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

Second call for papers for 2017 AMSAT Annual Meeting and Space Symposium
by Daniel Schultz 15 Sep '17

15 Sep '17

This is the seccond 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(a)amsat.org

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Register for the AMSAT Symposium Now!
by Paul Stoetzer 14 Sep '17

14 Sep '17

Today is the last day you can register for the AMSAT Space Symposium, being held October 27th-29th in Reno, NV for the early registration price of $45. Starting tomorrow, registration is $55. https://www.amsat.org/product/2017-amsat-symposium/ Be sure to register today! 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Secretary Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT-NA)

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WD9EWK road trip to southern California (15-17 September 2017)
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 14 Sep '17

14 Sep '17

Hi! I will be driving to Los Angeles on Friday morning, and planning to attend the 2017 ARRL Southwest Division Convention ("HAMCON") over the weekend. On my way out on Friday, I am planning a stop on the DM23/DM24 grid boundary north of Quartzsite AZ and I-10. This will probably be a quick stop, possibly no more than a couple of passes, depending on when I leave Phoenix and how the drive goes up to that point. I am also planning to pass through this area sometime on Sunday afternoon or early evening, when I might have more time to work more passes on my way home. During the weekend, I will be in Torrance, south of LAX airport. I won't have a booth at the convention, but I will be wandering around and also - if all goes well - getting on some passes from the top of the parking garage outside the hotel. I may even do some demonstrations, repeating what I did during the 2015 convention at the same location. I don't have a set schedule for the weekend, as this is closer to a quick vacation away from home and work. Even if I'm not going to do a demonstration, I want to try working some passes while I'm there, including some packet via NO-84 and the ISS. I will post updates on my @WD9EWK Twitter account, which is also visible in a web browser at http://twitter.com/WD9EWK - even if you don't use Twitter. While on the road, I'll have my TH-D72A squawking to the APRS network in Arizona and southern California as WD9EWK-9. This should also show up on the web, on http://aprs.fi/WD9EWK-9 among other sites. Where possible, I may also post updates here on the -BB. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK or http://twitter.com/WD9EWK

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Upcoming ARISS contact with Boston Red Sox Outreach to School Groups, Boston, MA
by n4csitwo＠bellsouth.net 13 Sep '17

13 Sep '17

An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Boston Red Sox Outreach to School Groups, Boston, MA on 14 Sept. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 15:03 UTC. It is recommended that you start listening approximately 10 minutes before this time.The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a telebridge between NA1SS and W6SRJ. The contact should be audible over the west coast of the U.S. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English. Fenway Park is host to close to twenty schools from five of the six New England states for a STEM event on Thursday, September 14, 2017. This event, specifically the on-field activities like engineering and launching water bottle rockets in the shadow of the historic Green Monster, provide schools with a real-world application of the Next Generation Science curriculum. With the partnership of ARISS and the ISS contact, the STEM activities (both the activities of the day and the pre-teaching activities sent to schools prior) would shift to a STEM NASA, space and amateur radio focus. The goal of ISS contact was to be a draw to those schools from all over New England who do not have the capacity to otherwise go through the contact proposal and host a contact. In this one event, ARISS is granting exposure to New England schools to STEM, NASA, space and amateur radio. Students from Burlington, VT; Salem, MA; Whitnesville, MA; Mashpee, MA; Wakefield, RI; Danvers, MA; Bradford, MA; Waltham, MA; Whitefield, MA; Provincetown, MA; Concord MA; Roxbury, MA; Stoneham, MA; Nashua, NH; and Bangor ME are all scheduled to be part of this historic learning event. Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. How often and through what methods do you communicate with family and others on earth? 2. How much exercise do you get while in space? 3. What are some of the foods you eat while in space? 4. What if a serious illness enters the space station, how would you stop it? 5. When did you first become interested in space exploration? 6. What kind of jobs does Robonaut 2 do on the ISS or what kind of experiments do you do with R2? 7. Were you able to see the eclipse in space? 8. What's it like to float around instead of walking? 9. Do you believe in aliens or life on other planets? 10. What advice would you give to someone who wants to grow up to be an astronaut? 11. What was the hardest thing to become accustomed to on the ISS? 12. What is the most challenging thing to do weightless? 13. Are you a Red Sox or Yankees fan? 14. Do you use a lot of math on the ISS? 15. What was your favorite subject in school? 16. How do you brush your teeth? 17. What Earth food do you miss the most? 18. When are you scheduled to come back to Earth and what will you do first? 19. Who inspired you? 20. Have you ever been to Fenway Park? 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. Heart of America Council Boy Scouts of America, Kansas City, MO, The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Paolo Nespoli IZØJPA Contact is a go for: Sat 2017-09-23 12:03 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

