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

RadFxSat Launch Vehicle Assembly
by Jerry Buxton 13 Jul '16

13 Jul '16

http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/07/12/delta-2-rocket-being-assembled-at-vand… This is the ride for RadFxSat, scheduled for January 20, 2017. -- Jerry Buxton, NØJY

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RM Italy ULA-100 UHF (70 cm) linear amplifier
by n4csitwo＠bellsouth.net 13 Jul '16

13 Jul '16

Has anyone used this 70 cm PW amplifier? I'm looking at purchasing one, but would like an opinion on how good it works. Thanks, Dave, AA4KN --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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LilacSat-2 Linear Transponder over North America 13-Jul
by Paul Stoetzer 13 Jul '16

13 Jul '16

I made my first QSOs via LilacSat-2's SDR linear transponder on two passes this morning - both with W5PFG - on the 1112Z and 1248Z passes. The transponder sounds quite good, though it seems somewhat less sensitive than other linear transponders. Running 25 watts to an Alaskan Arrow (with the top section removed - 8 elements on 70 cm and 3 elements on 2 m), my signal was weaker than on FO-29, AO-73, or any of the XW-2s. Telemetry bursts also occasionally interrupt transmissions on the transponder, but they are very short and not of much consequence. I was manually tuning since I operate portable without a computer. Keeping up with the nearly doubled Doppler shift compared to a inverting transponder is a challenge. I was leaving my uplink frequency fixed and tuning the receive as per convention for manual tuning and had to continuously tune to keep my downlink within the receiver's passband near TCA. On the first pass, W5PFG answered my CQ, though on the second pass, I tuned around to answer his CQ after receiving no responses to my own. Tuning around the passband manually reminds me of playing Halo back in the dorms at Michigan State and subbing in for another player who used the non-inverted controls (I have always played video games using the flight simulator style of down=up). Other stations were heard on the pass using LSB up and LSB down. That will work, of course, but goes against convention, which is to always receive in USB. If you choose LSB/LSB, you'll likely receive fewer responses to your CQs. 73, Paul, N8HM

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Headset for a Kenwood TH-D7A HT
by n4csitwo＠bellsouth.net 12 Jul '16

12 Jul '16

Does anyone know if there is a 2-ear headset w/mic that will play well with a Kenwood TH-D7A handheld? My old Kenwood HMC-3 (single ear) set that was made for the D7A finally broke and I'd like to replace it with a full 2-ear headset. Dave, AA4KN --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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LilacSat-2 Transponder active over N America 13:15 UTC
by Clayton Coleman 12 Jul '16

12 Jul '16

This morning, Glenn AA5PK, and I had a QSO via the experimental transponder activated on LilacSat-2. It was very interesting and fun. A non-inverting mode J transponder was new to me. Using manual tuning to adjust for Doppler shift proved to be a small challenge as I am more accustomed to operating on a transponder like FO-29. Running SDR in parallel to my Icom IC-9100 gave me a good visual representation of the transponder pass band. You can listen to a brief clip of our QSO here: https://soundcloud.com/w5pfg/lilacsat-2-2016-07-11-1315z-ssb-transponder 73 Clayton W5PFG

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Attention A07 MODE A/B 2M1EUB/P I087NC
by paul robinson 12 Jul '16

12 Jul '16

2M1EUB AO7 MODE A/B QRV THIS WEEK.From new qth in Aberdeenshire Scotland.73 de paul

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Re: [amsat-bb] Yaesu G-5500 Rotor Control
by Edward R Cole 12 Jul '16

12 Jul '16

Although I have an old Unitrack-2000 radio/rotor interface, I decided to go KISS and bought a LVB Tracker from Amsat; arrived on Saturday. Time is sometimes more important than money. The LVB tracker just plugs into my B5400 and connects to my computer via a USB/RS-232 conversion cable. Sits very nicely on top of my B5400 control box. Its plug-n-play with SatPC32. I may "dink" with the Unitrack someday as it does connect for auto-tuning the radio, but it requires a parallel port for connecting to the computer (not many of them still running). I've only had the unitrack for 16-years sitting in a drawer. 73, Ed - KL7UW http://www.kl7uw.com "Kits made by KL7UW" Dubus Mag business: dubususa(a)gmail.com

