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

ARISS International Meeting JSC Tour Time Change
by KA3HDO 12 Oct '16

12 Oct '16

ARISS-International Meeting Attendees: The ARISS-US team had a meeting with NASA yesterday on the November ARISS-I meeting and our tour plans. We were informed that our ARISS tour time, originally planned for Monday November 14th in the afternoon, will change. We are now scheduled from 8:30 am-11:30 am on Monday November 14. NASA stated that they are overwhelmed by the substantial influx of tour requests on Monday. This includes the SpaceCom conference, the ARISS-I meeting and the normal tour groups from Space Center Houston. An estimated 2,000 attendees will be coming to the SpaceCom conference (industry, academia, and government space leaders) that will be held the same time as our ARISS-I meeting in Houston. Unfortunately, this will limit tour guides and tour availability in the times they can work with our group-thus the need for the tour time change. We apologize for this, but I think you can understand this is unavoidable. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this, please contact me directly at my ka3hdo(a)amsat.org <mailto:ka3hdo@amsat.org> e-mail. Thanks, Frank Bauer, KA3HDO AMSAT V.P. for Human Spaceflight Programs ARISS International Chair

1 0

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-10-12 20:30 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 12 Oct '16

12 Oct '16

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-10-12 20:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: University of Nebraska's Peter Kiewit Institute, Omaha NE, telebridge via VK4KHZ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Kate Rubins KG5FYJ Contact is a go for: Sat 2016-10-15 14:00:08 UTC 29 deg Howell L. Watkins Middle School, Palm Beach Gardens FL, direct via N4J (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Takuya Onishi KF5LKS Contact is a go for: Mon 2016-10-17 16:08:01 UTC 83 deg (***) **************************************************************************** ** Call for Proposals Proposal Window September 1 – November 1, 2016 The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS. ARISS anticipates that the contact would be held between July 1, 2017 and December 31, 2017. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan. The deadline to submit a proposal is November 1, 2016. Proposal information and documents can be found at www.arrl.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact. **************************************************************************** ** ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts. ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance. Feel free to send your reports to aj9n(a)amsat.org or aj9n(a)aol.com. Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8Ø MHz. **************************************************************************** *** All ARISS contacts are made via the Ericsson radio unless otherwise noted. **************************************************************************** *** Several of you have sent me emails asking about the RAC ARISS website and not being able to get in. That has now been changed to http://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do? How about receiving DATV from the ISS? If interested, then please go to the ARISS-EU website for complete details. Look for the buttons indicating Ham Video. http://www.ariss-eu.org/ If you need some assistance, ARISS mentor Kerry N6IZW, might be able to provide some insight. Contact Kerry at kbanke(a)sbcglobal.net **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 123 Gaston ON4WF with 121 Francesco IKØWGF with 118 **************************************************************************** The webpages listed below were all reviewed for accuracy. Out of date webpages were removed and new ones have been added. If there are additional ARISS websites I need to know about, please let me know. Note, all times are approximate. It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time. All dates and times listed follow International Standard ISO 8601 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS The complete schedule page has been updated as of 2016-10-12 20:30 UTC. (***) Here you will find a listing of all scheduled school contacts, and questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1088. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1053. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 47. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: Arkansas, Delaware, South Dakota, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ QSL information may be found at: http://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS **************************************************************************** The successful school list has been updated as of 2016-10-11 05:30 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correction .rtf Listing of ARISS related magazine articles as of 2006-07-10 03:30 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ARISS_magazine_articles.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** Exp. 47 on orbit Jeff Williams KD5TVQ Oleg Skripochka RN3FU Aleksey Ovchinin Exp. 48 on orbit Anatoly Ivanishin Kate Rubins KG5FYJ Takuya Onishi KF5LKS **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

