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

Fw: AO73 Mode change
by Graham Shirville 10 Jun '19

10 Jun '19

Hi folks, AO73/FUNcube is now in amateur mode for the weekend with the transponder on! Please see below for all FUNcube mission info 73s Graham G3VZV 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. Lower 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. _______________________________________________ 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

9 17

EQUiSat Optical Beacon CubeSat
by Trevor . 17 Oct '18

17 Oct '18

Students at the Ivy League Brown University are developing an amateur radio satellite EQUiSat that will carry a Xenon Flash Tube (XFT) subsystem to act as an Optical Beacon that should be visible to the unaided eye of observers on Earth. See http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=10635 73 Trevor M5AKA AMSAK-UK http://www.amsat-uk.org/ ----

5 5

Using 1.2Ghz
by Todd 04 Apr '18

04 Apr '18

Thinking about adding the 1.2Ghz module for my 9100. Prices have dropped a little and units will start become harder to find once production ends. Anybody using this band? I read it's used as a uplink frequency for some satellites. Any input appreciated.ToddAL7PX

5 4

Outernet L-Band now carries AMSAT and ARISS weekly bulletins
by Robert Bruninga 17 Mar '18

17 Mar '18

The Outernet L-band feed is now carrying a condensed version of the AMSAT and ARISS weekly news files. (Global Geosat coverage except for Northern Alaska)... Receivers are simple: http://aprs.org/outnet.html For ARISS, I manually added a 2 char grid square to each school listed in the school schedule and am asking the outernet folks to parse out that location info and plot a 1200 km footprint on their weather globe showing where people can tune in the ARISS contacts. Then their RTL-SDR dongle could then actually be retuned to hear the contact. Just an idea... Bob, WB4APR -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] On Behalf Of Dani EA4GPZ Sent: Saturday, October 15, 2016 7:36 AM To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] New Outernet L-Band service... >> I hope someday a service like this will be available >> from an AMSAT geostationary service. > I'm pretty confident that the guys at AMSAT-DL are capable > of doing this much better on the upcoming EsHail'2 > than what Outernet is currently doing on Inmarsat... > They already have in mind a "DVB-S beacon"... broadcast > from the ground station at Qatar ... carrying videos > about Ham radio and Ham radio events on this signal. > What is more, if you have equipment to operate EsHail'2 on SSB, > it's more or less easy to use either the narrowband transponder > or the wideband transponder to transmit an Outernet-type signal > through EsHail'2, so anyone can have a go with this. > Outernet uses 4200baud BPSK and half of the bitrate is spent for FEC. > You can use a bit less bitrate to get a signal that will even pass > through a conventional 2.7kHz SSB filter and you can use less > bits for FEC to get increased data throughput (but more SNR required). > Dani EA4GPZ.

7 6

FUNcube-1 weekend operations
by Graham Shirville 03 Nov '17

03 Nov '17

Hi All, FUNcube-1 AO73 is now in full time transponder mode for the weekend. Have FUN with the bird 73 Graham G3VZV

2 1

AO-73/FUNcube Mode switch
by Jim Heck G3WGM 27 Oct '17

27 Oct '17

Hi Folks, This is to let you know that I have just switched AO-73/FUNcube into amateur mode, with transponder activated 24/7. Early this week due to ground station availability. As per normal, we will switch back to autonomous mode on Sunday pm UTC. 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… Nayif-1 FUNcube-5EO88 is presently operating in autonomous mode. The transponder isoperational when the satellite is in eclipse, ie the solar panels are NOTbeing 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 USBTelemetry Tx: 145.940MHzAll FUNcube transponders are sponsored by AMSAT-UK and AMSAT-NL. We are verygrateful for the assistance given by Innovative Solution In Space Bv, TheNetherlands. _______________________________________________ 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

5 9

Alert! AO-40 is working again!
by Vince Fiscus, KB7ADL 27 Sep '17

27 Sep '17

April Fools.

10 11

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2015-10-26 23:00 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 22 Sep '17

22 Sep '17

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2015-10-26 23:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Possible Russian contact with Kursk Tue 2015-10-27 11:35 UTC Dearborn Public Schools, Dearborn, Michigan, USA, direct via K8UTT The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS Contact is a go for Option #3: Tue 2015-10-27 16:01:59 UTC 57 deg Watch for a live video stream that should start about 15:00 UTC: (***) http://www.dearbornschools.org https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbhrQiZ62LE Daggett Montessori School K-8, Fort Worth, Texas, USA, direct via K5COW The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS Contact is a go for Option #4: Thu 2015-10-29 14:12:56 UTC 31 deg **************************************************************************** ** Interested in hosting an ARISS contact? The window is now open from 2015-09-01 to 2015-11-01. These proposals will be for school contacts during the second half of 2016. Go to http://www.arrl.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact or http://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html for full details. To help organizations in preparing their proposals, the ARISS Program Coordinator will offer hour-long online information sessions. These are designed to provide more information regarding US ARISS contacts and the proposal process and offer an opportunity to ask questions. While attending an online information session is not required, it is strongly encouraged. These will be offered Thursday, September 17, at 2000 UTC; Tuesday, September 22, at 2000 UTC, and Wednesday, September 30, at 2300 UTC. Advance registration is necessary. Email ARISS (ariss(a)arrl.org) to sign up for an information session. **************************************************************************** ** >From 2015-12-20 to 2016-01-04, there will be no US Operational Segment (USOS) hams on board ISS. So any schools contacts during this period will be conducted by the ARISS Russia team. **************************************************************************** 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. **************************************************************************** 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: Gaston ON4WF with 121 Francesco IKØWGF with 114 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 112 **************************************************************************** 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 8061 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS The complete schedule page has been updated as of 2015-10-24 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 Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1001. (***) Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 966. (***) Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 46. 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, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, 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 2015-10-24 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. 43/44 on orbit Scott Kelly Mikhail Kornienko RN3BF Exp. 44 on orbit Oleg Kononenko RN3DX Kimiya Yui KG5BPH Kjell Lindgren KO5MOS Exp. 45 on orbit Sergey Volkov RU3DIS **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

6 17

Re: [amsat-bb] Cleaning up the Global APRS Satellite ground station network (update a)
by Roy Dean 31 Aug '17

