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

Re: AO-73 Deaf again ????
by Peter Wilson 15 Mar '14

15 Mar '14

Clayton Thanks for reply. Understood - I only did the one calibration when Funcube was launched. I am aware that the satellite drifts, but I used to start -1.5Khz below the calibration point, then move up in frequency. My point is that I had to start the QSO +6.6Khz - seems a big difference. Again, thanks for reply Peter G8KEK From: Clayton Coleman [mailto:kayakfishtx@gmail.com] Sent: 15 March 2014 01:33 To: Peter Wilson Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: AO-73 Deaf again ???? Peter, I suggest not calibrating SatPC32 every pass of AO-73 but instead utilize the plus and minus +/- keys on your keyboard to tweak your uplink as required. AO-73 tends to move a little bit. 73 Clayton W5PFG On Mar 14, 2014 4:45 PM, "Peter Wilson" <protest(a)virginmedia.com <mailto:protest@virginmedia.com> > wrote: Paul, Thank you for your reply - I think I have solved the problem I use SatPC32 to control my rig and I have calibrated it to be fairly close for receiving my own transmission early in the pass. HOWEVER - today, I had to tune 6.5Khz higher than I normally do to hear my own signal ! Once I found my own signal everything was back to normal I know there are other people having the same issue, so I wonder what has happened to the satellite? Thanks to everyone who has replied. Peter G8KEK _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org <mailto:AMSAT-BB@amsat.org> . Opinions expressed are those of the author. 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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ANNOUNCEMENT: 2014 ARRL/TAPR DCC (Digital Communications Conference) - Austin, TX, September 5th - 7th
by Mark Thompson 15 Mar '14

15 Mar '14

Please forward this announcement to clubs, groups & hams who might be interested. 33rd Annual 2014 ARRL/TAPR DCC (Digital Communications Conference) Announcement Friday, September 5th - Sunday, September 7th Austin Marriott South in Austin, TX The DCC is returning to Texas this year. The DCC has two days of Technical forums on Friday & Saturday and a concurrent Introductory forum on Saturday. On Saturday night the banquet will feature an interesting speaker and the Sunday morning Seminar will be a deep-dive into a technical topic. Those who submit Technical Papers for inclusion in the annual DCC Proceedings will receive preference for a forum, however you can propose to present a forum without submitting a technical paper. There will be free tables in the demo room to demonstrate projects and vendors to demonstrate products. We encourage those interested in attending the DCC to make your hotel reservations early to get special TAPR hotel rate. Updated DCC Information Available on TAPR's Web Site at: www.tapr.org/dcc Follow TAPR & DCC Announcements on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/taprdigital TAPR & DCC Announcements are on TAPR's Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/TAPRDigitalHam

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fo-29
by Jeff KB2M 14 Mar '14

14 Mar '14

Just tried a FO-29 pass for the first time in months. I don't get down here to operate at my main station much anymore. I put myself right around 435.850, a clear freq and proceeded to try and make a few contacts. Well, after one contact all of a sudden there were 3 or 4 stations calling CQ on 850, right on top of the station I was trying to work. I don't get it, there is plenty of bandwidth why do people call right in the middle of someone trying to make a contact. I gave up, unbelievable... 73 Jeff kb2m

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Re: AO-73 Deaf again ????
by Peter Wilson 14 Mar '14

14 Mar '14

Paul, Thank you for your reply - I think I have solved the problem I use SatPC32 to control my rig and I have calibrated it to be fairly close for receiving my own transmission early in the pass. HOWEVER - today, I had to tune 6.5Khz higher than I normally do to hear my own signal ! Once I found my own signal everything was back to normal I know there are other people having the same issue, so I wonder what has happened to the satellite? Thanks to everyone who has replied. Peter G8KEK

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LituanicaSAT-1 CubeSat Update
by M5AKA 14 Mar '14

14 Mar '14

Laurynas Maciulis LY1LM provides an update on LituanicaSAT-1. http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/14/lituanicasat-1-cubesat-update/ 73 Trevor M5AKA

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droid sat app
by WA6FWF 14 Mar '14

14 Mar '14

Hi, been looking at different sat tracking apps cant seem to find a particular feature I want, I looking for a app that can run in the background and then it will popup and alert me when a sat is about to AOS, I tend to get busy doing something and then miss a pass, anyone seen a app that will do this? Thanks 73 Kevin WA6FWF

