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

FO-29 from DN41aa
by Lee Ernstrom 02 Nov '14

02 Nov '14

I am almost set up now for the next pass of FO-29 from DN41aa. Hope to work you. Coordinates: 41 deg 01.900 min N. 111 deg 58.493 min W Doc, WA7HQD Sent from my iPad

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FO-29 in DN30
by Lee Ernstrom 02 Nov '14

02 Nov '14

If anyone is interested I am now set up and ready to operate portable in DN30vx on the FO-29 sat on Antelope Island, Great Salt Lake. All QSOs will be uploaded today into LOTW. My exact coordinates are 40 deg 59.670 min N 112 deg 12.143 W. Find me on Google Earth. The pass will be at 22:33. I am running the FT-897D with the Arrow antenna and will be semi-duplex so please if you hear my CQ give my call several times so I can find you. 73, Doc, WA7HQD Sent from my iPad

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Improvements to ISS TLEs on www.amsat.org
by Joe Fitzgerald 02 Nov '14

02 Nov '14

With encouragement from Lou W5DID, and advice from Gil, WA5NOM nasabare.txt as well as on line tracking for the ISS are now updated on www.amsat.org at least daily, more often when orbital maneuvers occur. TLE's come from ISS mission control planning data, and are expected to be slightly better than those from NORAD/AFSPC especially in the 24-48 hours after reboost maneuvers. Feedback is welcome, especially if anyone detects problems. -Joe KM1P

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KLM antenna parts
by Jeff Griffin 02 Nov '14

02 Nov '14

I recently gave away my KLM sat antennas. Today while packing up the garages I found a box of the KLM element clips and insulators. There is about 20 or so. If you own one of these antenna systems you know what I mean. I'm offering them free to a good home. 73 Jeff kb2m

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ANS-306 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 02 Nov '14

