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

Wilse WX7P SK
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 15 Jun '13

15 Jun '13

Hi! I saw this on the ARRL web site this afternoon: http://www.arrl.org/news/view/wilse-morgan-wx7p-ex-kl7cq-sk I worked Wilse many times between 2006 and 2011 on the satellites (my last QSO with him was logged in late April 2011), and he was the only station I ever worked from his home grid DN08. I saw him at Dayton a couple of times in that period working at the AMSAT booth. The Spokane DX Association has an article about his passing on its home page: http://www.sdxa.org/ and a separate page specifically about him: http://www.sdxa.org/?p=3321 73..... Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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Quest-1 SSTV CubeSat + Nanoracks
by M5AKA 14 Jun '13

14 Jun '13

Quest-1 plans to have a 2m Digitalker and SSTV downlink. It's currently slated to launch to the ISS on the SpaceX CRS3 in November with deployment in December. The IARU satellite status pages say that Quest-1 will be part of a Nanoracks deployment from the ISS with Lithuanica-1 1U CubeSat, ArduSat-2 2U CubeSat, GOMSPACE-1 2U CubeSat, SkyCube [915 MHz] 1U CubeSat, TaiwanSat 2U CubeSat, GOMEX-2 2U CubeSat, Cosmogia TWENTY SIX other 3U CubeSats. It's the 26 other 3U CubeSats that intrigue me. Does anyone know if they are to be deployed in the sense of put into a free orbit or if it's just intended to mount them on the outside of the ISS to expose them to a space environment ? There's an article on Nanoracks in Space Quarterly at http://nanoracks.com/wp-content/uploads/Space-Quarterly-NanoRacks.pdf 73 Trevor M5AKA

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Re: Ft-847 & icom preamp
by Richard Lawn 14 Jun '13

14 Jun '13

I guess the real question I should have posed since the 847 manual isn't clear, is DC voltage dropped from running down the coax when PTT is activated. Someone has told me it s dropped but wanted to se if others old verify this as I fried this icom preamp before with another radio when using constant voltage from a T bias when in receive and transmit., Rick W2JAZ

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Re: SatPC32 using flip mode at AOS
by Greene, Stephan A 14 Jun '13

14 Jun '13

Yesterday I wrote: It just occurred to me that I can use direct serial port commands to the ST2 to test that the azimuth rotor moves CCW from, say, 175 deg to 185 deg, and does not try to go CW through the rotor stops. Repeating with SatPC32 interface should verify I have the azimuth stops set correctly without having to wait for a suitable satellite pass. I am hoping this may have something to do with flip mode being triggered. Or it may just give me something to try between satellite passes until I figure it out! I think I figured it out.....and SatPC32 is behaving correctly. SatPC32 will use flip mode at AOS when the azimuth range of a pass goes through the rotor's South stop (in my case). There were several passes last night that ranged from around 165-175 degrees azimuth at AOS to 270-350 degrees at LOS. Flip mode lets SatPC32 use an azimuth range of 345-170 degrees (think of it as 345-530) to avoid the rotor South stop limit. Restarting SatPC32 once the satellite was at an azimuth above 180 degrees seemed to confirm this behavior (I need to test again to be sure). 73, Steve KS1G at a.m.s.a.t dot org

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Re: tnc-2 kiss off
by Mineo Wakita 14 Jun '13

14 Jun '13

Upload the binary file "C0 FF C0" into TNC of state of KISS_mode. http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/kiss_off.htm JE9PEL, Mineo Wakita

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Mystery Spacecraft
by Roland Zurmely 14 Jun '13

14 Jun '13

About GSO and GEO, please see here: http://www.qsl.net/py4zbz/satdif.htm 73 de Roland PY4ZBZ

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Re: Mystery Spacecraft Identified.
by Joe 14 Jun '13

