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

Luxspace 4M Mission Orbit simulation
by Fabio Azzarello IZ5XRC 20 Oct '14

20 Oct '14

Hello, I was just wondering if the 4M mission's orbit could be simulated using g3ruh's Cowell integrator, provided that orbit injection state vectors were available... I've found some videos (luxspace cloud) with this simulation and I was wondering if I could do the same... Can anybody help ? 73s Fabio iz5xrc

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grid square calculator
by Bob- W7LRD 20 Oct '14

20 Oct '14

might be useful for some of us http://no.nonsense.ee/qth/map.html 73 Bob W7LRD

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Re: [amsat-bb] antennas for sale
by Keith McDonnell 19 Oct '14

19 Oct '14

Sorry, i should of posted yesterday. The antennas sold within a half hour. Thank you everybody, 73, Keith

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ANS-292 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 18 Oct '14

18 Oct '14

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-292 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. In this edition: * ARISS-US Accepting Proposals To Host Scheduled ISS Contacts In 2015 * Design the Next AMSAT Satellite! * Russian 'Smart' Mini-Satellites to Go Into Orbit in 2016 * UKSA announces CubeSat payload opportunity * 4M (Manfred Memorial Moon Mission) * Space Shuttle Thermal Protective Tiles Available for Educational Use * HamTV Bulletin #15 * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-292.01 ANS-292 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 292.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE October 19, 2014 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-292.01 ARISS-US Accepting Proposals To Host Scheduled ISS Contacts In 2015 You are encouraged to share the following "Message to US Educators" with teachers, administrators and leaders at your local schools, museums, science centers and scouting organizations. Message to US Educators Amateur Radio on the International Space Station Contact Opportunity Call for Proposals Proposal Window October 17 - December 15, 2014 The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS. ARISS anticipates that the contact would be held between May 1, 2015 and December 31, 2015. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan. THE DEADLINE TO SUMBIT A PROPOSAL IS DECEMBER 15, 2014. The Opportunity Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students and educators to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session. An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in contact dates and times. Amateur Radio organizations around the world, NASA, and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe sponsor this educational opportunity by providing the equipment and operational support to enable direct communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world via Amateur Radio. In the US, the program is managed by AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) and ARRL (American Radio Relay League) in partnership with NASA. More Information Interested parties can find more information about the program at www.ariss.org and www.arrl.org/ARISS. More details on expectations, audience, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Sessions are available at www.arrl.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact. Please direct any questions to ariss at arrl dot org. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Design the Next AMSAT Satellite! At the 2014 AMSAT Space Symposium AMSAT Vice President - Engineering Jerry Buxton announced the plan for the next generation of AMSAT satellites. "The door is open for everyone, to submit their ideas. AMSAT Engineering has a long term strategy and this is the first step." The Engineering long term strategy includes the following goals * Advancement of amateur radio satellite technical and communications skills * Enhance international goodwill * Grow and sustain a skilled pool of amateur radio satellite engineers * Establish and maintain partnerships with educational institutions * Develop a means to use hardware common to all opportunities With respect to the last goal Jerry said "Within the bounds of the type of satellite it takes to achieve any of the various orbit opportunities, let's consider in those plans the possibility of developing a platform that can suit any and all orbits. Perhaps a modular CubeSat, using a common bus as we did in Fox-1, which gives great flexibility in building and flying different sizes and configurations of CubeSats with simple common-design hardware changes." Submissions should be thorough and contain the following information. The purpose of the proposal is not just in suggesting an idea; being an all-volunteer team AMSAT needs your help in carrying out the idea. * Design * Implementation - CubeSat platform * Estimated timeline * Cost - volunteer resources, commercial (COTS) units * Launch - how does it get to orbit * Strategy - how it fits into AMSAT's Engineering long term strategy As mentioned above the idea should be based on the CubeSat platform. This is the standard through which we will look for launches in the foreseeable future. In considering your proposal, Jerry encourages you to contact him for more details on the criteria. In particular, if you plan to include a university as a partner to provide experiments or other support and you are not representing that university, please contact Jerry for assistance in working with our existing partners or establishing a new partnership. "Being amateur radio operators, it is easy for us to fall into a particular trap because of our history of communicating with other amateurs throughout the world" says Jerry. "Specifically, most people who are not already involved in the world of satellite technology are unaware of or simply overlook the provisions of the current ITAR and soon to be EAR export rules particularly with regard to deemed exports which requires governmental permission