January 2019 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

WISP
by Jeff kb2m 25 Jan '19

25 Jan '19

I was merrily rolling along with a full-dir then all of a sudden WISP loses all it's config data. Sats disappeared, my lat long is set to 0, etc. There doesn't seem to be a corrupt file involved. I try to redo a sat and it doesn't seem to accept any data, just the sat name. Is there anyway around this other then a complete re-install? I'm running WIN10... 73 Jeff kb2m

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2016-066G Query
by Ross Clelland 25 Jan '19

25 Jan '19

Dear Alan Kung I'm contacting you today about the satellite you operate, 2016-066G on behalf of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. I'm part of a student team of computer scientists involved in a student project which aims to upgrade an existing ground station to be able to use Software Defined Radio. As part of our research project we need to receive signals from a satellite in orbit and decode them to obtain meaningful data such as telemetry data as a proof of concept. To assist with this, we were hoping you would be willing to share some of the essential pieces of this process such as audio samples from your satellite, any flowgraphs you might have created for them, particularly using GNU Radio, or any associated decoding or ground station software. In return for this, once the project is functional we would be happy to report data we were able to receive back to you. Kind Regards, Ross MEng Computer Science, University of Strathclyde

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Re: [amsat-bb] Masthead RF preamp suggestions?
by John Brier 25 Jan '19

25 Jan '19

On Thu, Jan 24, 2019 at 9:05 AM Stephen E. Belter <seb(a)wintek.com> wrote: > Advanced Receiver Research (ARR, www.advancedreceiver.com) has less expensive preamps that are also popular, but you'll need to build the weatherproof housing. The front-end filtering isn't as good as the SSB. The 160 watt ARR preamps are weatherproof. Not sure they are inexpensive though :-) http://www.advancedreceiver.com/page10.html 73, John Brier KG4AKV

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NEXUS identified
by Nico Janssen 25 Jan '19

25 Jan '19

Doppler measurements show that NEXUS is object 43938, 2019-003G. Downlink: 437.0732 MHz. 73, Nico PA0DLO

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Masthead RF preamp suggestions?
by Ken M 24 Jan '19

24 Jan '19

Hello all, I am seeking suggestions for reasonably low-cost (but reasonably effective) masthead preamps for 2m and 70cm to go along with a pair of omni QFH antennas. Kit or commercial is fine. Also any thoughts on how effective preamps might be on omni antennas vs highly directional antennas. Thanks - 73 Ken VA7KBM

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Anyone have a Gulf Alpha 70cm 8x8 CP antenna?
by Bob Hammond 24 Jan '19

24 Jan '19

I’ve lost the instructions on how to properly place the driven element shorting blocks. I’ve tried using my SWR meter but with no good results. Bob

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FUNcube Warehouse Maintenance
by David Johnson 24 Jan '19

24 Jan '19

Hi, There may be some short outages in the warehouse today as we do some upgrades. Dashboards will pick up when the server comes back. 73 Dave, G4DPZ

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AMSAT at Charlotte NC Hamfest?
by Philip Jenkins 24 Jan '19

24 Jan '19

Hi all I'm considering doing an AMSAT info booth at the Charlotte Hamfest this year. The hours are a bit unusual, as it is a Friday & Saturday event - 3-7pm on Friday, March 8 and 830 am - 4 pm on Saturday, March 9. (I helped with info tables at the Raleigh NC and Shelby NC hamfests last year, and things went really well. John KG4AKV handled the demos at Raleigh, and John K4SQC did those duties at Shelby.) I haven't fully decided to do this yet, just wanted to see if other were interested in helping me man the table on Saturday, and I'd REALLY appreciate it if someone would attempt some demos outside (FM or SSB birds - or both!). I don't expect those helping to stand at the table ALL day, just give me a break from time to time. (I tend to lose my voice after a few hours from talking so much. :-) ) I also don't want to get in anyone's way if he or she is already planning AMSAT activities of any kind there. Just let me know. Philip N4HF

