AMSAT-BB January 2013

90 participants
123 discussions

EQUiSat Optical Beacon CubeSat
by Trevor . 17 Oct '18

17 Oct '18

Students at the Ivy League Brown University are developing an amateur radio satellite EQUiSat that will carry a Xenon Flash Tube (XFT) subsystem to act as an Optical Beacon that should be visible to the unaided eye of observers on Earth. See http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=10635 73 Trevor M5AKA AMSAK-UK http://www.amsat-uk.org/ ----

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LVB Tracker USB serial port driver for Windows 7 x64?
by Bill Bordy, NJ1H 22 Dec '16

22 Dec '16

Has anyone located a driver for the LVB Tracker internal USB to serial port adapter on Windows 7 x64? If not, has anyone reverted to the serial port connection on LVB Tracker and used an external USB to serial port adapter successfully with SatPC32 on Windows 7 x64? I have an Edgeport multiple USB to serial port that has drivers for Windows 7 x64 that I will use if I have to. I would prefer using the LVB Tracker with its USB to serial adapter if someone has another solution. 73, Bill NJ1H

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AO-16 telemetry 3 Oct 2010
by Mark L. Hammond 01 Jul '16

01 Jul '16

Hi All, Here is a quick AO-16 update. On Sunday I turned AO-16 long enough to get some telemetry packets. The satellite would remain on for less than one minute after being commanded on. A quick test of the "bent pipe" voice mode repeater was successful. . The "hardware watchdog timer problem" is still evident; as expected, spacecraft temperatures are insufficient to keep the transmitter ON (needs to be above 15 deg C). Orbit projections suggest that satellite illumination conditions will not result in increased temperatures for nearly 10 years. Command stations do periodically turn AO-16 "ON" to check on its condition and see if the hardware timer problem has "automagically" fixed itself (which in not anticipated, but who knows...). AO-16 telemetry 3 Oct 2010 1838 utc PACSAT MBL Telemetry Decoder Ver. 1.3 (c) Mike Rupprecht, DK3WN =============================================================================== (average values) +10V Battery Bus : 0.00 V Battery Charge Reg : 0.55 mA Base Temp : 9.07 °C PSK RF Out : 1.90 W +5V RX Bus : 4.87 V +8.5V RX Bus : 8.49 V +10V RX Bus : 11.24 V Here is another teaser :) Several months ago I commanded the AO-16 S-band transmitter ON; it too remains functional (albeit weak), and was received by me, Drew KO4MA, and Alan WA4SCA. 73, -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

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rx Sirius sat beacons with AIDC3733 converter
by f6htj＠aol.com 24 May '13

24 May '13

In addition: Good reception of sat carriers (+/- 2320.190 MHz) with AIDC3733 2400>144 converter (was modified for AO40 rx): receiver set at +/- 64.190 MHz (instead of 144.190) 73 de Michel F6HTJ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hello all; for information here in south west Europe we use 2320,100 to 2320,300 cw/ssb portion of 13cm band for tropospheric , AS , RS, traffic. I have been told by Piero I5CTE there is permanent continuous carrier beacon around 2320.190 MHz (+/- doppler) by 1 of the 3 Sirius elliptic NA satellites. It appears reception is very good here with small 20 turn helix antenna (in spite of 12m heliax coax) peaking 539. Apogee (50000km ) around 325deg with 27deg elevation. F5BOF reports same signal with small hand held 25 elements f9ft yagi. So these are for us very interesting beacons. Depending hours we can receive 1 o 2 sats. Real time positions (Sirius-1 / Sirius-2 / Sirius-3) here: http://www.n2yo.com/satellites/?c=33 Any info about beacon sat polarisation and eirp ? 73 de Michel F6HTJ Amsat #7409

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Re: hams on ISS
by AJ9N＠aol.com 03 Feb '13