1 0

Possible Outernet GPL violation
by Dani EA4GPZ 12 Oct '16

12 Oct '16

Hi all, As some of you may know, I'm trying to build a GNUradio receiver for Outernet, partly by reverse engineering their binary-only code. While examining this code, I've noted that this code is using librtlsdr and libmirisdr, which are licenced under the GPLv2 or later (and not LGPL). It is my understanding that this forces the binary-only code to be released under a GPL-compatible licence. More info: http://pastebin.com/ENCYejn8 Can someone with legal experience tell whether am I right in my interpretation of the licences? Also, does anyone have the contact information for Outernet? I tried to contact the user "foxbunny" in Github, who is the main contributor to the Github repos of Outernet. However, he no longer works at Outernet. I know that some of you are having fun with the Outernet receiver, and I don't want to discourage anyone from doing so. However, I think that it is in agreement with the Ham Radio spirit to be able to learn how the technology works. Currently, the key software pieces of the Outernet receiver are closed-source. Recently, only after some nontrivial reverse engineering effort I could figure out the scrambler they use. It turns out it's a scrambler algorithm I hadn't heard about before, so there I learnt something: https://twitter.com/ea4gpz/status/785586536225976320 Also, I think that in particular librtlsdr (the code that makes RTL-SDR receivers work) has given hams uncountable hours of enjoyment with these low cost SDR receivers. Therefore, we should support the fact that this software is GPL and try to protect it from anyone who wishes to abuse its licence. I think that the Outernet project would benefit from releasing all their software under a free software (open source) licence, and I told that to Thane Richard from Outernet when he first announce the project on amsat-bb almost a year ago. 73, Dani EA4GPZ.

3 2

DIY Projects
by Gerald Payton 12 Oct '16

12 Oct '16

This may be OLD stuff to many of you experienced ops., but new to me. I was wondering if there had been any individual DIY projects in the past for building an AZ/EL or Pan/Tilt using robotics? Of course, for our purposes weight and wind load would be a factor. I am not interested in "toy size", as many of the Arduino projects are. If anyone knows of a site or PDF, please send it to me; either here or to my personal email: gp_ab5r(a)outlook.com. I am also good via ARRL and AMSAT using AB5R@xxxx Thanks, Jerry

5 4

Lotw Login Qs via TQSL
by Rafael Pe?a 12 Oct '16

12 Oct '16

Finally, I finished setting up my Leo-Pack and antenna is on top of F12 at roof top. I learned a few tricks when setting up the antenna. The rotor G-5500 is all working as expected. Yesterday, I tried my first wack at satellites....I tried the XW## and worked two stations. I am using tqsl to login the Qs....I entered pertinent information about the qso but when I select Propagation Mode = Satellite and then want select the Satellite name, I cannot see any of the XW sats and who knows how many more. I can see the list when I log on to the lotw service portal. The issue is at the software tqsl.. There must be a way to modify that list, I think. Any assistance is appreciated es hope to work you at some point from FM18LW (DC) Rafael / NN3RP

2 1

VP5/AA4FL
by Jay Garlitz 12 Oct '16

12 Oct '16

Getting ready to leave for VP5 this weekend. Will be operating from Middle Caicos in grid FL41cu as VP5/AA4FL. Most likely days for OSCAR satellites will be Oct. 20-28, but will try for a day or two earlier. I am using a FT-817 and Arrow antenna. Primary SAT will be FO-29 (up 145.93 MHz). I will call CQ using SSB, and listen for replies. Call me as I am not operating duplex and will need to tune around to find you. I will be on for common footprint passes with Europe and South America and try on AO-7 Mode B (up 432.50 MHz) when possible. USA contacts will also include some SO-50 time. May also get on AO-73 and XW birds at times but we have work to do getting the VP5DX station ready for CQWW SSB Oct. 29-30. Plans are to upload LOTW while there, if we get Internet access. Check my QRZ page for updates and additional info. Thanks to Drew KO4MA, Frank K4FEG, George MI6GTY, for helping me prepare. I also appreciate those who had recent QSO's with me while I was testing the equipment and gaining portable SAT operation experience. 73 and hope to get you in the log! Jay AA4FL

1 0

WD9EWK road trip to Pacificon, starting Thursday...
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 12 Oct '16

