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

67 Hz filter
by Ashhar Farhan 19 Jul '18

19 Jul '18

I am brewing a satellite receiver. The 67 Hz CTCSS tone is quite annoying. Is there anyway to easily filter it out? - f

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Surprise - The AMSAT-NA TLE's Are Early This Week
by Ray Hoad 18 Jul '18

18 Jul '18

Surprise - The AMSAT-NA TLE's are one day early this week (vacation). Ray Hoad WA5QGD AMSAT-NA Orbital Elements Manager

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Electronic voting (was Re: 2018 Corrected AMSAT Board of Directors Ballots)
by Brennan Price 18 Jul '18

18 Jul '18

ARRLtried electronic balloting for Directors and Vice Directors for a three-year cycle not long ago. Physical ballots were mailed only to those members without email addresses on file. Members with emails on file got a link to the contractor's (SBS) online voting site. Voter participation in the few contested ARRL elections during that cycle plummeted, and the cost was pretty much a wash (it costs money to do electronic voting securely). The difficulty is that an email directing voters to a voting site is easily lost in the noise compared to a paper ballot received in the mail. This phenomenon is not uncommon; the same thing happened when the Virginia State Bar implemented online voting around the same time, with the same vendor. ARRL abandoned electronic balloting. VSB has kept it, and has dealt with declined participation. There are merits in both approaches, but the argument that electronic balloting is better and cheaper is fallacious. (Same thing applies to electronic publication as compared to paper--paper ad rates command a premium for a very good reason.) 73 de Brennan N4QX

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2018-07-19 01:00 UTC
by aj9n＠aol.com 18 Jul '18

18 Jul '18

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2018-07-19 01:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: 7th International Aerospace School. I.N. Sultanova Rep. Bashkortostan, Ufa, Russia, direct via TBD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Artemyev Contact is a go for 2018-07-20 20:15 UTC Shinoda Elementary School, Izumi City, Japan, direct via 8N3SD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Ricky Arnold KE5DAU Contact is a go for: Mon 2018-07-23 09:47:14 UTC 43 deg ISS R&D Conference-San Francisco, CA, (CASIS#2), participating school Quest Institute for Quality Education, San Jose, CA, telebridge via VK5ZAI The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Serena Aunon-Chancellor KG5TMT Contract is a go for: Thu 2018-07-26 20:22:10 UTC 48 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: Francesco IKØWGF with 132 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 129 Gaston ON4WF with 123 Sergey RV3DR with 103 **************************************************************************** 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 2018-07-19 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 1238. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1186. 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: 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 2018-07-17 18:00 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. 55 on orbit Drew Feustel Oleg Artemyev Ricky Arnold KE5DAU Exp. 56 on orbit Serena Aunon-Chancellor KG5TMT Alexander Gerst KF5ONO Sergei Propopev **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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pictures from satellites
by skristof＠etczone.com 18 Jul '18

18 Jul '18

I'm still having issues downloading images from satellites. It's the same issue whether I'm trying to get photos from wx satellites using WxtoImg or images from the space station using MMSSTV. They all appear to be shredded horizontally. Is the software not getting the synchronization tone? I have noticed lately that the "scope" line on FoxTelem goes flat every once in a while when I'm trying to get telemetry from AO-85 or -92 (which also has been fruitless lately). But the trace on the SDR# waterfall does not disappear at those times. When I posted this problem before, a couple folks suggested turning off anti-virus programs. I tried turning off my AVG during a run and nothing changed. My setup has worked in the past as-is. Was there a Windows 10 update that may be interfering? Does Windows 10 have some inherent anti-virus features that should be turned off? Has anyone else had this problem and how did you fix it? All constructive suggestions will be appreciated. Steve AI9IN

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2018 Corrected AMSAT Board of Directors Ballots
by Clayton Coleman W5PFG 18 Jul '18

18 Jul '18

Due to a printing error, the beige-colored ballots mailed to AMSAT-NA members for the 2018 Board of Directors election on July 15, 2018 have been declared void. Any of these voided ballots received at the AMSAT-NA office will not be counted. New ballots, labeled “CORRECTED BALLOT 7/20/2018” and printed on yellow-colored cardstock will be mailed to all AMSAT-NA members. Please vote for no more than three of the 2018 candidates: Tom Clark, K3IO Mark Hammond, N8MH Scott Harvey, KA7FVV Bruce Paige, KK5DO Peter Portanova, W2JV The Directors positions will go to the three candidates receiving the highest number of votes. In addition, there will be two alternate members chosen, based on the next highest number of votes received. 73, Clayton W5PFG AMSAT-NA Corporate Secretary

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New Software Tool for Verifying If Roving Locations Are Within Your VUCC Circle
by Ron Bondy 18 Jul '18

