0 72793-4 0 736 2 20580 028.4694 247.9511 0002992 341.4422 018.6077 15.02787815 28891 ISS 1 25544U 98067A 12264.85068697 .00012477 00000-0 22512-3 0 3376 2 25544 051.6501 005.8241 0018299 083.4530 012.3090 15.49986975792884 CO-58 1 28895U 05043F 12263.61520876 .00000482 00000-0 10771-3 0 02810 2 28895 097.9006 125.6737 0016729 211.7931 148.2277 14.60745436367440 FALCON 1 30776U 07006E 12264.80038212 .00003022 00000-0 19397-3 0 4416 2 30776 035.4321 052.5540 0001251 094.2947 265.7915 15.08211491304697 MAST 1 31126U 07012K 12264.58877668 .00000196 00000-0 53828-4 0 5625 2 31126 097.8758 270.1207 0093599 172.6549 187.6046 14.54253593288132 CAPE1 1 31130U 07012P 12264.49701181 .00000275 00000-0 72560-4 0 5729 2 31130 097.8856 266.3713 0101125 186.8348 173.1481 14.53065437287616 COMPASS 1 32787U 08021E 12263.65806792 .00001166 00000-0 14490-3 0 04153 2 32787 097.7921 322.8746 0016148 109.2989 250.9980 14.84335641237828 AAUSAT2 1 32788U 08021F 12263.67376070 .00001686 00000-0 20502-3 0 04076 2 32788 097.7948 323.3276 0015819 109.4936 250.7983 14.84687954237851 DO-64 1 32789U 08021G 12264.76367937 .00002720 00000-0 31358-3 0 4228 2 32789 097.8042 326.7945 0015607 103.2497 257.0453 14.86419870238076 CO-66 1 32791U 08021J 12263.82155529 .00001069 00000-0 13540-3 0 04058 2 32791 097.7887 322.6950 0017077 110.5884 249.7091 14.83694205237776 RS-30 1 32953U 08025A 12264.90973255 .00000010 00000-0 00000 0 0 1589 2 32953 082.5001 235.6047 0020276 097.0623 263.2760 12.43027804196453 PHARMSAT 1 35002U 09028B 12226.86484473 .07728342 73476-5 57159-3 0 789 2 35002 040.4341 050.6671 0012079 300.9773 059.0492 16.39309245183554 METEOR-M 1 35865U 09049A 12264.78187189 -.00000019 00000-0 11141-4 0 7950 2 35865 098.6444 317.2645 0002957 121.0654 239.0812 14.21869220156185 RS-38 1 35869U 09049E 12264.71829117 .00000030 00000-0 33282-4 0 7829 2 35869 098.6396 317.1813 0005069 126.5897 233.5747 14.22087424156193 JUGNU 1 37839U 11058B 12263.08463629 .00000620 00000-0 19019-3 0 02306 2 37839 019.9591 149.3875 0019439 176.4778 183.5649 14.12082165048535 SRMSAT 1 37841U 11058D 12263.90389899 .00000264 00000-0 00000-0 0 02341 2 37841 019.9697 151.1619 0012085 151.9329 208.1728 14.10162034048581 RAX-2 1 37853U 11061D 12263.81064625 .00004066 00000-0 32468-3 0 02974 2 37853 101.7082 347.0971 0244275 081.0342 281.8420 14.80791168048406 AUBIESAT 1 37854U 11061E 12263.80656351 .00004177 00000-0 32753-3 0 02933 2 37854 101.7129 347.4709 0245291 080.2923 282.5886 14.81244898048393 HRBE 1 37855U 11061F 12264.84388356 .00004292 00000-0 33751-3 0 2876 2 37855 101.7109 348.9029 0245580 077.4359 285.4194 14.81070037 48548 RS-39 1 38051U 11062C 12264.75216435 .00007605 00000-0 30590-3 0 7193 2 38051 051.6350 063.9490 0012697 021.9004 172.4553 15.25802038 36551 E-STAR 1 38079U 12006C 12264.69805543 .00047145 00000-0 11573-2 0 5188 2 38079 069.4784 096.4579 0714419 126.8899 239.9906 14.21079701 31123 GOLIAT 1 38085U 12006J 12264.68893897 .00044637 00000-0 10965-2 0 4864 2 38085 069.4848 097.0943 0719741 127.4545 239.4886 14.19940247 31100 HORYU-2 1 38340U 12025D 12264.32131936 .00000883 00000-0 15494-3 0 1550 2 38340 098.1820 204.3011 0013572 033.3053 326.9021 14.70175830 18451 RS-40 1 38736U 12041D 12264.71441186 .00000010 00000-0 00000 0 0 577 2 38736 082.4812 323.1480 0018548 192.1221 167.9424 12.42646496 6776 PROITERES 1 38756U 12047B 12264.76510160 .00000302 00000-0 54180-4 0 475 2 38756 098.2853 330.4851 0011542 242.2842 117.7196 14.73874215 1709 AENEAS 1 38760U 0 12263.51384741 .00001219 00000-0 12621-3 0 00125 2 38760 064.6718 023.4550 0219105 287.6245 175.2963 14.79106966000810 CSSWE 1 38761U 0 12261.82383910 .00001382 00000-0 14187-3 0 00103 2 38761 064.6714 028.6390 0218654 288.2530 172.9518 14.78858418000565 CP5 1 38763U 00000 12258.03722222 0.00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 0008 2 38763 66.2600 30.4300 0202000 308.7900 155.8234 14.79897280000003 /EX _______________________________________________ Via the Keps mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/keps