31 Aug '17

Bob - I have a cheesy omni running direwolf that had been running a 5 second delay. I changed it to the new symbol (from the black diamond with "R" overlay), and also changed it to the "O" overlay as the "SATGATE" delay has been changed to 15s. Do I understand you correctly that I should leave the overlay on because the 15s delay is implemented? Or by "blackhole fix", do you mean an IS system wide fix? --Roy K3RLD So you can use \] now, but do not use any of the overlays until the > blackhole fix is implemented. > Maybe later the FINDU search can include a wild card for the overlay so we > can search for *] symbols. > > Bob > >

2 1

Re: [amsat-bb] Cleaning up the Global APRS Satellite ground station network (update a)
by Robert Bruninga 31 Aug '17

31 Aug '17

[Updated in response to feedback from the initial post on 7 Aug] We need to better organize our APRS satellite ground stations network. Over an 18 month review, we found about 330 unique IGATES feeding the APRS-IS and captured by the two APRS live satellite web pages on FINDU: http://pcsat.findu.com and http://ariss.net A hot topic at SmallSat conferences is always the need for remote ground station networks. But for two decades, APRS has always had a global ground station network with hundreds of SATGATES on the APRS downlinks of 145.825. Here are some problems that I think we can solve: 1) The black-hole problem of locals direct to Satgates not showing up on the downlink pages 2) No means for premium stations to self identity 3) No means to easily compare satgate capabilities 4) No means to easily indicate satellite traffic captured on other frequencies 5) No easy means to visualize the network in real time 6) The problem of distinguishing RX only SATGATES 7) Future potential for remote transmission via a remote SATGATE for satellite controllers BlackHole Fix: Steve Dimse, K4HG, the author of FINDU proposes: Proper SATGATEs clients should simply delay any directly heard packet for 15 seconds when operating in satgate mode. If a local station successfully digipeats via the satellite and is captured either through this satgate or through another satgate, then the digipeated packet will make it to ariss.net before the directly heard packet. Putting this into all SATGATE software clients would solve the problem (in the area of that satgate and in the area of that user). There are far too many different APRS IGATE clients to make this work across the board. But when combined with our goal to more formally define and identify the APRS-Satellite Ground station network, it does become a viable approach when we use a unique symbol just for these new SATGATES. As previously proposed, we define a new SATGATE symbol, \] that is currently unassigned for SATGATE stations that are permanent parts of this network. Then, when they implement the 15 second delay on direct-heard packets to solve the black-hole problem, they can further segregate their major capabilities using Overlay characters. Phase 1 begins with identifying all permanent SATGATES intending to participate with the special \] symbol. Phase 2 adds blackhole fix to clients which then self-identify their class overlays on that symbol. \] For immediate use by permanent satgates intending to self-identify as part of this network (but w/o the BH fix) A] for AMSAT Oscar class tracking station (2-way, 50W typical radio) L] for Lower gain class stations (think, Arrow antenna, 3 elements on VHF) O] for Omni antenna coverage (no tracking) H] for HFSAT (that will be our next one in a few years) U] for UHF downlinks ( channel TBD) S] for Schools and University class A stations R] for future class A remote access satgates (for satellite operators only) V] for Class A stations scanning and tracking Various other satellite downlinks APRS traffic T] for omni stations that similary Tune other satellite downlinks APRS traffic P] for Portable stations currently operating in non permanent locations FINDU shows no current users of this symbol. But once SATGATE stations begin to implement it you can see them using the FINDU filter: http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/symbol.cgi?icon=\]&limit=200 So you can use \] now, but do not use any of the overlays until the blackhole fix is implemented. Maybe later the FINDU search can include a wild card for the overlay so we can search for *] symbols. Bob

1 0

Upcoming ARISS contact with W. Virginia University, Lane Dept.of Computer Science & EE, Morgantown, WV
by n4csitwo＠bellsouth.net 30 Aug '17

30 Aug '17

An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at West Virginia University, Lane Dept.of Computer Science & Electrical Engineering, Morgantown, WV on 04 Sept. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 15:50 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be direct between NA1SS and W8CUL. The contact should be audible over the state of West Virginia, USA and adjacent areas. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English. The Amateur Radio Club at WVU has existed since 1912, making it one of the oldest student organization at WVU. They provide students a testbed to conduct various experiments such as satellite and digital communications, radio astronomy and drone development. They are housed within the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, which provides educational programs at the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels in computer science, electrical engineering, computer engineering, and biometric systems. WVU is a land grant university and is the largest educational institution in the state. Located in Morgantown, WV, with branch campuses spread throughout the state, WVU is extremely involved in all state affairs. As of 2015, slightly under 30,000 students were enrolled in graduate and undergraduate programs, a population comprised nearly equally (49%/51%) of in-state and out-of-state students, respectively. Present at our contact will be students from elementary and middle schools from throughout the surrounding area. Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. How do you do laundry in space? 2. What is the most challenging part of getting to the ISS? 3. Would you ever go on a mission to Mars? 4. Did you get to see the eclipse from space? 5. What feeling on Earth closely relates to what it feels like to be in space? 6. Has the ISS ever been struck by space debris before? 7. What would happen if someone got sick on the ISS? 8. How long did you have to train to enter zero gravity? 9. How do you stay warm on the ISS? 10. What do you do in your free time? 11. Is using liquids in science experiments on the ISS hard? 12. What was your first day on the ISS like? 13. How bright is the sun in space? 14. In your job, what is the most dangerous thing you have to be prepared for, and has that thing ever actually happened? 15. Can you sleep at night because there is no sunrise or sunset? 16. Which do you like better, space or earth? 17. What is the first meal you'll eat when you get back to earth? 18. Are there any space-specific games that you play on the ISS, like football or video games? 19. Is there space pizza? 20. Do you have a nickname for your rocket? 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. Meadows Elementary School, Manhattan Beach, CA, direct via KM6BWB The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Paolo Nespoli IZØJPA Contact is a go for: Fri 2017-09-08 17:05 UTC 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

1 0

SSTV on AO-85
by Roland Zurmely 30 Aug '17

30 Aug '17

2 SSTV images via AO-85 = FOX-1A <http://www.qsl.net/py4zbz/fox.htm#h> 73 de Roland PY4ZBZ

2 1

Upcoming ARISS contact with Student Space Technology Association, Knoxville, TN USA
by n4csitwo＠bellsouth.net 30 Aug '17

