July 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/ ----

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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

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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]

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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)

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Re: [amsat-bb] FUNcube-1 operations
by Graham Shirville 18 Sep '15

18 Sep '15

Good evening, I can report that FUNcube-1 was switched back to autonomous mode at around 21:19 UTC this evening. A reminder for next weekend – As AMSAT-UK is holding their Collloquium event in Guildford Surrey, it is expected that FUNcube-1 will be switched to continuous transponder mode , exceptionally, from Thursday evening (July 23rd) until either Sunday evening (July 26th) or, more likely, Monday evening (July 27th). This will enable the Colloquium attendees to view or demonstrate and enjoy the transponder operations for the maximum possible time. Thanks for your understanding! best 73 Graham G3VZV

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PSAT PSK31 experimental software
by aflowers＠frontiernet.net 25 Aug '15

25 Aug '15

I put together an experimental program called DopplerPSK to compensate for the Doppler shift on the NO-84 (or NO-83) PSK31 uplink. In essence, its a PSK31 transmitter that is merged with an orbital propagator to cause your transmitted signal to drift exactly opposite to uplink Doppler effect. It does this in a phase-continuous correction so that you don't get errors due to discontinuous frequency adjustments from controlling a radio in discrete steps. In the case of PSAT and BricSat, it should cause your signal to stay at constant frequency in the satellite's uplink receiver, and thus you should get a stable frequency on the FM downlink as well. In turn, this means you should be able to use your favorite PSK31 demodulating software to copy the downlink since the frequency drift should stay well within the AFC tolerance of the software. Anyway, if there are any adventurous people who are set up to give this a go, I would be interested in seeing if it actually works. You can find a rough quick-start guide (which contains an explanation of how it works and what you need to get started) and the application package on the rather minimalist page here: http://www.frontiernet.net/~aflowers/dopplerpsk/dopplerpsk.html It's an experiment, so be prepared for disappointment. I am :-) Andy K0SM/2

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Decoding UO-11 (UOSAT-2)
by Bob KD7YZ 01 Aug '15

01 Aug '15

Once I got the correct Mode-Setting for UO-11, I had no trouble getting what I think are good decode sets. Others here had said UO-11 gives garbage decodes. The last couple days I have gotten true garbage, a snippet here: -------------------------------------------------------- 0pA}4VRX 4CKIp(zhp#W13 z R<#`{M|4C 2Gr%xa5,RtCX`Xa\:#X{ <("!"i(TpB?B$B7(4="BzF<("ai)5H)0L$0\C/~HPT, $"b}EE=0"lw` L`V A-.7Pq\E54,xX|/ab(+F! ^88 (a`h"i!B @, #%\95!!_C$[P`dD &4 XhQHV3& )FPj( rPA4-`}BH!}0PF!/B-.H9)GP0jSDd rI"-<er HbP 9fQyMb3\@`1_`TEBfS(!YhyC&a@9Dt%|&8N5U0A.N7TX"@k82!|`FF@PtT!ed@dLtr12^I $#xP"VvIBJ$ -------------------------------------------------------------- So this morning I started fiddling around with the Mode-Settings Charset as-well-as Invert. I walked thru the available Charsets in UISS. Then I toggled Invert for each. Finally when I got back to Ascii-7 and inverted, it all worked/decoded. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 000000010001020002030003040004050005060006070007080008090009 100001110000120003130002140005150004160007170006180009190008 20000221000322000023000124000625000726000427000528000A29000B 30000331000232000133000034000735000636000537000438000B39000A 40000441000542000643000744000045000146000247000348000C49000D 50000551000452000753000654000155000056000357000258000D59000C 60800E615FC1620105633341644402651E0C66200267000168000E69000F UOSAT-2 1408060015554 000000010001020002030003040004050005060006070007080008090009 100001110000120003130002140005150004160007170006180009190008 20000221000322000023000124000625000726000427000528000A29000B 30000331000232000133000034000735000636000537000438000B39000A 40000441000542000643000744000045000146000247000348000C49000D 50000551000452000753000654000155000056000357000258000D59000C 60800E615FC1620105633341644402651E0C66200267000168000E69000F UOSAT-2 1408060015559 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am certain the Mode-Settings were the same from begin with garbage decodes to end when I returned them to original settings. go figure. 73, -- Bob KD7YZ http://www.qrz.com/db/kd7yz AMSAT LM#901

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AMSAT-NA office phone and internet unavailable
by Alan 31 Jul '15

31 Jul '15

All, As of 1100 EDT Friday, the AMSAT-NA office phone and internet service is down. Both are supplied by Comcast. The voice mail is operative, but we do not have an estimate of when normal service will be restored. 73s, Alan WA4SCA ----------------------------------- Keep Calm and Carry On

