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

Re: [amsat-bb] nec2
by Roy Dean 24 Nov '19

24 Nov '19

> > ------------------------------ > 1. Edit GM card by moving Z to 3 > 3. Edit RP card and decrease "points in theta" to 31. Also decrease > "increment theta" to 3 Hope this helps > Apostolos > SV1LJJ Apostolos - thank you for your help. However, for these two suggestions, can you provide the card position that the values go into (I1/I2/F1/F2/F3/etc)? Both GM and RP cards seem to have multiple positions that these could apply to (I am using the "nec2prt3.pdf" manual and the descriptions are different than what you are using above). Thanks! --Roy

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ANS-328 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by JoAnne K9JKM 24 Nov '19

24 Nov '19

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-328 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and commun- icating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * AMSAT Auction Celebrating the 45th Birthday of AO-7 Now Live * November 18 Marked 2nd Anniversary On Orbit for AMSAT-OSCAR 91 * November 21 Marked 6th Anniverary of AMSAT-UK's AO-73 FUNcube-1 * Proposed FCC Auction of C-Band Increases Competition for Allocations * Satellite Operations From the Queen Mary on December 14 * Donate to AMSAT Tax-Free From Your IRA * Open Source 'APRS to Discord' Bridge Project Begins Testing * ARISS Activities * Upcoming Satellite Operations * The Voyage Home: Japan's Hayabusa-2 Probe Heads Back to Earth * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-328.01 ANS-328 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 328.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE 2019-Nov-24 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-328.01 AMSAT Auction Celebrating the 45th Birthday of AO-7 Now Live As announced in ANS-321, AMSAT is auctioning off a set of gold-plated AO-7 cufflinks and a 50th Anniversary AMSAT lab coat (size 42R). The auctions are now live on eBay and will conclude shortly after 02:00 UTC on November 26, 2019. Please bid today at https://www.ebay.com/usr/amsat-na 100% of the proceeds of this auction will go towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. Looking ahead to the future AMSAT tweeted a quick summary of projects at: https://twitter.com/AMSAT/status/1197528119806169091 1. The University of Washington's HuskySat-1 carrying an AMSAT VHF/ UHF linear transponder was launched to the ISS on Cygnus on Nov 2. After leaving the ISS, Cygnus is expected to deploy HuskySat-1 on or about Jan 13. 2. After completing its science mission, HuskySat-1 will be turned over to AMSAT and the transponder will be made available for ama- teur use. AMSAT is also working with other CubeSat builders on similar arrangements. 3. RadFxSat-2 (Fox-1E), carrying a VHF/UHF linear transponder and radiation experiments for Vanderbilt University, is complete and awaiting launch on the first commercial flight of Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne no earlier than 1Q 2020. 4. The GOLF program is progressing nicely. The target delivery/inte- gration date of GOLF-TEE is 3Q 2020. More details about the GOLF program are available in the AMSAT Engineering Report from the 2019 Space Symposium. https://youtube.com/watch?v=WWwvhuIaiBA 5. The ARISS next generation InterOperable Radio System is planned for launch to the ISS on the SpaceX CRS-20 mission, scheduled for March 2020. 6. The AMSAT CubeSat Simulator project led by Alan Johnston, KU2Y and Pat Kilroy, N8PK, is generating much interest. Simulators are avail- able for loan for classrooms or events and work is underway to dev- elop CubeSat Simulator kits. http://cubesatsim.com 7. How can you help these projects succeed? Please consider volunteer- ing, joining, donating, and/or purchasing items from the AMSAT store today. [ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- November 18 Marked 2nd Anniversary On Orbit for AMSAT-OSCAR 91 Happy 2nd Anniversary, AMSAT-OSCAR 91! At 09:47:36 UTC on Novem- ber 18, 2017, RadFxSat (Fox-1B) launched on a Delta II rocket from SLC-2W at Vandenberg Air Force Base and became AMSAT-OSCAR 91. RadFxSat (Fox-1B), a 1U CubeSat, is a joint mission of AMSAT and the Institute for Space and Defense Electronics at Vanderbilt Uni- versity. The Vanderbilt package is intended to measure the effects of radiation on electronic components, including demonstration