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

ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - AMSAT Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced
by Joseph Spier 27 Jul '14

27 Jul '14

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-199 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: * AMSAT Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-199.01 ANS-199 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin AMSAT News Service Bulletin 199.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE July 18, 2014 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-199.01 --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Fox-1C Launch Opportunity Announced AMSAT is excited to announce a launch opportunity for the Fox-1C Cubesat. AMSAT has teamed with Spaceflight Inc. for integration and launch utilizing Spaceflight's SHERPA system to a sun-synchronous orbit in the third quarter of 2015. Fox-1C is the third of four Fox-1 series satellites under development, with Fox-1A and RadFXsat/Fox-1B launching through the NASA ELANA program. Fox-1C will carry an FM repeater system for amateur radio for use by radio hams and listeners worldwide. Further details on the satellite and launch will be made available as soon as released. AMSAT has an immediate need to raise funds to cover both the launch contract and additional materials for construction and testing for Fox-1C. We have set a fundraising goal of $125,000 dollars to cover these expenses over the next 12 months, and allow us to continue to keep amateur radio in space. Donations may be made through the AMSAT webpage at www.amsat.org, by calling (888) 322-6728 or by mail to the AMSAT office at 10605 Concord Street, Kensington, MD 20895, USA. Please consider a recurring, club, or corporate donation to maximize our chance of success with this mission. Also watch our website at www.amsat.org,follow us on Twitter at "AMSAT", or on Facebook as "The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation" for continuing news and opportunities for support. AMSAT is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation and donations may be tax-deductible. [ANS Thanks AMSAT Board of Directors 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, Joe Spier, K6WAO k6wao at amsat dot org

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Inclusion
by Kevin M 27 Jul '14

