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

request for telemetry recording during X-CubeSat orbital decay
by Jean-Pierre Godet 03 Feb '19

03 Feb '19

Jean Guérard, from the french national aerospace research centre ONERA, is requesting to all who as the opportunity, please, to record the last telemetry frames of the bird launched in May 2017 by the polytechnic school (in Palaiseau, France). X-Cubesat is expected to decay around Mon, 04/02/2019 10:58:00 +/- 7 hours UTC (these predictions are provided by Joseph Remis, expert in satellite reentry predictions from the International Astronomical Center). The frequency is 437.020 MHz (measured here 437.01792), modulation AFSK 1k2, mode AX25. Warning, the fresh tle are already not too good, but anyways... Please, send information directly to Jean Guérard, jean.guerard(a)saf-astronomie.fr Many thanks my friends, have a good Sunday, 73 ! Jean-Pierre F5YG

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ARISS News Release No. 19-02
by n4csitwo＠bellsouth.net 02 Feb '19

02 Feb '19

ARISS News Release No. 19-02 Dave Jordan, AA4KN ARISS PR aa4kn(a)amsat.org Announcing ARISS/NOTA Slow Scan TV Event Feb 2, 2019: ARISS is planning another of their popular Slow Scan Television (SSTV) experiment events. Transmissions are scheduled to begin Friday, Feb. 8 at 18:25 UTC and run through Sunday, Feb. 10 at 18:30 UTC. SSTV operations is a process by which images are sent from the International Space Station (ISS) via ham radio and received by ham operators, shortwave listeners and other radio enthusiasts on Earth, similar to pictures shared on cell phones using twitter or instagram. When this event becomes active, SSTV images will be transmitted from the ISS at the frequency of 145.80 MHz using the SSTV mode of PD120 and can be received using ham radio equipment as simple as a 2 meter handheld radio or a common shortwave or scanner receiver the covers the 2 meter ham band. After connecting the audio output of the radio receiver to the audio input of a computer running free software such as MMSSTV, the SSTV images can be displayed. Transmissions will consist of eight NASA On The Air (NOTA) images (see https://nasaontheair.wordpress.com/). In additional, four ARISS commemorative images will also be included. Once received, Images can be posted and viewed by the public at http://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/index.php . In addition, you can receive a special SSTV ARISS Award for posting your image. Once the event begins, see details at https://ariss.pzk.org.pl/sstv/ . Please note that the event is dependent on other activities, schedules and crew responsibilities on the ISS and are subject to change at any time. Please check for news and the most current information on the AMSAT.org and ARISS.org websites, the AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org, the ARISS facebook at Amateur Radio On The International Space Station (ARISS) and ARISS twitter @ARISS_status. 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 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. Also join us on Facebook: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Follow us on Twitter: ARISS_status Media Contact: Dave Jordan, AA4KN ARISS PR aa4kn(a)amsat.org --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2019-02-03 03:00 UTC
by aj9n＠aol.com 02 Feb '19

02 Feb '19

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2019-02-03 03:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: 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 was successful: Sat 2019-02-02 15:23:19 UTC 50 deg (***) Watch for livestream at: https://www.campodeflores.com/2019/02/project-ariss-live/ Kantonsschule Musegg, Luzern, Switzerland, direct via HB9HSLU The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is David St-Jacques KG5FYI Contact is go for: Mon 2019-02-04 15:20:21 UTC 44 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 2019-02-08 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 2019-02-03 03:00 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 1288. (***) Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1231. (***) 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 2019-02-03 03:00 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. 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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Re: [amsat-bb] HRD, SatPC32, SDRConsole and their satellite tracking
by Michael Carper, Ph.D. 02 Feb '19

02 Feb '19

Thanks, Stefan. Mike, WA9PIE On Sat, Feb 2, 2019 at 9:29 AM Stefan Wagener <wageners(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Hi folks, > > Rather than trying to compare apples and oranges between various satellite > tracking programs and their perceived satellite tracking inaccuracies, I > ran SatPC32, HRD V.:6.5.0.184 and SRDConsole V.3.0.4 simultaneously on the > same machine with the same internal clock and exact matched home location > incl antenna height, same Kepler data etc.The results can be seen on the > attached image (for those that receive this email directly). All three > programs and are matching each other in terms of satellite position > relative to location. Any significant discrepancies between programs that > users might experience are most likely attributable to differences in > program setup and not a result of program bugs as indicated lately in > messages. > > For those reading this message on the BB, I will post the image on the > AMSAT Facebook page. > > Hope this helps, > > Stefan, VE4NSA > > > > > On Sat, Feb 2, 2019 at 7:02 AM Roy Dean <royldean(a)gmail.com> wrote: > >> Mike, I don't see any times listed for the Amsat tracking. I think the >> problem is people are saying that HRD "lags" (ie, the track is correct, >> but >> several seconds/minutes behind). Regardless of if that is true or not, >> what I would suggest to verify HRD's tracking is to open two windows, one >> with AO-91 or 92 in HRD (realtime, during an actual pass), and one with >> Amsat Argentina's website: >> >> http://amsat.org.ar/pass.htm >> >> Be sure to enter your correct grid square and select the correct >> satellite, >> and it will tell you current Az/El and doppler frequencies for Uplink and >> Downlink. I've found this site to be very reliable, and no installs are >> required (it runs in the browser). >> >> --Roy >> K3RLD >> >> ------------------------------ >> >> > Regarding the control of two VFOs simultaneously... we're working on >> this >> > next. On another note, I've been comparing satellite passes between HRD >> > Satellite >> > Tracking and AMSAT's tracking and I am unable to find any differences. >> > Here's an example with AO-91: >> > http://www.hamradiodeluxe.com/AO-91-Pass-min.png >> > >> > Mike, WA9PIE >> _______________________________________________ >> 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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Re: [amsat-bb] SatPC32 and Ham Radio Deluxe
by Roy Dean 02 Feb '19