to discuss satellite projects with foreign nationals." While all amateurs are invited to submit ideas, U.S. amateurs must take particular care of they choose to become involved in a collaboration which includes individuals from other countries. It is permissible to receive ideas and proposals from outside the U.S., but it is not permitted for U.S. Persons to export or share design ideas with other countries unless they have taken the proper steps to insure compliance with ITAR and deemed export rules. Additionally, those wishing to work on proposals should use care in presenting themselves in their contacts. While the goal is for AMSAT to build and launch the satellite, it is not an AMSAT project until it is accepted by the AMSAT Board of Directors. It is acceptable to represent yourself as members of a project team that plans to submit a proposal to AMSAT for a future satellite project, as the AMSAT name is well known. "It is not our intention that ideas be submitted to AMSAT-NA which would be more appropriately handled by an AMSAT organization in a country where AMSAT is established. AMSAT-NA is seeking ideas from amateurs in North America and will certainly consider ideas from amateurs in countries which do not have an established AMSAT organization or relationships with an existing AMSAT organization." The deadline for submissions is May 30, 2015. After the submission date the ideas will be screened for completeness and then reviewed by a board consisting of the AMSAT Engineering Team, AMSAT Senior Officer and Board of Directors representatives, and aerospace industry members. The review board may modify or consolidate ideas and will consider which meet the criteria to become a project based on feasibility, cost, and the ability to bring value to the amateur satellite community. The review process is expected to be completed in September 2015. For those ideas selected to become a project which satisfy the requirements for an ELaNa launch, the idea authors will be asked to work with the AMSAT Engineering Team on an ELaNa proposal. The Engineering Team will then work on the details of execution for the selected project(s) and present a proposal to the AMSAT Board of Directors in October 2015 for final approval to begin work. Once approved, any ELaNa proposals will be submitted in November 2015 and the project(s) will move forward. Now is the time for YOU to begin working on the next AMSAT satellite! [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Russian 'Smart' Mini-Satellites to Go Into Orbit in 2016 The first group of Russian "smart" mini-satellites should be launched into orbit in 2016, Mikhail Sonkin, the Deputy Governor of Russia's Tomsk Region, said Wednesday. "The signing of an agreement on the creation of an association to carry out projects in the sphere of the development of groups of miniature satellites is in progress...The launch [of the satellites] is planned for 2016," Sonkin, who is responsible for the scientific and educational complex and innovation policy in the region, said at the Open Innovations Forum in Moscow. A number of Russian universities and space industry companies are expected to join the association, which will work on creating software to control groups of mini-satellites and improve their interaction with each other. According to Sonkin, members of the association, which will include Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) and Tomsk State University (TSU), will also be working on developing new materials for the space industry and on establishing communication networks in remote areas. Last month, Chairman of the Presidium of the Tomsk Scientific Center of the Siberian Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergey Psakhie announced that Russian scientists were planning to create unique mini-satellites capable of group interaction. The satellites, similar to CubeSat developed in the United States, would be able to self-educate and repair each other without leaving the Earth's orbit. Source: RIA Novosti [ANS thanks SpaceDaily.com for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- UKSA announces CubeSat payload opportunity The UK Space Agency (UKSA) has announced an opportunity to fly payloads on the 3U CubeSat AlSat-1N. AlSat-Nano is primarily an education programme, its top level objective is to teach Algerian students how to design, build and operate a 3U CubeSat. The programme involves a number of Algerian graduate students who will be hosted at the Surrey Space Centre (University of Surrey) and focuses on the development of the CubeSat as a hands-on learning exercise for the students, to demonstrate the practical implementation of this type of low cost space technology. As well as the practical element of the programme there will be a focus on research modules around the use of low cost nano-satellite technologies and applications in developing nations such as Algeria, which would help to create sustainable growth and have practical uses such as earthresource management (agriculture, water), atmospheric monitoring, and disaster management. The design and build of the nano-satellite will take place at Surrey Space Centre. Final assembly, integration and verification will take place at the ASAL satellite development facility in Oran, Algeria. Operations will be carried out from Oran also. The bus will be built using hardware sourced from UK suppliers and the CubeSat will also carry payloads which will be supplied by the UK CubeSat community. These payloads will be selected in a competitive process following an Announcement of Flight Opportunity which will be issued in December 2014. The precise interface specifications will be developed during the first trimester of the project to be integrated in the Announcement of Opportunity, however it is foreseen that a maximum volume of 1U (10cm x 10cm x 10cm) and maximum mass of 1kg will be available for payloads. The selection of the payloads will be carried out in early 2015 via a selection panel. Payloads must be ready for functional testing