of an on-orbit platform for space qualification of components as well as to validate and improve computer models for predicting radiation tolerance of semiconductors. AMSAT constructed the remainder of the satellite including the space frame, on-board computer and power system. The amateur radio package is similar to that currently on orbit on AO-85. RadFxSat (Fox-1B) was sent aloft as a secondary payload on the Unit- ed Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II rocket with the Joint Polar Satel- lite System (JPSS)-1 satellite. RadFxSat (Fox-1B) is one of five CubeSats making up this NASA Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) XIV mission, riding as secondary payloads aboard the JPSS-1 mission. Uplink: 435.250 MHz FM (67.0 Hz CTCSS) Downlink: 145.960 MHz FM Satellite health and experiment telemetry are downlinked via the Data-Under-Voice (DUV) subaudible telemetry stream, which can be de- coded using the FoxTelem software. Visit the AMSAT-OSCAR 91 web page at: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-328-AO-91 Make sure you have the latest AMSAT frequencies using the page at: https://www.amsat.org/two-way-satellites/ [ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- November 21 Marked 6th Anniverary of AMSAT-UK's AO-73 FUNcube-1 This week AMSAT-UK and the FUNcube team recalled the events on launch day. A very short time after the launch from Yasny in Russia and with- in a few minutes from deployment, the very first frame of data from the low power transmitter on board, was detected and decoded by ZS1LS in South Africa. He was able to relay the data over the internet from his Dashboard to the Data Warehouse and the numbers, appeared, as if by magic, at the launch party being held at the RSGB National Radio Centre at Bletchley Park. After a very brief check out, the FUNcube team were able to switch the transmitter to full power, again at the very first attempt, and were quite amazed at the strength of the signal from the 300mW trans- mitter on 145.935 MHz. The transponder was then switched on and suc- cessfully tested. The team finished the day with a request to AMSAT-NA for an Oscar number and were delighted to receive the AO73 Oscar 73 designation! Since then, FUNcube-1, with a launch mass of less than 1kg, has oper- ated continuously with only a very few interruptions. In excess of 32000 orbits, 750 million miles travelled, and with more than 7 mil- lion data packets downloaded and stored in the Data Warehouse. The spacecraft is presently in continuous sunlight and to convert as much of the sun’s thermal energy into RF (to help keep it cool), it remains in continuous high power telemetry mode. We anticipate this situation will continue until early May next after which the team expect to have 3 months with some eclipse periods. Of course, EO88 – Nayif 1 continues to operate autonomously with the transponder active when in eclipse and JO99 – JY1Sat, which includes image downloads, and which was launched just under a year ago, also remain active on a 24/7 basis. The FUNcube team still receive many requests for Fitter message up- loads for school events…please contact us by email to operations(a)funcube.org.uk giving us at least two weeks notice. The FUNcube team continue to be very grateful to all the many stations around the world that continue to upload the telemetry that they re- ceive to our Data Warehouse. They really need this data to provide a continuous resource for educational outreach. Dave Johnson, G4DPZ, network administrator for the FUNcube Data Ware- house provided this update for users of the FUNcube Dashboard Soft- ware, "The server addresses warehouse.funcube.org.uk and data.funcube.org.uk are no longer operational. If you have FUNcube Dashboard(s) using the URL data.funcube.org.uk, please change it to data.amsat-uk.org as forwarding will no longer take place." + FUNcube email group https://groups.io/g/FUNcube + FUNcube Forum http://forum.funcube.org.uk/ + FUNcube Website http://www.funcube.org.uk/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ The digital download version of the 2019 edition of Getting Started with Amateur Satellites is now available as a DRM-free PDF from the AMSAT Store. Get yours today! https://tinyurl.com/ANS-237-Getting-Started +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Proposed FCC Auction of C-Band Increases Competition for Allocations In an IARU News Release by