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

Last pass from St. Barts
by Jim White 26 Apr '18

26 Apr '18

Last pass from FJ/N0KV on St. Barts will be FO29 at 1723Z today. After that we will finish packing up, eat the last of the cold cereal, and depart very early tomorrow for St. Martin and Miami. We have about 85 on sats so far. We had some fascinating sat contacts propagation wise-which I'll write up later. Total of about 7,500 contacts so far on HF even though the bands have been mostly poor. About 1,500 of those contacts are on FT8 (working now on 20M). Jim, WD0E @amsat

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Recommendations for Antenna to Pol switch Flexible Coax
by David Johnson 26 Apr '18

26 Apr '18

Hi, I am rebuilding my antenna stack and while I have used RG-214 as the coax pairs from the ants around the rotator to the pol switches in the past, I wonder if anyone has any other suggestions for coax. 73 Dave, G4DPZ

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Re: [amsat-bb] Recommendations for Antenna to Pol switch Flexible Coax
by Kevin M 26 Apr '18

26 Apr '18

Hello Dave I used Davis RF 9914 Bury Flex cable between my yagis and preamps. It seems to have held up well. Don't know if it's available across the pond, but worth a look. website for specs: www.davisrf.com/buryflex.php 73, Kevin N4UFO

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Re: [amsat-bb] Recommendations for Antenna to Pol switch Flexible Coax
by richard limebear 26 Apr '18

26 Apr '18

Hi Dave > I am rebuilding my antenna stack and while I have used RG-214 as the coax pairs from the ants around the rotator to the pol switches in the past, I wonder if anyone has any other suggestions for coax. I had the main runs using westflex (I still have a drum I don't want) but used a more flexible cable around the rotator. H100 would be good if you have some otherwise the best (thick) cable you have will do. 73 Richard G3RWL

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FC-1
by Adrian Done 25 Apr '18

25 Apr '18

On orbit 73289 - at my location at 17.01 to 17.12 UTC - no signal until 17.05 and, at 17.05 I think a RESET (long BEEP) and from this time was normal telemetry. Ady/YO8AZQ

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SatPC Audio Files
by Vincenzo Mone 25 Apr '18

25 Apr '18

Hello, please anybody can tell me where are stored the announcements satellite audio files? I wold like to amplitude the as they are a bit low for me. Thanks 73's de Enzo IK8OZV EasyLog 5 BetaTester EasyLog PDA BetaTester WinBollet BetaTester D.C.I. CheckPoint Regione Campania Skype: ik8ozv8520 ************************************* ******* GSM +39 328 7110193 ******* ****** SMS +39 328 7110193 ****** *************************************

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FJ/N0KV logs
by Jim White 24 Apr '18

24 Apr '18

We will be posting sat contacts to LOTW about two weeks after we get back. We are leaving here Friday and will be two days in travel. Jim, WD0E

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working satellites with Morse
by Mike Stansberry 24 Apr '18

24 Apr '18

Hi, all. I hope someone can help me out. I've been trying to work the transponder satellites using CW (Morse) for some time. I use satpc32 for the tracking program and a Kenwood TS-2000X. I've been able to hear my downlink signal by using transmit RIT to find the signal. At that point, satpc32 tracks the Doppler and keeps the signal where I have it set, within a few Hertz. I've called CQ a lot with no responses. A couple of times I heard CW but the signal just drifted across where I was at, from lower to higher frequency. What might I be doing wrong? Or is there just not much activity on Morse? I haven't heard much SSB or FM on the FM birds but what I've heard I've been unable to work anyone. They just talk too fast for me to understand and the signals aren't always the strongest. Thanks for any help. 73, Mike, K0TER

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Upcoming ARISS contact with Zespól Szkoly Podstawowej i Publicznego Gimnazjum w Buczku, Buczek, Poland; I Liceum Ogólnoksztalcace im. Tadeusza Kosciuszki w Lasku, Lask, Poland; and Zespól Szkól Ponadgimnazjalnych w Zelowie, Zelów, Poland
by n4csitwo＠bellsouth.net 24 Apr '18