02 Nov '14

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-306 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: * Amateur Radio Satellite Payloads Lost in Antares Launch Explosion * Design The Next AMSAT Satellite! * ARISS U.S. Partners Now Accepting Proposals for Contacts in 2015 * Recent ARISS Contacts * Beta Testers Sought for New Heavens-Above Android app SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-306.01 ANS-306 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 306.01 From AMSAT HQ Kensington, MD. November 2, 2014 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-306.01 Amateur Radio Satellite Payloads Lost in Antares Launch Explosion The RACE and GOMX-2 CubeSats were among more than 2 dozen satellites lost after an unmanned Orbital Space Sciences (OSC) Antares 130 vehicle exploded spectacularly shortly after launch at 2222 UTC on Tuesday, October 28, from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Both satellite packages carried Amateur Radio payloads. The rocket exploded about 6 seconds after launch, sending a huge ball of fire hurtling toward the ground, which set a massive fire at the NASA launch site. The RACE (Radiometer Atmospheric Cubesat Experiment) CubeSat was a joint project between The Texas Spacecraft Laboratory (TSL) at the University of Texas-Austin and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Built by a 30-student team, it carried a 183 GHz radiometer, a new science instrument designed by JPL. The spacecraft was equipped to transmit using GMSK at 38.4 k and CW telemetry on a downlink frequency of 437.525 MHz. TSL’s Glenn Lightsey, KE5DDG, a UT engineering professor, oversaw the student project that worked hand-in-hand with NASA staff in creating a satellite that aimed to measure water vapor in Earth’s atmosphere. “It’s unfortunate, but it is also part of the aerospace industry,” Lightsey told the Texas Statesman newspaper. “The nature of building space vehicles is that it is not a 100 percent reliable process. Getting into space is really the hardest part.” The 2U GOMX-2 CubeSat was intended to test a de-orbit system designed by Aalborg University in Denmark. Karl Klaus Laursen, OZ2KK, is listed as the “responsible operator” on International Amateur Radio Union frequency coordination documents. The Amateur Radio payload proposed using a 9.6 k MSK data downlink on 437.250 MHz. Also on board was an optical communications experiment from the National University of Singapore. The mission also aimed to flight qualify a new high- speed UHF transceiver and SDR receiver built by an Aalborg University team. The Antares 130 launcher was on a resupply mission, carrying some 5000 pounds of cargo to the International Space Station.RACE, GOMX-2 and the other satellites onboard the rocket were to be launched into orbit from the International Space Station. The Antares 130 also was carrying the Flock-1d array of 26 satellites as well as Arkyd-3 and Cygnus CRS-3. [ANS thanks ARRL for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. A guidebook to the criteria is now available for download here. 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 Jerry, N0JY, for the above information --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS U.S. Partners Now Accepting Proposals for Contacts in 2015 The ARISS U.S. partners have opened a window seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations in the U.S., individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS during 2015. The proposal window is October 17 – December 15, 2014. Read the announcement at: http://www.arrl.org/files/file/ARISS/ARISS%20Proposal%20Window%20Announceme… Oct-2014.pdf 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. 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 about hosting a contact in the U.S.to ariss(a)arrl.org. [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Recent ARISS Contacts A direct contact via 8N4STAR with students at Bisei Elementary School, Ibara, Japan was successful Mon 2014-10-27 08:52:46 UTC 41 deg. Astronaut Alexander Gerst, KF5ONO answered 6 questions for students. Bisei Elementary School with 162 students was established at 1970 in the small town of Bisei. It is the home of the Bisei Astronomical Observatory. ****************** A telebridge contact with members of The Explorers Club, New York City, New York, USA via IK1SLD was successful Sat 2014-10-25 16:36:09 UTC 56 deg. Astronaut Alexander Gerst, KF5ONO responded to nine questions, which included questions from Apollo astronauts Charles Duke, Apollo 16 moon walker, and Walt Cunningham, Apollo 7 Lunar Module pilot. Two ticket holders for Virgin Galactic SpaceShip 2 also were among those who asked questions. The Explorers Club is an international multidisciplinary professional society dedicated to the advancement of field research and the ideal that it is vital to preserve the instinct to explore. Founded in New York City in 1904, The Explorers Club promotes the scientific exploration of land, sea, air, and space by supporting research and education in the physical, natural and biological sciences. The Club’s members have been responsible for an illustrious series of famous firsts: First to the North Pole, first to the South Pole, first to the summit of Mount Everest, first to the deepest point in the ocean, first to the surface of the moon—all accomplished by Club members. [ANS thanks Charlie, AJ9N, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Beta Testers Sought for New Heavens-Above Android app A few features of the app: - Spacecraft visibility predictions based on current GPS location - Visibility calculations are done on the device, so you only need to go online once every few days to update the list of orbital elements - Works on phones and tablets - Live Sky Chart, which shows all currently visible satellites - Prediction of Iridium flares There will be two versions of the app, one will be free of charge and will include advertisements, the other will be a paid for version without ads. The price is still to be determined. To participate, just send me an email to chris.peat(a)heavens-above.com from your google mail account (or let Chris know the name of your Google account) and you will be added to the Heavens-Above testers community. You will then receive an invitation with further instructions on how to download and install the test version of the app. The first official release will be available to all for download from the Google play web site. A forum is also available on the Heavens-Above site; http://www.heavens-above.com/forum/default.aspx?g=forum&c=5 [ANS thanks Chris Peat 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 week's ANS Editor, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org

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Re: [amsat-bb] ICOM 706G phase noise
by David G0MRF 01 Nov '14

01 Nov '14

Hi again It appears the IC706 does transmit low level wideband noise over most of the VHF/UHF spectrum when in 'transmit' mode. My issue was solved with a cavity filter in the TX output line. Now the 2m receive is nice and quiet. I'll investigate replacing the cavity with a High pass filter which should have a lower insertion loss and be much smaller. Also......Thanks to DG0ER for my first QSO on AO-73 earlier today. - Success at last. 73 David -----Original Message----- From: Paul Stoetzer <n8hm(a)arrl.net> To: David G0MRF <g0mrf(a)aol.com> CC: amsat-bb <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Sent: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 17:34 Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] ICOM 706G phase noise David, Try a diplexer on either the transmit or receive side (whichever works better) with the common port to the antenna, the appropriate band port hooked to the radio, and the other band port left disconnected. If your Icom is putting something out on 2m when transmitting on 70cm, that should filter it out. 73, Paul, N8HM On Fri, Oct 31, 2014 at 12:41 PM, David G0MRF <g0mrf(a)aol.com> wrote: > > Hi all. > > Inspired by the FUN on the YouTube videos from the car park at Baltimore, I've been trying to set up a satellite station using two independent radios. An IC706G on 70cm transmit and an FT736R on 2m receive. > Antennas are a 4 ele yagi ( horizontal ) on 2m receive with an AMSAT-UK filtered preamp. Transmit antenna is a 9 ele Tonna mounted vertically. > Antennas are on a rotator using a fibreglass boom about 1.8m long. > > The problem: Whenever I press the 70cm transmit 'button' - ptt on SSB, or key on CW I get S8 noise on the 2m receiver. (and S6 without the preamp) > > Note...This does not appear to be RF overload as I can turn the power down to minimum on SSB, even remove the microphone and the noise level remains. > On CW the noise level is constant when the 706 is in transmit mode. It does not appear and disappear with each dot or dash. > > My conclusion is that on 70cm the IC706G is transmitting something on 2m whenever it is in it's transmit mode.- possibly phase noise. > > Has anyone else come across this issue with ICOMs or is it just this one? and is there a known minimalist solution. > > Many thanks > > David G0MRF > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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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Chang'e-5-T1 landed
by Masahiro Arai 01 Nov '14

