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

International Space Station-Bounce on 1296 MHz
by Les Rayburn 29 May '13

29 May '13

Many of you may have read about the successful QSO between DJ5AR and Jan, PA3FXB using the ISS as a passive reflector, similar to airplane scatter or EME. Using EME protocols and periods of 30 seconds, they completed the QSO using CW. This involved modifying satellite tracking software, and compensating for the Doppler shift. You can read details and hear audio files on DJ5AR's blog here: http://www.dj5ar.de/?p=878 This is quite an accomplishment, but I instantly began to wonder if it couldn't also be pulled off with much simpler equipment using WSJT software such as FSK441 (commonly used for rapidly moving meteor scatter QSO's). Doppler shift would not be a problem, even with the quick moving ISS, since the software is already optimized for short transmission periods. It might be necessary to modify the standard messaging to allow for a complete QSO exchange to happen faster, or to shorten the periods to 15 seconds. 432 MHz has already proven to be very productive for airplane scatter, so I also wondered if 432 might be a good band for this type of experimentation. Lots of satellite operators are already equipped to operate on 432 and to track the ISS in real time with their antennas. I'd love to hear some discussion about the possibility of this. It could open up a lot of potential grid squares on 432 and 1296 simply using FSK441. Another problem to be solved is classifying the propagation mode in LoTW and other logging software. Would this be considered "airplane scatter" or would we have to invent a whole new name for this? Congratulations to both hams for this accomplishment! -- -- 73, Les Rayburn, N1LF 121 Mayfair Park Maylene, AL 35114 EM63nf 6M VUCC #1712 AMSAT #38965 Grid Bandits #222 Southeastern VHF Society Central States VHF Society Life Member Six Club #2484 Active on 6 Meters thru 1296, 10GHz & Light

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AO7 in Eclipse
by k4feg 29 May '13

29 May '13

Hello BB's I have a question for any of the fine satellite operators of New Zealand and Australia. Does any one in those areas monitor AO7 as it enters into the Eclipse as it nears the coast of Antarctica? The pass that is flying over right now has an eclipse period duration of 9:40. I was curious as to how the satellite was reacting in the "twilight" period as the satellite approached the full eclipse and unfortunately the satellite doesn't appear to be near any populated areas when it comes out of this eclipse. this is one of the longer eclipse's that occurs during this period of the Eclipse Cycle. Any information would be of interest to me. thanks for the help from those who have emailed! 73 Frank K4FEG EM55aj84ta

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Field ISS contacts, any interest?
by Adrian Engele 29 May '13

29 May '13

Greetings, I am making preparations for the K9MOT Motorola Solutions Amateur Radio Club Field Day setup. I plan to operate the satellite station once again and give demos as I have done in the past few years. Hopefully, I can get the gremlins out that have popped up during the past few FD's. I am interested in demoing packet through the ISS, assuming it will be in packet mode this year. I know all stations are limited to one ISS contact. I am curious how many other FD stations are planning to make a packet contact and would it be worth the trouble? See you on the birds at Field Day! Please give K9MOT a shout should you hear us. Have fun! 73, Adrian AA5UK

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CUSAT Pulse Plasma Thruster Satellites
by M5AKA 29 May '13

29 May '13

CUSAT-1/2 are planning a SpaceX launch currently slated for July 9, 2013, along with Cassiope and Dande, from Vandenberg into a 1500 by 325 km 80 degree inclination orbit. The satellite has a 2 watt packet radio transmitter and carries Pulse Plasma Thrusters (PPT) which can raise or lower the orbit. See http://amsat-uk.org/2013/05/29/cusat-ppt-satellites/ ---- 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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Satellite ship "Cosmonaut Viktor Patsaev"
by andy thomas 29 May '13

29 May '13

I am just back from Kaliningrad (Russia) where I was able to visit the Russian satellite communication ship, "Cosmonaut Viktor Patsaev". They opened up the ship for me although I wasn't allowed into the laboratory because although the ship is moored in a museum it is still in use. However I was allowed onto the decks to photograph the antennae and they knew I was a radio ham. So I photographed the antennae and measured what I could. My report is on my website http://www.andythomas.eu - it's downloadable from the bottom of the first page. All errors are my own. I hope you find it interesting. 73 de andy g0sfj