14 Jun '13

Thanks Steve. Yes this was a learning thing for me. I knew all about the Geosynchronous I thought. But i guess my thinking was actually Geostationary. Even after 30+ years playing with these birds I never thought of a Geo sync that moved he he he. Joe WB9SBD Sig The Original Rolling Ball Clock Idle Tyme Idle-Tyme.com http://www.idle-tyme.com On 6/13/2013 8:26 PM, Stephen Melachrinos wrote: > Joe - > > You used two different terms here, and there's a distinction that > helps with the explanation. > > A "geosynchronous" satellite is one whose orbital period is one > sidereal day. This makes its orbit track (on the earth's surface) > repeat day after day. A "geostationary" satellite is a special case of > geosynchronous that is truly stationary with respect to the earth. > This means that not only is its orbital period one sidereal day, but > its inclination and eccentricity are zero. (This requires regular > orbit adjustments, typically referred to as north-south stationkeeping > and east-west stationkeeping.) From your description ("a good amount > of vertical drift"), Terrestar is geosynchronous but not geostationary. > > Unfortunately it's not always obvious which is meant when we describe > a satellite with the shorthand term "Geo." Furthermore, some > satellites start out as geostationary and end up becoming simply > geosynchronous when the owner decides to (or has to) skip the > stationkeeping maneuvers (e.g., to save fuel). > > Steve > W3HF > On 06/13/13, Joe<nss(a)mwt.net> wrote: > <snip> It's a Geosynchronous communications > satellite. > > <snip>And thats where we also got messed up, the Geo bird is more or less > Stationary in the sky. It has a pretty good amount of vertical drift > tho. it's orbital period makes it Geo Stationary. but it has a pretty > high inclination so it drifts up and down in declination some.

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tnc-2 kiss off
by Nick Pugh 13 Jun '13

13 Jun '13

I have my tnc-2 in kiss mode and want to return it to ax.25. How do I do this from hyper terminal?? Thanks nick ARS K5QXJ EM30xa 30.1N 92.1W Office 337 593 8700 Cell 337 258 2527 Helping UL become a world Class Engineering and Educational School

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SatPC32 using flip mode at AOS
by Greene, Stephan A 13 Jun '13

13 Jun '13

I am having a problem getting computer-controlled antenna tracking working in time for Field Day next weekend! System is G5400B az/el rotors, ST-2 trackbox, and SatPC32. Software is communicating with ST2 and rotors. The ST-2 appears to be properly configured, including the 180 deg elevation rotor range and the location of the azimuth stops at 180 deg (South). Manual control of the rotors is normal using the G5400 controller, ST-2 panel buttons, serial port commands to ST-2, and using the SatPC32 manual interfaces. SatPC32 sometimes goes into "flip mode" (use max elevation rotor range of 180 deg to avoid loss of tracking from a 180 deg azimuth swing mid-pass for high elevation passes) immediately at AOS. According to the manual, SatPC32 will not begin tracking a pass in flip mode. I've seen several times now SatPC32 enter flip mode immediately at AOS for low and mid-elevation passes where flip is not needed for the 2nd half of the pass. Toggling automated rotor control (R+/-) off and on during the early part of the pass doesn't alter the behavior. I assume I have an incorrect value in the SatPC32 rotor setup (yes, I've closed and restarted the program). Guess - how does the rotor setup use the "N" or "S" field to locate the azimuth rotor stops (my rotor has the stops at 180 deg/South) and does this come into play for flip mode? This doesn't explain why a flip would be commanded at AOS. I could prevent flip mode by setting the max rotor elevation to 90 deg, but I'd like to have flip mode capability when I need it. Suggestions? Can someone email me (no need to clutter the list) working settings for either ST-2 or LVB Tracker (I think they are electronically the same)? I've tried searching the amsat-bb list archive (to the extent it is searchable - if someone has a way to use, say, Google and the "site:" command or similar to do this, let me know) and searched the SatPC32 site and files and haven't found a clear answer. It just occurred to me that I can use direct serial port commands to the ST2 to test that the azimuth rotor moves CCW from, say, 175 deg to 185 deg, and does not try to go CW through the rotor stops. Repeating with SatPC32 interface should verify I have the azimuth stops set correctly without having to wait for a suitable satellite pass. I am hoping this may have something to do with flip mode being triggered. Or it may just give me something to try between satellite passes until I figure it! Thanks & 73 Steve KS1G ks1g(a)amsat.org<mailto:[email protected]>

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Ft-847 & icom preamp
by Lawn, Richard 13 Jun '13

13 Jun '13

I just got my icom preamp back from repair. I somehow fried it using my ts2000. I now plan to use it with my ft-847 which can send 12 vdc down the coax to power a remote preamp. Can I assume this will work fine with the icom preamp? I really don't want to fry it again and wish I had a different brand. Rick W2JAZ Sent from my iPad http://RickLawn.com

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