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

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-01-14 04:00 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 13 Jan '17

13 Jan '17

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-01-14 04:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Collège Saint-Guibert, Gembloux, Belgium and Euro Space Center, Transinne, Belgium; Combined telebridge via K6DUE The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG Contact was successful Option #5: Thu 2017-01-12 13:46:51 UTC 36 deg (***) 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 is a go for: 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 Out of date webpages were removed and new ones have been added.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 2017-01-14 04:00 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 http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1108. (***) Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1072. (***) 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 2017-01-14 04:00 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. 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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PSAT SPin Rate?
by Robert Bruninga 13 Jan '17

13 Jan '17

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

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AO-73/FUNcube Mode change
by Jim Heck 13 Jan '17

13 Jan '17

Hi folks, I have just changed the sat into continuous transponder mode. Plan is to switch back to auto mode on Sunday 15 Jan 2017 pm UTC as usual. Pls see below for FUNcube transponder info Have FUN with the transponder. 73s Jim G3WGM and the FUNcube team. AO-73 FUNcube-1 The transponder is normally operational only when the satellite is in eclipse, ie the solar panels are NOT being illuminated. During weekends (from pm Fridays UTC to PM Sundays UTC) the transponder is operational 24/7. When the transponder is switched off, the telemetry beacon is on full power, when the transponder is on the beacon it is on low power. During holidays, eg Christmas, New Year, Easter, etc, the transponder maybe activated for extended periods. Watch AMSAT-BB for announcements which are usually made on Friday evenings (UTC) The nominal transponder frequencies are: Uplink: 435.150 - 435.130 MHz LSB (Inverting) Downlink: 145.950 - 145.970 MHz USB Telemetry Tx: 145.935 MHz BPSK (The passband may be up to 15kHz higher depending on on-board temps. Low temperatures give higher freqs!) FUNcube-2 aka FUNcube on UKube The FUNcube-2 sub-system continues to operate autonomously and, almost continuously, in amateur mode. The transponder is operational and the telemetry downlink is functioning with about 70mW output. The FUNcube-1 Dashboard does not correctly display the telemetry but it does correctly decode the data and uploads it to the FUNcube Data Warehouse from where it can be examined. Most of the real time data channels are operational and these include battery voltages, temperatures and ADCS data coming via the main On Board Computer (OBC). The transponder is interrupted for a few seconds every 2 minutes when the other transmitter sends its CW beacon and, occasionally, for a few seconds when the main OBC reboots (approx seven times each orbit). The nominal transponder frequencies are: Uplink: 435.080 - 435.060 MHz LSB (Inverting) Downlink: 145.930 - 145.950 MHz USB Telemetry Tx: 145.915 MHz BPSK (The passband may be up to 10kHz higher depending on on-board temps. Low temperatures give higher freqs!) EO79 FUNcube-3 Due to power budget constraints the transponder cannot be operational 24/7 and an orbit specific schedule has been developed. The transponder will commence operation 27 minutes after the spacecraft enters sunlight and will stay on for a period of 25 minutes. This schedule may be modified in future months as a result of experience. The nominal transponder frequencies are: Uplink: 435.0723-435.0473 MHz LSB (Inverting) Downlink: 145.946-145.971 MHz USB Further detailed info on EO79 transponder frequencies is at: https://amsat-uk.org/2016/11/10/eo79-funcube-3-transponder-commences-regula… All FUNcube transponders are sponsored by AMSAT-UK and AMSAT-NL. We are very grateful for the assistance given by Innovative Solution In Space Bv, The Netherlands.

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AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2017
by Jim Heck 13 Jan '17

13 Jan '17

Folks 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 finalised 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. 73s Jim G3WGM Hon Sec AMSAT-UK

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VE8 Roving
by Gabriel Zeifman 12 Jan '17

12 Jan '17

Hello fellow bird men, Here is the announcement the grid chasers have been waiting for: VE8 is near! My leave has just been approved and I plan to depart for Yellowknife, NT on Jan 20 returning to Oklahoma City by Feb 5. I will start by hitting some of the rare US grids in DN land on the way for our Grid Masters. After that I will enter Canada somewhere in Alberta and head north towards Yellowknife. The fantastic thing about the winter in the Northwest Territories is the transportation infrastructure. Most towns in the NT are accessible only by air on ludicrously expensive flights, however in winter 2,000km of ice roads are built. I will be doing my best to utilize these ice roads to activate grids that have never before been heard on satellite. I plan to activate numerous grids in the CO, DO, CP, and DP areas. Where and how far I go will depend on time and conditions. With AO-7 eclipsing and FO-29 getting higher, this should be an ideal time for this trip. I will upload to LoTW as cell coverage allows. Outside of normal cell service, I will forward my logs to Paul N8HM, Dave KG5CCI, and Fernando NP4JV via Iridium SBD service for uploading. Due to the harsh conditions, my SBD device will usually stay in the car and may take time to acquire a solid link to an Iridium satellite (although in the polar region, there should be many satellites in view at any given time). Tracking will be available as usual on APRS as NJ7H-9 (as cell service allows) and on Iridium at share.delorme.com/gz. I may also be contacted via the Iridium portal if need be. Please use first name and callsign and include a reply email address in the portal, and use this service sparingly. I have unlimited messaging, but I only plan to use this for important communications and check it periodically. I have the capability to post to twitter (@NJ7H_Radio) via Iridium and will do so as much as practical, although please note that I will be unable to see any replies when using Iridium. All logging will be done using the appropriate Canadian suffix. On any packet satellites, I will use as the callsign NJ7HVE8 or NJ7H-7 and will have the correct callsign NJ7H/VE8 in the position comment or message itself. On the way home I may make a trip down the Pacific Coast through California and through the desert back. One final request: pleas do not work me repeatedly in the same grid or try to with with the DX in a pileup. This has become an apparent issue and has prevented some from working rare grids. As an example, if the XW train is flying over and I'm not moving grids, there is absolutely no reason to work me on 2B and 5 minutes later on 2C in the same grid. The exception to this is if I move grids rapidly, which has happened. Use your ears. Situational awareness is key. Also the same goes to geographic situational awareness, if you're in the northern US and have another 8 minutes of footprint and a QRP op in Florida is calling with a minute of footprint left, let them go first. I am good with callsigns and hearing, if I call you back you will be in the log, no need for insurance. If there is any doubt (as in you don't have a LoTW confirmation within a few days or know others have QSLs for the same pass), send an email and I will fix it. I would rather you send an email than ruin someone else's shot at a virgin grid. Please don't tie up the frequency with non-essential information. I wall call you back, tell you my grid, and say 73 and wait for the next call. If you don't catch the grid the first time, please just wait and listen to the next QSO, I guarantee I'll tell them too. If you still don't catch the grid you still have a few better options that asking me over and over on frequency: 1. wait for your LoTW confirmation, it will be there, 2. ask someone else, 3. send an email. Just use common sense please. This also applies to FM birds, if you are linear capable and know you can work the grid on a linear bird, let the FM bro's have their shot, it may be their only. There may be grids that I only operate FM. Just as always, use situational awareness, good judgement, and courtesy. I hope to give you all many new grids and look forward to the trip! 73! Gabe NJ7H

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ITF-2 will be released from ISS on Jan. 16 at 0910UTC
by Toshihiro Kameda 12 Jan '17

