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

NASA Post-launch News Conference @ 8:00 PM ET
by Eric Rosenberg 28 Oct '14

28 Oct '14

NASA will be holding a post-launchnews conference at 8:00 PM ET tonight on the nasa.com website. http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html#.VFAm8xZNe6U should be interesting. Eric W3DQ (was at the MLK Memorial -- a great viewing site)

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D700 vs D7 at 9600 baud?
by Robert Bruninga 28 Oct '14

28 Oct '14

9600 baud differences in the D700 vs D7? We are testing a cubesat with 9600 baud AX.25 uplink on VHF and it works fine with the D7 as the transmitting radio, but the satellite ignores the same commands transmitted from the D700 radio. Anyone else noticed this? I guess we will have to put it on a scope and see if we can see the difference. But maybe we are doing something stupid. The D700 (and D7) receive the cubesat just fine. I knew there was a slight difference on 1200 baud with regard to pre-and-de-emphasis between the two radios, but that should not apply at 9600 which is baseband modulated. Bob, WB4APR

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Two Perspectives On Orbital Debris And Cubesats
by B J 28 Oct '14

28 Oct '14

http://www.spacenews.com/article/civil-space/4207665th-international-astron… http://www.spacenews.com/article/opinion/42329another-view-on-cubesats-and-… 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL

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Antares Launch: Tonight (Weds) from Wallops Island, VA @ 6:22 PM
by Eric Rosenberg 28 Oct '14

28 Oct '14

from NASA.GOV -----------------------Antares Launch Postponed to Oct. 28 Posted on October 27, 2014 at 6:47 pm The next launch attempt for Orbital Sciences’ Antares rocket carrying its Cygnus cargo spacecraft is scheduled for 6:22 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Oct. 28 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad 0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. There is a 10 minute launch window. Live coverage on NASA TV will begin at 5:30 p.m. EDT. Monday’s launch attempt was scrubbed because of a boat down range in the trajectory Antares would have flown had it lifted off. At last report, the weather forecast for Oct. 28 was 95-percent favorable. Arrival of the Cygnus spacecraft at the International Space Station would occur Nov. 2. › How to View the CRS-3 Launch: http://blogs.nasa.gov/orbital/2014/10/24/how-to-view-the-crs-3-launch/ >Maps of viewing locations: http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/MissionUpdates/Orb-3/Maps/default.aspx› > NASA's Orbital Website: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/launch/orbital.html Should be quite a show from those of us in the mid-Atlantic area. Enjoy! 73, Eric W3DQ Washington, DC

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AO-73 1st contact
by Clayton Coleman 27 Oct '14

27 Oct '14

It was nice to hear K4SQC making his first contact on AO-73 last night with AC0RA. Since the inception of the 73 on 73 award, over 100 unique call signs have been copied by AC0RA over North America. Paulo, PV8DX has been the only South American station I have personally heard and worked. Others in the US have reported working him. I've seen several emails implying it is somewhat esoteric to make contacts via AO-73. AO-73 remains the easiest bird to hear after the loss of VO-52. It doesn't not require much power or high gain antennas to use effectively. If you are not hearing it, you should not increase your power. Many stations are successfully using Elk and Arrow-style portable antennas with low-power QRP-style transceivers such as the Yaesu FT-817. Pick a clear downlink frequency in the transponder's pass band. Adjust your uplink frequency until you hear your own signal. It's that simple. Make adjustments to the uplink frequency as necessary so that you do not "drift" across the pass band. Manual tuning is probably best for most stations. Follow the rule of tuning/adjusting your higher frequency (the UHF uplink.) You can you use computer control via SatPC32 if you keep your fingers on the +/- buttons and pay close attention to the frequency. It's exciting to see some new stations getting on the SSB birds and using AO-73 in their rover plans!!! 73 Clayton W5PFG

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FUNcube Data Warehouse Status
by David A B Johnson 25 Oct '14

25 Oct '14

Hi, I thought I would give a quick update on the the activity within the warehouse. As at 22:49 (25/10/2013) Number of registered users: 1286 Number of active users since launch: 757 Number of active users (data received in last two weeks): 195 Number of packets transmitted by satellite since deployment: 5865120 (1.5GB) Number of packets uploaded by users before deduplication: 6370976 (1.63 GB) Number of packets stored in warehouse: 1466239 (376.9 MB) which also represents the same number of realtime data points (collected once every 5 seconds), I.e., get on average, 4 people uploading the same packet. Whole orbit Data: 276.3 days of data (collected once every minute) High Resolution Data: 806 hours of data (collected once every second, for a period of a minute, every other minute) Our recovery rates: Realtime (25%) WOD (81%) HiRes (22%) As always, many thanks to all those who have and continue to send us data. 73 Dave, G4DPZ FUNcube Team Member.