30 Aug '17

An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Student Space Technology Association, Knoxville, TN on Aug 31. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 17:42 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be direct between NA1SS and AA4UT. The contact should be audible over the state of Tennessee, USA and adjacent areas. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English. The University of Tennessee Knoxville is an amazing school located in the hills of Tennessee. It is the largest campus in the state, hosting more than 30,000 students. This school is known for its engineering and science heritage, having close ties with research facilities such as Oak Ridge National Lab. Also, included in our alumni are 9 astronauts including the recent ISS inhabitant Scott Kelly. The Student Space Technology Association is looking forward to our contact with the International Space Station from our contact site at Hardin Valley Academy here in Knoxville. Our school is filled with thousands of eager students seeking to pursue careers in the space industry. With our vision of becoming a top-tier research school, our students are set to become the next leaders in STEM industries. We are excited to encourage the students at Hardin Valley Academy to pursue STEM areas at the university level. Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. Is it difficult to remain up to date on recent events on Earth? 2. Have there been any recent advancements made in ISS biological research that could be applied on Earth? 3. How do you feel about riding on a commercial spacecraft like SpaceX's Dragon Capsule as opposed to a government agency's craft? 4. When doing research, or any other investigation, what kind of cleaning processes do you use on your equipment, or even yourself, to avoid contamination of material and equipment? 5. Has there been any research that has been done with the possible application of zero g therapy to joint diseases such as arthritis. 6. Having used current NASA spacesuits, are you excited about the new space clothing developments being made like the Skinsuit? 7. Why does the vegetable growth experiment chamber have a pink-looking light rather than a white light? 8. Are there any items/tools that are "lost" inside ISS? 9. How often do software updates occur on ISS? (***) 10. Are there any experiments related to additive manufacturing going on at the moment? 11. Using the Haptics-2, how close do you think the technology is to application on Mars? What kind of applications could you see the technology being used for? Anything memorable from the experiment? 12. How often, and how, do you launch satellites from the ISS? 13. Are there plans to test means of producing artificial gravity in the near future? 14. Can you talk about the inflatable module that was delivered to the ISS in April of 2016? 15. Would there be any foreseeable benefits in performing complex medical operations (such as open heart surgery) in a zero g environment. 16. How did the ROSA deployment go? 17. What was the solar eclipse viewing experience from space? 18. What 'treat' from the Dragon cargo - ice cream or fresh avocado - was the most popular? 19. What has been your most interesting experiment? 20. What type of container do the rodents and fruit flies travel back to earth in? 21. What major differences have you found in the ISS since your last mission? 22. Do you get to eat any plants that are growing on the ISS? 23. What are some of the things that are you doing that are results of research done on the ISS? 24. What are some of the changes to space clothing you use like Skinsuit? 25. How difficult is it to learn to sleep in zero gravity? 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. West Virginia University, Lane Dept. of Computer Science & Electrical Engineering, Morgantown, WV, direct via W8CUL The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Paolo Nespoli IZØJPA Contact is a go for: Mon 2017-09-04 15:50 UTC 2. Meadows Elementary School, Manhattan Beach, CA, direct via KM6BWB The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Paolo Nespoli IZØJPA Contact is a go for: Fri 2017-09-08 17:05 UTC 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

1 0

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-08-30 16:00 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 30 Aug '17

30 Aug '17

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-08-30 16:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Student Space Technology Association, Knoxville, TN, direct via AA4UT The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Paolo Nespoli IZØJPA Contact is a go for: Thu 2017-08-31 17:42:14 UTC 60 deg West Virginia University, Lane Dept. of Computer Science & Electrical Engineering, Morgantown, WV, direct via W8CUL The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Paolo Nespoli IZØJPA Contact is a go for: Mon 2017-09-04 15:50:05 UTC 79 deg (***) Meadows Elementary School, Manhattan Beach, CA, direct via KM6BWB The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Paolo Nespoli IZØJPA Contact is a go for: Fri 2017-09-08 17:05:30 UTC 67 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: Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 124 Gaston ON4WF with 123 Francesco IKØWGF with 119 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 2017-08-30 16:00 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 1154. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1113. 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 2017-08-16 05:30 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

1 0

AO-85: Tone or no Tone for SSTV
by Roy Dean 30 Aug '17

30 Aug '17

two questions: According to Amsat website, 67Hz tone is required for a couple of seconds to activate repeater. Once the repeater is activated, does it still require the tone every couple of minutes to stay on, or does it only start the timer after normal ("un-toned") activity stops? Will constantly sending the tone during SSTV Tx mess with the SSTV Rx? I'm planning on eventually trying my own image, and want to be sure I don't waste 36 seconds of valuable airtime. -Roy K3RLD

4 3

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-08-30 01:00 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 29 Aug '17

29 Aug '17

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-08-30 01:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Student Space Technology Association, Knoxville, TN, direct via AA4UT The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Paolo Nespoli IZØJPA Contact is a go for: Thu 2017-08-31 17:42:14 UTC 60 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: Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 124 Gaston ON4WF with 123 Francesco IKØWGF with 119 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 2017-08-30 01:00 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 1154. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1113. 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 2017-08-16 05:30 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

1 0

ISS Crossband Repeater
by Gabriel Zeifman 28 Aug '17

28 Aug '17

Hello fellow bird folk, I noticed in the ANS today the specific note that the recent crossband repeater activation was not to be used for general amateur communications. With the popularity of this mode (and our current shortage of FM birds), has there been any thought about making it a more common thing? It seems to be wildly popular when it is active, and I'd like to think people would have more respect for the times when it needs to be used for scientific functions if it wasn't seen as just a really rare opportunity to make a QSO via the repeater. Maybe there's a reason it's basically always off, just curious. 73, Gabe NJ7H/VE6NJH

2 1

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-08-28 19:30 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 28 Aug '17

28 Aug '17

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-08-28 19:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Student Space Technology Association, Knoxville, TN, direct via AA4UT The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Paolo Nespoli IZØJPA Contact is a go for: Thu 2017-08-31 17:42:14 UTC 60 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: Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 124 Gaston ON4WF with 123 Francesco IKØWGF with 119 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 2017-08-28 19:30 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 1154. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1113. 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 2017-08-16 05:30 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

