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

Re: [amsat-bb] Free content from six satellites via Outernet (APRS (OUTNET))
by Robert Bruninga 02 Mar '16

02 Mar '16

APRS already has 3 LEO's in orbit and three more that are manifest. These extend the APRS uplink capability to everywhere on Earth and the LIVE feed from the satellites is available on http://ariss.net and http://pcsat.findu.com and the live feed everywhere else is on http://aprs.fi . So, in addition to all the HF IGates, and the VHF Igates and the Satellite Igates, there is worldwide uplink potential (that is "uplink" into the APRS network where then it gets parsed into the OUTERNET uplink). I am only talking about amateur radio content, nothing else meets our rules, but as a 2-way emergency communications capability with more than 2 million licensed amateur radio operators worldwide, it does have potential within our rules. And it lets OUTERENET support a low cost 2-way global communications at virtually no cost to them either. > OUTERNET has three UHF cubesats that should be complete by May. [in > addition to the GEO downlinks]. >> It is a 90kbps downlink with pre-determined content. And we don't have to stream the entire APRS global feed! Only packets with the PATH of "OUTNET" in them. So any ham, anywhere on earth, can route his packet via the APRS satellite, or HF, or VHF terrestrial network and then have it routed into the OUTERNET uplink by including "OUTNET" in his path, and it will get sent on the OUTERNET uplink stream and hence to the OUTERNET GEO downlink. Thus, a 2-way system for Amateur Radio and their Emergency response. The current APRS Satellite traffic is about 1000 packets per day and all are visibile on the above TWO satellite feeds. That works out to about one packet per minute or about 1 byte per second. 1 Baud would not be too much to ask of OUTERNET. Of course, if they turn it on for us, then the rate might increase TEN fold or in a few years, ONE HUDRED FOLD... To 100 baud. Or even one THOUSAND fold and the bit rate would be up to only 1 kbps or less than 1% of their traffic! Oh, and that is supporting thousands of two-way amateur and emergtency communicators globally anywhere on earth! Bob, WB4APR On 01/03/2016, Robert Bruninga <bruninga(a)usna.edu> wrote: >>> Global Ham channel? >>> >>> We should find someone to work with the OUTERNET folks to add an amateur >>> > radio channel to their downlink. Their satellites could provide > >>> connectivity to 99% of amateur radio operators on earth. In addition, >>> Ham > Radio can bring to OUTERNET an uplink capability that they >>> currently don't > have. And the uplink can be from the same remote >>> areas where there is no > service... _______________________________________________ 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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ARISS - Audio for Saturday's Contact
by John Spasojevich 01 Mar '16

01 Mar '16

Please join us in listening to the ISS contact with participants at the Powys Secondary Schools, Mid Wales, UK, Saturday March 5th. AOS is anticipated at 1053 UTC The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a direct between NA1SS and GB4PCS in Wales. The contact is expected to be conducted in English. Audio from this contact will be fed into the: EchoLink *AMSAT* (101377) IRLP Node 9010 Discovery Reflector Streaming Audio at: https://sites.google.com/site/arissaudio/ Watch the contact live at: https://principia.ariss.org/Live/ Audio on Echolink & web stream is generally transmitted around 20 minutes prior to the contact taking place so that you can hear some of the preparation that occurs. IRLP will begin just prior to the ground station call to the ISS. Please note that on Echolink there are automatic breaks of 1.5 seconds in the audio transmission. These occur every 2.5 minutes during the event. Breaks on IRLP are manual and occur approximately after every third question. ** Contact times are approximate. If the ISS executes a reboost or other manoeuvre, the AOS (Acquisition Of Signal) time may alter by a few minutes ** 73, John - AG9D ARISS Audio Distribution

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Cruise With AMSAT
by Bruce 01 Mar '16