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Time for a low cost upgrade ?
by Thomas Doyle 25 Oct '14

25 Oct '14

Hi, I know a lot of folks are still using old XP machines for their satellite station. Here is the best deal I have ever seen on an up to date Windows 7 machine. Not saying it is the best computer just the best value I have ever run across. This deal is too good to last long. http://www.neweggflash.com/product/83-280-382?utm_source=NEEmail102514&utm_… 73 W9KE Tom Doyle

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4M Lunar Payload Update
by M5AKA 25 Oct '14

25 Oct '14

4M Lunar Payload Update http://amsat-uk.org/2014/10/25/4m-lunar-payload-update/ Listen to 434 MHz STEM balloon and high-altitude plane launch world-wide on Sunday 1200 GMT (+/-1h) with SUWS WebSDR http://amsat-uk.org/2014/10/25/uk-stem-434-mhz-balloon-flight-to-release-pl… NoV suggestion for UK Airborne Ham Radio http://amsat-uk.org/2014/10/24/novs-suggested-for-airborne-ham-radio/ ---- Trevor M5AKA AMSAT-UK Website http://amsat-uk.org/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/amsatuk Twitter https://twitter.com/AMSAT_UK ----

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FUNcube forum back on line
by David A B Johnson 25 Oct '14

25 Oct '14

Hi, Due to a mis-configuration of the web server, forum.funcube.org.uk was redirected to one of my test sites. It's been fixed, but you may have to clear your browser cache to see it again. 73, Dave, G4DPZ FUNcube Team Member

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4M data submission client
by wouter weggelaar 24 Oct '14

24 Oct '14

Hi All, I have decoded some 4M telemetry and its currently sitting in the upload client. However, it states waiting under Delivery Status. Anyone that has successfully sent in the frames? The client is connected and authenticated. Uploading recordings works just fine. Wouter PA3WEG http://pa3weg.nl/

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4M moon mission for SatPC32
by Alan 24 Oct '14

24 Oct '14

Hi, Here are the current Keps from the mission page: 4M 1 99999U 14298.79728009 .00000066 00000-0 00000-0 0 00006 2 99999 030.6553 295.6956 9746689 147.2577 071.9585 00.10600338000010 and DOPPLER.SQF information; 4M,145980.00,0,USB,,,0,JT65B TLM for SatPC32. I have not had the opportunity to copy the mission, but I have run SatPC32 against the mission on-line tool, and the azimuth and elevation agree well. The predicted Doppler shift looks reasonable but has not been verified. The SatPC32 display is interesting if you turn on the ground track. It looks like a white gash across the screen. 73s, Alan WA4SCA ----------------------------------- Keep Calm and Carry On

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4M Mission first copied in Brazil !
by Roland Zurmely 24 Oct '14

24 Oct '14

Please see here: Manfred Memorial Moon Mission | | | | | | | | | | | Manfred Memorial Moon Mission191700 0 -25 8.491 -19 17 191800 16 -10 1.845 -127 1* 110V222A +33C 1 0 0.0 191900 20 -9 1.847 -127 3* MANFRED FUCHS ... | | | | View on www.qsl.net | Preview by Yahoo | | | | | 73 de Roland.

