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

simple ways to demonstrate orbital mechanics.
by Tom Schuessler 25 Feb '16

25 Feb '16

Hello all, Several of us AMSATers in North Texas will again be representing AMSAT at the annual "Moon Day" at the frontiers of Flight Museum at Dallas Love Field this coming July 16. "Moon Day" is a celebration of spaceflight past/present and future and is also a very large STEM fair with exhibits from many different scientific and Engineering organizations. Many young people including Boy and Girl Scouts are in attendance. Since there is such a large youth component to this event, I have been looking for some fun ways to demonstrate satellites and orbital mechanics to the people who drop by the booth/table. There is a special STEM patch that they can earn by visiting different displays and asking questions/filling out a worksheet. I am looking for simple but creative/fun ways to demonstrate orbital mechanics and also how a satellite like our Fox birds work. I plan to build a big poster with images of different types of orbits, and have already been given an idea on how to demonstrate the different between a geostationary/synchronous orbit and a LEO but would like some more ideas. If any of you have done some similar outreaches and would like to share ideas, please reply on list or off. I would appreciate it much. Tom Schuessler, N5HYP

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Horyu-4
by PY5LF 25 Feb '16

25 Feb '16

Very good signal from Horyu-4 last night ; https://youtu.be/1EUSRfwSdoI Also looks the object D. 73

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Amazon Smile
by Bruce 25 Feb '16

25 Feb '16

Want to put a smile on a satellite? When you make your purchases from Amazon, you can select a charity and Amazon will donate .5% of a qualified purchase towards your selected charity. AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) is registered with Amazon Smile and you can select it as your preferred charity which in turn will put a smile on our satellite efforts :-) Once you have selected your Amazon Smile charity, when you go to amazon.com, it will remind you to go to smile.amazon.com. However, you can put everything you want in your cart at the original amazon.com site, then leave the site and go to smile.amazon.com and all your items will still be in your cart and make the purchase there. Or, just go to smile.amazon.com all the time. Your choice, only thing is if you forgot to pay at smile.amazon.com, AMSAT gets a goose egg instead of help towards a new satellite. Remember, Smile dot amazon.com and select Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation as your charity of choice. 73...bruce -- Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards AMSAT Board Alternate 2015-2016 ARRL Awards Field Checker (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0200z 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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Coupling SatPC32 with FunCube Dongle PP
by Jack Colson 25 Feb '16

25 Feb '16

Would someone point me to where I might learn how this is done? 73, Jack, W3TMZ

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Re: [amsat-bb] simple ways to demonstrate orbital mechanics. (Earth and Ball)
by Robert Bruninga 25 Feb '16

25 Feb '16

Our kid demo of orbits uses a large globe. We hang a small golfball satellite on a string from the ceiling. There are several demos we like: 1) Center the globe under the string and the golf ball sticks to the globe. (gravity) 2) Try to push the ball in a circle. If you get a perfect circle or a big enough one, you will have an orbit and not hit the earth. 3) If you have too much vector "up" in any one direction (not circular) then on the next pass it crashes into earth.. (all orbits are elipses and you don't want part of your ellipse to run into the earth. 4) Now move the earth about a radius or diameter away from under the string. Now try to launch an elliptical orbit where the ball just grazes the earth at perigee and goes way out at apogee. You can get a nice Molnya orbit. 5) For GEO transfer, we had a mark on the floor and a mark out 5 earth radii where we had a little tiny bowling pin on a pedestal. Here the object was to launch the ball from behind the earth so that it would go out and intersect the bowling pin and knock it off. Thus demonstrating a transfer orbit to GEO. No, this is not the same physics of a central force (gravity) driving Keplers laws, but it is a perfect demo of circular and elliptical paths. For example in this case, the orbital speed is the same at perigee and apogee (non Keplerian), but still it is an elliptical path with the earth at one foci... Kids love it. Especially #5 is a real challenge. And even #1 is hard if you are trying to orbit only 1 inch above a 24" diameter earth globe. Do not use an expensive valuable globe (from your wife for example) because there will be LOTS of crashes from bad "orbits"... Bob, WB4APR -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] On Behalf Of skristof(a)etczone.com Sent: Thursday, February 25, 2016 9:17 AM To: Tom Schuessler Cc: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] simple ways to demonstrate orbital mechanics. Don't forget that you can download data from AO-73 off of the amsat-uk website. Their data is great for looking at temperature increase and decrease, spin rate, voltage changes in the solar panels as the satellite goes between light and dark, and how the battery discharges during the dark periods. Easy access and good teaching material. Steve AI9IN On 2016-02-24 08:47, Tom Schuessler wrote: > Hello all, > > Several of us AMSATers in North Texas will again be representing AMSAT > at the annual "Moon Day" at the frontiers of Flight Museum at Dallas > Love Field this coming July 16. "Moon Day" is a celebration of > spaceflight past/present and future and is also a very large STEM fair > with exhibits from many different scientific and Engineering > organizations. Many young people including Boy and Girl Scouts are in attendance. > > Since there is such a large youth component to this event, I have been > looking for some fun ways to demonstrate satellites and orbital > mechanics to the people who drop by the booth/table. There is a > special STEM patch that they can earn by visiting different displays > and asking questions/filling out a worksheet. I am looking for simple > but creative/fun ways to demonstrate orbital mechanics and also how a > satellite like our Fox birds work. I plan to build a big poster with > images of different types of orbits, and have already been given an > idea on how to demonstrate the different between a > geostationary/synchronous orbit and a LEO but would like some more ideas. > > If any of you have done some similar outreaches and would like to > share ideas, please reply on list or off. I would appreciate it much. > > Tom Schuessler, N5HYP > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > [1] Links: ------ [1] http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb _______________________________________________ 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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FS: Icom 821H satellite radio (2m/70cm)
by John Geiger 25 Feb '16

