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

4 omni antennas plots (nulls)
by Roland Zurmely 17 Mar '16

17 Mar '16

Hi Bob WB4APR, ANY antenna above ground, has multiple lobes.You can simulate this with any program like MMANA or EZNEC... <http://www.qrz.ru/schemes/contribute/arrl/chap3.pdf> 73 de Roland PY4ZBZ

2 1

AMSAT @ "Springfest" hamfest (Scottsdale AZ) - Saturday, 19 March 2016
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 17 Mar '16

17 Mar '16

Hi! I will have an AMSAT table at the Scottsdale Amateur Radio Club's annual "Springfest" hamfest on Saturday morning, 19 March 2016. The hamfest will be at the Scottsdale Bible Church's Mountain Valley Campus on 17800 N. Perimeter Drive in Scottsdale AZ. The hamfest site is next to the AZ-101 Pima Freeway, near exit 36 for Princess Drive. More information about the hamfest, including a map, is available from the club's web site: http://scottsdalearc.org/ WD9EWK will be on various satellite passes during the hamfest, which is scheduled to run from 6am until 12 noon (1300-1900 UTC). If you hear me on the satellites Saturday morning, please call WD9EWK and be a part of the demonstrations. The hamfest site is in grid DM43, a few miles/km north of my house - a much shorter drive than last weekend's trip to Tucson for the ScienceCity event. :-) I will upload my log from the demonstrations to Logbook of the World after the hamfest, and I will be happy to send QSL cards to anyone who works WD9EWK at the hamfest. Just e-mail me with the QSO details - if you're in the log, I'll send a card. No need to send me a QSL card or SASE. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

1 0

AMSAT @ ScienceCity (Tucson AZ) on 12-13 March 2016 - report
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 17 Mar '16

17 Mar '16

Hi! Last weekend's (12-13 March 2016) ScienceCity science fair on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson was a great opportunity to show off amateur radio, and amateur satellites in particular, to a crowd much larger than a typical ham-related event. With good weather at the start of the spring break week for the university, and a book fair (Tucson Festival of Books) also taking place on the campus, well over 130000 people visited the campus during the weekend according to local media reports. This was a great crowd, knowing that the US Air Force's Thunderbirds demonstration team flew for crowds on both Saturday and Sunday at the nearby Davis- Monthan Air Force Base, a few miles/km southeast of the university. The aerial demonstrations were visible to the crowds at the university, a bonus for those of us who didn't go to the air base. :-) The University of Arizona's radio club, K7UAZ, had a booth on the campus mall complete with an HF station, a demonstration of software-defined radio using an "RTL-SDR" dongle to copy ADS-B aircraft transponders along with a HackRF One, and my portable gear for amateur satellites. The club also had a small 2.4 GHz dish above its tent, used to connect to the amateur mesh network that covers the UA campus and the surrounding Tucson area for access to high-speed data without relying on commercial Internet services. Even though SO-50's pass times didn't line up with the science fair, I still had AO-85 for an FM satellite, along with 3 other satellites I used for the satellite demonstrations (AO-7, AO-73, FO-29). Unlike when I was in Tucson for this event in 2015, I used the club's K7UAZ call sign for my operating during the weekend. Thanks to everyone who called K7UAZ over the weekend, as these calls led to a total of 41 contacts logged over 11 passes on these 4 satellites. I used a variety of equipment on the different passes - from an IC-2730A for AO-85, to a single FT-817ND for FO-29, to a pair of FT-817NDs for AO-7 and one AO-73 pass Saturday morning, and my FT-817ND/SDRplay combination on one AO-73 pass Sunday morning. Contacts were made with stations across the continental USA, along with Canada and Mexico. With the SDR display at the K7UAZ booth, there was a lot of interest from the club when I used my SDRplay receiver and 8-inch Windows 10 tablet as the downlink receiver on the AO-73 pass I worked Sunday morning. Dave KB5WIA, in northern California, was my only contact on that pass. This was no problem, as Dave was able to talk about his station, which was similar to what I was using. We chatted for a few minutes, and after the pass I answered more questions about my SDR setup. If you followed my @WD9EWK Twitter feed over the weekend, I tweeted a steady stream of photos from ScienceCity, along with other tweets related to my operations as K7UAZ. If you want to see those photos but don't use Twitter, you can view them at: http://twitter.com/WD9EWK/media And for all of my tweets, those can be seen at: http://twitter.com/WD9EWK If you worked K7UAZ over the weekend and want a QSL card, whether on HF or satellites, please send your QSL card with SASE to the K7UAZ club. The club has the log of satellite contacts, and will be happy to answer your QSL requests. Thanks to Mathias Gibbens K0WBG, the K7UAZ club president, and the K7UAZ club for inviting AMSAT back to their effort at the 2016 ScienceCity. The K7UAZ club, which is the campus radio club, also welcomes membership from the Tucson area. There was a nice mix of students and non-students, along with support from other local radio clubs (Radio Society of Tucson, Oro Valley Amateur Radio Club), at the K7UAZ booth. All in all, a fun way to spend a weekend... 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

1 0

Upcoming ARISS contact with Walter Jackson Elementary, Decatur, Alabama
by n4csitwo＠bellsouth.net 16 Mar '16