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2019-01-23 23:30 UTC
by aj9n＠aol.com 23 Jan '19

23 Jan '19

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2019-01-23 23:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Ashbury College Junior School, Ottawa, ON, Canada, telebridge via VK5ZAI The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is David St-Jacques KG5FYI Contact as successful: Wed 2019-01-23 19:51:36 UTC 22 deg (***) Colégio Campo de Flores, Almada, Portugal, direct via CS5SS The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is David St-Jacques KG5FYI Contact is go for: Sat 2019-02-02 15:23:19 UTC 50 deg Amur State University, Blagoveshchensk, Russia, direct via TBD (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Konenenko Contact is go for Tue 2019-02-05 08:25 UTC 2019-01-30 to 2019-02-02 Possible SSTV as part of Inter MAI but only for a few orbits in range of Moscow. (***) 2019-02-08 to 2019-02-10 Possible ARISS requested SSTV. (***) ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The ARISS-US program’s education proposal window open Oct. 1 - Nov. 30, 2018 has now closed. The next window should go open in the spring of 2019. The ARISS webpage is at http://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. ARISS Contact Applications (Europe, Africa and the Middle East) Schools and Youth organizations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East interested in setting up an ARISS radio contact with an astronaut on board the International Space Station are invited to submit an application from September to October and from February to April. Please refer to details and the application form at www.ariss-eu.org/school-contacts. Applications should be addressed by email to: school.selection.manager(a)ariss-eu.org ARISS Contact Applications (Canada, Central and South America, Asia and Australia and Russia) Organizations outside the United States can apply for an ARISS contact by filling out an application. Please direct questions to the appropriate regional representative listed below. If your country is not specifically listed, send your questions to the nearest ARISS Region listed. If you are unsure which address to use, please send your question to the ARISS-Canada representative; they will forward your question to the appropriate coordinator. For the application, click here. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Keigo Komuro, JA1KAB, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) ****************************************************************************** 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 135 Francesco IKØWGF with 132 Gaston ON4WF with 123 Sergey RV3DR with 108 **************************************************************************** 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 2019-01-23 23:30 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 1287. (***) Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1230. (***) 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: 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 2019-01-23 23:30 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. 58 on orbit Oleg Konenenko David St-Jacques KG5FYI Anne McClain **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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OrigamiSat-1 reception
by Mike Seguin 23 Jan '19

23 Jan '19

On January 18, Origamisat-1 was launched in to orbit. Developed by the Tokyo Institute of Technology, this satellite carries a 5.84 GHz downlink similar to the one on FITSAT-1 NIWAKA. Back in 2012, I was able to detect NIWAKA using my portable 5.760 GHz rig. At the time, the satellite was primarily only active over the control ground station in Japan. I put in a request for activation over the East Coast of the US for several passes and was able to detect the 5.84 GHz downlink. I've been in contact with the control operators of Origamisat-1 and they are interested in activating the 5.84 GHz downlink for me during some East Coast passes. Tracking Origamisat-1 is a real challenge. It is a LEO, so is only visible for 10-15 minutes depending on the pass. The challenge is not only tracking the satellite both AZ and EL with a dish that has maybe 3-5 degree beamwidth, but the Doppler can run a little over ±100 kHz. The 5.84 GHz downlink is 420KF1D 115kbps. It transmits for 10 secs and is then off for 5 secs and then repeats. For my NIWAKA reception, I used a 2' dish with my DEMI 5760 transverter and for an IF, a Funcube Dongle SDR tuned to 224.000 MHz. I used a original Funcube for my first reception which only had 96 kHz BW, but will use a Funcube Pro+ this time which has 196 kHz BW which should eliminate having to tune at all during the pass. Is there any interest from others in trying to detect the downlink? I will be looking at possible passes in early February. The Origamisat-1 team is now still in the initial testing phases, so it will be a while before I can try. If you are interested, please let me know so we can coordinate our efforts. -- 73, Mike, N1JEZ "A closed mouth gathers no feet"

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