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4M moon mission
by Jim White 24 Oct '14

24 Oct '14

We used our modest EME station to receive and do a live feed of data from 4M into the online database for a couple of hours in the early evening here in Colorado. Signal was plenty strong and we sent along a couple hundred packets, although sun noise was a bit high just off the spacecraft direction. We could hear the JT65B tones in the speaker much of the time. Sample below. We will continue to feed in data as we have time. TLEs on the mission web site are now OK in NOVA for tracking, even though NOVA shows an AOS of "CRASHED" because the orbit intersects the earth after the lunar loop around. The signal levels shown in this WSJT capture are quite strong at up to -8dB. My EME station is 2x15 element Yagis on 38' booms, horizontal, .8dB NF preamp on the short tower. About 17dB gain overall. Probably somewhat less since they are cut for 144.1 and this spacecraft is at 145.980. 224300 12 -13 2.509 143 1* 157V230A +8C 1 0 0.0 224300 2 1/7 157V230A +8C 1 0 224400 4 -12 2.500 148 2* POLITICS OH 1 0 0.0 224400 1 1/9 POLITICS OH 1 0 224400 2 1/7 157V230A +8C 1 0 224500 11 -10 2.509 151 3* RA56W4D5 S 1 0 0.0 224500 1 1/9 POLITICS OH 1 0 224500 2 2/8 RA56W4D5 S 1 0 224600 15 -8 2.694 156 1* B BELONGS TOD 1 0 0.0 224600 1 2/10 B BELONGS TOD 1 0 224600 2 2/8 RA56W4D5 S 1 0 224700 11 -11 2.507 159 3* LX0OHB-4M0041 1 0 0.0 224700 1 2/10 B BELONGS TOD 1 0 224800 11 -10 2.510 159 4* 150V235A +8C 1 0 0.0 224800 1 3/11 150V235A +8C 1 0 224800 11 -10 2.510 159 4* 150V235A +8C 1 0 0.0 224800 1 4/12 B BELONGS TOD 1 0 224900 10 -11 2.694 161 1* AY TO ONE OF 1 0 0.0 224900 1 4/12 B BELONGS TOD 1 0 225000 16 -10 2.702 164 3* R42Q+47GOY 1 0 0.0

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Reception.
by David Hopkins 23 Oct '14

23 Oct '14

Copying data here in Eastern Australia. Current range is about 58000kms David David G. Hopkins (VK4ZF) CAPALABA QLD AUSTRALIA 27.32.38S 153.12.03E QG62OL Skype :- davhop

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4M Moon mission
by Jean-L. RAULT 23 Oct '14

23 Oct '14

Successful launch confirmed See http://moon.luxspace.lu/blog Jean-Louis F6AGR

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Re: [amsat-bb] 4M Moon mission
by Jean-L. RAULT 23 Oct '14

23 Oct '14

I think so :o) Just received a brief e-mail from Ghislain LX2RG, the project manager of the 4M payload. The e-mail just says "It's working !" 73 Jan-Louis F6AGR Le 23/10/2014 18:39, David Jordan a écrit : > > Jean-Louis, > Any word on the launch? Was it successful? > > Dave, _AA4KN_ > > Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android > <https://overview.mail.yahoo.com/mobile/?.src=Android> > > From:"Jean-L. RAULT" <f6agr(a)orange.fr> > Date:Thu, Oct 23, 2014 at 10:28 am > Subject:[amsat-bb] 4M Moon mission > > Hi all > > I just had Ghislain LX2RG on the phone a few minutes ago > > The launch of the 4M mission is confirmed tonight the 23rd at 17:59 UT > > See details on http://moon.luxspace.lu/ > > 73 de Jean-Louis F6AGR > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. <javascript:return> AMSAT-NA makes this > open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. > Opinions expressed > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views > of AMSAT-NA. > 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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4M Moon mission
by Jean-L. RAULT 23 Oct '14

23 Oct '14

Hi all I just had Ghislain LX2RG on the phone a few minutes ago The launch of the 4M mission is confirmed tonight the 23rd at 17:59 UT See details on http://moon.luxspace.lu/ 73 de Jean-Louis F6AGR

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VIBE table available to government agencies
by Robert Bruninga 23 Oct '14

23 Oct '14

Our vibe system is available to other government activities. You do the paperwork… It is only a few years old, is working fine. But we got another one – bigger. We needed one to provide a full 20G vibe on a 3U cubesat. This one can only get to 20 g on a 1U. Here is what it looks like: http://www.labworks-inc.com/general_purpose_systems/lw127_123-500D12.htm I have no idea how things get transferred, but I am certain that our comptroller will only let us transfer it inter-agency. So if you are not somehow able to get a government transfer, please don’t bother asking. And we are still waiting to see if any other department on campus wants it. This thing is big. The image on the above web page has a 19” half-rack for the amp as shown on the left, but the image of the VIBE table itself is at HALF that same scale in that image. SO it is actually twice as big, about 4’ long, 3’ high and 2’ wide and very heavy half inch steel, double the size shown. Bob, WB4aPR

