October 2015 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

Re: [amsat-bb] Possible ISS School Contact Experiment (Maryland report)
by Robert Bruninga 28 Oct '15

28 Oct '15

Both of my school-contact monitoring tests with the arrow were useless. Both days the 200' tethered JLENS Blimp was aloft radiating megawatts of radar direct Line of Sight to my operating position. Although the radar pings are at 143 and 149 MHz with peaks +70dB above the noise, they do get into all of our Ham VHF radios as a raised noise floor. Just open any radio squelch on any frequency in the 2m band and you will hear it. So even when the astronauts were 7 bars on the radio, the audio had significant noise from the radar superimposed. So my report is a null report. Bob, Wb4APR -----Original Message----- From: Robert Bruninga [mailto:bruninga@usna.edu] Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 6:06 PM Subject: RE: Possible ISS School Contact Experiment idea? (Thurs) > An ISS school contact… in Michigan on 22 Oct. This is a great time for those skilled portable "arrow" operators to get data on using fixed vertical arrow beam antennas for ISS voice at or near the horizon. The test will show if well placed fixed tripod "arrow class" antennas at AOS and LOS and a central turnstyle could possibly make it easier than a full AZ/EL Oscar class antenna at the school. See the concept paper at http://aprs.org/aos-los-test.html If your QTH is west of a school contact, then you should test your LOS horizon. If your QTH is east of the school, then you should test your AOS horizon. This is because we want to make sure we are getting voice quality data AT the horizon while the ISS crew is actually speaking. The desired data is a minute-by-minute log throughout the pass of ISS signal quality (noting nulls or fades) without moving or adjusting the antenna. Your receiver should be right near the antenna (no coax loss). Just orient the beam vertically with an up tilt of 15 degrees. Then aim it at a fixed Azimuth that is half way between AOS (or LOS) and when the ISS rises above (or drops below) 30 degrees elevation to cover the first (or last) portions of the pass. Leave your antenna fixed throughout the pass. We need to know how well the squelch on your radio eliminates the weak signal when the ISS is outside your particular fixed beam too. In a real scenario of this full technique, above 30 degrees the ISS is 3 times closer and 10 dB stronger and would be heard fine on a central omni antenna. But that is not part of your horizon performance test. So be sure to choose a good low horizon *and* the horizon you share with the School contact so that there is ISS audio during your particular horizon crossing (AOS or LOS). An audio recording would make it easier to prepare the log after the pass or you can just make checks or X's every 5 seconds on a piece of paper and summarize it later. Do NOT run open squelch. Set the squelch for normal ham radio operation to silence the radio when the signal would be unintelligible anyway, since we would not want unintelligible noise from one receiver to distract from good audio from the possible others.. If this concept works, then the idea would be to bring in all three receiver speakers (left-to-right) into the auditorium operating position to give equal weight to each receiver but also give a sense of the passage of the ISS. If this test shows any promise, it could not only eliminate all the complexities of long crossed yagis, AZ/EL rotators, big masts and active tracking, but also completely eliminate the problem of long runs of coax from the school gymnasium to the antennas. The coax is eliminated by placing 50W mobile rigs (capable of cross band repeat) at each of the possible three antennas and operating them remotely via 3 UHF HT's indoors on-stage (coupled into the sound system). So, if you are in range of an ISS school contact, and you have an arrow on a tripod at your QTH, you could collect data on a horizon transition to see if this idea is a possibility. Again, YOU ARE RECEIVE ONLY. Your test is *independent* of the actual school contact, you are just taking your own receive data wherever you are of how well a FIXED arrow on a tripod can hear the ISS at low elevations. Be sure to find a place with a good horizon at AOS(or LOS) to set your antenna. If we learn that there will be any significant fades or loss of signal, then this idea fails... But if it works, then the two arrows, tripods, three crossband-repeating mobile rigs and three UHF HT's could be made into a suitcase GOKIT to standardize some school contacts with a lot less work. Just an idea Bob, WB4APR US Naval Academy

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2015-10-28 06:00 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 28 Oct '15

