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

CAPE-2 over Brazil #1350
by Roland Zurmely 16 Feb '14

16 Feb '14

Two successful commands : 12:57 W5UL>W5UL-15>UI,C,F0: *forcebeac# 1:Fm W5UL-15 To W5UL <UI F/C Pid=F0 Len=66> +W5UL,CAPE-2,4,OR,201301281916CST,5319mV,010-2,4,9C,2C,ulcape.org# 12:58 W5UL>W5UL-15>UI,C,F0: *dump# 1:Fm W5UL-15 To W5UL <UI F/C Pid=F0 Len=57> W5UL,5247,816,5234,-2,5234,44,5234,OR,001,7,4,ulcape.org# 73 de Roland PY4ZBZ GH70un

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Yuma Hamfest - day 2
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 16 Feb '14

16 Feb '14

Hi! The 2014 Yuma Hamfest has wrapped up, and day two was a good day out here in southwestern Arizona. A full day of activity, followed by a barbecue in the evening. Just like yesterday afternoon, there were lots of people visiting the hamfest, and activity at the AMSAT booth in the main hall as well as outside the hall during demonstrations. Visitors... Larry WA6DIR and Endaf KG6FIY, two satellite operators from southern California, stopped by the hamfest and visited the booth. I posted a picture of Larry on my Twitter feed @WD9EWK (http://twitter.com/WD9EWK for those not on Twitter), and Endaf posted a photo of him and me to his Twitter feed @endaf_99 (http://twitter.com/endaf_99 ). Others that stopped by included Alex XE2BSS/N2IX, Larry KI6YAA, and Neil W6FOG - with his parrot. Other people would stop by and ask questions about satellites and AMSAT, along with questions on all sorts of topics. Satellites... thanks to the 8 stations across the continental USA and Mexico that worked WD9EWK during the SO-50 pass around 1444 UTC this morning. This was just before the official start of the hamfest at 1500 UTC, but there was a crowd milling around the main hall entrance where I was set up. A nice demonstration. That was followed by an FO-29 pass just over an hour later. Although I only talked with two stations (thanks to AC0RA and N5UXT for the calls!), Wyatt AC0RA was kind enough to chat with me for several minutes during the pass. That helped pass the time during the pass, instead of the crowd hearing several minutes of CQ calls until Angelo called me late in the pass. Alex XE2BSS/N2IX recorded videos of me working these two passes, and those should be up on YouTube in a few days, after I get back home. Along with these two passes, I made use of an AO-73 pass just after noon (1900 UTC) to copy some telemetry and feed it to the FUNcube data warehouse server from outside the main hall where I had done my earlier demonstrations. Using a FUNcube Dongle Pro+, Elk Antennas 2m/70cm log periodic, and the FUNcube Dashboard software on my laptop, I was able to successfully copy and upload 47 data frames during this pass. There were 45 other frames that I didn't copy completely, which I attribute to not pointing my antenna at the satellite well enough during parts of the pass. Alex XE2BSS/N2IX was back outside again with the camera recording another video, and Frank N7ZEV - he helped me with the AO-7 demonstration yesterday - was outside helping answer questions as the data was being received. It was nice to show the crowd the FUNcube data warehouse web page during the pass, where they could see WD9EWK-DM22 pop up on the web page along with the other stations feeding data to that server. I defined a new configuration for my Dashboard program just for the hamfest with its latitude and longitude, as opposed to WD9EWK-DM43 I normally use in the program at home. Thanks, once again, to the Yuma Amateur Radio Hamfest Organization for providing AMSAT a booth and allowing us to be a part of another successful weekend. This was the 6th consecutive year AMSAT has been a part of the Yuma Hamfest. Thanks to all of those who helped with the demonstrations, along with Ron W6ZQ and the other ARRL card checkers, as well as Francisco N6CRX (a ham from nearby Calexico CA), for keeping an eye on the AMSAT booth while we were outside with the demonstrations. And thanks to everyone who called and worked WD9EWK during the satellite demonstrations. Time for bed, then the drive home tomorrow (plus a stop somewhere in grid DM32 for some passes in the morning). 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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Satellite Splat on Sunday
by JoAnne Maenpaa 15 Feb '14

15 Feb '14

Hello, I saw a space story on-line which is interesting in case it burns up over your QTH. A Kosmos satellite is estimated to re-enter and crash on Sunday: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/02/15/russian-reconnaissance-satel lite-to-hit-earth-sunday/ or ... http://tinyurl.com/psgbbwh in case line-wrap clobbers the URL. The article includes a link to the n2yo.com page for tracking the Kosmos. -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm(a)amsat.org Editor, AMSAT Journal

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Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssss
by Vincenzo Mone 15 Feb '14

