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

US barriers to orbit (Re: Amateur communication satellites
by Peter Laws 29 Jun '16

29 Jun '16

On Wed, Jun 29, 2016 at 9:47 AM, RSoifer1--- via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> wrote: > > Within the US, when someone like Bob, WB4APR, tries to build amateur > communication sats, he runs into needless obstacles from FCC and NTIA. Expand, please. Just joined, so no back issues of the Journal to reference (that I know of ... and aside from the copy I got when I joined at Dayton). -- Peter Laws | N5UWY | plaws plaws net | Travel by Train!

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2016 AMSAT Symposium Call for Papers
by Daniel Schultz 29 Jun '16

29 Jun '16

This is the first call for papers for the 2016 AMSAT-NA Annual Meeting and Space Symposium to be held on the weekend of November 10 - 14, 2016. Proposals for papers, symposium presentations, and poster presentations are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite community. We request a tentative title of your presentation as soon as possible, but no later than September 15th. The final copy must be submitted by October 15th for inclusion in the printed proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be sent to Dan Schultz at n8fgv(at)amsat.org The 2016 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting will be held aboard the cruise ship Carnival Liberty departing from the port of Galveston, Texas on November 10, 2016 and returning to port on November 14, 2016. 73, Dan Schultz N8FGV

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Re: [amsat-bb] Amateur communication satelliteshttps://mail.aol.com/webmail-std
by RSoifer1＠aol.com 29 Jun '16

29 Jun '16

Good thought, Edson. I hope someone follows through on it. Kevin and others, let's also bear in mind that most of the satellites being built today for operation in the amateur bands are coming from outside North America. There are hundreds of them; to get an idea, look at the IARU frequency coordination data base at _www.iaru.org/satellite_ (http://www.iaru.org/satellite) . Very few of these are communication transponders. Wouter, AMSAT-UK, and a few others are doing a great job; we need more of them. Within the US, when someone like Bob, WB4APR, tries to build amateur communication sats, he runs into needless obstacles from FCC and NTIA. The purpose of this thread is to encourage more people, inside and outside the US, to consider building amateur comm sats. Especially outside North America, there are more launch opportunities than we might think. 73 Ray W2RS

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Fwd: [PNWVHFS] For Sale Icom IC-275H
by Bob- W7LRD 29 Jun '16

29 Jun '16

just forwarding from my inbox 73 Bob W7LRD ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: adambarbera(a)gmail.com To: "pnwvhfs" <pnwvhfs(a)googlegroups.com> Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2016 9:48:50 PM Subject: [PNWVHFS] For Sale Icom IC-275H Hello everyone, There is a local ham selling an Icom IC-275H. If interested you can contact him directly. See the details below. Thanks Adam W2NCC For sale Icom IC-275H 100 watts 2 meter all mode transceiver.featuring, panel meter with SWR, FM Discriminator, ALC, in addition to Signal and PWR. Front panel select/adjust of data switch, data level nob, RX audio notch filer, RX audio tone control. Also has installed FL-83 CW Narrow filter. Comes with original DC Power cord, Original SM-12 Mic, and original manual Asking $500.00 OBO For more information contact Martin Malliett n7dff(a)yahoo.com | 360.970.4088 -- ~The Voice of the Pacific NorthWest VHF Society~ You are subscribed to the Google Groups "PNWVHFS" group. To post to this group, send email to PNWVHFS(a)googlegroups.com To read message history, visit http://groups.google.com/group/PNWVHFS --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PNWVHFS" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pnwvhfs+unsubscribe(a)googlegroups.com . For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout .

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Amateur communication satellites
by rsoifer1＠aol.com 29 Jun '16

29 Jun '16

This past weekend, I made three ARRL/AMSAT Field Day QSOs via FO-29 (JAS-2). Nothing noteworthy about that, except that FO-29 will be 20 years old on August 17th. We're very fortunate that its linear transponder still works. The CW beacon and digital transponders are no longer functioning. Two more of the satellites carrying the bulk of amateur satellite communication are well beyond their design lifetimes. SO-50, our main FM transponder satellite, will be 14 years old in December. Then, of course, there is AO-7, whose linear transponders miraculously are still functioning some of the time. In November it will be 42 years young. Educational and research satellites are well and good, but amateur satellite communication is still overly dependent on aging space hardware. To those who are building new amateur communication transponders, especially linear transponders in the UHF and VHF bands, best wishes for success. I wish there were more of you. Maybe there will be. 73 Ray W2RS