12 Oct '16

Hi! I will be at the Pacificon convention in San Ramon CA, east of San Francisco, this weekend. I plan on leaving Phoenix early Thursday (13 October) morning, so I can make it to San Ramon in about 12 to 14 hours. The convention runs from Friday (14 October) through Sunday (16 October), although I don't know at this point how long I plan on being at the convention on Sunday. More information about Pacificon is available at: http://pacificon.org/ After the convention wraps up, I will drive home. I am planning on stopping somewhere Sunday evening, and finishing the rest of my drive home by Monday (17 October) afternoon. I plan on doing demonstrations of satellite operating during the convention, supporting Alan WA6DNR and his crew who traditionally have an AMSAT tablet at Pacificon. I don't have a fixed schedule for the demonstrations, but would look to work FO-29, FM satellites, and any ISS passes that may come by while the convention is in session. For now, my plan is to operate using my own WD9EWK call, but there is a chance I could use W1AW/6 which will be on the air from Pacificon. As for operating on my drives between Phoenix and the Bay Area, I am not going to work with a fixed schedule for passes and grids I will plan on operating. Thursday, in particular, is going to be focused on making the long drive in one day, so I might not make many stops. I will have my AmsatDroid Free app and a printout of passes starting on Thursday, and might be able to get on the air if there is a safe place to pull off the highway or freeway to do so. I will use either my TH-D72A or TH-D74A to run APRS as I drive, with WD9EWK-9 as my APRS call sign. This should appear on various web sites like http://aprs.fi/WD9EWK-9 once I am on the road. I should have a fair bit of flexibility in how I make the drive home on Sunday and Monday, which could involve visiting some rarely heard grids and/or NPOTA sites. I will upload my logs as WD9EWK to Logbook of the World. If you would like to receive a QSL card for a contact with WD9EWK during this trip, please e-mail me directly with the QSO details. There's no need to first send me a card and/or SASE to get my card. If I am able to use W1AW/6 at Pacificon, ARRL will take care of the QSLing and LOTW uploadfor that call sign. I will use my @WD9EWK Twitter feed to post updates while on the road and at Pacificon. Pictures, too. If you don't have a Twitter account, you can still see what I tweet. Point a web browser to http://twitter.com/WD9EWK to see my tweets. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

1 0

update
by Steve A 12 Oct '16

12 Oct '16

Can we get updated info, When is the NASA tour? when is the ARISS meetings? trying to finalize plans. Steve W2AKK

3 2

Re: [amsat-bb] Global Geo SATCOM system? (vertical whip antenna?)
by Robert Bruninga 11 Oct '16

11 Oct '16

A simple ¾ wave vertical wire whip in the center of a car roof might make a good APRS Inmarsat Downlink antenna. See: http://aprs.org/outnet-whip-ant.html A ¾ wave monopole should have over 7 dBi gain above about 30 degrees which is where the Inmarsat satellite is. The patch antenna made by the Outernet Folks could be 9 dBi and also has the advantage of circular polarization but is critical to build unless one purchases their kit. But it would be useful to see if signals were possible from just the 6.0” whip? And for people in the USA where the satellite is above 45 degrees, then maybe a 5/4 antenna might pickup another dB or so and still have the satellite in the main beam. Be nice to do an EZNEC model.. Bob, WB4aPR *From:* Robert Bruninga [mailto:bruninga@usna.edu] *Sent:* Wednesday, October 05, 2016 6:52 PM *To:* amsat-bb(a)amsat.org *Cc:* Robert Bruninga *Subject:* Global Geo SATCOM system? AMSAT tinkerers? OUTERNET is a free worldwide Geostationary Satellite downlink system designed to bring content to remote areas all over the globe. They have six geostationary birds covering the entire globe EVERYWHERE. All you need is a small 18” (or 36” in some very remote areas) to receive content via your own home-made receiver based on a TV dongle and Rasberry Pi. Is there anyone on AMSAT-bb that is already receiving this content? We’d like to hear about how easy it is to set up a receiver. We have some ideas on how this can be used to augment Ham radio in our Emergency Response and remote operations missions. See http://aprs.org/outnet.html Bob, WB4APR

1 0

Achieving Science with CubeSats: Thinking Inside the Box
by Arthur Feller, W4ART 11 Oct '16

11 Oct '16

Just published by the National Academies of Science. PDF download version is free. See: https://www.nap.edu/download/23503 <https://www.nap.edu/download/23503> 73, art….. W4ART Arlington VA To thrive in life, you need three bones: a wish bone, a back bone, and a funny bone. - Reba McEntire http://afeller.us <http://afeller.us/>

1 0