January 2016 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

SK
by Martha 14 Jan '16

14 Jan '16

Bob Carpenter, W3OTC died on January 8th. Since 1991 Bob had volunteered at the AMSAT Office on a weekly basis. He was our computer specialist and handled the donations for AMSAT. A memorial service will be held on January 23rd at 7:00PM a the Guild Memorial Chapel, Asbury Methodist Village, 211 Russell Ave, Gaithersburg MD. -- 73- Martha

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ARRL President Bestows President's Award on AMSAT's Tom Clark, K3IO
by Alan 14 Jan '16

14 Jan '16

All, Our very own K3IO, no stranger to professional and ham accolades, has been honored by the ARRL for his decades of contributions: http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-president-bestows-president-s-award-on-amsat-… 73s, Alan WA4SCA

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Room upgrade
by jeffory broughton 14 Jan '16

14 Jan '16

Cathy and I u p graded out room to ocean view also, for no more than pocket change it was a no brainer ! Jeff WB8RJY jeff broughton

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3 more attending the 2016 Symposium
by Douglas Phelps 14 Jan '16

14 Jan '16

Count on 3 more. Myself (K9DLP), my wife (K9SCP), and my daughter. I upgraded to an ocean view ($7.00 more per person than the reserved inside cabins). Comes with a King size bed, a sofa couch, and a 3 foot by 4 foot window. I mentioned the AMSAT code and they said AMSAT will get credit for our 3 reservations.

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Athenoxat-1 video
by Roland Zurmely 13 Jan '16

13 Jan '16

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TH D72
by Zach Hillerson 13 Jan '16

13 Jan '16

Thanks for the replies. I don't mind having to manually enter the appropriate frequency and have had zero issues following ao85 and so50 through full passes. The issue that drives me crazy is having to reset the tone and step each time I change satellites. If I have everything set with a 67hz tone and 5khz step for an ao85 pass and then enter frequencies for a so50 pass I have to redo the tone and steps. It automatically defaults each time to 88.5 and 25khz steps. I don't know what to do to make this not have to occur. I would prefer to just type in the appropriate frequencies and move on, not have to make the other adjustments.

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TH-D72 questions
by zach hillerson 13 Jan '16

13 Jan '16

I am a new owner of the TH D72 by Kenwood. I'm having a bit of difficulty with a few default settings and was hoping am ore experienced user could pass on a few tips. My understanding is that I cannot save duplex setups into the memory channels. I am manually entering the necessary frequencies for AO 85 and SO 50. Each time I put a new frequency in the radio defaults to a 25khz step and the tone defaults to 88.5 Hz. I want to have 67Hz and 5khz steps as default. There has to be a better way of using the radio for satellites (my only use) then manually entering each frequency and then manually changing each default but I haven't found it in the manual yet. Any help for a smoother experience would be appreciated. I can barely remember to go outside in time for each pass, let alone remember to go through all the keypad functions. Thanks! ZachN4ERZ

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Thunderbird Hamfest @ Phoenix AZ, last Saturday (9 January) - report
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 13 Jan '16

