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

Re: [amsat-bb] Satellites and small yagis
by John Geiger 29 Jan '17

29 Jan '17

Thanks for all of the feedback on small yagis and the satellites. There is no way I can angle it up, so it will be horizontal. I have seen people talking about angling up their yagis, how do you do that. It does seem possible on a vertical mast, the only way I can see to do it would be if it was on a horizontal crossboom. 73 John AF5CC On Sun, Jan 29, 2017 at 5:56 AM, A. Kevin Arber <kevin.w3dad(a)gmail.com> wrote: > John, > It will work. I completed VUCC last year using a Arrow mounted about 20 > degrees up in elevation on a AZ only rotor. I used SatPC 32 to control the > antenna AZ automatically. Very convenient that way. > Good Luck & 73, > Kevin W3DAD > > On Sat, Jan 28, 2017 at 10:35 PM, John Geiger <af5cc2(a)gmail.com> wrote: > >> After having been off the satellites for a while due to life stuff, I am >> almost ready to get back on again, I hope. I have a little space on the >> mast under my miniquad where I can mount a small dualband end mounted >> yagi. I have been looking at the Jetstream 2m/70cm since it is cheapest >> and should fit there fine. It has 3 elements on 2m and 5 elements on 70cm. >> Will that good enough on the satellites? I have used a Cushcraft 5/5 >> dualband yagi before with good results. >> >> I hope in another year or so to have the parent's estate finally settled >> and money for a real satellite station again, but am hoping this will do >> in >> the meantime. Anyone else tried a yagi this size? >> >> 73 John AF5CC >> _______________________________________________ >> 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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BY70-1
by Fred Castello 29 Jan '17

29 Jan '17

Hi Folks, I am trying to find the correct file with SatPC32 to correct the TLE for Sat BY70-1? I have found the Keplerian elements at: C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\SatPC32\Kepler and have the following files there: amateur.txt cubesat.txt geo.txt intelsat.txt nasa.all noaa.txt OrbsManu.ele SatPass 10-31-16 tle-new.txt weather.txt and have searched within all of those to find BY70-1 and can't find it. I have found the most current TLE as was suggested yesterday via this same mailing list and ended up putting them in amateur.txt but of course when I update the Keps again, it disappears. What am I missing? Thanks so much for your help! Fred - KF4FC

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Dinner after Palm Springs Hamfest on Saturday (4 February)?
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 29 Jan '17

29 Jan '17

Hi again! Would anyone attending the Palm Springs Hamfest on Saturday (4 February) be interested in getting dinner after the hamfest? I'd be happy to get together with other satellite operators - and any others - for a bite to eat before I drive back to Phoenix in the evening. As with my previous offer for Friday evening, I am open to suggestions for where we could go. Please e-mail me off-list or send a direct message to my @WD9EWK Twitter feed if interested. Thanks, and 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

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AMSAT at Palm Springs Hamfest on Saturday, 4 February 2017
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 29 Jan '17

29 Jan '17

Hi! A reminder that AMSAT will have a booth at the Palm Springs Hamfest on Saturday, 4 February 2017. More information about the hamfest is available at its web site: http://www.palmspringshamfest.com/ During the day, there will be demonstrations of satellite operating using satellites in different modes. I hope to be able to have these demonstrations to show off operating in FM, SSB, and packet. If you hear me on during any of these passes during Saturday, please call and be a part of the demonstrations. Any QSOs will be uploaded to Logbook of the World after the hamfest, and QSL cards are available on request. The hamfest site is in grid DM13rt, at the Palm Springs Air Museum along Gene Autry Trail, south of the I-10 freeway. For up-to-the-minute news on demonstrations and other AMSAT activities at the hamfest, I will tweet using my @WD9EWK Twitter feed. If you do not use Twitter, you can still view these updates and any photos I tweet in a web browser at: http://twitter.com/WD9EWK Thanks again to Rick Fearns and the hamfest committee of the Palm Springs Hamfest for extending an invitation for AMSAT to be a part of this event. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

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WD9EWK @ DM23/DM24 on Friday (3 February)
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 29 Jan '17

29 Jan '17

Hi! On my way to Palm Springs on Friday (3 February), I have a chance to stop at the DM23/DM24 grid boundary north of Quartzsite AZ for some passes. My tentative plans are to be out to that boundary sometime between 1600 and 1700 UTC, which could make it possible for an FO-29 pass around 1643 UTC covering much of North America, and an AO-85 pass as that FO-29 pass ends. I don't plan on spending the whole day at this spot, as I would like to arrive in Palm Springs by mid- to late-afternoon. QSOs will be uploaded to Logbook of the World, and QSL cards to confirm QSOs are available on request. As with my other road trips, my travels should appear on sites like aprs.fi as WD9EWK-9: http://aprs.fi/WD9EWK-9 I will also use my @WD9EWK Twitter feed to post updates, which are also visible in a web browser without a Twitter account at: http://twitter.com/WD9EWK By the way, if anyone going to Palm Springs is up for dinner on Friday, please e-mail me off the list or send a direct message to my @WD9EWK Twitter account. I don't know all of the eating establishments in that area other than an In-N-Out along I-10, but I'm sure we can find a place that works for a meal and some conversation before Saturday's hamfest. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

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Palm Springs Hamfest - MacDoppler Pro Prize!
by Clint Bradford 29 Jan '17

