January 2017 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

Re: [amsat-bb] FunCube Dongle Pro+ SOLD
by Stefan Wagener 18 Jan '17

18 Jan '17

Thanks for the interest! 73, Stefan, VE4NSA

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FunCube Dongle Pro+ -For Sale-
by Stefan Wagener 17 Jan '17

17 Jan '17

Selling my FCD Pro+ (like new condition). First $95 takes it (includes shipping to US or Canada!!!). If interested, contact me direct via email (my callsign(a)gmail.com). Thanks, Stefan, VE4NSA

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AOBA-VELOXIII heard in Brazil
by Roland Zurmely 17 Jan '17

17 Jan '17

Hi Greg, Yes, QRG is 437,375. Very strong signal !And TLE from ISS for now... 73 de Roland PY4ZBZ

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-01-17 07:30 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 17 Jan '17

17 Jan '17

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-01-17 07:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: High School "Léon Blum", Le Creusot, France, telebridge via K6DUE The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG Contact was successful: Mon 2017-01-16 11:53:17 UTC 60 deg (***) **************************************************************************** ** 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. Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8Ø MHz. **************************************************************************** *** All ARISS contacts are made via the Kenwood 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: Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 123 Gaston ON4WF with 123 Francesco IKØWGF with 119 **************************************************************************** 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 2017-01-17 07:30 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 http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1109. (***) Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1073. (***) 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 2017-01-17 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. 49 on orbit Shane Kimbrough KE5HOD Andrei Borisenko Sergey Ryzhikov Exp. 50 on orbit Peggy Whitson Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG Oleg Novitskiy **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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Gene Cernan, RIP
by B J 16 Jan '17

16 Jan '17

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38641121 Farewell, sir, and thank you. 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL

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Small Sat SDR Paper + Outernet + BY70-1
by M5AKA 16 Jan '17

16 Jan '17

Mamatha R. Maheshwarappa 2E0CZO has released her paper “Improvements in CPU & FPGA Performance for Small Satellite SDR Applications” https://amsat-uk.org/2017/01/10/small-satellite-sdr-paper/ BY70-1 FM transponder contact video https://amsat-uk.org/2016/12/30/by70-1-fm-transponder-contact/ Chertsey Radio Club article - Getting started with FM satellites http://chertseyradioclub.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/getting-started-with-fm-sat… Video of Daniel Estévez EA4GPZ / M0HXM talk - Reverse Engineering the Outernet - at Chaos Communication Congress #33c3 http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2017/january/reverse-engineering-%20the-ou… Blog update http://destevez.net/2017/01/updated-format-for-outernet-ldp-protocol/ ITF-2 CubeSat 437.525 MHz to deploy from ISS Monday https://www.facebook.com/amsatuk/posts/1269720816404298 73 Trevor M5AKA ---- AMSAT-UK http://amsat-uk.org/ Twitter https://twitter.com/AmsatUK Facebook https://facebook.com/AmsatUK YouTube https://youtube.com/AmsatUK ----

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Pass Predictions backup & ITF-2
by Pedro Converso 16 Jan '17

16 Jan '17

We apologize for temporary amsat.org.ar server outage: Pass predictions backup at http://lu7abf.com.ar/pass.htm Besides ITF-2 satellite predictions added for certificate chasers. 73, LU7ABF, Pedro

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Is amsat.org.ar down?
by Todd Deckard 16 Jan '17

16 Jan '17

I get a DNS error? Best (The pass prediction page from Pedro Converso - LU7ABF is absolutely wonderful)

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IC-9100 and SATPC32
by mbdittmar＠comcast.net 16 Jan '17

