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

LVB tracker boards for sale
by Bob- W7LRD 03 Jul '15

03 Jul '15

I that the two LVB tracker boards v1.1 with cd cluttering up my shack. $10 free shipping 73 Bob W7LRD

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First contact via satellite!
by Bill Dillon 03 Jul '15

03 Jul '15

After five attempts on SO-50, I was able to make a QSO with N4UFO (love the call sign!) on the 08 UT pass this morning! Slant range was over 1000 miles for me, pretty close to my limit with my Arrow II antenna and HT. I'm still recovering from the shock and awe of being able to do this. :-) --Bill, KG5FQX, Missouri City TX, EL29

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AMSAT Bulletin Article KI4SBL
by Thomas Doyle 02 Jul '15

02 Jul '15

The latest AMSAT Bulletin Vol. 38 No. 3 was great. Quite a number of interesting articles. I found the CNCTRK article by KI4SBL particularly interesting. The modular, metal construction seems like a really good idea. Bob is very good on returning emails so let him know if you have any questions about his interesting system. In addition to CNCTRK there are a number of other portable rotors that have been around for a while (satnnogs, WRAPS and http://www.mobypicture.com/user/MeltdownCore/view/18165109 to name a few). Has anyone built and used any of these relatively new lightweight portable rotors. If you have any first hand experience with one or know of any others please let me know direct and/or on the board. tnx & 73 W9KE Tom Doyle

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FOX-1A Tentative Launch Date 09/25/2015?
by Clint Bradford 02 Jul '15

02 Jul '15

Is FOX-1A's tentative launch date now September 25, 2015? Confirming it is still on the NROL-55 payload? Clint K6LCS

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Video of reception of ISS Tulsa CC ARISS contact from Raleigh, NC
by John Brier 02 Jul '15

02 Jul '15

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-XIz5OUXn4 Unedited video from my phone of today's International Space Station (ISS) contact with Tulsa Community College in Tulsa, Oklahoma as received in Raleigh, North Carolina on top of a landfill park. At some point I hope to edit the video from my digital SLR together with this video from my phone plus the voice recorder audio from my radio. 0:39 - beginning of reception 5:30 - ending of school contact and beginning of me unsuccessfully calling the ISS 7:55 - clearing and giving up 8:18 - explanation of situation/setup My reception of the ISS begins with Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka answering question number five from the list of prepared questions (see below). You won't be able to hear the students because they are too far away and they keep the uplink frequency confidential to avoid anyone trying to hijack the contact opportunity. The contact ends with them trying to ask question number 13, but it was apparently too noisy for Padalka to hear. 5. What are some things that you go through to be trained to become an astronaut? 6. What is the maximum amount of time recommended to be on the ISS due to lack of gravity? 7. Is it hard to integrate with other crew members that live on board the space station? 8. How do you keep a look out for space debris and how do you respond to avoid a possible collision? 9. Does each crew member work on the same experiments? 10. Of the current experiments, how many do you expect to complete while you are onboard the International Space Station? 11. What hobby or pass time items are you allowed to take on board the ISS from home? 12. What is the most interesting looking country from space? 13. What is the largest space object that has hit the ISS? Full details of the contact as provided by Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS): http://www.amsat.org/pipermail/sarex/2015/004315.html

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IC-9100 SatPC32 Sub Audible Tone for SO-50
by Frank Westphal 02 Jul '15

02 Jul '15

I have acquired an ICOM IC-9100 and am stumped on how to program SatPC32 to select the correct sub audible tone for SO-50. I have studied the SubToneSQF file and the ICOM manual. When I click on T0 and change it to T1 or T2 in SatPC32 the sub audible tone is turned on in the IC-9100. The tone frequency in the IC-9100 does NOT change to the value in the SubToneSQF file. Has anyone figured out haw to correctly setup SatPC32 SubToneSQF file to work with the IC-9100? Could you post the correct command line so I could copy it into my file? Thanks in advance for any guidance. Frank K6FW

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IC-9100 SatPC32 Sub Audible Tone for SO-50
by Frank Westphal 02 Jul '15

