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

Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022
by Arthur Feller, W4ART 04 May '17

04 May '17

Interesting read. Free PDF available. https://www.nap.edu/catalog/13117/vision-and-voyages-for-planetary-science-… <https://www.nap.edu/catalog/13117/vision-and-voyages-for-planetary-science-…> Enjoy!! 73, art….. W4ART Arlington VA To thrive in life, you need three bones: a wish bone, a back bone, and a funny bone. - Reba McEntire http://afeller.us <http://afeller.us/>

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Fox Delta ST2 Rotor Controller problem
by Paul Baldock 04 May '17

04 May '17

I have a new ST2. It worked fine for a couple of weeks. Now the display displays very strange messages, such as the word "warning" . From day to day these odd messages change. Through all of this the unit continues to perform correctly via RS232 including maintaining calibration factors. The display will change from one power up to the next even without RF being present so it is not RF getting into the unit. According to Dinesh of Fox Delta I must reprogram the PIC (or buy a new preprogrammed one) to get it back to the factory default. I have a feeling this is not the issue as it still works fine via RS232. Has any body else experienced this? - Paul KW7Y

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North Texas AMSAT participation at Ham-Com in Irving / Moon Day in Dallas
by Tom Schuessler 03 May '17

03 May '17

Hello all, Looking for volunteers from anywhere but especially North Texas to help at the AMSAT booth/demos at Ham-Com at the Irving Convention Center this coming June 9 and 10. Please contact Keith Pugh, W5IU or myself for more information. If nothing else make sure you stop by and say hi. Also looking for AMSAT participation with the Dallas Amateur Radio Club at an annual STEM event called "Moon Day" at the Frontiers of Flight Museum, Love Field, Dallas, TX. This year's event will be July 22nd . DARC has an inside table with demonstrations of Amateur Radio and interesting technology. See http://www.flightmuseum.com/moon-day/ for information on the event. Since it is a space themed technology event, AMSAT satellite demos and contacts fit in quite nicely. I had an outdoor setup on the Museum grounds last year and made quite a number of contacts and got some young people on the air. This is a great outreach of Amateur Radio to the general public. Unfortunately, I will be out of town this year and cannot participate. As a result, I am putting a call out to others to team up with the DARC folks to demonstrate how we develop and use space technology for communications. For more information you can contact me off list at n5hyp(a)arrl.net and I will put you in touch with Tom General, KE5ICX of the Dallas Amateur Radio Club. I have one firm commitment so far to help but there is a need for several others to help fill the day. Tom Schuessler N5HYP

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Can QSO's be manually input to LOTW?
by Graham 03 May '17

03 May '17

I am currently not using a computer based logging program and I am not interested in collecting awards or QSL's. However, I know that others are. Is it possible to manually enter QSO details into LOTW? cheers, Graham ve3gtc

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AO-85 23:52Z EN83
by Ruth 03 May '17

03 May '17

I am hoping to be on the 23:52Z pass of AO-85 this evening (May 3rd) from EN83 if anyone needs the grid square. I’ve only made a few QSOs on AO-85 so I’m still learning how it works. 73, Ruth KM4LAO

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Upcoming ARISS contact with Collège Georges Brassens, Saint-Venant, France, Collège René Cassin de Lillers, Lillers, France, and Lycée Polyvalent Anatole France, Lillers, France
by n4csitwo＠bellsouth.net 03 May '17