16 Jan '17

Hi, I know this has been asked before on this list, as I have searched the archives, but I have been unable to find a solution to the problem after several hours of messing with it. Specifically, getting SATPC32 to "talk" via USB port with IC-9100. I am referring to the latest version of SATPC32 downloaded from DK1TB's web site as of yesterday afternoon. I am using Windows 7, 64 bit. 1) Correct USB drivers for the Ic9100 have been installed and they do work with other software ( I've used the 9100 with FLDIGI ). The two SiLab USB ports of the 9100 show up as ports 14 and 13. In the radio control menu I have selected IC9100, baud 19200, port 13 ( to correspond with USB1 of the IC9100 ) and all four addresses are $60 ( I changed my 9100s CIV address from $7C to $60, as SATPC32 would not allow me to "store" $7C addresses ( It gives me an error when storing ). $60 comes up as a default in the software, however, so I just switched the radio to that. I verified the radio's baud rate is set to 19200. 2) I closed the software using the "File" and "Quit" menu selection. 3) re-started software. enabled CAT control ( C+). Enabled VFO control ( V+ ). No action whatsoever when using the up/down VFO control in the software. Can't find any evidence that the software sees the radio. 4) Tried closing the software, power cycling the radio, and re-opening software. No change. 5) I verified all of the following from the archives ( except for address of $7C as noted above ), as written by Stefan VE4NSA: A few things: 1. In SatPC32 under Radio Setup you do not need any of the serial port settings like RTS, DTR etc. Don't check them. 2. Make sure radio and software have the same baudrate 3. Make sure all four addresses (Icom) are set to $7C. Use the upper arrow keys to change and set both of the lower windows. Check the box "Addresses OK" to set the upper window. All four addresses need to be $7C. 4. Store the setting and restart the software. 5. Make sure C+ (Cat Control) is enabled). 6. Go to CAT (Cat Tuning) and set the Interval for SSB/CW and FM/PKT to zero and click "Store" for both and select "Continue". 7. Restart the software. Assumptions: 1.You installed the Silabs drivers for the Icom USB driver *BEFORE* you connected the radio and turned it on. 2. You verified in Windows, System Properties, Device Manager that you have 2 com ports (CP210x...) and you use the lower one for SatPC32. Any ideas what I might be missing here ? Thanks for any advice ! 73, Mark AB0CW

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Is It Zero or Lettrt O
by Keith O'Brien 16 Jan '17

16 Jan '17

I have noticed both a Zero (0) and the Letter O in the callsign of the BY7 satellite. So is it BY70-1 or BY7O-1 ?? Keith N4ZQ

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Re: [amsat-bb] ISS
by John Brier 16 Jan '17

16 Jan '17

Same here. Contact seemed to start a little late and it sounded like they didn't get all the questions answered. I had Thomas answering all the way past LOS, and the pass should have ended for me later than it did for K6DUE. 73, John Brier KG4AKV On Jan 16, 2017 7:07 AM, <skristof(a)etczone.com> wrote: Got a nice recording of the ISS side of the ISS-school contact this morning. I'll need to brush up on my French to make any sense of it, but it's a good recording. Steve AI9IN EM79ji Oldenburg IN USA _______________________________________________ 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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ISS
by skristof＠etczone.com 16 Jan '17

16 Jan '17

Got a nice recording of the ISS side of the ISS-school contact this morning. I'll need to brush up on my French to make any sense of it, but it's a good recording. Steve AI9IN EM79ji Oldenburg IN USA

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CM98 QRV FO-29 2017-01-16 05:32z
by Bryan KL7CN 16 Jan '17

16 Jan '17

Howdy, all! I'll be QRV on FO-29 at about 435.855 tonight 2017-01-16 05:32z from CM98 in California. I promise a quick LotW confirmation! I'm looking for night owls in CT, GA, MA, MS, MO, MT, NH, NJ, RI, SC, VT. Thank you! -- bag Bryan KL7CN/W6 bryan(a)kl7cn.net CM98, usually

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Office Closed
by Martha 16 Jan '17

16 Jan '17

The AMSAT office will be closed on Monday, January 16th. -- 73- Martha

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Working PSAT with TS-2000/Signalink
by D. Craig Fox 15 Jan '17

15 Jan '17

Can someone using a TS2000 and soundcard interface like a Signalink USB advise if there are any special menu settings unique to using PSK1 on this satellite? Initiating tx in digipan works fine in simplex but doesn't key the TX in the TS2K when in SAT mode and CAT control ON in SATPC32. If I press the mike, it is active. This has to be something obvious- apparently too obvious for me to see. Suggestions from anyone using this setup would be appreciated. Thank you Craig N6RSX

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ITF-2 First 100 Reports AWARD announced
by Toshihiro Kameda 15 Jan '17

15 Jan '17

ITF-2 team announces the AWARD for First 100 reports, which includes one paper certificate and a few cool items. The first 100 reports are qualified for this award. Especially top 10 stations are entitled to receive it for free, others with two IRCs. The ranking will be updated on the project website. Reception reports can be submitted at: https://operationitf-2.blogspot.jp/p/blog-page_58.html ITF-2 is a 1U cubesat designed and built by Univesity of Tsukuba, Japan, which soon be released from ISS on Jan 16, 2017 at 0910 UTC. ISS TLE can be used for tracking during early stage. Toshihiro KAMEDA, JJ3GRX (also W3GRX) Director of University of Tsukuba Satellite project