12 Jan '17

Cubesat ITF-2 will be released from ISS soon. Jan 16, 2017 0910 UTC Downlink format is in http://operationitf-2.blogspot.jp/p/blog-page_13.html Downlink frequency is 437.525 MHz. Updated information will be announced here, amsat-bb. ITF-2 is a 1U cubesat designed and built by Univesity of Tsukuba, Japan, which is in ISS now and soon be released. Toshihiro KAMEDA, JJ3GRX (also W3GRX) Director of University of Tsukuba Satellite project

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RX-only Antenna "tee" connector?
by Scott 12 Jan '17

12 Jan '17

Hi everyone. I suppose that any deviation from the ideal setup of a near-perfectly matched antenna & receiver will have SOME negative effect, but for a receive-only antenna, how badly am I hurting myself to split the antenna between two receivers? Since frequency is probably important to answer this, I’m referring to 70cm. Also, if it matters, I have a very good preamp (SP-70 from SSB) at the antenna feeding 25 meters of LMR-400. Both receivers are SDR devices (receive-only). When I tested against a 70cm beacon, there was some small reduction in signal strength but it wasn’t much. With voice, you might not notice but my interest is telemetry data. Thanks for any recommendations or experiences with a similar arrangement! -Scott, K4KDR Montpelier, VA USA twitter: @scott23192

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-01-12 05:00 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 11 Jan '17

11 Jan '17

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-01-12 05:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: World Genesis Foundation (WGF), Goodyear AZ, direct via W6FOG The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Shane Kimbrough KE5HOD Contact was successful: Wed 2017-01-11 16:10:15 UTC 46 deg (***) Collège Saint-Guibert, Gembloux, Belgium and Euro Space Center, Transinne, Belgium; Combined telebridge via K6DUE The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG Contact is a go for Option #5: Thu 2017-01-12 13:46:51 UTC 36 deg 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 is a go for: 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 121 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 2017-01-12 05:00 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 http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1106. (***) Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1071. (***) 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 2017-01-12 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. 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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AMSAT @ Thunderbird Hamfest in Phoenix AZ, Saturday (14 Jan)
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 11 Jan '17

11 Jan '17

Hi! AMSAT will have a booth at the Thunderbird Amateur Radio Club's Thunderbird Hamfest 2017 on Saturday, 14 January 2017. The hamfest will be at the Northwest Community Church on 43rd Avenue between Greenway and Bell Roads in Phoenix AZ. The hamfest officially starts at 8am (1500 UTC), but I expect people will be wandering around an hour or even two hours before the official start time. More details about the hamfest are available at the club's web site: http://w7tbc.org WD9EWK will be on the satellites from the hamfest, for demonstrations of satellite operating. There will be passes on FM, SSB, and packet satellites during the morning. If you hear WD9EWK on the satellites, or see WD9EWK-9 on either the ISS or NO-84, please call and be a part of the demonstrations. All QSOs will be uploaded to Logbook of the World after the hamfest. If you would like to receive a WD9EWK QSL card for a QSO made during the hamfest, please e-mail me with the QSO details. If you are in the log, I will be happy to mail a QSL card. No need to first send me a QSL card or SASE. I will use my @WD9EWK Twitter feed to send updates from the hamfest on Saturday morning. If you do not use Twitter, you can still see these updates in a web browser at: http://twitter.com/WD9EWK Thanks in advance, and 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

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College OSCAR Activity, grow future membership
by Jay Garlitz 11 Jan '17

11 Jan '17

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/ 73, Jay AA4FL Dr. Jay H. Garlitz . -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

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Is it possible to log BY-701 in LoTW by manually editing the .adif file
by Todd Deckard 11 Jan '17

11 Jan '17

Greetings, I know there was a request to add BY-701, but is it possible to log the contacts now by manually editing the ADIF file to include Satellite Name: <SAT_NAME:4>BY-701 Thanks to everyone on SO-50 for their patience with my deaf QRM and mangled call sign read-backs. Satellites are probably a poor first introduction to amateur radio, too much time pressure and juggling to work out the basics. Todd KE0CMD

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Re: [amsat-bb] AO-85
by Mark L. Hammond 11 Jan '17

11 Jan '17

Hi Steve, What OS and what virtual audio program are you using? A few months ago, an automatic update to Win10 killed my audio stuff; I had to do a reversion/back and it cleared it up... Too many variables--but give us a few of yours! I've been copying pretty well lately using SDR#, Airspy mini, and VB Audio. Mark N8MH From: skristof(a)etczone.com Sent: Sunday, January 08, 2017 6:01 PM To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-85 I just tried to get telemetry from AO-85. The pass had max elevation of 76 degrees here. In the past I would get lots of data on a pass like this, but lately I've been getting nothing. I can see the signal on the "waterfall" (using SDR#) but the signal is too weak to decode. Is anyone else having this problem? Is the signal normally low when the northern hemisphere is dark? What's happening? I've asked this before and didn't get any responses. Please send a couple of responses so I have some idea if there is some problem in my set up here. Thanks! Steve AI9IN

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Re: [amsat-bb] Upcoming ARISS contact with World Genesis Foundation (WGF), Good
by RSoifer1＠aol.com 11 Jan '17

11 Jan '17

I listened in on today's ARISS schedule. It was very successful. Congratulations to all involved. 73 Ray W2RS

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Upcoming ARISS contact with Collège Saint-Guibert, Gembloux, Belgium and Euro Space Center, Transinne, Belgium
by David H Jordan 10 Jan '17

