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

My experiences receiving the ISS SSTV images: attention from the radio club
by Koos van den Hout 23 Jul '17

23 Jul '17

I wrote about my experiences receiving the ISS SSTV images on https://idefix.net/~koos/newsitem.cgi/1500644468 the short is that I decided to leave the recording to the computer all night and decoded the images afterwards because all passes happened during the night and I wanted to get my sleep. I wrote that article Friday evening. On Saturday evening the webmaster of my local chapter of my radioclub saw my story (in English) and asked whether he could use this on our own site. I helped him with a Dutch version which got published on the site this Sunday morning. https://a08.veron.nl/slapend-iss-sstv-beelden-ontvangen/ in Dutch, with a bit more emphasis on the 'while sleeping'. The communications department of the nationwide radioclub saw the story come up on the local site and decided to send out a tweet about it, https://twitter.com/VERON_Nederland/status/889037830370054144 in Dutch, praising the pictures and the story. Koos PE4KH -- Koos van den Hout PGP keyid 0xF0D7C263 via keyservers Visit the site about books with reviews http://idefix.net/ http://www.virtualbookcase.com/

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ANS-204 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 22 Jul '17

22 Jul '17

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-204 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: * VE9 on Satellite * Her Majesty's Royal Mint Special Event on Satellites * V47JA St. Kitts on SO-50 * AMSAT 2017 Symposium Call for Papers * IARU Aligns Satellite Coordination Guidelines with ITU WRC-15 Decisions * Have you seen the Mayak satellite? SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-204.01 ANS-155 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 204.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE July 23, 2017 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-204.01 VE9 on Satellite CANADA, VE. Mike, KI1U will be QRV as KI1U/VE9 from Grand Manan Island, IOTA NA-014, from July 23 to 30. Activity will be on 40 to 10 meters using CW and various digital modes, including possibly the new mode FT8, as well as possible activity on the FM satellites. QSL to home call. [ANS thanks the ARRL DX Bulletin 29 - ARLD029 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Her Majesty's Royal Mint Special Event on Satellites Members of the Barry Amateur Radio Society will be operating from 'Her Majesty's Royal Mint' at Llantrisant, South Wales, UK, call sign - GB4RME (Royal Mint Experience) between July 30th and August 5, 2017 Locator: IO81HN WAB:ST08 The hours of operation on a daily basis have been limited, but we expect to be operational between 0800 - 1730 hrs GMT. It does restrict operation for satellite operations and passes in addition of course AO-73 operates in data mode Monday to Friday when illuminated (Auto mode). However on the first Sunday of the event (30th) and the last day (Saturday 5th August) the transponder mode should be available if commanded. The general other activities of the event will be on the HF bands using CW, SSB, DATA RTTY and JT65. This event will also include an exhibition and demonstrations of "Amateur Radio". How key events, especially using satellites and the ISS, are key players in the role of education and "STEM" Note also this event also co-incident with the event taking place for "YOTA 2917" (GB17YOTA) and should be significant as a prime contact for youngsters participating from world wide. This special event station is a world first, operating from within a Mint, and a Royal one at that. Details about the mint can be viewed at: http://www.royalmint.com/en/the-royal-mint-experience QSL via GW0ANA, direct, by the Bureau, LoTW and ClubLog. There will be a Web page set up for the operation on QRZ.com. [ANS thanks Ken, GW1FY, and Southgate for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- V47JA St. Kitts on SO-50 John, V47JA/W5JON, has been operating on SO-50 from St. Kitts with some success. The problem for him is that there is terrain in the way from about 320 degrees, north to east. So he is limited to what he can work from his house there. John is putting together what he will need to operate portable from the top of the hill where he will be able to see down to the horizon to the north. Once he has everything together he will be able to work down low and work more stations in the US. He is using an Arrow antenna and two FM mobile units. He is not a new comeer to the birds but hasn't operated since the HEO's went away years ago. He will be on St. Kitts for a few weeks and he hopes to work everyone that needs it. SO-50 only. He will QSL via LOTW but might wait until he returns to Texas to get everyone uploaded. [ANS thanks John, K8YSE, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT 2017 Symposium Call for Papers This is the first call for papers for the 2017 AMSAT Annual Meeting and Space Symposium to be held on the weekend of October 27, 28, 29, 2017 at the Silver Legacy Resort, Reno, Nevada. Proposals for papers, symposium presentations and poster presentations are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite community. We request a tentative title of your presentation as soon as possible, with final copy to be submitted by October 6 for inclusion in the printed proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be sent to Dan Schultz N8FGV at n8fgv at amsat.org [ANS thanks Dan, N8FGV, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- IARU Aligns Satellite Coordination Guidelines with ITU WRC-15 Decisions As the global federation of national associations of radio amateurs in more than 150 countries, the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) for many years has provided frequency coordination services for amateur satellites free of charge. Often these satellites are constructed by students at universities and other institutions as a part of their educational experience. In general, they have been licensed to operate in the amateur- satellite service, which is defined