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

ISS SSTV + AESP-14 Deployment Video
by M5AKA 31 Mar '15

31 Mar '15

ISS Slow Scan TV Active on Weekend of April 11 http://amsat-uk.org/2015/03/31/iss-sstv/ Video of AESP-14 CubeSat deployment from ISS http://amsat-uk.org/2015/03/30/video-of-aesp-14-cubesat-deployment-from-iss/ The UK Space Agency (UKSA) has published an article explaining to schools and other organisations what amateur radio is and how it work. Read How to ‘Make That Call': #TalkToTim on the ISS https://space.blog.gov.uk/2015/03/27/how-to-make-that-call-talktotim-on-the… Astronaut issues challenge for UK students to “make that call” http://amsat-uk.org/2015/03/20/astronaut-issues-challenge-for-uk-students-t… ---- 73 Trevor M5AKA AMSAT-UK http://amsat-uk.org/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/amsatuk Twitter https://twitter.com/AMSAT_UK ----

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Simple setup for SO50
by Clint Bradford 30 Mar '15

30 Mar '15

Luciano - AMSAT-NA's new FOX-1A is going to actually be EASIER to work with portable/minimum equipment! Engineers have promised about a 6db INCREASE in its 2M downlink as compared to our recent FM voice birds with their 440 downlinks! THANKS for the video! Keep up the wonderful work! Clint K6LCS

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M2 leo pack antenna
by Bruce 30 Mar '15

30 Mar '15

We used my M2 Leo Pack antenna at the Houston Hamfest Saturday and they worked great from AOS to LOS on both passes. Both antennas use 'N' connectors. If you are going to build them, I would suggest installing the driven elements last, do not use the push retainers on those two until you are all done building the antenna. I built mine and messed up 2 of the push retainers. I think there were 1 extra in each of the 2m and 70cm antennas but I pushed a little too hard and the elements were no longer centered. You cannot back them up. You have to replace them. M2 does not ship one or two of them, I had to purchase a package of 50 just to get 2 of them. Cost... $13. I reckon if anyone else makes an oops, I can drop a few in the U.S. mail to you. Just a heads up. They will be shipping out the last of the AMSAT orders that have been waiting to ship... 5 going out in today's UPS delivery. They will have some packaged and on the shelf ready to ship for those that are ready to order now. No waiting. 73...bruce -- Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards ARRL Awards Manager (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0100z on Echolink - Conference *AMSAT* Also live streaming MP3 at http://www.amsatnet.com Podcast at http://www.amsatnet.com/podcast.xml or iTunes Latest satellite news on the ARRL Audio News http://www.arrl.org AMSAT on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/amsat

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AMSAT's "new" FM satellite flyer
by Clint Bradford 30 Mar '15

30 Mar '15

Patrick, your emory is a little hazy regarding the history of this publication. As an AMSAT area coordinator, and with AMSAT-NA's blessings, I released the AMSAT-approved "Work AO-51" tutorial on September 3, 2007, to the world. That grew to "Work Satellites With Your HT" tutorial I produced in January, 2008 - again with AMSAT-NA's blessings. Then other variants began to appear ... BUT THE BOTTOM LINE - in my mind - is getting the information out. And as accurately and timely as possible. Over the years, my tutorial has been revised / amended / improved more than 20 times - to keep up with changes and new info. No problem ... ancient history, actually, in the scheme of things. Many thousands of my tutorials have been downloaded and handed to convention attendees and club members, and I hope the AMSAT-NA download page gets promoted with updated and current info for all, too. Clint Bradford K6LCS http://www.work-sat.com

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Simple setup for SO50
by PY5LF 30 Mar '15

30 Mar '15

Hi Take a look on this video where PT9BM works many stations on SO50 using a simple UV5R and a Nagoya antenna . <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=697NY-Y3C3I&feature=youtu.be> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=697NY-Y3C3I&feature=youtu.be So , you no need to spend a lot of $ to try sat contacts . 73 PY5LF Luciano Fabricio Curitiba-PR-BR GG54jm http://www.qrz.com/db/PY5LF