1 0

Eclipse Day APRS balloons?
by Robert Bruninga 28 Aug '17

28 Aug '17

I added the PLOT of all the 46 APRS balloons on Eclipse day to my Balloon page. http://aprs.org/balloons.html I assume these were trackers on all the 50 NASA balloons launched that day by students all across the country to stream live video of the event. But there is not a single mention of APRS on their web page, and not a single Ham has mentioned involvement here on the APRSSIG or on AMSAT. Yet all the balloons had Ham calls. I’d like someone involved to document the HAM involvement in this massive undertaking and describe the APRS portion so I can add it to the web page. And why does FINDU.COM find about 148 Balloons in the USA, and I can only count about 50 along the path and only a few more..? Bob

1 0

ARRL/TAPR DCC, St. Louis, 9/15 - 17 Registration & Special Hotel Room Rates
by Mark Thompson 27 Aug '17

27 Aug '17

ARRL/TAPR DCC (Digital Communications Conference) September 15 - 17 Saint Louis, MO DCC Information at: ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference | | ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Co... | | Register for the DCC at: http://www.tapr.org/dcc.html#registration The special DCC room rate at the hotel (Holiday Inn Airport West) is valid until August 23rd so make your reservations ASAP. The special DCC room rate is $103.00 single/double plus applicable taxes and valid until August 23, 2016 and after the the regular room rate applies. To book your room, use the reservation link below or call the hotel directly at: 314-291-6800 and mention the group code DCC when making reservations. To use the link below, click the link, then enter Check In & Check Out Dates, Click Check Availability, Choose Room Type and Click Book This Room Hotel Reservation LinkHoliday Inn Airport West Earth City | | Holiday Inn Airport West Earth City | | Holiday Inn Airport West 3400 Rider Trail South Earth City, MO 63045 314-291-6800

1 1

Labour Day Rove
by Ken Alexander 26 Aug '17

26 Aug '17

The nurse has given me limited clearance to go away on Labour Day Weekend, so I will be making up my failed previous attempt to activate FN27/28. Friday and Monday will be travel days, and I'll spend Saturday and Sunday on site. If the roads are no worse than I have encountered on previous roves then I will attempt to activate FN37 as well. I also plan to stop briefly for a few passes in FN26 on the way north on Saturday morning around 1400 to 1500. Hopefully, not too early for western and west coast operators. I will spend Friday night in FN25 and Sunday night in FN24 on the way home. I'll be on in the evenings from those grids. My limited research shows that nobody has FN27/28/37. It ought to be a busy weekend! Let's hope for good weather! I'll post schedules as we get closer to departure day. 73, Ken VE3HLS

1 0

Kenwood TS2000 satellite rig for sale
by John Geiger 26 Aug '17

26 Aug '17

I have for sale a Kenwood TS2000 HF/6m/2m/70cm satellite rig. This is the model that does full duplex for the satellites, and does 100 watts on HF, 6m, and 2m, and 50 watts on 70cm. It has IF-DSP so you don't need any optional filters and you also get noise reduction and an auto notch filter. Has a built in TCXO, CW memory keyer, subreceiver that does AM/FM on 2m and 70cm, and can also be used for Crossband repeat or Skycommand. Also has a built in autotuner. This is a 800xxxx serial number so it was produced before the bad filter issue occurred with the TS2000. It comes with both original boxes, the original manual, hand mic and power cord. It is in very good condition with just a couple of very light scratches on the case. I am asking $900 shipped in the US, and can take paypal/check/mo. 73 John AF5CC

1 0

Re: [amsat-bb] FW: Solar Panel delivery to Maryland
by Robert Bruninga 26 Aug '17

26 Aug '17

> Where did you purchase them in Miami? It is SUNELEC.COM They have unbelievable deals. They also ship from Arizona I think... They have tens of thousands of panels for prices typically between 30 to 50 cents a watt. Solar power for the home is now way under the cost from the utilities, but only if you are grid tied. If you try to store the energy in batteries every day, your costs for the system will triple and you will have battery maintenance issues for life. Plus not enough power in the winter, and too much in the summer. See http://aprs.org/solar-now.html So it is so cheap, but here are many considerations.... * Solar energy now costs much less than the utilities if grid-tied. * But only in states where the utilities are not sleeping with the politicians * You cannot grid-tie unless you have a licensed electrician do it and get all the permits. You will pay around $3/watt installed. * Hint for DIY types: Contract for a very small system. Then add your own panels later (while fully following NEC code). * Going off grid makes no economic sense whatsoever if you have the grid. You will pay three times more for the batteries and never recoup the investment as you always have to maintain and replace batteries for the rest of your life!. * Solar panels are excellent for remote sites where you have no grid and having battery solar power is worth paying triple what it is worth. * Solar panels are great for RV's, Boats or Electric cars... ANYTHING that already has to have a battery anyway, may as well charge for free. ** A small solar panel on the house for the shack makes no economic sense whatsoever. You have the grid, so just charge the shack backup battery from the grid. Don't bother with solar. Also, every single day the grid is UP, you are not using the backup battery so your solar is producing absolutely nothing anyway 99.96% of the time (In Maryland anyway, that is the grid reliability).. ** But if you plug that solar panel into a small 500W Grid-Tie inverter that just plugs into a home outlet (cost under $100 on ebay) then you DO get full retail value from the solar everyday for ever AND you can use the panel direct when the grid goes down. butt don't get greedy... ** But ONLY if you never backfeed more than you are using every minute of the day. If you ever backfeed more than you use, you will pay double for it. ALl non-NET-meters charge for electricity going through the meter no matter which way it goes! So you pay when you over produce and you pay again when you draw it back out later. That is why you MUST have a NET meter to have any hope of economical solar in bulk. ** Thus, a plugin grid tie more than one or two panels will end up COSTING you for every watt you over produce. So, again, the only economical solar is whole house legal net-metered grid tie. And it is so cheap it makes no sense not to do it that way. But if you still want to have a single panel for $100 its great to have 30 volts at 7 amps from the sun, even if you just waste it. But then having to pay $100 for shipping for a $100 panel doesn't make a lot of sense either... Your mileage may vary. Bob, WB4APR On 8/25/2017 5:17 PM, Robert Bruninga wrote: > >> >> I am about to buy a truckload of solar panels for my church and various >> projects. Delivery from Miami to Annapolis Maryland is several hundred >> dollars so if anyone local wants to pile on and get some panels, Ill >> consider adding some more. >> >> These are 285 Watt Trina panels 30v at about 7 amps. 65” by 39”. 40 Lbs >> each. Black frames. >> >> Cost is about $100 each. >> >> >> >> You must pick them up from Annapolis. >> >> Bob, WB4APR >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 >> > >