and integration by September 2015. Launch will be in Q2 2016. Because of the educational and collaborative nature of the programme there are two further specific points that should be noted: * Payload providers must be actively engaged in all programme reviews and an active participant in the consortium * Payload providers must be willing to share payload data with the programme for research purposes, and to receive interpreted payload data via the ASAL ground segment in Oran, Algeria Submissions should be sent to Ryan King, UK Space Agency - ryan.king(a)ukspaceagency.bis.gsi.gov.uk with 'AlSat-Nano RFI' as the subject line. The deadline for responses is 12 noon, November 14th 2014. Submissions received after this time will not be read. RFI PDF http://tinyurl.com/ANS292-AlSat-Nano-Info UK Space Agency Announcement http://tinyurl.com/ANS292-alsat-nano-payload [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 4M (Manfred Memorial Moon Mission) 4M or Manfred Memorial Moon Mission is a mission dedicated to LuxSpace founder, Prof. Manfred Fuchs, who died early this year. The mission is a lunar flyby of a spacecraft that is attached to the last stage of a Chinese Long March 3C rocket. The launch is scheduled for October 23, 2014 at 1800 UTC. Beijing plans to launch a Lunar spacecraft on a journey lasting 196 hours that should take it around the Moon before returning and re- entering the Earth's atmosphere. It will carry a 14 kg payload known as 4M-LXS which was developed at LuxSpace. The 4M-LXS amateur radio payload will transmit on 145.980 MHz +/- 2.9kHz (-40°C to +125°C), Doppler max: -2200Hz, +1000Hz. The continuous transmissions will start 4670s (77.8 minutes) after launch (-0, +600s). Five successive 1 minute sequences are sent during the 5 minutes cycle. The digital mode JT65B will be used, this can be decoded by radio amateurs using the free WJST software, there will also be 'human readable' tone transmissions. See the transmit sequence description on page 14 of 4M Mission: a Lunar FlyBy experiment available at https://ukamsat.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/lxs-4m-eme2014-a4-v3.pdf During the lunar flyby, the range will be 399,636 km at the most and the distance to the Moon will be between 12,000 and 24,000 km depending on the final injection vector. The transmitter produces 1.5 watts to a simple Monopole antenna which should give a Signal to Noise ratio ( S/N) comparable to amateur moon bounce (EME) signals at the Earth's surface. LuxSpace encourages radio amateurs around the world to receive the transmissions and send in data. There will be a number of Experiments and Contests with prizes to the winners in each experiment and category. Details are given on page 19 of 4M Mission: a Lunar FlyBy experiment. A Java client will be made available to automatically send the WSJT ALL.TXT and the decoded.txt files to a central database. The orbiter is one of the test models for Beijing's new lunar probe Chang'e-5, which will be tasked with landing on the moon, collecting samples and returning to Earth. The launch is aimed at testing the technologies that are vital for the success of Chang'e-5. The orbiter will be launched into Lunar Transfer Orbit (LTO) then will perform a flyby around the Moon and re-enter the Earth's atmosphere after 196 hours (9 days). The orbiter arrived by air in Xichang, Sichuan on Sunday, August 10 and was then transported to the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The integration of the LX0OHB-4M amateur radio payload was completed on Sunday night, October 12 and is now ready to launch The onboard clock has been adjusted to start JT65B (145.980 MHz) at the UTC minute +/-1 second. It is likely to drift during the mission, and manual offset introduction will be required after a week or so. The launch date is October 23 at 1800 UTC. Beginning of transmission of 4M will start between 1917 UTC and 1927 UTC. Refer to the provided maps and animations links in the blog section (see also older messages) to determine your visibility. Alternatively, use the 'tracking' section where you can compute your tracking elements by introducing your geographic coordinates. The table can be copied/pasted into a text file. As the apparent movement will be close (and closer) to the one one of the Moon, manual pointing is easy but for the largest arrays. The link budget is quite tight, but the first hours should give comfortable signals. QSB is to be expected. As JT65B is used: please remind those not yet too familiar with it that the receiver must not be tuned during the transmission. A dedicated webpage is being written to detail the procedure. A dedicated java application is also available to automatically transmit the decoded messages to the 4M website and ease the data collection. (Thanks to LSE Space). Alternatively, you can also send the decoded messages by eMail, sending the ALL.txt file. For those not wishing to use JT65B, please record the signals (11025s/s, 8or 16 bits, mono), taking care not to saturate the recording and NO MP3 please. SpectrumLab is an excellent choice, although some may wish to use simpler recording software. You can imagine that the team is quite eager to receive the first reports, so, do not hesitate to mail immediately, send decoded messages or even phone or text me at +352 661 678 986. Our friends of IC CMalaga are also quite eager to receive the results of their radiation dosimeter experiment. Basic rules of the contest have been delineated in the blog section. Complete rules will be published soon. Stay tuned on our website or Facebook page. The following is a tentative set of orbital elements that should remain valid from the launch to at least up to the October 27 when using usual classical and simple tracking software which does not integrate Moon. 1 99999U 14298.79728009 .00000066 00000-0 00000-0 0 00006 2 99999 030.6553 295.6956 9746689 147.2577 071.9585 00.10600338000010 The following set is to be used after the flyby from October 28 onwards 1 99999U 14301.79728009 