29 Jan '17

It just gets better and better ... Don Agro has donated a copy of MacDoppler Pro for the show! Some lucky attendee of my satellite presentation will walk away with the absolute best satellite tracking program for Mac owners! We will be working these birds ... AO85 at 9:20AM SO-50 at 12:15PM ITF-2 at 3:06PM ISS at 3:08PM Clint K6LCS http://www.palmspringshamfest.com

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Satellites and small yagis
by John Geiger 29 Jan '17

29 Jan '17

After having been off the satellites for a while due to life stuff, I am almost ready to get back on again, I hope. I have a little space on the mast under my miniquad where I can mount a small dualband end mounted yagi. I have been looking at the Jetstream 2m/70cm since it is cheapest and should fit there fine. It has 3 elements on 2m and 5 elements on 70cm. Will that good enough on the satellites? I have used a Cushcraft 5/5 dualband yagi before with good results. I hope in another year or so to have the parent's estate finally settled and money for a real satellite station again, but am hoping this will do in the meantime. Anyone else tried a yagi this size? 73 John AF5CC

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ANS-029 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 29 Jan '17

29 Jan '17

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-029 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: * Colloquium Videos for 2009-2012 Posted on YouTube * ARRL LoTW Adds Additional Satellite Entries * Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-01-27 * Get Your Iridium Fix Before It’s Too Late! SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-029.01 ANS-029 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 029.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE January 29, 2017 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-029.01 Colloquium Videos for 2009-2012 Posted on YouTube AMSAT-UK reports that thanks to Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG and @BATC online videos of talks given at AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2009-2012 are now posted at https://www.youtube.com/user/AMSATUK/videos The videos were made by members of the British Amateur Television Club (BATC) and stored on the club’s streaming site. Dedicated BATC members have carried out the world-wide streaming and recording of the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium since 2007. [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARRL LoTW Adds Additional Satellite Entries ARRL LoTW/IT staff announce an update release containing additions and changes made since the release of config.xml 10.4 The changes in config.xml 10.5 are: - In the Satellite enumeration, added entries for: - "BY70-1": Bayi Kepu Weixing 1 - "IO-86": Indonesia-OSCAR 86 (LAPAN-ORARI) - "SAREX" for 2-way contacts made using the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) packet digipeater - "MIREX": for 2-way contacts made using the Mir packet digipeater [ANS thanks Sean, KX9X, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-01-27 Cours Saint Maur, Monaco, Monaco, telebridge via LU1CGB The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG Contact is a go for: Thu 2017-02-02 08:38:27 UTC 75 deg via LU1CGB Rescheduled due to Service Module spatial constraint. South Street School, Danbury CT, telebridge via ON4ISS The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Shane Kimbrough KE5HOD Contact is a go for: Thu 2017-02-02 18:49:14 UTC 80 deg [ANS thanks Charlie, AJ9N, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Your Iridium Fix Before It’s Too Late! The shock and dazzle of Iridium flares will soon be a thing of the past. Here's how to make the most of seeing them before a new generation of spacecraft replaces the Iridium satellites. Each of the approximately 66 Iridiums in orbit have three door-sized aluminum antennae treated with highly reflective, silver-coated Teflon for temperature control. When the angle between observer and satellite is just right, sunlight reflecting off an antenna can cause the satellite to surge from invisibility up to magnitude –8.5 in a matter of seconds. If you've never seen one, the searing brilliance may make you recoil instinctively. On rare occasions, flares can reach magnitude –9.5. That's 100 times brighter than Venus! Sadly, that era will soon draw to a close. On January 14th, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 delivered the first 10 of a new generation of Iridium NEXT satellites to low- Earth orbit, starting the process to replace the older units in a maneuver called slot-swapping. While the new birds will provide faster data rates and enhanced global communications, their antenna design is completely different and not expected to produce significant flares. Heavens Above is one of the easiest sites to get you looking in the right place at the right time. The Heavens Above website allows for easy figuring and finding of Iridium flares. Just sign in and give it your location, then click the Iridium Flares link under the Satellites heading on the left side of the homepage. A table will pop open with a week's worth of passes that includes pertinent information like brightness, altitude, and magnitude of the flare at flare center, the brightest possible magnitude for a particular pass. Clicking on the date will produce a map showing the flare's path and ground track where the flare will appear brightest. When that path passes near or over your location, you'll see a –8 dazzler. If not, you can use the map to drive to the sweet spot and await the display. The transition to the Iridium NEXT generation will be gradual but certain, so make the most of the opportunities that remain. If you're a teacher, do your homework and plan an outing to show a daytime flare to your science class. Anything that gets people talking more about the sky is a good thing, and I guarantee those kids will never forget the sight. [ANS thanks Bob King, and Sky and Telescope 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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Where did the TLEs go for BY70-1?
by Todd Deckard 29 Jan '17

29 Jan '17

I cannot find BY70-1 in any of the Celestrak categories? 73 Ke0cmd Todd

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1296 loop yagi
by Glenn Pritchard 29 Jan '17

29 Jan '17

Hi to all, I have a general question, I am modeling a 45 element 1296 loop yagi with 1/2" wide elements instead of 1/4". According to predictions the pattern and gain are just about right on for one with 1/4" wide elements. The only issue that I can see is a little more bandwidth. Has anyone done this before I build this? Thanks and 73 Glenn, VE6ND

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