28 Oct '15

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2015-10-28 06:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: About Gagarin From Space. Ham Radio Session With The Members Of Cosmonautics Federation And Students From St Petersburg, Russia, direct via RA1AJN (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS (***) The scheduled astronaut is Sergey Volkov RU3DIS (***) Contact was successful 2015-10-20 14:30 UTC (***) About Gagarin From Space. Ham Radio Session With The Members Of Cosmonautics Federation And Students From St Petersburg, Russia, direct via RA1AJN (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS (***) The scheduled astronaut is Sergey Volkov RU3DIS (***) Contact was successful 2015-10-27 11:35 UTC (***) Dearborn Public Schools, Dearborn, Michigan, USA, direct via K8UTT The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS Contact was successful for Option #3: Tue 2015-10-27 16:01:59 UTC 57 deg (***) Watch for a live video stream that should start about 15:00 UTC: http://www.dearbornschools.org https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbhrQiZ62LE Daggett Montessori School K-8, Fort Worth, Texas, USA, direct via K5COW The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS Contact is a go for: Thu 2015-10-29 14:12:56 UTC 31 deg Eleanor Palmer School, London, United Kingdom, telebridge via VK6MJ (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS (***) The scheduled astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS (***) Contact is a go for: Wed 2015-11-04 09:51:39 UTC 44 deg (***) Dragonskolan, Umeå, Sweden, telebridge via VK6MJ (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS (***) The scheduled astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS Contact is a go for: Thu 2015-11-05 10:35:17 UTC 28 deg (***) **************************************************************************** ** Interested in hosting an ARISS contact? The window is now open from 2015-09-01 to 2015-11-01. These proposals will be for school contacts during the second half of 2016. Go to http://www.arrl.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact or http://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html for full details. To help organizations in preparing their proposals, the ARISS Program Coordinator will offer hour-long online information sessions. These are designed to provide more information regarding US ARISS contacts and the proposal process and offer an opportunity to ask questions. While attending an online information session is not required, it is strongly encouraged. These will be offered Thursday, September 17, at 2000 UTC; Tuesday, September 22, at 2000 UTC, and Wednesday, September 30, at 2300 UTC. Advance registration is necessary. Email ARISS (ariss(a)arrl.org) to sign up for an information session. ********************* ********************************************************* >From 2015-12-20 to 2016-01-04, there will be no US Operational Segment (USOS) hams on board ISS. So any schools contacts during this period will be conducted by the ARISS Russia team. **************************************************************************** ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above 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. **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do? How about receiving DATV from the ISS? If interested, then please go to the ARISS-EU website for complete details. Look for the buttons indicating Ham Video. http://www.ariss-eu.org/ If you need some assistance, ARISS mentor Kerry N6IZW, might be able to provide some insight. Contact Kerry at kbanke(a)sbcglobal.net **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: Gaston ON4WF with 121 Francesco IKØWGF with 114 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 112 **************************************************************************** The webpages listed below were all reviewed for accuracy. Out of date webpages were removed and new ones have been added. If there are additional ARISS websites I need to know about, please let me know. Note, all times are approximate. It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time. All dates and times listed follow International Standard ISO 8061 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS The complete schedule page has been updated as of 2015-10-28 06:00 UTC. (***) Here you will find a listing of all scheduled school contacts, and questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1004. (***) Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 969. (***) Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 46. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: Arkansas, Delaware, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ QSL information may be found at: http://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS **************************************************************************** The successful school list has been updated as of 2015-10-28 06:00 UTC. (***) http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correction .rtf Listing of ARISS related magazine articles as of 2006-07-10 03:30 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ARISS_magazine_articles.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** Exp. 43/44 on orbit Scott Kelly Mikhail Kornienko RN3BF Exp. 44 on orbit Oleg Kononenko RN3DX Kimiya Yui KG5BPH Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS Exp. 45 on orbit Sergey Volkov RU3DIS **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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AO-85 Telemetry Upload Tax
by David G0MRF 28 Oct '15

