January 2018 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

ARISS News Release no. 18-02
by n4csitwo＠bellsouth.net 26 Jan '18

26 Jan '18

ARISS NEWS RELEASE no. 18-02 Jan 26, 2018 David Jordan, AA4KN ARISS PR aa4kn(a)amsat.org ARISS APRS Packet Currently Non-Operational An unidentified anomaly involving the radio serving the ARISS APRS Packet System on board the ISS has led to the system not functioning. A similar problem has occurred on other occasions and solutions that resolved the problem proved to be only temporary fixes. The system may return to service as it has in the past or it may have finally failed completely. ARISS sees the delivery of the interoperable radio system as the true solution to securing our ARISS packet operation. Current target period for delivery and installation of the replacement system is Fall 2018. In the meantime, ARISS continues to investigate the problem and seek opportunities to resolve the issue. The ARISS team knows many amateur radio operators really enjoy using the ARISS APRS packet system, and thanks everyone for understanding the issues involved with not having it available. 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 the 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. Join us on Facebook: Amateur Radio on the ISS (ARISS) Follow us on Twitter: ARISS_status --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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Keps accuracy
by Dale Kubichek 26 Jan '18

26 Jan '18

I see all these (hard to follow) AMSAT-BB postings about Keps implying there is NO ONE site that has accurate Keps. That we need to get this from here or that from there and combine to make a KEP.TLE for our programs. Is there no HAM SAT Keps that are complete & accurate? I was under the impression the AMSAT Keps were the most accurate for HAM SATs? Is that true or not, and if not, WHY? AMSAT Keps - when are they updated? If daily - what time? How often should Users update their program Keps? I Dale Kubichek, MS-EET, N6JSX http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HAM-SATs http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RDF-USA

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Keps accuracy
by Joe Fitzgerald 26 Jan '18

26 Jan '18

Ray Hoad wrote: >Thus weekly updates are completely adequate with one exception. >The ISS is an example of an object that has the ability to >change its orbit. Thus the TLEs for the ISS are updated more frequently. Another motivation for frequent TLE updates for ISS is the narrow beamwidths of dish antennas used for 2395 MHz HamTV. Even without orbital maneuvers ISS TLE accuracy can degrade enough to cause antenna pointing problems within a week. de KM1P Joe

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Re: [amsat-bb] Looking to connect with other FT847 users on linear sats
by Brian Helm 25 Jan '18

25 Jan '18

> I can see how my sentence was confusing...sorry > > I'm trying to find other people who use the FT 847 for making contacts on the linear satellites. Not to discuss while on the air, but to connect through email or phone or whatever to talk to them about the 847 quirks and settings and possible improvements.

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DM90 and DL98/DL99 on Saturday
by Glenn Miller - AA5PK 25 Jan '18

25 Jan '18

Gary, W5ETJ, and I plan to trek down toward the Mexico border on Saturday, 27 January. Will be in DM90 for the 1512Z pass of CAS-4B, the 1532Z pass of AO-85 and the 1613Z pass of AO-92 (assuming it's open for business). Will also work the 1652Z pass of CAS-4B (probably still in DM90.) Also the 1727Z SO-50 pass probably from DL99. The 1904Z pass of SO-50 and the 1915Z pass of AO-91 will be from DL98/DL99 line. May work the 2050Z pass of AO-7 on the return trip, likely from DM90. Will upload to LoTW after the trip. Hard copy QSL request by email. Follow me on APRS as AA5PK-9. Will provide updates on Twitter as @AA5PK 73 Glenn AA5PK

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AO-92 camera results
by Andrew Glasbrenner 25 Jan '18

25 Jan '18

For those that have not been following AMSAT on Twitter or Facebook, we have done a few camera runs with AO-92 with very good results. A pass this morning yielded 4 good images, two of which I have located their position on the ground. The images can be seen at http://www.amsat.org/tlm/fox1d/images/index1.html Some side by side comparisons with Google Earth and NOAA images can be found at: https://twitter.com/AMSAT/status/953294176933896195 and https://twitter.com/AMSAT/status/953304248162406401 . Congratulations again to Virginia Tech, and thanks for providing the camera experiments for AO-92 and Fox-1Cliff! 73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT VP Operations

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Looking to connect with other FT847 users on linear sats
by Brian Helm 25 Jan '18

25 Jan '18

Looking to connect with other FT847 users on linear sats. I'm new to this rig and wanted to share information and learn. Brian AA9KG

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Re: [amsat-bb] Exciting Coax
by Edward R Cole 25 Jan '18

25 Jan '18

I guess I differ with Greg KO6TH on what I consider "reasonable loss". I do a lot of VHF thru mw frequencies and hate to loose more than 1-dB in loss. I consider 25-foot of RG-213 at 144-MHz as max, then go to LMR-400 for longer runs (up to 150-foot). If longer runs needed then I use LDF or equivalent hardline. My 2m eme antennas are 214 foot from the PA and measured total loss is 1.67 dB, but my preamps are mounted on the tower and only see about 0.4 dB loss. On 1296 my dish is about 100-foot from the shack and I have 6-dB loss in the LMR-600 transmission line. Fortunately my high power PA's are located at the dish and only need 2w drive from my 20w transverter in the shack. On 1296 receive the preamp is mounted directly to the dish feed and have about 125 foot of LMR-400 to transverter (7-dB loss). But preamp has 37-dB gain so easily overcomes the loss with about 30-dB residual gain to the transverter to result in 0.3 dBNF. This is all for eme where losses will kill your ability so see weak signals. 73, Ed - KL7UW http://www.kl7uw.com Dubus-NA Business mail: dubususa(a)gmail.com

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HT for sats
by James Sanford 25 Jan '18

25 Jan '18

after moving several years ago, I'm getting back into sats and would like a new HT ( IC W32 is aging).looking at the FT-70dr but is there a better choice?? TNXs K8zzu

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Chinese TY2-TY6
by Robert McGwier 25 Jan '18

25 Jan '18

These seem interesting with 5 MBPS OFDM downlink on 5.8 GHz. I'm wondering if there are sufficient details published to do an SDR? Bob N4HY -- Bob McGwier Founder, Federated Wireless, Inc Founder and Technical Advisor, HawkEye 360, Inc Research Professor Virginia Tech Chief Scientist: The Ted and Karyn Hume Center for National Security and Technology Senior Member IEEE, Facebook: N4HYBob, ARS: N4HY Faculty Advisor Virginia Tech Amateur Radio Assn, Trustee K4KDJ Director of AMSAT Member of PVRC (Roanoke-Blacksburg), TAPR, life member of ARRL and AMSAT, NRVR.ORG (Rocketry)

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