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

UT1FG/MM Status
by John Papay 28 Mar '15

28 Mar '15

Yuri is at anchor in the Columbia River. He expects to go into Longview on 2April and leave port on 5April. I'm not sure if he will operate while at anchor. He will be mailing some qsl cards. 73, John K8YSE

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WD9EWK @ DM51/52 now
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 28 Mar '15

28 Mar '15

Hi! I am on the DM51/DM52 line in southeastern Arizona, looking to work some AO-7 & FO-29 passes over the next couple of hours. I am thinking of moving north to DM53, or maybe the DM52/DM53 line, for passes starting with SO-50 at 0025 UTC. I am posting updates on my Twitter feed http://twitter.com/WD9EWK and my location is visible on APRS http://aprs.fi/WD9EWK-9 Hope to work lots of stations out here today! 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

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France (IN94) on FO29
by Michel F6GLJ 28 Mar '15

28 Mar '15

Hello. I'll be on FO-29 from 18:21 to 18:31 TU. Good footprint for qso between France and north east of USA and east of Canada. 73 qro de Michel F6GLJ

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southern california amsat nets
by Eric Fort 28 Mar '15

28 Mar '15

http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/information/nets.php shows there to be an AMSAT net on 147.33 pl 131.8 at 1900 local Tuesdays. I tuned in from DM14gk and wasable to hit the repeater just fine but it seems no net to be found. What's up? is there or is there not an AMSAT net on K6BB/R and if so when? Eric

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SATPC32 Help needed
by wa7eth＠frontier.com 28 Mar '15

28 Mar '15

Somehow I have managed to clobber my SATPC32 application. I am tracking FO-29, SO-50, ISS, AO-7, and AO-73. The application "appears" to be tracking FO-29, AO-7, and AO-73 accurately (not sure, however) but I am positive it is not tracking the ISS or SO-50 accurately. The footprints are entirely different than what I show using other tracking websites. Any suggestions would be most appreciated as I need to get SATPC working with my FT-847. Thanks in advance and you are welcome to contact me off the BB at wa7eth(a)frontier.com.73'..Ed WA7ETH

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Skype and Cell Phones
by Clint Bradford 28 Mar '15

28 Mar '15

I have experienced the phenomenon at conferences ... Gordon West reported the phenomenon this week on Ham Nation: Using WiFi devices while using WiFi for a Skype conversation can "interact" with each other - and cause Skype to drop out. Clint Bradford

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Battleship Iowa WILL Be On Satellite for Field Day 2014
by Jim Jerzycke 27 Mar '15

27 Mar '15

OK, everybody, we have approval to overnight and operate Field Day from the Battleship Iowa! I'll be operating as NI6BB from the aft deck using the same gear I've used for the K6AA FD operations I've done in the past. We're in DM03ur, and I will personally QSL 100% to all operators I work, so here's a chance to not only get DM03, but also a nice NI6BB card. I'll be setting up my sat station in the back yard in the next week or two to make sure everything works, so DM03 will be activated then, too. 73, and hope to work many of you on Field Day! 73, Jim KQ6EA

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Re: [amsat-bb] Whole Orbit Data
by Joe Fitzgerald 27 Mar '15

27 Mar '15

Dave, Whole Orbit Data refers to data collected on board the spacecraft for an entire orbit and downloaded later. This is said to distinguish from telemetry data received in real time - covering only that portion of the orbit in range of the ground station. This lets controllers know what happened while the spacecraft was out of communication, e.g. over the South Pacific. -Joe KM1P

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Whole Orbit Data
by Dave Marthouse 27 Mar '15

27 Mar '15

I've heard the term talked about over the years. I know it refers to satellite telemetry. What exactly is whole orbit data? -- Dave Marthouse N2AAM dmarthouse(a)gmail.com

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Weekend rover activity: KG5CCI/P, EM3x grids
by Clayton Coleman 27 Mar '15