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More On SpaceX Launch Delay
by B J 14 Mar '14

14 Mar '14

http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/space-flight-missions/commercial-space-sp… http://www.parabolicarc.com/2014/03/13/spacex-postpones-dragon-flight-iss-2… http://www.newspacejournal.com/2014/03/14/spacex-postpones-its-next-iss-mis… http://innerspace.net/spacex/sundays-spacex-3-launch-delayed/ http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/news/spacex-postpones-crs-3-launch-for-at-… 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL

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KickSat Sprites set for launch
by M5AKA 14 Mar '14

14 Mar '14

KickSat Sprites set for launch http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/13/kicksat-sprites-set-for-launch/ New Satellite Telemetry Decoder Apps Released http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/12/new-satellite-telemetry-decoder-apps-release… Amateur radio satellite operation from Isle of Lewis IO68UL http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/12/amateur-radio-satellite-operation-from-isle-… ---- Trevor M5AKA AMSAT-UK Website http://amsat-uk.org/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/AMSAT-UK/208113275898396 Twitter https://twitter.com/AMSAT_UK ----

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W1AW/7 from Arizona on satellites, after 2 days...
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 14 Mar '14

14 Mar '14

Hi! After just over 2 days, John K8YSE/7 and I have been busy putting W1AW/7 on lots of satellite passes. It's been fun! I just worked a couple of passes this evening on FO-29 and AO-73, bringing my QSO count to 23 over 7 different passes on 3 satellites (AO-73, FO-29, VO-52). John has been on during the daytime, working more passes and stations. I did not get an update from him today, but hope to get something from him tomorrow that I can pass along (if he doesn't post an update himself). On the AO-73 pass I just worked tonight, there was a Canadian station who was trying to call me in CW near the end of the pass. I'm sorry I could not copy enough of your call to make a cross- mode contact, as your CW was a bit faster than what I can copy outside of some HF contests. I have the keyer in my FT-817NDs set at 17wpm, a speed fast enough to be comfortable sending and copying without having to scribble anything down (my audio recorder comes in handy on CW just as it does for SSB and FM QSOs). I have been asked to make CW QSOs as W1AW/7, but I'm not very comfortable doing a lot of CW via satellite. Throw in Doppler on top of trying to concentrate on my sending and pointing the antenna - a lot to do. Despite my poor effort trying to decode that call, I was able to work CO6CBF early in tonight's AO-73 pass. Hector has been doing great things with his gear on the satellites lately, including operating portable - something he had difficulties doing in the past. Maybe we can get him to work SSB and FM satellites during Cuban grid expeditions, as he has done previously on SO-50. :-) I may not stay up too late tomorrow (Friday) night working the satellites, so I can be up early and at the hamfest in Scottsdale AZ early Saturday morning. I might be able to work a couple of passes, ending with an FO-29 pass around 0335 UTC, so I can pack my gear and get up to the hamfest early. I am shooting for the VO-52 pass around 1251 UTC and the FO-29 pass after that at 1305 UTC for good chances to work all across North America from the hamfest as W1AW/7. A reminder... I'm posting updates on my plans to work as W1AW/7 on my Twitter feed @WD9EWK (http://twitter.com/WD9EWK for those not using Twitter), and will continue to do that Saturday morning at the hamfest. I should be able to tweet some photos during the hamfest, and - assuming the mobile phone data network is 3G or 4G at the hamfest - I should be able to submit data from AO-73 to the FUNcube data warehouse from the hamfest site. Thanks for all the QSOs with John and me as W1AW/7 so far this week. We'll keep working passes through Tuesday afternoon, when this week of fun comes to an end for us using W1AW/7 in Arizona. Please call us when you hear us on, even if you've already worked us this week. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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AO-73 Deaf again ????
by Peter Wilson 14 Mar '14

14 Mar '14

Hi All, I reported AO-73 as being deaf a few days ago and I had a few responses which explained that it might be "alligators" or possibly a Military Radar station in the North of the UK causing interference. Tonight at 21:56 we had a high elevation pass in the UK - same again. I have made over 70 contacts through Funcube, so I don't think it's me. Tonight was a Westerly pass which is away from the Military site on the East Coast. Anyone else having the same issues from Europe ??? Peter G8KEK

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