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

Fw: ARLS006 73 on 73 Award Period Now Underway
by Glenn Miller - AA5PK 02 Sep '14

02 Sep '14

-----Original Message----- From: ARRL Web site Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2014 5:17 PM To: aa5pk(a)suddenlink.net Subject: ARLS006 73 on 73 Award Period Now Underway SB SPACE @ ARL $ARLS006 ARLS006 73 on 73 Award Period Now Underway ZCZC AS06 QST de W1AW Space Bulletin 006 ARLS006 >From ARRL Headquarters Newington, CT September 2, 2014 To all radio amateurs SB SPACE ARL ARLS006 ARLS006 73 on 73 Award Period Now Underway Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, is sponsoring a new award for contacts made via the UK Amateur Radio Educational Satellite FUNcube-1 (AO-73) to promote activity on the satellite. It is called the 73 on 73 award. The award period began on September 1. More information on FUNCUBE may be found on the web at, http://funcube.org.uk/ . Requirements are simple: Work 73 different stations on AO-73 (SSB or CW). There are no geographic restrictions on operating location, no QSLs are required, and the award is free. E-mail log extracts containing the call sign of each station worked and the date/time (UTC) of each contact to, n8hm(a)arrl.net. Include your mailing address. The AO-73 inverting transponder uplink is 435.150-435.130 MHz (LSB). The downlink is 145.950-145.970 MHz (USB). Use no more than 5 W to a 7 dBi gain antenna when accessing the AO-73 transponder. NNNN /EX

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Japanese Asteroid Mission To Carry Amateur Radio
by M5AKA 02 Sep '14

02 Sep '14

Abyss-2 - from the Japanese language article it looks like it's carrying an amateur radio payload and will launch this December. Does anyone have any further information ? http://amsat-uk.org/2014/09/01/japanese-asteroid-mission-to-carry-amateur-r… Also there appears to be a Japanese Lunar Orbiter under development which will carry an amateur radio transponder http://kit-okuyama-lab.com/en/sinen2/sinen2-outline/ ---- 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] Japanese Asteroid Mission To Carry Amateur
by Armando Mercado 02 Sep '14

02 Sep '14

>Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2014 02:23:36 +0000 (UTC) >From: Bob- W7LRD <w7lrd(a)comcast.net> >To: M5AKA <m5aka(a)yahoo.co.uk> >Cc: AMSAT BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> >Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Japanese Asteroid Mission To Carry Amateur >Radio >Message-ID: ><644788423.10589773.1409624616290.JavaMail.root(a)comcast.net> >Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 >What "kind" of keps do we use to track this? >73 Bob W7LRD Hi, JPL's Horizons Web Site will likely have these objects in their data base when launched. From there you can get RA/Dec or generate AZ/EL for your QTH. You can enter RA/Dec into NOVA and it will track it like any other celestial target. Not sure if other satellite programs have this feature. http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.cgi 73, Armando N8IGJ

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Re: [amsat-bb] I am doing it wrong, but not sure what...& In-Reply-To
by Kevin M 02 Sep '14

02 Sep '14

Hey Mark, I have no idea why, but the majority of AMSAT guys seem to refuse to mention this website when people are trying to figure out tracking... http://www.n2yo.com/?s=7530|27607|24278|39417 Just put in your location and the link I gave you will bring up the four current workable satellites. It's all I've used the past few years... eventually I will get SATPC32 when I finally get my new antennas up and want to try automatic tracking. Saw a fairly new ham posting on eHam needing help/advice about putting up an antenna in trees. I suggested he look you up, lives just 8-9 miles from you. NC4EF I think the call is. Hope all is well... 73 for now, Kevin N4UFO P.S. pics of progress on my sat antennas on my QRZ page: http://www.qrz.com/db/N4UFO ------------------------------------------------------------------ "Control is the need of the fearful mind. Trust is the need of the courageous heart."

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W1AW/7 (Arizona) satellite stats for the past week
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 02 Sep '14