24 Apr '18

An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Zespól Szkoly Podstawowej i Publicznego Gimnazjum w Buczku, Buczek, Poland; I Liceum Ogólnoksztalcace im. Tadeusza Kosciuszki w Lasku, Lask, Poland; and Zespól Szkól Ponadgimnazjalnych w Zelowie, Zelów, Poland on 26 Apr. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 10:52 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be direct between OR4ISS and SP7KYL. The contact should be audible over the country of Poland 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. Three schools participate in one ARISS school contact. The Complex of High Schools in Zelów and The 1st High School in Lask were invited to cooperate with the main organizer of the event - The Complex of the Primary School and the Junior High School in Buczek, because students from one school very often continue their education in another school on the next educational level. These three schools are an example of education levels in Poland. They are situated in the central part of Poland. The Complex of the Primary School and the Junior High School (Zespól Szkoly Podstawowej i Publicznego Gimnazjum) in Buczek is a primary school together with a secondary school. Since 2016 the school has been changed into one - Primary School. It is a community school located in the center of Poland. The school was built in 1950, there are 18 classrooms, 2 IT rooms, a canteen, two ordinary gym rooms and one newly constructed modern gym. There are 369 students at school and highly educated staff. The school is known for its safety, warmth, friendship and working together. Zelów is located about 6 km from Buczek. The Complex of High Schools (Zespól Szkól Ogólnoksztalcacych ) in Zelów consists of the primary school, junior school, and secondary school. The secondary school was built in 1957, whereas in 1999 the Complex of schools have been established. There are 23 classrooms, modern library assembly hall, gym, sports ground and observatory equipped with the camera registering bolides and transferring the data to the Polish Bolides Net. 363 students attend our school. The school is famous for realizing various projects and cooperation with different organizations, i.e. Amnesty International. Since 2017 teachers and students have been participating in the program Erasmus+. Lask is located about 10km from Buczek and about 15km from Zelow. The 1st High School (I Liceum Ogólnoksztalcace im. Tadeusza Kosciuszki) in Lask is the oldest Polish secondary school in this city. It is an outstanding didactic institution which has been sustaining the highest level of education as well as the place of particular aura, where all the graduates have been talking with pleasure and sentiment about. Having worked for years with the original methods with talented students has contributed to the high place of our school in the national school rankings. This success is owed to the plenty of students who have won diverse contests in different subjects. Graduated students continue higher education studying. The Amateur Radio Club SP7KYL is Association of Communication Section of Sport and Recreation JUPITER of Belchatów Power Plant. The Club unites 10 actively working licensed amateurs radio members. The club was founded in 1980. The Club launched and take care of two amateur radio analogous repeaters SR7E (2m) and SR7EB (70cm). The club is also co-organizer of national HAM radio technical meetings: SP-QRP Workshops (2007-2011) and The Technical Shortwave Convent (Zjazd Techniczny Krotkofalowcow) in Burzenin (since 2012). Members from this clubs visited and installed HAM radio equipment in each of mentioned schools to give their students a unique opportunity to talk by HAM radio. Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. What was the most interesting occurrence that you came across during your space trip and at the space station? 2. What are scientific experiments carried out on the space station at present? 3. Can you describe how did the aurora looked like from the ISS and what did you feel when you saw it the first time? 4. Does being in space contribute to a faster aging of cells? 5. What do astronauts feel while approaching earth during the return? 6. What do you think about the importance of a HAM radio school contacts? 7. How do astronauts weld metals while repairing broken ISS station? 8. How do you keep in touch with your family? 9. What do you do on the International Space Station if one of you gets ill and, for example, needs to have an immediate surgical removal of an appendix? 10. How often do you have to correct the ISS orbit to avoid space trash? 11. Which skills are the most important to become an astronaut? 12. Is it hard to get used to weightlessness? 13. What is your biggest dislike being in space? 14. How well does your training help you to cope with the mental and physical changes that occur on travel to and from space? 15. What is the maximum duration that your mission in space can be? 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. About Gagarin From The Space. Implementation Of The Session Of Radio-Love Communication With Participants Of "Artek" Change, near Black Sea, direct via RM6KD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Alexander Skvortsov Contact is a go for Tue 2018-04-24 11:05 UTC 2. SSTV testing, Kursk, Russia, not considered a school contact, direct via TBD.The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Alexander Skvortsov Contact is a go for 2018-04-25 08:35 UTC 3. Zespól Szkoly Podstawowej i Publicznego Gimnazjum w Buczku, Buczek, Poland; I Liceum Ogólnoksztalcace im. Tadeusza Kosciuszki w Lasku, Lask, Poland; and Zespól Szkól Ponadgimnazjalnych w Zelowie, Zelów, Poland, direct via SP7KYL The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Ricky Arnold KE5DAU Contact is a go for: Thu 2018-04-26 10:52:33 UTC 41 deg Watch for live stream at: (***) https://ariss.pzk.org.pl/live/ 4. Mill Springs Academy, Alpharetta, GA, direct via WA4MSA The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Scott Tingle KG5NZA (***) Contact is a go for: Thu 2018-05-03 15:47:30 UTC 25 deg (***) 5. Students for the Exploration & Development of Space, College Station, TX, direct via W5QZ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Scott Tingle KG5NZA (***) Contact is a go for: Thu 2018-05-03 17:22:31 UTC 47 deg (***) 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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Plans from FJ/N0KV
by Jim White 23 Apr '18

23 Apr '18

Our internet has been down for two days and just now back up. We have strong local noise on VHF at the AO91 and 91 frequencies so those are off the list. Morning passes here on any sat have pretty much no one on them. We are having great success with FO29 (a workhouse). We are also able to work AO7 and in fact worked a handful of Europe stations there the other day. Pretty awesome - especially since I'd never been on AO7 before. Downlink is hard to hear but it's workable. So the plan is to concentrate on SO50 (to the extent someone else is not using all the bandwidth), FO29, and AO7 when SA or NA are in the footprint. Again, FO29 is working great. Be glad to work all comers there. And *please* don't tune your uplink while calling us. It's impossible to track you across the passband, point the antenna, turn for normal Doppler, paper log, all at the same time. We are happy to tune for you if you stay put on 145.840 - which is where we are. The other guys are helping with the antenna when possible but not always. Thanks for your patience as we fumble through this. We have about 60ish sat contacts. Three more days on island. Hot, humid, breezy to strongly windy , and HF bands the pits. Mostly FT8 and CW on 20, 30, 40, occasionally 17 (plus possible 80 tonight). Will do SSB on HF when conditions allow. Good long run on 40 SSB into mostly US last night and hopefully tonight about 0000Z. Jim, WD0E From St. Barts. Operating as FJ/N0KV (also FJ/KI5P cw only on HF). @amsat

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