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

American satellite started transmitting 46 years after being abandoned in 1967
by John Brier 07 Dec '15

07 Dec '15

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2015/10/23/american-satellite-started-transm… Not sure if this has been covered here before, but a good article nonetheless. John, KG4AKV

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Launch Opportunity in Summer 2016 for Cubesats
by Robert Bruninga 07 Dec '15

07 Dec '15

There is a cubesat launch opportunity on a Russian Dnepr rocket going in summer 2016 going to ~500 km Sun Synchronus orbit with some extra slots for cubesats (1Us all the way up to 12Us). If interested, please contact Abe Bonnema at A.R.Bonnema(a)isispace.nl with details of your mission. Of course don't bother the poor man unless you can pay for it... Just thought I'd pass it along. Bob, WB4APR

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AO-85
by Kevin Deane 07 Dec '15

07 Dec '15

Hello I just tried at 20:15 ish heard a couple stations VA7JV? Anyway I could not hear myself on the downlink. I was using 435.172?? What is the exact uplink? I have two radios and two antennas real full duplex... :) Thanks for any help. Kevin KF7MYK

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Re: [amsat-bb] Superstition Superfest @ Mesa AZ on 5 December - report
by Fernando Ramirez 07 Dec '15

07 Dec '15

Congratulations on another successful event. Thank you for what you do for our hobby and the advancement of satellite communications. The passion you demonstrate towards it, is an encouragement to newcomers like me. And like me, there are a lot of operators that are grateful for the knowledge you share and the support you provide. Keep up the good work! 73 de NP4JV Fernando in DM41

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AO-85 Uplink
by Greg 07 Dec '15

07 Dec '15

Having a little trouble getting into the bird. I noted that the uplink is 435.180 with a 67.0 tone. However, I read that due to temperature variations the uplink is closer to 435.172. Tried the 180 w/out luck. Any suggestions on the successful uplink frequency? Tested the 435 antenna on receive and having no problem hearing in that band, so I am assuming I am missing the bird frequency on my uplink. Thanks Greg N3MVF

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Superstition Superfest @ Mesa AZ on 5 December - report
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 07 Dec '15

07 Dec '15

Hi! Saturday at the Superstition Amateur Radio Club's Superstition Superfest hamfest in Mesa, Arizona (an east-side suburb of Phoenix) was an enjoyable day. Unlike most hamfests around Arizona that typically wrap up by midday, this hamfest actually had buyers and sellers sticking around until the official end of the event (2pm, 2100 UTC). With the great weather on Saturday here in the Phoenix area, it wasn't hard to spend the morning and the early afternoon at the hamfest. As with most hamfests here, the official start time for the Superstition Superfest was 7am (1400 UTC). I was out there a couple of hours before that, and there were several sellers and a few buyers walking around even at that hour. By being there so early, I was able to try an AO-85 pass just after 5.15am (1215 UTC). I heard someone else accessing the satellite for most of the pass, then worked one station in Minnesota near my LOS. Since this was about 90 minutes before sunrise, I had no problems seeing the screen on my 8-inch Windows 10 tablet, and I used my SDRplay SDR receiver for the AO-85 downlink. I was able to upload 19 telemetry frames from that pass, in addition to making one contact through the FM transponder. As the hamfest officially started, the crowds came by and asked a lot of questions about satellites. It helps to have so many satellites launched in the past couple of months, including AO-85, to talk about. I had passes of XW-2F, SO-50, and AO-73 throughout the morning for demonstrations, to give a nice mix of FM and SSB satellite operating. I also had the pleasure of seeing a couple of satellite operators: Steve W5IEM visiting from Kentucky, and Ed N7EC - a local ham who has been on the FM satellites from DM33 north of Phoenix lately. By midday, with crowds still hanging around the hamfest, I decided to stick around for early-afternoon FO-29 and AO-85 passes. The two AO-85 passes, around 1915 and 2055 UTC, were the first two passes I had tried with just my Icom IC-2820H 2m/70cm FM mobile radio without an SDR receiver for the downlink. It worked fine, but I have been spoiled by the SDR receiver and software. Being able to make my own audio filtering with HDSDR, and the FM AFC function to track the downlink from AOS to LOS, work so well for AO-85. FO-29 around 2015 UTC, with a coast-to-coast footprint, was just as much fun. A local ham had been making videos while I worked FO-29 and the last AO-85 pass, and I hope to have details on where those might be online in a couple of days. I worked 8 different passes from the hamfest - three on AO-85, 2 on SO-50, and one each on 3 transponder satellites (AO-73, FO-29, XW-2F), logging a total of 38 contacts on those passes. Thanks to everyone who called WD9EWK and helped with these demonstrations! My log from Saturday is now in the Logbook of the World, and I am happy to send out QSL cards on request (please e-mail me directly with QSO details, so I can verify that against my log). This hamfest will probably be the last event for 2015 where I am attending and representing AMSAT, the 19th event where I have done this during the year. Of the 19 events, 15 were at locations around Arizona, and 4 others were in southern California. With the launch of AMSAT's first Fox-1 satellite (AO-85), plus other amateur satellites including the September launch of the Chinese XW-2 satellites along with LilacSat-2 and others, as well as the upcoming projects. I'll pick up with attending hamfests around Arizona in the new year with the Thunderbird Hamfest in Phoenix on the second Saturday of next month (9 January 2016). Hamfests that I, and other AMSAT Area Coordinators will be attending, are listed at: http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=218 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