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LituanicSAT-2 + 4M lunar payload
by M5AKA 23 Oct '14

23 Oct '14

The LituanicaSAT team has announced on Facebook that the LituanicaSAT-2 CubeSat with propulsion will be coming soon http://amsat-uk.org/2014/10/23/lituanicasat-2-announced/ The 4M Lunar amateur radio JT65B payload launches 1800 UT today - watch a video of of Beijing's Chang Zheng CZ-3C/G2 launcher at https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=781398611903190 4M lunar payload - live TV coverage http://amsat-uk.org/2014/10/15/4m-lunar-payload-integrated-keps-released/ ---- Trevor M5AKA AMSAT-UK Website http://amsat-uk.org/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/amsatuk Twitter https://twitter.com/AMSAT_UK ----

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Saturday Oct-25 14hs GMT Betty V Balloon Launch
by Amsat Argentina 22 Oct '14

22 Oct '14

Amsat Argentina launch from Victorica, La Pampa Province, Argentina, Balloon Betty V, carrying a Linear Transponder Up:435.850 KHz +/- 15 KHz LSB, Down: 145.850 KHz -/+ 15 KHz USB 200mW. Will include also FM Voice Repeater up:435.950 (123Hz CTCSS), down:145.950 2W, with CW ID & TLM, APRS Beacon on 144.930/145.950, SSTV R-36 pictures live on 145.950. DMTF Commands for users & control. On board video 2 GoPro-3 cameras. Vaisala sonde around 403 MHz. More info on http://amsat.org.ar/globo25.htm Tracking http://aprs.fi?call=lu7aa-11 <http://aprs.fi/?call=lu7aa-11> & http://lu7aa.org.ar/vor.asp Coordination previous & during flight 7095 KHz LSB. Launch experiments toward CARPOSAT/LUSEX satellite platform validation tests. 73, Amsat Argentina info at amsat.org.ar

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AMSAT Journal Sep/OCT 2014
by Rick Walter 22 Oct '14

22 Oct '14

I just received the latest AMSAT Journal in the mail today (Lancaster, PA). At first glance it looks great. I'm looking forward to reading all the articles. Thanks to all involved for a job well done! Rick - WB3CSY -- Sent from Rick's gmail account

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Re: [amsat-bb] Going Digital Someday
by Doug - k4gkj 22 Oct '14

22 Oct '14

How about fldigi? It offers several modes, not too many, but allows for some room for everyone to explore their favorite mode..... Other software programs can run these same modes, but if we promote the one package (fldigi), we hope to limit the mides to a few popular modes rather than a free-for-all....... Just a thought.... Open to anything myself.... Doug K4GKJ Doug Bennight K4GKJ 850-528-5772 850-926-2052 -------- Original message -------- From: Stefan Wagener <wageners(a)gmail.com> Date: To: JoAnne Maenpaa <k9jkm(a)comcast.net> Cc: AMSAT BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Going Digital Someday Point well made, JoAnne. Now, can AMSAT official support this mode, maybe help/encourage the developers and start to implement it (testing) on for example FO-29? What about a digital mode for the FM satellites? One of the big frustration I have is to decide which one of the digital modes to pick. What is beautiful about this hobby is the diversification which now also becomes the "curse" with promotion and competition of various commercial and open source modes/codecs. Maybe we can help and focus on one "system" for amateur satellite use and get it used/implemented. Food for thought, Stefan, VE4NSA On Tue, Oct 21, 2014 at 4:10 PM, JoAnne Maenpaa <k9jkm(a)comcast.net> wrote: > During the Symposium in Baltimore last week there was a discussion that I > found quite interesting. Billed as a proposal for fairly long-term, future > AMSAT HEO possibilities, this blue-sky proposal offers projects that will > be > fun for myself (and maybe yourself) to learn what's next ... or could be > next ... > > It seems the cubesat form factor is here to stay for practical launch > opportunities available to us ... (please don't ask for getting a phase > III-B form factor in this thread!) Wiser people than myself have assured me > of this. > > Analog SSB and CW modulation in a 3U to 6U cubesat may not be practical at > HEO apogee due to antenna size limits on a cubesat and power generation > capability of the cubesat limited number of solar cells. Digital techniques > were described as a way to make this work. > > FreeDV HF Digital Voice for Radio Amateurs was one of the types of > technologies mentioned just as an example. I found a demonstration at: > http://nicktoday.com/freedv-hf-digital-voice-radio-amateurs/ > > Interesting, eh? A soundcard interface to your existing radio, sound card > in > the PC, we're teaching ourselves the first steps into digital radio ... > getting ready for the future. > > I've only had to interface my soundcard interface to my Yaesu 857D just > once. The interface remains stable from a hardware point of view. My PC > runs > the appropriate software for FUNcube telemetry, SSTV from ISS and prior > ARISSat-1, PSK31, JT65, RTTY ... and when I get some time in between > preparing the next issue of the Journal I'll add the software for the > FreeDV > codec. > > Perhaps we'll hear more interesting ideas or a fresh approach! At least we > could have a thread with some fun discussion ... > > -- > 73 de JoAnne K9JKM > k9jkm(a)amsat.org > AMSAT VP User Services > > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions > expressed > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of > AMSAT-NA. > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! > Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb > _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. 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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Going Digital Someday
by JoAnne Maenpaa 22 Oct '14