01 Mar '16

Just a quick note, if you have placed your booking or are about to and... you have an American Express card, take a look at the AMEX offers. Either in the Apple app (might also be on android) or on Facebook. There is an offer, spend $250.00 in one transaction and get $75 back. Offer looks like it runs from now through April 15. When they have given back their allotment the offer will be deleted. The offer does not appear on my wife's account so I made a $10 deposit towards our total and maybe they will give her the offer. 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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I wonder if this commercial quadrifilar helicoidal antenna any good?
by Eric Christensen 01 Mar '16

01 Mar '16

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA256 I've been wanting to build a quadrifilar helicoidal antenna for a while. Unfortunately I just can't seem to find enough time to figure out what parts I need much less put the thing together. With that in mind, I wonder if this antenna is any good: http://www.antennas.us/store/p/396-UC-AMSAT-KITP-2-m-/-70-cm-Passive-Ama teur-Satellite-Antenna-Kit.html Anyone had any experience with it? 73, Eric WG3K -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2 iQEcBAEBCAAGBQJW1a00AAoJED4nr8JXHVrFKkkH/RwSa4Q2Cg+nxgpUMyXuEpYa v48RskhVXevF+f5w+6z1CnHgLFg5gR4fyt4FANKd60YyIfciF6i+0IvRgDZYstOW IypfSG1NJcPG3P6lkXH52zRmORew4rKyqtDIhfxEf3AEFt/j7syFT8KpSovu6V7V QLXMSuz1wWHQnhjjrecRKJUQ7/eSI2WDNsMn7SccfO6M6EzKi8oFoWornHwQMhTX G1m7cg6he0PXNvVcEH0DBXaI1AERW5hhILR3Xx2TvEK8+HVPZeT+Qy1yzX+E4yJW rJMm9aPyT99U6WcPQT8Zi1YAU3iHZqDT9HhtrWUYRzNo84E8ERQbdbIXWY9Fdxc= =ZD5F -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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LilacSat-2 FM Transponder
by Paul Stoetzer 01 Mar '16

01 Mar '16

I have noticed that LilacSat-2's FM transponder has been on nearly continuously for the past four days They may be keeping it active continuously during the holiday period in China. It's worth checking out if you haven't worked it yet. It's got a good signal and can be easier to track than SO-50 because the carrier stays active for a period when not receiving signals. The downlink antenna also uses circular polarization, so there is less fading when using linear antennas than on SO-50. Uplink: 144.350 MHz FM (No PL) Downlink: 437.200 MHz FM Keep in mind that this uplink frequency is not within the normal 145.800 - 146.000 MHz satellite subband on two meters, though this frequency is within the 144.300 - 144.500 MHz "New OSCAR subband" in the ARRL band plan and is allocated to the Amateur Satellite Service (as is the entirety of 144 - 146 MHz). On passes over the United States, quite a few packet signals can be heard through the transponder. If you use LoTW, the satellite name to use when uploading QSOs is 'CAS-3H.' 73, Paul, N8HM

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-03-01 22:00 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 01 Mar '16

01 Mar '16

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-03-01 22:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: 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 was successful: Tue 2016-03-01 16:45:18 UTC 53 deg (***) Terrestrial training session from HERA facility with Wedgewood Elementary, Friendswood, TX, direct via KD5CAA (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be W5RRR (***) The scheduled astronaut is Tracy Caldwell-Dyson KF5DBF (***) Contact was successful 2016-03-01 14:15 UTC (***) 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 Slovanské Gymnázium Olomouc, Olomouc, Moravia, Czech Republic, direct via OK2KYJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Tim Kopra KE5UDN Contact is a go for: Tue 2016-03-08 08:22:43 UTC 82 deg Atlanta Science Festival, Atlanta, Georgia, telebridge via K6DUE The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Timothy Peake KG5BVI Contact is a go for: Tue 2016-03-08 16:11:05 UTC 53 deg North Dakota Space Grant Consortium (NDSGC), Grand Forks, North Dakota, telebridge via W6SRJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Tim Kopra KE5UDN Contact is a go for: Thu 2016-03-10 19:08:55 UTC 56 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 2016-03-01 22:00 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 1031. (***) Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 996. (***) 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, 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 2016-03-01 22:00 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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Satellite Activity - JA vs. NA
by Paul Stoetzer 01 Mar '16