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Re: [amsat-bb] LilacSat-2 Transponder active over N America 13:15 UTC
by Rick Tejera 11 Jul '16

11 Jul '16

Clayton, I thought i saw on a link ona tweet from BG2BHC shows the uplink to be 144362.5? not that it would matter much, but i do tend to be a tad anal that way hi hi. Rick Tejera (K7TEJ) Saguaro Astronomy Club www.saguaroastro.org Thunderbird Radio Club www.w7tbc.org 623-572-0713 623-203-4121 (cell) SaguaroAstro(a)cox.net -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Clayton Coleman Sent: Monday, July 11, 2016 1:15 PM To: AMSAT-BB Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] LilacSat-2 Transponder active over N America 13:15 UTC I should have been a little more clear in my email earlier. The transponder on LilacSat-2 active today was not the normal FM one but rather a SSB transponder. It is experimental and has no AGC according to the reports from Twitter. I'd suggest paying attention to the AMSAT OSCAR status page (http://www.amsat.org/status) and following BG2BHC on Twitter for operational updates. I was using manual control but you can add this line to your DOPPLER.SQF. It will need some minor calibration: LILACSAT-2,437200.0,144362.0,USB,USB,NOR,0,0,SSB Transponder 73 Clayton W5PFG On Mon, Jul 11, 2016 at 9:26 AM, Clayton Coleman <kayakfishtx(a)gmail.com> wrote: > This morning, Glenn AA5PK, and I had a QSO via the experimental > transponder activated on LilacSat-2. It was very interesting and fun. > A non-inverting mode J transponder was new to me. > > Using manual tuning to adjust for Doppler shift proved to be a small > challenge as I am more accustomed to operating on a transponder like > FO-29. Running SDR in parallel to my Icom IC-9100 gave me a good > visual representation of the transponder pass band. > > You can listen to a brief clip of our QSO here: > > https://soundcloud.com/w5pfg/lilacsat-2-2016-07-11-1315z-ssb-transponder > > 73 > Clayton > W5PFG _______________________________________________ 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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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-07-12 00:00 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 11 Jul '16

11 Jul '16

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-07-12 00:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: ISS R&D Conference, San Diego, CA, telebridge via W6SRJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Jeff Williams KD5TVQ Contact is go for: Thu 2016-07-14 16:03:33 UTC 37 deg Frontiers of Flight Museum's “Moon Day 2016”, Dallas TX, telebridge via W6SRJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Jeff Williams KD5TVQ Contact is go for: Sat 2016-07-16 15:54:09 UTC 88 deg YOTA Camp 2016 IARU-R1, Salzburg, Austria, telebridge via VK4KHZ (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS (***) The scheduled astronaut is Jeff Williams KD5TVQ (***) Contact is a go for: Mon 2016-07-18 10:25:53 UTC 72 deg (***) United Space School hosted by the Foundation for International Space Education (FISE), Seabrook TX, telebridge via W6SRJ (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS (***) The scheduled astronaut is Jeff Williams KD5TVQ (***) Contact is a go for: Tue 2016-07-19 14:52:20 UTC 74 deg (***) Ufa, Russia, direct via TBD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Skripochka RN3FU Contact is a go for Thu 2016-07-23 18:50 UTC Exp. 48 on orbit Anatoly Ivanishin Kate Rubins KG5FYJ Takuya Onishi KF5LKS Welcome aboard! **************************************************************************** ** 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 119 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 8601 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS The complete schedule page has been updated as of 2016-07-12 00:00 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 1067. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1032. 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 2016-07-08 05:00 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. 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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unknown amp
by Bob- W7LRD 11 Jul '16

11 Jul '16

I have a couple of these, tower mounted amplifiers. The label on the amp says," Ericsson TMA DDFX 1850-1880mhz". It is about a foot long and six inches on the sides, weighs about 12 Lbs. Does this have any use for our efforts? If you want any pictures of the innards just ask. 73 Bob W7LRD Seattle, Wa.

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