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

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

14 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 Out of date webpages were removed and new ones have been added.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

1 0

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

1 0

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.

1 0

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

1 0

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

1 0

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

1 0

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

4 4

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

12 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

1 0

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

1 0

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

2 1