September 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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Re: [amsat-bb] AMSAT Net - Colorado
by Clint Bradford 31 Dec '15

31 Dec '15

Great job, Skyler, on the satellite net this evening. Although just a dozen or so checked in, there were more lurking - and, hopefully, learning and getting interested. Heck - one of your participants even offered a donation to your school's ham club! Clint K6LCS

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NO 84 (PSAT)
by Ted 30 Sep '15

30 Sep '15

Is this sat still operating the psk31 mode (10mUSB up 435FM down)? I am not seeing anything, including telemetry nor my own signal. 73, Ted K7TRK

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Lilacsat is ON
by PY5LF 30 Sep '15

30 Sep '15

PY5LF Luciano Fabricio Curitiba-PR-BR GG54jm http://www.qrz.com/db/PY5LF

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LilacSat-2 & LOTW
by Ted 30 Sep '15

30 Sep '15

Hi Patrick, do we know if LOTW has been advised to add the new crop of sats? 73, Ted K7TRK -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] On Behalf Of Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) Sent: Monday, September 28, 2015 10:31 PM To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] LilacSat-2 pass @ 0147 UTC tonight (29 September) Hi! There was a nice turnout on the 0147 UTC LilacSat-2 pass over the US west coast. Stations up and down the coast, and as far east as west Texas, were on. Unlike with the first QSO I made on this satellite last week, when it was raining very hard on my operating position in the yard, I was able to have a nice and calm evening. I used my Icom IC-2820H 2m/70cm FM mobile radio for my uplink transmitter, and an SDR setup for the downlink receiver - SDRplay SDR receiver, 8-inch Windows 10 tablet with HDSDR software - to operate full-duplex. I connected both of these through a diplexer to my Elk log periodic. I used HDSDR to make an RF recording of both downlinks - the FM repeater downlink around 437.200 MHz, and the digital telemetry downlink around 437.225 MHz. I think I had a better copy on the 437.225 MHz downlink tonight than over the weekend, and logged 6 contacts on the FM repeater. Last week, when I worked Glenn AA5PK, I was not able to get through with anything less than 50W transmit power. Tonight was not as bad, but I found that I couldn't get away with 5W for more than a few transmissions. The mid-power setting from my IC-2820H, 15W, worked better. High power (50W) worked well, too. None of these power levels desensed my SDRplay receiver. Maybe if the satellite was higher in the sky, and closer to passing over my head, I might have had better luck using the 5W power level. I saw a mixed reaction on Twitter - one reported needing to run 50W, and someone else said 5W was sufficient. Rather than posting the long and nasty URLs used by Dropbox for its public folders, I made a shorter URL that can take you to the recordings and other files I have been posting in my public Dropbox space: http://dropbox.wd9ewk.net/ For tonight's LilacSat-2 pass, look for the folder with the name "20150929-LilacSat2". If you have an SDR program on your computer or device, and have the bandwidth to download the RF recording, download the WAV file with the name starting with "HDSDR_20150929" in that folder. I also have an MP3 recording with the audio I heard during the pass, plus photos of my back yard setup and a screengrab from my phone's tracking app to show how the pass was for me in central Arizona. Late last week, I made a one-page graphic with a quick-reference guide for the LilacSat-2 FM repeater. I now have this graphic at its own URL: http://lilacsat2.wd9ewk.net/ Please feel free to right-click on the graphic and save it to your computer/tablet/device. This pass was the 3rd consecutive pass where LilacSat-2's FM repeater was operational over the continental USA. It was nice to see the reports from the two earlier passes, and then to work it for myself on the third pass. Thanks to the LilacSat-2 team for another FM satellite for us! 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK _______________________________________________ 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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Live OSCAR Satellite Status Page
by Red Willoughby 30 Sep '15

30 Sep '15

I notice at http://oscar.dcarr.org/ when trying to submit a report, the new XW CAMSATs are not available on the Select Satellite drop down box. They do, however, appear on the colorful graphic display. I wanted to submit a report on hearing (and working) XW-2E and 2F between 1300Z and 1330Z on low passes for me. Red KC4LE

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Telemetry Signals Heard from from LAPAN A2
by Mani [VU2WMY/KJ6LRS] 30 Sep '15

30 Sep '15

Heard very strong telemetry signals on 437.425 Mhz from LAPAN A2 during 06:58 UT 17.4 deg southern pass over India. Mani [VU2WMY/KJ6LRS] Secretary & Station-In-Charge Upagrah Amateur Radio Club VU2URC ISRO Satellite Centre HAL Airport Road, Bangalore-560 017. Phone:(Office)91-80-25082598/25082054/25082192 Mobile: 91-9880 341 456 E-mail ID: wmy(a)isac.gov.in vu2wmy_mani(a)yahoo.com isrohams(a)yahoo.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Lilac 2 Telemetry Signal Heard In DO33
by B J 29 Sep '15

29 Sep '15

I just heard what I assume was Lilac 2's telemetry during its last pass here starting from around TCA to LOS. It was a digital signal on the FM transponder downlink frequency. It consisted of a long tone followed a short one and was transmitted about every 30 seconds. I had no problems in hearing it once I knew where the bird was. 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL

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