27 Jul '14

Good day all, Let me attempt to add a few cogent thoughts to the ongoing 'future of AMSAT' discussion... I don't know if I am the typical ham or not, but I've been licensed for 35+ years... started in my teens. Have built some of my own gear, joined clubs, worked HF, chased DX, dabbled in lots of areas of ham radio... I've volunteered a lot of my time to different ham projects, emergency communications, repeaters (owned 3), digital networks, been a VE and so on. I'm at a point in my life and hobby that as the result of an agreement with 'she who must be pleased' I am more or less relegating myself to the simple 'sport' and enjoyment of the hobby. I build antennas, chase DX, chase grids, etc. One of the things I decided to do was get back on satellites just over a year ago. I tried an FM sat for the first time. I loved it and pursued more depth in the 'satellite' sub-hobby of ham radio. That said... my original introduction to satellites was RS-12/13 in the mid 90s. I was living in a condo with little to no antenna and was actively chasing the CQ 50 awards (CQ magazines 50th anniversary). One of the tasks was to make a satellite QSO. Now how was I going to do that with an HF rig and a Hustler vertical on my deck. I researched, found out about RS-12 and gave it a try. My first contact on the bird was so exciting, I whooped and hollered so loud I scared the heck out of my wife. It was as exciting if not more so than my first Novice CW contact in 1977. I was really hooked and spent the next 5-6 years really enjoying that bird. Dinner times revolved around sat passes. I wrote up a webpage dedicated to helping hams make their first satellite contact on RS-12/13, maintained a forum to help people with getting on the bird and making scheduled contacts, etc. (google RS-12/13 and references to my old call and webpage STILL come up) - I volunteered my time and enjoyed it a lot... now ask me why I never joined or supported AMSAT. It was because I had a number of run ins with AMSAT members that basically did not have the time of day for me. (Jerry K5OE was the one glaring exception) Their attitude was that RS-12/13 uses HF bands... it was not a 'REAL' satellite. I was introduced to this early on in my research to get on a bird when I called the AMSAT office asking for help and was referred to a field rep(?) about a hundred miles for me. When I called him, he told me he worked only digital birds, knew nothing about what I wanted to know and in general BLEW ME OFF. He did not refer me on to anyone, never got back to me or gave a rats. So why did I need AMSAT? Why should I give money to a bunch of arrogant so & so's that are interested in things way over my head. Now skip ahead to this last year. I got on ham forums, I asked questions... I bought an HT to dip my toe in the water. I built a little homebrew antenna and made a contact on an FM bird. Far OUT!!! It was cool and this was fun... just like before. But, what more was there to do?!! I traded for a UHF all mode to go with my VHF... I built home brew beam antennas and put them up. I later upgraded my rig. I started chasing grids again and enjoying running across some of the same hams. I was fortunate to got to know them... they were INCLUSIVE and encouraged me to join AMSAT... so I did. Now I am exposed to more of what AMSAT does and I see the benefit. I see now that I ran into some NON-inclusive hams years ago. Shouldn't judge the whole group by a few, etc. BUT, the problem is... first impressions are often very lasting. They lasted with me for 15+ years. Here is my point. Without introductory birds (FM) and an inclusive attitude, AMSAT is never going to grow and acquire the volunteer and monetary support to ever achieve some of the very things being complained about. You want to recruit new hams and get them to financially support AMSAT and it's endeavors? Then you need to develop an inclusive attitude. On this reflector I've heard comments that basically imply anyone who wants to go outside with an HT and wave a yagi around is stupid. <ZAP!> There went a whole bunch of future support dollars out of the coffers. I don't think I need to touch the HEO/LEO debate, but now I am hearing that FM birds are old hat... no good... we need better. <ZAP!> There goes another huge chunk. You know what I and many 'new sat ops' hear? "What you like is DUMB!" - I LIKE FM birds... I LIKE waving my yagi around... and I joined AMSAT! I just sent in my BOD ballot and I'm trying to figure out how much I can donate to the Fox launch. Guess what... I MIGHT like digital birds. I've joined AMSAT now and you've got my attention... INTEREST ME! Tell me what I am missing... give me a presentation, a paper, a video, an article... hell, come buy me a cuppa joe and explain it to me. But for gosh sakes, do you really think that telling me that what I like to do is DUMB and then whine that I, as an AMSAT member, won't pay for whatever it is YOU like to do is a good strategy?!!! I am a 'sport' ham... I enjoy chasing DX, grids, the sats, etc. I have no current interest in digital modes on satellites... mostly because I probably don't UNDERSTAND THEM. My knowledge of digital on sats is guys with complicated stand alone setups and expensive TNCs that forwarded BBS messages. I mean, are you talking digital voice like DSTAR? Forwarded text? Live messaging? Video? What???? No one has ever explained it to me!!! Can I make QSOs on it and chase grids? All I walk away with after reading the comments is... 'Gee, apparently what I like is DUMB'. Yes, I have used a little hyperbole, but I'm trying to make a point. This pervasive attitude is driving away the very people that could potentially support and later get actively involved in your 'advocated flavor' of the sat hobby. You simply MUST remember that the majority of sat ops don't fall out of the trees fully grown. Those guys that try out sats with an HT and a home made antenna... there's a lot of them. I'm basically one of them. Some will come and go, some might stay... but if you discourage them and exclude them by insulting their current flavor of operating, why would they hang around? I eventually came back around, met a different sort and stayed. And now I'm taking the time to say what a huge chunk of those that go away never bother to say. That being, "Help me enjoy what I like and I'll help you enjoy what you like. Interest me in what you like and I might like it, too. But insult me and insist that I change, and I'll find someplace more fun and inviting to spend my time and money." I hope my thoughts have been useful and I ask that you please take them in the spirit they are offered. I'd like to see AMSAT and the satellite hobby grow. I understand the frustration, but it seems that many are letting that frustration kill the very thing that could help alleviate their pain. Just try to be inclusive and see beyond the end of your own antenna. 73, Kevin N4UFO, ex-AC5DK AMSAT # 39145 ------------------------------------------------------------------ "Control is the need of the fearful mind. Trust is the need of the courageous heart."

