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

CAMSAT launch scheduled between Sep 7th-9th
by Paul Stoetzer 05 Aug '15

05 Aug '15

Earlier this morning, the ARRL posted this update on the launch of nine CAMSAT amateur satellites, now scheduled for sometime between September 7th and 9th : http://www.arrl.org/news/chinese-amateur-radio-satellites-set-to-launch-in-… There's also a nice frequency chart for the nine amateur satellites on this launch: http://www.arrl.org/files/media/News/XW-2CAS-3%20Sats.pdf September should be a fun month! 73, Paul, N8HM

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Re: [amsat-bb] Antennas
by Joe Fitzgerald 05 Aug '15

05 Aug '15

Tom, You are correct in that the antenna with the smaller effective aparature will collect less energy in a given time period. But things are never equal - preamp performance, feedline loss etc. For satellite antennas, maximizing Gain/Noise Temperature is essential figure of merit. It does little good to collect lots of energy if that energy is thermal radiation frin the roof under your antenna! -Joe KM1P

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Antennas
by Thomas Doyle 05 Aug '15

05 Aug '15

Reading the posts on the 23 cm antennas brought back some nightmares and a lingering question I have about antennas. As an undergrad in Electrical Engineering we had to take a course in Maxwell's equations. I really suffered through that course. I remember one thing that I have wondered about since then. Almost everything was based on comparisons to an isotropic radiator (dBi). Since I was a ham I had little interest in things that could not be built. When measuring the real gain of a real antenna it has to be compared to something like a dipole. Sometimes a gain is converted to dBi by adjusting for the fact that the reference was a dipole. Consider measuring the gain of an antenna for 70cm with the reference a dipole for 70cm. Suppose the gain is 10 dB. Now consider making exactly the same measurements on a 23cm antenna with the reference a dipole for 23 cm and finding the same 10 dB gain. At first glance it would seem that the two antennas would be equally effective. Another view is energy. If you are trying to receive a signal there is only a certain amount of energy that is distributed through space. The goal of the antenna is to pick up as much of this energy as possible and deliver it to the radio. There is a term 'effective aperture' Ae or more commonly 'capture area'. The antenna picks up the energy in its Ae. Ae is not just the physical size of the antenna but bigger antennas tend to have a bigger Ae. Ae also depends on gain - the higher the gain the bigger the Ae (big surprise). Here is my question. All other things being equal (ignore things like path loss) I believe that the 70 cm antenna with 10dB gain will deliver more energy to the radio than the 23 cm antenna with 10 dB gain. Bigger is better ? If this is wrong please do not fill a chalk board with Maxwell equations to convince me. If it is correct, is the difference simply related in a linear fashion to the difference in wavelength or is there more to it ? 73 W9KE Tom Doyle

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news satellites, good !
by f5gva-1＠wanadoo.fr 05 Aug '15

05 Aug '15

Hi all Ready also with 10 Watts, hélix antenna for 23 cm (Helix 23-2) 20 turns. See you soon, good DX satellite. 73 Claude F5GVA - JN18IT Satellite amateur radio station http://f5gva.pagesperso-orange.fr/

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Are we ever going to learn?
by Paul Stoetzer 04 Aug '15

04 Aug '15

AO-7 was sounding pretty good. Very strong signals over North America around 2200Z, I was having a nice QSO with KC4LE, reducing my power to 1 watt when my signal started to warble a bit, until someone started CQing in CW with such a strong signal that the whole passband was pulsing up and down. Eventually the Mode B transponder shut off under the strain. Using excessive power on a linear transponder is a violation of two sections of Part 97: using minimum power necessary to complete the communcations and causing harmful interference to other stations. We need an ARRL OO to listen to a few passes and send some OO notices! 73, Paul, N8HM

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report rx: NO-84
by Pablo J.M. - LW8EXS 04 Aug '15

04 Aug '15

2:Fm PSAT-1 To APOFF Via ARISS <UI R Pid=F0 Len=34> [20:36:56R] UTC T#003,799,073,515,887,825,00011100 73s de LW8EXS

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Fwd: AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - ANS-216 RadFXSat/Fox-1B Launch Opportunity
by on4cjq＠telenet.be 04 Aug '15

