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

XW-2E
by Paulo PV8DX 21 Sep '15

21 Sep '15

Estimados Os 6 CUBEs da China já em órbita https://ukamsat.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/xw-2_cas-3_-satellites-frequenc… Consegui hoje pela manhã cedinho contato SSB com LU2DPW. Muito rápido, mas o suficiente. Visto já no fim da passagem. O 2E está muito bem de sensibilidade. 73 de Paulo PV8DX LABRE/ARRL AMSAT-BR/AMSAT-NA member FJ92pt - VUCC SAT www.labre-rr.org Boa Vista-Roraima pv8dx(a)labre-rr.org pv8dx(a)arrl.net

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Kenwood TM-733 for FM sats
by Skyler F 21 Sep '15

21 Sep '15

I have a kenwood TM-733. This radio is nice because it is full duplex cross-band, but I am having issues trying to figure out how to use it with satellites. The problem is that I will have to switch between bands and change each frequency when adjusting for doppler, and I can't find a simple solution with channels because doing an odd split channel only seems to split between VHF - VHF or UHF - UHF not V-U. Even if that would work, it would not be full duplex. Is there any solution using this radio for FM sats??? -- Skyler Fennell amsatnet.info KDØWHB electricity440(a)gmail.com

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WD9EWK on the CAS-3 satellites this afternoon/evening
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 21 Sep '15

21 Sep '15

Hi! After reading all of the fun everyone had last night and earlier today working the new Chinese satellites, I was looking forward to the passes late in this afternoon. The first of the two passes was not very high out here in Arizona, with maximum elevation of 10 degrees around 0000 UTC. The next pass, about 90 minutes later, was up to a maximum elevation of 47 degrees. I have been using my SDRplay receiver to work other satellites, and I wanted to give it a try on these satellites. SDR makes working these satellites fun, being able to see all of them on the screen. For the first of the two passes, around 0000 UTC, I had my SDRplay in the yard, along with my 8-inch HP Stream 8 tablet and Elk log periodic. I did not intend on transmitting during this pass, considering the relatively low elevation. Once the satellites rose above the houses and hills to my east, they were easy to hear. I could hear the CW telemetry from all 6 (CAS-3A through -3F), see the digital telemetry from all 6, and heard QSOs on the transponders of CAS-3E and CAS-3F. While I was listening, I used the HDSDR software's RF recoding function to capture all of this. For about 5 minutes, I ended up with a 1.2 GB file. After hearing the activity on that pass, I made sure I was all set to work stations on the pass around 0130 UTC. I brought out one of my FT-817NDs, my headset/mic, diplexer, and additional coax. I had my tablet all set with the SDRplay plugged in and HDSDR on the screen. I made adjustments to HDSDR so I could see and hear all 6 satellites, which fit comfortably in a 600 kHz bandwidth. Once I started seeing traces of signals on the HDSDR screen, I started my RF recording in HDSDR and my Sony audio recorder (I still use the external audio recorder, even when working with my SDR setup, as insurance in case something happens to the HDSDR recording). And it was a busy pass. I saw activity appearing on both of the working transponders. Initially, there was more activity on CAS-3F's transponder, but more activity showed up on CAS-3E's transponder later in the pass. I started working CAS-3F, and was able to log 3 QSOs - Brad KG7NXH a few miles southeast of me, Glenn AA5PK in Texas, and Mike WA6ARA in California. At this point, it was just after the midpoint of the pass, and tuned my FT-817ND and HDSDR to the CAS-3E transponder. I heard WA6ARA CQing, and made a quick QSO with him for my first CAS-3E QSO. I still saw more activity on CAS-3F toward the end of the pass than on CAS-3E, but there were stations on both transponders. Afterwards, I opened up the RF recording from the later pass, and saw that I received the CW beacon and digital telemetry from all 6 satellites - just like I saw on the earlier pass. I intend on posting both RF recordings, but that might have to wait until tomorrow. The RF recording from the later pass was about 1.9 GB for 9 minutes. I'll post a follow-up message here when those files are available online, if anyone wants to grab a copy and see/hear themselves as I heard the transponders out here in Arizona. I could have worked these passes with my two FT-817NDs, but this is most definitely one advantage for using an SDR receiver. I did not have to hear anything on the transponders to know there was activity. I could see it on the waterfall, and see the other signals from all 6 satellites. I could tell which transponder was busier (CAS-3F was usually the busier of the two). I also found that having HDSDR put the RF recordings on the tablet's C: drive (internal storage) instead of the D: drive (micro-SD card) worked a lot smoother. I will also post details on my HDSDR setup with the SDRplay receiver. I just bought this receiver a couple of months ago directly from its UK manufacturer, but now they are available in the US from Ham Radio Outlet. I still like the FUNcube Dongle Pro+, but that dongle only allows for a maximum bandwidth of 192 kHz. This is fine when working one satellite, or maybe a couple of these CAS-3 satellites, but the SDRplay allows for a maximum bandwidth of 8 MHz. I'm only using 600 kHz bandwidth with these satellites, so that my recordings don't overwhelm the tablet's C: drive. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