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FS: ICOM 970H TRANSCEIVER
by Bill Booth 31 Jul '15

31 Jul '15

I am selling my ICOM IC-970H Higher Power version 144-430 all mode transceiver. This unit has been well cared for, and comes from a non smoking environment. It has been my primary rig for satellite, repeater and VHF/UHF work since I purchased it new. This sale comes as part of my down sizing for an eventual move, and the fact that I hardly use it anymore. I really do miss A040. I have used this for many satellite, contacts, but the best was in 2009 when I contacted W5KWQ, Richard Garriott on the International Space Station. The only things I added over time were the electronic keyer board and the tone board, both of which are internal. To get maxim exposure to those who may be interested I have listed in on eBay as item number 181815105226 Thanks for the use of the reflector for this post. -- Bill Booth VE3NXK Sundridge ON, Canada 79.23.37 W x 45.46.18 N FN05ns Visit my weather WebCam at http://www.almaguin.com/wxcurrent/weather.html Organ and Tissue Donation - The Gift of Life Talk to your family. Your decision can make a difference.

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FUNcube Warehouse
by dave＠g4dpz.me.uk 31 Jul '15

31 Jul '15

Hi We are investigating the server error being returned when the page is shown in the browser. Will update as soon as we know anything. 73 Dave, G4DPZ Sent from my iPhone

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CN76 in a couple of days
by Bob- W7LRD 30 Jul '15

30 Jul '15

There is a good possibility I will be in CN76 on 8/2 & 8/3. Will bring radio/arrow, FO29 most productive. More to follow when I know for sure. 73 Bob W7LRD Seattle

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Colorado moto-roving Friday
by Douglas B Tabor 30 Jul '15

30 Jul '15

Plan is to motorcycle to DM69 for the 1550 pass of SO-50 tomorrow morning, near Silverthorne, CO. Then hit DN60 on the next pass on the return home from Kremmling. 73, Doug, N6UA/mm (the land-based mm) Douglas Tabor - Sent from my iPad

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Yeah Seriously
by Kevin Deane 30 Jul '15

30 Jul '15

What Bob said.

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AO-7 a bit tempermental
by Bob- W7LRD 30 Jul '15

30 Jul '15

Just got off AO-7 and it's a bit temperamental. Ran min power and lot of freq shift and qsb. Did Work W5BK ssb, AA5PK ssb and K9CIS cw (of course). Will not complain too loudly it's the highest bird we have (right now). 73 Bob W7LRD Seattle

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Re: [amsat-bb] APRS signal "W3ADO-1" being heard in the UK
by Robert Bruninga 30 Jul '15

30 Jul '15

We need to be careful not to blame PCSAT (which identifies itself in each of its occasional 1 second packets) for every unknown signal heard on 144.39 in the UK. Maybe someone could record the unknown interference being heard so we can be sure to separate the known few PCSAT packets from all the other possible sources of weak emissions that could possibly be heard by sensitive receivers… Then we will know what is and what is not emitted from PCSAT. Thanks Bob, WB4APR *From:* M5AKA [mailto:[email protected]] *Sent:* Thursday, July 30, 2015 3:34 PM *To:* Robert Bruninga; AMSAT BB *Subject:* Re: [amsat-bb] APRS signal "W3ADO-1" interfering with Meteor Scatter in England Thank you for explanation Bob. The MS community in Europe has been suffering this interference for several weeks. I have not seen any notifications on this list that there was a problem with NO-44. When did you first become aware of the problem ? > We learned our lesson! That was our FIRST amateur satellite and we sure > learned NOT to use a "connected-packet-command link" May I suggest that the lesson to be learned is NOT to use frequencies like 144.390 MHz which have not been agreed Internationally for satellite use across all three IARU Regions. 73 Trevor M5AKA On Thursday, 30 July 2015, 20:08, Robert Bruninga <bruninga(a)usna.edu> wrote: > An FM APRS signal has been received in England on 144.390 MHz. > Does anyone know if 144.390 APRS is installed on any current orbiting satellite... So sorry, but yes. "Houston, we have a small problem..." I hate to say it, but that beacon was IARU coordinated 15 years ago for operation only when PCSAT is over North America, but after 14 years on orbit, we have lost the ability to turn that backup beacon off. PCSAT (now 14 years old) had a backup fail-safe beacon on 144.39 that would activate after any unknown spacecraft reset to give us a backup comm link in case the primary 145.825 channel died. Being on the North American APRS frequency with hundreds of IGates there would always be at least one that would hear this "emergency call home" from PCSAT even though the channel is generally saturated. And it worked. The problem is, that now PCSAT resets on every orbit due to negative power budget and so, on every orbit that beacon comes back on. Even if we did get a command up to reset it, that setting would last only 15 minutes to the next eclipse. We learned our lesson! That was our FIRST amateur satellite and we sure learned NOT to use a "connected-packet-command link" that needs ACKS and Retries and logon passwords just to LOGON before you can even send a SHUTUP command. All our satellites since, operate without the multiple Send, connect, ACK, retry, ACK, command, ACK overhead.... just to get one command understood. Now, only the receiver on the spacecraft has to be functional to command it to silence in a single packet. But too late for PCSAT. We are sorry that we have no good answers. But we hope we can mitigate this instance of "friendly fire" collateral damage so that we don't cause an overall black-eye to amateur radio overall friendly operations? What you may hear will be 2 one-second packets per minute, one at 1200 baud and one at 9600 baud, trying to "call home". Bob, WB4APR Naval Academy _______________________________________________ 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://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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Re: [amsat-bb] APRS signal "W3ADO-1" interfering with Meteor Scatter in England
by Robert Bruninga 30 Jul '15