1 0

FW: Solar Panel delivery to Maryland
by Robert Bruninga 25 Aug '17

25 Aug '17

Anyone to solar power their Satstation in Maryland? I am about to buy a truckload of solar panels for my church and various projects. Delivery from Miami to Annapolis Maryland is several hundred dollars so if anyone local wants to pile on and get some panels, Ill consider adding some more. These are 285 Watt Trina panels 30v at about 7 amps. 65” by 39”. 40 Lbs each. Black frames. Cost is about $100 each. You must pick them up from Annapolis. Bob, WB4APR

1 0

Office Closed
by Martha 25 Aug '17

25 Aug '17

The AMSAT Office will close today (August 25th) at 2:00 PM EDST and reopen on Wednesday, September 6th. -- 73- Martha

1 0

Fwd: [aprsisce] Re: Eclipse Umbra Path [1 Attachment]
by Robert Bruninga 24 Aug '17

24 Aug '17

My HT on a rubber duck just north of Georgia picked up 12 APRS balloons during the eclipse . When I got home, I counted 244 APRS Balloons on Eclipse day on FINDU.COM. Subtracting out the 96 from other parts of the world that day left 148 over the USA. But looking at the map, I only could find about 46 along the track? Where were the others? I cant get a plot of all the USA ones since the filters on APRSFI wont work that big. Looking for someone who can plot all the APRS balloons that day on one map? Mark, KE6BB posted a plot of all the "Flight" symbols during the eclipse. Most are balloons, but a few aircraft mixed in as well. But Ill have to post it on a web page to share it with the group. Bob, WB4APR __._,_.___

2 1

DN14
by Lee Ernstrom 24 Aug '17

24 Aug '17

I will be in DN14 on Saturday night and Sunday morning. If there is interest in this grid I may decide to take gear to work SO-50. WA7HQD Lee (Doc) Ernstrom Sent from my iPad

1 0

Another Satellite Workshop this weekend
by Suryono Adisoemarta 24 Aug '17

24 Aug '17

> > Satellite Workshop in Indonesia, Saturday 26 August > > > Several members of AMSAT-ID, including myself, is planning to deliver a Workshop, including live-demo thru IO-86, of Satellite Communication on Saturday 26 Augustus at Borobudur Hamfest ( http://bcjarf2017.com/ ), from 07.00 till 09.00 UTC. > > Live demo will be conducted thru IO-86 (and possibly also on SO-50). Additional FM Repeater on IO-86 has been scheduled, please follow lapansat on Twitter for the latest schedule. > > The passes that we will be on: 09.03 till 09.23, and 12.32 till 12.52 UTC. Possible also on the 10.45 if activated. > > Feel free to respond to our calls and apologize if the workshop participants are a bit slow in responding. > > Locator: OI52CJ > 73 de Yono – YD0NXX / N5SNN

1 0

Upcoming satellite workshop on Saturday, August 26th
by christy hunter 24 Aug '17

24 Aug '17

Ruth, will give it a go from DM14. and thank you for your demo. The exposure can be invaluable to those few that are inspired to chase satellites. Clint's K6LCS demo many years ago did it for me, then Patrick's (WD9EWK) first response to my call during my first demo during a JOTA clenched it. Thank you to all you Elmers out there. 73 Christy KB6LTY >/On 24 Aug 2017, at 11:34 am, Ruth <ruthwillet at att.net <http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb>> wrote: />//>/Hi all, />//>/I will be giving a satellite workshop this Saturday August 26th for the Amateur Radio Club of Columbia County in Georgia. I am looking forward to helping some more hams get on the birds! We will be on a few passes throughout the day from EM83, so I’d appreciate if you’d be listening for me and other operators on the FM birds. I’ll be demoing 12:31z SO-50 pass under my own callsign and then plan to help other operators get on the 17:59z AO-85 pass. />//>/All QSOs made under my callsign will be uploaded to LOTW. />//>/73! />/Ruth />/KM4LAO/ --- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. http://www.avg.com

1 0

SDR# I/Q file of AO85 Telemetry
by Wendy and Terry Osborne 23 Aug '17

23 Aug '17

Does anyone have a SDR# I/Q wav file of AO85 Telemetry? AO85 (Fox-1A) should have a downlink that can be copied with an RTL-SDR Dongle. In this part of the world, you need to trigger the repeater to turn on the Downlink and so far I haven’t been able to do this. The 2 minute timer is a bit like chasing a needle in a haystack. I’ve tried Patrick, WD9EWK’s HDSDR files but can get any decoded data. 73, Terry Osborne ZL2BAC

1 0

Upcoming satellite workshop on Saturday, August 26th
by Ruth 23 Aug '17

23 Aug '17

Hi all, I will be giving a satellite workshop this Saturday August 26th for the Amateur Radio Club of Columbia County in Georgia. I am looking forward to helping some more hams get on the birds! We will be on a few passes throughout the day from EM83, so I’d appreciate if you’d be listening for me and other operators on the FM birds. I’ll be demoing 12:31z SO-50 pass under my own callsign and then plan to help other operators get on the 17:59z AO-85 pass. All QSOs made under my callsign will be uploaded to LOTW. 73! Ruth KM4LAO

9 8

Icom 910H & AO-85
by dhagert 23 Aug '17

23 Aug '17

I am trying to decode the telemetry with FoxTelem on AO-85 with my 910H with no success. If any has used this set-up, could you please pass along how you configured the radio & software. Tnx Dale W0IR