03 Feb '13

Hi all As part of my volunteer duties with ARISS, I post the schedule of upcoming ARISS contacts on practically a daily basis. I post to the SAREX BB (_sarex(a)AMSAT.ORG_ (mailto:[email protected]) ). You can also check the schedule at _http://www.issfanclub.com/_ (http://www.issfanclub.com/) and at _http://ariss.rac.ca/_ (http://ariss.rac.ca/) (actually _http://ariss.rac.ca/upcoming.htm#NextContact_ (http://ariss.rac.ca/upcoming.htm#NextContact) and look for the link saying Tentative List of Upcoming School Contacts . You can also go directly to _http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf_ (http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf) . In spite of what some may think as to how up to date the schedule is, as soon as I get updates on the schedule and success of a contact, I usually have updates posted in less than a day. There are times when we get the locked down time from the ISS planners for a contact almost at the last minute so my heads up might be very short. Unfortunately we sometimes find out about the Russian contacts after the fact and thus I am unable to give everyone a heads up. Usually we at ARISS get the scheduled date and time about 10 to 14 days in advance but we warn all schools that we may get told with less than 36 hours. We have also been aborted with less than 10 minutes to go before a contact. We are often asked about when the crew is going to make a general contact. We simply do not know. The crew is super busy and when they do get free time, they have many things they can do. We can suggest that they get on the radios; we can never demand. So ham radio may or may not be in their game plan for that day. By the way, all of the ARISS school contacts actually take place during a scheduled off time for the crewmember. That means they either gave up some free time or their day gets extended. 73, Charlie AJ9N One of the ARISS mentors In a message dated 1/30/2013 7:30:56 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, ve3nxk(a)gmail.com writes: On 30/01/2013 9:30 PM, Personal wrote: > Remember they don't get paid to sit up there on the radio. Remember too that > ham radio in manned space flight has changed since SAREX and Mir. > It's no longer the back up system it once was. They have iPods and such aboard > now. There is Internet access and a telephone to speak with family. I don't generally get into these types of verbal banter, but this time I make an exception. Right now a Canadian, Chris Hadfield, is onboard and doing a great job with pictures and Twitter. I see today that he did a live feed to a school here in Ontario. The part that bugs me is there were a few ARISS Ham contact before Christmas that did not show up till the day of the contact. The Canadian RAC site had no mention of it on their site and still is stuck in November..... I read a lot of AMSAT/ARRL news letters and I have suddenly realized that the ham community is out of it altogether. It would appear that starting this year NASA themselves is looking after the contacts. I would have thought that the ham community would have been in an uproar over this, guess not. I know that the chances of hearing or contacting the ISS is like winning the lottery, but I think now it is long gone. I am disappointed that when an USA or Russian is onboad you may hear them once or twice. I doubt that you will ever hear Chris at the mic......... he seems to be caught up in social media. > I'm not sure what the definition of a real ham is but too many times it seems >to be a person stuck in the past, bemoaning the things that used to be No I do not feel that way, I try all kinds of stuff when I have the time. Mind you I see the day when the radio will have an iPhone built in, and we will no longer need the the communication devices we have now. Long live the smell of the big tube Collins and Heathkit rigs Sent from my personal computer. -- Bill Booth VE3NXK Sundridge ON, Canada 79.23.37 W x 45.46.18 N FN05ns Visit my weather WebCam at http://www.almaguin.com/wxcurrent/weather.html Organ and Tissue Donation - The Gift of Life Talk to your family. Your decision can make a difference. _______________________________________________ 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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CubeSats on Arirang TV
by Trevor . 01 Feb '13

01 Feb '13

Korean TV station Arirang broadcast this English language news item about CubeSats: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfZRDS6-D-o 73 Trevor M5AKA ----

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Re: New poll... (PSK31 xponder)
by Robert Bruninga 31 Jan '13

31 Jan '13

> Instead of asking what do we "want", maybe a more useful poll might be > "what can you build us?" >> Wel that is easy too, you can grab a off the shelf cubesat... >> and put a pe1ruh space proven linear transponder in it. Amen. Also there are TWO flight ready PSK-31 uplink with FM downlink transponders also ready to fly built By Mirek at Brno University. Ideal for a Cubesat. They allow up to 20 or more simultaneous PSK-31 users on a 28 MHz uplink to all appear full duplex in the 435 MHz FM downlink that anyone can receive on any FH HT. Run PSK31 software and see all the conversations and transmit all 8 minutes of the pass and join the fun talking to everyone at once.. All the advantages of linear transponders (20 simultaneous users) and all the advantages of FM (simple 5 Khz Doppler tuning using any old FM radio). And it fits on a 3" square card. See details: http://aprs.org/psk31uplink2.html All we need is someone to fly it. Bob, WB4APR

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seeking a source for 93 ohm coax RG62
by Robin Midgett 31 Jan '13

31 Jan '13

Belden 9268 or equivalent..need just four feet of it for an eggbeater antenna project; prefer it to have a solderable shield. Thank you, Robin E. Midgett Electronics Technician Vanderbilt University Mechanical Engineering 406-C Olin Hall 2400 Highland Avenue Nashville, TN 37212-2010 615-322-5836 phone 615-343-6687 FAX

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QRT all PCSAT transmissions!
by Robert Bruninga 31 Jan '13

31 Jan '13

Please QRT all transmissions to PCsat to save power for COMMANDing. PCSAT (W3ADO-1) is entering its 3 day RECOVERY window this year starting 31 Jan. Today we got logged on for commanding twice, but both times user packets killed the bird. At best PCSAT can usually only save up enough power for 2 or 3 solid packets per pass and we need 3 successfully for command and recover. One user packet in the middle of that and we lose it for the pass. MY fault for not making this announcement earlier. Not their fault. But if you see this email and you are transmitting to PCsat, please QRT for the next several days. Commanding is being done from the East and West coast of the USA and over Germany. WB4APR, Bob USNA Command Station

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The Verge: A Crowdfunding Revolution Ignites the Next Space Race
by Trevor . 31 Jan '13

31 Jan '13

The Verge reports how ordinary people are funding a new wave of rocket and satellite missions. The video features Zac Manchester KD2BHC from the Kicksat project, Peter Platzer of ArduSat and Rouslan Dimitrov of SkyCube. There is also a report on Copenhagen Suborbitals who are building a rocket to carry a human to the edge of space and back. Watch the video and read the story at http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/31/3929342/the-stars-on-a-shoestring-amateur… ---- 73 Trevor M5AKA ----

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AMSAT-BB January 2013