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Re: 22% votes
by Daniel Schultz 22 Sep '12

22 Sep '12

Amsat is living in a brave new world where launches are fully commercialized and nobody gets a free ride anymore. We will either adapt to that paradigm shift or we will cease to exist. Things were a lot different in the 1960's and 70's. In 1961 an Air Force general had enough authority to allow Oscar 1 to be bolted to the side of his launch vehicle. It is like this in the early days of all new technological ventures. The internet in the early 1990's was a lot more free-wheeling before the "suits" took notice of it and started to regulate it. In today's world the bean counters are fully in charge, and nobody rides for free. When you have commercial companies offering $10 million to place 100 kg in orbit, that becomes the market price, and the only way to lower that price is to expand the supply of launches. This development is especially ironic because Amsat created the entire small satellite industry. There was a time when industry and government experts laughed at us and our little toy satellites. We proved that small satellites are valuable and now everybody wants to launch them. A little company called Surrey Satellite Technology grew out of Amsat endeavors. AO-40 was a once in a lifetime opportunity. ESA offered us a 600 kilogram ride on one of the first Ariane 5 vehicles and we voted to go for it. The reasons for AO-40's failure have been covered before, and further analysis will not add to the discussion. It is not a mistake to throw deep sometimes. If AO-40 had worked as designed, it would have revolutionized amateur radio. We gambled and lost and we will most likely never see another 600 kg launch opportunity. The Eagle project was started about a decade ago in hope of launching a more modest HEO replacement for AO-40, and to be able to do so on a regular basis so that a single satellite failure would not ground the entire program. This effort was overtaken by the tidal wave of cubesats. With every single university on Earth launching a cubesat all of the available launch opportunities are filled with pea-pod launchers and there is no room for Eagle, unless someone writes a check for $10 million. Since cubesats are the only available launches, Amsat has started the Fox program to participate in the cubesat trend. Amsat can help its case by making Fox the best engineered cubesat ever built, which should not be too hard compared to some of the other cubesat designs that I have seen. The university cubesats use amateur radio frequencies as inexpensive data downlinks, but they do not otherwise contribute to the basis and purpose of amateur radio as defined in part 97. Education is mentioned in part 97 but many of these cubesat programs just barely touch on the communications aspects of space flight. I also don't think that most of the student built cubesats are teaching proper engineering techniques, I wonder how many of them have gone through thermal vacuum or radiation testing. Some cubesat groups are still purchasing off the shelf ham HTs and simply removing the plastic case before mounting it in the satellite, because they "don't know how to design an RF system". I doubt that the students are learning the engineering and career skills that they will need to survive in the real world when they get entry level jobs at Boeing or Lockheed Martin after graduation. Nevertheless there is substantial financial support for student built satellites which are perceived to be training and inspiring the next generation of engineers, while ham radio has a public image of being the last century's technology, a hobby of elderly men using Morse code and vacuum tube radios, and nobody with money to donate cares if hams can use a satellite to work rare DX countries. Our link to education is likely to be one of our only ways to secure low cost launches in the future, so we had better find ways to work with and direct the student groups toward building well engineered, long lived satellites with a real communications mission in mind. We can also look around and take notice of what other groups are doing in space. Many different forms of electric propulsion are in development or are now flying, and this technology has the possibility to enable some of the HEO missions that we desire. What if we had been able to propel ARRISSat into a higher orbit instead of helplessly watch it reenter a mere six months after deployment from the ISS? What if we had been able to nudge AO-13 away from its destructive resonance and prevent it from reentering far too early? Another area where Amsat has failed has been in the news media. When Amsat does not receive credit for its accomplishments, others are free to rewrite history and claim that they were the first to accomplish every new thing, sometimes claiming credit for things that Amsat first did three decades ago. The universities have professional public relations staff who know how to plant favorable news stories in the media. When Amsat launched AO-40 some of us tried to get the mainstream news media interested in the story, but not having professional contacts in the media, our efforts fell flat on the floor. The funding follows the publicity, and when Amsat misses out on the publicity, the money goes elsewhere. How is it that we launched AO-40 with barely a mention in the popular press or in space industry publications? Those of you who are lapsed Amsat members and will not rejoin until a HEO is launched really should reconsider. The membership dues are not that high, and we still need your active participation if any of this is to come to fruition. Giving up on Amsat by lapsing your membership pretty well insures that we will never again have a HEO satellite. 73 Dan Schultz N8FGV

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