December 2013 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

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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CAPE-2 heard in France
by Jean-Pierre Godet 25 Sep '15

25 Sep '15

Dear friends from University of loisiana in Lafayette, Your bird was heard in the North of France when flying over Oran (Algeria), orbit number 204, especially the CW beacon (on 145.823 MHz +- Doppler) between 12:12:52 and 12:13:06 UTC, content was "EUL CAPE 2 OR UF231". The signal was somewhat chirpy, but it's exactly the sound which the real lover of CW like above all. Really ! :-) http://f5yg.pagesperso-orange.fr/forum/CAPE-2_orb204_03dec2013.mp3 The signal to noise ratio is not too good because I'm using an old AM/FM scanner from the 80s heterodyned by my medium wave homebrew transmitter fitted with a 456.9 Xtal. The antenna was a vertical half-wave inside the attic. The next orbit, number 205, was heard too, with the CW beacon affected at that time by a hoarse voice and suffering from a strong fadding. So I'm not absolutly sure, poor lonesome telegraphist, of my human decoding, "M5UL CAPE 2 ÜR 5045", something like that. It was over the East coast of Spain, between 12:12:52 and 12:13:06 : http://f5yg.pagesperso-orange.fr/forum/CAPE-2_orb205_03dec2013.mp3 Congratulation to the Cajun Advanced Picosat Experiment team from France ! Jean-Pierre F5YG -- Powered by Linux (Slackware 10.0 - kernel 2.4.26)

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FUNcube-1 Launch: Date and time confirmed
by M5AKA 11 Dec '14

11 Dec '14

The latest news about the launch date and time has just been confirmed by Kosmotras. The launch date of RS-20B rocket (Dnepr) with a group of satellites (DubaiSat-2 cluster mission) from Dombarovsky missile area (Yasny Launch Base) has been established for November 21, 2013 at 07:10:11 UT. The back-up launch date is November 22, 2013 at 07:10:11 UT. We will shortly be providing prelaunch TLEs and, in about 7/10 days, the Dashboard software that is needed to demodulate and display the telemetry information. More information about the Dashboard can found here http://funcube.org.uk/working-documents/ FUNcube Yahoo Group http://amsat-uk.org/funcube/yahoo-group/ ---- 73 Trevor M5AKA AMSAT-UK website http://amsat-uk.org/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/AMSAT-UK/208113275898396 Twitter https://twitter.com/AMSAT_UK ----

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ARRL Centennial QSO Party - Satellite Operations
by Paul Stoetzer 18 Feb '14

18 Feb '14

Does anyone have plans to be active on the satellites as W1AW/X? First up is W1AW/4 in North Carolina and W1AW/8 in West Virginia for the week of January 1st. Contact your state/territory/district's hosts and get W1AW portable operations on the birds for this year long event! I'll be activating W1AW/3 in the District of Columbia on the birds during the week of July 2nd and I'll be posting detailed operating plans as that week approaches. 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC

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LEO-satellites-antennas... ?
by Jens Spiess 07 Jan '14

07 Jan '14

Hi all , I would like to work the LEO-satellites after a stop of my amsat-activities since 12 years now again . But I have changed my QTH in the Swiss-Alps and the weather is at a lot of times of the year very roughly . (A lot of snow, ice and storms ...) So , I want NOT use long YAGI-Antennas with rotators again – ... or so on ..- because all was always and always – also the rotator – demaged . So I am interested to use – maybe – only fixed antennas for 2m/70cm like the edgbeater from M2 or the other like this (I found it in the internet ) : http://www.antennas.us/store/p/229-UC-4364-328-UHF-Amateur-Satellite-Antenn… BUY BOTH as KIT : ================= UC-AMSAT-KITP, 2 m / 70 cm Passive Amateur Satellite Antenna Kit Item #: UC-AMSAT-KITP-VHFL-UHFR-N-VHF-10ft-UHF-10ft Availability: approx. 2 weeks Usually ships In approx. 2 weeks Price: $250.00 But they will always use with low-noise 20 dB-gain-Preamplifieres installed on the top of my house directly after the antennas . Can anybody tell me , which antenna-types will get the best results as fixed-mounted ones or have anybody experiences or maked a compare between these antennas ...? Like this : http://www.antennas.us/store/p/229-UC-4364-328-UHF-Amateur-Satellite-Antenn… ??? or these : http://www.m2inc.com/pdf_manuals/EB-144%20_%20RK2M.pdf ??? Which of them will be better work for LEO-communication ...?? 73 de Jens / HB9JOI

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Operating linear transponders - Newbie.
by Peter Wilson 31 Dec '13

31 Dec '13

Hi all, I have just tried working through AO73, with limited success. I need some very basic help with satellite operation. I have an IC-9100, I set the uplink and downlink to mid-range (435.140Mhz and 145.960Mhz), then call CQ until I hear my own signal which has worked every time, then I get problems. When someone calls me back I panic, what do I do when the doppler kicks in, do I move both TX and Rx, or do I just move my Rx to follow the other guy. I haven't managed to get SatPC32 controlling my rig yet, also, I want to learn the hard way - manually. Can someone point me to an article that explains in detail how to operate. I know this is a very basic question, but we all have to start somewhere. I have managed tow contacts so far. First was AO73 and tonight with FO29. Not sure how I did it, but thanks to ON5NY and EM5SR. Happy New Year Peter G8KEK

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MCube-2
by PA3GUO 31 Dec '13

31 Dec '13

For those trying to capture the Mcube-2 telemetry, it surely is a lot of fun downloading the 9k6 data at 70cm! The SW that the project team provides is really easy to use and looks nice. Cool demo for your friends when you want to show-case your involvement in Cubesats. With my modest set/up I can decode when the satellite is >20 degrees elevation. A note on the downlink frequency: the published frequency is 437.485MHz, but I have better results a few kHz lower: 437.480MHz. Success! Henk, PA3GUO

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OZ/KO4MA
by John Papay 31 Dec '13

31 Dec '13

Drew, OZ/KO4MA, was worked this morning at 0841utc on AO-7B. He had a nice signal from JO45. He was worked last year on the 31st of December from the same grid. 73, John K8YSE John Papay john(a)papays.com

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