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

D-Star One launch failure
by Day, Wayne 28 Nov '17

28 Nov '17

The Russian Meteor M2-1 satellite, a Canadian Telestar experimental satellite and 17 other secondary payloads, including the D-Star One satellite which would have been the first amateur radio satellite utilizing the D-Star digital voice and data format, have apparently been lost with the failure of the Fregat rocket stage launched aboard a Soyuz booster from the new Vostochny Cosmodrome. Russian controllers say they were unable to contact the Meteor M2-1 after it was supposed to separate from the Fregat upper stage. Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, says that they are analyzing the situation. >From Spacefight Now: "Billed as the first German commercial CubeSat, the D-Star One spacecraft had four communications modules on-board, two of which were to be used by the amateur radio community. Developed by German Orbital Systems in Berlin in cooperation with the Czech company iSky Technology, officials hope to build follow-on satellites to construct a low Earth orbit communications network." Hopefully, we'll get another chance to utilize D-Star communications with a satellite repeater some time in the future. 73 Wayne N5WD

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1800 UTC 11/28 AO-91 Pass Recording
by Mike Thompson 28 Nov '17

28 Nov '17

Something went goofy with my recorder again, and I was not able to record the last AO-91 pass. I know I worked a bunch of guys, and aside from the few who mentioned me on Twitter, I don't have any call signs. Can anyone send me their recordings of the last pass? Thank you. AE0MT.

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ISS SSTV Global Testing December 5-6
by JoAnne K9JKM 28 Nov '17

28 Nov '17

http://ariss-sstv.blogspot.com/ published an update to the December MAI-75 SSTV testing schedule (originally scheduled over Moscow and adjacent areas): **UPDATE - Nov 28** Seems the system will be put through some extended testing from December 5 starting around 15:00 UTC and running until 09:00 UTC on December 6. Test images will be used during this period. This will provide near global coverage if all works well. 145.800 MHz. -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm(a)amsat.org

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-11-28 07:00 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 28 Nov '17

28 Nov '17

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-11-28 07:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Ashbury College, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, telebridge via VK4KHZ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Joe Acaba KE5DAR Contact was successful: Mon 2017-11-27 18:39:58 UTC 47 deg (***) Huntley Centennial Public School, Carp, ON, Canada, telebridge via IK1SLD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be IRØISS The scheduled astronaut is Paolo Nespoli Contact is a go for: Tue 2017-11-28 18:46:37 UTC 50 deg S.G.B. De La Salle, Rome, Italy and Istituto Comprensivo Luigi Nono, Mira, Italy, telebridge via W6SRJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be IRØISS The scheduled astronaut is Paolo Nespoli IZØJPA Contact is a go for: Thu 2017-11-30 08:04:20 UTC 73 deg Watch for live stream at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ari-riviera-del-brenta-live (***) Bishop Hendricken High School and its sister school, St. Mary Academy - Bay View, Warwick, RI, telebridge via IK1SLD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be IRØISS The scheduled astronaut is Paolo Nespoli Contact is a go for: Thu 2017-11-30 17:02:09 UTC 61 deg School of Telecommunications and Aerospace Engineering (EETAC), Castelldefels, Spain, direct via EG3UPC The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Mark Vande Hei KG5GNP (***) Contact is a go for: Mon 2017-12-04 15:10:12 UTC 43 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: Francesco IKØWGF with 131 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 124 Gaston ON4WF with 123 Sergey RV3DR with 100 **************************************************************************** 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 2017-11-28 07:00 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 1191. (***) Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1141. (***) 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 2017-11-28 07:00 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. 52 on orbit Randy Bresnik Paolo Nespoli IZØJPA Sergey Ryazanskiy Exp. 53 on orbit Mark Vande Hei KG5GNP Alexander Misurkin Joe Acaba KE5DAR **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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Speaking of Hackaday
by Jerry Buxton 28 Nov '17

28 Nov '17

The Fox-1 MPPT is also in the Hackaday news... https://hackaday.com/2017/11/27/amsat-mppt-goes-to-infinity-and-beyond/ -- Jerry Buxton, NØJY

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SDR receivers for sale!
by Stefan Wagener 27 Nov '17

27 Nov '17

Offer as a bundle three SDR receivers together: 1. Airpsy Mini 2. N3 SDR receiver 3. RTL-SDR receiver (V3): RTL2832U R820T2 TCXO+Bias T +HF All three units together for $100 shipped (within US and Canada). Please contact me offline at: my callsign @ gmail.com Thanks, Stefan VE4NSA

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Question regarding Yaesu G-5500 AZ/EL Rotor
by Bernie and Cheryl 27 Nov '17

27 Nov '17

Dear Folks: I am looking into getting a satellite tracker box to connect my computer to my G-5500 rotor so I don't have to manually track satellites any more. I get the impression that I would hook the tracker box into the back of the rotor control box (where the 8 pin DIN female connector is). However, the manual for the 5500 states as follows: "If the optional GS-232 Computer Control Interfaces Unit is installed, the RS-232C cable from the computer routes through this grommet ..." This implies that I need to buy something else from Yaesu and install it in the control box in order to utilize a tracker box. But, I've never heard of anyone doing that. So, has someone out there hooked up a 5500, and did you have to buy an optional unit for the Yaesu rotor control box? Thanks for your help. 73 de Bernie, KF0QS

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SO-50 Troubles
by Mike Thompson 27 Nov '17

27 Nov '17

Good morning Ladies and Gent's. Tried working SO-50 last night after a few successful contacts on AO-91, and I was having a hard time hitting the bird. I am using a pair of HT's (FT-60 on RX, VX-8 on TX), each connected to their respective elements of my arrow antenna. TX tone was enabled, and I was hearing the bird just fine, but couldn't seem to make it in. Did anyone by chance hear my call sign? I know it's likely far to vague for anyone to give any real suggestions, but I was a bit frustrated with my 2nd recent unsuccessful attempt at working stations on SO-50. Thank you. Mike, AE0MT.

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Low-cost Satellite Positioner Article on Hackaday
by B J 27 Nov '17

27 Nov '17

https://hackaday.com/2017/11/26/start-tracking-satellites-with-this-low-cos… Complete instructions are found in the URL the article refers to. I find Hackaday to be a terrific site for projects and ideas for things relating to computing and amateur radio. I first heard about it through listening to the Soldersmoke podcasts. 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL

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AO-85 Frequencies
by Mike Thompson 27 Nov '17

27 Nov '17

Good Morning Ladies and Gent's. I have seen a few different frequency pairs listed for AO-85, and as I understand it, the actual frequency tends to vary, but can anyone give me a pair of frequencies to start with to get into AO-85? I understand the uplink will need to shift +-10kHz, but shifting on either side of what center frequency? Thank you. Mike, AE0MT.

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