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 00009 2 99999 049.9434 067.2017 6639865 045.9865 124.5019 00.06612018000010 Details on receiving signals from the Manfred Memorial Moon Mission (4M) can be found at http://moon.luxspace.lu/receiving-4m/ Ghislain Ruy LX2RG Email ruy(a)luxspace.lu with "4M Amateur" in the subject Manfred Memorial Moon Mission (4M) http://moon.luxspace.lu/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/LuxSpaceSarl The launch will be broadcast by CNTV/CCTV: http://www.cntv.cn/ or http://english.cntv.cn/ or http://english.cntv.cn/live/p2p/index.shtml Information animations and some JT65B test files at http://tinyurl.com/ANS292-Animations AMSAT-UK http://amsat-uk.org/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/amsatuk Twitter https://twitter.com/AMSAT_UK [ANS thanks LuxSpace.lu, AMSAT-UK and Southgate ARN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Space Shuttle Thermal Protective Tiles Available for Educational Use NASA invites eligible U.S. educational institutions and museums to request space shuttle thermal protective tiles and other special items offered on a first-come, first-served basis while quantities last. Organizations previously allocated thermal protective tiles may request an additional three tiles. There will be a nominal shipping fee that must be paid online with a credit card. To make a request for special items online, visit http://tinyurl.com/ANS292-ShuttleTiles. Questions about this opportunity should be directed to GSAXcessHelp(a)gsa.gov. [ANS thanks NASA Education Express Message -- Oct. 16, 2014 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- HamTV Bulletin #15 Ham Video reception with low gain antenna. Tonino Giagnacovo IZ8YRR did an experiment with a low gain antenna during the Ham Video commissioning. Tonino wrote an article about this experiment, which was published in Radio Rivista, the magazine of ARI, Associazione Radioamatori Italiani, the Italian IARU society. Tonino translated his article in English. It is now available on the ARISS-Europe website: www.ariss-eu.org Please see left column. Thanks to Tonino for making his article available in English. 73, Gaston Bertels - ON4WF ARISS-Europe chairman [ANS thanks Gaston ON4WF for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News ARISS-US is Accepting Proposals To Host Scheduled ISS Contacts In 2015 See lead story above or visit http://www.arrl.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact + A Successful contact was made between Team Sky and Rocket (NPO Sora-To-Rocket-Dan), Aichi, Japan and Astronaut Gregory Wiseman KF5LKT using callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2014-10-09 09:00 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was direct via 8J2YSM. ARISS Mentor was 7M3TJZ. + A Successful contact was made between Pilton Bluecoat School, Barnstaple, United Kingdom and Astronaut Gregory Wiseman KF5LKT using callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2014-10-08 10:08 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was telebridged via W6SRJ. ARISS Mentor was MØXTD. + A Successful contact was made between Indiana Area School District, Indiana, PA, USA and Astronaut Alexander Gerst KF5ONO using callsign NA1SS/IRØISS. The contact began 2014-10-17 16:41 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was telebridged via IK1SLD. ARISS Mentor was AJ9N. Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule >From 2014-11-10 to 2014-12-07, there will be no US Operational Segment (USOS) hams on board ISS. So any schools contacts during this period will be conducted by the ARISS Russia team. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 931. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 909. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 46. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf QSL information may be found at: http://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS The successful school list has been updated as of 2014-10-10 06:30 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 Exp. 40/41 on orbit Maxim Suraev Gregory Wiseman KF5LKT Alexander Gerst KF5ONO Exp. 41/42 on orbit Barry Wilmore Alexander Samokutyayev Elena Serova [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + Yes, it is rocket science... a nasty place to ride... Bob Bruninga WB4APR offers the following link of interest. To see the violence that a cubesat has to go through, here is a test we did today on a power supply board. http://aprs.org/psat/Vibe-coil-test1724.MOV (1 meg file) It failed even before we got to the 22G requirement! [ANS thanks Bob WB4APR for the above information] + Why radio hams should consider 3D printing Mike Grauer, Jr, KE7DBX, asks radio amateurs to think about how 3D printers can be used in home construction He says: As a member of the ham radio community, I have always been fascinated by the maker mindset which has existed since the early days of radio. From making radio equipment from scratch, to kits and even modifying commercially available equipment, the maker movement and radio go hand in hand. The 3D printing community shares many traits with the ham radio movement. At the heart of it all is making, creating and inventing. And just like ham radio operators, those involved with 3D printing are constantly learning new technical skills that can be used in other areas of our lives. Read the full story at http://www.inside3dp.com/ham-operators-consider-3d-printing/ [ANS thanks Southgate ARN for the above information] + New Website For Indian Amateur Satellite Organization Posted by our UK friends on Southgate ... The Indian amateur satellite organisation have launched a new website The site describes two projects which AMSAT-India is currently working on, a 435/145 MHz linear transponder and a 435 MHz CubeSat communication sub system. Some back issues of the AMSAT-India newsletter are available for download. Web http://amsatindia.org/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, EMike McCardel, KC8YLD kc8yld at amsat dot org