by the Radio Regulations of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as having the “…purpose of self-training, intercommunication and technical investigations carried out by amateurs, that is, by duly authorized persons interested in radio technique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest.” Some administrations have issued experimental licenses for such satellites operating in amateur-satellite frequency bands. The IARU has coordinated these satellites as well, to reduce the possibility of harmful interference that might result from uncoordinated operation. Since 1 July 2014 it has not been possible to coordinate experimental satellites in the 144-146 MHz band because of the high probability of harmful interference in this heavily used band. Educational satellite projects have grown in popularity as launch opportunities have increased. In 2012 the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference took note of the proliferation of what in Resolution 757 (WRC-12) it called “nanosatellites and picosatellites” and invited WRC-18 (now scheduled for 2019) to consider steps to facilitate their deployment and operation. Two Reports, ITU-R SA.2312 (09/2014) and ITU-R SA.2348 (05/2015), are instructive regarding the characteristics, definitions, spectrum requirements, and notification procedures of and for such satellites, which generally must use spectrum below 1 GHz for operational reasons. At the following WRC in 2015, in place of Resolution 757 the Member States of the ITU adopted Resolution 659 (WRC-15) in which it was noted that the use of 144-146 MHz and 435-438 MHz by non-amateur satellites is not in accordance with the definition of the amateur-satellite service in the Radio Regulations. Resolution 659 cites the two reports mentioned above and makes it clear that the spectrum needs of what are now called “non- geostationary satellites with short duration missions” should be met either within the service in which the space station is operating or within the space operation service. Further, if new or upgraded allocations to the space operation service are required, studies should be limited to the frequency ranges 150.05-174 MHz and 400.15-420 MHz. Accordingly, effective 1 August 2017 the IARU will be following revised guidelines for satellite frequency coordination. The strong preference is for all satellites using spectrum allocated to the amateur and amateur-satellite services to operate under amateur licenses and within the definition of the amateur-satellite service and the service- specific Article 25 of the Radio Regulations. The IARU believes the definition is sufficiently broad to encompass nearly all educational satellite projects that include giving students hands-on experience with radiocommunication and are conducted under an amateur license. The IARU will only coordinate a non-amateur satellite if an administration directs in writing that it be operated in an amateur-satellite band under an experimental or other non-amateur license. Satellites with combined amateur and non-amateur missions will continue to be coordinated. [ANS thanks the IARU for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Have you seen the Mayak satellite? By Deborah Byrd, EarthSky News in HUMAN WORLD | SPACE | July 18, 2017 http://earthsky.org/space/mayak-bright-russian-satellite-july-august-2017 On July 14, an amateur group in Russia launched a small satellite called Mayak. They said it would become the “brightest shooting star” in the sky. Why’d they do it? Here’s how to look for it. A team of young Russians – led by Moscow State Mechanical Engineering University (MAMI) – managed to raise more than $30,000 on Russian crowdfunding website Boomstarter, in order to launch their own small satellite. The satellite is called Mayak, which means beacon in English. It’s a cubesat, roughly the size of a loaf of bread. And it’s up there. Mayak went into space on July 14, 2017, as part of a secondary payload, launched on a Soyuz 2.1v vehicle from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It’ll be orbiting Earth, about 370 miles (600 km) high, for the coming month. It’s supposed to be very, very bright, so bright that it would, supposedly, ruin night skies and threaten astronomy. Satellite tracking websites like Heavens Above are already trying to follow it, hoping to offer information on Mayak’s passes over various parts of the world. Heavens Above commented: "A new small satellite has just been launched which will deploy a large reflector once in orbit and has the potential to be very bright. We now have a provisional orbit from Space-Track which you can use to generate predictions. Please note that the magnitude estimates are possibly very inaccurate until actual observations are reported." Heavens-Above.com now has pass predictions up for the new Russian reflector sat "Mayak," listing it as NORAD ID 2017-042F/42830. http://www.heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=42830 Plus Mayak has its own app, available to those who back the project. See: http://cosmomayak.com/default#mobileapp How bright is Mayak? Brightness estimates have varied, but the idea was that it would be the brightest shooting star in the sky. Some estimated it would be nearly as bright as Venus, the sky’s brightest planet. Its brightness is part of its purpose, which is partly, simply, to inspire people. From Mayak’s website: The main objective of the project is to make cosmonautics and space research poplar in Russia, as well as to make scientific and technical researches attractive to youth. Also from Mayak’s website: Question: Why did you build the satellite? Answer: Everyone is used to think that flying into space is a privilege of state and military corporations. We wanted to prove that space is simpler and closer than it seems, and a team of enthusiasts can launch a satellite into space! This The video shows Mayak’s launch, along with 72 other satellites, on July 14, 2017 at 9:36 Moscow Time from the Baikonur cosmodrome: https://youtu.be/E0X0KfEnJAk [ANS thanks EarthSky News 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, KT4TZ kt4tz at amsat dot org