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Getting Ready for Fox-1A - Correction
by Clint Bradford 30 Mar '15

30 Mar '15

Tentative launch date the 27th of August - not the 25th. Clint

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AMSAT's "new" FM satellite flyer
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 30 Mar '15

30 Mar '15

Hi! One of the items in yesterday's ANS bulletin described a flyer that is now available from AMSAT's web site, available at: http://www.amsat.org --> Satellite Info --> Station and Operating Hints. (or at the direct link is http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=2144 ) I am not the only author of these flyers. Back in 2008, Gould Smith WA4SXM asked Tim Lilley N3TL and me to work with him on the original version of this flyer for use by AMSAT's Area Coordinators. Gould and Tim were most helpful in this project, and I thank them for their contributions. Over the next 6+ years, this flyer has been revised several times. Until AMSAT's old web site was shut down a couple of years ago, updated versions were available in a special section of that site used by Area Coordinators. With the changes related to the web site in the past couple of years, that private area for Area Coordinators has not been recreated, and we're taking the opportunity to make the flyer available to everyone. This is probably long overdue, as the information has been available in many places (including AMSAT's "Getting Started with Amateur Satellites" books, available at AMSAT booths/tables and from AMSAT's online store). Since I live in Arizona, with many hamfests in close proximity to the Mexican border, many Mexican hams come up to these hamfests. I asked a couple of friends, Larry Teran KI6YAA and Alex Pereida XE2BSS/N2IX, to translate this flyer into Spanish in 2011, which was a great help. My grasp of Spanish is OK (some of you hear me speaking Spanish when I work stations in Mexico and central America), but I was not comfortable translating the flyer by myself. After Larry and Alex did the initial Spanish translation in 2011, I have been able to update the Spanish version as the English version was updated. A separate flyer is already in the works for the Fox-1A satellite, which will be available before the satellite's scheduled launch date in late August. Between content for the AMSAT web site and articles in upcoming issues of the AMSAT Journal, there will be lots of information about Fox-1A available. Once we see how well Fox-1A works, that information will be incorporated in both the English and Spanish versions of this flyer, and posted on the AMSAT web site. We're starting to take advantage of how easy it is to make documents available on the AMSAT web site, using the WordPress content management system. This has been done with many documents related to the Fox project already, and we will continue to do this in the future. If anyone wishes to translate this flyer into other languages, that would be great. Please e-mail me directly, so we can discuss this in more detail. Any additional translations will be posted on the AMSAT web site, along with the existing English and Spanish versions. Thanks, and 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

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WD9EWK's road trip to DM51/DM52 & DM52/DM53 - report
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 29 Mar '15