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Re: [amsat-bb] LO-78 passes.
by Tom Schuessler 27 Jul '14

27 Jul '14

In my email of last evening about LO-78 I failed to mention one important thing relating to it. Where to find the best TLEs. The only place LituanicaSat-1, LO-78 showsup is in the Celestrak "Cubesats" listing. It has never shown up in the "Amateur" listing that they publish. WA5QGD's Keps distribution does have it as LO-78 but since he only updates once a week, and since the orbit is decaying rapidly, even two day old TLE's will be off. This morning on the 1220Z ish pass for me only heard K8YSE and AA5PK. I will listen on the 0422z pass for me on this 7-27 and see if it is on but I bet it is not. Tom, N5HYP

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ANS-208 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 27 Jul '14

27 Jul '14

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-208 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: * Goodbye HAMSAT-VO52 - Rest In Peace * Ham TV Test Mode Operation, Planned start-up on 22 July * Amazon Smile Update * Return envelope sent with AMSAT-NA ballot package has old address * Reid Wiseman KF5LKT Activates ARISS During ARRL Centennial * AMSAT Symposium Only Ten Weeks Away * 2014 AMSAT Symposium Trips, Social Events, and Tours * How to contribute to the Fox-1C satellite. * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-208.01 ANS-208 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 208.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE July 27, 2014 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-208.01 Goodbye HAMSAT-VO52 - Rest In Peace In a posting to the AMSAT-BB July 21, Mani Subramani, VU2WMY/KJ6LRS, Secretary & Station-In-Charge Upagrah Amateur Radio Club VU2URC ISRO Satellite Centre, sadly reported "HAMSAT VO-52 succumbed in Space on 11th July 2014..." Dear Friends, With heavy heart, I sadly convey, that our little angel 'HAMSAT VO- 52' would no more be able to offer her services to the 'Amateur Radio Fraternity. HAMSAT VO-52 succumbed in Space on 11th July 2014, while she was on her 49,675th orbit, due to the failure of on-board lithium ion batteries that have met their end of life. Although her desires were to be at work with other systems and sub- systems working normal as per the latest telemetry received, the on- board computer recurring to 'Reset' mode due to the failure of batteries is preventing her to do so. Hence, it is decided not to expect any more meaningful and reliable services from HAMSAT VO-52. Since 11th July, every best possible effort has been put in by the spacecraft controllers here in ISTRAC Bangalore to revive her back to life and to help her with work load, so she won't be swamped when she returns, but with no luck. Though it is hard, the HAMSAT VO-52 designers and controllers insist that the time has come to let the little angel free in space to go drifting on her own from their care and custody. Thus, today 21st July 2014, ISRO have decommissioned 'HAMSAT-VO52' officially. We all here in ISRO do definitely hope that 'HAMSAT VO-52' worked tirelessly and was a good friend to the 'Amateur Radio Fraternity' around the World. We are sure that HAMSAT was loved by all who worked through her. Though, we are deeply saddened by the loss of HAMSAT VO- 52, but she will never be forgotten and far from our hearts, minds and memories. HAMSAT VO-52 will always be remembered by all of us here in ISRO as one of the greatest satellites of ours. Dear 'HAMSAT', looking at the sky, we all say 'Good Bye' to you. You'll be greatly missed. Rest in Peace. Nevertheless, at this point of time, on behalf of the World Amateur Radio Fraternity, we thank each and everyone who contributed to the great success of 'HAMSAT'. Particularly, our sincere thanks to the Chairman ISRO, Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, past chairmen Dr. Kasthurirangan, Dr. G. Madhavan Nair, Director-ISAC Dr. S.K.Shiva Kumar, past ISAC Directors Dr. P.S. Goel, Dr. Shankara, Dr. T.K. Alex, Director-ISTRAC Shri. B.S. Chandrasekhar, scientific secretary Dr. Koteshwar Rao, Project Director-Shri. J.P. Gupta, Deputy project Directors, Mission Director- Shri. R.Suresh, Operations Director-Shri. Parimalarangan and each and every person directly or in-directly contributed. At this point of time, we also thank AMSAT-India and in particular, lateShri. Nagesh Upadhyaya-VU2NUD, Shri. B.S. Gajendra Kumar-VU2BGS, Shri. Prathap Kumar-VU2POP, Air Commodore. Subramanian-VU2UV, Shri. V.P. Sandlas-VU2VP, Dr.R. Ramesh-VU2RMS, Shri. Nitin-VU3TYG, Mr. Williams Leijenaar PE1RAH and each and every member. Pasted