Dave Sumner, K1ZZ and posted by Rick Lind- quist, WW1ME on November 18 via the ARRL-IARU(a)groups.arrl.org list he reports that the Plenary session to approve texts to be included in the Final Acts was scheduled to end at noon Thursday, November 21 and delegates at WRC-19 faced a daunting workload as the conferees try to reach consensus on several remaining issues including the agenda for the next WRC. Small Satellites which are increasingly commercial have been granted access to the space operations bands at 137/149MHz away from amateur allocations. The amateur secondary allocation at 5725-5850 MHz, which includes an amateur-satellite C-band downlink at 5830-5850 MHz, is the subject of an unresolved conflict over parameters for wireless access systems including radio local area networks. 5 GHz Wi-Fi will see most expan- sion below amateur radio in the 5150-5250 band reducing it impact on our 5725-5850 range. An article published by CNBC, also on November 18, a news item by Michael Sheetz, "Satellite stock Intelsat drops 40% after FCC 5G dec- ision", discusses increasing pressure in the United States due to a proposed public auction of 280 megahertz of the C-band spectrum. This article can be accessed in entirety at: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-328-CNBC-5G-Article Sheetz reports that FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a tweet that his agency “must free up significant spectrum” for 5G telecommunications. The FCC said it expects to begin a public auction of C-band to happen before the end of 2020, a blow to satellite operators using the valu- able spectrum. The FCC Chairman's tweet on the subject can be accessed at: https://twitter.com/AjitPaiFCC/status/1196468857025835009 Four commercial satellite operators, including Intelsat, provide C-band services in the U.S. to about 120 million households. The FCC wants to repurpose the C-band spectrum for 5G and an auction is ex- pected to raise tens of billions of dollars. But a public auction would see the proceeds go to the government. The commercial C-band satellite operators have organized as the 'C-Band Alliance' to oppose a public auction of these frequencies. The C-Band Alliance has been pushing for a private auction. The group has given a proposal to the FCC where the satellite operators would keep some of the proceeds while paying taxes on the sale, as well as contributing at least $8 billion to the U.S. Treasury and possible helping fund a rural 5G network. [ANS thanks Dave Sumner, K1ZZ, Rick Lindquist, WW1ME, the IARU and CNBC for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Operations From the Queen Mary on December 14 AMSAT will be supporting the "Ham Radio Day Aboard the Queen Mary", an on-air event which will include satellite operations from the RMS Queen Mary, on Saturday, 14 December 2019. The Queen Mary is at the Port of Long Beach in California, grid DM03vs. The satellite opera- tions will take place from the Queen Mary's Sports Deck, next to the W6RO Wireless Room. Visitors are welcome, and hams with a copy of their valid amateur license can board the ship for free on 14 December - a $40 value! QSL cards will be available from the Associated Radio Amateurs of Long Beach (ARALB), using the process detailed at: http://www.qrz.com/db/W6RO Satellite contacts do not require the QSO number mentioned on this page. W6RO does not use Logbook of the World. Additional information about the event posted by The Associated Radio Amateurs of Long Beach and the Queen Mary: The Associated Radio Amateurs of Long Beach and the Queen Mary invite you aboard the legendary ocean liner for Ham Radio Day Aboard the Queen Mary on Saturday December 14th. Our world-famous station W6RO will be fully staffed all day. Come visit the station, take a turn as a guest operator, or work us on the air and earn our special 40th Anniversary QSL card. In addition, we will have the following special activities: + Static displays of the Queen Mary's vintage maritime radio equipment. + On-air demonstrations of ham radio 'go-kits' at locations around the ship. + Demonstrations of 'eclectic communications gear', including an Aldis lamp and semaphore flags. + Demonstrations of satellite ham radio, with actual contacts being made through satellites in orbit. Basic admission to board the ship is FREE for licensed radio amateurs this day. Simply show your current amateur radio license at the Hotel entrance and come aboard! The free boarding offer is subject to the following restrictions: + A valid FCC license document must be presented. (QM personnel will not look you up in the FCC database, QRZ, etc.) + Non-licensed friends and family members are not included. + Free boarding of the ship does not include admission to the Queen Mary Christmas event. + Free boarding does not include parking. Normal parking rates apply. For an alternative, ride the free Long Beach Transit Passport bus,or try LBT's AquaBus or AquaLink boat shuttles to get to the Queen Mary. We're looking forward to seeing YOU on board! 