27 Mar '15

As seen on his Twitter feed earlier today, KG5CCI has announced plans to visit some grids in the upper EM3x field over the weekend and operate satellites: EM36 AO73 03-29-15 1619Z EM37 FO29 03-29-15 2052Z EM38 FO29 03-29-15 2237Z EM38 SO50 03-29-15 2313Z EM38 SO50 03-30-15 0152Z EM37 FO29 3-30-15 1959Z EM36 FO29 3-30-15 2142Z EM35 SO50 3-30-15 2338Z He stated some of these were work-schedule-dependent. Good luck & 73 Clayton W5PFG

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Skype and Cell Phones
by Clint Bradford 26 Mar '15

26 Mar '15

>> ... if Skype is on I can not post to the LIVE OSCAR status page ... Possibly your computer/tablet is using WiFi, and a cell phone in the house is "competing" with it ... Clint K6LCS

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Skype Interference?
by Clint Bradford 26 Mar '15

26 Mar '15

>> ... if Skype is on I can not post to the LIVE OSCAR status page ... Possibly your computer/tablet is using WiFi, and a cell phone in the house is "competing" with it ... Clint K6LCS

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France (IN94) on FO-29
by Michel F6GLJ 26 Mar '15

26 Mar '15

Hello. I'll be on FO-29 for next pass (to 18:27 from 18:35), good footprint for north east of USA and Canada. 73 qro de Michel F6GLJ

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Re: [amsat-bb] SatPC32 + DST
by Wayne Estes 26 Mar '15

26 Mar '15

Sorry about the nonsensical subject line on the previous message. Wayne Estes W9AE Oakland, Oregon, USA, CN83ik

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Re: [amsat-bb] AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 10, Issue 96
by Wayne Estes 26 Mar '15

26 Mar '15

W4CX wrote: It appears to me that either SatPC32 does not handle Daylight Savings Time correctly or I missed a setting somewhere. My passes show to be an hour late, when compared with HamRadioDeluxe. If I disable DST on my Win7 OS, the tracks are in agreement. I'm running V12.8c. What am I missing? W9AE replies: The most likely explanation is that you changed the UTC Offset (in the SatPC32 Observer Setup menu) from "auto" to your local time zone. You probably set the UTC Offset to UTC-5, which makes the time one hour off during Daylight Savings Time. If you manually set the UTC Offset, you will need to set it to UTC-4 during daylight savings and UTC-5 during standard time. It's best to use the default UTC Offset of "auto". Then SatPC32 obtains the UTC Offset from the Windows operating system, which automatically adjusts when Daylight Savings comes and goes. Go into the Observer Setup menu and enter "auto" (without quotes) for the Offset. For this to work correctly, your time zone must be correct in the Windows Date and Time control panel. I know the "auto" UTC Offset feature well because I requested it many years ago after having the same problem you reported. Wayne Estes W9AE Oakland, Oregon, USA, CN83ik

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Oscar status page
by Terry 26 Mar '15

26 Mar '15

Has anyone had any trouble with the Live OSCAR Satellite Status Page at http://oscar.dcarr.org/index.php? Every time I try to post to it it tells me I did not select a satellite or status report. (which I did). It was working fine for me a week ago. Terry Halladey AF7W - EL98ol --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. http://www.avast.com

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SatPC32 + DST
by W4CX 26 Mar '15

26 Mar '15

Apologies if this is not the correct forum for SatPC32 questions. It appears to me that either SatPC32 does not handle Daylight Savings Time correctly or I missed a setting somewhere. My passes show to be an hour late, when compared with HamRadioDeluxe. If I disable DST on my Win7 OS, the tracks are in agreement. I'm running V12.8c. What am I missing? Thanks. Darrell W4CX

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Re: [amsat-bb] SatPC32 + DST
by W4CX 26 Mar '15

26 Mar '15

Hi Dave, Yes, I backup and shutdown every night. From: Dave Webb KB1PVH [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2015 10:54 AM To: W4CX Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] SatPC32 + DST Darrell, Have you shut SatPC32 down and restarted it since the time change? I noticed when we had the time change that my time was off by an hour until I closed it and fired it back up. Dave-KB1PVH Sent from my Samsung S4

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SatPc32 Help
by Michael A. Foster 26 Mar '15

