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

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 06 Jan '17

06 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:[email protected]] 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:[email protected]] 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:[email protected]] 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…> > >

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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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