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Anyone using SDRPlay RSP and SDRConsole for the birds?
by Mark Lunday 29 Jun '16

29 Jun '16

I am using SDRConsole v2.3. I have an FT817ND that I want to transmit I have an SDR-Play RSP that I want to receive (NOT connected to the FT817ND) I can connect to the FT817ND, but cannot get it to change frequency to the passband I want for a particular satellite, which I have entered into the database for that satellite. How do I set this up so that when I select a satellite (FO-29), it sets the correct passband for receive on the SDR-Play RSP and it sets the correct frequency on the FT817ND for transmit (and adjusts the transmit for doppler)? I don't see any instructions which relate to this use case, can someone please point me in the correct direction? Thanks. Mark Lunday, WD4ELG Greensboro, NC FM06be wd4elg(a)arrl.net http://wd4elg.blogspot.com

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Re: [amsat-bb] Financial arguments about full duplex
by Andrew Glasbrenner 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

>That is what I have done, built a cheap antenna. I have a Chinese radio and I have made contacts on SO-50, half duplex. I DO NOT get on the linear birds because >primary I do not have the means to run 2M/70CM SSB. I can also understand that it would near impossible to effectively make a contact But newbies can/should be >given guidance in the form of Elmers. Not being told they are not welcome if they don't have the equipment others have. The discussion centers on the importance of best practices being taught and demonstrated by those elmers you mention. Elmers walk with you, guiding, correcting, encouraging along the way. The need to have practical knowledge, and all too often we see people who don't operate, or just started themselves, passing out poor or erroneous information. If the shields can be dropped for long enough, there are lots of elmers right here on this list to help the newbies out. Elmers should continue to learn as well. > By the way check the prices an arrow >antenna that will give someone the best chance to get into AO-85 with a Cheap Chinese radio is about $150.00. Elmer moment right here: The arrow without the diplexer is $60 cheaper than the one with the diplexer (http://store.amsat.org/catalog/index.php?cPath=1). Use that $60 for a 2nd receiver and now you can hear if you are getting into AO-85 or SO-50, adjust for Doppler on AO-85, and make more contacts, and cause less QRM. You'll need a set of headphones as well, about $5 at Big Lots or Walmart. Better experience for you, better for everyone else, less money. Or, build the functionally same antenna for $10 and a few hours time, and save some more bucks. I love my Arrow(s), but a WA5VJB or IOio antenna works just as well. Links to plans can be found here: http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=2144 73, Drew KO4MA

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Topic Change -- Now FM Rule -- was -- RE: N8HM Field Day Report - 1B MDC -- Topic Change FM Rule
by Gary "Joe" Mayfield 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