30 Jul '15

> An FM APRS signal has been received in England on 144.390 MHz. > Does anyone know if 144.390 APRS is installed on any current orbiting satellite... So sorry, but yes. "Houston, we have a small problem..." I hate to say it, but that beacon was IARU coordinated 15 years ago for operation only when PCSAT is over North America, but after 14 years on orbit, we have lost the ability to turn that backup beacon off. PCSAT (now 14 years old) had a backup fail-safe beacon on 144.39 that would activate after any unknown spacecraft reset to give us a backup comm link in case the primary 145.825 channel died. Being on the North American APRS frequency with hundreds of IGates there would always be at least one that would hear this "emergency call home" from PCSAT even though the channel is generally saturated. And it worked. The problem is, that now PCSAT resets on every orbit due to negative power budget and so, on every orbit that beacon comes back on. Even if we did get a command up to reset it, that setting would last only 15 minutes to the next eclipse. We learned our lesson! That was our FIRST amateur satellite and we sure learned NOT to use a "connected-packet-command link" that needs ACKS and Retries and logon passwords just to LOGON before you can even send a SHUTUP command. All our satellites since, operate without the multiple Send, connect, ACK, retry, ACK, command, ACK overhead.... just to get one command understood. Now, only the receiver on the spacecraft has to be functional to command it to silence in a single packet. But too late for PCSAT. We are sorry that we have no good answers. But we hope we can mitigate this instance of "friendly fire" collateral damage so that we don't cause an overall black-eye to amateur radio overall friendly operations? What you may hear will be 2 one-second packets per minute, one at 1200 baud and one at 9600 baud, trying to "call home". Bob, WB4APR Naval Academy

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APRS signal "W3ADO-1" interfering with Meteor Scatter in England
by M5AKA 30 Jul '15

30 Jul '15

An FM APRS signal has been received in England causing interference to the MGM frequency and weak-signal Meteor Scatter operation which is just below 144.390 MHz. A MS DXpedition was disrupted by such activity earlier in the month and interference has been occurring at various times since. The APRS frequency in Europe and Africa is 144.800 MHz. Today (July 30) a signal on 144.390 MHz has been decoded as 15:17:27$ fm W3ADO-1 to BEACON-0 via SGATE-0 UI PID=F0 T#004,161,161,042,210,215,11111111,0011,1 Now I know nothing about Sat Gates and how they operate but I presume that is what the SGATE-0 is referring to ? I have seen a reference to W3ADO-1 at http://www.db0anf.de/app/aprs/stations/basic-W3ADO-1 Does anyone know if 144.390 APRS is installed on any current orbiting satellite or is anyone aware of a terrestrial network that may be relaying APRS traffic on 144.390 in the British Isles or Europe ? 73 Trevor M5AKA

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Re: [amsat-bb] Packet on MixW
by skristof＠etczone.com 30 Jul '15

30 Jul '15

I forgot (or didn't know) about the downlink being BPSK/USB. At the moment I don't know how to do an uplink in one mode and the downlink in another. I have an eggbeater, so tracking is not an issue. (I acknowledge that a rotor and a yagi would be better, but I'm working with what I got). Anyway, on this pass I heard nothing, but I was listening in FM. I have heard the CW ID a few times in the past. Guess I was listening on USB those times. Steve AI9IN On 2015-07-30 12:17, Bob KD7YZ wrote: > On 30-Jul-15 1213, skristof(a)etczone.com wrote: > >> I'm going to try using the Text macro on UISS. If it works I'll let you know. > > roger-roger. looks like I have a couple mins to set that text box up > before the pass. > > last night I set SatPC32 on auto and hadd all the Duchifat windows open. > This is the second itme I decoded nothing. three nites ago though I got > a long string of decodes at 1 or 2 AM. > > The dang Doppler on downlonk is crucial to get centered since it's BPSK > on USB. I find it hard to do with the CAT function on SatPC32. > > what u using to track? > > 73,