73 [ANS thanks Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK/VA7EWK, and the Associated Radio Amateurs of Long Beach and the Queen Mary] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows, and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Donate to AMSAT Tax-Free From Your IRA Are you over 70-1/2 years of age and need to meet your IRA's Required Minimum Distribution for 2019? Consider making a donation to AMSAT! Under the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015, individuals over 70-1/2 years of age may make direct transfers of up to $100,000 per year from a traditional IRA to an eligible charity without increasing their taxable income. Consult your tax advisor or accountant to make certain you are eligible. AMSAT is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational and scientific organization whose purpose is to design, construct, launch, and operate satellites in space and to provide the support needed to encourage amateurs to utilize these resources. AMSAT's federal tax ID is 52-0888529. +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Open Source 'APRS to Discord' Bridge Project Begins Testing Harold Giddings, KR0SIV, reports on an on-going open source project called the 'APRS to Discord bridge'. The Discord network supports text and voice chat, project documentation and source code for dev- elopers, gamers, and makers in an open source environment. For more information about the Discord network see https://discordapp.com/ The APRS to Discord bridge, by Alexandre Rouma (@WhatsTheGeekYT on twitter), is designed to connect APRS traffic from terrestrial and spacecraft sources with user's servers on the Discord network. The software, still under development, is pretty simple at the moment but will be open source (Node.js). The design will allow amateur radio groups to set up their own node for bridging an APRS callsign/message to their discord server. It is written in a way that requires the bot operator to validate amateur operators with a special role in Discord preventing illicit use by non-licensed operators. Source code can be found here: https://github.com/AlexandreRouma/aprs_bridge https://github.com/AlexandreRouma/npm-aprs-parser Harold also hosts the SDR-centric 'Signals Everywhere' channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/signalseverywhere [ANS thanks Harold Giddings, KR0SIV, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS Activities + Lakeside Elementary School, West Point, UT, telebridge via IK1SLD Contact was successful: Mon 2019-11-18 + Istituto San Paolo delle Suore Angeliche, Milano, Italy and Istituto Comprensivo Di Merone – Mons. A. Pirovano, Merone, Italy, telebridge via W6SRJ Contact was successful: Thu 2019-11-21 + MAOU Lyceum No. 39, Nizhny Tagil, Russia, direct via TBD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Alexander Skvortsov Contact is go for 2011-11-30 14:15 UTC A reminder that the deadline to submit proposals for ARISS contacts to be scheduled between July 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020 is coming up on November 30, 2019. For more information visit https://www.ariss.org/ Possible RSØISS - Inter MAI-75 SSTV activity is tentatively planned for Dec 14 – 15, 2019. Details will follow later, the organization of this SSTV event depends on the necessary EVA activities. No SSTV can take place during EVA activities. [ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, and David Jordan, AA4KN, ARISS opera- tion team members, for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Purchase AMSAT Gear on our Zazzle storefront. 