26 Mar '15

Hello All, I am trying to add AO-73 to SatPc32 so I can have CAT. I have added the following line to the doppler.SQF file AO-73,145955,435145,USB,LSB,REV,0,0 and am unable to get it to work.. I have successfully operated CAT with SO-50 and FO-29.. Thank-you, Michael A. Foster – N8iup

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N0JY & AMSAT on Twitter
by Clayton Coleman 25 Mar '15

25 Mar '15

There is a lot of exciting activity around the Fox satellites on Twitter from both AMSAT's and N0JY's feeds. @amsat and @n0jy If you are not following them, you're missing out on some great photos. I do believe it is being relayed to Facebook. 73 Clayton W5PFG

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UT1FG/MM Update
by John Papay 25 Mar '15

25 Mar '15

Yuri has decided to run the 130 degree west longitude grid line and is headed there now. He should be on the line around 1824utc (CN52/CN42). He thinks that some will not understand the exchange which would include two grids and wanted this info disseminated widely to avoid confusion and questions during qso's. He will run the line all the way to CN56/46. Plans subject to change. Based on previous posts I know that not everyone trying to make contact with Yuri reads the amsat-bb and/or the starcom-bb. Please share this information with your friends that might not subscribe or read it on the website(s). Please do not ask for a repeat of the grid square(s). Just listen to the other contacts if you think you did not copy something correctly. I will be receiving GPS photos for documentation. Computer controlled navigation systems on the ship will keep it on the line. Yuri should be waiting to go into port off the coast of Oregon at the Columbia River around 3/28-29. He will be in port for a few days. Plans are to sail back to the Panama Canal but along the coast this time. Hopefully this will result in many west coast grids needed for working all 488 Continental USA grids on satellite. 73, John K8YSE

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FT736R cable
by ingejack＠cox.net 24 Mar '15

24 Mar '15

Need to know what USB cable that FT736R users are using to connect their computer and SATPC32 with. It calls for a RS232 TTL cable but need to know what company and cable descrition they are using if possible., Thanks for any help !! Jack/KC7MG

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France (IN94) on AO-07B
by Michel F6GLJ 24 Mar '15

24 Mar '15

I'll be on AO-07B during next pass, good footprint for NA - France QSO. Hope meet you. 73 qro de Michel F6GLJ

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IC-9100 vs FT-847
by Richard Lawn 24 Mar '15

24 Mar '15

I'm always considering new ways to upgrade my stations both at home and at our summer QTH where I have been using the 847. I phased this out of the home station when I got a Flex500A with the V/U module. It of course works very well. I'd be interested in any comments about the IC-9100 as a possible upgrade for my older 847, particularly from users familiar with both radios. I don't have a lot of room in the vacation home shack so keeping things simple with an all-in-one makes good sense. 73s Rick, W2JAZ

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antennas and radios for that which is presently on orbit (or soon will be)
by Eric Fort 24 Mar '15

24 Mar '15

I've been looking at getting setup to use those oscars over which one can actually communicate via sound, spoken words, voice, etc. in real time. I have little to no interest in listening to/for things that simply take bandwidth to go beep beep or even send telemetry. I'm not really interested in packet either. (there's enough terrestrial APRS coverage that I really have no need for APRS sat coverage either.) So given what is presently or soon will be operational, are there any transponders (fm or linear/ssb) that I would be unable to work with 2 M2 eggbeater antennas (1 each for 2M & 70cm) and a TS-2000X multimode radio, possibly with the addition of a good low noise preamp for each band? does anything on orbit or planned really require the use of directional high gain antennas and a rotator to use effectively, or should the above be expected to be suitable for sat work for the foreseeable future given my interests? (yes, I know many sats can be worked with an HT and directional antenna. I've done it. Now I'm looking to put something together that I can simply sit down and use, does not require doing a strange dance across the yard or a public park and having to explain to PD that I'm not a terrorist trying to contact space aliens...., and basically points and tunes itself over the period of a given pass with only minor if any adjustment other than keying and unkeying the mic.... eventually I'd like to possibly adapt this to mobile operation for use while driving. What operating would I NEED rotors and directional antennas?) Thanks, Eric AF6EP

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