3 2

ISS Repeater Clarification
by Richard Lawn 22 Aug '17

22 Aug '17

Just to clarify, the downlink is 145.800 and uplink is 437.800? Is there a tone. Someone posted the wrong uplink frequency I think and I just monitored a wonderful pass with lots of great signals heard in FN21. I was unable to hear myself and suspect I had the wrong uplink frequency. Thanks for clarification 73 Rick, W2JAZ

6 8

gqrx and gpredict
by Andrew Rich 22 Aug '17

22 Aug '17

Hello I found a mismatch in port numbers between gqrx and gpredict for those using SDR for ISS gpredict is looking for port 4532 gqrx is looking for 7532 Match them Also gqrx only works on a Mac from here the qgrx website dmg Source code compile causes a segmentation fault I have gpredict driving an AirSpy Mini on gqrx on a MacBook Pro Listening for the ISS Andrew VK4TEC bug fixes submitted

2 1

Ampire 440 Pre AMP
by Tom Lubbers K8TL 22 Aug '17

22 Aug '17

We have an Ampire model 440 mast mount preamp. Electronicly good, cosmeticly well worn. NF 0.75 db, RF sensed. Any interest e-mail k8tl(a)earthlink.net. Will check the Suspect mail. Just want to find in a new home! Tom K8TL

1 0

Re: [amsat-bb] Timewave Navigator chipset
by Gregory Beat 21 Aug '17

21 Aug '17

READ ME File 11/02/2013 Navigator Driver Version 2.4.18 Document Package 2.4.18 (.pdf files added) This driver is intended to supercede previous drivers provided for the Navigator Interface by Timewave Technology Inc. This version provides these features: 1. This one driver is used for either 32-bit or 64-bit computers. The driver automatically selects the correct driver elements during installation. It also supports both XP and Vista. 2. This driver can coexist with any driver version level from FTDI. All software components are renamed with a "nav" prefix to prevent FTDI updates from overwriting the components of this release. 3. These drivers are digitally signed by TIMEWAVE TECHNOLOGY. This provides better security, and speeds up the installation process. It is also required for the 64 bit versions of Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8. 4. This driver is derived from the FTDI-chipset Driver files ver 2.4.16 5. It is recommended that you update to this new Navigator driver level. Updates must remove the current driver from your computer prior to installing this version. See the "Nav Driver Uninstall Procedure.pdf" included with this release. 6. There are four .pdf files in this package that describe the procedures to upgrade the driver to this version. Nav Driver Install XP.pdf Nav Driver Install Vista Win7 win8.pdf Nav Driver Uninstall procedure.pdf Win7 win8 Audio Setup.pdf Open the one appropriate to your system. The uninstall procedure is recommended for XP, Vista, win7 and Win8. 7. If you are installing in a new system, you may use these procedures as well, or use the procedures in the standard Quick Start guides that accompany the Navigator Installation CD. Please direct questions or comments to Timewave Technology Inc. web site: timewave.com e-mail: techsupport(a)timewave.com

1 0

ISS Repeater Audio
by Scott 21 Aug '17

21 Aug '17

Hello everyone. For those in the U.S., I hope you had an enjoyable eclipse day. As has been reported, the voice repeater on the ISS was (is?) active today. If anyone has not had an opportunity to hear the audio when that configuration is enabled, here is a short section of this evening’s pass if you are curious about the quality, etc. (I wish my cell phone was this clear!) http://www.qsl.net/k/k4kdr//files/2017-08-21--ISS-repeater.mp3 ... the audio would have actually been even more clear, but my antenna pointing was a compromise between the ISS and some nearby cubesats. 73, -Scott, K4KDR Montpelier, VA USA

2 1

Activation of CO80 Whistler BC
by Chris Wilford 21 Aug '17

21 Aug '17

To all AMSAT-NA bird chasers; I am now on a family vacation in Whistler, BC (CO80) from now until Saturday August 26th. It will be a vacation schedule but will try to hit multiple passes a day. The focus will be on FO-29, AO-85 and SO-50, but I may jump on any pass that works. I will post details before passes on my twitter feed (@VE7CEW). You don’t need a twitter account to follow my tweets just go to: https://twitter.com/ve7cew I have no idea yet how low I will be able to work in this mountain surrounded village but will try to find the best possible route to cover as much as I can. Feel free to PM me or email if you want to try a specific pass or just want to let me know to listen for you. 73. Chris VE7CEW CO80 Whistler, BC

1 0

Timewave navigator chipset
by vk4tec＠tech-software.net 21 Aug '17

21 Aug '17

Hello Would someone know the chipset used and subsequently the drivers required for a TimeWave Navigator USB sound interface ? Does it support Mac OS X / LINUX Cheers Andrew VK4TEC

4 3

Re: [amsat-bb] NO-84
by Richard Ferryman 21 Aug '17

21 Aug '17

I have been firing APRS through NO-84 for the last three days and was logged on almost all passes here in UK. However I notice the downlink signal is a lot weaker than ISS so I assume it is running much lower power. As a result I don't hear all the downlink transmissions. I don't know what the power difference is. Dick G4BBH --- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. http://www.avg.com

2 1

My eclipse playlist
by John Geiger 21 Aug '17

21 Aug '17

Pink Floyd-Astronomy Domine Interstellar Overdrive Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun The Grateful Dead-Dark Star! 73 John AF5CC

3 4

Re: [amsat-bb] My eclipse playlist
by Glenn Miller - AA5PK 21 Aug '17

21 Aug '17

"The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)" by The Walker Brothers. -----Original Message----- From: skristof(a)etczone.com Sent: Monday, August 21, 2017 2:26 PM To: AMSAT BB Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] My eclipse playlist I just put Astronomy Domine on a repeat loop. Steve AI9IN

1 0

Re: [amsat-bb] [OKDXA] My eclipse playlist
by winger55552001 21 Aug '17

21 Aug '17

Dark Side of the Moon.... Good looking eclipse from Minot ND today! Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone -------- Original message -------- From: John Geiger <af5cc2(a)gmail.com> Date: 8/21/17 12:33 PM (GMT-06:00) To: AMSAT BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org>, Oklahoma - DX news and information <okdxa(a)mailman.qth.net> Subject: [OKDXA] My eclipse playlist Pink Floyd-Astronomy Domine Interstellar Overdrive Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun The Grateful Dead-Dark Star! 73 John AF5CC ______________________________________________________________ OKDXA mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/okdxa Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:OKDXA@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