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FUNcube Warehouse may be slower than usual
by David Johnson 15 Jan '17

15 Jan '17

Hi, Please excuse us while we try out some new ideas in the warehouse. There will be some remote debugging across the network so you might experience a few timeouts. We will keep these to a minimum. 73 Dave, G4DPZ

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Fox1-b and also UO-11 (News)
by GW1FKY＠aol.com 15 Jan '17

15 Jan '17

Hi all, Pleased to learn the good news on the success of Space-X and the announcement for the launch date for the Fox1-b payload being slated for 29th August 2017. With thanks to Bob Doran ( G4VRC ) whom has been closely monitoring for activity on UO-1. He posted the following good news this morning. Ken Eaton GW1FKY From: robert.doran28(a)btinternet.com [mailto:robert.doran28@btinternet.com] Sent: 15 January 2017 09:11 To: G3YJO(a)amsat.org; GW1FKY(a)aol.com Subject: UO-11 on Good morning Martin and Ken, UO-11 was switched on on the 8.24 pass this morning. The next pass is 10.00 - 10.12. Bob Doran G4VRC

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ANS-015 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Joseph Spier 15 Jan '17

15 Jan '17

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-015 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. In this edition: * RadFxSat (Fox-1B) Launch Date Moved to August 29, 2017 * AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2017 * ITF-2 CubeSat Set to Deploy from ISS * Satellite Logging Updates Requested for ARRL LoTW * College OSCAR Activity, Grow Future Membership * 2017 Interplanetary Small Satellite Conference * Frequency Plan of the PicSAT Project Validated by the IARU * AMSAT Events * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts from All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-015.01 ANS-015 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 015.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE January 15, 2017 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-015.01 --------------------------------------------------------------------- RadFxSat (Fox-1B) Launch Date Moved to August 29, 2017 The launch date for RadFxSat (Fox-1B) has been moved to August 29, 2017. RadFxSat is one of four CubeSats making up the NASA ELaNa XIV mission, riding as secondary payloads aboard the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS)-1 mission. JPSS-1 will launch on a Delta II from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. RadFxSat is a partnership with Vanderbilt University ISDE and hosts four payloads for the study of radiation effects on commercial off the shelf components. RadFxSat features the Fox-1 style FM U/v repeater with an uplink on 435.250 MHz (67.0 Hz CTCSS) and a downlink on 145.960 MHz. Satellite and experiment telemetry will be downlinked via the "DUV" subaudible telemetry stream and can be decoded with the FoxTelem software. RadFxSat construction and testing was completed in the fourth quarter of 2016 and the CubeSat is currently in clean storage at Fox Labs, waiting for delivery and integration which is now scheduled for June, 2017. [ANS thanks Jerry Buxton, NØJY, AMSAT Vice President for Engineering for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2017 AMSAT-UK is very happy to announce that the dates of the next AMSAT-UK Colloquium will be 14-15 Oct 2017. This year it will be incorporated into the RSGB Convention at the Kents Hill Park Convention Centre in Milton Keynes. Exact details are currently being finalized with the RSGB and these will be notified when they are known. If you have not been to Kents Hill before, it is very close to the M1 motorway and is near to Bletchley Park, where RSGB members have free entry. For overseas visitors it is convenient for planes to London Luton Airport (30-minute taxi ride) and also London Gatwick and Birmingham airports, both of which have direct train connections to Bletchley and/or Milton Keynes stations. These stations are approximately 10 minutes away by taxi. [ANS thanks Jim Heck, G3WGM for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ITF-2 CubeSat Set to Deploy from ISS Toshihiro Kameda, JJ3GRX/W3GRX, of the University of Tsukuba's "Yui" satellite project in Japan, reports that the ITF-2 ("Imagine The Future") CubeSat is set for release from the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday, January 16, at 0910 UTC. The 1U ITF-2 was designed and built at the university. The Amateur Radio downlink is 437.525 MHz. Updated information will be announced on the AMSAT Bulletin Board at, http://www.amsat.org/pipermail/amsat-bb/ . ITF-2 is the successor to the unsuccessful ITF-1, which launched in 2014 but was never heard. Six CubeSats delivered to ISS by HTV-6 will deploy from ISS with new JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD) at 16h Jan. New J-SSOD has four satellite install cases. One satellite install case has 3U space, so new J-SSOD can delploy twelve CubeSat at one time. Six CubeSats are installed as follows, satellite install CubeSats case #1 three 1U CubeSats ITF-2, WASEDA-SAT3, FREEDOM #2 one 3U CubeSat EGG #3 one 2U CubeSat AOBA-VELOX3 #4 one 3U CubeSat TuPOD (including Tancredo1 and OSNSAT) ITF-2, WASEDA-SAT3, AOBA-VELOX3, TuPOD and Tancredo1 operate on the amateur radio bands. #1 and #2 will be deployed at 0900-0930z 16th Jan, #3 and #4 will be 1030-1100z. Live broadcast will start at 0850z on YouTube JAXA channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4xq_rj0QiQ [ANS thanks the ARRL and JAXA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Logging Updates Requested for ARRL LoTW AMSAT has requested that BY70-1 be added as "BY70-1" in the next configuration file for the ARRL Logbook of the World (LoTW). AMSAT has also requested that this update be made no later than January 31st due to