10 Jan '17

An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Collège Saint-Guibert, Gembloux, Belgium and Euro Space Center, Transinne, Belgium on 12 Jan. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 13:46 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 French/English. Presentation Saint-Guibert College (Gembloux) Belgium The Saint-Guibert College was founded by the congregation of the Brethren of the Chtistian Schools, following the principles of its founder Jean Baptiste de La Salle. This pedagogy is centered on the youngsters, adapted to their time and devoted to their social insertion, with special care for the most needy. Our College, located at Gembloux in central Belgium, comprises 4 separate schools and 3100 students: - The basic school with kindergarten and primary school 2 - 12, Saint–Guibert square - The secondary school, general, technical and professional, 12 – 18, Orneau square - The small school at the Station, for Dutch immersion tuition, 2 ½ - 12, and French kindergarten - The kindergarten at Ernage. Openness, listening, availability, faith, the place of the pupil are the values of our pedagogic project, summarized by Albert Jacquard’s saying: “ I am the relations I weave “ We want a school that favors: A. The relation to oneself, B. The relation to knowledge, C. The relation to others. Euro Space Center - Belgium Opened in June 1991, Euro Space Center is a discovery center specializing in socio-educational recreation. Our field of specialization is space. Euro Space Center has become a leader in Belgium for the dissemination of knowledge about space sciences and technologies. Euro Space Center is open to the general public all year round and also welcomes trainees from many different countries. The goal is to spark a love for the sciences and innovation. Euro Space Center and its high-tech environment are unique in Europe. They enable young people and adults to learn about astronomy, robotics, space engineering and more. Euro Space Center also lets people (re)discover an exceptional human adventure: mankind’s conquest of space. Kindergarten and Primary school Sainte-Lutgarde «One school, two locations in a green and country side environment» For more than 130 ans, the Sainte-Lutgarde schools are active in the splendid landscape of central Brabant, in the town Lasne. The schools feature two locations: one in the Lasne town center, with some 245 students of the primary cycle; the other at the Chapel site, with 40 students in Kindergarten and the two lower primary. Headteacher Sainte-Lutgarde schools Mrs Dominique Hut states: The Sainte-Lutgarde schools in Lasne aim to help the child build up competence and knowledge, while developing self-confidence, awareness and autonomy. Our schools wish to promote the joy of learning in a serene and positive atmosphere, in line with requirements. To meet these goals, the Child-Parent-Teacher partnership is an indispensable asset. Saint-Laurent school Since several years, the Saint-Laurent school participates to the Space Classes. Every year, the pupils of 3rd primary work on space topics, so we can devote many lessons to this thematic. Twice we had the opportunity to talk to Thomas and we follow his training for his great adventure on the ISS. This year, two classes participate to the project and we are very excited to ask questions to Thomas on his work on the Space Station and his dream as an astronaut. Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. Gembloux :La nourriture a-t-elle le même goût que sur Terre? 2. Lasnes : Est-ce facile de toujours rester en apesanteur? 3. Gembloux : Dormez-vous bien dans cette position? 4. Sombreffe : Quelle a été votre première sensation lors de votre entrée dans l’ISS? 5. Gembloux : Que faites-vous de votre temps libre? 6. Lasnes : À quoi ressemble l’espace vue de l’ISS, voit-on quelque chose? 7. Gembloux : D’où vient l’oxygène que vous respirez dans la station? 8. Lasnes : Quel est le plus gros danger à bord de l’ISS? 9. Gembloux : Les animaux de compagnie sont-ils autorisés? 10. Sombreffe : Quelles sont les expériences que vous menez dans la station spatiale? 11. Gembloux : Avez-vous besoin d’un casque audio pour communiquer entre vous dans la station? 12. Lasnes : Avez-vous du WiFi? 13. Gembloux : La notion de temps est-elle la même que sur la Terre? 14. Sombreffe: Quelles sont vos différentes tâches dans l’ISS? 15. Gembloux : Comment entretenez-vous vos vêtements (lavage, séchage)? 16. Lasnes : Peut-on voir la pollution autour de la terre? 17. Gembloux : Qui peut être astronaute? 18. Sombreffe : Comment avez-vous vécu le décollage ? 19. Gembloux : Avez-vous des expériences à réaliser dans le domaine de la santé? 20. Lasnes : Aimeriez-vous aller sur Mars? Translated: 1. Does the food taste the same on board as on earth? 2. Is it easy to always remain in zero gravity? 3. Do you sleep well in your position (in space)? 4. What is your first feeling when you arrived in the ISS? 5. What do you do in your free time? 6. How does space look like seen from ISS, can you see anything? 7. Where from comes the oxygen you breathe? 8. What is the biggest danger on board of ISS? 9. Are pets allowed on board? 10. What experiments do you perform on board of ISS? 11. Do you use a headset when you communicate with crew on board of ISS? 12. Do you have WiFi on board? 13. Is the perception of time the same on board as on earth? 14. What are your duties on board of ISS? 15. How do you wash your clothes? 16. Can you see the air pollution around the earth? 17. Who can become an astronaut? 18. How did you experience the lift-off? 19. Do you perform experiments about health? 20. Would you like to go to Mars? 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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EM00kb
by Bruce 10 Jan '17

10 Jan '17

I will be in EM00kb Saturday, Jan 14 through Wednesday, Jan 18. Will try to be on SO-50 when I can get in with the HT. 73...bruce -- Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards AMSAT Board Member 2016-2018 ARRL Awards Field Checker (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0100z 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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Last Grid Expedition
by David Maciel (XE3DX) 10 Jan '17

10 Jan '17

Hi Guys, thank all your company on the satellites, in my last trip I made 163 contacts, activate grids DK97, DK98, DK87, DK88, EK06, EK07, EK15, EK16, EK25 and EK26. Now I can say that I have worked from 35 grids rare, XE in Mexico as station "Rover". We will look for other new adventures, and return to the previous ones for those who could not work on this trip. Thanks also to Doug N6UA, the donation of a battery for my Handy FT-60R, to be like my sponsor. All records are in Lotw now. Until the next trip ... David Maciel XE3DX *http://www.qsl.net/xe3dx/ <http://www.qsl.net/xe3dx/>* *david.xe3dx(a)gmail.com <david.xe3dx(a)gmail.com>*

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Thank you!
by Ken Alexander 10 Jan '17

10 Jan '17

Many thanks to Bruce KK5DO, Glenn AA5PK and Erich DK1TB for your assistance in getting SatPC32 set up with my two FT-817s. I'm looking forward to continuing and seeing how they work together! 73 and thanks again! Ken VE3HLS

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M2 2MXP20 pair of two antennas for sale
by Clayton Coleman 10 Jan '17

10 Jan '17

I have two M2 2MXP20 yagi's for sale along with phasing bars to give you 20 elements vertical and 20 elements horizontal total between the two antennas. These are 10x10 element (not circular) 2m yagis. $500 shipped continental USA. 73 Clayton W5PFG

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Mast mount gaasfet preamp for sale
by jeffory broughton 10 Jan '17

10 Jan '17

Brand new microset PR145A ,bought never used.paid $175 with shipping. 20 db .5 db nf.RF switched. $135 and free shipping !WB8RJY JEFF jeff broughton

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Upcoming ARISS contact with World Genesis Foundation (WGF), Goodyear AZ
by David H Jordan 09 Jan '17

09 Jan '17

An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at World Genesis Foundation (WGF), Goodyear AZ on 11 Jan. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 16:10 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be direct between NA1SS and W6FOG. The contact should be audible over the state of Arizona and adjacent areas. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English. There are two non-profit organizations based in Quartzsite, Arizona, coordinating this ARISS contact. The World Genesis Foundation operates with a mission to "leave no child without hope for the future." Quartzsite in Motion is a public/private partnership with the town of Quartzsite that operates to "promote health, education and community' in Quartzsite and surrounding towns. Students participating in the event come from six small schools in five town towns in rural western Arizona. The coordinating organizations have provided training and support materials to administrators and teachers at every participating school. The contact is part of a year-long program designed to encourage students to study and pursue work in science, technology, engineering and math. Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. What is the most unusual thing you have seen in space? 2. Did you want to be an astronaut as a kid? 3. What is it like with no gravity? 4. Can a person be in space too long? 5. What are your favorite science experiments that you have been a part of in space? 6. What do you do when you are not in space? 7. What kinds of hazards are you exposed to in space? 8. How has Robotics played a role with the ISS? 9. Can you share a story that sticks out in your mind since becoming an astronaut? 10. Are you able to grow plants in the ISS? 11. Has your understanding of the universe changed since seeing it from space? 12. What kind of games or things do you do for entertainment there? 13. What are the effects of weightlessness on your body or mental state? 14. What has been one thing you have learned from your studies there that surprised you? 15. Is there one thing that your training has not prepared you for? 16. What have been your missions outside the Space Station? 17. Have you used 3-D printing on the ISS? 18. What's your advice to young people dreaming of becoming involved in NASA's space program? 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): 1. Collège Saint-Guibert, Gembloux, Belgium and Euro Space Center, Transinne, Belgium; Combined telebridge via K6DUE The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG Contact is a go for: Thu 2017-01-12 13:46:51 UTC 2. 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 is a go for: Mon 2017-01-16 11:53:17 UTC 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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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-01-10 04:30 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 09 Jan '17

09 Jan '17

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-01-10 04:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: World Genesis Foundation (WGF), Goodyear AZ, direct via W6FOG The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Shane Kimbrough KE5HOD Contact is a go for: Wed 2017-01-11 16:10:15 UTC 46 deg Collège Saint-Guibert, Gembloux, Belgium and Euro Space Center, Transinne, Belgium; Combined telebridge via K6DUE The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG Contact is a go for Option #5: Thu 2017-01-12 13:46:51 UTC 36 deg 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 is a go for: 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 121 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 2017-01-10 04:30 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 1105. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1070. 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 2017-01-05 08:00 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. 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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Friendship 7 details?
by Robert Bruninga 09 Jan '17

09 Jan '17

After seeing the great movie “hidden figures” last night, I had lots of questions from my faded memory of the time (it was the same year I got my ham license and was 14 years old). This Wiki page has a lot… but the questions lingering in my mind were: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Mercury 1) Was his mission planned at 3 orbits? (I thought it was more and then cut to three). 2) If #1, then they must have had to have recovery ships at a different spot for every potential orbit since he could not maneuver anything other than when to fire the retros. If it was 7 cut to three, then I guess they only needed two ship areas… 3) What frequency was CAPCOM? Was it the 108 MHz? I think the tracking stations all relayed the voice via HF? 4) Also related to #1, if something happened to the pilot, I assume ground control could fire the retros.

