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

For Sale
by Mike Seguin 04 Oct '16

04 Oct '16

Posting for a friend. For Sale: Yaesu FT-847. Includes MD-100 Desk Mic, and SP-8 External Speaker. FC-20 Auto-tuner is installed. Contact W1AIM via his email address listed on QRZ for details. -- 73, Mike, N1JEZ "A closed mouth gathers no feet"

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Fwd: Symposium-Who is going?
by Chad Phillips 04 Oct '16

04 Oct '16

Hi Bruce, We certainly are excited. My wife and I were just on the Liberty last Feb. really nice ship. Looking forward to it all. Chad Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: > From: Bruce <kk5do(a)amsat.org> > Date: October 4, 2016 at 9:00:43 AM CDT > To: Chad Phillips <chad.kg0mw(a)gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Symposium-Who is going? > Reply-To: kk5do(a)amsat.org > > my wife and i are going. you chose a good one to make your first. should be a lot of fun. > 73...bruce > >> On 10/4/2016 8:47 AM, Chad Phillips wrote: >> Greetings all. I have not seen much chatter on the BB about the Symposium and just wondering who all here is going? >> >> We are. This will be my first one and am looking forward to it. >> >> Chad >> KG0MW >> En-13 >> >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 >> > > > -- > > Bruce Paige, KK5DO > AMSAT Director Contests and Awards > AMSAT Board Member 2016-2018 > AMSAT Board Alternate 2015-2016 > ARRL Awards Field Checker (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE > Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0100z on Echolink - Conference *AMSAT* > Also live streaming MP3 at http://www.amsatnet.com > Podcast at http://www.amsatnet.com/podcast.xml or iTunes > Latest satellite news on the ARRL Audio News > http://www.arrl.org > > AMSAT on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/amsat >

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Pratham identified
by Nico Janssen 04 Oct '16

04 Oct '16

All, Detailed doppler measurements show that Pratham is object 41791, 2016-059J. This is based on the most recent TLE sets, that were published by the JSpOC. Unfortunately the collection of TLE sets for the PSLV-C35 launch is not stable yet. The JSpOC continues to cross-tag TLE sets and to make major changes to some of the TLE sets. So some further changes may be expected in the coming days. The JSpOC has not yet identified any of the objects from the PSLV-C35 launch. It seems quite obvious however that ScatSat is object 41790, 2016-059H. 73, Nico PA0DLO

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SatEvo download?
by Alan 04 Oct '16

04 Oct '16

Looking for a program called SatEvo by Alan Pickup which is used to predict decay rates. All my Google/Bing searches come up with links to: www.wingar.demon.co.uk/satevo or some variation, which is a dead link. Any current source? I have seen relatively recent postings of output from the program. 73s, Alan WA4SCA ----------------------------------- Keep Calm and Carry On

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-10-04 04:00 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 04 Oct '16

04 Oct '16

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-10-04 04:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Sekolah Kebangsaan Jalan Pasar 1, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, direct via 9M2RPN The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Takuya Onishi KF5LKS Contact is a go for: Thu 2016-10-06 18:24:00 UTC 46 deg iSPACE, Cincinnati OH, telebridge via IK1SLD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Kate Rubins KG5FYJ Contact is a go for: Sat 2016-10-08 16:15:10 UTC 57 deg Stephen F. Austin Elementary School, Brazosport ISD, Jones Creek, Texas, telebridge via VK5ZAI (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS (***) The scheduled astronaut is Takuya Onishi KF5LKS (***) Contact is a go for: Mon 2016-10-10 16:46:00 UTC 50 deg (***) 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 (***) **************************************************************************** ** 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 122 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 2016-10-04 04:00 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 1085. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1050. 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 2016-10-01 20:30 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

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Pre-Amp Help
by David Mennerich 04 Oct '16