NPOTA QSOs that were made via the satellite. AMSAT has also requested the addition of IO-86 as well as SAREX and MIREX for previous QSOs that occurred via the digipeater carried on various Space Shuttle missions and the Mir space station. If anyone notices a satellite that was available for amateur operation that is not included in the LoTW configuration file, please let me know: Paul Stoetzer n8hm(a)arrl.net Please also keep in mind that there may be a delay in requests being made for the addition of satellites to the LoTW configuration file while AMSAT awaits word of any potential OSCAR number request. [ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- College OSCAR Activity, Grow Future Membership In 2008-2009 we used to have regular College Satellite Nights, where clubs active in our area of interest would get on the birds at the same time and give out contacts. Please let me know if there is an interest again in doing this once per month and if the group minds allowing SO-50 to be the venue. It is important to our future that we grow our ranks through attracting younger hams. OSCAR operating at the college level can also be a huge advantage for attractive college students to the hobby. Many of our technician course attendees at UF are there for that reason (we give two licensing courses a year). Please help spread the word to those at your local universities, and to other college clubs. There will be a College Student Amateur Radio Forum at HamCation HamFest in Orlando, Saturday Feb. 11. Please let college student hams know of the event info. The event is ARRL sponsored, part of CARI, the Collegiate Amateur Radio Initiative. The forum will take place at 3pm, and there is room for 50 college student attendees. There are more events planned for the day, including an evening social event for college students. We should also have table space for the day for college clubs to distribute club info and to meet, greet, and network with alumni. The table would be a good place for high school student hams to network in preparation for a life of amateur radio during the upcoming college years. Questions can be directed to the moderator of the forum, UF Doctoral student Andy Milluzzi, KK4KWR - andy(a)gatorradio.org For the latest of information see the CARI Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/ARRLCARI/ [ANS thanks Dr. Jay H. Garlitz, AA4FL, FCC Trustee, W4DFU at Univ. of Florida, since 2005, www.gatorradio.org. The Club Station of the Gator Amateur Radio Club, at UF since 1934, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017 Interplanetary Small Satellite Conference The Interplanetary Small Satellite Conference (ISSC) will be held at San Jose State University on May 1-2, 2017 in San Jose, California. The conference addresses interplanetary small satellites, including mission design, enabling technologies, science applications, and all other technical aspects of these missions. You can find out more details about the conference at http://www.intersmallsatconference.com/ This year we are expecting over 200 people to attend the conference. This year’s keynote speakers will be announced soon. The conference will feature a suite of talks and attendees from JPL, NASA and other space agencies, universities, and companies from around the world to work on developing this important new direction for small spacecraft missions. The Interplanetary Small Satellite Conference also gives an exciting chance for organizations to sponsor an exhibitor table or a booth. A table is $270 (includes one registration) and a booth is $540 (includes two registrations). Prices are guaranteed until January 31, when they may increase. Registration will be available soon on our website, but please email us at exhibitors(a)intercubesat.org for information and to reserve your spot. Tables and booths will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis when registration payments are received. Please also consider submitting an abstract to represent your organization. Abstracts are due on February 15, 2017. I hope you'll be able to join us in beautiful San Jose. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any additional questions. [ANS thanks the ISSC Committee (via the cubesat.org mailing list) for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Frequency Plan of the PicSAT Project Validated by the IARU AMSAT-F (AMSAT Francophone) announced on January 8 the the IARU validated the proposed frequency plan for the PICSAT satellite project of the Paris Observatory. The satellite will offer capabilities for telemetry data transmission: AX25 - 9k6 BPSK, and an FM transponder. Uplink : 145.910 MHz FM Downlink : 435.925 MHz FM AMSAT-F and Réseau des Émetteurs Français (REF), the national non-profit organization for amateur radio enthusiasts in France, will provide active technical support for this project. For more information : IARU Coordination: http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/formal_detail.php?serialnum=536 Link budget estimated: https://perso.lesia.obspm.fr/picsat/files/2016/12/PicSat_IARU_Coordination.