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Setting up SatPC32
by Ken Alexander 09 Jan '17

09 Jan '17

I'm trying to set up SatPC32 to run two FT-817s, one for transmit and one for receive. The instructions say "with the FT-817/857/897 set the CAT delay to 110" How? The Radio Setup dialog box has a small box where the following appears: COM-Port (0 - 99) CAT Delay A box to the right of that has: 10 20 and a box to the right of that simply has 10 What are those? COM Ports or CAT Delay numbers? I tried entering 110 (the CAT Delay for the FT-817) in the right-most box and got an error message. How do you tell it you want to enter the Com-Port, and then the CAT Delay? That's for Radio 1. There doesn't seem to be a way to specify the CAT Delay for Radio 2. What if it's a different radio? Finally, How do I tell SatPC32 I want to transmit on Radio 1 and receive on Radio 2, or vice versa? Any help would be gratefully accepted. Thanks and 73, Ken Alexander VE3HLS

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Re: [amsat-bb] Friendship 7 details?
by Daniel Schultz 09 Jan '17

09 Jan '17

Further research indicates that the "Go for at least seven orbits" line from capcom was to inform Glenn that the Atlas rocket had injected him into an orbit that would be stable for at least seven orbits, not that he was approved to stay up that long. This has led to an often repeated but historically inaccurate notion that Glenn's flight had been cut short by a problem, when in fact he was never intended to stay up for more than three orbits. The fact that Scott Carpenter's flight was also for only three orbits should indicate that the first two manned orbital flights were only intended to fly for three orbits, being our first initial baby steps into the cosmos. see http://www.thespacereview.com/article/550/1 and http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/space-flight-history/our-spaceflight-heri… Dan Schultz N8FGV ------ Original Message ------ Received: Mon, 09 Jan 2017 06:30:09 PM EST > This leads to the interesting question of why > Glenn was told that he was "Go for at least seven orbits" by his capcom (page > 118) when there was absolutely no possibility of his flight lasting that long.

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Re: [amsat-bb] Friendship 7 details?
by Richard Tejera 09 Jan '17

09 Jan '17

IIIRC, it was planned for 6 orbits. But when telemetry showed the landing bag deployed, it was cut to 3. Flight Director Kris Kraft was convinced,, based on report from controllers and the spacecraft that it was a faulty indication and wanted to go the full six. He was overruled by upper management. During t-shirt they told Glenn to keep the retro package on during re-entry, the idea being the straps would keep the heat shield attached and thus the landing bag stowed. After the flight, Kraft lobbied for and got the rule added to tall mission profiles the "The Flight Director shall have the final authority for call decisions pertaining to completion of mission objectives and crew safety", essentially preventing management from interfering again. Also IIRC there were two landing zones. In the event of an abort or, in this case, a shortening of the mission, retro fire would be planned for one of those. Now much after 6orbits, the rotation of earth, put the ground track out of range of groundbreaking station s for extended times. They had tracking stations on the Canadiens, Zanzibar Canberra, Hawaii & Goldstein, can (there may more,but those come to mind right now), so even under optimal conditions they were in direct contact with the spacecraft for about 10 minutes at a time maybe 4 or 5 times per orbit. During Gemini VIII, when the spacecraft almost spun out of control due to a stuck thruster, they had to abort since Armstrong had used their reentry thrusters to recover. All that happened out of communication range. When they came back in range the abort was called at the first opportunity. This put them well away from the recovery area. The crew had to wait several hours before recovery teams got to them not being a boat, the capsule bombed around a lot. armstrong, being a Navy man rode it out, but Scott, who was Air force, spent the time puking his guts out. Rick Tejera K7TEJ Saguaro Astronomy Club www.SaguaroAstro.org Thunderbird Amateur Radio Club www.w7tbc.org On January 9, 2017, at 14:02, B J <va6bmj(a)gmail.com> wrote: On 1/9/17, Robert Bruninga <bruninga(a)usna.edu> wrote: > After seeing the great movie “hidden figures” last night, I had lots of > questions from my faded memory of the time (it was the same year I got my > ham license and was 14 years old). This Wiki page has a lot… but the > questions lingering in my mind were: > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Mercury > > > > 1) Was his mission planned at 3 orbits? (I thought it was more and > then cut to three). The comment by the capcom was that he was "good for 7 orbits", but the plan was for only 3. > > 2) If #1, then they must have had to have recovery ships at a > different spot for every potential orbit since he could not maneuver > anything other than when to fire the retros. If it was 7 cut to three, > then I guess they only needed two ship areas… There were several potential landing sites during a mission in case something went wrong. Gemini VIII, with Neil Armstrong and Dave Scott, had to be cut short after a few orbits because of the problem with one of the spacecraft's manoeuvring thrusters. It splashed down in one of the auxiliary recovery zones in the South China Sea and they were picked up by a USN destroyer. That didn't always work as NASA found out during the next Mercury mission, Aurora 7. Carpenter apparently fired his retro thrusters a bit late and landed some 400 km away from he was supposed to. > > 3) What frequency was CAPCOM? Was it the 108 MHz? I think the > tracking stations all relayed the voice via HF? I don't believe so. I think the ground stations might have connected by telephone lines to Mission Control. The only signal fading would be when the spacecraft was out of range of a tracking station. > > 4) Also related to #1, if something happened to the pilot, I assume > ground control could fire the retros. If I remember correctly, the spacecraft was entirely under control of the pilot. During Shepard's mission, Freedom 7, the retros didn't fire automatically so he had to light them manually. <snip> 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL _______________________________________________ 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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Re: [amsat-bb] Friendship 7 details?
by Daniel Schultz 09 Jan '17