1 0

ISS crossband repeater may be active
by John Brier 21 Aug '17

21 Aug '17

ISS repeater may be active to retransmit one of the the satellites (Tanusha?) launched by hand by the Russians on the recent EVA. YO9GJX report: 145.800 down, 437.050 up https://instaud.io/1c5z ISS fan club report from EU a day or so ago. https://www.issfanclub.com/node/43874 I just listened to a 23 degree pass in SC while mobile and heard some short weak transmissions. My buddy I'm with said he heard some voice in one of them 73, John Brier KG4AKV

3 2

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-08-21 15:30 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 21 Aug '17

21 Aug '17

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2017-08-21 15:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Montreal Childrens Hospital, Montreal, QC, Canada, telebridge via W6SRJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Paolo Nespoli IZØJPA Contact cancelled due to conflict with Russian experiment: Tue 2017-08-22 17:20:25 UTC 58 deg via W6SRJ (***) Student Space Technology Association, Knoxville, TN, direct via AA4UT The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Paolo Nespoli IZØJPA (***) Contact is a go for: Thu 2017-08-31 17:42:14 UTC 60 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: Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 124 Gaston ON4WF with 123 Francesco IKØWGF with 119 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 2017-08-21 15:30 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 1154. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1113. 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 2017-08-16 05:30 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

1 0

NO-84
by Andrew Rich 20 Aug '17

20 Aug '17

Am i missing something NO-84 or PSAT is very active on my ISS / PSAT website I have it down as 145.825 MHz I have listened to it in light and dark. I have proved my setup on local APRS I have not copied a peep out of NO-84 Andrew

5 4

W5PFG/VE9 to EU 15:34Z 20-Aug AO-85
by Clayton Coleman 20 Aug '17

20 Aug '17

Looking for any EU stations on 15:34Z AO-85 today August, 20. 73 Clayton W5PFG/VE9 FN64mu