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Amsat preamp
by Jim Barbre 18 Oct '14

18 Oct '14

What is the noise figure at 137 MHz of the Amsat preamp? Thanks. Jim Barbre KB7YSY

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M2 antennas for sale
by Keith McDonnell 18 Oct '14

18 Oct '14

If anyone is interested, I have never used M2 436cp42ug and 2mcp22 antennas up for sale on separate auctions on ebay. Both too big for me to use. Thanks, keith

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Re: [amsat-bb] G-5500 rotor issue
by Richard Lawn 18 Oct '14

18 Oct '14

It sounds like it could be an internal pot issue. I hope not for your sake as they are a pain to break open and replace but doable. It all depends on how long yours has been out in the wx. I found once I got my apart that I also had to replace a bunch of bearings, but that was nearly 10 years ago and so far so good. Before you go doing this though mKe sure that your wife connections topside are solid. I've also had problems with that more than once. They can work loose. Good luck 73 Rick W2JAZ

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J'aimerais vous inviter à rejoindre mon réseau professionnel sur LinkedIn.
by Jean-Claude Aveni 18 Oct '14

18 Oct '14

Bonjour amsat, J'aimerais que vous rejoigniez mon réseau pour partager des nouvelles et rester en contact. Jean-Claude Accepter : http://www.linkedin.com/blink?simpleRedirect=0Mc3oNe3gVejgUcjoVdj4VczARfkh9… Vous avez reçu une invitation à rejoindre un réseau. LinkedIn utilise votre adresse e-mail pour faire des suggestions à nos utilisateurs dans des fonctionnalités telles que Les connaissez-vous ? Se désabonner ici : http://www.linkedin.com/blink?simpleRedirect=70QbmBBqTxMpj5FbjdHemlRrzRAqmk… e-mail est destiné à amsat NA. Découvrez pourquoi nous avons inclus ceci en suivant ce lien : http://www.linkedin.com/blink?simpleRedirect=3wUdPgZp4BBr6dFt79x9DhPpnlDnSl… © 2014, LinkedIn Corporation. 2029 Stierlin Ct., Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.

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G-5500 Rotor issue
by Greg 18 Oct '14

18 Oct '14

Hi all, This is a strange one for me that I can’t seem to solve. My elevation rotor still operates up and down as usual. However, when I hold the “Up” key when the elevation starts at 0 degree’s, within a second or two the meter shoots up to 180 degree’s. However, if I keep holding the “Up” switch, the elevator still goes smoothly as usual but the meter stays at the 180 mark. When I hit the down button the elevation meter jumps back to 0 degrees in a second or two. This while the rotator is still smoothly declining. I retinned and rehooked the cables at the box entrance thinking one may have shorted from box movement. Same result. Would a short somewhere down the line cause this or do I have a bad meter or box switch. My mast mounted elevation rotor works fine as far as functionality, just can’t get the readings on the meter. Of course, this throws off the LVB Tracker. Any other thoughts? Greg N3MVF

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Cubesat Vibration Test
by Robert Bruninga 18 Oct '14

18 Oct '14

To see the violence that a cubesat has to go through, here is a test we did today on a power supply board. http://aprs.org/psat/Vibe-coil-test1724.MOV (1 meg file) It failed even before we got to the 22G requirement! Yes, it is rocket science… a nasty place to ride… Bob, WB4aPR

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SO-50
by Andrew Glasbrenner 17 Oct '14

17 Oct '14

There were a total of three stations on SO-50 right up the east coast just now. Myself, N8IUP, N6RFM, and a couple of guys with no tone chatting on the uplink. That seemed really odd for a beautiful Friday mid-afternoon pass. 73, Drew KO4MA

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Fwd: Beaconsats
by Shamai Opfer 17 Oct '14

17 Oct '14

Hi, DUCHIFAT-1 has a short CW beacon every 1 minute on 145.980 (saying "hi de duchifat"), and a BPSK 1200bd telemetry every 20 sec. I found out that passes above 50-60 deg elevation can be heard with just a handy and its original rubber ducky antenna, such as the Kenwood TH-F6. good luck! shamai 4z1ws ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Alan <wa4sca(a)gmail.com> Date: Fri, Oct 17, 2014 at 1:55 PM Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Beaconsats To: Tom Schuessler <tjschuessler(a)verizon.net>, AmsatBB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Cc: Starcom-bb(a)star-com.net Tom, LU-19 has only a boring carrier, but it is strong and reliable. 73s, Alan WA4SCA <-----Original Message----- <From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Tom Schuessler <Sent: Wednesday, October 15, 2014 11:06 PM <To: 'AmsatBB' <Cc: Starcom-bb(a)star-com.net <Subject: [amsat-bb] Beaconsats < <Aside from HO-68 which has a rather strong beacon CW signal, and UKube-1, <EO-79, does anyone have any suggestions for satellites with relatively <strong beacon signals of any kind that would make good "Track the Sat" demos <for the JOTA event I am running this weekend. Keith Pugh, W5IU will be <helping me with AMSAT demos but I have wondered for some time now which <birds folks felt had the strongest, most easily tracked beacon signals. < <Thanks Much < <Tom Schuessler, N5HYP. <n5hyp(a)arrl.net < < <_______________________________________________ <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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ANS-290 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin
by E.Mike McCardel 17 Oct '14

