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

Re: [amsat-bb] ST2 Fox Delta vs lightning
by Kevin M 20 Aug '15

20 Aug '15

Thinking more about the possible 'mechanism of damage', I removed the RS-232 driver chip and the current draw dropped down below 100 mA where I'm sure it belongs. So I am (still) manually adjusting rotors until I can get that replaced. Of course, I'll need to check and make sure the serial board in the computer is working okay as well. 73 all, Kevin N4UFO

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Hawaii on FO-29?
by Mark Johns 19 Aug '15

19 Aug '15

My tracking software shows a brief FO-29 mutual window with Hawaii and much of the Midwest and Western mainland U.S. in about an hour. Anyone in the aloha state on SSB satellite? -- Mark D. Johns, KØMDJ Decorah, Iowa USA EN43 ----------------------------------------------- "Heaven goes by favor; if it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in." ---Mark Twain

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Danish CubeSats head to ISS + other news links
by M5AKA 19 Aug '15

19 Aug '15

Danish CubeSats head for ISS. They are expected to be deployed in September by Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen KG5GCZ who attended the 2009 AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium http://amsat-uk.org/2015/08/19/danish-cubesats-head-for-iss/ Newspaper story - School students decode ISS images http://amsat-uk.org/2015/08/19/school-students-decode-iss-images/ UKHAS Conference on Saturday http://amsat-uk.org/2015/08/17/ukhas-conference-on-saturday/ RSGB Letter to PC Pro Magazine mentions satellites and FUNcube http://amsat-uk.org/2015/08/15/rsgb-pc-pro-letter/ 73 Trevor M5AKA ---- AMSAT-UK http://amsat-uk.org/ Twitter https://twitter.com/AmsatUK Facebook https://facebook.com/AmsatUK YouTube https://youtube.com/AmsatUK ----

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ST2 Fox Delta vs lightning
by Kevin M 19 Aug '15

19 Aug '15

Hello all! I had a lightning storm roll through today... radios and gear were powered down but the computer was not. Not sure what the mechanism was, but either my Yaesu rotor controller or my Fox Delta ST2 has suffered a failure. I tried hooking up a 12V wall wart to the ST-2 and I can get the standard display, albeit the brightness is off (due to voltage being off, I now know)... the buttons work, readings are within the ball park, etc. Simply put, it's still working, just something is off somewhere. - So with the ST2 connected and checking voltages I can see that the ST2 is dragging down the voltages from the Yaesu controller considerably... The 12v line (actually measuring ~15.8v when unconnected) drops to 5.5 volts and when I check the current draw it's around 350-400 mA. Hooking up the wall wart and checking again, I find the 12v wall wart (measuring 12.1V when open) drops to 5.7v when connected and shows a current draw of around 600 mA. The wall wart is rated at 420mA and since I am using a 10A scale to measure, sounds about right... it's pulling max current. And clearly the wall wart is capable of supplying more current than the Yaesu controller. -So what I don't know, are normals... Does anyone know the normal current draw of the ST2? (serial RS-232 version, if it matters). I can't imagine it being that high since it is mounted without heatsink! But I wanted to make sure before I go tearing into the ST-2 to diagnose it. I suspect the 7805 has gone wonky, but still functioning... although it could be something else has shorted. - Thanks in advance for saving me some time and headache! 73, Kevin N4UFO

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HH8/KD8CAO
by John Papay 19 Aug '15

19 Aug '15

Doug just emailed that he will try to be on the next FO-29 at 2105utc. He has been very busy working on the radio station in Jacmel and hasn't been able to get on the afternoon passes. Several satellite ops including N8MH, W5PFG, N8RO and KE8AKW worked him on 14251 last night after 0000z. He might be on again tonight. Conditions to the US were very good and his 5W FT817 and dipole were doing an amazing job. He worked 3 ZL's that I heard as well. Hopefully he will be more active Thursday and Friday on the birds. They leave Saturday. 73, John K8YSE

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report RX PSAT ( NO-84 ) 20:12 utc
by LW8EXS 19 Aug '15