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Akatsuki's Second Try To Orbit Venus Successful
by B J 07 Dec '15

07 Dec '15

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2015/12/07/akatsuki-enters-orbit-venus/ http://news.sciencemag.org/asia/2015/12/japanese-probe-succeeds-second-try-… 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL

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Re: [amsat-bb] How to digipeat via APRS using satellites
by Richard Tejera 07 Dec '15

07 Dec '15

Mark, Tx to NO-44 on 145.825, essentially simplex. Digipeat on APRS using W3ADO-3 as the path. Rick Tejera K7TEJ Saguaro Astronomy Club www.SaguaroAstro.org Thunderbird Amateur Radio Club www.w7tbc.org On December 6, 2015, at 17:07, Mark Lunday <wd4elg(a)triad.rr.com> wrote: NO-84 has a downlink for packet, but no uplink. NO-44 has uplink and downlink, as does ISS and DUCHIFAT. I see the instructions for sending a packet to DUCHIFAT. How do I send and what format for NO-44 and ISS? And if NO-84 has no uplink, how can I generate a packet and get it through NO-84? What are the limits for characters? The format? The settings (I don't want to use the wrong setting like WIDE-3). Mark Lunday, WD4ELG Greensboro, NC FM06be wd4elg(a)arrl.net http://wd4elg.blogspot.com _______________________________________________ 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://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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Found more good info: How to digipeat via APRS using satellites
by Mark Lunday 07 Dec '15

07 Dec '15

Every time I ask a question, after searching for the answer, I am able to find it as soon as I post. LOL. Typical. Sorry, folks. Thanks again to Bob WB4APR, a prolific writer and excellent explainer. http://www.aprs.org/iss-faq.html Mark Lunday, WD4ELG Greensboro, NC FM06be wd4elg(a)arrl.net http://wd4elg.blogspot.com

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How to digipeat via APRS using satellites
by Mark Lunday 07 Dec '15

07 Dec '15

NO-84 has a downlink for packet, but no uplink. NO-44 has uplink and downlink, as does ISS and DUCHIFAT. I see the instructions for sending a packet to DUCHIFAT. How do I send and what format for NO-44 and ISS? And if NO-84 has no uplink, how can I generate a packet and get it through NO-84? What are the limits for characters? The format? The settings (I don't want to use the wrong setting like WIDE-3). Mark Lunday, WD4ELG Greensboro, NC FM06be wd4elg(a)arrl.net http://wd4elg.blogspot.com

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