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IARU position on nanosatellites and picosatellites Resolution 757
by M5AKA 29 May '13

29 May '13

In preparation for WRC-15 the IARU has announced its position on Resolution 757 (WRC-12) and other agenda items relating to the Amateur Satellite Service, see http://amsat-uk.org/2013/05/29/iaru-nanosats-and-cubesats-resolution-757/ Also on the website: UK Amateur Radio Consultations (2300-2400 MHz, 3400 to 3410 MHz) http://amsat-uk.org/2013/05/29/uk-amateur-radio-consultations/ The American University in Cairo AUC CubeSat http://amsat-uk.org/2013/05/26/the-american-university-in-cairo-auc-cubesat ---- 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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Help regarding Kenwood Ts200 setup
by Aayush Yadav 29 May '13

29 May '13

HI all, I am using Kenwood ts2000 for data reciecving purposes from the satellite. 'But i am not able to set it up accordingly kindly help. Regards, Aayush Yadav, Pratham- Student Satellite, Indian institute of Technology Bombay.

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Re: HamSatDroid 0.9
by David Johnson 29 May '13

29 May '13

Hi, I just had an email from Google Play support and I can't issue 0.9 as it needs the original authors signing key. I am (with the approval of AMSAT) going to move it to AmsatDroid 1.0 as a fund raising app. 73 - Dave On 29/05/13 00:01, Clayton Coleman wrote: > Dave, > > I appreciate your updates. I'm looking forward to a donation-ware > version incorporating some of the user-suggested features. In the > mean time I will attempt an upgrade to 0.9 tomorrow. > > 73 > Clayton > W5PFG > > > On Tue, May 28, 2013 at 2:40 PM, David A B Johnson <dave(a)g4dpz.me.uk > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > Hi, > > FYI, the app has been temporarily removed from the Google Play > Store while I reload it with the > new signing key. > > Should be back tomorrow. > > Will post another message when it's back. > > The info site is still up: > > https://sites.google.com/site/hamsatdroid/ > > 73 > > - Dave, G4DPZ > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org <mailto:[email protected]>. 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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a cheap LEO tracker for single op
by Bill (W1PA) 29 May '13

29 May '13

Again, thinking to FD... - My FT-847 predates bi-directional CAT i.e. no computer assisted Doppler - I may be the only one at the station i.e. no helper to man the antenna (Arrow), so I may need to do everything. - assume the transponder LEO birds Has anyone tried this?: 1) mount a standard TV antenna horizontal 2) align the horizontal rotor axis 90 deg to the orbit tilt (inclination?) of the intended bird (so if the bird went directly overhead, a beam mounted on the mast would track) 3) but, mount the antenna on the horizontal mast such that it can be set tilted off the mast 0 to 90 degs to the mast axis (from horizon to zenith, and in practice set it to the maximum elevation of the intended pass) 4) operation: set the rotator (in 2) and aim the beam to the AOS point of the pass (in 3), pan the orbit remotely from the operator position. 5) the rotator axis and angle of the beam to mast would have to be set for each pass. Do-able? Bill W1PA

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Lost CAT Data on SATPC32
by Les Rayburn 28 May '13

28 May '13

Taking some advice from the group today, I closed SATPC32 and opened SATPCISS in an attempt to monitor a morning pass. When I reopened SATPC32, I noticed that I had no satellites listed in my group, the countdown program did not launch, etc. Further examination revealed that all frequency data was missing in the CAT window too. I tried restarting the computer, downloading new KEP data, etc. Nothing seemed to work. Any ideas? -- -- 73, Les Rayburn, N1LF 121 Mayfair Park Maylene, AL 35114 EM63nf 6M VUCC #1712 AMSAT #38965 Grid Bandits #222 Southeastern VHF Society Central States VHF Society Life Member Six Club #2484 Active on 6 Meters thru 1296, 10GHz & Light

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