28 Oct '15

Hi all. Over the past 24 hours I've monitored the telemetry frames received on my PC against the total shown on the server. - http://www.amsat.org/tlm/ It seems I'm being taxed at 35% on my telemetry 'earnings' Server total at 08:00 UTC start of 24hr period 2418 Total received in 24 hrs from FOX-TLM 634 Total displayed on sever at 08:00 UTC today after 24hrs 2827 Correct total should be. 2418 + 634 = 3052 - So 225 frames missing So, is this a feature of the V1.01 Foxtelem or is there an issue with the routing to, or processing at the server as the loading from users increases. Either way, that's a lot of lost data. Many thanks David G0MRF

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Upcoming ARISS contact with Daggett Montessori School K-8, Fort Worth, Texas
by n4csitwo＠bellsouth.net 28 Oct '15

28 Oct '15

An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Daggett Montessori School K-8, Fort Worth, Texas on 29 Oct. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 14:12 UTC. It is recommended that you start listening approximately 10 minutes before this time. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be direct between NA1SS and K5COW. The contact should be audible the mid U.S, and adjacent areas. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English. Daggett Montessori, a "School of Choice" within the Fort Worth Independent School District, was created thirty years ago and was one of the first public school Montessori programs in the nation. Based on the highly successful Montessori methodology and philosophy, Daggett Montessori has approximately 500 students, all selected through a blind lottery system. We are a Title I school, with close to 60% of our students economically disadvantaged. As a kindergarten through eighth grade program, we provide a safe, nurturing environment that focuses on long term relationships among staff, students, and parents. Our parents are actively involved in every aspect of school life. Maria Montessori was the first woman to graduate from medical school in Italy so science is an area of particular focus in the Montessori curriculum. She designed many of the lessons to instill a sense of awe about the natural world. Our parents are very involved in every aspect of school at Daggett Montessori. Of particular interest is our greenhouse with an aquaponics system in which we raise various herbs and vegetables. We also have multiple raised beds in which the children grow vegetables. Our parents provide gardening lessons on a weekly basis. Our students were very excited to learn that lettuce is being grown on the ISS! Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows 1. How did you feel when you first looked back at Earth? 2. What is your favorite experiment so far in the mission and what did you learn from it? 3. I saw on Twitter that you grew lettuce in space. At our school, we have an aquaponics system that we grow lettuce in. How did you grow yours and what did it taste like? 4. How does the lack of gravity affect your blood flow? 5. At what age did you decide to become an astronaut and what inspired you to do so? 6. On Earth, we see one sunrise and one sunset a day. How does it change your sleep-wake cycle when you see a sunrise or sunset every 45 minutes? 7. Are there any mechanical or electrical changes in your equipment from Earth's gravity to microgravity? For example, results from the SoRGE. 8. When you miss your family, what do you do to feel comforted? 9. If someone has a critical medical emergency, such as appendicitis, what would you do? 10. How does microgravity affect your digestive system? For example, does your food float to the top of your stomach? 11. We read that being in space a long time can have negative effects on your body. How do you feel about this? 12. How does the ISS protect itself from radiation or debris in your orbital path? 13. What do astronauts do when they are not on a space mission? 14. When you go into space, does it change your beliefs about other life forms? Why or why not? 15. We have read that the environment of space smells like hot metal and burnt meat, and that the food is dry. Does the environment affect your sense of smell and taste? 16. Allergies are a huge problem on Earth. Are allergies a problem on the ISS? Why or why not? 17. When a new crew comes in, has there ever been a communicable infection that spread to the crew in space? If not, do you have any concerns about that? 18. Are there any differences in growing your plants in microgravity? For example, do they photosynthesize or grow the same? 19. What does NASA do to protect the astronauts from viruses and diseases? 20. Can you break bones in space? If so, what do you do about it while you're in space? PLEASE CHECK THE FOLLOWING FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ARISS UPDATES: Visit ARISS on Facebook. We can be found at Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS). To receive our Twitter updates, follow @ARISS_status Next planned event(s): TBD ARISS is an international educational outreach program partnering the volunteer support and leadership from AMSAT and IARU societies around the world with the ISS space agencies partners: NASA, Russian Space Agency, ESA, CNES, JAXA, and CSA. ARISS offers an opportunity for students to experience the excitement of Amateur Radio by talking directly with crewmembers on-board the International Space Station. Teachers, parents and communities see, first hand, how Amateur Radio and crewmembers on ISS can energize youngsters' interest in science, technology, and learning. Further information on the ARISS program is available on the website http://www.ariss.org/ Thank you & 73, David - AA4KN --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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NO-84
by KO6TZ Bob 28 Oct '15