22 Oct '14

During the Symposium in Baltimore last week there was a discussion that I found quite interesting. Billed as a proposal for fairly long-term, future AMSAT HEO possibilities, this blue-sky proposal offers projects that will be fun for myself (and maybe yourself) to learn what's next ... or could be next ... It seems the cubesat form factor is here to stay for practical launch opportunities available to us ... (please don't ask for getting a phase III-B form factor in this thread!) Wiser people than myself have assured me of this. Analog SSB and CW modulation in a 3U to 6U cubesat may not be practical at HEO apogee due to antenna size limits on a cubesat and power generation capability of the cubesat limited number of solar cells. Digital techniques were described as a way to make this work. FreeDV HF Digital Voice for Radio Amateurs was one of the types of technologies mentioned just as an example. I found a demonstration at: http://nicktoday.com/freedv-hf-digital-voice-radio-amateurs/ Interesting, eh? A soundcard interface to your existing radio, sound card in the PC, we're teaching ourselves the first steps into digital radio ... getting ready for the future. I've only had to interface my soundcard interface to my Yaesu 857D just once. The interface remains stable from a hardware point of view. My PC runs the appropriate software for FUNcube telemetry, SSTV from ISS and prior ARISSat-1, PSK31, JT65, RTTY ... and when I get some time in between preparing the next issue of the Journal I'll add the software for the FreeDV codec. Perhaps we'll hear more interesting ideas or a fresh approach! At least we could have a thread with some fun discussion ... -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm(a)amsat.org AMSAT VP User Services

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Re: [amsat-bb] G-5500 Rotor issue
by Gregory Beat 21 Oct '14

21 Oct '14

Yaesu G-5500 Operating Manual http://www.yaesu.com/downloadFile.cfm?FileID=994&FileCatID=155&FileName=G%2… How Things Work. TURN to Page 9, schematic diagram Meters M1 and M2 are analog meters in the Control Box. Potentiometers VR5 and VR6, located INSIDE the outside rotator and geared to motor movement, changes resistance -- which is measured and reported on the meters M1 and M2. Dirty or failing potentiometers are common, and required maintenance with heavily used antenna rotators. w9gb Sent from iPad Air

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pics from 1998 Symposium
by Jeff KB2M 20 Oct '14

20 Oct '14

I'm packing up stuff from the Ocean View property and ran into a packet of photos Bill W0oqc SK had sent me from the 1998 Symposium. What a blast from the past. Pics of W0oqc, W0sat, N8ocx, Ki0ag,N7sfi,W5iu,K5vas,Wd5gqm,Kb1sf,W3xo,Wd5gqm,K5nrk. Such great memories of the morning Breakfast club on the FOO birds, FO20, and FO29 with most of these guys and more. Very fond memories.. 73 Jeff kb2m

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