01 Mar '16

I was browsing the AAR29 satellite logger site yesterday (http://aar29.free.fr/sat/indexlogin.html) and noticed that JO2ASQ reported working 24 different stations on a pass of AO-73 on February 28th and 28 on a pass on February 14th. 2016-02-14 00:01:00 JO2ASQ PM85MF JH4MGU JA3FWT JH4RNY JH1EMH JM1SBU JA9AOB JA3PXH JG6CDH JK3HFN JA3HEO JR8QFG JF1CQH JH1UVJ/4 JR0BUL JH3XCU/1 JF2IMU JA1VVH JE4KQH JM1FBF JI3OQO 7L3AEO (28 QSOS, CW&SSB) DE JO2ASQ/3 2016-02-28 01:18:00 JO2ASQ PM85MF JA3PXH JH1RYE JA1VDJ JH4MGU JE4KQH JA3HEO JL1SAM JM1SBU JK3HFN JG6CDH JA1SJV JA1VVH JH6TYD JA3HEO JA7KPI JH1EMH JN1VXL JO1LDY/1 7L3AEO JF2IMU/2 JA3FWT DS2BWU 24 QSOS (CW 22, SSB 2) DE JO2ASQ/2 That's absolutely incredible! I'd love to see a pass like that here in the United States - on any of the many linear transponder satellites we have passing all times of day these days - AO-7, FO-29, AO-73, XW-2A, XW-2C, and XW-2F all work great, but FO-29 passes are the only ones where there is really much activity heard. Let's use the satellites! 73, Paul, N8HM

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N8RO/P Operations
by Ronald Oldham 01 Mar '16

01 Mar '16

During a short road trip next week I will activate the following grids in west Texas: Tuesday March 8, Ft. Davis, TX DM80, FO-29 at ~1951 UTC Wednesday March 9, Marfa, TX DM70, FO-29 at ~1857 UTC Wednesday March 9, Presidio, TX DL79, FO-29 at ~2042 UTC Thursday March 10, Terlingua, TX DL89, FO-29 at ~1946 UTC Saturday March 12, Iraan, TX DM91, FO-29 at ~1942 UTC If you need any of these grids or just want to say hello please give me a call. 73, Ron – N8RO

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Re: [amsat-bb] DXCC & HamSats
by Kevin M 01 Mar '16

01 Mar '16

Has anyone else experienced enhanced propagation on the birds???Sure... RS-12/13's primary mode was Mode K: 15m uplink and 10m downlink. I worked OK1DIG while the bird was over North America and he was no where in the footprint. In fact, there was a ham that worked DXCC on RS-12/13 alone, arranging Mode K skeds with hams in various countries. At the time, we called it 'skipping' into the bird since one station was using 'skip' propagation to hear and work the bird while the other station was in the footprint. That said, there are no more Mode K birds around...we barely have Mode A. BUT, if one was likely to be able to do any 'enhanced propagation' it would most likely need to be Mode A, since you would need 'enhancement' on both the uplink AND the downlink to complete a QSO. But that is going to be far rarer than the Mode K skipping and I just can't see Mode B of Mode J doing it since it would require some form of enhancement on UHF as well. For that to line up just right would be extremely rare. Maybe something equatorial, but still rare. 73, Kevin N4UFO

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DXCC & HamSats
by Rupert Hamblin 01 Mar '16

01 Mar '16

Hi All, I was interested to read the ARRL article on KO4MA receiving the DXCC award worked on satellites, which got me thinking. So here's my question... Taking into account today's available / workable amateur satellites - is it possible for an operator based in the UK/Europe or US, to work 100 different countries via satellite..? (Obviously taking into account the station setup..) Thanks for your feedback ! Cheers RH / G0TKZ

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