13 Jan '16

Hi! Last Saturday (9 January), I had an AMSAT booth at the Thunderbird Amateur Radio Club's annual hamfest in Phoenix, Arizona. This is one of several hamfests in central and southern Arizona away from the summertime. The morning was a little cool and humid, but as the sun came up this was a great morning. As the rain that had soaked the Phoenix area last week moved away, a nice crowd - buyers, and sellers - came out to the hamfest. During the hamfest, I had lots of opportunities to talk about our new AO-85 satellite, along with the group of Chinese amateur satellites launched last fall, and more Fox-1 satellites in the pipeline. At these hamfests, the most popular events are the on-air demonstrations. Starting with a very early AO-85 pass before 6am (1300 UTC) which was a good pass for collecting telemetry, through two AO-73 passes later in the morning, there is always interest in seeing satellite activity in person. Besides the AO-85 and two AO-73 passes, I also worked a pair of LilacSat-2 passes and an XW-2F pass. This makes for a nice mix of FM and SSB satellite operating. As always, many thanks to the stations who called and worked WD9EWK during these passes! It helps to have stations come on and say "hello" to the crowds, and also mention more than a grid locator for their location. I uploaded my log to Logbook of the World for the contacts made at the hamfest, and would be happy to send a QSL card if anyone would like to receive a card for a contact with WD9EWK at the hamfest. Please e-mail me directly with the QSO details, so I can check my log before sending a card your way. For the final demonstration pass I had at the hamfest, a western AO-73 pass a few minutes past 10.30am (1730 UTC), I had contacts with Frank K6FW near Los Angeles and Glenn AA5PK in west Texas. After I finished the contact with Glenn, someone in the crowd pointed out that Texas was to the east, and I was pointing my Elk log periodic westward. I explained that the satellite was over the eastern Pacific Ocean during this pass, and that both of us would be pointing our antennas at the satellite - not in the direction of the other station for each contact. The proverbial lightbulb came on at that moment, followed by "cool". We who regularly work satellites know that we may not point our antennas anywhere in the direction of where the other station is located, but sometimes it takes a moment for that concept to make sense for someone who knows little or nothing about satellite communications. For almost all of the passes I worked at the hamfest, I used my SDRplay SDR receiver and an 8-inch Windows 10 tablet for my downlink receiver. I figured a hamfest would be a great place to demonstrate the power of an SDR receiver like the SDRplay, combined with the small yet functional Windows tablet - something I wrote about for the AMSAT Journal and the AMSAT-UK OSCAR News publications in the past year. "Eating my own dog food", you could say. I was able to use the shade from my parked car so I could see the tablet's screen, and the tablet/SDR receiver combination attracted lots of interest from the hamfest crowd. Using HDSDR on the tablet, I was able to see the transponder and other telemetry from the satellites. I think I talked about the tablet/SDR combination as much as the satellite that were recently launched and those coming up during 2016. Thanks to the Thunderbird Amateur Radio Club for providing AMSAT space for a booth at the hamfest. This is the 10th consecutive year I have been at this hamfest representing AMSAT. I'm looking forward to the next hamfest where I will represent AMSAT - the Yuma Hamfest, which is also the 2016 ARRL Southwest Division Convention, in southwestern Arizona next month. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

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Re: [amsat-bb] Fwd: Cruise with Amsat!
by Daniel Schultz 13 Jan '16

13 Jan '16

For a typical Symposium weekend, my wife gladly stays home knowing how boring an AMSAT Symposium can be, so I only have to buy one airline ticket and I can often cut the lodging cost in half by sharing a room with another temporarily single AMSAT guy. I carry enough snacks in my luggage that I don't need to pay for hotel meals aside from the banquet. However there is no way that I will be allowed to go on a "cruise with the AMSAT boys" without bringing her along, so now I'm on the hook for $446 dollars (including tax) times two, along with two plane tickets to Houston. We are looking at over $1000 for something that usually costs a few hundred. I have not missed a symposium in quite a few years but this might be the year when I lose my perfect attendance record. Last year's symposium had a record attendance by college and high school students, who are the future of AMSAT. I doubt very many of these students can afford a cruise so we will probably set another record for the least attendance by students. Finally, what are the legal ramifications of discussing potentially ITAR restricted subjects on a foreign registered ship outside of US territory? I hope you all have fun, I will (probably) not be going. 73, Dan Schultz N8FGV >On Sun Jan 10, 2016 at 6:55 PM, Robert Bruninga <bruninga at usna.edu> wrote: >I think the cruise is a good idea. My only thought about it is that some >wives are very high maintenance, possibly placing the ham in a lose-lose >situation being split apart by dual loyalties. Or he can try to go alone, >and face other consequenceis. It will be an interesting challenge... >On Sun, Jan 10, 2016 at 2:04 PM, W M Willoughby <redski at bellsouth.net> wrote: >> I think it is a great idea to try the cruise venue. I don't see how my wife >> could possibly object to being on a cruise while I am in satellite >> presentations and I know she would enjoy meeting some of my radio friends. >> If the attendance is particularly low, we will know not to try it again!

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Clayton, please contact me off list.
by Douglas Phelps 13 Jan '16

13 Jan '16

Clayton, I need to talk to you. Please call if you still have my number or message me off list. Thanks, DougK9DLP

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