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

Finally!
by Martha 22 Aug '14

22 Aug '14

Yes, I am going on vacation! The office will be closed through Monday, Sept 1. We will reopen on Tuesday, Sept 2nd at 10:00AM -- 73- Martha

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W1AW/7 on satellites starting Wednesday (UTC time)
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 22 Aug '14

22 Aug '14

Hi! Following the schedule for W1AW/x portable activity during 2014, next week will start the second of the two weeks W1AW/7 will air from Arizona. The first W1AW/7 Arizona satellite activity in March was successful (thanks, John K8YSE, for making good use of the K8YSE/7 station in Arizona that week), and I'm hoping for another successful week starting at 0000 UTC Wednesday, 27 August (2000 EDT/1700 PDT on Tuesday, 26 August). I will be operating as W1AW/7 on weeknights, and plan on more activity during the Labor Day weekend (30 August-1 September) that falls within this one-week period. I am working on having additional operators for the weekday passes, when I won't be able to get on the radio myself. As with any of the W1AW/x activities, ARRL will handle the QSLing. ARRL will upload all W1AW/7 logs to Logbook of the World, in addition to the paper QSL cards that will be available later. If you also work other bands and want to work W1AW/7 from Arizona next week, the W1AW/7 Arizona activity coordinator, Ned Stearns AA7A, has a schedule showing when the other stations operating as W1AW/7 will be on - and on what band/mode combinations. This schedule is still being assembled, so more slots will be filled in as we get closer to next week. You can see that schedule at: http://aa7a.net/W1AW/W1AW_7_AZ_1September.htm Satellite operating times will not appear on Ned's schedule, as I am coordinating that part of the W1AW/7 effort. I'll use the AMSAT-BB list and my Twitter @WD9EWK feed (http://twitter.com/WD9EWK ) to send out updates for the W1AW/7 satellite activity. Good luck, and 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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Hello Europe? Florida calling on the 1715z AO-7 pass!
by Lizeth Norman 22 Aug '14

22 Aug '14

Listened to the early pass this am 0730 UTC and copied ei5v fb with the fcd. Could even hear myself on the downlink with no desense and no cavity filter. Max elevation:1.7 degrees. Not bad for a 10' tower. Took just a little too long to go from passive listening mode to finding myself and answering. Don't want to plug the square connector into the round hole and apply power. Never worked Europe, period. Next time just keeps me going..

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AmsatDroid Error
by David Johnson 22 Aug '14

22 Aug '14

Hi, It has been reported that there is a problem on the SkyMap in the latest version that shows an incorrect IARU locator. I have replicated the problem and will be fixing it in the next few hours. I will let you know when it's available in the Google Play store. My apologies for any inconvenience caused. 73 - Dave, G4DPZ

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marks from space
by Lizeth Norman 22 Aug '14

22 Aug '14

Hi all! Latest craze is trying to decode 1200 baud ax.25 packets from satellites. Satellite telemetry is not a busy terrestrial packet frequency. As the number of chances that a ground station get at receiving are limited and the environment different in the extreme, I'd like to get some input on how recover more data. Will concentrate on using a Fun Cube dongle pro + as the receiver. Have never had much success. Received a few frames from the ISS with a Byonics Tiny Tracker 4. Last time I chased beepsats was a year and a half ago. Blew up the rotator control box it spun around so much. Since then, it's been one failure or another. Nothing has torched itself in a week or so. It's time to be daring. Found a (software modem) program called "Dire wolf" amongst others. It does a good job on the local APRS/packet traffic. I will try my TT4 again at some point. Did ask a similar question on that mailing list. Also asked about the 9k6 TT4 rx feature. Was told that it was a software switch, nothing more needed to be done. Enabling it should allow the tnc to decode the data. Since it won't encode that rate, setting one up with a pc in another part of the house and using remote desktop to monitor/control it and test isn't an option. Doing some reading about software decoders gives me the impression that if the center of the passband is off 100 Hz or more, the algorithm that decides what is a "mark" and what is a "space" fails. How does a hardware modem compare? Are they different? Obviously, ensuring the receiver is calibrated and centered on the correct frequency with the correct mode/ IF filter is one factor. Another is transmitter LO temperature drift. Doppler correction is a factor. Amplitude of the audio input is a variable. There is a copy of virtual audio cable on my pc. It is possible to route the signal from the receiver to an audio spectrum analyzer as well as the software modem. Would this be any help troubleshooting? Norm n3ykf