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5.8ghz Dish, G5500, and receivers...
by Lou Michaels 13 Sep '17

13 Sep '17

A pair of 25'' 5.8ghz 29dBi Teletronics International dishes fell into my lap this week and I'm trying to decide on some projects. Here's a pic: https://i.imgur.com/W9oeVSv.jpg I have a G5500 rotor from my previous ground station, and I'm thinking of doing some solar radio astronomy or transponder chasing. Without the covers, the dishes weigh 13.2lbs each. Could the G5500 safely handle the load of one or two of these dishes? I'm not considering roof mounting, and prefer to do things closer to the ground for the time being. Via a SDRPlay, my highest receive capability is 2ghz. Short of changing the feed, what might I do or be able to use to bring the frequency down to something more manageable or will the dish still feed signals at lower frequencies? I'm not beyond changing the feed, or building transverters, but some searching isn't producing more than commercial wifi applications. Anyone have any plans, ideas, advice or direction to offer? Thanks in advance! Cheers, Lou W2LMM <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…> Virus-free. www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…> <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>

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DN50 this Saturday
by dtabor＠estesvalley.net 13 Sep '17

13 Sep '17

Under the guise of seeing the Fall colors and maybe Dinosaur Nat'l Monument, Pam, K0ZXZ and I are planning to head to NW Colorado for an activation of DN50 this Saturday. This may be our last chance to go over Trail Ridge Road (12,120') for the season. We expect to be all modes and in the grid around 1800 UTC - track N6UA-9 on APRS. Right now, the plan is to overnight in either Craig, CO or Vernal, UT, so early Sunday ops are possible as well.

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Re: [amsat-bb] Ao-85 SSTV
by John Brier 13 Sep '17

13 Sep '17

Yes. It is a great program. How is it working for you? 73, John Brier KG4AKV On Sep 13, 2017 10:20 AM, "Michael A. Foster" <akx2(a)dacor.net> wrote: Any body got any experience with a program called RX-SSTV?? Trying to decode SSTV signals off of ao-85 Tnx, Michael – n8iup _______________________________________________ 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

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Ao-85 SSTV
by Michael A. Foster 13 Sep '17

13 Sep '17

Any body got any experience with a program called RX-SSTV?? Trying to decode SSTV signals off of ao-85 Tnx, Michael – n8iup

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Re: [amsat-bb] Making the Linear Satellites more accessible
by MICHAEL WILLIAMS 13 Sep '17

13 Sep '17

I would like to add some comments to Mac's interesting email. As both a CW and SSB op on FO-29, AO7, and the XW birds, I can attest that CW operation is now almost non existent. If I was to guess CW a percentage of total satellite use, it would be less than 2%. At 2%, the CW problems you mention are not a problem. From time to time, there are clearly some issues on the linear satellites. A good example is stations using full Doppler correction colliding with stations under manual control. But in general things roll along pretty well and good satellite operators know how to deal with it. FO-29 is my favorite satellite. It has an excellent receiver and a large footprint. I've QSOed with a station using 50 mW of up link power. With some resourcefulness, I think you could beat the $1000 figure way down. I'd spend $20.00 on a SDR SHARP and see just how well you can hear the linear sats. That would be a good start, and they a fun to play with. All the best in your future satellite operations, Mike K9QHO

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EM93 from South Carolina Wednesday September 13, 2017
by Ruth 13 Sep '17

13 Sep '17

Hi all, I planning to be on the 22:35z SO-50 pass tomorrow evening, Wednesday September 13th, from EM93 in South Carolina. It’s a 15 degree pass and a new location, but I’ll work as many as I can. Hope to hear you then! 73, Ruth KM4LAO

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