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GB4RME -Special Event Station corrections
by GW1FKY＠aol.com 22 Jul '17

22 Jul '17

Hi, Details of our club "Special Event Station " planned operations. Apologies for any typo's or gaps that may transpire in the format and word wrap. The format when I post out does not seem to be as it appears on my screen when I prepared the message. In view of this I have edited and revised my previous version and trust that this posting gets through OK. Also experienced some of my earlier posts being returned. Regards Ken GW1FKY Her Majesty's Royal Mint special event. (GB4RME) Members of the Barry Amateur Radio Society will be operating from "Her Majesty's Royal Mint" located at Llantrisant, South Wales,UK Call sign - GB4RME (Royal Mint Experience ) July 30th - August 5th 2017. Locator: IO81HN WAB:ST08 The hours of operation on a daily basis have been limited, but we expect to operate between 0800 - 1730 hrs GMT. It does restrict operation for satellite and passes in addition of course AO-73 operates in data mode Monday to Friday when illuminated (Auto mode). However on the first day of the event ( Sunday 30th July ) and the last day (Saturday 5th August ) the transponder mode should be available if commanded on. Some satellites may only have early passes on a daily basis and if I cannot get access to our op's room on site, I may have to use a portable set up from the car park The general other activities of the event and the special call will be on the HF bands using : CW, SSB, DATA RTTY and JT65. This event will also include an exhibition and demonstrations of "Amateur Radio." For example - How amateur radio is used together with amateur satellites and the ISS, in a role play for education and furthering a career. ( STEM ). Note also this event also co-incident with the event taking place for "YOTA 2917" ( GB17YOTA ) and should be significant as a prime contact for youngsters participating from world wide. Saturday 5th August is our final day of operation but the first day for the "YOTA GB17YOTA " teams. This special event station is a world first, operating from within a Mint, and a Royal one of course. Details about the mint can be viewed at: http://www.royalmint.com/en/the-royal-mint-experience QSL via GW0ANA, direct, by the Bureau, LoTW and ClubLog. There will be a Web page set up for the operation on QRZ.com. Ken Eaton GW1FKY Member AMSAT-UK, AMSAT NA, RSGB , Barry Amateur Radio Society.

