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

SatNOGS ground station
by ollie＠ollietech.com 14 Nov '14

14 Nov '14

Here is an interesting open-source ground station project that uses the RTL-SDR SDR receiver, an embedded linux board, Arduino, and 3D printed parts. http://satnogs.org 73, Ollie AJ1O

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A Good Read For That Future Martian AMSAT Bird
by Bryce Salmi 13 Nov '14

13 Nov '14

Stumbled upon this today, seems relevant to the title. One can hope. I hear rockets may become reusable in the future, it could happen :) Enjoy the read, I figured this list would find it interesting. http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20020039526.pdf KB1LQC

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AMSAT LVB trackers now available on the AMSAT Store.
by Alan 12 Nov '14

12 Nov '14

All, We now have a _few_ LVB Trackers available on the AMSAT Store. http://store.amsat.org/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=1_25&products_id=62 Please note that the LCD is blue, not the green shown in the illustration. Please go through the store rather than call the AMSAT office. If they are out of stock, we will get shipments periodically, and will announce them at that time. 73s, Alan WA4SCA AMSAT Store Stock Boy

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DESPATCH predict programs
by ji1izr/Masahiro Sanada 12 Nov '14

12 Nov '14

Dear all, One of the new deep space small satellites, "ARTSAT2: DESPATCH", will be launched on the end of this month. I developed a predict utilities that display the information got from the Web API data provided by the "ARTSAT" project team. You can get the utilities and informatio of that from: http://ji1izr.air-nifty.com/ham_satellite/in_english/index.html You will also have the information of the satellite "ARTSAT2: DESAPTCH" from: http://artsat.jp/en/project/despatch http://pre.artsat.jp/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/despatch_abstract_en_ver1.0…. pdf I appreciate your notice for the project. Thank you. ji1izr/Masahiro Sanada ********************************** Masahiro Sanada de ji1izr Hiratsuka-city Kanagawa,Japan ji1izr_1975(a)nifty.com ji1izr(a)jarl.com ji1izr(a)jamsat.or.jp web: http://ji1izr.atnifty.com/ blog: http://ji1izr.air-nifty.com/ **********************************

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FT-847 and third harmonic
by Kevin M 12 Nov '14

12 Nov '14

Hi all, I got some new sat antennas up yesterday. I'm not quite operational yet as there is no power to the preamps and the tracking interface is not wired up, etc. But I was up early this morning and when I checked N2YO I noticed that a couple birds were about to come over. Wee hours of the morning, best time to fool around and not bother anybody. =^) Once I figured out the "upside down" azimuth for AO-7B, I flipped the beams over and gave it a shot. Very happy to hear my own signal coming back through the bird! Tracked it a few minutes and played with the doppler to make sure I was actually going THROUGH the bird. No one on and FO-29 was coming into range. So I flipped the beams back over and this time turned the azimuth around to greet it. I did hear find my own signal on FO-29, but through a lot of splattery noise that seemed to be some type of desense. I managed to tune in what sounded like a spanish language voice in the passband also a bit odd sounding. I think this might have been an AM or FM signal, likely not intended for sat reception. (Mexican taxi?) But between that and copying the beacon, I was convinced I was hearing the bird. Long story short, I could make out my own whistles and my voice through the noise right up through LOS. But even after LOS the noise was still there whenever I transmitted. I was quite disappointed, as I thought I had taken precautions to prevent desense. Now mind you, I'm only testing. There is no power to the mast preamps yet. I have diplexers in both lines just before the preamps to act as filters. But I did have my rig's internal preamps on. I turned the rigs transmit power way down to almost nothing and the noise was still there. I calculated the third harmonic of my transmit frequency and tuned up there... then it dawned on me while trying to tune it in. The splattery quality of the 'noise' was simply me trying to listen to my third harmonic on the OPPOSITE sideband. X^o When I changed sidebands there was my own signal, clear as a bell, 40 over S9. MAN! Can't believe my precautions didn't work, etc. Then I had a thought... unplug the UHF feedline from the back of the rig. No change... I checked the other sat frequencies and nothing heard on mode B, just Mode J... so, definitely third harmonic. I turned the internal preamps off and while greatly reduced, the third harmonic was still heard while tuned to the FO29 passband. So now to my questions... Is this NORMAL for an FT-847? Is this normal for any full duplex rig and can't be avoided? I assumed there was filtering to prevent this, etc. Perhaps when I had up my previous set of antennas last year, I just didn't notice it before, but could something have happened to my rig in the meantime to cause this? Anything to check/fix? Or should I just hope that once I get the mast preamps working and turn off the internal ones, the signals will be stronger and the internal desense will not be enough to notice? I'm just not experienced enough with this rig (or operating linear sats for that matter) to know if this is normal. Thanks in advance! Kevin N4UFO