29 Mar '15

Hi again! After yesterday's hamfest in Tucson, I made a detour to the southeast, so I could stop and operate from 3 different rarely-heard grids in that part of Arizona, before heading home. I made a change to the plans I had posted on this list last week, but was able to make many contacts from the two different places I operated from. My first stop yesterday was the DM51bx/DM52ba grid boundary, west of US-191 and south of I-10 in Cochise County. This is location I usually visit once or twice a year, usually after hamfests in this part of Arizona. The spot I use is just over an hour's drive from the hamfest site, about 80 miles east of Tucson. After I found the exact spot and the obligatory photos of my station with a GPS receiver in the picture, I worked two AO-7 passes and an FO-29 pass. I logged 14 QSOs on these 3 passes, even after I stopped working the second AO-7 pass around the midpoint. My change in plans turned out to be a good thing. When I stopped working the second AO-7 pass, I had about an hour and 40 minutes to cover the 70 miles to the second stop on this quick road trip - the DM52ax/DM53aa grid boundary. This spot is along US-70, northwest of the town of Safford in Graham County. In the past, I once made this drive in 80 minutes, in between a couple of AO-51 passes. I wasn't interested in setting any land speed records, but I ended up making the drive in 85 minutes. A larger part of US-191 between I-10 and Safford had been upgraded to a divided highway with a 65mph speed limit - and I took advantage of that. I found the exact spot next to US-70, set up my radio on the spot, and had 10 minutes to spare before the first of the two SO-50 passes. I had used my GPS to find the exact spot on the grid boundary, placed my radio on the spot, and took the obligatory photos after the first of the two passes I worked. Each of the SO-50 passes had a lot of stations. Even with the crowds, I was able to hand out QSOs with DM52 and DM53 to 13 stations on each of the passes. Of these two grids, DM53 is the rarer of the two - a two-hour drive from either Phoenix or Tucson, away from I-10 through this part of Arizona. I had last operated from DM53 in 2011, and I think KL7R has been in this area recently. Someone always needs either - or both - of these grids, so it is fun to make the drive and put these grids into lots of logs. All of my QSOs from Saturday, between the hamfest and other stops I made during the day, are in Logbook of the World. Within minutes after I uploaded these contacts, almost half of them were confirmed. Some of these QSLs were with relatively new satellite operators. It's nice to see more satellite operators using LOTW. If you worked WD9EWK and would like a QSL card, I still print and mail QSL cards. Just e-mail me directly with the QSO details, and I will check my log. If you're in the log, I will be happy to send you a QSL card. These locations are outside my 200km limit for the satellite VUCC award, so I don't seek cards for QSOs I make from those locations. There is no need to first send me your QSL card and/or SASE to get my QSL card. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

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Tucson (Arizona) hamfest on 28 March - report
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 29 Mar '15

29 Mar '15

Hi! I had an AMSAT table at yesterday's Radio Society of Tucson hamfest in Tucson, Arizona. A great turnout, larger than last year's crowd, and good weather helped make this a nice place to spend the morning. During the morning, there was a lot of traffic around my AMSAT table. Between the demonstrations that always draw crowds and more talk about the upcoming Fox-1 satellites, there was a lot of interest in this corner of ham radio. After talking about the Fox project for many years, it has been nice to attach some launch dates to a couple of the satellites. As I did a week ago at another hamfest in Scottsdale AZ, there was interest in using the USB SDR dongles with the small Windows tablets. I was on a few passes during the hamfest - a couple of AO-73 passes; and one pass each of AO-7, FO-29, and the ISS. I logged a couple of QSOs on the FO-29 pass just after 1330 UTC, and a few more on the AO-73 pass around 1740 UTC. Among the QSOs on the later AO-73 pass, I worked Andy W5ACM and Bruce KK5DO, who were at the Greater Houston Hamfest representing AMSAT. Thanks to them, and everyone else, who worked WD9EWK during the demonstrations. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

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For Sale - Yaesu FT-847 w/accessories & Smartuner - SGC-230
by K5AXW 29 Mar '15

29 Mar '15

For Sale - Very nice Yaesu FT-847 all band/mode TX/RX tracking transceiver. Radio comes with original box, manual, DC power cord and hand mic. Installed are the INRAD 2.1 KHz SSB, Collins 2.5 KHz and 500 Hz CW mechanical filters, ready for full duplex cross-band operation. Mobile mounting bracket MB-66 included. The TX is opened up to cover 60 meters and MARS frequencies. Power switch replaced and upgraded. Also included is the MD-100 desk mic, home brew data adapter for PSK/RTTY/data use and a serial CAT cable for radio control & satellite Doppler tracking. $1150 shipped Continental U.S. Separately for an all-in-one type station, a companion SGC Model SGC-230 "Smartuner" with original box, manual, extra control cable and a type 43 toroid core for $375 but will sell both the FT-847 & SG-230 for $1450 shipped Continental U.S. All of my contact info is on QRZ. Please respond off the list. Thanks. 73, Bill K5AXW Austin, TX

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