03 May '17

An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Collège Georges Brassens, Saint-Venant, France, Collège René Cassin de Lillers, Lillers, France, and Lycée Polyvalent Anatole France, Lillers, France on 05 May. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 09:58 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be direct between OR4ISS and TM10ISS. The contact should be audible over France and adjacent areas. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in French with portions translated into Englsh. Collège Georges Brassens The village of Saint Venant is located in the Pas-de-Calais, at 40 Km west of Lille. The college Georges Brassens includes 435 pupils supervised by 32 teachers. These students are between 11 and 15 years of age. In 2015, 91% of the students obtained their diplomas, 61% of which were awarded, which enabled the college to obtain a distinction. Scientific projects are regularly conducted at the college: balloon probes, BIA project ... They allow students to develop their scientific culture and discover many trades. These projects also provide a link with the general and technological high school of Lillers where the same projects are continued. Collège René Cassin The city of Lillers is only 8 Km distant from St Venant. The college René-Cassin, located on the edge of the town of Lillers, is a semi-rural college. It accommodates 382 pupils from 10 to 15 years of socio-professional origins very varied from a part of the city and the neighboring villages and hamlets. The college wants to open up to its environment and offer its students the opportunity to enrich themselves through activities that will allow a cultural and scientific opening in connection with the continuity towards high school. Lycée Polyvalent Anatole France The Lycée Anatole France is located in the downtown of Lillers and is well known in the Pas-de-Calais department as it is regularly ranked among the first high schools of the department for his success in the baccalauréat. It accommodates 940 students from 15 years to 20 years. Since 8 years, the secondary school participates, with the classes of second and the CSRAL, to scientific projects like the launch of a stratospheric balloon or to a parabolic flight in 2014. For 8 years, a preparation for the certificate of initiation to the Aeronautics (BIA) is open to pupils of 10th Grade. A preparation for the amateur radio licence is also proposed since this year to students of 11th Grade. All these activities allowing them to discover the universe of aviation (BIA), the effects of The zero-gravity (parabolic flight), the stratosphere and space (ISS orbital station) is to bring students back into contact with the space station. The high school will have a radioclub with a station able to make contacts via satellites. School exchange program with Denver, Colorado: The Lycee Anatole France is partner with the STEM High School, a semi-public school with a four-year curriculum that was founded in 2011. they are ranked eleventh in the ranking of 342 schools in Colorado. their enrollment includes 1600 high school students, with 25% ethnic diversity. Their students are selected by lottery each year. STEM provides a high-quality academic standard with an infusion of STEM (science, technology, technical education and mathematics) present in all subjects taught. they also focus on teaching business, as well as personal responsibility, teamwork and the ability to solve problems with creativity. The school is located in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado, USA and have many connections with high-tech companies in the Denver area. Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. Vos expériences ont-elles pour but une future colonisation de l'espace? 2. Parmi les clichés pris depuis l'ISS, quelle photo préférez-vous ? 3. Est-ce que l'alternance jour/nuit plus courte a une influence sur certaines de vos activités ou sur votre organisme ? 4. Due to the constant free fall of the ISS around the earth's orbit, do you continue to feel the physical symptoms of the free fall, and if so, how do you adapt to this feeling? 5. Votre alimentation a t'elle des conséquences sur votre santé? 6. Maximilien (13): De combien avez-vous grandi depuis votre départ ? 7. En raison de l'apesanteur, est ce que tu as souvent des vertiges ou la sensation d'être désorienté ? 8. How much social interaction do you have on a given day with earth or with other ISS astronauts? 9. Avez vous ressenti une certaine atrophie musculaire pendant votre séjour? 10. Les sensations ressenties lors de votre sortie dans l'espace et lors de vos déplacements dans la station sont-elles les mêmes que lors des entrainements en piscine ? 11. Qu'est ce que tu as ressenti lorsque tu as vu la terre pour la première fois depuis l'ISS? 12. Who inspired you to become an astronaut? 13. Quels sont les êtres vivants qui ont été apportés pour vos expériences? 14. Pensez-vous repartir en mission dans l'espace? 15. Quelle est ton activité préférée à bord de l'ISS lors de ton temps libre ? 16. Do you see items entering the earth's atmosphere or burning upon entering? What does it look like? 17. Quelles ont été vos sensations lors du décollage de la fusée Soyouz? 18: Où avez vous prévu d'atterrir ? 19: Est ce qu'il y a un endroit ou un phénomène sur terre que tu n'as pas encore photographié et que tu souhaites avoir tout particulièrement ? 20: Sous quelle forme préférez-vous déguster vos aliments? Translated: 1. Are your experiments aiming at a future colonization of space? 2. Among the pictures taken from the ISS, Which photos do you prefer? 3. Does the shorter day / night alternation affect some of your activities or your organism? 4. Due to the constant free fall of the ISS around the earth's orbit, do you continue to feel the physical symptoms of the free fall, and if so, how do you adapt to this feeling? 5. Does Your Diet Affect Your Health? 6. How much have you grown since you left? 7. Due to weightlessness, do you often feel dizzy or feel disoriented? 8. How much social interaction do you have on a given day with earth or with other ISS astronauts? 9. Have you experienced any muscular atrophy during your stay? 10. Are the sensations felt when you are out in space and when you are moving in the station the same as during swimming training? 11. What did you feel when you saw the earth for the first time from the ISS? 12. Who inspired you to become an astronaut? 13. What are the living beings that have been brought in for your experiments? 14. Do you think you will be going back to space? 15. What is your favorite activity aboard the ISS during your free time? 16. Do you see items entering the earth's atmosphere or burning upon entering? What does it look like? 17. What were your feelings during the takeoff of the Soyuz rocket? 18: Where do you plan to land? 19: Is there a place or phenomenon on earth that you have not photographed yet and want to have especially? 20: In what form do you prefer to taste your food? PLEASE CHECK THE FOLLOWING FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ARISS UPDATES: Visit ARISS on Facebook. We can be found at Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS). To receive our Twitter updates, follow @ARISS_status Next planned event(s): 1. Ecole College Park School, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, telebridge via W6SRJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Jack Fisher K2FSH Contact is a go for: Mon 2017-05-08 18:19 UTC via W6SRJ About ARISS: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or informal education venues. With the help of experienced amateur radio volunteers, ISS crews speak directly with large audiences in a variety of public forums. Before and during these radio contacts, students, teachers, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org, www.amsat.org, and www.arrl.org. Thank you & 73, David - AA4KN --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-05-02 06:30 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 02 May '17