below is the message from Mr. R. Suresh, Mission Director: HAMSAT, the first small satellite by ISRO has been Decommissioned after nearly a decade of service to the World Ham community. A true masterpiece among small satellites, designed for one year mission life, but exceeded all expectations by serving for almost 10 years. A truly autonomous satellite, with "Zero maintenance" in terms of Mission operations, it provided a springboard to test many new concepts such as BMU. LI-ion based power system, automatic Spin rate control and Auto SAOC for maintaining the Satellite attitude without any ground commanding. HAMSAT known as "OSCAR-52" among the Amateur HAM operators has been very popular because of its high sensitivity receiver and strong transmitter. Indian Radio Amateurs on many occasions conveyed to us that they have been greatly honored to share the adulations showered on ISRO and INDIA by the International Radio Amateur for gifting this wonderful satellite "HAMSAT". I take this opportunity to applaud the HAMSAT teams at ISAC, ISTRAC and other centre for their efforts and support, which has made ISRO proud among the HAM users across the globe. R,SURESH MISSION DIRECTOR HAMSAT --- Mani [VU2WMY/KJ6LRS] Secretary & Station-In-Charge Upagrah Amateur Radio Club VU2URC ISRO Satellite Centre [ANS thanks Mani VU2WMY/KJ6LRS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Ham TV Test Mode Operation, Planned start-up on 22 July Ham TV Test Mode Operation, Planned start-up on Tuesday, July 22 It was announced that HAM TV on board the International Space Station (ISS) will be activated on Tuesday, July 22, 2014 at 9:55 UTC. Operation will be in the Blank Transmission mode. The signal is sent from the ISS Columbus module and will be in Configuration 4: 2.395 GHz and 2.0 MSym/sec. Operation will continue through August 6, 2014. ARISS-Europe Chair, Gaston Bertels invites ground stations to submit reception reports to the following website, http://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_FSTV/submit.php [ANS thanks David Jordan, AA4KN, ARISS PR for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Amazon Smile Update AMSAT-NA is participating in the AmazonSmile program. AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support your favorite charitable organization every time you shop at Amazon.com, at no cost to you. Amazon will donate 0.5% of eligible AmazonSmile purchases to the charitable organization of your choice. If you do business with Amazon you can apply your donation by logging into your Amazon account using http://smile.amazon.com/ch/52-0888529 to designate AMSAT-NA as the organization of your choice. You must use the URL smile.amazon.com for AMSAT (or another charity) to receive the donation from your purchases. The AMSAT Office reports that to date, AMSAT-NA has received $66.62 from Amazon Smile. If you shop on Amazom.com we encourage your participation. Every little bit helps. [ANS thanks Martha at the AMSAT Office for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Return envelope sent with AMSAT-NA ballot package has old address After the 2014 AMSAT-NA Board of Directors election ballots were mailed, we were notified by our printer that old stock return envelopes were inadvertently included. These have the old Silver Spring, MD address. The ballot postcard and other documents have the correct Kensington, MD address. Mail is being efficiently forwarded to the new AMSAT-NA office address, and will continue to be forwarded for several months. You may use either the envelope included in the packet, or your own envelope or address label to send the ballot to the current address: AMSAT The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation 10605 Concord Street Kensington, MD 20895 USA We and our printer regret any inconvenience. Whichever method you chose, please return them promptly to ensure that your ballot is received by 15 September! Alan Biddle WA4SCA AMSAT Corporate Secretary [ANS thanks Alan WA4SCA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Reid Wiseman KF5LKT Activates ARISS During ARRL Centennial An unexpected treat happened in Hartford on Saturday morning during the ARRL Centennial. Patrick Stoddard WD9EWK had planned on being outside the convention center for ISS passes, prepared to show off the ISS digipeater, and - if a voice was heard on 145.800 MHz talk to an ISS crewmember. Patrick reports, "The first of the three workable passes from Hartford came a little while before the convention officially opened for the day at 0835 local/1235 UTC. The ISS was passing across the northern sky, with maximum elevation of 25 degrees. I heard