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B-64 Balloon Passes Iceland
by M5AKA 21 Aug '14

21 Aug '14

434.500 MHz balloon B-64 returning to UK again after 6 week journey http://amsat-uk.org/2014/08/21/434-mhz-balloon-b-64-returning-to-uk-again/ UKHAS Conference Videos Now Available http://amsat-uk.org/2014/08/20/ukhas-conference-videos-now-available/ Schedule for RSGB Convention Released http://amsat-uk.org/2014/08/21/schedule-for-rsgb-convention-released/ ---- Trevor M5AKA AMSAT-UK Website http://amsat-uk.org/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/amsatuk Twitter https://twitter.com/AMSAT_UK ----

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Re: [amsat-bb] Chasqui-1 Cubesat
by Clint Bradford 21 Aug '14

21 Aug '14

Nothing heard on a great pass over Southern California just now ... ISS packet not heard, either. Project manager Hector just advised me "no beacon heard yet," too ... Clint K6LCS 10:03PM PDT / 05:03AM GMT

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Chasqui-1 Cubesat
by Nitin Muttin 20 Aug '14

20 Aug '14

Tried listening to the satellite during 08:35 UTC pass over India on 20th nothing heard on 437.025 and 145.800 (Possible relay from ISS) . Has anyone heard this satellite which was hand launched from the ISS. 73 Nitin [VU3TYG]

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Galileo Deployment Phase starts tomorrow
by M5AKA 20 Aug '14

20 Aug '14

So far the only Galileo satellites in orbit have been the four used for system test purposes. They have a downlink across 1260-1300 MHz. Thesefour test satellites havealready resulted in two 23 cm repeaters in Germany being closed down along with repeaters in Austria. The deployment of the operational network starts tomorrow, Aug. 21, at 12:31 GMT and the launch can be seen live at: http://www.arianespace.tv/ http://www.esa.int/esatv/Television The Galileo constellation will be gradually deployed with six to eight satellites launched per year. A paper indicates that an amateur 23cm station running 700 watts ERP could "knock-out" a user's Galileo receiver at a distance of 18 km (11miles), see http://www.southgatearc.org/articles/galileo.htm A chart showing GNSS use of 23 cm is at http://amsat-uk.org/2014/08/13/23-cm-band-and-wrc-2018/ 73 Trevor M5AKA

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Activation DL73. Special Call 4C2L
by David Maciel (XE3DX) 20 Aug '14

20 Aug '14

*Mexican radio ham operators, are proud of the great engineering Mexican effort that the BALUARTE bridge represents.* *Hence, to honor it, they launch this special radio communications event with the special call sign.* *4C2L.* *The Baluarte Bicentenario [1] Bridge is a suspension bridge located in the municipalities of Pueblo Nuevo in Durango andConcordia in Sinaloa, along the Durango-Mazatlán highway in Mexico. It has a length of 1,124 meters and a cable-stayed span of 520 meters and a height above the Baluarte River up to 402.57 meters."It is the highest suspension bridge in the world"* *TEAM RADIO OPERATORS:* *SSB_____XE2L, XE2MCC, XE2RFX, XE2LSP, XE2YD.* *RTTY____XE2KJ* *6MTS____XE1AY* *CW_____XE2i, XE1AY* *SATELLITE_____ XE1AY* David Maciel XE3DX *http://www.qsl.net/xe3dx/ <http://www.qsl.net/xe3dx/>* *david.xe3dx(a)gmail.com <david.xe3dx(a)gmail.com>*

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