02 Sep '14

Hi! After wrapping up the W1AW/7 satellite activity from Arizona in the last week, I compiled some statistics. First of all, thanks to all of the stations that worked W1AW/7 in the past week. I was the only satellite operator for W1AW/7 this time, and we didn't have VO-52 compared to the other W1AW/7 Arizona week in mid-March, but things worked out well. W1AW/7 logged 105 satellite QSOs in the past week. W1AW/7 worked 58 unique call signs in those 105 QSOs. Those stations were located in 19 US states, 3 Canadian provinces (BC, ON, SK), and 3 Mexican states (Chiapas, Colima, Puebla), in 4 DXCC entities (W, VE, XE, CO). W1AW/7 logged QSOs with 47 different grids. W1AW/7 made QSOs on the following satellites: AO-7 - 5 QSOs AO-73 - 19 QSOs FO-29 - 35 QSOs SO-50 - 46 QSOs W1AW/7 only worked daytime SO-50 passes during the three-day Labor Day holiday weekend (Saturday through Monday), and 2 AO-7 passes on Sunday. FO-29 and AO-73 were worked every evening, at least one pass for each satellite, plus the daytime AO-73 passes over the weekend (thanks AMSAT-UK and the FUNcube project!). The SO-50 passes on Saturday and Monday afternoons were worked from the DM33/DM43 grid boundary at a Phoenix city park (the park I worked many satellite passes from, over several years), and the other passes were worked from my back yard in DM43. If you wish to receive a QSL card for working W1AW/7 in the past week, please send your QSL request to ARRL. Over the next week or two, the log will be uploaded to Logbook of the World, including the grid locator(s) for each QSO. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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KPC and IC910 help
by Jim White 02 Sep '14

02 Sep '14

Looking for a bit of help here. In reassembling my 9600 bps ground station today for an upcoming launch I found two problems. 1) My IC910H goes into transmit on main band when I power it on, even with nothing connected. It worked fine a month ago. Using the 4/5-power on factory reset clears the settings but it still transmits when turned on. I'd appreciate any ideas of what else I can try, or - can I send it to ICOM for repair. 2) A used KPC9612+ I bought from a local guy, which worked fine a few days ago, now has a PTT problem. The PTT on pin 1 of the 15 pin 'high speed' port 2 connector is inverted. It is ground when the TNC is idle and goes off ground (not sure how far) when I send a packet. The PTT light for port two works properly, red when PTTing, but the output pin is inverted. I did note the backup battery appears dead because settings like the PC interface baud rate don't survive a power cycle, but I can't see how that should effect PTT polarity. As above, any ideas about a setting the inverted that, or - where can I send this guy for repair, would be appreciated. These two could be related since the KPC and 910 were connected for a month or so. Perhaps one failure caused the other. Just speculating. Thanks in advance, Jim WD0E jim(a)coloradosatellite.com

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1979-09-01: Pioneer 11 Flies By Saturn
by B J 01 Sep '14

01 Sep '14

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/profile.cfm?MCode=Pioneer_11 It was the first spacecraft to reach Saturn. As I remember, the observations it made indicated more details in the ring structure than could be observed by ground-based telescopes. That was confirmed over a year later by Voyager 1. 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL

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G5400/5500 fiberglass booms for sale
by Bob- W7LRD 01 Sep '14

01 Sep '14

I have two 5 foot fiberglass booms, and a 4 foot stainless steel insert for the booms. The insert alone weighs 20Lbs. Asking $125 (offers) plus shipping to your QTH. Pictures available upon request. Starting here before Ebay. Email direct. 73 Bob W7LRD

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Re: [amsat-bb] WTB Funcube Dongle (not pro plus)
by Jeff Kelly 01 Sep '14

01 Sep '14

Looking for pro - not pro + On Aug 29, 2014 5:49 AM, Jeff Kelly <jkelly(a)verizon.net> wrote: > > Send email to: > > K2SDR at verizon.net > > Jeff > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. > 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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73 on 73 Award Reminder
by Paul Stoetzer 01 Sep '14

01 Sep '14

Just a reminder that the award period for the 73 on 73 Award begins at 0000Z on September 1st, so begin keeping track of the unique callsigns that you work on AO-73. When you reach 73 unique callsigns in your log, email me at n8hm(a)arrl.net with a list of calls, date, and time worked (in UTC) and your mailing address. I hope to have a website up soon with an example of what the award will look like. Some tips for working AO-73: -Keep in mind the frequency drift on the transponder. The offset needed on your transmit frequency is usually from +10 kHz to +16 kHz. This can vary throughout the pass, requiring frequency adjustments if using computer control. Many find manually tuning the uplink to maintain a constant downlink to work better than computer control. -I usually start a pass by trying to find myself come into the top edge of the passband (145.970 MHz). To do this, I usually start transmitting around 435.135 MHz and tuning up slowly until I can hear myself enter the passband. Then I can move around the transponder easily. Remember to tune your uplink to maintain an constant downlink frequency (the opposite of FO-29). -Keep power output down. The transponder has a very sensitive receiver and a very active AGC circuit. Excessive uplink power will not make your signal louder - it will only reduce that available for others on the transponder. With a clear view of the horizon, 5 watts to an Arrow or Elk is plenty for horizon to horizon coverage. Very slightly more might be necessary if you are beaming through trees or other obstructions, but try to keep power to 25-40 watts ERP. Good luck! Who will claim the 73 on 73 Award #1? 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC, USA (FM18lv)

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