… Project page: http://lesia.obspm.fr/PICSAT.html REF-Info: http://ref-info.ref.org/projet-picsat-de-lobservatoire-de-paris/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-Francophone for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Events Information about AMSAT activities at other important events around the country. Examples of these events are radio club meetings where AMSAT Area Coordinators give presentations, demonstrations of working amateur satellites, and hamfests with an AMSAT presence (a table with AMSAT literature and merchandise, sometimes also with presentations, forums, and/or demonstrations). *Saturday, 14 January 2017 – Thunderbird Hamfest 2017 in Phoenix AZ *Friday and Saturday, 20-21 January 2017 – Cowtown Hamfest in Forest Hill, TX *Thursday, 26 January 2017 – presentation for Arizona Repeater Association in Tempe AZ *Saturday, 4 February 2017 – Palm Springs Hamfest in Palm Springs CA *Friday-Sunday, 10-12 February 2017 Orlando HamCation in Orlando, FL *Friday and Saturday, 17-18 February 2017 – Yuma Hamfest in Yuma AZ *Friday-Sunday, March 31, April 1 & 2, 2017, NVCON in Las Vegas, NV [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News Successful Contacts * A combined telebridge via K6DUE with students at Collège Saint-Guibert, Gembloux, Belgium and Euro Space Center, Transinne, Belgium was successful Thu 2017-01-12. * A direct contact via W6FOG with students at the World Genesis Foundation (WGF), Goodyear, AZ. & Quartzsite in Motion, Quartzsite, AZ. was successful Wed 2017-01-11. * A direct contact via K4JMC with students at Rainbow Middle School in Rainbow City, AL. was successful Wed 2017-01-04. * A direct contact via F1IMF with students at Collège Mathilde Marthe Faucher, Allassac, France was successful Wed 2017-01-04. * A direct contact via F4KJV with students at Primary School Georges Wallers, Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (59), France was successful Sat 2016-12-31. * A direct contact via IK1SLD with students at Ecole Communale de Saint Sylvestre, Saint Sylvestre, France was successful Wed 2016-12-21. Upcoming Contacts * A telebridge via K6DUE students at the Léon Blum High School, Le Creusot, France, is presently scheduled for Mon 2017-01-16 11:53:17 UTC 60 deg. The scheduled astronaut is Thomas Pesquet, KG5FYG. Le Creusot is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France. Formerly a mining town, its economy is now dominated by large metallurgical companies such as ArcelorMittal, Schneider Electric, and Alstom. In the 19th century, iron ore mines and forges around Le Creusot generated a business in steel, railways, armaments, and shipbuilding. The lycée Léon Blum (Le Creusot-71) together with the lycée international Charles de Gaulle (Dijon-21) and lycée Pierre Paul Riquet (Saint-Orens-31) were selected after a call for projects in March 2015 by the CNES Youth Education department for the PROXIMA mission. The project is named CERES (after the name of ancient roman goddess of agriculture). Thomas will grow some seeds in space as part of the CERES educational experiment. A special cargo of mustard, lentil and radish seeds was sent to him on the Space Station. He should water them and take pictures at regular intervals to study how the seeds grow in space. Students of the two partner high schools and a local elementary school are also participating to the list of questions. Watch http://www.ariss.org/upcoming-contacts.html for information about upcoming contacts as they are scheduled. [ANS thanks ARISS and Charlie, AJ9N for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over South East VHF Society Conference Charlotte NC April 28-29 The SVHF Society will hold their convention in Charlotte, NC this year on April 28 and 29 at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Charlotte Airport, 2600 Yorkmont Road, Charlotte, NC 28201. We have arranged rooms at $95; you can call 800-222-TREE and ask for this rate under the name "South East VHF Society". Early registration guest room rate of $89 is offered for reservations made by January 31, 2017. If you plan to attend, please call now to reserve your room at this lower rate before the end of January. Registration information will be posted soon on the web site (http://svhfs.org) so watch for the sign up details. The conference fee for pre-registration is $30, Friday's Luncheon is $15, and Saturday's banquet is $40. [ANS thanks Gary Greene, W2ZV, SVHF Society conference committee member for the above information] AMSAT CW Activity Day reports As of 8 January, only two of the participants in AMSAT CW Activity Day have posted reports to amsat-bb. While there is no requirement to do so, if you participated, please consider posting one while it's still fresh in your mind. You can post a list of stations worked, satellites used, "Soapbox" comments, suggestions for next year's event, or what have you. [ANS thanks Ray, W2RS, for the above information] DXpedition Teams Make Satellite Plans FP, ST. PIERRE & MIQUELON. Eric, KV1J, will once again be operating from the Island of Miquelon (NA-032, DIFO FP-002 WLOTA 1417, Grid GN17) as FP/KV1J between July 4-18th. Activity will be on 160-10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY (but primarily SSB and RTTY). He will generally be on the highest frequency band that is open (favoring 12/10m). He will be active in the IARU HF Contest (July 8-9th), NA QSO Party-RTTY (July 15-16th) and the CQ VHF Contest [6M only] (July 15-16th). QSL via KV1J, direct or by the Bureau. Also eQSL and LoTW. For more details and updates, check out his Web page at: http://www.kv1j.com/fp/July17.html PLEASE NOTE: Eric mentions, "I will also be on the analog Satellites when the WX is good enough to operate from outside." YN, NICARAGUA. A team of four operators, sponsored by Texas DX Society, will be operating near Granada beginning March 20th and ending March 27th. Operators mentioned are Keith/NM5G (YN2MG), Ken/KD2KW (YN2KW), Bill/K5WL (YN2WL) and Marty/W5MF (YN2MF). The group plans to participate in the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 25-26th) as YN2KW and station, as a Multi-Op/Single- Transmitter/All-Bands/Low-Power entry. Outside of the contest, operators will use their own callsigns on CW, SSB, RTTY and other Digital modes. They will also have equipment to make some satellite contacts as time and weather permit. QSL YN2KW via N5ET, all others callsigns listen for instructions, but probably the same route. [ANS thanks the Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1299 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Joe Spier, K6WAO k6wao at amsat dot org