25% of the purchase price of each product goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Upcoming Satellite Operations Nunavut, Canada (ER60) November 11 - December 6, 2019 The Eureka Amateur Radio Club, VY0ERC, will be on station, the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory, November 6th through Dec- ember 11th. They have some house keeping duties to perform on arrival and just before they leave, not to mention that it's wicked cold up there (-25 to -35C not counting windchill), so keep an eye on the VY0ERC twitter feed for announcements on when they plan to step out- side: https://twitter.com/vy0erc Key West (EL94) December 3-6, 2019 Tanner, W9TWJ, will be vacationing in Key West December 3rd - 6th. Key word is vacation, but he will jump on some FM satellite passes to act- ivate EL94 for those that need it or just want to chat. Watch Tanner's Twitter feed for further announcements: https://twitter.com/twjones85 Hawaii (BK19, BK28, BK29, BL20) December 21-28, 2019 Alex, N7AGF, is heading back to Hawaii over Christmas. This will be a holiday-style activation, with special empahasis on the grid that got away - BK28. Keep an eye on Alex's Twitter feed for further announce- ments: https://twitter.com/N7AGF Please submit any additions or corrections to ke4al (at) amsat.org [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP - User Services, for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur radio package, including two-way communication capability, to be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit. Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ The Voyage Home: Japan's Hayabusa-2 Probe Heads Back to Earth By Kyoko Hasegawa - Tokyo Japan's Hayabusa-2 mission to the asteroid Ryugu received its orders to head for home on Wednesday, November 13. Next, on November 18 it broke free of the asteroid's gravity. It will fire its main engines early next month en route to Earth, JAXA said. Hayabusa-2 is carrying samples that could shed light on the origins of the Solar System. It took the probe three-and-a-half years to get to the asteroid but the return journey should be significantly short- er because Earth and Ryugu will be much closer due to their current positions. Ryugu's orbit ranges from .96 AU to 1.41 AU with a period of 474 days, coming within just 95,400 km of Earth at its closest (just 1/4 LD), but is currently 1.7 AU away. Hayabusa will spend the next year clos- ing that distance to Earth and will eject its sample capsule into the atmosphere in December 2020. After the departure burn Hayabusa-2 had changed it's orbit to a 0.96 x 1.41 AU x 5.9 deg heliocentric orbit. Hayabusa-2 is expected to drop the samples off in the South Austral- ian desert. Under the current plan, Hayabusa-2 will boldly continue its journey in space after dropping off its capsule to Earth, and might "carry out another asteroid exploration," according to JAXA. Access the full article (and photo) at: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-328-Hyabusa-Coming-Home [ANS thanks SpaceDaily.com for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + AMSAT has received the sad news on the passing of Brian Kantor, WB6CYT (SK). Brian was one of the co-founders (with Phil Karn, KA9Q) of AMPRnet, the TCP/IP over amateur radio network. Brian continued to manage it until his passing. Brian recently creat- ed and served as chair and CEO of Amateur Radio Digital Commun- ications (ARDC), a charitable foundation funded by the sale of unused AMPRnet IPv4 addresses. ARDC promotes STEM education and amateur radio digital development through scholarships and by funding the development of open source hardware and software. Brian will be sorely missed and impossible to replace. Memorial arrangements will be announced when known. via Phil Karn, KA9Q) + UniverseToday.com notes the contribution of Daniel Estévez, EA4GPZ, with the location of the impact site of China's Longjiang-2 satel- lite on the moon: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-328-EA4GPZ-LunarImpact The article notes, "Among amateur astronomists and citizen scient- ists, Daniel Estévez is a well-known figure. In addition to being an amateur radio operator with a PhD in Mathematics and a BSc in Computer Science, Estévez is also an amateur spacecraft tracker." (via UniverseToday.com) + Roland Hesmondhalg spoke on public radio station WFIT with FL Tech Professor Ken Ernandes, N2WWD, and two senior students Luiz Fernando Leal and Antonio Masturzo about the amateur radio project on the ISS. Did you know you can use amateur radio to talk to astronauts in space? Ken Ernandes is part of the team building the next