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Packet on MixW
by skristof＠etczone.com 30 Jul '15

30 Jul '15

I have my compressed APRS packet from the Duchifat folks, but I can't figure out how to get MixW to send it correctly. It sends the compressed packet, then sends the directions, then sends a Carriage Return, then sends the packet again. I think I want the directions "AI9IN>4X4HSL" first and then the compressed packet, don't I? Can anyone help me get this set up. The Duchifat pass is in about 40 minutes. Thanks! Steve AI9IN EM79ji

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FS: ICOM IC-275A and IC-475H Tranceivers
by Frank Westphal 29 Jul '15

29 Jul '15

After recently acquiring an ICOM IC-9100 Transceiver to upgrade my station, my previous satellite radios are for sale. ICOM IC-475H All mode UHF transceiver. 75 watts out. DC power cord, hand microphone and manual included. ICOM IC-275A All mode VHF transceiver. 25 Watts out. Some panel lights burnt out. Does not affect operation of radio. I have a couple of spare bulbs which will be included if you want to open the radio and replace them. AC power cord, hand microphone and manual included/ I have used the radios on the satellites since the AO-13 days and was using them on the LEO birds until earlier this month when when I purchased the IC-9100. The radios are in very good shape. I can provide pictures and answer questions off line. I am asking $600 for each radio which includes shipping and insurance to the lower 48 states. Please contact me at k6fw1 at verizon.net. Thank you for reading this listing. Frank K6FW

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Re: [amsat-bb] ARISS SSTV Archive Update Needed Before Diploma App Can be Submitted
by John Brier 29 Jul '15

29 Jul '15

oh they're up! thank you. No issue now. the issue was they weren't posted on the archive yet. Now I can submit my application with the links. Thanks for the heads up. Whoever processed the submissions, Thank you! John Brier, KG4AKV On Wed, Jul 29, 2015 at 2:37 PM, Will Marchant <will(a)spaceflightsoftware.com> wrote: > Hi John: > Sorry, I'm confused. It looks like the images you submitted show a > reception time on July 17. That should be OK for the award, right? > Best wishes, > Will > > > -------- Forwarded Message -------- > > Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2015 10:11:12 -0400 > From: John Brier <johnbrier(a)gmail.com> > To: AMSAT BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> > Subject: [amsat-bb] ARISS SSTV Archive Update Needed Before Diploma > App Can be Submitted > Message-ID: > <CALn0fKNkyJ321WKcww7dY34wobU3=pnDvvY=ABkYkFthD7QBWw(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > > First of all, Thank you to all involved with ARISS and especially > these SSTV events and the diploma process. I know you are all > volunteers and just doing this in your free time. > > Second, I should have submitted my images earlier, but I ended up only > submitting them on the 28th around 5:00 UTC > > I downloaded the latest image on the archive, from KE8AKW and the > timestamp on the file is from the 25th. > > The application requires we send links to our images as they appear on > the archive, and the deadline is the end of the month, so I am worried > it won't be updated in time for me to submit my application. Any > insight someone can offer on this? > > Thank you. > > John Brier, KG4AKV

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Canada-W6 so-50 mobile
by Eric T-N6SPP 29 Jul '15

29 Jul '15

Have made a few qso's to the mid-west at my LOS last few days.. Will try SO-50 daily after 2000z .. In Northern BC now..should be mobile for another 7days or so. Internet spotty. 73 Eric n6spp/ve6 ~via iP5

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Does weekly satellite report still exist?
by Nicholas Mahr KE8AKW 29 Jul '15

29 Jul '15

When are they going to update Oscar.dcarr.org? I emailed KD5QGR about it and no response. We need to add new satellite to the page and get rid of old ones and maybe even make the page better. 73's KE8AKW

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Re: [amsat-bb] Does weekly satellite report still exist?
by Vince Fiscus, KB7ADL 29 Jul '15

29 Jul '15

At 12:04 PM 7/29/2015 -0400, you wrote: >JE9PEL compiles a good list and keeps it up to date. > >http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/satslist.htm Thank you Paul. That's excellent and just what I've been missing. :-) I think I can even save it as text file for when I'm away from the internet. KB7ADL

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Does weekly satellite report still exist?
by Richard Ferryman 29 Jul '15

29 Jul '15

I used to receive the AMSAT Weekly Satellite Report but have not seen anything since 2013 (WSR-173). Does that list still exist? Dick G4BBH

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