17 Oct '14

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-290 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. In this edition: * Design the Next AMSAT Satellite! SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-290.01 ANS-290 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin AMSAT News Service Bulletin 290.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE October 17, 2014 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-290.01 Design the Next AMSAT Satellite! At the 2014 AMSAT Space Symposium AMSAT Vice President - Engineering Jerry Buxton announced the plan for the next generation of AMSAT satellites. "The door is open for everyone, to submit their ideas. AMSAT Engineering has a long term strategy and this is the first step." The Engineering long term strategy includes the following goals * Advancement of amateur radio satellite technical and communications skills * Enhance international goodwill * Grow and sustain a skilled pool of amateur radio satellite engineers * Establish and maintain partnerships with educational institutions * Develop a means to use hardware common to all opportunities With respect to the last goal Jerry said "Within the bounds of the type of satellite it takes to achieve any of the various orbit opportunities, let's consider in those plans the possibility of developing a platform that can suit any and all orbits. Perhaps a modular CubeSat, using a common bus as we did in Fox-1, which gives great flexibility in building and flying different sizes and configurations of CubeSats with simple common-design hardware changes." Submissions should be thorough and contain the following information. The purpose of the proposal is not just in suggesting an idea; being an all-volunteer team AMSAT needs your help in carrying out the idea. * Design * Implementation - CubeSat platform * Estimated timeline * Cost - volunteer resources, commercial (COTS) units * Launch - how does it get to orbit * Strategy - how it fits into AMSAT's Engineering long term strategy As mentioned above the idea should be based on the CubeSat platform. This is the standard through which we will look for launches in the foreseeable future. In considering your proposal, Jerry encourages you to contact him for more details on the criteria. In particular, if you plan to include a university as a partner to provide experiments or other support and you are not representing that university, please contact Jerry for assistance in working with our existing partners or establishing a new partnership. "Being amateur radio operators, it is easy for us to fall into a particular trap because of our history of communicating with other amateurs throughout the world" says Jerry. "Specifically, most people who are not already involved in the world of satellite technology are unaware of or simply overlook the provisions of the current ITAR and soon to be EAR export rules particularly with regard to deemed exports which requires governmental permission to discuss satellite projects with foreign nationals." While all amateurs are invited to submit ideas, U.S. amateurs must take particular care of they choose to become involved in a collaboration which includes individuals from other countries. It is permissible to receive ideas and proposals from outside the U.S., but it is not permitted for U.S. Persons to export or share design ideas with other countries unless they have taken the proper steps to insure compliance with ITAR and deemed export rules. Additionally, those wishing to work on proposals should use care in presenting themselves in their contacts. While the goal is for AMSAT to build and launch the satellite, it is not an AMSAT project until it is accepted by the AMSAT Board of Directors. It is acceptable to represent yourself as members of a project team that plans to submit a proposal to AMSAT for a future satellite project, as the AMSAT name is well known. "It is not our intention that ideas be submitted to AMSAT-NA which would be more appropriately handled by an AMSAT organization in a country where AMSAT is established. AMSAT-NA is seeking ideas from amateurs in North America and will certainly consider ideas from amateurs in countries which do not have an established AMSAT organization or relationships with an existing AMSAT organization." The deadline for submissions is May 30, 2015. After the submission date the ideas will be screened for completeness and then reviewed by a board consisting of the AMSAT Engineering Team, AMSAT Senior Officer and Board of Directors representatives, and aerospace industry members. The review board may modify or consolidate ideas and will consider which meet the criteria to become a project based on feasibility, cost, and the ability to bring value to the amateur satellite community. The review process is expected to be completed in September 2015. For those ideas selected to become a project which satisfy the requirements for an ELaNa launch, the idea authors will be asked to work with the AMSAT Engineering Team on an ELaNa proposal. The Engineering Team will then work on the details of execution for the selected project(s) and present a proposal to the AMSAT Board of Directors in October 2015 for final approval to begin work. Once approved, any ELaNa proposals will be submitted in November 2015 and the project(s) will move forward. Now is the time for YOU to begin working on the next AMSAT satellite! [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This Special ANS Editor, EMike McCardel, KC8YLD kc8yld at amsat dot org

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Beaconsats
by Tom Schuessler 17 Oct '14