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-07-21 16:30 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 21 Jul '17

21 Jul '17

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-07-21 16:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: About Gagarin From Space International Summer Camp #3?? with Bashkortostan schoolchildren, Ufa, Russia, direct via RZ9WWB (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Fyodor Yurchikhin RN3FI Contact is a go for: 2017-08-05 16:25 UTC (***) **************************************************************************** ** 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 2017-07-21 16:30 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 1149. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1108. 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 2017-07-20 20:00 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. 50 on orbit Peggy Whitson Exp. 51 on orbit Jack Fischer K2FSH Fyodor Yurchikhin RN3FI **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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Re: [amsat-bb] AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 12, Issue 180
by Albert van Deursen 21 Jul '17

21 Jul '17

Hi Reid , Thanks yr feedback. Until today in spite of the given tips haven't yet found a solution to the problem. Will cont on this of course. If you have this zip file with data plse forward to my mail address avdeur(a)home.nl. Thanks again. 73 albert PD0OXW -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] On Behalf Of amsat-bb-request(a)amsat.org Sent: 21 July 2017 17:48 To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 12, Issue 180 Send AMSAT-BB mailing list submissions to amsat-bb(a)amsat.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to amsat-bb-request(a)amsat.org You can reach the person managing the list at amsat-bb-owner(a)amsat.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of AMSAT-BB digest..."

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V47JA St. Kitts
by John Papay 21 Jul '17

21 Jul '17

John, V47JA/W5JON, has been operating on SO-50 from St. Kitts with some success. The problem for him is that there is terrain in the way from about 320 degrees, north to east. So he is limited to what he can work from his house there. John is putting together what he will need to operate portable from the top of the hill where he will be able to see down to the horizon to the north. Once he has everything together he will be able to work down low and work more stations in the US. He is using an Arrow antenna and two FM mobile units. He is not a newcomeer to the birds but hasn't operated since the HEO's went away years ago. He will be on St. Kitts for a few weeks and he hopes to work everyone that needs it. SO-50 only. He will QSL via LOTW but might wait until he returns to Texas to get everyone uploaded. 73, John K8YSE --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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ISS ground station info needed
by Butch 21 Jul '17

21 Jul '17

I am trying to get in touch with two ARISS telebridge ground stations, but cannot find any email info for them on QRZ. If anyone can supply email addresses or other contact info, I would greatly appreciate it. The stations are: K6DUE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION AMATEUR RADIO CLUB 3 1804 Hopefield Rd Silver Spring, MD 20905 W6SRJ SANTA ROSA JR COLLEGE AMATEUR RADIO CLUB 4375 Sonoma Mountain Rd Santa Rosa, CA 95404 Tnx & 73 Butch Alline K8KO

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Elevation meter Rotor YAESU G-5500 stopped working
by Albert van Deursen 21 Jul '17

21 Jul '17

Hi all, All of a sudden the elevation meter stopped working of my Yaesu G-5500 rotor controller unit . No issue with the AZ meter. Rotor itself keeps on steering / working without any problem in EL &AZ (via interface EA4TX ARS-USB) so all still working fine (fortunately !) for satellite work. Looks like a component failure in the controller unit or the meter itself ? A physical check (opening the controller unit) didn't show any anomaly. Being a not too tech ham was wondering if any of you Yaesu rotor users had seen this problem before / around ? Possibly anyone to hint/ indicate at a quick check in the schematic wire diagram to where to start looking for this failure ? Thanks beforehand for yr appreciated advice 73 Albert PD0OXW

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Cubesat UNSW-EC0 identified
by Nico Janssen 21 Jul '17

21 Jul '17

All, Detailed doppler measurements show that QB50 Cubesat UNSW-EC0 is object 42723, 1998-067MC. Its downlink frequency appears to be about 4 kHz high: 436.529 MHz. 73, Nico PA0DLO

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Virtual Audio Cable
by Steve Appleton 21 Jul '17

21 Jul '17

All, I am in the process of setting up my station to receive telemetry from AO-85 and then AO-73. I have come across a number of references to a “Virtual Audio Cable” being used to connect the RTL-SDR dongle to the telemetry software. A Google search returns a number of hits for such a cable. Some free, some not. Does anyone have any experience using any of these products in the application I want to? If so, is there one you would recommend? Stay away from? Hints, pitfalls? Any insight would be appreciated. I just hate downloading product after product for evaluation without any prior knowledge. Reminds me of the old BBS systems and shareware! Thx -Steve

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