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

International Crystal MFG closing
by Alan 12 Mar '17

12 Mar '17

I was surprised to see that ICM is closing. I bought crystals from them back in my days as a Novice, and most recently for my mode-L transverter. They have supplied crystals for many satellites. According to their website, icmfg.com, they will be honoring all existing orders, and some new orders depending on material availability. 73s, Alan WA4SCA

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DM90 Sunday, 12 March
by Glenn Miller - AA5PK 12 Mar '17

12 Mar '17

I'll operate portable from DM90 on the following FO-29 passes: My AOS at 1600Z My AOS at 1745Z Xmit ~145.960 to avoid possible conflict with V31NJ. QSL via LoTW or hard copy by email request. 73 Glenn AA5PK

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-03-11 06:00 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 11 Mar '17

11 Mar '17

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-03-11 06:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: 3rd Junior High School, Komotini, Greece, direct via SV7APQ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Shane Kimbrough KE5HOD Contact was successful: Fri 2017-03-10 08:20:46 UTC 28 deg (***) Watch for live stream at http://sv7apq.blogspot.gr/2016/10/as-amateur-radio-enthusiast-i-have.html McBride High School, Long Beach, CA, direct via K6MHS The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG (***) Contact is a go for: Wed 2017-03-15 16:28:44 UTC 25 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. **************************************************************************** *** Message to US Educators Amateur Radio on the International Space Station Contact Opportunity Call for Proposals Proposal Window February 15 – April 15, 2017 The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS. ARISS anticipates that the contact would be held between January 1, 2018 and June 30, 2018. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan. The deadline to submit a proposal is April 15, 2017. Proposal information and documents can be found at www.arrl.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact. The Opportunity Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session. An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in dates and times of the radio contact. Amateur Radio organizations around the world, NASA, and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe sponsor this educational opportunity by providing the equipment and operational support to enable direct communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world via Amateur Radio. In the US, the program is managed by AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) and ARRL (American Radio Relay League) in partnership with NASA and CASIS (Center for the Advancement of Science in Space). More Information Interested parties can find more information about the program at www.ariss.org and www.arrl.org/ARISS. For proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Sessions go to http://www.arrl.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact. Please direct any questions to ariss(a)arrl.org. **************************************************************************** *** 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 2017-03-11 06:00 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 1125. (***) Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1086. (***) 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 2017-03-11 06:00 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] Best HT for satellite operation?
by JoAnne K9JKM 11 Mar '17

11 Mar '17

Pointing out another resource containing a huge amount of discussion of "best HT" or "arrow vs elk" topics can be found at: https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?forums/satellite-and-space-communications.… Watch the line wrap in case the -bb mangles the URL. I learn lots reading what the guys post on there. -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm(a)amsat.org

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Best HT for satellite operation?
by Clayton Coleman 11 Mar '17

11 Mar '17

I've seen a lot of great recommendations for satellite HT's. I really prefer the Icom IC-910h. Since it is a little heavy for neck straps, and the belt clip is made of 3/8" steel plate, I'd probably recommend the BABYBJÖRN carrier approach. You can buy a 15 year old one at a bargain price of $1000-1500 at most hamfests. TGIF Clayton W5PFG

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Opinions on improving receive for portable ops
by Ka9p＠aol.com 11 Mar '17

11 Mar '17

I've just started getting on the linear transponders in the last month or so after a 30 year absence from sat work, necessarily with a portable setup, and would be eager to hear experienced opinions on what to do next to improve receive. I'm running Cheap Yagis on V(3 el) and U(6 el), diplexers, about 10 feet of RG8X, and receiving on an FT817 or 897, usually on FO29 and the XW's, and have up to 25 watts available for the uplink. Q's are: 1) with those radios and only about 10 feet of feed line, will a preamp help much on 432? 2) If it will, is the 50$ preamp on the AMSAT site a good start? Or? and 3) With relatively short yagis, will it make a noticeable difference going to circular polarization? WRT to 3, I've pretty much exhausted what I can find the internet, but just don't have a pragmatic sense for what it will do in terms of evening out reception over, say, an FO 29 pass - I read that you nominally lose 3 dbs most all the time but may pick up a lot on the deep fades, but still not sure how that translates to the real world. Or is the answer that the set up is marginal enough I need to do it all of the above if I want reliable communications above about 5 degrees or so? Thanks for the bandwidth and any input. Scott ka9p