15 Feb '14

Hi Folks, tonight at 21:47 UTC i had the pass of AO-73 and with a big pleasure a could receive and decode with the FUNCUBE DDASHBOARD Software, the Telemetry. I would like to give my big thanks to everyone who had helped me to get into the bird. Now I ask if there is a possibility to decode the ESTCUBE-1 and the STRAND-1 birds That are at 9k6 baud. Which programs I need and which is the procedure step by step? Any help will be really appreciated. Thanks in advance and again thanks for the help got before. 73's de Enzo IK8OZV EasyLog 5 BetaTester EasyLog PDA BetaTester WinBollet BetaTester D.C.I. CheckPoint Regione Campania Skype: ik8ozv8520 ********************************** ******* GSM +39 328 7110193 ******* ****** SMS +39 328 7110193 ****** *** 2nd e-mail: vimone(a)tin.it *** *********************************

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HRD Sat tracking and IC-9100
by Gabriel - EA6VQ 15 Feb '14

15 Feb '14

Is someone using the HRD Satellite tracking program with the IC-9100 for Doppler correction? I am evaluating this software and I don't manage to make it change the uplink frequency in the rig following Doppler changes. It updates the downlink frequency, but no the uplink. Is it a bug in the software or am I doing something wrong? SATPC32 does the job more or less, but I also have some issues with it so I am looking for an alternative. Thanks. 73. Gabriel - EA6VQ _________________________________________________________ Web-Site: HTTP://www.dxmaps.com VQLog 3.1 (build 78): HTTP://www.vqlog.com _________________________________________________________

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Satellites in ARRLs Radio Waves Newsletter
by M5AKA 15 Feb '14

15 Feb '14

The Winter 2014 edition of Radio Waves, ARRL's e-newsletter for instructors and teachers, is now available. Among the selection of articles: “High School Students Put Packet Radio to Work for Local Environmental Study,” “Club Boasts Fourfold Increase in New Licensees/Upgrades,” “Instructor Corner — News, Ideas, Support,” and “In The Classroom: Teaching Ohm’s Law.” The newsletter also features the AMSAT-UK FUNcube satellite project. Radio Waves aims to provide information that will help educators and instructors with licensing or classroom instruction and to share experiences and stories of other instructors and teachers that may offer ideas for you to incorporate in your own activities. Download the Winter Radio Waves at http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Radio%20Waves%20Newsletter/Winter%202014%20R… Source ARRL http://www.arrl.org/news/winter-edition-of-new-radio-waves-e-newsletter-for… ----73 Trevor M5AKA

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Re: Funcube dongle software
by PA3GUO 15 Feb '14

15 Feb '14

Hi Robert, (assuming you mean the SDR software, not the Funcube telemetry decoding SW) I have played around a few years with HD-SDR, sdr-radio.com, etc. running on a Win XP machine with 2.5GB memory. Not too long ago I was fed up with their relative large CPU load so I tried SDRSharp. Light-weight CPU load wise, but has all I need. Plug & play for the FCD. And I purchased SatPC32, which plugs into SDRSharp, also no large CPU load. That's my SDR set-up these days. Next step to take is to connect SatPC32 to my TS2000 as well, I didn't have time to figure that out yet. For the TS2000 I still use HRD, but it takes minutes for the PC to start up the Satellite tracker of HRD. Once it runs, it's all fine, although I always feight with keppler sets in HRD. Same btw with SatPC32, also there I still struggle how to create a single set of satellites that are spread over multiple URL's (eg MCubed-2 is not in the standard kepler overviews but at a different location). ps: I am (still) about to purchase a new PC, and still doubting which O/S to go for (taking all the various programs discussed above into account on one hand and the upcoming end of selling of Windows 7 on the other hand). Henk, PA3GUO >Can anyone recommend suitable software for the Funcube dongle please? >Regards Robert G8ATE

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Small-beam Syndrome
by K5OE 15 Feb '14

15 Feb '14

Cliff, Having suffered from this malady for many years, I simple came to the conclusion that no matter how big your beam is, you can never have a beam too big. I believe this view is held by many, including the ARRL, who publish a Handbook every year with many articles devoted to encouraging you to employ an ever-bigger beam. These article are replete with pictures, of course, leading to an even more widespread condition: beam envy. 73, Jerry, M0GOE

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Missing Mails
by Vincenzo Mone 15 Feb '14

15 Feb '14

Hello, please apologize if i am using this list. I had problems with my PC and have lost all my emails. I had some discussion on this list about how to decode the AO-73 with a Dongle USB Stick. Please anybody can tell me if I can recover my emails on the list or If can help me how to decode the Bird? Any help will be really appreciated. Thanks in advance 73's de Enzo IK8OZV EasyLog 5 BetaTester EasyLog PDA BetaTester WinBollet BetaTester D.C.I. CheckPoint Regione Campania Skype: ik8ozv8520 ********************************** ******* GSM +39 328 7110193 ******* ****** SMS +39 328 7110193 ****** *** 2nd e-mail: vimone(a)tin.it *** *********************************

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Funcube dongle software
by Robert Turlington 15 Feb '14

15 Feb '14

Can anyone recommend suitable software for the Funcube dongle please? Regards Robert G8ATE

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