1 0

ANS-232 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 20 Aug '17

20 Aug '17

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-232 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: * Cubesats Deployed During Russian EVA - TOMSK TPU-120 Reported Active * Pat Gowen, G3IOR, Silent Key August 17 * AMSAT Fox-1B Completes P-POD Integration * AMSAT Phase 4 Groundstation Update Report * AMSAT 2017 Symposium Call for Papers * AMSAT Journal Packet Articles Added to Station and Operating Hints Page SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-232.01 ANS-232 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 232.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE August 20, 2017 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-232.01 Cubesats Deployed During Russian EVA - TOMSK TPU-120 Reported Active News on the AMSAT-UK webf described the hand-deployment plans of three Russian Cubesats during a spacewalk this week: Expedition 52 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, RN3FI and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy, of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, conducted a planned extravehicular activity from the ISS on Thursday, August 17. Ryazanskiy began the schedule of extravehicular activities with the manual deployment of five nanosatellites from a ladder outside the airlock. The satellites, each of which has a mass of about 11 pounds, have a variety of purposes. [the satellites are thought to include Tanyusha-SWSU 1 & 2 and Tomsk-TPU-120] One of the satellites, with casings made using 3-D printing technology, will test the effect of the low-Earth-orbit environment on the composition of 3-D printed materials. Another satellite contains recorded greetings to the people of Earth in 11 languages. A third satellite commemorates the 60th anniversary of the Sputnik 1 launch and the 160th anniversary of the birth of Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. Thanks to Mike, DK3WN for this post-deployment information: http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?cat=325 TOMSK TPU-120 (RS04S) 437.025 MHz digital voice Tanusha-SWSU-1 (RS-6S) 437.050 MHz 9k6 FSK, digital voice Tanusha-SWSU-2 (RS-7S) 437.050 MHz 9k6 FSK, digital voice [ANS thanks Mike, DK3WN, and AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Pat Gowen, G3IOR, Silent Key August 17 AMSAT-UK reported that Pat Gowen, G3IOR became a silent key on August 17. Pat was the amateur radio operator who made the discovery on June 21, 2002 that AO-7 was transmitting again. Pat posted a message on the amsat-bb, "I have just come across something most remarkable this Friday 21st June evening. Checking out interlopers in our 145.800 - 146.000 MHz space band with a new vertical now atop my 60' tower and working like magic, at 1728UTC I came across a beacon at S.7 sending slow 8 -10 wpm CW on 145.973.8 MHz. It slowly Dopplered down to 145.970 MHz before going out at 1739 UTC." Pat's original message and follow-up replies can be accessed in the amsat-bb archives: http://www.amsat.org/amsat/archive/amsat-bb/200206/msg00525.html [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Fox-1B Completes P-POD Integration Tuesday, August 15 Jerry Buxton, NØJY, Vice President Engineering, delivered RadFxSat, our AMSAT Fox-1B CubeSat, built in partnership with Vanderbilt University to Cal Poly University. RadFsSat/Fox-1B was successfully integrated into the P-POD cubesat deployment container on August 16 along with her pod-mates Makersat-0 and EagleSat. Launch qualification vibration testing of the integrated P-POD was completed on August 17. The P-POD will next be mounted on the ULA Delta II rocket for launch no earlier than October 12, 2017. At the conclusion of integration and testing Jerry commented, "Many thanks to the Cal Poly, Tyvak, and NASA personnel who we performed the integration with, to the Makersat-0 and EagleSat team members, and to my west coast AMSAT CubeSat wing man Al Vasso for a successful and fun day!" Look for photos and more news to be published in the AMSAT Journal. RadFxSat/Fox-1B Uplink: 435.250 MHz FM (67.0 Hz CTCSS tone for access) Downlink: 145.960 MHz FM (with subaudible slow speed telemetry data) 145.960 MHz 9600 baud FSK data [ANS thanks Jerry Buxton, NØJY, AMSAT Vice President Engineering for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Phase 4 Groundstation Update Report Michelle Thompson, W5NYV has published this week's AMSAT Phase 4 Ground Weekly Report - video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZxGfh1Es_I&feature=youtu.be The video provides photos and full discussion of the Team's report. Below is a summary of the highlights, editted for the news format of the e-mailed ANS bulletins. So there's quite the backlog. Let's get caught up. We have a True Position GPS 10 MHz reference with Arduino and display. A very nice system for the money, and we have a session scheduled with the local microwave club to get them up and running for some Phase 4 Ground receiver development. LDPC decode work took some strides forward primarily due to Charles Brain G4GUO and Jan Schiefer AC7TD. Check out the repository in the notes. There will be some more updates there very soon on-line at: https://github.com/phase4ground/DVB-receiver Two B200s compliments of Ettus Research have been delivered to Phase 4 Ground members for R&D. Wally Ritchie WU1Y and Mike Sprenger and Tony Stone W4UOO & W4TAS are the current responsible parties and are learning and doing. This very generous donation is greatly appreciated. If you are in the market for a lab-grade SDR, then go to Ettus and tell them Michelle W5NYV sent you. We're making progress on receivers for DVB-S2 in GNU Radio. We demonstrated the current smoking pile of various blocks at Hamvention, and then Maker Faire, and then DEFCON. We will next bring our work to GNU Radio Conference in September, hopefully that same weekend at TAPR DCC, and then we will bring what will by then be a complete and perfect flow graph to AMSAT Symposium in October. An added bonus? If we can swing it, we'll bring all the wireless challenge exercises from GNU Radio Conference to AMSAT Symposium and be on hand to teach anyone that wants to learn how to use GNU Radio to solve them. Oh, and there's another Maker Faire in there somewhere and I think we should set up a booth. If you're in or around San Diego, Maker Faire will be at Balboa Park on October 7-8. I have a tower trailer for traditional demonstrations but I'm looking to show off satellite, SDR, and digital microwave. We will have Phase 4 Ground members at Microwave Update, IEEE conferences, GNU Radio Conference, TAPR DCC, and AMSAT Sympsosium. Most of these conferences will have papers and/or presentations. If you have never been to any of them, please check them out. These are some of the premier annual events for various overlapping technical communities. We had a very successful Hamvention. Visit https://youtu.be/vHI96TRXchk for a great video of our Hamvention AMSAT engineering booth! Thank you to EC1AME for posting this. We had an extremely successful DEFCON. Phase 4 Ground promoted AMSAT, SDRs, and GNU Radio to one of the largest and most enthusiastic crowds we've ever seen. This was the 25th anniversary of DEFCON, in a new location, and we were invited to be a part of the Wireless Village for all three days as an anchor exhibit and demonstration station. This was a very successful outreach by any measure and we are already planning for next year. If you can help with the GNU Radio DVB-S2 receiver blocks, then do it now because we need more people working on it to make quick progress. Other areas of activity are Phase 4 Ground support of the wireless signal intelligence competition, or CTF, at GNU Radio Conference, and a hackable amateur radio themed badge project. Steve Conklin is coordinating and his first deadline is a February hardware hackers cruise out of San Diego. Next stop after that, Hamvention 2018. If you are interested in badgelife, Bluetooth, integrating VHF/UHF into a hackable wearable badge project, then do we have a challenge for you. Phase 4 Ground will also be at Burning Man. An upcoming video will focus on what we learn from our desert hackathon. The focus will be on getting ahead on DVB-S2 receive and coming up with challenges for the GNU Radio CTF. If you have not got your ticket to GNU Radio Conference, then please do. Link in the notes. www.gnuradio.org Besides producing a radio for AMSAT five and dime, we all want to show how truly fun SDR and GNU Radio and embedded devices and digital communications really are. If you have questions or don't know where to start, then please write me w5nyv(a)yahoo.com [ANS thank Michelle Thompson, W5NYV for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT 2017 Symposium Call for Papers This call for papers is 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] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Journal Packet Articles Added to Station and Operating Hints Page The AMSAT Station and Operating Hints page has been updated to include PDF copies of the packet operating articles recently published in the AMSAT Journal. See https://www.amsat.org/station-and-operating-hints/ + January/February 2017 AMSAT Journal article "Get on the Air with ARISS Packet" (PDF ~500 KB) – How to set up and use computer & soundcard to work the packet system aboard the ISS and other APRS-capable satellites. + January/February 2017 AMSAT Journal article "Working Digipeaters with the Kenwood TH-D72A and TH-D74A" (PDF ~300 KB) – How to use the packet/APRS capability of these radios to work the packet system aboard the ISS and other APRS-capable satellites. AMSAT members received this issue of the AMSAT Journal several months ago. The AMSAT Journal is a premium membership benefit of AMSAT. Please consider joining AMSAT if you are not already a member. Visit https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-membership/ to sign up today! [ANS thanks the AMSAT Web Page Guys 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

1 0

Sat reporter ISS PSAT reporter website hacked and taken down
by Andrew Rich 20 Aug '17

20 Aug '17

It is sad state of affairs when some jerk in the USA decided to exploit my gift to the satellite community Seems there are some vindictive jeulous people out there The IP Address hack came from a comcast business customer in California I was forced to lodge an investigation with comcast business in the USA TCPIP 50.255.43.233 50-255-43-233-static.hfc.comcastbusiness.net When I contacted their online support the clueless individual had no idea what to do. This has made me think twice about helping the satellite community in the future http://59.167.159.165 <http://59.167.159.165/>

1 0

Monitoring satellite telemetry during solar eclipse
by David G0MRF 20 Aug '17

20 Aug '17

Hi all. 1 day to go and I hope your weather forecasts are good! Looking at a few of the available satellites, it seems that the best opportunity for one of them passing through totality is the AO-85 pass that begins over Alaska in the NW at 19.07 UTC and then passes down across the path of the eclipse just off the Coast of GA and FL at 19.22 UTC If you are in the South East USA then you should be able to pick up telemetry as it passes through or very close to totality.. AO-73 + EO-88 both transmit real time telemetry every 5 seconds and they see a partial eclipse. The exact percentage is a little difficult to predict but the graphs produced on their ground station 'dashboard' software should show some 'eclipse effects' The sun sensors on AO-73 produce a graph of log Lux against time. If you happen to get some good results, please get a screen grab of the graph or save the tlm file. It's always good to see the effects of these rare events on the satellites. AO-85 19.07 to 19.27 Best at 19.22 UTC AO-73 16.33 to 16.26 Descending pass via UT AZ CA EO-88 18.12 to 18.24 Descending west coast and for a satellite's eye view... https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap990830.html 73 David G0MRF

1 0