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

UT1FG/MM Itinerary
by John Papay 18 Dec '15

18 Dec '15

Yuri, UT1FG/MM, is heading up to the St. Lawrence and Montreal and will visit two ports there. He has shared a list of grids that he will likely travel through. Some of these grids have not been previously activated, however, keep in mind that not every grid will be workable due to the timing of the available satellite passes. He may be in some of these grids for a very short time. FL17 FL18 FL28 FL29 FM20 FM30 FM31 FM32 FM42 FM43 FM53 FM54 FM55 FM56 FM66 FM67 FM68 FM78 FM79 FM89 FN80 FN81 FN82 FN83 FN93 FN94 FN95 GN05 GN06 GN07 FN97 FN98 FN88 FN89 FN79 FN69 FN58 FN57 FN47 FN46 FN36 FN35 The ship is the Barnacle, a vessel that he previously sailed on. 73, John K8YSE

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WD9EWK @ DM34, tomorrow
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 18 Dec '15

18 Dec '15

Hi! I will make a quick drive to grid DM34we tomorrow (Saturday, 19 December) morning for a few hours of working different satellite passes. I plan on operating from a freeway rest area about 50 miles/80km north of Phoenix, starting around 1500 to 1600 UTC into the mid-afternoon. If the ISS radios are back on, I may try to work stations through the ISS packet/APRS digipeater on 145.825 MHz during a couple of passes around midday. As with my other trips, I will post updates via my @WD9EWK Twitter feed. This is also visible at http://twitter.com/WD9EWK in a web browser, even if you do not use Twitter. I will use APRS to show my location while on the road, squawking as WD9EWK-9. This should be visible online at (among other places) http://aprs.fi/WD9EWK-9 After this quick day-trip, I will upload my log to Logbook of the World. If you'd like a QSL card to confirm a contact with WD9EWK at DM34, please e-mail me directly with the QSO details. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

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Senior moment
by n4qwf . 18 Dec '15

18 Dec '15

I have a lot of them lately. Does anyone remember which satellite it was that used to play the Christmas music and what the song was. We were talking about this local hams planned Christmas event and I was telling them about the satellite from years gone by. Here is the link to WA1ZMS story in the ARRL letter. http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter?issue=current#toc11 73<<John -- N4QWF Amateur Radio Operator Email N4QWF(a)AMSAT.ORG Formerly KC4AHW VK3FEZ 8BDXCC DXCC mixed 318 WAS HF #57,114 WAS Triple Play #1270 WAZ HF #9073 AAA All Africa Award #1734 VUCC SAT #135 WAS SAT #296 OSCAR-11 20th birthday #1 51 on AO-51 #13 LON -79.256 LAT 37.459 Grid FM07il >From the Foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains *Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming - "WOW, What a ride!"

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Colorado Amateur Satellite net Begins in 1 hour
by Skyler F 18 Dec '15

18 Dec '15

This is a reminder that the Colorado Amateur Satellite net will begin in 1 hour from now (7PM mountain time Thursday). 6PM Pacific 7PM Mountain 8PM Central 9PM Eastern Please visit us on *AMSATNET.INFO <http://amsatnet.info/>* *IRLP* 9870, the Denver Reflector *ALLSTAR LINK* 40764, direct hookup to the repeater here. 41715, KC9ZHV hub at a data center if I am out of bandwidth. More info on AllStar - amsatnet.info/#node *ECHOLINK* *AMSAT* unless there is an ARISS contact, then go direct to KD0WHB-L *LOCAL RF* 449.625 (-) 141.3 ( WØKU Lookout Mountain) 447.225 (-) 141.3 (The STEM school repeater we set up) 447.850 (-) 141.3 (ACØKQ's repeater where he lives on TOP of saddleback mountain) 147.450 SIMPLEX (Aurora, CO) 446.275 (-) 100.0 Galena St. Local repeater at my house, giving a whopping 5 blocks of great coverage *REMOTE RF* Your Repeater here!, Email me if you want to link in or me to link your echolink or allstar repeater in automatically (no automatic IRLP linking supported) Skyler Fennell amsatnet.info KDØWHB electricity440(a)gmail.com

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ISS Digipeater MIA?
by Ted 17 Dec '15

17 Dec '15

It seems to be off for the past 2 weeks or so Anyone know why ? 73 K7TRK

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NASA's Digital Learning Network Seeking Participants for International Event
by JoAnne Maenpaa 17 Dec '15

