January 2014 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

FUNcube-1 Object Number
by Graham Shirville 14 Jan '14

14 Jan '14

Hi All, We have now concluded that FUNcube-1 is indeed Satellite Number 39444 and International Designator 13066AE. The Celestrak cubesat.txt and amateur.txt files now show the correct name FUNCUBE (AO73) for this object. Many thanks for your patience! (AO)73 Graham G3VZV

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Re: SKN de K4AMG
by Rich/wa4bue 14 Jan '14

14 Jan '14

Hi All, I did make 2 OSCAR SKN QSOs. Both on FO29. The first was with Glenn AA5PK in DM91. The second was with Frank K9CIS in EM59. Both QSOs were brief. There is not very much CW on the OSCARS these days, not like it was in the 80s on AO7. And as for me being a whole bunch older, I have trouble with the dits and dahs, that little delay going up and coming back down, so my CW sounds very sloppy. It was fun and both Glenn and Frank were very patient with me. I will try more CW for 2014. Currently the Club station, K4AMG is down for upgrades. Our Board of Directors have purchased M2 Circular Polarization antennas for 2 meter and 70 cm. The 2 meter antenna is 14 element and the 70 cm antenna is 30 elements. We also are adding AR2 preamps for 2 meter and 70 cm. We hope to raise the OSCAR antennas support another 8 feet on our trailer to avoid blockages from nearby buildings. April - May time frame we will be operating from the Chesapeake Center for Science and Technology Center using the call W4FOS with the system. We are also preparing a hand held OSCAR station for the FM SATS. Looking forward to the new FOX. I wonder if anyone operate modulated CW on FM? Anyway that was SKN on the SATS and an update on K4AMG. God Bless Rich W4BUE

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Re: Satellites Status
by GW1FKY＠aol.com 14 Jan '14

14 Jan '14

Hello Enzo, Welcome back and I am sure that you will find many satellites to enjoy bold old and new. You can find the daily status of listed " Radio Amateur Satellites" on the following web site. http://oscar.dcarr.org/ In addition their are also now many "cubesats" operated by Universities etc with downlinks used for science and education. A useful updated list of frequencies was produced by "JE9PEL/1" and is published on his web site. http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/satslist.htm Although perhaps all are not still operational you will he has kindly taken the time to put together the list and references to other web sites. Of great interest at the moment is "FUNcube-1" ( Now Oscar-37) very easy top hear the data download and read the data with the "Dashbaord" software. The satellite operates in the educational mode for use with the software during the time it is illuminated by the sun. During eclipse ( darkness ) it operates in the amateur mode with a transponder. Please visit the Amsat-UK web site for more information and references. _www.amsat-uk.org_ (http://www.amsat-uk.org) Regards and Good luck. Ken Eaton GW1FKY

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Satellites Status
by Vincenzo Mone 14 Jan '14

14 Jan '14

Hi folks, As i have been for about a year without VHF/UHF radios due to reparations, Now I got them back and I would like to test them but I do not know which satellites Are still active and their sounds. Please anybody can help me telling me which ones are active and how they sounds? Any help will be really appreciated. 73's de Enzo IK8OZV EasyLog 5 BetaTester EasyLog PDA BetaTester WinBollet BetaTester D.C.I. CheckPoint Regione Campania Skype: ik8ozv8520 ********************************** ******* GSM +39 328 7110193 ******* ****** SMS +39 328 7110193 ****** *** 2nd e-mail: vimone(a)tin.it *** *********************************

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Fitsat-1
by Mike Seguin 13 Jan '14

13 Jan '14

I arrived home yesterday and found a rather large package in my mailbox. The return address was from the FITSAT-1 (Niwaka) Team. Enclosed in the package was a document that reported on the two years of research, development, and measurement activities carried out by the FITSAT Project. Although it was in Japanese, the figures give a very good idea of the scope of this project. There were two missions for the satellite. The first was an experiment on transmitting images taken by the satellite at the high-speed of 115.2 kbps using 5.84 GHz microwave communication for the first time. The second was to create, for the first time, an "artificial star" using LEDs mounted on the outside of the satellite. Both of these missions were successful! I was fortunate to receive the 5.84 GHz downlink here in Vermont using my modified 5.76 GHz terrestrial microwave system. I have to say this was one of the most exciting times for me and ranks up there with the first successful AO-40 QSO I had using the 24 GHz downlink and the first time I successfully sent a command to AO-7! (I changed the beacon code speed) Congratulations to the FITSAT-1 team on a wonderful satellite and hope for more in the future! -- 73, Mike, N1JEZ AMSAT 29,649 "A closed mouth gathers no feet"

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DTMF on HF?
by Robert Bruninga 13 Jan '14

13 Jan '14

Has anyone had any experience with any success at DTMF working on HF for some rudimentary commands? I know tuning is critical as well as inter-tone noise must be way down. Just thought maybe someone has experimented with it. Bob, WB4aPR

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crude receiver
by Lizeth Norman 13 Jan '14

13 Jan '14

Hi all! Could I build a microwave receiver for satellite using a yig, mixer, the appropriate Local oscillator and an SDR dongle for receive of some kind? I do have an IF filter and so forth. Norm n3ykf

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Aist 1/2 (RS-41/43) Active on 435 MHz
by M5AKA 13 Jan '14

13 Jan '14

See http://amsat-uk.org/2014/01/13/aist-12-rs-4143-active-on-435-mhz/ ---- 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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SO-50 Over Europe
by Peter Wilson 12 Jan '14

12 Jan '14

Hi All, I am having great fun and a reasonable amount of success on all the SSB satellites, but not a lot of luck on SO-50. It seems to me that everyone is trying to get in - with little success - leading to very few contacts between anyone made on each pass. Is it me, or is this usual on a single channel FM satellite? I've seen a number of YouTube videos of this satellite over the USA with many contacts made with hand-held rigs? Peter G8KEK

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SWR on Satellite antennas
by Peter Wilson 11 Jan '14

11 Jan '14

Hi All, Another question from a newbie. I noticed the SWR on Tx whilst operating AO-07 mode b was 2:1 on 432.125Mhz. (A bit high for me...) However, on VO-52 and AO-73, the SWR is 1:1, which is of course due to the fact that they are 3Mhz away from Ao-07. The UK band plan for satellite operation is 435Mhz - 438Mhz and my antenna is virtually flat throughout that range. So, I have two questions. 1) Should I be worried about damaging my rig (IC-9100) with the 2:1 SWR on AO-07? 2) Will future satellites be in the 435 to 438Mhz range? Thanks Peter G8KEK

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