09 Jan '17

Bob, According to my coffee table book "The History of Manned Space Flight" by David Baker (1982), the Mercury capsule was initially designed to support only a three orbit mission, and both John Glenn and Scott Carpenter's flights were planned to last only that long. Page 137 of this book describes extensive modifications that were made to Wally Schirra's Sigma-7 spacecraft to allow it to fly a six orbit mission. This leads to the interesting question of why Glenn was told that he was "Go for at least seven orbits" by his capcom (page 118) when there was absolutely no possibility of his flight lasting that long. The Navy had 24 ships including three aircraft carriers spread out across the Atlantic to cover possible launch aborts and reentry after one, two or three orbits (page 113). There was no mention of any recovery plans for more than three orbits. The book also describes the flight of Enos the Chimp (page 105) in which ground control was responsible for firing the retros (since the chimp had not been trained on retrofire procedures). I don't know if that remote firing capability was also carried on the manned flights. During Enos' flight the telephone line between mission control at the Cape and the Point Arguello tracking station was cut when a farmer in Arizona plowed up a telephone cable, but Chis Kraft was able to reestablish voice contact to order Point Arguello to transmit the retrofire command just seconds before the deadline. This very excellent book is marred only by the fact that it describes rocket thrust in kilograms (one of my pet peeves), no doubt caused by English majors in the publisher's editorial department who never took a physics course. Dan Schultz N8FGV -------Original Message------- Date: Mon, 9 Jan 2017 15:24:51 -0500 From: Robert Bruninga <bruninga(a)usna.edu> Subject: [amsat-bb] Friendship 7 details? After seeing the great movie ?hidden figures? last night, I had lots of questions from my faded memory of the time (it was the same year I got my ham license and was 14 years old). This Wiki page has a lot? but the questions lingering in my mind were: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Mercury 1) Was his mission planned at 3 orbits? (I thought it was more and then cut to three). 2) If #1, then they must have had to have recovery ships at a different spot for every potential orbit since he could not maneuver anything other than when to fire the retros. If it was 7 cut to three, then I guess they only needed two ship areas? 3) What frequency was CAPCOM? Was it the 108 MHz? I think the tracking stations all relayed the voice via HF? 4) Also related to #1, if something happened to the pilot, I assume ground control could fire the retros.

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Icom AND HAM RADIO DELUXE-Sat Control
by Ted 09 Jan '17

09 Jan '17

This information was just posted on the IC-9100 Group. I thought it might be useful for anyone here struggling with an ICOM (other than an IC-9100) and HRD. Apparently, the IC-9100 does not have any problem with SatPC32 73, Ted K7TRK From: ic9100(a)yahoogroups.com [mailto:ic9100@yahoogroups.com] Sent: Sunday, January 8, 2017 6:09 AM To: ic9100(a)yahoogroups.com Subject: [ic9100] Re: IC 9100 AND HAM RADIO DELUXE Ron, Last year I had the same problem! Look for the HRD answer: " Dear Julio, With RX and TX checked, the frequencies for uplink and downlink should be adjusted for Doppler effect, however, with the Icom radios there is a major issue which is due to the design of the radio itself. All rigs use a set of commands to control their functions. The command set is usually included in the operating manual for the rig. Any software needs to use these commands to control the various functions of your rig. Icom, has elected NOT to include commands in all their rigs to directly address VFO B or the Sub VFO. This makes it difficult to impossible to display or control VFO B. Some software authors have decided to use a kluge of sorts to work around this issue. They do this by sending the command to swap VFO's - that is, the frequency in VFO A becomes the frequency in VFO B and vice versa. The rig control program then reads the data from VFO A and stores it as VFO B. It then swaps the VFOs back to the initial frequencies. This takes a few microsecond to seconds depending on your Rig/Computer/Link speed and what data is being shared on the control bus (remember Icom CI-V is a shared serial data bus). This is an important consideration as it will interrupt the signal being received on VFO A for that period of time it is swapping back and forth as well as getting the data from the rig. It would make copying data or CW signals impossible as they would be constantly interrupted for an update of the frequency in VFO B. While that update may be a very short period of time, it would not be consistent or predictable. HRD has elected NOT to place this kludge in it's software because of this reason with the exception of the IC-9100. The IC-9100 in Satellite Mode (ONLY) will perform this swapping of VFOs as it is necessary for satellite work and the IC-9100 has individual audio outputs for the two VFOs. It's important to realize this is a shortcoming on the part of Icom by not including these commands. All attempts to work with Icom to address the issue have met with denial of a problem from Icom. The system no longer accepts replies to emails. Please click here <http://mandrillapp.com/track/click/30719821/tickets.hrdsoftwarellc.com?p=ey…> to view or update the status of your ticket. NOTE: Our support staff is available to respond Monday through Friday 6am to 5pm EST. Support Staff HRD Software, LLC

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IC 910H issues
by James Brown 09 Jan '17

09 Jan '17

Hello All I recently swapped from FT847 to IC910H. I am using SAT 32 with little success. Some of the issues are: It appears that after a bit of idle monitoring( waiting for the next sat pass) the 910 looses communications with SAT 32. When a sat pass is activated the uplink and downlink and associated modes are reversed from what is displayed in SAT 32. can anyone relay their settings for sat 32 and the 910. maybe I can find what is configured incorrectly! ThanksJim KI6WJ DM09

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AO-85
by skristof＠etczone.com 08 Jan '17

08 Jan '17

I just tried to get telemetry from AO-85. The pass had max elevation of 76 degrees here. In the past I would get lots of data on a pass like this, but lately I've been getting nothing. I can see the signal on the "waterfall" (using SDR#) but the signal is too weak to decode. Is anyone else having this problem? Is the signal normally low when the northern hemisphere is dark? What's happening? I've asked this before and didn't get any responses. Please send a couple of responses so I have some idea if there is some problem in my set up here. Thanks! Steve AI9IN

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: Re: BY70-1 not heard
by N6RFM1 gmail 08 Jan '17

08 Jan '17

Hi Paul and AMSAT friends, It's really great to hear BY70-1 getting lots of use. Lots of familiar calls and some new ones. Perfect. Indeed, Scott K4KDR and I have recently made several coordinated attempts to collect BY70-1 telemetry and camera pictures. This would not have been even possible without the support of Mingchuan BG2BHC (as a project team representative, for GNU radio support and example wav format command files), Dani EA4GPZ (for authoring open source GNU radio blocks, and hosting a fantastic blog which describes how much of this works), and the BY70-1 project team. We have made several attempts over the past few days during favorable passes for us. So far, we have received some good telemetry, been able to command the satellite to take a picture and then download a few pieces of the JPG. Unfortunately, so far we have only fragments of JPG data. If more than a few packets in the JPG file data stream are lost, the JPG image cannot be reconstructed. For reasons we do not understand, either the downlink data stream stops, is disrupted or BY70-1 resets. It may even be our ground station hardware limitations. We don't quite know. We do hope however that some of our experiences will guide future developments. For example, as Dani suggests SSDV which has error detection and correction capability. For those interested and key point, BY70-1 will only accept a camera command after 30 seconds of transponder non-use. Given the popularity of BY70-1, which is great and what we all want, Scott and I have had a few chances to send camera commands during such "quiet times" or > 30 periods on non-use. But again, we are delighted BY70-1 is popular and being used. What you may have heard was the satellite re-transmitting my request to "take and send" a picture. These uplink commands are in FM and last a few seconds. If successful, the satellite switches modes and starts picture transmissions in SSB mode on the downlink. These last for ~10 - 15 seconds. Then we hear the transponder come right back on. You might not even notice between sips of coffee (or whatever!) Once a related camera mode has been activated, there is a 10 minute countdown before another such request will be accepted. As a practical matter, with the 10 minute camera watchdog, those interested in getting a picture really have one shot/pass and only if the transponder is quiet for the >30 second period. It's really great to hear everyone using BY70-1. That's what it's all about. And thanks to Scott K4KDR for being a great partner on this little project! Of course, I've made few Qs myself! I must say the audio quality is amazing to my ears. One last thing Paul. I need to work you on BY70-1! :-) 73, Bob

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AO-73/FUNcube
by Jim Heck G3WGM 08 Jan '17