02 Jul '15

Thanks for the help. Have it configured right now and it sets the tone correctly. 73, Frank K6FW

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PSAT PSK31 Great! and nopw Posit Reporting
by Robert Bruninga 02 Jul '15

02 Jul '15

PSAT is working very well. Plenty of energy. The PSK31 transponder is on all the time in AUTO mode as long as there are users in the 10m uplink passband. Doppler is a challenge for some stations depending on geometry to the pass. Question? Have we had any success in PSK31 authors to include Doppler correction in their software? KO6TZ provided a table summary of various PSK programs and their capabilities on the PSAT web page. Ideal satellite mode operations include operating full duplex and Doppler correction. http://aprs.org/psat.html If anyone has direct influence on any PSK31 authors, you might mention our needs for a Satellite mode that includes these features. PSAT has an estimated life of over 3 years. Although PSK31 operation is primary, we have plenty of power, so the APRS digipeater (only 300 mW) is also on full time. In addition, we have activated PSAT’s own APRS position reporting, and with its position knowledge, it also has unique Bulletins for each Continent. Take the positions with a grain-of-salt, however, since we have quirks in the onboard clock and have to frequently re-sync the clock to the real orbit. But we have ground stations in Maryland and Europe assisting in this. Your best PSK31 Uplink opportunity with least Doppler change (so everyone else can decode you) is the highest elevation pass while coming towards you and then away from you. You can see these stations in the waterfall with practically no Doppler change. Those uplink stations off to either side will have more and more changing Doppler during the pass. Its fun to watch the waterfall ad visualize what is going on. Bob, WB4APR

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Re: [amsat-bb] VP2MKV and LOTW
by Kevin M 01 Jul '15

01 Jul '15

Just got a proper confirmation here on LotW, Jim... thanks!!! 73, Kevin N4UFO We have been working on getting the sat contacts formatted properly to be accepted by LOTW. Two uploads last week did not work. We have further edited the file and will upload again tonight or tomorrow. We will post here when we are successful and see some matches. Jim Jim White WD0E at amsat.org jim at coloradosatellite.com

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AMSAT presentation & California road trip (9-13 July)
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 01 Jul '15

01 Jul '15

Hi! I will be driving to southern California next Thursday (9 July), in advance of a presentation I will give for the Escondido Amateur Radio Society that evening. After that presentation, and after spending the next day (Friday, 10 July) in and around San Diego, I will head north. Other than a planned stop at the DM04/DM05 grid boundary north of Los Angeles (the same spot I stopped at last September, near Mojave CA and Edwards AFB), I am probably going to head further north. I don't have to be back home until the following Monday (13 July) evening, so I have some time to go either north through the San Joaquin Valley, or over to the Pacific coast, or some sort of loop to see a lot more of central California. I have not set an itinerary for the portion of my trip after the DM04/DM05 stop, but have asked other satellite operators via Twitter for feedback on some grids that I could visit while I am on the road. I'm now asking the grid hunters here on the -BB the same thing. If I look to go up or down the Pacific coast, grids I could visit include CM94 through CM96, and possibly even as far north as Santa Cruz and the almost-all-wet grid CM86. If I stay inland, DM0x grids would be where I'd probably drive through. I'm not planning to go all the way up to the Bay Area, although Santa Cruz is not that far from San Jose. Any thoughts from the crowd here, on grids that I should try to visit between 11 and 13 July? On my way back to Phoenix on 13 July, I may be able to make a stop on the DM23/DM24 boundary, either north of Quartzsite on the Arizona side of the Colorado River, or just across the river along US-95 in California. This stop will depend on whether or not a satellite pass is available when I go through that area. I won't be driving I-10 on my way to San Diego on 9 July, so I won't be able to make this stop early in the trip. While on the road, I plan on running APRS using WD9EWK-9, which should be visible on sites like http://aprs.fi/WD9EWK-9 . I'll also use my @WD9EWK Twitter feed to post updates, even if I can only send SMS messages with those updates. QSOs will be uploaded to Logbook of the World. Thanks in advance, and 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

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