19 Aug '15

report RX PSAT ( NO-84 ) 20:12 utc Soft Ui-View: 17:12:41R PSAT-1>APOFF,ARISS Port=1 <UI Len=50>: !02 . N\132 . ES040/999/W3ADO s#009002,0z290 17:12:41R PSAT-1>APOFF,ARISS Port=2 <UI Len=50>: !02 . N\132 . ES040/999/W3ADO s#009002,0z290 17:12:42R PSAT-1>APOFF,ARISS Port=1 <UI Len=52>: s#009002,0z290,MBJeEOLiHmaONfKnhLMaNnkIJCOllHbIPimJ 17:12:42R PSAT-1>APOFF,ARISS Port=2 <UI Len=52>: s#009002,0z290,MBJeEOLiHmaONfKnhLMaNnkIJCOllHbIPimJ Soft Soundmodem: 1:Fm PSAT-1 To APOFF Via ARISS <UI R Pid=F0 Len=50> [17:12:41R] !02 . N\132 . ES040/999/W3ADO s#009002,0z290 1:Fm PSAT-1 To APOFF Via ARISS <UI R Pid=F0 Len=52> [17:12:42R] s#009002,0z290,MBJeEOLiHmaONfKnhLMaNnkIJCOllHbIPimJ 1:Fm PSAT-1 To APOFF Via ARISS <UI R Pid=F0 Len=34> [17:13:03R] T#349,898,074,539,844,848,00011100 1:Fm PSAT-1 To APOFF Via ARISS <UI R Pid=F0 Len=34> [17:14:04R] T#350,869,074,538,850,848,00011100 73s de LW8EXS Buenos Aires - Argentina --- El software de antivirus Avast ha analizado este correo electrónico en busca de virus. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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Canadian Satellite Launch Platform
by Bill Booth 19 Aug '15

19 Aug '15

Maybe it will come to pass and enable a lot more hamsats ..... http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/canadian-company-patent-build-space-e… -- 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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report RX PSAT ( NO-84 )
by LW8EXS 19 Aug '15

19 Aug '15

16:56 utc 1:Fm PSAT-1 To APOFF Via ARISS <UI R Pid=F0 Len=52> [16:56:39R] s#008865,0z290,DeMJCJDfMICKEiKC0LGiJceMHgJifLCcLkhJ 73s de LW8EXS Buenos Aires – Argentina --- El software de antivirus Avast ha analizado este correo electrónico en busca de virus. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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When Might ISS Radios Be Off
by E.Mike McCardel 19 Aug '15

19 Aug '15

Friends, I often see threads on this board an others, as well as social media, pondering why there is no signal from the ISS amateur radios. In lieu of yesterday's Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)’s H-IIB rocket launch which will rendezvous with the ISS later this week I offer the following flight rules which were provided by Kenneth Ransom N5VHO and were reported in the ANS-313 November 9, 2014. I believe this information explains most of the times when the amateur radios on the ISS are off. Pay attention to ISS announcements for EVAs and dockings and Robotic Arm usage and you will know, most of the time,when the radios will be off. Sites for information include: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/index.html http://www.ariss.org http://http://www.issfanclub.com/ Did You Know... Current flight rules require all the ham radios to be off during an EVA. Technically, the VHF radios needs to be off for Russian EVAs and the UHF radio needs to be off for US EVAs. For dockings and undockings, again the ISS operates under a flight rule that has the VHF/UHF radios off for Progress, Soyuz and ATV vehicle activity. Note that Cygnus, Dragon, HTV and formerly the Shuttle did not require the radios to be off. For Ham TV, already mentioned is that it will be off for any EVA. It needs to be off for ATV (the last one November) docking and undocking. It also has to be off when the Robotics arm is in close proximity. 73, EMike E. Michael McCardel, KC8YLD V.P. for Educational Relations, AMSAT-NA Have you donated to get your Fox-1 Challenge Coin Yet? http://www.amsat.org/?p=3275

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Sat Software on Windows 10
by Fraser Bonnett 19 Aug '15

19 Aug '15

Took the plunge and upgraded my Ham Shack PC (Win 8.1 x64) to Windows 10. Other than switching a few Com Ports around, everything seems good to go: 1. SatPC32 v12.8c and all sub programs like WinAOS and ISS SatPC32 2. Rotor Controller EA4TX ARS-USB 3. AGW Packet Engine 4. UISS 5.4.0d 5. UIView32 v2.03 6. APRSIS32 7. Orbitron 8. Icom IC-9100 9. HRD 10. DM780 11. SDRConsole (V2) with a Funcube Plus Dongle Pretty much everything that ran under Win 8.1 is running under Win10 with no apparent issues so far. 73, Fraser --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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