Awesome Field Day report Paul! Good Job! Now the week after Field Day is the time for RATIONAL discussion of the single contact FM satellite rule: Does anyone think it works? Does anyone think it is better than the past? I will once again trot out my idea for the slings and arrows of others. + I would love to hear your ideas. Here is my idea: We call on our membership to establish two well equipped stations for the FM satellites on Field Day. A possibility would be a station using the call W1AW in the east and another using K6KPH in the west. The only FM satellite contacts that would 'count' would be those working W1AW or K6KPH. These commanding stations would be able to hand out contacts quickly and many more folks would be able to get a satellite contact in the log. As it is now the best station to call is one that just completed a contact (because you heard their exchange information) - but that station is prevented by the rules from returning the call without going over their limit. Think of it as two stations running and everyone else searching and pouncing. It has got be better than what we have now. My Opinion, 73, Joe, kk0sd -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Paul Stoetzer Sent: Monday, June 27, 2016 2:12 PM To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] N8HM Field Day Report - 1B MDC I only worked satellites during Field Day and I ended up making 97 QSOs on 24 passes of all active 10 voice satellites during the 24 hour period. My score for AMSAT Field Day was 83 points. The breakdown by satellite is below: AO-7B - 2 QSOs AO-73 - 10 QSOs, 1 dupe AO-85 - 1 QSO, 5 excess FM QSOs FO-29 - 37 QSOs, 4 dupes LilacSat-2 - 1 QSO, 1 excess FM QSO SO-50 - 1 QSO Ukube-1 - 6 QSOs XW-2A - 11 QSOs XW-2C - 6 QSOs, 2 dupes XW-2F - 8 QSOs, 1 dupe Total - 83 valid phone QSOs, 8 dupes, 6 excess FM QSOs = 83 points The major difference between AMSAT and ARRL Field Day rules for satellite is that "satellite" is considered a single band while for AMSAT Field Day, each satellite transponder is considered a separate band. For example, if I worked WD9EWK in SSB on FO-29 and then in SSB on XW-2A, that would be worth two points under AMSAT rules, but only one point under ARRL rules. VE3YRA was my most worked station this year - I worked them on six different satellites. I was operating 1B from the parking lot/courtyard of my apartment building in southwest Washington, DC. The equipment I used was as follows: 2 x Yaesu FT-817 (with 3000 mAh internal LiPo batteries) Microset VUR-30 dual band amplifier 5100 mAh LiPo battery for the amplifier High Sierra Microwave LNAA432 preamplifier High Sierra Microwave LNAA146FIL filtered 2m preamp Arrow II 146/437-10BP Dual Band Handheld Yagi All of this was carried in a camera bag and held by shoulder straps while I held the Arrow in my hand. It was lots of fun, though tiring to head downstairs and outside for 24 different passes. I only slept for about 2.5 hours between 3:30am and 6:00am (and skipped a pair of AO-7 passes as a result). One big issue I notice during Field Day is the use of excess power on the transponders and the inexperience and/or inadequate stations used by many of the satellite operators. Many times I would call a station and not receive a reply or someone would start CQing or tuning up on top of me. This was especially noticeable on AO-73 and UKube-1 as the frequencies for the uplink are somewhat different than published. It sounded like many were trying to use their computers to correct for Doppler and did not have the experience necessary to set the uplink offset. I heard several "ditters" trying to find themselves for entire passes. Operating satellites isn't difficult, but it does take some practice and experience to understand the characteristics of each satellite. Trying to figure it out at 1800Z on Field Day Saturday is not the recipe for success. I would note that my excess FM QSOs (both ARRL and AMSAT rules allow only one QSO per FM satellite, AMSAT rules further limit APRS digipeater QSOs to one per satellite as well) were made because stations were calling and attempting to make a contact with no one else replying and I wanted to make sure they got their QSO. It's fun doing Field Day from home, but next year I think I would like to head to a Field Day site and help with satellite operations for a club (and maybe fill in elsewhere between passes). 73, Paul, N8HM _______________________________________________ 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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Amateur communication satellites
by Kevin M 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

You and I go all the way back to RS-12/13, Ray. (AC5DK back then). The problem is not people to build the satellites or the desire to build them... it's the launch opportunities. Educational & research birds have them at free or reasonable costs... private birds for hobby use do not. There are many that feel as you do, but don't understand the 'why'. Just thought it deserved being stated. ANSAT-NA is still fighting the good fight, but most don't understand that the fight has changed over the years. It's not WHAT to put in orbit, it's IF we can find a way. 73, Kevin N4UFO This past weekend, I made three ARRL/AMSAT Field Day QSOs via FO-29 (JAS-2). Nothing noteworthy about that, except that FO-29 will be 20 years old on August 17th. We're very fortunate that its linear transponder still works. The CW beacon and digital transponders are no longer functioning. Two more of the satellites carrying the bulk of amateur satellite communication are well beyond their design lifetimes. SO-50, our main FM transponder satellite, will be 14 years old in December. Then, of course, there is AO-7, whose linear transponders miraculously are still functioning some of the time. In November it will be 42 years young. Educational and research satellites are well and good, but amateur satellite communication is still overly dependent on aging space hardware. To those who are building new amateur communication transponders, especially linear transponders in the UHF and VHF bands, best wishes for success. I wish there were more of you. Maybe there will be. 73 Ray W2RS

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NPOTA HP44 Thomas Edison NHP SO-50
by Chris Del Plato KQ2RP 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

Hello all, If all goes according to plan, I will cap off my NPOTA activation operation from Thomas Edison's Lab on SO-50. Activation is posted on the NPOTA page. Activation from that site will take place this Friday, July 1st. I will be on the HF bands from around 1630z until the SO-50 pass which will begin for me in FN20 at approximately 1929z. I will be operating handheld (as I always do) with my homebrew dual yagi & diplexer and VX-5R. Not sure if it's appropriate for me to ask for others to 'clear the way', but I would hope to get in as many NPOTA chasers as possible. If things get hot & heavy (expected) I will likely skip giving my grid and only announce it once or twice and focus on giving just the HP44 designator (as required by NPOTA rules). Hope to hear many of you! 73, Chris KQ2RP

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