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AO-73/FUNcube Mode change
by Jim Heck 11 Mar '17

11 Mar '17

Hi folks, I have just changed the sat into amateur (continuous transponder) mode. Plan is to switch back to auto mode on Sunday pm UTC as usual. Pls see below for other FUNcube transponder info Have FUN with the transponder. 73s Jim G3WGM and the FUNcube team. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ FUNcube frequencies and other details ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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… EO88 Nayif-1 FUNcube-5 EO88 is presently operating in autonomous mode. The transponder is operational when the satellite is in eclipse, ie the solar panels are NOT being illuminated. 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. The transponder frequencies are: Uplink: 435.045 – 435.015 MHz LSB (inverting) Downlink: 145.960-145.990 MHz USB Telemetry Tx: 145.940MHz 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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Best HT for satellite operation?
by Dale Kubichek 11 Mar '17

11 Mar '17

Message: 10 Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2017 14:17:14 -0500 From: Tucker McGuire <tucker(a)mcguireland.com> To: Andrew Glasbrenner <glasbrenner(a)mindspring.com> Cc: "amsat-bb(a)amsat.org" <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Best HT for satellite operation? This is a loaded questions and every HAM I've ever met has opinions... It is better to ask what HT's fit SAT OPs functionality: Everyone wants 'full duplex', I've not seen a dual-band HT that can do 'real' RX while the PTT is pushed, period! Nest shoot for - What dual-band HT can program SAT offsets (in the SAME single memory)? My definition: in one memory can program both 2m-RX AND 70cm-PTT or vice-versa. Why: you only need say 4 or 5 memories per SAT for AOS/LOS OPs - one less hand needed and far less hassle. I know Yaesu and Wuoxon can do this via PC Program. Kwood TH-F6, Icom IC-91/T8, Alinco G7 cannot they can do it only via flipping the A/B Bands (pain in the butt) - they do not allow cross band offsets in memory. Now another BAD issue with Yeasu & Wuoxun is they both have a high discharge rate of battery when in the OFF state. I found if I leave my HT's on the shelf for +60days I must isolate the battery for the radio to eliminate wasteful discharging dropp[ing a B-Meter bar. I do this by using a 'paper' business-card cut it to size, sandwich between the battery and HT - isolating the battery contacts. Easy, simple, effective, cheap - what HAM Radio is all about. Best regards, Dale Kubichek, MS-EET, N6JSX Sidney, OH 45365 EN70vh http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HAM-SATs http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RDF-USA

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Kenwood TS-2000X on satellite
by Vincenzo Mone 11 Mar '17

11 Mar '17

Hi folks, Is there anybody using a TS-2000X for automatic satellites operations? If yes please what are using to automate all? Thanks 73 de Enzo IK8OZV EasyLog 5 BetaTester EasyLog PDA BetaTester WinBollet BetaTester D.C.I. CheckPoint Regione Campania Skype: ik8ozv8520 ******************************************* ****** GSM +39 328 7110193 ****** ***** SMS +39 328 7110193 ***** *******************************************

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FM25/26 Portable operation
by Tucker McGuire 10 Mar '17

10 Mar '17

Hi All, I will be portable in FM25 for the 1656z FO-29 pass tomorrow 3/11. Will possibly try 2228z SO-50 pass from FM26 as well later in the day if plans align. Cheers & 73, Tucker W4FS

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