16 Mar '16

An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Walter Jackson Elementary, Decatur, Alabama on 18 March. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 13:53 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be direct between NA1SS and N8DEU. The contact should be audible over the state of Alabama and adjacent areas. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English. Walter Jackson Elementary School is located in Decatur, AL. Decatur lies in Morgan County which borders Madison County, home of the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. United Launch Alliance (ULA) also builds rockets in Decatur. Because of our proximity to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center and ULA, space, aeronautics, and robotics are a part of our school's curriculum. Approximately 300 students attend, from kindergarteners to fifth graders.Our teachers have high expectations for students and we are known for excellence in math, science, technology, and reading. Students here excel on math teams, participate in hands-on science demonstrations, utilize up-to-date technology, and engage in reading across all subjects. Besides being known for our innovative use of technology, our school has an international outlook. Our 34 North program allows students in each grade to learn about a city or country that lies along the 34 North line of latitude, the same latitude of our school. For students that attend all six years at our school, they leave with an appreciation and understanding of many cultures that shape our world. In summary, Walter Jackson is a growing school in a tight-knit Southern town. We enjoy the small-town benefits of teachers really getting to know students and families while simultaneously having access to cutting-edge resources. We look forward to adding the International Space Station to our ever- expanding global network! Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. Please describe how you communicate with your family. How did you feel about leaving them? 2. Are common illnesses like colds and headaches common? How do you treat them? 3. What training and education are involved in becoming an astronaut? 4. Please describe your daily jobs on the ISS. 5. How are animals used in experiments on the ISS? What have you learned from them? 6. Have you had any frightening moments or emergencies while on the ISS? 7. How do you celebrate holidays on the ISS? 8. We learned that astronauts get weekends off. How do you spend your weekends? 9. Please describe a spacewalk. What are they for and have you had a memorable one? 10. How do you find your way around the ISS? Did you have to memorize the layout or is there a map? 11. Please describe some of the experiments on which you have worked. What kind of experiments do you find most interesting? 12. What is your biggest challenge in space: microgravity, separation from Earth, fatigue, or something else? 13. Did you take any items from Earth with you to the ISS? 14. Is breaking a bone in space any different than on Earth? How would it be treated? 15. Does microgravity affect snoring? 16. Do you grow plants or food on the ISS? If so, how is that done? 17. What are some of your favorite sights from the ISS? 18. Does the ISS search for alien life? If so, have you discovered any signs of it? 19. What is it like living with astronauts from different countries? Do you have anything in common? 20. Do you use robots on the ISS? If so, how? PLEASE CHECK THE FOLLOWING FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ARISS UPDATES: Visit ARISS on Facebook. We can be found at Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS). To receive our Twitter updates, follow @ARISS_status Next planned event(s): TBD ABOUT ARISS Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or informal education venues. With the help of experienced amateur radio volunteers, ISS crews speak directly with large audiences in a variety of public forums. Before and during these radio contacts, students, teachers, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org, www.amsat.org, and www.arrl.org. Thank you & 73, David - AA4KN --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

1 0

SatPC32 and TAPR TrakBox?
by Alan 16 Mar '16

16 Mar '16

Another question, same source. IIRC, the TAPR TrakBox has a command mode which is almost but not quite EasyCom compatible. Anyone know whether any of the various tracking interfaces supported by SatPC32 will work with the command mode? It has its own tracking capability of course, but it would be nice to be able to switch it by SatPC32. 73s, Alan WA4SCA ----------------------------------- Keep Calm and Carry On

1 0

SatPC32 and FT-100?
by Alan 16 Mar '16

16 Mar '16

Got a question from someone asking about using a Yaesu FT-100 with SatPC32. It does have CAT capability, but does anyone know whether it is compatible with the other non-satellite rigs SatPC32 supports? 73s, Alan WA4SCA ----------------------------------- Keep Calm and Carry On

1 0

4 omni antennas
by Roland Zurmely 16 Mar '16

16 Mar '16

Hi all, Please use Google translate (from portuguese). The 4 first plots are in FREE SPACE (espaço livre). The 5 next plots are for 7 meter above REAL GROUND (as indicated in english in the plots...) The other plots are in free space (as indicated in english...) only to show the componentsof circular polarization (V and H pol.) 73 de Roland

1 0

Re: [amsat-bb] 4 omni antennas plots (nulls)
by Robert Bruninga 16 Mar '16

16 Mar '16

> Comparing DCA, QFH, Lindenblad and turnstile (eggbeater) antennas : > http://www.qsl.net/py4zbz/4ant.htm All but the QFH show significant (10 dB) nulls all over the place. I'm sorry, I cannot read the language, but does he say anything about these nulls and the height of the antenna over ground? And what kind of ground was used in the model? Perfect or real... or free-space Since all of the antnnas are multi-element, those lobes could all simply come from the multi elements more or less independent of the ground reflection... Bob, WB4aPR

2 1

4 omni antennas
by Roland Zurmely 16 Mar '16

16 Mar '16

<http://www.qsl.net/py4zbz/4ant.htm>

1 0

4 omni antennas
by Roland Zurmely 16 Mar '16

16 Mar '16

Comparing DCA, QFH, Lindenblad and turnstile (eggbeater) antennas : < http://www.qsl.net/py4zbz/4ant.htm > 73 de Roland.

1 0