17 Dec '15

This announcement is also going into the ANS bulletins ... but we noticed the Monday, December 21 deadline if you think your school may be interested in applying. So here is the news from NASA today instead of waiting for the weekend bulletins. My local schools begin their Christmas break on Friday so perhaps a teacher or two out there can put this information to good use before the short deadline. ----- NASA's Digital Learning Network Seeking Participants for International Event In February 2016, NASA's Digital Learning Network is teaming up with The Royal Institution and Faraday Studios for a series of Google Hangout events in connection with British astronaut Tim Peake's mission to the International Space Station. The live hour long events will include selected classrooms from the United Kingdom and the U.S. These classes will pose questions to Dr. Kevin Fong (author of "Extreme Medicine"), Dr. Steven Jacobs (Mr. Wizard) and NASA experts. The events will be broadcast live on YouTube. The DLN currently is seeking U.S. middle and high schools (grades 5-12) that would be interested in participating in these events interactively with our U.K. partners. Schools, if selected, would be required to conduct a test call in early January with a representative of the DLN to confirm participation. If you would like to have your school considered, please contact Caryn Long at caryn.long(a)nasa.gov. Inquiries must be received no later than Dec. 21, 2015. For more information about the lecture series, visit http://www.nasa.gov/dln/opportunities/. To learn more about NASA's Digital Learning Network, visit http://www.nasa.gov/dln. -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm(a)amsat.org

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New ISS SSTV Video and "ISS SSTV Reception Hints" webpage
by John Brier 17 Dec '15

17 Dec '15

To help promote the tentative December 26th International Space Station Slow Scan TV event (and another that is planned over the next few months) I made a new video of an ISS SSTV reception I filmed last April. I also made an extensive webpage with information, resources, and hints on receiving ISS SSTV events, including the upcoming ones. Video: My First Perfect ISS SSTV Image! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7to9uX1sWC4 Webpage: ISS SSTV Reception Hints https://spacecomms.wordpress.com/iss-sstv-reception-hints/ Below is a text formatted version of the webpage I made = Table of Contents = Next planned event Recommended decoding software Tracking the ISS What to expect during a pass Hints = Next planned event = Tentative plans are being made for the International Space Station to transmit Slow Scan TV images the weekend of December 26th to celebrate 15 years of continuous amateur radio operations on the ISS. A second weekend event is planned over the coming months. With 25 watts of power coming from the radio on the ISS, the signal, transmitted on 145.800 MHz, can be received with a setup as simple as a handheld amateur radio or scanner, and a rubber duck antenna. Decoding the images can be as simple as holding the radio next to the microphone of an iOS or Android device. Ideally though, you would use a high gain or directional antenna, and an audio cable connected directly between the radio and decoding device, whether it’s a smart phone or a computer. Whatever software you use, make sure it’s set to SSTV mode PD120, as that’s what the ISS will be using, and if you don’t set that, you might not decode any images at all (see hint below). = Recommended decoding software = For iOS use “CQ SSTV” https://itunes.apple.com/app/sstv/id387910013 For Android use “Robot36” https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=xdsopl.robot36&hl=en For Windows use “MMSSTV” (see AMSAT UK link below for setup) http://hamsoft.ca/pages/mmsstv.php For Mac OS X use “Multiscan 3B SSTV” (not verified) http://www.qsl.net/kd6cji/ = Tracking the ISS = Howto use heavens-above.com to track the ISS https://spacecomms.wordpress.com/howto-use-heavens-above-com-to-track-the-i… == Other ISS tracking methods == == Websites: == ISS Fan Club http://issfanclub.com/ ISSTracker (no predictions, just live tracking) http://www.isstracker.com/ Android: Heavens-Above https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.heavens_above.viewer ISS Dectector Satellite Tracker https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.runar.issdetector iOS: Space Station (ISS) (not verified) https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/space-station-iss/id301984767?mt=8 = What to expect during a pass = SSTV mode PD120 will be used instead of PD180 which was used during previous SSTV events this year. With PD180 it takes about 3 minutes to send an image. With PD120 it takes about 2 minutes to send an image. Since images transmitted with PD120 take less time to send than with PD180, more images can be received during a single ISS pass. An ISS pass that goes right overhead (90 degrees elevation), lasts about 10 minutes. ISS SSTV transmit time and off time are usually setup to provide the radio with a 50% duty cycle (only transmit half the time so the radio doesn’t overheat). With image transmission taking two minutes, off time will probably be two minutes as well. Compared to previous SSTV events using PD180, this means it should be relatively easy to receive at least two complete images in one pass, with the possibility to receive up to three images if timing, conditions, and setup are ideal. When the ISS comes into view/has line of sight with you, this is known as Acquisition of Signal, or AOS. The ideal situation for a high elevation 10 minute pass would be if the first image started transmitting exactly at your AOS, and you had a directional antenna so you could receive the signal even while the ISS was very low in the beginning and end of the pass. In this case you would be able to receive three images like this: minute, image TX/off 0-2, complete image 1 2-4, off 4-6, complete image 2 6-8, off 8-9, complete image 3 The more common situation will be that the first image transmission will start either before or after AOS. In this case you will only have the opportunity to receive two complete images, but this is still twice the amount of images that were possible with PD180. The downside is the image quality is not as high as with PD180. Even though you’ll have the opportunity to receive two complete images, don’t expect to. It may take practice and it will certainly take the right setup and conditions, to get just one complete image. With that said, here are some tips that may help you get more images and/or better images. = Hints = == Check Twitter for #ISS #SSTV status and images == For several hours after the April and July 2015 SSTV events were scheduled to start, only a “blank signal” was transmitted. There was no audio so no images could be decoded. During these events Twitter users all over the world posted what they heard using hashtags #ISS #SSTV. As soon as people started hearing the SSTV audio, they reported it on Twitter. By searching for these hashtags you can stay up to date on the current status of the transmissions, which sometimes go longer than scheduled. Maybe more importantly, you can also see all the images people are getting! https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ISS%20%23SSTV == Open the squelch == For weak signal work you always want to leave the squelch wide open to avoid missing any signals. Even though the radio used for ISS SSTV puts out 25 watts, which is a lot for an amateur radio satellite, the signal is still relatively weak when it’s hundreds of miles away and hundreds of miles high. Don’t miss any of the signal. Keep the squelch open. This will also make it easier to identify the signal when it first comes in, or when the transmission first starts because the change between the high volume of the noise/static and the relative low volume of the transmitted signal will be more noticeable than if you had the squelch closed. == Record audio and decode later == During previous SSTV events some listeners didn’t configure their SSTV apps/software for the right mode. Even though they received the signal/audio from the ISS, since the software wasn’t configured properly, they decoded no images. A wise choice would be to just record the audio from the radio and play it back later when you have time to experiment with different settings. This also makes it easier to fix slanted images/correct for bad sync, which are common issues. If you decide to just record the audio and worry with decoding later, record the audio at a high quality to preserve as much of the original fidelity of the audio as possible, otherwise the quality of the image will suffer. == Try low elevation passes if you have a directional antenna == If you’re using a directional antenna like an Arrow II antenna or a tape measure antenna, don’t limit yourself to high elevation/altitude passes. With the 25 watt ISS SSTV transmissions, you can receive the signal from horizon to horizon. Even a pass with only a max elevation of five degrees can produce good images. = Other resources = == AMSAT UK webpage for beginners == If you’re using MMSSTV, please see the advice on configuring it at the following AMSAT UK webpage. Also check it out for more detailed information on ISS SSTV. http://amsat-uk.org/beginners/iss-sstv/ (Thanks to AMSAT UK for the above page, as I used it for a couple of the decoding software links and inspiration for this page. I tried not to duplicate much though, so please read it too.) == AMSAT-UK announcement for tentative December 26th-27th event == http://amsat-uk.org/2015/12/17/iss-sstv-activity-planned-for-late-dec-2015/ == YouTube videos of past ISS SSTV receptions == Watch YouTube videos of people receiving images during previous events to see how they did it. You can start with two of my videos! My First ISS SSTV reception – April 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2Y3BKZ9vPo My First Perfect ISS SSTV Image! – April 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7to9uX1sWC4 = End = Good Luck and 73! John, KG4AKV, Raleigh North Carolina, United States