only packet on 145.825 MHz, and was ableto bounce a few packets through the ISS digipeater using a TH-D72A and Elk dual-band log periodic antenna. "The next pass, around 1010 local/1410 UTC, was the best of the passes fornthe morning - going across the southwestern sky with maximum elevation ofn59 degrees. I had a radio listening to both 145.800 and 145.825 MHz. I heard nothing on 145.825 MHz, but thought I heard something on 145.800 MHz. "I started calling for NA1SS using my TH-D72A/Elk combination, and Reid Wiseman (the same astronaut who was on for Field Day last month) answered my call. My audience went crazy, and I was happy to make contact and have a nice 3- to 4- minute chat. "I asked Reid if he might be on the microphone for the next pass over the eastern USA around 1200 local/1600 UTC. He said he would try, and we were outside for that as well. "Once we told people in the hall of the successful contact, the ARRL made sure there was a larger crowd outside for this pass. Several minutes before AOS, I was out there again, this time answering lots of questions from different people. After AOS, I started calling for NA1SS, but never heard anything on 145.800 MHz during the shallow (maximum elevation 6 degrees) pass." [ANS thanks Patrick WD9EWK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Symposium Only Ten Weeks Away Billed as the Charm City Space Symposium, AMSAT-NA's 32nd Symposium and Annual Meeting will be held October 10-12, 2014 in Baltimore, Maryland. * Board of Directors meeting on October 9 and morning of October 10. * Technical presentations on satellite design/operating begin the afternoon of October 10 and continue October 11. * Meet AMSAT Officers and Board members. * Meet and greet fellow satellite operators. * Satellites on display. * Annual general meeting afternoon of October 10. * Saturday evening annual banquet with door prizes. * Sunday morning Area Coordinator's breakfast. * Sunday ARISS Operations Team meeting. * Sunday and Monday tours. Hotel: DoubleTree by Hilton -- Baltimore - BWI Airport 890 Elkridge Landing Rd, Linthicum, Maryland, 21090 Phone: 410-859-8400 Ask For: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation Group or use the Code: RAS AMSAT Special Room Rate--$99.00 per night $10 Breakfast Buffet Coupons--Full Hot and Cold Breakfast* FREE Parking FREE WiFi Free Airport and Close-in Transportation Easy Train/Light Rail Service to Baltimore Inner Harbor & D.C. Metro Walking distance to National Electronics Museum Special Guest Presentations *Purchase at check-in A registration form for the Symposium and all events may be downloaded at http://tinyurl.com/ANS208-SymposiumRegistration Online registration is available through the AMSAT Store http://tinyurl.com/ANS208-OnlineRegistration [ANS thanks AMSAT Office for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 AMSAT Symposium Trips, Social Events, and Tours We will have two "working" events scheduled Sunday morning (October 12)-the Area Coordinators Breakfast and the ARISS Operations Team Meeting. Similar to last year's symposium, two opportunities for tours are planned for the 2014 Space Symposium: 1) On Sunday October 12 (Afternoon), several Small Group/Light Rail tours are being planned. Symposium participants can choose one of the following tours: Baltimore Inner Harbor Tour (including the Aquarium), the B&O Railroad Museum, Edgar Allen Poe House or the National Electronics Museum. 2) On Columbus Day, Monday October 13 we will take a bus to the Washington Dulles airport area to tour the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum. Udvar-Hazy is a phenomenal museum with hundreds of aircraft and spacecraft, including the Space Shuttle Discovery, an SR-71, Enola Gay, and many others. The plan is to leave the hotel at 9 am and return around 4 pm. In order to get maximum benefit from all the holiday weekend events, the symposium committee suggests that symposium participants consider scheduling their airline flights for no earlier than 6 pm on Monday October 13. [ANS thanks AMSAT Office for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- How to contribute to the Fox-1C satellite With the recent announcement of the launch opportunity for the Fox- 1C Cubesat, AMSAT has an immediate need to raise funds to cover both the launch contract and additional materials for construction and testing for Fox-1C. We have set a fundraising goal of $125,000 to cover these expenses over the next 12 months, and allow us to continue to keep amateur radio in space. Contributing to Fox-1C: let us count the ways. To contribute specifically to the Fox-1C satellite, you can specify this in