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Pope Francis - Special Event
by W2JV 21 Sep '15

21 Sep '15

Hello, Pope Francis arrives tomorrow and our special event begins tomorrow night (Tuesday 09/22/15 to 09/27/15) at 8:00 pm EASTERN TIME! Listen for the special event call signs K2P & K3P, we need satellite operators for N4P- VA. & W3P- PA, if you are available for any passes please contact W2JV(a)AMSAT.NET. For certificate and QSL information visit: PAPAL VISIT AMATEUR RADIO SPECIAL EVENT 73 Peter W2JV

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CAS-3D CW beacon
by Steve Kristoff 21 Sep '15

21 Sep '15

Strong signal from the CAS-3D CW beacon this morning about 1140 UTC at 28 deg el. I won't be posting the transcript as my monitoring consisted of manually chasing the Doppler shift across my MixW waterfall, but I did get enough for a positive ID. Steve Kristoff AI9IN skristof(a)etczone.com

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LVB Tracker Sat Amsat
by David Maciel (XE3DX) 21 Sep '15

21 Sep '15

I'm looking for the LVB Tracker AMSAT, I do not see in the store, they can tell you how to buy one? -- Saludos David Maciel XE3DX Enviado desde mi IPHONE

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XW-2 predictions on www.amsat.org
by Joe Fitzgerald 20 Sep '15

20 Sep '15

XW2 predictions are available on http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/tools/predict/index.php For the moment, I arbitrarily picked object 40902 to represent the entire fleet of 6 spacecraft. As the individual spacecraft are identified and drift away from each other along the orbital track, the list will expand to list each one. -Joe KM1P

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Doppler PSK
by Douglas Phelps 20 Sep '15

20 Sep '15

My Display is 2560 by 1440 pixels. I can barely read the font in the program. Can you send me the program with the font 3 times larger? I would appreciate it. Thanks, DougK9DLP

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CAS-3A CW Beacon
by Nicholas Mahr KE8AKW 20 Sep '15

20 Sep '15

bj1sb dfh xw2 xw2 aaa rtt ruu rtu ruv tmm r6i rnt ruv ttt rnt tku rdr ttt ttt dct ttt tti ttt ttt irk vtt camsat camsat bj1sb dfh xw2 xw2 aaa rtt ruu rtu ruv tnr r6i rnt ruv ttt rnr tku ttt ttt 6it ttt tti ttt ttt trk vtt camsat camsat 73's KE8AKW

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20 satellites launched on Beijing's CZ-6
by M5AKA 20 Sep '15

20 Sep '15

Jonathan McDowell @planet4589 tweeted: 8 of the 20 Chinese CZ-6 payloads now cataloged in 515 x 540 km orbits 10 are small subsatellites, some probably not yet ejected from their motherships. Will take a while. Tsinghua University (Beijing)'s Naxing-2 (20 kg) which itself ejects two Zijing-1,2 picosats about 0.2 kg each Zhejiang University's ZDPS-2A, 2B satellites, 12 kg, with some experiments in MEMS technology and structure deployment The National University of Defense Technology in Changsha (Guofang Keji Daxue) with 20 kg Luliang-1, 1 kg PhoneSat and four 0.1 kg Xingchen The 11 kg LilacSat-2 satellite from Harbin Inst of Technology in the far northeast Heilongjiang province Xinjishu Shiyan Weixing 2, the largest payload at 130 kg, is a technology development sat from Shenzhen Aerospace DFH HIT SatCo, in S China Shenzhen Aero.DFH HIT SatCo is affiliated with the southern graduate campus of Harbin Inst of Tech. Their XY2 will eject the 4kg DCBB subsat CAMSAT, the China amateur radio sat group, has 6 sats built with Aerospace DFH Sat Co (Beijing). XiWang 2A to 2D are 10-25 kg, 2E/2F 1.5 kg 73 Trevor M5AKA

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