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

DUCHIFAT1 - first 'Compressed APRS' tests
by Herzliya Science Center 20 May '15

20 May '15

Hi all, DUCHIFAT1, the Israeli high school students 1U Cubesat is ready for first public tests. People with the ability to send Compressed APRS location packets are invited to join the tests. The satellite will collect these packets worldwide along its flight at 620km high orbit, and will downlink them from time to time over our ground station in Herzliya/Israel. Participants are kindly requested to register in advance in order to get their packet identified on the map. The packets successfully received will be displayed on a map in our Internet site and QSL cards will be sent via Bureau to the stations registered and recognized. (unfortunately, there is no way we can recognize packets from unregistered stations because the packet is limited to 14 character at the satellite, so we assign two unique characters to every registered station to enable us to identify them). Registration can be done at www.h-space-lab.org Also available in that site are operational information about the satellite, and the following documents: *Configuring TT4 Explanation.doc* - how to use the Byonics TinyTrak4 for generating Compressed APRS packets *Terms Of Use.doc* - terms and techniques for making the best use of the satellite There is also Ground station software available for download, written by our students around ISIS space Demodulator software. We hope many people will find it interesting and enjoyable, good luck! 73 from the Herzliya Science Center students and teachers

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PSAT Telemetry
by Robert Bruninga 20 May '15

20 May '15

When PSAT is in SAFE mode, the callsign is PSAT-1 and TOCALL is APOFF. The decode of PSAT-1 telemetry is as follows: T#038,886,079,625,744,788,00011100 038 Means 38th (1 minute) packet. 886 means 8.86 volts (8.4V is full charge) 079 means 79 mA system current 625 is +Z temp 744 is -Z temp 788 is Battery temp Decreasing Temperature counts mean warmer temps. Calibration for +Z/-Z are same, but for Battery is different. T#041,875,075,619,718,785,00011100 3 minutes later +Z/-Z are still warming and at greater rate than internal battery. For +/- Z, Count of 600 is about 30C. Count of 800 is about 0C. For Battery, count 700 is about 30C. Count of 840 is about 0C. Again, this second count-down to BURN is a second attempt to burn in case the first one failed. But since we hear it, then the antenna burn was successful and we need no more burn attempts. Bob, WB4APR Fm PSAT-1 To APOFF Via ARISS <UI pid=F0 Len=12 >[14:37:04] Burn in 308

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EM87
by James Lea - WX4TV 20 May '15

20 May '15

I am working in West Virginia and have time to try to work the SO 50 pass in about a half an hour. If I can find a place that gives me a good view of the pass, I will activate the grid. Echo mike 87. James Lea ~WX4TV Sent from my iPhone

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PSAT Works!
by Robert Bruninga 20 May '15

20 May '15

PSAT heard, two frames of telemetry. Command received. Multiple other burn-countdown packets were received till second burn attempt (though first burn worked or we wouldn’t have any antennas! So, TNC, RX and TX has been confirmed working. Won’t know about CPU until after 2nd Burn countdown next pass. USER ACCESS **NOT** authorized. Did not listen for PSK31 yet on 435.350 (both other UHF’s were listening for other spacecraft). T#039 and T#040 were the two telemetry’s received. So spacecraft had been operational for 39 minutes. That places activation at about 13:57 EDT over New Zealand (about 2 hours before sunup there). Bob, Wb4APR

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PSAT data
by wa7eth＠frontier.com 20 May '15