your communication with AMSAT, and in the "For" line if you pay by check. Via E-mail: martha(a)amsat.org Via telephone: >From the US call toll free at (888) 322-6728 >From all other locations call (301) 822-4376 Via regular mail: Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) 10605 Concord St, #304 Kensington, MD 20895 On line: Go to www.amsat.org and select the "Support the Fox Satellite" DONATE button in the upper right. This will take you to PayPal where you may donate any amount. If desired, you can make this a monthly recurring donation. You may cancel this at any time through your PayPal account. All contributions at this time go directly to the Fox-1C satellite. This is specified in the Reference on the PayPal page. Go to the AMSAT Store http://store.amsat.org/catalog/ and select General Donations from the left column. When you check out, note in the remarks section that you want the contribution to go to Fox-1C. However you chose to contribute, thank you for helping to Keep Amateur Radio in Space! [ANS thanks the AMSAT Office for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News Join ARISS us on Facebook : Amateur Radio on the ISS (ARISS) Follow ARISS on Twitter: @ARISS_status There were no ARISS School Contacts the week of July 20-26, 2014. The radios were off for most of the week due to Progress undocking and docking. Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule ESA 2014 Space Camp, Rossall School, Fleetwood, United Kingdom telebridge via via W6SRJ Contact is a go for: Tue 2014-07-29 14:01:13 UTC 53 deg Watch for live audio/video simulcast Http://www.batc.tv/streams/arissuk/ Space Jam 8, Rantoul Airport & Chanute Aerospace Museum, Rantoul IL, telebridge via W6SRJ Contact is a go for: Sat 2014-08-02 12:23:19 UTC 60 deg ARISS is requesting listener reports for the above contacts. Due to issues with the Kenwood radio that are not fully understood at present, the Ericsson radio is going to be used for these contacts. ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance. Feel free to send your reports to aj9n(a)amsat.org or aj9n(a)aol.com. Several of you have sent me emails asking about the RAC ARISS website and not being able to get in. That has now been changed to http://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. QSL information may be found at: http://www.arrl.org/ARISS/arissfaq.html http://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS The successful school list has been updated as of 2014-07-11 19:30 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 Exp. 39/40 on orbit Steve Swanson Aleksander Skvortsov Oleg Artemyev Exp. 40/41 on orbit Maxim Suraev Gregory Wiseman KF5LKT Alexander Gerst KF5ONO >From 2014-11-10 to 2014-12-07, there will be no US Operational Segment (USOS) hams on board ISS. Any schools contacts during this period will be conducted by the ARISS Russia team. [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + 2014 AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium Presentations to be Archived Although the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium ends Sunday the British Amateur Radio Club (BATC) would like to inform everyone that post conference, the videos will be available at http://batc.tv/ under "Film Archive". Select the AMSAT2014 category. Trevor M5AKA suggests that, in theory some videos may be uploaded at 18:00 BST (1700 GMT) on Saturday. Best thing is to check batc.tv film archive and see if any have turned up, if they have you can be fairly sure that Sunday's will be joining them on the same place. The programme for the Colloquium is available at http://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/colloquium-2014/ [ANS thank Trevor M5AKA for the above information] + Join AMSAT on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/7828379515/ + Follow AMSAT on Twitter https://twitter.com/amsat @amsat + Visit AMSAT online http://www.amsat.org + Join ARISS on Facebook http://tinyurl.com/ANS208-ARISS-Facebook Amateur Radio on the ISS (ARISS) + Follow ARISS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ARISS_status @ARISS_status + Visit ISS Fan Club http://http://www.issfanclub.com/ + Follow ISS Fan Club on Twitter https://twitter.com/rs0iss @rs0iss + New Version of FUNcube Dashboard Released According to a Tweet released by @FUNcubeUK early Saturday morning, a version 847 of FUNcube Dashboard has been released. Download it now from funcube.org.uk/working-documents/funcube-telemetry-dashboard --------------------------------------------------------------------- /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, EMike McCardel, KC8YLD kc8yld at amsat dot org