02 May '17

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-05-02 06:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Collège Georges Brassens, Saint-Venant, France, Collège René Cassin de Lillers, Lillers, France, and Lycée Polyvalent Anatole France, Lillers, France, direct via TM1ØISS (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS (***) The scheduled astronaut is Thomas Pesquet KG5FYG Contact is a go for: Fri 2017-05-05 09:58:56 UTC 39 deg (***) Ecole College Park School, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, telebridge via W6SRJ (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS (***) The scheduled astronaut is Jack Fisher K2FSH (***) Contact is a go for: Mon 2017-05-08 18:19:40 UTC via W6SRJ (***) **************************************************************************** ** 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. **************************************************************************** *** 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 2017-05-02 06:30 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 1134. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1095. 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 2017-04-29 23:00 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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VUCC Awards/Endorsements for April 2017
by John Papay 01 May '17

01 May '17

Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period March 30, 2017 through April 1, 2017. There was no update on March 31st. Congratulations to all those who made the list this month! CALL GRIDS KB1RVT 1493 WC7V 1101 W5PFG 1039 N8HM 904 AA5PK 825 N9IP 481 W5RKN 400 W4FS 374 KK4FEM 353 K5ND 276 AI6GS 211 W7QL 211 NS3L 200 VE7CEW 127 MI6GTY 110 (NEW VUCC) FG8OJ 100 (NEW VUCC) This list was developed by comparing the ARRL .pdf listings for March 30th and April 1st, 2017. It's a visual comparison so omissions are possible. Apologies if your call was not mentioned. Thanks to all those who are roving to grids that are rarely on the birds. They are doing most of the work! 73, John K8YSE --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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AO85 2 May 0053Z AA9FL( ??)
by Philip Jenkins 01 May '17

01 May '17

I think I almost worked AA9FL(??), but since I didn't get/confirm your grid square, it doesn't count :-) (And not sure of your call, since I wanted to get familiar with this particular sat before I start recording.) This was my* first* attempt at AO-85, and didn't hear myself until about 10 deg before LOS. I also noticed I'm getting some desense when I transmit (using D72A into Arrow antenna) I might try the 2 May 0225Z pass, but that one is only 16 degrees from EM85tm. Philip N4HF

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Interesting quad grid point in Northern Maine, + FN87
by Brent Taylor 01 May '17

01 May '17

As I plan my semi-annual trek from Atlantic Canada to Deerfield, NH for NEAR-Fest, I have been corresponding with a few hams who badly need FN55, FN56, FN65, and FN66. I used to live in FN66 when I operated as VE1JH in NB and remember it being quite popular back in the AO-27/UO-14 days. Just for kicks, I took a look to see where those four grids intersect and, lo, they all come together just steps from the side of a "Fire Road" that branches off from Route 2A not too far south of Houlton, ME. While the pass times don't work well for a Quad-Point expedition on my trip later this week, I'm wondering if this 4-point has ever been activated in the past. The terrain looks fairly clear, and not too hard to get to (if you're already that part of Maine, of course). If there is a bad need for that, and if I find I'm able to travel back that way over the summer or fall this year, I may do a dedicated activation. I think it would be fun. I may need bug repellent, though. As well, I am still planning to activate FN87 in the very near future. This grid is almost entirely over water, and only a thin sliver touches the shore of Prince Edward Island. As small as the Island is, FN87 is still close to a 2-hour drive from my place. I'm close to having multi-mode receive through an SDRPlay-Android Tablet combination, and when I get that working well I'll schedule the trip. If anyone has a RX-only FT-817 that they would part with for fair $$$, maybe I can arrange these travels a little sooner, hi hi. 73 Brent Taylor VY2HF, W1PJ -- Brent Taylor, VY2HF / W1PJ Stratford, PEI, Canada

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