28 Oct '15

The 10m band was exceptionally quiet ( S-2 noise), this morning during the 15:39u pass. As a result, PSK-31 copy thru NO-84 was "As Advertised". The copy was almost flawless except for a very few errors due to fade from satellite rotation. Too bad no one else was around. KO6TZ BOB

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UKSA announces UKube-1 (FUNcube-2) has completed mission
by M5AKA 28 Oct '15

28 Oct '15

UKube-1 (FUNcube-2) CubeSat Completes Mission http://amsat-uk.org/2015/10/27/ukube-1-completes-mission/ Radiocommunication Assembly opens in Geneva http://amsat-uk.org/2015/10/26/radiocommunication-assembly-in-geneva/ University of Southampton CubeSat Program http://amsat-uk.org/2015/10/24/university-of-southampton-cubesat-program/ 73 Trevor M5AKA ---- AMSAT-UK http://amsat-uk.org/ Twitter https://twitter.com/AmsatUK Facebook https://facebook.com/AmsatUK YouTube https://youtube.com/AmsatUK ----

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4U70UN
by Mike Seguin 28 Oct '15

28 Oct '15

On behalf of the 4U70UN team, I'd like to thank the satellite community for all the contacts we made as we activated the UN on satellite. The operation was challenging due to constraints on operating time, RF interference at times and blockage due the "Urban Jungle" environment we were in. In addition to satellite and VHF/UHF terrestrial operation, there were 4 HF stations operating with full legal limit within our ~ 200' operating radius. Logs are being process now. Some pictures of the operation have been posted online. Google dxworld dot net Again, TNX! from the 4U70UN team. -- 73, Mike, N1JEZ "A closed mouth gathers no feet"

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AO85, 20:01 UC
by Burns Fisher 27 Oct '15

27 Oct '15

Loon, I was the W2, although I'm in 1-land. I also heard you and N0JY. I have 50 watts but it is into a Lindenblad, so a lot of power going out to the horizon, less when it is straight overhead. You sounded reasonably clear to me and N0JY was very clear. Burns W2BFJ From: Loon - W3MAT <w3mat03(a)gmail.com> To: AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Cc: Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2015 16:54:25 -0400 Subject: [amsat-bb] AO85, 20:01 UC Over FN10 at 85 degrees. Heard N0JY and a "2" station but couldn't make out the call. For a high pass it was very noisy and I found it difficult to get into, even at 20 watts. I think I'd rather have a 30-45 degree pass. W3MAT

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AO85, 20:01 UC
by Loon - W3MAT 27 Oct '15

27 Oct '15

Over FN10 at 85 degrees. Heard N0JY and a "2" station but couldn't make out the call. For a high pass it was very noisy and I found it difficult to get into, even at 20 watts. I think I'd rather have a 30-45 degree pass. W3MAT

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Ao 73 problems
by mm0kjg 27 Oct '15

27 Oct '15

Hello all. I seem to have a wee problem with working Ao-73. The problem I cant work it at all. I am hearing people talking but when I attempt to find my downlink nothing heard. I have tried sending cw up and tuning downlink and also tuning uplink and nothing. I have set up tuning for 145.950 down and 435.150 up. Am missing something here? I spoke to my good friend and very good Sat operator Derrick Gm0fmw and he also cant access it with a fairly good antenna set-up. We are both in Edinburgh Scotland Is this the problem? Please all help will be appreciated . Thanks Kev MM0KJG

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