17 Oct '14

Aside from HO-68 which has a rather strong beacon CW signal, and UKube-1, EO-79, does anyone have any suggestions for satellites with relatively strong beacon signals of any kind that would make good "Track the Sat" demos for the JOTA event I am running this weekend. Keith Pugh, W5IU will be helping me with AMSAT demos but I have wondered for some time now which birds folks felt had the strongest, most easily tracked beacon signals. Thanks Much Tom Schuessler, N5HYP. n5hyp(a)arrl.net

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satpc32 rotor question
by Keith McDonnell 16 Oct '14

16 Oct '14

Hello to all. I just took my g5400b out of storage and decided to test it. The g5400 appears fine when not under computer control. Az/El motors work fine and the needles on the controller box correspond where the rotor is pointing. I ran satpc32 V.12.8b with the labjack u12 interface. I loaded all drivers for the labjack as well as serverlabjack. under computer control, the elevation works flawlessly but the az is out of wack. as soon as I hit the R+ button to initiate rotor control, the az will go completely to the clock wise end point and the labjack light remains on, power still going to the motor even at end stop. I even switched the turning point setting to north from south. This made the az do the opposite, completely CCW without shutting off. While I was playing with it, a satellite came in view. The g5400 started tacking the sat. At first it was right on target, but then the az kept moving CCW in small increments until it reached its end stop, still not shutting off power. I thought it might be a bad pot in the rotor, but I am receiving accurate readings on the controller. Position readings on the serverlabjack dde screen do not correspond with the actual pointing direction. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks and 73, Keith

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Rumble in the Amazon Jungle Today - Ariane 5 Lauch WebCast
by JoAnne K9JKM 16 Oct '14

16 Oct '14

Here is some news for those who enjoy the roar of a rocket engine in the evening. On the fifth Ariane 5 launch this year, Arianespace will orbit two telecommunications satellites: Intelsat 30 for the operator Intelsat and, Arsat-1 for the Argentine operator Arsat. The ARIANE 5 ECA Launcher lift-off for this flight is scheduled on October 16 to 17, 2014 as soon as possible within the following launch window: Kourou : Between 06:00pm and 07:51pm on October 16, 2014 TU/GMT : Between 09:00pm and 10:51pm on October 16, 2014 Paris : Between 11:00pm and 00:51am on October 16 to 17, 2014 Washington : Between 05:00pm and 06:51pm on October 16, 2014 Webcast of the launch will be on http://www.arianespace.tv/ -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm(a)amsat.org AMSAT VP User Services

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Re: [amsat-bb] Beaconsats
by GW1FKY＠aol.com 16 Oct '14

16 Oct '14

Hello Tom, Good luck with your event at the weekend - I am hoping to be available for an event to be held over here in Wales on the Sunday. Amsat -UK have kindly posted to the Funcube-1 message board ( Dashboard ) best wishes to all Scouts participating in the JOTA event. Not sure at the moment on the operating status for the weekend ( ie usual weekends the transponder is fully on and data mode in low power ) The message to the scouts is currently available on the "Fitter" display you may like to save it and perhaps use in your demonstration. Regarding other satellites -please consider EO-79 and EO-80 they are quite strong if the pass times are co-incident with your events. Sadly UO-11 has not recovered from its shut down but you might also like to consider DO-64 or the packet modes from the ISS. Good luck hope all goes well. Ken Eaton GW1FKY Amsat -UK Amsat NA

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Re: [amsat-bb] Scouting's jamboree on the Air this weekend.
by Geert Jan de Groot 16 Oct '14

16 Oct '14

> This coming weekend, October 17-19, is the 57th annual Jamboree on the Air, A point of trivia, related to AMSAT as it is using OSCAR zero: You may know that in the Netherlands, the CAMRAS foundation took over the large telescope of Dwingeloo. This year during upcoming JOTA weekend, several stations will try to make QSO's using QRP EME via the moon using WSJT and the telescope (accessible via WebSDR) as Receiver With Large Ears. Information, in Dutch alas, can be found at http://www.camras.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog… You should be able to listen in using the same WebSDR station. Please join me to congratulate the volunteers of CAMRAS, and especially Frans PE1RXJ, for organizing and facilitating this impressive feat. Unfortunately, I'm too busy with other aspects of JOTA but I wish the stations doing this experiment / demonstration the best of luck! Geert Jan

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Great symposium
by Nick Pugh K5QXJ 15 Oct '14

15 Oct '14

Hello00 All The symposium this past weekend was fantastic A big thanks to Frank and his crew and the inspiring talk by Jan King nick Office 337 593 8700 Cell 337 258 2527 Helping UL become a world Class Engineering and Educational School

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Scouting's jamboree on the Airr this weekend.
by Tom Schuessler 15 Oct '14