25 Feb '16

I have for sale an Icom 821H 2m/70cm all mode satellite radio. This rig is working fine on UHF (35 to 40 watts out) but is putting out lower power on 2m-10 watts on FM/CW and 3 watts or so on SSB. It has the tone encoder built in, built in keyer, and it covers 144-148mhz and 430-450mhz so you can use it on FM repeaters as well as the SSB/CW portions of the band. Not sure why it is putting out low power on 2m, but it is an excellent UHF all mode radio, and you can use it with an amp on 2m if you want also. Does dual receive, and full duplex for satellite operations. It is in good physical condition and comes with a mic and power cord. I am asking $350 shipped for it and can take paypal/check/MO. 73 John AF5CC

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Thank you!
by skristof＠etczone.com 25 Feb '16

25 Feb '16

Got my first telemetry from AO-85 this morning. If you scroll way down to the bottom of the telemetry leaderboard you will find AI9IN! A very large (can I say "YUGE") thank you to everyone who answered all my questions about dongles, SDR, virtual audio cables, and downloading ExtIO! I couldn't have done it without help from my ham radio satellite colleagues. AMSAT is a great organization to be part of. Steve AI9IN EM79ji skristof(a)etczone.com

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Lonely bloke in chem suit reminds me of AO-40 and AO-13
by Joe Fitzgerald 25 Feb '16

25 Feb '16

Reminds me of fueling AO-40 and AO-13. Who gets to do this for P3-E? There is a volunteer in Boston! http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/02/24/exomars_fuelling/ de KM1P Joe

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RTL-SDR question
by skristof＠etczone.com 25 Feb '16

25 Feb '16

I purchased an RTL-SDR dongle and now I'm trying to follow the directions for downloading HDSDR software (instructions on the RTL-SDR website). It all goes fine until I get to: "Download ExtIO_RTL2832.DLL from https://app.box.com/s/7tpiy8r6qo2bbhdxtt4k" When I click on the link it takes me to the website, but the ExtIO_RTL2832.dll won't download. Any help would be very much appreciated. I'm running Windows 7 Professional with Service Pack 1. Steve AI9IN

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-02-24 23:30 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 24 Feb '16

24 Feb '16

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-02-24 23:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Istituto Sobrero, Casale Monferrato, Italy, direct via IK1SLD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Tim Kopra KE5UDN Contact is a go for: Thu 2016-02-25 09:08:04 UTC 37 deg (***) Norwich Schools, Norwich/East Anglia, UK, direct via GB2CNS The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be GB1SS The scheduled astronaut is Timothy Peake KG5BVI Contact is a go for: Fri 2016-02-26 14:40:43 UTC 30 deg (***) Gesamtschule Leverkusen Schlebusch, Leverkusen, Germany, direct via DLØIL The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Timothy Peake KG5BVI Contact is a go for: Mon 2016-02-29 12:05:58 UTC 78 deg National Urban Alliance for Effective Education (NUA), Syosset, New York, telebridge VK5ZAI The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Tim Kopra KE5UDN Contact is a go for: Tue 2016-03-01 16:45:18 UTC 53 deg Powys Secondary Schools, Mid Wales, UK, direct via GB4PCS The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be GB1SS The scheduled astronaut is Timothy Peake KG5BVI Contact is a go for: Sat 2016-03-05 10:55:19 UTC 59 deg **************************************************************************** ** The next window to submit a proposal for an upcoming contact is now open. The window is open from 2016-02-15 to 2016-04-15 and would be for contacts between 2017-01-01 and 2017-06-30. Check out the ARISS website http://www.ariss.org/ or the ARRL website http://www.arrl.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact for full details. **************************************************************************** ** 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. **************************************************************************** *** 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: Gaston ON4WF with 121 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 116 Francesco IKØWGF with 116 **************************************************************************** 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 8061 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS The complete schedule page has been updated as of 2016-02-24 23:30 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 1027. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 992. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 46. 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, North Dakota, Rhode Island, 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 2016-02-24 07:30 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. 43/44 on orbit Scott Kelly Mikhail Kornienko RN3BF Exp. 45 on orbit Sergey Volkov RU3DIS Exp. 46 on orbit Tim Kopra KE5UDN Timothy Peake KG5BVI Yuri Malenchenko RK3DUP **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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