08 Jan '17

Hi Folks, I have just switched the sat into Educational Mode, ie transponder plus low power beacon when in darkness, transponder off and full power beacon when in daylight. 73s Jim G3WGM AO-73 FUNcube-1 The transponder is normally operational only when the satellite is in eclipse, ie the solar panels are NOT being illuminated. During weekends (from pm Fridays UTC to PM Sundays UTC) the transponder is operational 24/7. When the transponder is switched off, the telemetry beacon is on full power, when the transponder is on the beacon it is on low power. During holidays, eg Christmas, New Year, Easter, etc, the transponder maybe activated for extended periods. Watch AMSAT-BB for announcements which are usually made on Friday evenings (UTC) The nominal transponder frequencies are: Uplink: 435.150 - 435.130 MHz LSB (Inverting) Downlink: 145.950 - 145.970 MHz USB Telemetry Tx: 145.935 MHz BPSK (The passband may be up to 15kHz higher depending on on-board temps. Low temperatures give higher freqs!) FUNcube-2 aka FUNcube on UKube The FUNcube-2 sub-system continues to operate autonomously and, almost continuously, in amateur mode. The transponder is operational and the telemetry downlink is functioning with about 70mW output. The FUNcube-1 Dashboard does not correctly display the telemetry but it does correctly decode the data and uploads it to the FUNcube Data Warehouse from where it can be examined. Most of the real time data channels are operational and these include battery voltages, temperatures and ADCS data coming via the main On Board Computer (OBC). The transponder is interrupted for a few seconds every 2 minutes when the other transmitter sends its CW beacon and, occasionally, for a few seconds when the main OBC reboots (approx seven times each orbit). The nominal transponder frequencies are: Uplink: 435.080 - 435.060 MHz LSB (Inverting) Downlink: 145.930 - 145.950 MHz USB Telemetry Tx: 145.915 MHz BPSK (The passband may be up to 10kHz higher depending on on-board temps. Low temperatures give higher freqs!) EO79 FUNcube-3 Due to power budget constraints the transponder cannot be operational 24/7 and an orbit specific schedule has been developed. The transponder will commence operation 27 minutes after the spacecraft enters sunlight and will stay on for a period of 25 minutes. This schedule may be modified in future months as a result of experience. The nominal transponder frequencies are: Uplink: 435.0723-435.0473 MHz LSB (Inverting) Downlink: 145.946-145.971 MHz USB Further detailed info on EO79 transponder frequencies is at: https://amsat-uk.org/2016/11/10/eo79-funcube-3-transponder-commences-regula… All FUNcube transponders are sponsored by AMSAT-UK and AMSAT-NL. We are very grateful for the assistance given by Innovative Solution In Space Bv, The Netherlands.

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AMSAT CW Activity Day reports
by Ray Soifer 08 Jan '17

08 Jan '17

As of today, 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. 73 Ray W2RS

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ANS-008 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 07 Jan '17

07 Jan '17

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-008 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: * The Hidden World of Space Junk * AMSAT at the Cowtown Hamfest * Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-Jan-05 * Tips for Posting to AMSAT-BB SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-008.01 ANS-008 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 008.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE January 8, 2017 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-008.01 The Hidden World of Space Junk Adrift is a short documentary that explores the hidden world of space junk. The film reveals an issue that is troubling and beautiful, dangerous and fascinating. It begins with the tale of astronaut Piers Sellers, who dropped his spatula in space in 2006, which became the most deadly kitchen instrument soon after, traveling at 27,000 km/h. The film then journeys across the remote deserts of Chile with astronomers of Collowara Observatory, into the skies, where threats to the International Space Station take place, and through to Thailand, where a man watches space debris burn. The film includes a narration by Vanguard, the oldest piece of space junk, voiced by Sally Potter (Dir Orlando). As featured on BBC Arts Online bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3sjd1wnYD47WLzhT9dV02YH/lost-in-space-turning- cosmic-junk-into-art [ANS thanks Stephen, G7VFY, and Southgate ARN for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT at the Cowtown Hamfest Keith Pugh, W5IU, reports that there will be an AMSAT Forum, a Booth, and Demonstrations at the Cowtown Hamfest, 20-21 January 2017. The Hamfest takes place in Forrest Hills, TX. A suburb of Fort Worth, TX. [ANS thanks Keith, W5IU, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-Jan-05 Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: World Genesis Foundation (WGF), Goodyear AZ, direct via W6FOG The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Shane Kimbrough KE5HOD Contact is a go for: Wed 2017-01-11 16:10:15 UTC 46 deg Collège Saint-Guibert, Gembloux, Belgium and Euro Space Center, Transinne, Belgium; Combined telebridge via K6DUE The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG Contact is a go for Thu 2017-01-12 13:46:51 UTC 36 deg [ANS thanks Charlie, AJ9N, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tips for Posting to AMSAT-BB People sometimes post time-sensitive messages to AMSAT-BB. Examples are last minute grid activities, unexpected satellite mode changes, requests for critically important telemetry, etc. These normally go through promptly, but occasionally get held for two primary reasons: While AMSAT-BB is an open list, that means it is open for membership, not posting. In order to post to the list, it normally must be from the same account you originally registered. For instance, if you registered from your home account, and post from your office account, it will normally be held for release by a moderator. Likewise, some people have all their email forwarded to a single account from which they reply. We can create a filter to pass the second address, but that is not automatically done on the first instance, and does require moderator action. AMSAT-BB receives many pieces of spam for each legitimate message. As part of the filtering process, emails larger than 50 kB are blocked. This usually happens to legitimate email when someone attempts to attach a large file. Also, there is a limit to the number of addresses before an email is held as potential spam. I have seen legitimate email sent to 30+ addresses. We have a team of volunteer moderators, but they are not available 24/7. The result is that a message sent in the evening or on a holiday, US time, may well be held for several hours before being released. So, if it absolutely, positively needs to be distributed promptly: 1. Post from the same account you registered, or one which from past experience you know has been flagged as acceptable. 2. Do not use attachments. (Pictures and other files should be included by a link.) They will be blocked to the list, and if the total size of the message plus attachments exceeds 50 kB, the mail will be held. 3. Send it to AMSAT-BB and a few other addresses at most. If you must send to a large distribution list, send to them, and another copy to AMSAT-BB. (A trick which seems to work well is to place most of the addresses in the BCC rather than CC line.) 4. Consider also posting to the AMSAT Twitter and Facebook accounts. There is overlap in membership, though at present it is far from 100%. 5. Do not send large commercial press releases, or things which look like them. They will be caught by heuristic spam filters. A simple posting of an event or activity will normally go through. Note that there are existing exemptions for official channels such as ANS, ARISS, other AMSAT organizations, etc. 6. New accounts are automatically flagged for moderation. This flag will normally be cleared on the first or second posting, but do allow for and expect an initial delay if you establish a dedicated account for your satellite organization. [ANS thanks Alan, WA4SCA, 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, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org

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Today's Roving
by Gabriel Zeifman 07 Jan '17

07 Jan '17

Good morning fellow people of the birds, For today's Roving I have planned a run of the eastern Mexico/Texas border. I will be leaving Austin (EM10) shortly and venturing down the I-35 into the EL0x grids to the border, then cutting east into the EL1x grids and turning back north. As usual I will be on APRS (NJ7H-9) and iridium (share.delorme.com/gz). Will try to keep current on twitter @NJ7H_Radio with pass and grid details as I know them. Tomorrow I will be returning to Oklahoma City via EM10-15, so if anyone need anything in there let me know. A jaunt into EM2x is possible as well. 73, Gabe NJ7H

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ICOM 9100 es SatPC32
by Rafael Pena 06 Jan '17