20 May '15

The following data was copied here in CN88 on the 11:17 PDST pass.PSAT-1 audio level = 22 [NONE] [0] PSAT-1>APOFF,ARISS:Burn in 1148<0x0d> Unknown message type B, Ambulance PSAT-1 audio level = 23 [SINGLE] [0] PSAT-1>APOFF,ARISS:Burn in 1134<0x0d> Unknown message type B, Ambulance PSAT-1 audio level = 22 [NONE] [0] PSAT-1>APOFF,ARISS:Burn in 1120<0x0d> Unknown message type B, Ambulance PSAT-1 audio level = 25 [NONE] [0] PSAT-1>APOFF,ARISS:T#029,891,072,728,668,793,00011100 Telemetry analog values should be 3 digit integer values inrange of 000 to 255. Some applications might not interpret "891"properly. Telemetry analog values should be 3 digit integer values inrange of 000 to 255. Some applications might not interpret "728" properly. Telemetry analog values should be 3 digit integer values inrange of 000 to 255. Some applications might not interpret "668"properly. Telemetry analog values should be 3 digit integer values inrange of 000 to 255. Some applications might not interpret "793"properly. Telemetry, Ambulance Seq=29, A1=891, A2=72, A3=728, A4=668, A5=793, D1=0, D2=0,D3=0, D4=1, D5=1, D6= 1, D7=0, D8=0 PSAT-1 audio level = 28 [NONE] [0] PSAT-1>APOFF,ARISS:Burn in 1064<0x0d> Unknown message type B, Ambulance .73'...Ed WA7ETH

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PSAT Keps
by Robert Bruninga 20 May '15

20 May '15

For the Launch that occurred at 1504z, (11:04 EDT), These homemade elements are a start: EPOC: 05/20/2015 15:10 UTC MA: 47 MM: 15.155 Inc: 55.01 Ecc: .025 AP: 179.7 RAAN 000 First pass will be over the middle of the USA at 1417 EDT to 1437 EDT. With first signals available over California at 1117 PDT. PCSAT on 145.825 at 1200 baud (300 mW) BRICsat on 437.975 at 9600 baud Langley ohn 437.475 at 9600 baud Bob, WB4APR

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Duchifat satellite software
by Steve Kristoff 20 May '15

20 May '15

Has anyone had any luck with the software from the Herzelia Space Center for Duchifat? When the recent announcement came out I downloaded and unzipped the software, but it won't run. Some of the files seem to have a .GGG extension which is not recognized by my computer. Will any other software (MixW?) work instead? Any help would be very much appreciated! Thank you. Steve AI9IN

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SO-50 this morning?
by Bill ACITO, W1PA 20 May '15

20 May '15

Steve, I was on that pass. I worked K8OE?, and I think one other station. I think I heard you as well. The last half of the the pass was quiet, just myself (I was dropping my call every 30 secs or so). I think I had to reset the timer myself, too. I have a log recording I can check at lunchtime. Bill W1PA

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LightSail -- Request to ARS Ground Stations
by Gregory Beat 20 May '15

20 May '15

The Planetary Society : LightSail Mission Blog, by Jason Davis, Twitter: @jasonrdavis http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/2015/20150518-lightsail-first-da… We’re now able to release a timeline of events for LightSail’s first day in space. The chart on LightSail mission Page assumes a liftoff of 10:45 a.m. EDT, (14:45 UTC) at the start of the four-hour launch period. The actual window has not yet been released. We aren't sure when we'll hear from LightSail, but the first possible opportunity comes three hours, 14 minutes after liftoff (17:40 UTC). If you’re a member of the amateur radio community, YOU CAN HELP ! Our radio frequency is 437.435 MHz. Email me any data you collect from LightSail, including screenshots of the radio signal if you have them. I'll pass the information on to our engineering team, and we'll recognize your contribution on our blog. LightSail's automated telemetry chirps start after antenna deployment and continue throughout the mission. We’ll update our Mission Control Center to show the spacecraft’s current position, including pass predictions for your device’s current location (courtesy of N2YO.com). #LightSail telemetry info from our engineering team: 437.435 MHz, Encoding: FSK, Baud: 9600 bps, AX.25 ===== greg, w9gb ... send queries to jason davis or follow him on Twitter. Sent from iPad Air

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SO-50 this morning?
by Steve Kristoff 20 May '15

20 May '15

Was anyone on the 10:35 UTC pass of SO-50 this morning? I didn't hear a thing. I need to figure out if it's my rig, or the satellite, or if there just wasn't anybody else up talking this morning. Thank you! Steve Kristoff AI9IN skristof(a)etczone.com

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