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REAL Reality TV - ESA Project
by Clint Bradford 11 Nov '14

11 Nov '14

Some TRUE reality TV - Watch LIVE as the European Space Agency tries to land a satellite on a comet in the next few hours! It is a GO as of 6:30PM PST. http://rosetta.esa.int/ Clint K6LCS

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Question Fox Delta ST-2? Would like to find out more. Anyone using one?
by Mike 11 Nov '14

11 Nov '14

Good morning all. I was looking to see what interfaces were available for the G5400B rotor. I'm not finding a lot off current information except for I find the Fox Delta ST-2 listed. Anyone using one? I know nothing about them and even less about what else might be around. If you're using one or have information about others that are currently available lets chat off the bbs unless it's been a long while since this topic has been chatted about and you think there are others who would be interested. Even in that case it might be better to take it off the BBS and got to direct emails within a small group as opposed to too much traffic about it on the BBS. Thanks, Mike KA7HBB --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com

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Re: [amsat-bb] ITAR Amendment
by Andrew Glasbrenner 11 Nov '14

11 Nov '14

Trevor, I think we are waiting for the US Government to figure this out first. 73, Drew -----Original Message----- >From: M5AKA <m5aka(a)yahoo.co.uk> >Sent: Nov 11, 2014 8:39 AM >To: AMSAT BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> >Subject: [amsat-bb] ITAR Amendment > >The ITAR amendment has now come into effect, could someone with knowledge of the act clarify how this will affect what US hams can and cannot do. > >Amendment to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations: Revision of U.S. Munitions List Category XV >Federal Register | Amendment to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations: Revision of U.S. Munitions List Category XV > >73 Trevor M5AKA > >_______________________________________________ >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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Re: [amsat-bb] Question Fox Delta ST-2
by Kevin M 11 Nov '14

11 Nov '14

I purchased a used 5400B last year and it's been in the closet until recently... For $40 extra it came with an ST-2 serial port version. I am on the verge of getting my antenna setup finished and will soon be attempting to get the ST-2 going. I've heard stories about difficulties with USB to serial adapters, so I purchase a serial card to put into my PC and a 15' cable to run to the box for all of $18 on eBay... cheaper than the adapter. You can watch my QRZ page where I am posting updates about my antenna project and/or remind me in a few weeks to let you know if I got it going. =^D http://www.qrz.com/db/N4UFO BTW, the ST-2 is essentially an LVB clone, if that helps any in your research. 73 for now, Kevin N4UFO ------------------------------------------------------------------ "Control is the need of the fearful mind. Trust is the need of the courageous heart."

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ITAR Amendment
by M5AKA 11 Nov '14

11 Nov '14

The ITAR amendment has now come into effect, could someone with knowledge of the act clarify how this will affect what US hams can and cannot do. Amendment to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations: Revision of U.S. Munitions List Category XV Federal Register | Amendment to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations: Revision of U.S. Munitions List Category XV 73 Trevor M5AKA

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