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Upcoming ARISS contact with High School "Léon Blum", Le Creusot, France
by David H Jordan 15 Jan '17

15 Jan '17

An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at High School "Léon Blum", Le Creusot, France on 16 Jan. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 11:53 UTC. It is recommended that you start listening approximately 10 minutes before this time.The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a telebridge between NA1SS and K6DUE. The contact should be audible over the east coast of the U.S. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English. Le Creusot is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France. Formerly a mining town, its economy is now dominated by large metallurgical companies such as ArcelorMittal, Schneider Electric, and Alstom. In the 19th century, iron ore mines and forges around Le Creusot generated a business in steel, railways, armaments, and shipbuilding. The lycée Léon Blum (Le Creusot-71) together with the lycée international Charles de Gaulle (Dijon-21) and lycée Pierre Paul Riquet (Saint-Orens-31) were selected after a call for projects in March 2015 by the CNES Youth Education department for the PROXIMA mission. The project is named CERES (after the name of ancient roman goddess of agriculture) Thomas will grow some seeds in space as part of the CERES educational experiment. A special cargo of mustard, lentil and radish seeds was sent to him on the Space Station. He should water them and take pictures at regular intervals to study how the seeds grow in space. Students of the two partner high schools and a local elementary school are also participating to the list of questions. Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. On imagine la vie dans l'espace très différente de celle sur Terre. Malgré les liaisons radios, vous sentez-vous coupé de la réalité? 2. Qu’avez-vous ressenti pendant votre sortie extravéhiculaire? Avez-vous eu peur du vide? 3. Constatez-vous quelques changements corporels? Par exemple la croissance accélérée des poils, des cheveux ou des ongles, ou à l'inverse une déshydratation de la peau, perte de cheveux, etc...? 4. Y aurait-il une différence de ressenti si la station elle-même n’était plus en chute libre mais en réelle apesanteur, éloignée de toute source de gravité? 5. Avez vous déjà réalisé notre expérience CERES sur la croissance des plantules? sinon quelles hypotheses ou conclusions pouvez vous déjà faire? 6. Serait-il possible d’entretenir des cultures ou développer un jardin dans l’ISS afin de subvenir à une partie des besoins nutritionnels des astronautes? 7. Pensez- vous qu'il soit possible de faire pousser dans l'espace des végétaux dont la plus grande partie est ici enfouie sous terre comme les carottes par exemple? et des végétaux plus grands comme des arbustes? 8. Que pensez-vous de la participation et l'implication de lycéens à des expériences menées dans l'espace? 9. Pensez-vous que des expériences comme CERES pourraient être réalisées sur Mars et permettre dans les années à venir d'éventuelles cultures sur cette planète pour une future colonisation? 10. Le fait de rester plusieurs mois dans une même station avec cinq coéquipiers ne crée-t-il pas parfois des conflits à cause du stress? 11. Sur Terre, l'homme est un géant de la découverte, de la technologie et du progrès. Mais, au milieu de l'univers, comment se sent-on? 12. Les particules dues aux pluies d'étoiles filantes ont-elles des conséquences (même minimes) sur l'ISS ou peut-être même sur vous, astronautes? 13. Quelles différences observez-vous entre les expériences réalisées sur Terre et dans l'Espace? 14. Comment vous organisez vous dans l’ISS avec les autres astronautes? Existe-t-il un roulement pour les différents services, comme la préparation des repas, etc... 15. Pouvez-vous vous vêtir comme vous le souhaitez dans la station spatiale internationale? Avez-vous la possibilité de laver votre linge dans l’ISS? 16. Pensez-vous au retour sur Terre? Si oui, appréhendez-vous cet instant? 