06 Jan '17

Is the Icom 9100 fully supported by SatPC32...I see it as one of the rigs that can be selected. I am planning on a swap from FT847 to Icom. Any input is appreciated. Rafael / NN3RP

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BY70-1 Alive and Well
by CEE 06 Jan '17

06 Jan '17

Good pass and signals over northwestern US from BY70-1

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Re: [amsat-bb] YES! BY70-1 heard
by Andy 05 Jan '17

05 Jan '17

Worked John K8YSE/7 on the 0550Z pass out to the west. Nice signals for a max 1-deg el pass! Orbit is falling, but the satellite sounds great. 73 de Andy W5ACM EL29eq -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] On Behalf Of Andy Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2017 9:37 PM To: 'PY5LF' <py5lf(a)falautomation.com.br>; amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] YES! RE: BY70-1 not heard Lighting the filaments now! I will be listening for the next pass that can see HOUSTON. Thanks for the report! Andy W5ACM -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] On Behalf Of PY5LF Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2017 8:50 PM To: Bill Attwood <whattwood(a)gmail.com>; AMSAT-BB <AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org> Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] BY70-1 not heard Hi Bill Last pass of BY70-1 at 2:30UTC over here , the repeater was on and signal strong as usual. 73 2017-01-05 21:15 GMT-02:00 Bill Attwood <whattwood(a)gmail.com>: > Maybe has something to do with the "camera mode": > > "For BY70-1, an open telecommand is designed to allow radio amateurs > to send commands to take and download an image. The following article > provides some details about it: http://lilacsat.hit.edu.cn/?p=542" > > Cheers, > Bill VE6WK > > > On 2017-01-05 1:58 PM, PY5LF wrote: > > Hi > Some reports of "not heard' to BY70 on the recent passes at *AMSAT > Live OSCAR Satellite Status Page* ... > So , the bird already burn ? :-( > 73 > _______________________________________________ > 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 > > > > > ------------------------------ > [image: Avast logo] > <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_ > campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient> > > This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. > www.avast.com > <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_ > campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient> > > _______________________________________________ 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 _______________________________________________ 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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YES! RE: BY70-1 not heard
by Andy 05 Jan '17

05 Jan '17

Lighting the filaments now! I will be listening for the next pass that can see HOUSTON. Thanks for the report! Andy W5ACM -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] On Behalf Of PY5LF Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2017 8:50 PM To: Bill Attwood <whattwood(a)gmail.com>; AMSAT-BB <AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org> Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] BY70-1 not heard Hi Bill Last pass of BY70-1 at 2:30UTC over here , the repeater was on and signal strong as usual. 73 2017-01-05 21:15 GMT-02:00 Bill Attwood <whattwood(a)gmail.com>: > Maybe has something to do with the "camera mode": > > "For BY70-1, an open telecommand is designed to allow radio amateurs > to send commands to take and download an image. The following article > provides some details about it: http://lilacsat.hit.edu.cn/?p=542" > > Cheers, > Bill VE6WK > > > On 2017-01-05 1:58 PM, PY5LF wrote: > > Hi > Some reports of "not heard' to BY70 on the recent passes at *AMSAT > Live OSCAR Satellite Status Page* ... > So , the bird already burn ? :-( > 73 > _______________________________________________ > 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 > > > > > ------------------------------ > [image: Avast logo] > <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_ > campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient> > > This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. > www.avast.com > <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_ > campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient> > > _______________________________________________ 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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Re: [amsat-bb] BY70-1 not heard
by PY5LF 05 Jan '17

05 Jan '17

Hi Bill Last pass of BY70-1 at 2:30UTC over here , the repeater was on and signal strong as usual. 73 2017-01-05 21:15 GMT-02:00 Bill Attwood <whattwood(a)gmail.com>: > Maybe has something to do with the "camera mode": > > "For BY70-1, an open telecommand is designed to allow radio amateurs to > send commands to take and download an image. The following article provides > some details about it: http://lilacsat.hit.edu.cn/?p=542" > > Cheers, > Bill VE6WK > > > On 2017-01-05 1:58 PM, PY5LF wrote: > > Hi > Some reports of "not heard' to BY70 on the recent passes at *AMSAT Live > OSCAR Satellite Status Page* ... > So , the bird already burn ? :-( > 73 > _______________________________________________ > 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 > > > > > ------------------------------ > [image: Avast logo] > <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…> > > This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. > www.avast.com > <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…> > >

2 1

Kenwood THD-72A
by Bruce 05 Jan '17

05 Jan '17

Just listed my Kenwood THD-72A on ebay in the event someone is looking for one. http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/112259930339? 73...bruce -- Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards AMSAT Board Member 2016-2018 ARRL Awards Field Checker (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0100z 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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BY70-1 not heard
by PY5LF 05 Jan '17

05 Jan '17

Hi Some reports of "not heard' to BY70 on the recent passes at *AMSAT Live OSCAR Satellite Status Page* ... So , the bird already burn ? :-( 73

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BY-70-1 Data Transmissions
by Stewart Todd Morgan 05 Jan '17

05 Jan '17

For the following BY-70-1 pass (per Orbitron and Celestrack data acquired just before the pass): Location : Boone,NC (81.7083° W, 36.2292° N) Time zone : UTC Search period : 2017-01-05 16:18:00 - 7 days 2017-01-12 16:18:00 Conditions : Maximum sun elevation = None Minimum sat elevation = 0 deg Illumination NOT required Time Satellite Azm Elv Mag Range S.Azm S.Elv -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2017-01-05 16:29:09 BY70-1 7.2 0.0 ? 2569 163.2 29.4 2017-01-05 16:34:52 BY70-1 284.4 59.1 ? 565 164.7 29.7 2017-01-05 16:40:40 BY70-1 200.8 0.0 ? 2602 166.2 30.0 Using an Alinco DJ-X11T receiver in SDR mode and a handheld Arrow antenna, Doppler-shifted data transmissions were noted at the following UTC times in the waterfall centered on 436.2 MHz: 16:34:10 16:34:40 16:35:10 16:35:40 16:36:10 Transmissions were approximately 1 second in duration and 10 kHz in bandwidth. I assume these transmissions are the 9600bps BPSK (haven't tried to decode). I saw no evidence of voice or other activity during the pass. Todd AL0I

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BY70-1 last night pass NA/Caribbean.
by Pavel Milanes Costa 05 Jan '17

05 Jan '17

Hi, I was listening last night in the pass over NA and Caribbean (I'm in FL11/Cuba) and get a great signal of the packet downlink on the repeater output in 70cm but no audio... I tried to get into the sat repeater with no joy, is the repeater turned on full time or it has a schedule or other trick beside the PL tone? Gear here: * 70cm: 1 turn QFHA + LNA + 10m AH LDF4 +Vcc Tap for LNA with HPF + RTL-SDR (CAT controlled via GQRX in linux) * 2m: 1 turn QFHA or J-pole + 20m AH LDF4 + Alinco DR-130 (5W) / Baofeng (2.5 Khz step 5W) Note: with this setup I'm able to work SO-50 successfully (QSO with HP2BWY) just minutes before this pass of BY70-1, so the hardware is working great. -- 73 Pavel CO7WT.