01 Nov '14

The Chang'e-5-T1 landed on Chaina at 1st Nov(local time). There is no news about 4M. Where is 4M?? Here is the nwes form CASC. It's in Chinese. http://zhuanti.spacechina.com/n763863/n763893/c770599/content.html Masa JN1GKZ

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Re: [amsat-bb] ICOM 706G phase noise
by David G0MRF 01 Nov '14

01 Nov '14

Hi Doug / Paul / Nick / Patrick. Thanks for all the comments and ideas. It seems the diplexer may work but only if it can filter the 70cm transmit output, not for desense, but for spurious emissions coming out of the IC706. A quick check earlier today following Patrick's reply shows there is significant wideband noise transmitted on 2m whenever the 706 enters its transmit mode on 70cms. This seems to be a 'feature' Moving the antennas apart by 30 feet reduces the noise to the general background level. Unfortunately a 30 ft boom isn't a practical solution. I've tried a cavity filter in the 435MHz transmit chain and miraculously the noise on 2m disappeared. But again, a cavity is not the easiest thing to include. I'll have a look at the diplexers. Hopefully there will be one with a low loss, but now I know the 706 is the problem I may just add a high pass filter in line with the output on 435MHz. Hopefully, after monitoring telemetry for the last 11 months I'll get this up and running over the weekend and finally manage a QSO on AO-73 Fingers crossed. Thanks for all the great suggestions David Here's the AMSAT link about "Desense" that describes the method to try. http://ww2.amsat.org/?page_id=2136 GL Nick, KB1RVT _______________________________________________ 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 -----Original Message----- From: Doug - k4gkj <k4gkj(a)embarqmail.com> To: n8hm <n8hm(a)arrl.net>; g0mrf <g0mrf(a)aol.com> CC: amsat-bb <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Sent: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 21:10 Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] ICOM 706G phase noise My 706mk2g doesn't do this. And at the moment, I have a diplexer on my tower to have one feedline share VHF & UHF antennas... I am not happy with the 2.5db+ of loss that comes along with putting that diplexer on... Doug K4GKJ Doug Bennight K4GKJ 850-528-5772 850-926-2052 -------- Original message -------- From: Paul Stoetzer <n8hm(a)arrl.net> Date: To: David G0MRF <g0mrf(a)aol.com> Cc: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] ICOM 706G phase noise David, Try a diplexer on either the transmit or receive side (whichever works better) with the common port to the antenna, the appropriate band port hooked to the radio, and the other band port left disconnected. If your Icom is putting something out on 2m when transmitting on 70cm, that should filter it out. 73, Paul, N8HM On Fri, Oct 31, 2014 at 12:41 PM, David G0MRF <g0mrf(a)aol.com> wrote: > > Hi all. > > Inspired by the FUN on the YouTube videos from the car park at Baltimore, I've been trying to set up a satellite station using two independent radios. An IC706G on 70cm transmit and an FT736R on 2m receive. > Antennas are a 4 ele yagi ( horizontal ) on 2m receive with an AMSAT-UK filtered preamp. Transmit antenna is a 9 ele Tonna mounted vertically. > Antennas are on a rotator using a fibreglass boom about 1.8m long. > > The problem: Whenever I press the 70cm transmit 'button' - ptt on SSB, or key on CW I get S8 noise on the 2m receiver. (and S6 without the preamp) > > Note...This does not appear to be RF overload as I can turn the power down to minimum on SSB, even remove the microphone and the noise level remains. > On CW the noise level is constant when the 706 is in transmit mode. It does not appear and disappear with each dot or dash. > > My conclusion is that on 70cm the IC706G is transmitting something on 2m whenever it is in it's transmit mode.- possibly phase noise. > > Has anyone else come across this issue with ICOMs or is it just this one? and is there a known minimalist solution. > > Many thanks > > David G0MRF > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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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