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

EQUiSat Optical Beacon CubeSat
by Trevor . 17 Oct '18

17 Oct '18

Students at the Ivy League Brown University are developing an amateur radio satellite EQUiSat that will carry a Xenon Flash Tube (XFT) subsystem to act as an Optical Beacon that should be visible to the unaided eye of observers on Earth. See http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=10635 73 Trevor M5AKA AMSAK-UK http://www.amsat-uk.org/ ----

5 5

LVB Tracker USB serial port driver for Windows 7 x64?
by Bill Bordy, NJ1H 22 Dec '16

22 Dec '16

Has anyone located a driver for the LVB Tracker internal USB to serial port adapter on Windows 7 x64? If not, has anyone reverted to the serial port connection on LVB Tracker and used an external USB to serial port adapter successfully with SatPC32 on Windows 7 x64? I have an Edgeport multiple USB to serial port that has drivers for Windows 7 x64 that I will use if I have to. I would prefer using the LVB Tracker with its USB to serial adapter if someone has another solution. 73, Bill NJ1H

2 2

AO-16 telemetry 3 Oct 2010
by Mark L. Hammond 01 Jul '16

01 Jul '16

Hi All, Here is a quick AO-16 update. On Sunday I turned AO-16 long enough to get some telemetry packets. The satellite would remain on for less than one minute after being commanded on. A quick test of the "bent pipe" voice mode repeater was successful. . The "hardware watchdog timer problem" is still evident; as expected, spacecraft temperatures are insufficient to keep the transmitter ON (needs to be above 15 deg C). Orbit projections suggest that satellite illumination conditions will not result in increased temperatures for nearly 10 years. Command stations do periodically turn AO-16 "ON" to check on its condition and see if the hardware timer problem has "automagically" fixed itself (which in not anticipated, but who knows...). AO-16 telemetry 3 Oct 2010 1838 utc PACSAT MBL Telemetry Decoder Ver. 1.3 (c) Mike Rupprecht, DK3WN =============================================================================== (average values) +10V Battery Bus : 0.00 V Battery Charge Reg : 0.55 mA Base Temp : 9.07 °C PSK RF Out : 1.90 W +5V RX Bus : 4.87 V +8.5V RX Bus : 8.49 V +10V RX Bus : 11.24 V Here is another teaser :) Several months ago I commanded the AO-16 S-band transmitter ON; it too remains functional (albeit weak), and was received by me, Drew KO4MA, and Alan WA4SCA. 73, -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

2 1

CAPE-2 heard in France
by Jean-Pierre Godet 25 Sep '15

25 Sep '15

Dear friends from University of loisiana in Lafayette, Your bird was heard in the North of France when flying over Oran (Algeria), orbit number 204, especially the CW beacon (on 145.823 MHz +- Doppler) between 12:12:52 and 12:13:06 UTC, content was "EUL CAPE 2 OR UF231". The signal was somewhat chirpy, but it's exactly the sound which the real lover of CW like above all. Really ! :-) http://f5yg.pagesperso-orange.fr/forum/CAPE-2_orb204_03dec2013.mp3 The signal to noise ratio is not too good because I'm using an old AM/FM scanner from the 80s heterodyned by my medium wave homebrew transmitter fitted with a 456.9 Xtal. The antenna was a vertical half-wave inside the attic. The next orbit, number 205, was heard too, with the CW beacon affected at that time by a hoarse voice and suffering from a strong fadding. So I'm not absolutly sure, poor lonesome telegraphist, of my human decoding, "M5UL CAPE 2 ÜR 5045", something like that. It was over the East coast of Spain, between 12:12:52 and 12:13:06 : http://f5yg.pagesperso-orange.fr/forum/CAPE-2_orb205_03dec2013.mp3 Congratulation to the Cajun Advanced Picosat Experiment team from France ! Jean-Pierre F5YG -- Powered by Linux (Slackware 10.0 - kernel 2.4.26)

4 7

Re: [amsat-bb] Handheld for LEO satellites?
by Steve Kristoff 11 Jul '15

11 Jul '15

The Alinco DJ-G7 claims to be full-duplex capable. Anybody have thoughts on that radio? Steve AI9IN skristof(a)etczone.com On Wed, Jan 21, 2015 at 1:11 PM, D. Craig Fox <DFox(a)rwglaw.com> wrote: > All of the foregoing responses express valid approaches. One thing to keep > in mind if going the HT approach, is the long term reliability of the > radio. The fact that there are still so many Icoms, Kenwoods, Yaesus out > there is evidence of their long term reliability. Perhaps the inexpensive > Chinese radios will stand the test of time- maybe not. But for very little > more than the cost of two of the new cheap radios, you can have a full > duplex HT. As others have said, there is no real substitute for hearing > your downlink. I happen to like my full duplex Kenwood D7 because of its > on board TNC giving me the ability to communicate through the ISS > digipeater as I point my elk antenna while watching it go by. Way cool > experience. > > If you get really bitten by the sat bug like most of us, you will > eventually want a full duplex, all function transceiver to enable you to > work the linear (rd: low stress, high fun) satellites. Consider saving up > for that instead. > > Just my $.02 > > Craig > N6RSX > > > > NOTICE: This communication may contain privileged or other confidential > information. If you are not the intended recipient of this communication, > or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this communication to > the intended recipient, please advise the sender by reply email and > immediately delete the message and any attachments without copying or > disclosing the contents. Thank you. > _______________________________________________ > 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://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb >

6 8

AO73 mode change
by Graham Shirville 10 Jul '15

10 Jul '15

Hi All, Just to advise that FUNcube-1 AO73 has just (at approx 1905UTC) been commanded into continuous amateur mode for the holiday weekend. We expect to change it back to autonomous mode on Monday 6th evening. Have FUN! 73 Graham G3VZV

3 11

W1AW/0 MN Medallions
by Rolf Krogstad 08 Jun '15

08 Jun '15

Today I got a surprise in the mail. The ARRL sent me two commemorative medallions mounted in a plexiglass display which is engraved "NR0T was W1AW/MN" Very sharp looking addition to the shack. I worked only Satellite QSOs on both of the Minnesota weeks. It is a beautiful commemorative gift and caught me totally by surprised. Thank you ARRL! 73 Rolf NR0T grid = EN34it Memeber of the following organizations: ARRL Life Memeber Minnesota Wireless Association Twin Cities DX Association AMSAT AMSAT-UK

4 4

FUNcube-1 Mode
by Graham Shirville 05 Jun '15

05 Jun '15

Hi All, Just confirm that FUNcube-1 was commanded into amateur mode at approx 10:54UTC this morning as planned for the weekend. It is likely that the normal switch back to autonomous operation will not take place until one of the Monday (June 1st) morning passes. 73 Graham G3VZV

2 1

Call for Papers
by Ford, Steve, WB8IMY 03 Jun '15

03 Jun '15

Call For Papers: 2015 ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference We're soliciting technical papers for presentation at the 34th Annual ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference, to be held October 9-11 in Chicago, Illinois. Papers will also be published in the Conference Proceedings. You do not have to attend the conference to have your paper included in the Proceedings. The submission deadline is August 17, 2015. E-mail your submission to Maty Weinberg at ARRL Headquarters at maty(a)arrl.org. Please to do not e-mail zip files as these will be rejected by our e-mail server.

1 2

DUCHIFAT-1
by David L Warnberg 01 Jun '15

01 Jun '15

40 degree pass at 11:36 EST and I heard nothing.. Anyone heard from this SAT? Thanks David KK4QOE

3 3