upgraded communi- cation station to be flown on the ISS this coming year. The program is primarily intended by NASA to promote STEAM in schools. There is an application process to get a scheduled school contact and he would be happy to work with any body on the application process. Listen on the link at: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-328-WFIT-Interview + NASA released their latest software catalog offering FREE NASA Technology software packages that are applicable to academic research, engineering development, business applications & more! NASA Press Release: https://tinyurl.com/ANS-328-NASA-Software-Press Access the software at: http://software.nasa.gov + Explore student STEM opportunities, downloads, mission information and Artemis Student Challenges on NASA's STEM Engagement pages at: https://www.nasa.gov/stem/artemis.html - then - try your hand at driving a Mars rover: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/explore-mars/en/ + John Brier, KG4AKV, wrote, "A woman in Israel recently contacted me about including some of my videos in a video she was going to make about how to view the ISS. Well, she just uploaded that video and I have to say, it is pretty good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laQ9VEJJmpU (To turn on English subtitles while viewing YouTube on the web/ desktop, click the CC button in the bottom right corner of the video. On mobile, tap the three dots in the top right and then tap captions) - via John Brier, KG4AKV + Paul Wade, W1GHZ, author of the W1GHZ Microwave Antenna Book says he has added an update of Chapter 7, Slot Antennas, and included an improved 32-bit version of the HDL_ANT program for Windows 7 and 10. Access the book at: http://w1ghz.org/antbook/preface.htm Click on the 'Table of Contents' link to continue. (Paul Wade, W1GHZ via the microwave list) + Scott Manley posted a video showing the effect if all satellites in orbit were visible. There are over ten thousand satellites in orbit, but only the largest ones in low earth orbit are visible in the hours just after sunset and before sunrise. What would the sky look like if you could see everything in space? He took satel- lite data and rendered a view of the night sky for an 'average' viewer in North America. View the satellites at: https://youtu.be/dJNGi-bt9NM (via Scott Manley's YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxzC4EngIsMrPmbm6Nxvb-A ) + Voyager's transmitters use just 23 watts, roughly the same as an incandescent refrigerator bulb, yet we are able to interpret the 0.1 billion-billionth of a Watt that makes it to earth from 11 billion kilometers away. An article at wired.com explains: https://www.wired.com/2013/09/vintage-voyager-probes/ + AMSAT-LU (Argentina) plans to operate their WSPR buoy when it is deployed between November 25 through December 12, weather condi- tion permitting. The WSPR beacon will transmit on 14.095,6 MHz with 900 mW, callsign LU7AA. The beacon will be active for 2 min- utes ON followed with 8 minutes of standby. They appreciate WSPR reception reports to wsprnet.org which will qualify you for an award certificate: http://lu7aa.org.ar/wspr.asp AMSAT-LU Buoy Project page can be found at: http://amsat.org.ar/?f=boya APRS tracking can be found at: http://aprs.fi?call=lu7aa-8 + Versions 1.46 and 1.47 (to address a bug fix) of the Magic-Eye Plugin for SDRSharp has been released: https://github.com/BlackApple62/SDRSharp-Magic-Eye-Plugin/releases This plug-in adds an old-style "Magic Eye", or "Cat's Eye" to SDR# software (available via www.airspy.com) This release adds an analog- style SNR Meter. This Plugin, is compiled for 32bit platform, with .NET Framework version 4.6. It may not run on SDR# versions older than r1362 (14 Sept 2015) - via airspy.com and GitHub + If you've been kept up at night trying to find a solution to the chaotic three-body problem access a paper, "Newton vs the machine: solving the chaotic three-body problem using deep neural networks" from: https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.07291 - and if you're not sure what is the significance of this check out an explanation posted at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-body_problem --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73 and remember to behave and to help keep amateur radio in space, This week's ANS Editor, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM k9jkm at amsat dot org