17. Les astronautes suivent-ils (ensembles) toutes les traditions et fêtes de leur pays d'origine? (par exemple Noël le 25 décembre pour les Européens et Américains et le 7 janvier pour les Russes) 18. J’ai toujours rêvé d’être astronaute. Quels conseils me donneriez-vous? 19. Allez-vous réaliser des expériences dans l'ISS dans le but d’installer la vie sur Mars? 20. Pensez-vous que votre génération d'astronautes ira sur Mars? Espérez- vous y aller vous-même? Translated: 1. Life in space is thought to be very different from life on Earth. In spite of radio connections, do you ever feel you are cut off from reality? 2. How did you feel during your Extra-Vehicular-Activity? Did you fear the void? 3. What sort of body changes can you notice on you? For instance, did you notice any accelerated growth or loss phenomena concerning your hairs, hair, nails or even any form of dehydration? 4. Would you feel different sensations if the Space Station was not continuously falling around Earth, but really away from any source of gravity? 5. Did you already start our CERES experiment about seed germination? What difficulties did you meet? Otherwise what hypothesis could you make on its potential results? 6. Would it be possible to grow crops or develop a garden on the ISS in order to partially feed astronauts? 7. Do you think it’s realistic to grow vegetables in space, considering that their major parts are buried in the soil here on earth, such as carrots for instance? What about bigger size plants like trees? 8. How do you feel about the fact that high schoolers take part in and get involved into space experiments? 9. Do you think that experiments like CERES could be made on Mars and enable potential cultivation on that planet in the years to come to pave the way for a future colonization? 10. You are living with five other astronauts in the same station for several months: Could it be source of tension because of stress? 11. Here on Earth, human beings are witnessing major scientific discoveries and huge technological progress. However, how do we feel in the middle of the universe? 12. Do the particles triggered by meteor showers have some consequences – even tiny ones – on the ISS or maybe even on you as an astronaut? 13. What differences can you make between experiments that are being carried out on Earth and those in space? 14. How do you schedule activities with the other astronauts? Do you take turns to work on different tasks, like preparing meals? 15. Can you dress as you want on the ISS? Can you wash your clothes there? 16. Do you have in mind the moment you will come back on Earth? If so, do you feel concerned about that moment? 17. Do the astronauts share together all the traditions and celebrations of their own countries? Christmas for instance, which is celebrated on December 25th in Europe and America but on January 7th in Russia? 18. I have always dreamt of being an astronaut. Any helpful piece of advice? 19. Are you going to make experiments in the ISS in order to settle life on Mars? 20. Do you think that your current generation of astronauts will go on Mars? Is that your personal hope? 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), the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) and 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

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KLM 2m 14c polarization circuit question (Capacitor Replacement)
by Brian Sarkisian, KG8CO 15 Jan '17

15 Jan '17

I had to replace the RCA connector on the circuit board. I see there is a capacitor that there was a capacitor soldered to the RCA connector. What is the capacitance of that capacitor ? Thank you Brian, KG8CO

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AlSat-1N image + AMSAT-UK Colloquium + Phase 4
by M5AKA 14 Jan '17