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-01-05 08:00 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 05 Jan '17

05 Jan '17

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-01-05 08:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Collège Mathilde Marthe Faucher, Allassac, France, direct via F1IMF The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be FXØISS The scheduled astronaut is Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG Contact was successful: Wed 2017-01-04 11:16:26 UTC 30 deg (***) Rainbow Middle School, Rainbow City, AL, direct via K4JMC The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Shane Kimbrough KE5HOD Contact was successful: Wed 2017-01-04 17:29:40 UTC 80 deg (***) World Genesis Foundation (WGF), Goodyear AZ, direct via W6FOG The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Shane Kimbrough KE5HOD Contact is a go for: Wed 2017-01-11 16:10:15 UTC 46 deg Collège Saint-Guibert, Gembloux, Belgium and Euro Space Center, Transinne, Belgium; Combined telebridge via K6DUE The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG Contact is a go for Option #5: Thu 2017-01-12 13:46:51 UTC 36 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 121 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 2017-01-05 08:00 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 http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1105. (***) Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1070. (***) 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 2017-01-05 08:00 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. 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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Re: [amsat-bb] Rainbow Middle School Successful
by AJ9N＠aol.com 04 Jan '17

04 Jan '17

Congrats John but I think there were a tad more than 000 students. 73, Charlie In a message dated 1/4/2017 10:01:40 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, johnnykludt(a)earthlink.net writes: All, Rainbow Middle School was successful. Three schools were present for a total of approximately 000 students involved. There were three TV stations in attendance as well as two newspapers. The station operator was a student so a total of 19 students were directly involved with all questions answered. The control operator asked an additional question for a total of 19 questions, A very successful contact indeed. John K4SQC

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BY70-1 Observations
by John Papay 04 Jan '17

04 Jan '17

I had a chance to run some tests on BY70-1 this evening from my Arizona Station since there was no one on the pass. It was only a 15 degree pass for me but the satellite did very well. BY70-1 is much stronger than SO-50. The morning passes are around 500KM and the evening passes are only 250KM. But the signal is quite strong on both. If you are having trouble hearing SO-50, try BY70-1. You should hear it much better. At first I thought the sensitivity might not be very good, but upon further testing it was possible to hold the satellite at 1 watt provided that you were on the right polarity at the moment. I was changing between horizontal and vertical frequently. The wrong polarity produced noise, but a switch to the opposite polarity yielded a full quieting signal consistently. Many have experienced dropout when attempting to talk through the satellite. Sometimes it is due to the many signals present on the input frequency including those that are not coming from satellite users. It's the same situation on SO-50. But there are also dropouts that occur when there is no one else on the input. It seems that if you are fairly wide in deviation, certain speech will cause the satellite to stop transmitting. This may be a receiver bandwidth issue or perhaps the PL decoder responding to voice frequencies etc. At any rate I think the dropouts are due to the PL decoder not decoding the PL tone for the above reasons. BY70-1 seems to be less sensitive to dropouts if you use narrow band FM on the transmit. I found very little difference in the repeated audio level when using wide or narrow. So there is signal processing in play which keeps the audio output level constant. AO-85 audio levels do change quite a bit between wideband and narrow. So do use narrow FM on this bird for best results. The signal processing also apparently causes a significant delay in the repeated audio. It can cause some discomfort but keep the rx level low so you are able to ignore the delay and converse normally. Audio quality is quite good. Some have thought there is some sort of VOX on the bird but a dead carrier seems to hold the transmitter keyed with no audio present. Again, the PL Decoder is likely responsible for the dropouts. Be sure to download the latest keps from Celestrak or apace-track. The keps on the amsat site may not always be current. The orbit is changing daily so get the new keps every 24 hours. The catalog number is 41909. http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/tle-new.txt The amsat nasa.all file can be edited with Wordpad and the new keps can replace the ones in the file if different. Set your PL to 67Hz just like SO-50. doppler.sqf: BY70-1,436200,145920,FM,FM,NOR,0,0,FM Voice BY70-1,436200,145920,FM,FMN,NOR,0,0,Narrow FM Voice The coordinated frequencies seen to be close enough. I have asked KX9X to facilitate adding BY70-1 to the list of satellites in LOTW. Don't be reluctant to try this satellite. You will find it much easier to access than SO-50 or AO-85. It does have a short window but you can hear it down low if you don't have any obstructions. 73, John K8YSE/7 --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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Area Coordinators
by Gary "Joe" Mayfield 04 Jan '17

04 Jan '17

Greetings, I would like to update my location on the Area Coordinator page as I now live in Blue Springs, MO - who is the best person to contact for this. Thanks and 73, Joe kk0sd

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-01-04 08:30 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 04 Jan '17

04 Jan '17

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-01-04 08:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Collège Mathilde Marthe Faucher, Allassac, France, direct via F1IMF The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be FXØISS The scheduled astronaut is Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG Contact is a go for: Wed 2017-01-04 11:16:26 UTC 30 deg Rainbow Middle School, Rainbow City, AL, direct via K4JMC The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Shane Kimbrough KE5HOD Contact is a go for: Wed 2017-01-04 17:29:40 UTC 80 deg World Genesis Foundation (WGF), Goodyear AZ, direct via W6FOG The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Shane Kimbrough KE5HOD Contact is a go for: Wed 2017-01-11 16:10:15 UTC 46 deg (***) Collège Saint-Guibert, Gembloux, Belgium and Euro Space Center, Transinne, Belgium; Combined telebridge via K6DUE (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS (***) The scheduled astronaut is Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG Contact is a go for Option #5: Thu 2017-01-12 13:46:51 UTC 36 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 121 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 2017-01-04 08:30 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 1103. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1068. 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 2017-01-01 04:00 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. 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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Re: [amsat-bb] Kenwood D710 firmware ?
by PA3GUO 03 Jan '17

03 Jan '17

Dave (W8AAS) and Arno (PE1RDP) gave some valuable suggestions.... which made me check the procedures again. ... where I found out you actually have to push the READ button twice (!) before the MCP software starts reading from the radio :-) Solved ! Henk - PA3GUO .. I am a bit in trouble :-) For APRS (ISS, PSAT, ..) I have recently put a Kenwood D710 in my car. Worked fine. I used the MCP2 program to program memories & settings. Until I decided today to update the firmware: from 2.01 --> 2.10. After that I could not use the MCP2 software anymore. Doesn't read any data from the radio any longer, it sticks at 0%. Re-did the firmware update, same result, still doesn't read. Doesn't write either btw. ('model / market code does not match') Tried to also update the Panel Firmware (maybe this was a combo ?). Doesn't work either: says cannot find Panel. ..but the panel is connected and works fine ! Cannot find anything on Google reporting the same (apart from G4ILO, but the poor man is SK). Any clue anyone - there must be plenty of D710's installed for satellite operations. Or else: does someone have a previous version of the firmware, such that I can try if a downgrade would work ? Thanks Henk Pa3GUO

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BY70-1 Observation & Question
by Scott 03 Jan '17

03 Jan '17

Happy New Year to everyone. So for the second evening in a row, as I monitored BY70-1 for telemetry packets, I noticed performance on the FM voice transponder that prompts me to ask a question. Specifically, I hear K8YSE getting into the satellite with a crystal clearness that you would expect from a simplex QSO with someone in your front yard. Unfortunately, he’s been by himself for the most part... a station or two might try to get in but you just get fragments or a lot of static. As a novice, should that make me think that this satellite requires a lot of ERP to get into cleanly? Or maybe with the TLE’s changing so rapidly, is this sat just more difficult to track than the others? One other variable tonight is the weather; I suppose anyone using a hand-held antenna who normally works outside might be off the air because of all the rain in parts of the country right now. Maybe it’s just a lot of football on TV! I know that any answer might be speculation, but when I hear something happen on the air repeatedly it makes me want to see if I can learn the cause (or possible causes). Thanks! -Scott, K4KDR Montpelier, VA twitter: @scott23192

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