18 Jul '18

I have written a software tool in Python for determining if a set of local rover locations (specified in decimal degrees latitude and longitude) are all within 200km of each other. I used this for myself to determine which of my local roving locations were within my 200km VUCC circle. The script uses the Haversine method for determining the distance between two locations on the earths surface, assuming the earth has a constant radius. References are given in the readme.txt file provided below in the DropBox folder. It's a good planning tool too; if I'm going to go roving to a new local spot then I'd prefer to rove to a location within my VUCC circle so my contacts count toward my VUCC award totals. This is a Python script that is run from the command line, so I'm sorry but there is no user interface. If you're not sure what the command line is and you've never heard of the Python programming language this software tool is probably not for you. You can download the files here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xkvbaj41060h4vy/AAC0n_D3uDAjEgWwcwxxxjnba?dl=0 The DropBox folder contains the Python script, along with ad0dx_vucc_circle.txt, the file with my roving locations to give you an example of how to use the script. A readme.txt file is provided to give some more background and also a results file with the results from using the script on my roving locations file. You could examine the results file to determine if you think this Python script might be useful to you. Another great application is to put all your local WalMart's in the file to confirm if those WMPLOTA locations count toward your VUCC totals. Currently only latitude and longitude in decimal degrees are supported for locations. I haven't actually found the center of my own VUCC cirle at this point, but the tool has let me confirm and investigate all the locations I use for roving. It turns out for me that the DM68 69 78 79 four corner grid is in my circle as well as the location I operate from on the DM 88 89 grid line. My qth is in DM78 and is close to 39N latitude so DM79 is just a few miles north of me. The tool has shown me that I can also include DM77 in my VUCC circle, so that gives me a lot of options for roaming and counting grids towards my VUCC award. If you have any questions or comments please contact me off list at ad0dx at yahoo dot com. Thanks and 73's, Ron, ad0dx

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Re: [amsat-bb] 2018 Corrected AMSAT Board of Directors Ballots
by Scott Medbury 18 Jul '18

18 Jul '18

These errors seem to be increasing in frequency. Scott KD5FBA Sent from my Verizon Motorola Droid On Jul 17, 2018 5:53 PM, Frank <k6fw1(a)verizon.net> wrote: > > I hope the error was the printing company's and that they are paying for > the printing and mailing the second time. That would be fair. > > 73, > Frank > K6FW > On 7/17/18 3:40 PM, Gabriel Zeifman wrote: > > How unfortunate that our cash strapped, technology oriented organization is > > having to waste so much money to print and mail two sets of paper ballots > > to each and every member. Seems to me that electronic voting would save the > > organization money, make voting more secure and efficient, prevent mishaps > > such as this, and prevent some members from not receiving ballots like last > > year. > > > > 73, > > Gabe > > AL6D/VE6NJH > > > > On Tue, Jul 17, 2018, 2:33 PM Clayton Coleman W5PFG <tasmac(a)w5pfg.us> wrote: > > > >> Due to a printing error, the beige-colored ballots mailed to AMSAT-NA > >> members for the 2018 Board of Directors election on July 15, 2018 have > >> been declared void. Any of these voided ballots received at the AMSAT-NA > >> office will not be counted. > >> > >> New ballots, labeled “CORRECTED BALLOT 7/20/2018” and printed on > >> yellow-colored cardstock will be mailed to all AMSAT-NA members. > >> > >> Please vote for no more than three of the 2018 candidates: > >> Tom Clark, K3IO > >> Mark Hammond, N8MH > >> Scott Harvey, KA7FVV > >> Bruce Paige, KK5DO > >> Peter Portanova, W2JV > >> > >> The Directors positions will go to the three candidates receiving the > >> highest number of votes. In addition, there will be two alternate > >> members chosen, based on the next highest number of votes received. > >> > >> 73, > >> Clayton > >> W5PFG > >> AMSAT-NA Corporate Secretary > >> _______________________________________________ > >> 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 > >> > > _______________________________________________ > > 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 > > _______________________________________________ > 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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seeking info on AMSAT (any platform) utilization of >2 GHz frequencies
by Samudra Haque [TTLLC] 18 Jul '18

18 Jul '18

Hi, I am experimenting with RF carriers above 2 GHz in my lab. According to FCC and ITU tables there are several AMATEUR-SATELLITE bands allocated above 2 GHz, to very very high frequencies. What is the status of those frequencies in terms of past, present or planned utilization on AMSAT / other satellites ? If those bands haven't been used, should they be not used or plans to use them to protect them from being de-assigned to other services? Is there room for experimental RF super high frequency and extremely high frequency payloads on any mission to make some use of these great resource? 73 de Samudra N3RDX The information contained in this communication is confidential, may be privileged and is intended for the exclusive use of the above named addressee(s). If you are not the intended recipient(s), you are expressly prohibited from copying, distributing, disseminating, or in any other way using any information contained within this communication. If you have received this communication in error please contact the sender by telephone or by response via mail. We have taken precautions to minimize the risk of transmitting software viruses, but we advise you to carry out your own virus checks on any attachment to this message. We cannot accept liability for any loss or damage caused by software viruses.

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TAPR JAMSAT TRAKBOX Questions
by Joe Leikhim 18 Jul '18

18 Jul '18

I am on a mission to complete all my nagging projects. I have a TAPR JAMSAT TRAKBOX that I modified for Y2K and Turbo a while back and I am now going to replace the ancient BR lithium battery with a fresh one and install a backlighted LCD display. I find today the 16 position alphanumeric BCD switch seems flaky and unresponsive. Is that the electronics ignoring it for some reason or do these switches fail? If the latter, does anyone know of a source of that specific pushbutton BCD switch? Also has anyone used a USB to serial adaptor with th TRAKBOX? -- Joe Leikhim Leikhim and Associates Communications Consultants Oviedo, Florida JLeikhim(a)Leikhim.com 407-982-0446 WWW.LEIKHIM.COM

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