14 Jan '17

Six CubeSats to Deploy from ISS Monday, January 16 https://amsat-uk.org/2017/01/14/six-cubesats-to-deploy-from-iss/ AMSAT Phase 4B video report N4HY and KJ4QLP http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2017/january/amsat-phase-4-video-report.htm Chris Bridges M0IEB @DrChrisBridges reports AlSat-1N CubeSat image received 2 x Groundstations + 210 kB/day throughput over 9K6 G3RUH link = 1.328 MB RGB image https://www.facebook.com/amsatuk/posts/1267028420006871 Sandringham School students High Altitude Balloon project #sandHABflight https://www.facebook.com/amsatuk/photos/a.555434137832973.1073741826.208113… David Crump G8GKQ @davegkq and Noel Matthews @G8GTZ attended the Es'Hail 2 Phase 4A Geostationary Amateur Radio transponder meeting at Bochum https://www.facebook.com/amsatuk/posts/1271327429576970 2017 AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium https://amsat-uk.org/2017/01/13/2017-amsat-uk-colloquium/ 73 Trevor M5AKA ---- AMSAT-UK http://amsat-uk.org/ Twitter https://twitter.com/AmsatUK Facebook https://facebook.com/AmsatUK YouTube https://youtube.com/AmsatUK ----

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FW: NO084 PSAT Spin Rate over 10 RPM (BRICSAT listening?)
by Robert Bruninga 14 Jan '17

14 Jan '17

Thanks everyone! Here is the question. Did anyone ever happen to hear anything on 435.350 during the last week that did *not* correlate with PSAT? It may have been BRICSAT in full sun! Its PSK31 trasnponder is on the same downlink... and since its only problem was poor power budget, it may have been alive and no one was listening? It all started Friday afternoon, when I happened to tune to PSAT and heard only about 10 seconds at the tail end of a pass and saw about a 5 second swoosh before the transponder dropped out. Giving me a complete guess at maybe 12 RPM. KO6TZ reported: a screen capture from Spectran of the "swoosh" fade lines from the 23:30utc pass of NO-84. The tick marks … are 1 second spacing… [with] just slightly over 5 secs between the fades. That puts the spin at ~11.7 RPM. And of course DK3WN nailed it with this high res plot: http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?p=76608 Showing 5 rotations in 32 seconds or about 9.4 RPM We had to use this signal strength method since the the telemetry spin data is of no practical use since it is undersampled. IE, we are only sampling at once every 5 seconds and so this is HALF the Nyquist rate. To capture a spin of 12 RPM we would need to sample over 24 times a minute. So that is why we needed people to simply listen for it and determine the spin that way. And it looks like today is the last day of full sun. We had gotten excited when we noticed this full sun late Friday afternoon and realized it would be a good time to listen for BRICSAT which also has an HF PSK31 downlink on 435.350. But we noticed that after 20 months in space, that BRICSAT has separated enough that it ended its full sun period the day before. Then we went and looked and noticed this full sun period for both satellites was only 5 days long anyway. We are embarrassed that we have not been watching the orbit and looking for these full sun periods. They may be rare indeed. Bob

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FUNcube Warehouse Maintenance
by David Johnson 14 Jan '17

14 Jan '17

Hi, We are making some changes to allow us to migrate some functions to another server, you may experience some short outages during this period. If you experience any problems, either with the web site or Dashboard uploads, please let me know. 73 Dave G4DPZ

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Re: [amsat-bb] PSAT SPin Rate?
by Mike Rupprecht 14 Jan '17

14 Jan '17

See here: http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?p=76608 73 MikeDK3WN -------- Ursprüngliche Nachricht --------Von: Robert Bruninga <bruninga(a)usna.edu> Datum: 13.01.17 22:00 (GMT+01:00) An: AMSAT <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Betreff: [amsat-bb] PSAT SPin Rate? We just noticed that PSAT is in full sun. We want to know its spin rate but seaman Murphy is visiting the shack rignt now… and our UHF seems to have an intermittent… Passes are in the afternoon approaching sunset (and of course in the morning around sunrise… that’s why its in full sun all the time, because its orbit is near the day/night terminator right now…) So, simply tune in 435.350 +/- 10 KHz doppler and listen to the SWISHES of the UHF FM downlink and count SWISHES per minute. SWISHES are the nulls you might hear in the UHF antenna pattern on an FM receiver. Hold your squelch open so you don’t get confused. It might be swishing at above 10 RPM which would be a swish every 6 seconds. Of course, if no one is transmitting PSK31 on 28.121 MHz then the PSK31 transponder might not be up…. So this is a good time to dust off the PSK31 Ten meter transmitter. Just transmit PSK31 in the 28.120 to 28.122 MHz passband and it should bring up the transponder. Send comments to my lastname AT usna DOT edu Bob Bruninga, WB4APR _______________________________________________ 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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