04 Oct '16

I recently purchased an Advanced Receiver Research 2M pre-amp to use when operating on the LEO SSB satellites. I purchased the SP144VDG (24 db gain, <1 NF). They don't offer the lower gain, higher noise figure 2M pre-amps anymore. I tried setting it up this weekend and when the pre-amp is on and I'm transmitting on the 70cm band, I'm getting a lot of audio distortion. When I tried this during a pass, my audio on 2M was barely readable because it was so distorted, but with the pre-amp off, I sounded fine. I'm currently using a 2m/70cm Arrow antenna mounted on a portable Yaesu G5500 Az/El setup. When I spoke with ARR, they suggested it was a desensitizing situation and it may be due to the 2M and 70CM antennas being so close to one another. Can anyone help or suggest some things I could try to eliminate this situation? Separate antennas? Some kind of filter before the pre-amp? The pre-amp sounds great when turned on, but right now it can't be used when I'm transmitting at the same time on 70cm, which doesn't help. Thanks, Dave N2TEB

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HFSAT Duplexer design welcome
by Robert Bruninga 03 Oct '16

03 Oct '16

HFSAT Duplexer design welcome, If anyone wants to take a shot at designing an HF Duplexer so that the single 29 MHz dipole can also be shared with the 21 MHz uplink, here is the schematic (maybe): http://aprs.org/hfsat/HF-duplexer-a.png It is my guess at how to build a trap and pass band on each side of the duplexer. But then I am not an RF designer at that level. The overall web page for HFSAT is: http://aprs.org/hfsat.html Bob, WB4APR

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Survey of Small Payload Launchers
by B J 03 Oct '16

03 Oct '16

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2016/10/03/plethora-small-sat-launchers/ Rocket Lab is often mentioned in space news articles and may actually be flying something soon. Firefly's future is uncertain as it appears to have laid off its entire staff. 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL

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QSO Protocol
by Kevin M 03 Oct '16

03 Oct '16

As far as valid QSOs for ARRL awards are concerned (DXCC/VUCC/WAS), they simply state a 'contact' must be made. But no where do they ever define what a contact consists of. They leave this definition up to the award applicant and the stations that he/she contacts. When asked, I have always explained a contact as, "I called you and you knew it was me, you answered and I knew it was you..." In short, as long as we both understand that we 'contacted' each other, then it's a contact. My point is, there is no specified rule that says a grid square or any other piece of information is exchanged. There is actually no rule that says the CALLSIGN must be EXCHANGED. A contact exists when the two parties involved in the communication agree that the contact happened... whether they exchange a 'QSL' on air, via e-mail, LotW or by USPS mail, if both parties agree that it took place... then it took place. The requirement for any more, is to saddle the participants with a burden to overcome the non-natural hindrances that can occur with high volume traffic over man made devices... i.e. satellites. If EME or meteor scatter operators want to place certain burdens upon themselves to ensure that their imaginations, tricks of the senses, or natural phenomena did not insert a bit of faux communication that did not actually take place, that is their perogative. BUT, why should one penalize a station and say that a contact did not take place simply because some guy with 50 watts and crap for a receiver decided to say, "Halllo! One, two, three, haaaalo!" over top of Jeeves while he was uttering his grid square. Further, since satellite passes are a time limited resource, why should we take away precious airtime from others by forcing a repeat of a piece of information that we likely already know, and at the very least can easily look up online, etc. Simply put... if I'm in a rare grid square working lots of stations on a frenzied pass and I hear a voice I recognize saying his/her callsign while obviously calling me, but someone keys on top of him in the middle of saying his callsign, is it really necessary for me to say, "Who is the Hotel Mike?" when I KNOW who it is? OR worse, stop to take the time to ask, 'What's your grid again, Paul?' - Paul knew it was me, I knew it was Paul, I'm simply going to say, "In the log, Paul," and call the next station. Common sense and basic trust in personal integrity goes a long way towards making life simpler and more enjoyable.... QSL? 73! N4UFO, EM95, over.

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VE3HLS/p FN15
by Clayton Coleman 03 Oct '16

03 Oct '16

Ken, VE3HLS, is operating satellites from grid FN15 today: FO-29 @ 15:40 SO-50 @ 16:56 FO-29 @ 17:25 AO-7 @ 17:52 SO-50 @ 18:33 AO-7 @ 19:42 SO-50 @ 20:15 (all times UTC) He shared this information via Twitter: https://twitter.com/ve3hls/status/782794967190208512 73 Clayton W5PFG

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