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

New CW msg on MO-76
by Howie DeFelice 31 Mar '14

31 Mar '14

A new message has been added to the $50sat CW rotation in memory of Tony AA2TX; "73 AA2TX" - Howie AB2S

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News
by K&R Yoksh 29 Mar '14

29 Mar '14

Hello! http://jacquiang.com/hz/br-news.php K&R Yoksh

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Noob Questions
by Kevin M 29 Mar '14

29 Mar '14

Could someone tell me what the "top 10" SSB/CW (non-FM only) birds are that are operational and most popular these days? Sorry, but it doesn't get to 10.... there are only four operational. FO-29 - JAS 2 Uplink: 145.900 – 146.000 MHz Downlink: 435.800 – 435.900 MHz (inverted) Beacon: 435.795 MHz 12WPM with CW message AO-7 - OSCAR 7 Mode B Uplink: 432.125 - 432.175 MHz Downlink: 145.975 - 145.925 MHz (inverted) Beacon: 145.972 MHz VO-52 - HAMSAT Uplink: 435.225 to 435.275 MHz LSB/CW Downlink: 145.875 to 145.925 MHz USB/CW (inverted) Beacon: 145.860 MHz 12WPM with CW message AO-73 - Funcube-1 Uplink: 435.160 - 435.140 MHz LSB/CW Downlink: 145.950 - 145.970 MHz USB/CW (inverted) Beacon: 145.935 MHz transponder active when in eclipse My recommendation would be to spend less on the beams and more on feedline and preamps. Those are circular polarized antennas... without wiring up relays to switch directions, you are better off just having a single polarity. It's my understanding from ops that DO have switching CP that you won't know from one pass to the next whether the bird will be RHCP or LHCP relative to your location. http://sv1bsx.50webs.com/antenna-pol/polarization.html I am about to put up a couple of used Cushcraft beams and I consider it a bit of overkill myself; an A430-11S and an A144-10S. I plan to mount one vertical and the other horizontal to help with desense separation. I was originally working AO-7, FO-29 and VU-52 with a couple homebrew antennas tilted about 20 degrees on a TV rotor; 7 elements on UHF and a 2m 'IO' antenna... and NO preamps. The extra gain of the Cushcraft antennas will be nice for low horizon passes, but I will definitely need the AZ-EL rotor with that much gain... and with the preamps, I should be able to hear about anything. I would recommend Davis Buryflex 9913F or maybe LMR-400 for feedline... However at 50 feet, if you have preamps, RG-213 would be just fine. I plan to mimic the preamp installation of KB5WIA... I got one of those cases cheap from MCM Electronics and picked up some used ARR preamps like he has. (25 watt transmit limit, but that is PLENTY! In fact, it's probably TOO much.) I also got a couple of MFJ diplexers to add to each feedline before the preamp to filter out the other band. But if you do add preamps, go with Davis Buryflex between the antennas and preamps... that is where you will lose receive signal. http://kb5wia.blogspot.com/2011_01_01_archive.html Good luck with the frankenrotor... that looks pretty cool! I was lucky enough to find a used 5400B... I just hope it doesn't have any problems. Feel free to e-mail me for any details like the case, homebrew antenna plans, etc. 73, Kevin N4UFO n4ufo(a)yahoo.com ------------------------------------------------------------------ "Control is the need of the fearful mind. Trust is the need of the courageous heart."

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5 in EM55
by wa4hfn＠comcast.net 29 Mar '14

29 Mar '14

Star Comm Group would like to congratulate WA7ETH for Award #48 5 in EM55 good job ED keep working the birds WA4HFN em55 Damon

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N American Satellite Activity UP
by Clayton Coleman 29 Mar '14

29 Mar '14

The past 7 days there has been a noticeable increase in activity on most satellite passes over North America due in part to a grid expedition by AC0RA. Wyatt posted his expedition here on the BB a few weeks ago. Over the course of this past week I understand he has made hundreds of contacts. Some of the grids Wyatt visited have not been activated on the birds in several years. This was evident by the number of people who are leading the ARRL VUCC Satellite standings needing those grids. Fortunately Wyatt put forth an effort that accomodated many working peoples' schedules and whether or not people who needed that grid were in the footprints he worked. One thing that can be done to encourage such activity is by mentoring new stations. I cringe at the "anti-handheld in the backyard mentality" because those operators are our future. Some of them may take on roles in AMSAT engineering, some may focus on operations (grid trips,) and more importantly some may desire to educate the next generation about satellite and space communications. Last night I worked a station who told me I was one of his first contacts. We've exchanged a few emails and now he's looking to operate from a rare, neighboring grid square situated a mere 5 miles from his home. It's been a fun week for many of us chasing these seldom-heard grids. If you have the equipment to operate outside the confines of your shack, I would encourage you to do so. Not only is it an opportunity to refresh your basic skills, it attracts others to do so, and gives a chance for you to activate grid squares absent of any regular satellite operators. 73 Clayton W5PFG

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FUNcube/AO-73 Mode change
by Roland Zurmely 29 Mar '14

29 Mar '14

Video by PY5LF: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzfSHmrg76M 73 de Roland PY4ZBZ

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Noob Questions
by Goody K3NG 29 Mar '14

29 Mar '14

Greetings, Could someone tell me what the "top 10" SSB/CW (non-FM only) birds are that are operational and most popular these days? I've been looking at these antennas: *http://www.dxengineering.com/parts/msq-2mcp14 <http://www.dxengineering.com/parts/msq-2mcp14>* *http://www.dxengineering.com/parts/msq-436cp30 <http://www.dxengineering.com/parts/msq-436cp30>* Are these antennas reasonable choices? Should I get preamps right away or hold off for awhile? (I planned on using two runs of RG-213, about 50'.) I'm working on a homebrew az/el rotation system: http://blog.radioartisan.com/frankenrotator/ Thanks in advance for the help. 73 Goody K3NG

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Fwd: AmSat Tony AA2TX FunCube
by Bryce Salmi 29 Mar '14

29 Mar '14

My dad sent me this screenshot with the request to forward it. He caught a recent FUNCube-1 pass and our friends over at AMSAT-UK have a nice message regarding Tony Monteiro in the Fitter message. Bryce KB1LQC ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: *John Salmi* <kb1mgi55(a)gmail.com> Date: Friday, March 28, 2014 Subject: AmSat Tony AA2TX FunCube To: Brent Salmi <kb1lqd(a)gmail.com>, Bryce <bstguitarist(a)gmail.com> Can you sent this attached file from FunCube to the folks at Amsat ? They may like seeing it. Dad

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FUNcube/AO-73 Mode change
by Roland Zurmely 29 Mar '14

29 Mar '14

Good signals on orbits #1770 and #1771 over South America! QSO with PY5LF, PU2RAS, LU2DPW and CX1TH. 73 de Roland PY4ZBZ in GH70un

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Timonium Md hamfest April 5 2014
by Lizeth Norman 28 Mar '14

28 Mar '14

Anyone from Amsat going to attend? I will be in the area and planned on attending, possibly taking the portable gear if there was any interest in a demonstration. Norm n3ykf

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