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UT1FG/MM active on FO-29 at 18:01Z today, EL83
by Clayton W5PFG 17 Dec '15

17 Dec '15

Yuri, UT1FG, was active on FO-29 today for the 18:01Z pass. He was operating from EL83 and indicated his next operation would be from EL94. It appears he's on the move after leaving Port Tampa Bay. 73 Clayton W5PFG

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ISS SSTV activity planned for late Dec. 2015 + SME-SAT
by M5AKA 17 Dec '15

17 Dec '15

ISS SSTV activity planned for late Dec. 2015 http://amsat-uk.org/2015/12/17/iss-sstv-activity-planned-for-late-dec-2015/ SME-SAT video http://amsat-uk.org/2015/12/16/sme-sat-video/ Tim Peake ISS School Contacts Announced http://amsat-uk.org/2015/12/15/tim-peake-iss-school-contacts-announced/ Tim Peake launch - Amateur Radio in the Media http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2015/december/tim_peake_launch_amateur_rad… Helen Sharman and Amateur Radio http://amsat-uk.org/2015/12/13/helen-sharman-and-amateur-radio/ OSCAR News Issue 212 http://amsat-uk.org/2015/12/09/oscar-news-issue-212/ 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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Athenosat copied in Brazil
by Roland Zurmely 17 Dec '15

17 Dec '15

Please see here: <http://www.qsl.net/py4zbz/athenoxat.htm#a> 73 de Roland PY4ZBZ

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