1 0

nec2
by Roy Dean 23 Nov '19

23 Nov '19

Is anybody on this list a power (or even casual) user of nec2? I've been tinkering with xnec2c, and am attempting to model AA4TX's parasitic lindy antenna (70cm) as a check (Tony provided gain plots in his paper). However when I plot gain, all I get is the standard donut pattern (vert polarization), and sort of modified donut when viewing RHCP. .nec file is below (apologies for formatting). Thanks in advance to anybody that can offer insight. The learning curve for this software is steep. (not sure if Steve Conklin is on this list - but the below nec data was built off of his 2m satellite yagi model) --Roy K3RLD CM AA4TX 70cm parasitic lindy antenna design CE End Comments GW 1 25 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 -1.57000E-01 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 1.57000E-01 1.90500E-02 GW 2 25 -1.29000E-01 1.03000E-01 7.50000E-02 1.29000E-01 1.03000E-01 -7.50000E-02 3.25000E-03 GW 3 25 1.03000E-01 1.29000E-01 7.50000E-02 1.03000E-01 -1.29000E-01 -7.50000E-02 3.25000E-03 GW 4 25 1.29000E-01 -1.03000E-01 7.50000E-02 -1.29000E-01 -1.03000E-01 -7.50000E-02 3.25000E-03 GW 5 25 -1.03000E-01 -1.29000E-01 7.50000E-02 -1.03000E-01 1.29000E-01 -7.50000E-02 3.25000E-03 GM 0 0 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 GE 0 0 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 FR 0 20 0 0 4.36500E+02 1.00000E-01 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 EX 0 1 13 0 1.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 RP 0 99 99 1000 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 5.00000E+00 5.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 EN 0 0 0 0 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00

2 2

EM32 Pass On SO50
by Bob Liddy (K8BL) 22 Nov '19

22 Nov '19

Grid Chasers, On a pass today on SO-50 from EM32, I logged and uploaded to LoTW: W5RTX, W4AQT, W5GT, N3GS, NS3L, K8YSE/7, N4DCW, WA4NVM and N4LEX(?). If I missed anyone, let me know and I'll check my audio log again. TNX/73, Bob K8BL

1 0

9100 USB FoxTelemetry
by jeff griffin 22 Nov '19

22 Nov '19

Is anyone using the Icom 9100 to RX 9600 baud Fox Telemetry thru the USB port? I'm using the 9100 this way to collect Falconsat-3 telemetry, but not able to do so with the Fox telemetry. I also can RX 9600 baud APRS packets. I'm using the Data mode DFM, and 9600 baud menu item 57 is set to ON. I've also tried to different sound level setting in the win10 sound control panel, but no joy.. 73 Jeff kb2m

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Closing down old FUNcube data servers
by David Johnson 22 Nov '19

22 Nov '19

Hi, The server addresses warehouse.funcube.org.uk and data.funcube.org.uk are no longer operational. If you have FUNcube Dashboard(s) using the URL data.funcube.org.uk, please change it to data.amsat-uk.org as forwarding will no longer take place. All data from data.funcube.org.uk was transferred to the new server some time ago. 73 Dave, G4DPZ

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FT-847 mentor wanted
by HUGH EMPEY 22 Nov '19

22 Nov '19

I am looking for someone who would be willing to mentor me on the operation of the FT-847. Too many questions to ask on the BB so please contact me at <mailto:[email protected]> wa7eth(a)frontier.com . Thanks and 73'..Ed If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing. * Chuck Yeager

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2019-11-21 22:00 UTC
by aj9n＠aol.com 21 Nov '19