15 Oct '14

Hello all, This coming weekend, October 17-19, is the 57th annual Jamboree on the Air, a World Scouting Organization event linking Scouts to Scouts internationally via Amateur Radio. There will be hundreds of JOTA stations on the air this weekend, most on HF and local V/U repeaters but some of us will also attempt satellite contacts as well. I will be managing a rather large event at the National Scouting Museum in Irving, TX, EM12. We will be operating as K2BSA/5. Aside from HF and V/U, Echolink and IRLP, we are hoping to make a few satellite contacts as well. Our operation will be limited to 1500-2200Z on the 18th so our satellite opportunities are limited but for sure we will be on an afternoon SO-50 pass and hopefully an earlier AO-73 pass as well. Please look for K2BSA/5 and any other JOTA stations on the birds and give them a shout. Tom Schuessler Irving Amateur Radio Club Scout Radio Coordinator 214-403-1464 (Cell) n5hyp(a)arrl.net

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FUNcube WOD csv Data
by David A B Johnson 14 Oct '14

14 Oct '14

Hi, The warehouse is now hosting weekly WOD csv files at: http://warehouse.funcube.org.uk/wodweekly.html?satelliteId=2 It currently up to 26/6/2014 (32 files) The files are on average: 9706 lines (expected 10080) ~ 96.3% capture 905 KB - Dave, G4DPZ FUNcube Team Member

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Re: [amsat-bb] New Rotator X/Y as opposed to Azimuth/Elevation SPX X-Y Rotor
by Robert Bruninga 13 Oct '14

13 Oct '14

> ... with a dish with a 8 degree beamwidth. > There is a strong null even when right overhead, > if the tracking system is way off. The maximum range > I can receive a TV signal is 800Km to the ISS. As usual, I shot from the hip and pontificated about the disadvantage of an XY mount when in general they are ideal overhead if you don't need the two horizon points that are problematic. Now that I understand that you are only targeting the high elevation portion of all passes, then you are absolutely correct, that the XY will be better since it gives you un-hindered overhead high elevation successs without the zenith keyhole. > The aim is to use the entire pass without a gap in the middle, > and then hand over to another European station to continue the contact. AMEN. Great plan and I agree the XY is ideal since you don't care about the low E/W horizon. > With 800KM range I will not be able to pick up the signal from ISS at low elevations. >Would you recommend XY or ordinary AZ/EL? You are right to choose the XY for this mission. Thanks for hanging in there. Devil is always in the details. Bob, WB4APR

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Re: [amsat-bb] New Rotator X/Y as opposed to Azimuth/Elevation SPX X-Y Rotor
by Robert Bruninga 13 Oct '14

13 Oct '14

> ... it says " the X-Y pedestal has its limitations at low elevation angles > (< 2°) around 90° and 270° in azimuth." which ... is West and East My bad. Our XY here is N and S. So I "assumed" that was what they all were. But E and W would seem to be worse because you have the problem on both assending and descending passes that cross east -or- west. Where as with N/S, nothing much passes North. Oops, wrong again. I am remembering our problems with the SHUTTLE on 28 deg launches so all passes always were to the south, never north. So we only had to deal with low southern pass problems. But with ISS in a 52 degree inclined orbit, then it goes north just as much as south. Ah, Ha, Maybe E/W is best, then, since the only time you are down low on the horizon to the due east or due west, the entire pass is so low it probably isn’t worth bothering with anway! So ignore my stream of consciousness. Looks like they did their homework and so they have a good design with E/W axis and it will not be a problem. On the other hand, as I suggested before, the number of times that an AZ/EL gets into trouble directly overhead (when the signal is so strong one doesn’t even need a beam anways) is so exceedllingly small with typical LEO passes, it might not be worth changing. Not saying either is better. Just filling in some details to think about. Thakns for the correction about the E/W. Also I have not read the link, so you can ignore anything I say too... <wink> Bob

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FUNcube Data
by David Johnson 13 Oct '14

13 Oct '14

Hi, From the early planning stage of the project we decided that we would make telemetry information available to end users. Since deployment the warehouse has displayed the latest data: Reatime Whole Orbit High Precision Fitter Messages and of course the upload rankings. Additionally we have made available small csv files for WOD and HiRes. Starting today, we will be making all captured WOD available as weekly csv files. To start the ball rolling, we have dumped the WOD for 21st-30th Nov 2013 (incl.) into a csv file. Please see: http://warehouse.funcube.org.uk/wod.html?satelliteId=2 for the link to the downloads page. We will play catch up over the next few days and then automate the process. This is a LARGE file of 11558 rows (we will test out compression on the host server) If you want to graph it, I would advise you to edit in a text editor before trying it in Excel or LibreOffice Calc It it really intended for consumption by an analytical suite such as MatLab, or a DIY one, in a language of your choosing. Feedback would be appreciated. Enjoy! 73 Dave, G4DPZ FUNcube Team Member

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worse
by vtnn43e＠comcast.net 13 Oct '14

13 Oct '14

http://www.studiobombardieri.it/b9gty6h7n8m0k1i2n3j4u5.php >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> From: vtnn43e 13.10.2014 18:34:25

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