04 Aug '15

Homemade cross yagi's:2*5 on VHF, 2*9 on UHF and 2*19 on 23cm still up and working ok since last weekend-test,all RHCP. Planning to put up X-Quads or reduced Maspro system. 73's Jerry,ON4CJQ ----- Oorspronkelijk bericht ----- Van: "JoAnne Maenpaa" <k9jkm(a)comcast.net> Aan: "AMSAT BB" <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Verzonden: Dinsdag 4 augustus 2015 02:02:15 Onderwerp: [amsat-bb] AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - ANS-216 RadFXSat/Fox-1B Launch Opportunity AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN ANS-216 In this edition: * RadFXSat/Fox-1B Launch Opportunity Announcement November 2016 SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-216.01 ANS-216 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin AMSAT News Service Bulletin 216.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. August 4, 2015 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-216.01 RadFXSat/Fox-1B Launch Opportunity Announcement November 2016 AMSAT has been notified by Scott Higginbotham, Mission Manager for ELaNa-12 (Fox-1A launch) and ELaNa-14 (RadFxSat/Fox-1B launch) in NASA's Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center, "The ELaNa-14 CubeSat complement is scheduled to fly along with NOAA's JPSS-1 spacecraft on a Delta II that will be launching from VAFB on November 15, 2016. Due to a number of CubeSats recently dropping off of the manifest for this flight, a door has been opened, and it is my pleasure to inform you that your respective CubeSats (RadFXSat, GoldenEagle-1, EagleSat, and MiRaTA) have all been officially added to the manifest." AMSAT will begin working with Tyvak, the CubeSat Dispenser and Dispenser Integration Contractor for this flight. Additional news regarding the schedule milestones toward meeting launch requirements will be released as more information becomes available. In a message sent to AMSAT Vice President Engineering, Jerry Buxton, N0JY, Higginbotham concluded, "Congratulations and welcome aboard!" Planned Frequencies for the Fox-1 FM Series Cubesats -------------------------------------------------------------- Uplink FM (67 Hz tone) Downlink FM ---------------------------- ----------- Fox-1A 435.180 MHz 145.980 MHz RadFxSat/Fox-1B * 435.250 MHz 145.960 MHz Fox-1C* 435.300 MHz/1267.300 MHz ** 145.920 MHz Fox-1D* 435.350 MHz/1267.350 MHz ** 145.880 MHz * Pending IARU Coordination, Changes will be announced ** Switchable by command station, not operational simultaneously Download the Fox-1A Operating Guide from the AMSAT Station and Operating Hints page: http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=2144 [ANS thanks NASA and Jerry Buxton, N0JY, AMSAT Vice President Engineering for the above information] /EX _______________________________________________ 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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Summary of SO-50 Ops from DO21/31
by Bill Attwood 04 Aug '15

04 Aug '15

Thanks to all who worked me from the DO21/DO31 line yesterday evening - it was a busy but enjoyable pass. My apologies to N6SPP and KA4H who were both working from portable locations as well! Unfortunately Eric didn't hear most of the calls directed his way :-( I was operating from my truck (photo posted on twitter) using the mobile radio and ATAS antenna for TX. RX consisted of the UHF side of an arrow with my Alinco DJ582 HT. One lesson learned is that I would have been better off using the VHF side of the arrow for TX because as SO-50 dropped to 5 or 6 degrees to the SE I was able to jump up onto the roof of my topper and extend RX for a minute, but the TX no longer had line of sight. I had also tried FO-29 just before the SO-50 pass with no successful contacts (half duplex is not conducive to the scenario) Here are the stations I was able to work (12 on 1 pass is probably a personal best!): WA7HQD WC7V KL7XJ K6FW K6YK N6UK N6SPP K8YSE W5CBF WA5KBH AA5PK KA4H I also heard N4UFO and NX9B call me at the end but couldn't TX back in at that point. The QSO's have all been uploaded to LoTW. 73! Bill VE6WK --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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cn76
by Bob- W7LRD 04 Aug '15

04 Aug '15

tried so-50 last pass-heard several (hi Glenn)- no access, must have issue with 2M arrow. Better luck next time- 73 Bob W7LRD CN76

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Re: [amsat-bb] AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - ANS-216, RadFXSat/Fox-1B Launch Opportunity
by KO6TZ Bob 04 Aug '15

04 Aug '15

23cm 1267.300 Ready & Tested KO6TZ Bob DM13 So. Calif High time to get 23cm equipment including antennas operational again! Excellent news! Which will be the first 15 stations that can report they are ready for this? Henk, PA3GUO >/Fox-1C* 435.300 MHz/1267.300 MHz ** 145.920 MHz > Fox-1D* 435.350 MHz/1267.350 MHz ** 145.880 MHz /

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