21 Nov '19

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2019-11-21 22:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Istituto San Paolo delle Suore Angeliche, Milano, Italy and Istituto Comprensivo Di Merone – Mons. A. Pirovano, Merone, Italy, telebridge via W6SRJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Luca Parmitano KF5KDP Contact was successful: Thu 2019-11-21 09:12:07 UTC 50 deg (***) Watch for live streaming at: Istituto San Paolo delle Suore Angeliche Milano: http://www.arierba.it/ariss_live/ Istituto Comprensivo Di Merone: http://www.arierba.it/ariss_live_2/ MAOU Lyceum No. 39, Nizhny Tagil, Russia, direct via TBD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Alexander Skvortsov Contact is go for 2011-11-30 14:15 UTC The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) 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 2019-11-21 22:00 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. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt The successful school list has been updated as of 2019-11-21 22:00 UTC. (***) https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. Message to US Educators Amateur Radio on the International Space Station Contact Opportunity Call for Proposals Current Proposal Window is October 1, 2019 to November 30, 2019 Upcoming Proposal Window is February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS. ARISS anticipates that the contact for proposals submitted in the proposal window now open would be held between July 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020. ARISS is happy to announce a second proposal window will open February 1, 2020 for contacts that would be held between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan. The deadline to submit proposals for contacts between July 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020 is November 30, 2019. The proposal window for contacts between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021 will open on February 1, 2020 and close on March 31, 2020. Proposal information and documents can be found at www.ariss.org. Two ARISS Introductory Webinar sessions will be held on November 7, 2019. The first is at 6:00 PM ET and the second is at 9:00 PM ET. The same material will be covered during both sessions, so choose the session that best fits your schedule. The Eventbrite link to sign up is https://ariss-introductory-webinar-fall-2019.eventbrite.com . The Opportunity Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session. An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in dates and times of the radio contact. Amateur Radio organizations around the world with the support of NASA and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe present educational organizations with this opportunity. The ham radio organizations' volunteer efforts provide the equipment and operational support to enable communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world using Amateur Radio. More Information For proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Webinars, go to www.ariss.org. Please direct any questions to ariss.us.education(a)gmail.com . 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 ISS National Lab and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. ******************************************************************************** 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, go to: https://www.ariss.org/ariss-application.html. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD email to: ve3tbd(a)gmail.com ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ email to: ariss(a)iaru-r3.org, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) https://www.jarl.org/ ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) https://srr.ru/ ****************************************************************************** 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 https://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? Please note that the HamTV system has been brought back to earth for troubleshooting. Please monitor ARISS-EU or ARISS-ON for the very latest news on the troubleshooting efforts. 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 The HamTV webpage: https://www.amsat-on.be/hamtv-summary/ **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: Francesco IKØWGF with 137 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 136 Sergey RV3DR with 127 Gaston ON4WF with 123 **************************************************************************** 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. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1365. (***) Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1300. (***) Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 48. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. https://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: https://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correcti… Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** Exp. 59 on orbit Christina Koch Exp. 60 on orbit Luca Parmitano KF5KDP Alexander Skvortsov Drew Morgan KI5AAA Exp. 61 on orbit Oleg Skripochka Jessica Meir **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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Happy birthday FUNcube-1
by M5AKA 21 Nov '19

21 Nov '19

November 21st 2019, is the sixth anniversary of the launch of the FUNcube-1 (AO73) CubeSat https://amsat-uk.org/2019/11/21/happy-birthday-funcube-1-ao73/ IARU update regarding Amateur Satellite allocations https://amsat-uk.org/2019/11/17/iaru-update-regarding-amateur-satellite-all… RSGB reports on WRC-19 https://rsgb.org/main/blog/category/news/special-focus/wrc-19/ The FUNcube Yahoo Group has moved to groups.io You can join the new FUNcube group at https://groups.io/g/FUNcube The FUNcube Pro+ SDR Dongle group is at https://groups.io/g/FCDProPlus/ Trevor M5AKA ---- AMSAT-UK http://amsat-uk.org/ Twitter https://twitter.com/AmsatUK Facebook https://facebook.com/AmsatUK YouTube https://youtube.com/AmsatUK ----

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EM98 & 97; EM88 UPDATE
by Michael N4DCW 21 Nov '19

21 Nov '19

Grid chasers, Everything is still a go for this weekend’s rove to EM98 and EM97. Generally, please plan on daylight passes being from EM98, and evening/nighttime passes from EM97. I’ll start with some passes Thursday evening if I am able to secure a site at my preferred campground in EM97. While this is a personal trip, I still have to work Friday. I have meetings until 1600Z and will try to be on some passes starting with the AO-92 @ 1628Z through the PO-101 @ 1751Z. I’ll be on as many passes I can among the following birds: AO-85 AO-91 AO-92 PO-101 CAS-4A CAS-4B XW-2A XW-2B Through the weekend I’ll be hiking to some good outlooks for passes, but may also do some fly fishing in the Gorge. I’ll be driving through EM88 both ways, so I’ll stop once or twice each way if you need that grid. As always, my Twitter account will be your spot for the most up-to-date information: https://twitter.com/MWimages <https://twitter.com/MWimages> Thanks, Michael, N4DCW -- Michael Whitman michael(a)n4dcw.com Home Grid: EM78

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