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TH-D72a
by Richard Lawn 27 Jul '14

27 Jul '14

Is this an appropriate HT for duplex sat work? I think it is but wanted to check with the group. I'm thinking of replacing my old boat anchor HT, but it does do full duplex. Rick W2JAZ

2 1

tracking programs: azimuth output
by Lizeth Norman 26 Jul '14

26 Jul '14

Hi all! Stupid question but one that has been bothering me. What reference does satpc32 and Orbitron use to generate the azimuth? Is the resulting heading true or magnetic? Comparing the two programs, they seem to be the same. Norm n3ykf

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CAPE-2 #3820 over Brazil
by Roland Zurmely 26 Jul '14

26 Jul '14

Successful Send text to speech command, voice from Precise Pete: http://www.qsl.net/py4zbz/c2_2607pp.wav 73 de Roland PY4ZBZ GH70un

1 0

W3DJM/MM FL49 on SO-50
by Clayton Coleman 26 Jul '14

26 Jul '14

I worked W3DJM in FL49 on the last pass of SO-50 at 17:09 UTC 26-Jul-2014. It's amazing what someone with an FM handheld can do with a little practice. 73 Clayton W5PFG

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847 version of FUNcube Dashboard
by Clayton Coleman 26 Jul '14

26 Jul '14

The latest version of the FUNcube Dashboard seems to decode rather well, at least comparable to the previous release. http://funcube.org.uk/working-documents/funcube-telemetry-dashboard/ I didn't get a chance to decode a whole pass due to SO-50 AOS coinciding with the TCA for AO-73, but by that time I had decoded 93 frames. I'm confident that if I had continued tracking AO-73 I would have reached 130+ frames. This is with a 7 ele linear yagi, no preamp, full az/el control, and the FCDP+. Good job team! 73 Clayton W5PFG

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847 version of FUNcube Dashboard
by Clayton Coleman 26 Jul '14

26 Jul '14

The latest version of the FUNcube Dashboard seems to decode rather well, at least comparable to the previous release. http://funcube.org.uk/working-documents/funcube-telemetry-dashboard/ I didn't get a chance to decode a whole pass due to SO-50 AOS coinciding with the TCA for AO-73, but by that time I had decoded 93 frames. I'm confident that if I had continued tracking AO-73 I would have reached 130+ frames. This is with a 7 ele linear yagi, no preamp, full az/el control, and the FCDP+. Good job team! 73 Clayton W5PFG

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