02 Feb '19

Mike, I don't see any times listed for the Amsat tracking. I think the problem is people are saying that HRD "lags" (ie, the track is correct, but several seconds/minutes behind). Regardless of if that is true or not, what I would suggest to verify HRD's tracking is to open two windows, one with AO-91 or 92 in HRD (realtime, during an actual pass), and one with Amsat Argentina's website: http://amsat.org.ar/pass.htm Be sure to enter your correct grid square and select the correct satellite, and it will tell you current Az/El and doppler frequencies for Uplink and Downlink. I've found this site to be very reliable, and no installs are required (it runs in the browser). --Roy K3RLD ------------------------------ > Regarding the control of two VFOs simultaneously... we're working on this > next. On another note, I've been comparing satellite passes between HRD > Satellite > Tracking and AMSAT's tracking and I am unable to find any differences. > Here's an example with AO-91: > http://www.hamradiodeluxe.com/AO-91-Pass-min.png > > Mike, WA9PIE

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FM radio suggestions?
by Ron VE8RT 02 Feb '19

02 Feb '19

GM, I have a friend in an isolated community working on passing their Canadian Basic Amateur Radio Licence. If they pass with honours they'll have access to the HF bands, otherwise they're restricted to VHF and up. To start them off I was going to suggest getting on the FM satellites. I would also like to upgrade my satellite gear to include digital capability and thought I'd look into getting a second of the same radio, easier to mentor them at a distance if we're using the same gear. The model of interest is the FT-8900R and I'm open to suggestions. And I was thinking of ordering a printed copy of Getting Started on Amateur Satellites 2018 to be sent to them. For myself, I'd like to explore digital satellites, APRS and store and forward, are there current (quite a few out of date ones have turned up) website for beginners? Thanks, Ron VE8RT DP22 -- Ron VE8RT <ve8rt(a)yknwt.ca>

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FUNcube Warehouse maintenance
by David Johnson 02 Feb '19

02 Feb '19

Hi I will be doing some changes to the warehouse this weekend to extend JY1Sat support. There will be short outages while these changes are uploaded. 73 Dave, G4DPZ Sent from my iPhone

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Gpredict on Raspberry Pi
by Paul Overn 02 Feb '19

02 Feb '19

Playing around with gPredict on the R-pi. Wondering how to add another location for TLE files? The Rpi version does not have the "add TLE" option in the TLE screen. So it looks like I'm stuck with only the one TLE location. I'm specifically trying to add AO-85, but I'm sure there are others. Paul Overn KE0PBR Twitter: @KE0PBR `·.¸¸.·´¯`·.. ><((((º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸><((((º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.. ><((((º>

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XW-2A and Other Roads Less Travelled
by Les Rayburn 02 Feb '19

02 Feb '19

I’m a bit of a nomad, and have always enjoyed taking the roads less travelled. That applies to my hobby as well—those of us who work VHF are a fairly rare bunch. Those who work satellites; not often spotted in the wild. But apparently, rarer still are those who enjoy making contacts on satellites that are not AO-91, A0-92, SO-50, and FO-29. Working from home today, so I got on nearly every satellite pass over the United States. Alternated between calling CQ and searching for others to work. The results of working eight different passes? Four contacts for the day. Two on SO-50, one each on AO-91 and FO-29. Called CQ on XW-2A at dinner time. High elevation pass. Good strong downlink the entire pass from horizon to horizon. Nada… It did net me an SWL report from Mark Gluch, KB3CI who heard me loud and clean in EN82 near Detroit. He doesn’t have the transmit side working yet for the linear birds, but will soon. Ditto on AO-7, a whole pass on FO-29 this morning, and at least three of the XW birds. Last weekend, I listed to the L band activity on AO-91 and there was a ton more activity there than I heard today. (I’m working on getting the 1296 Yagi up so I can join you folks.) We’ve got a sky full of great satellites that perform well. Let’s use them. 73, Les Rayburn, N1LF 121 Mayfair Park Maylene, AL 35114 EM63nf Member WTFDA, IRCA, NRC. Former CPC Chairman for NRC & IRCA. Elad FDM-S2 SDR, AirSpy SDR2, SDRPlay RSP-2 Pro, Sony XDR-F1HD [XDR Guy Modified], Dennon TU-1500RD, Sangean HDT-1X, Ray Dees RDS Decoders, Korner 9.2 Antenna, FM-6 Antenna, Kitz Technologies KT-501 Pre-amps, Quantum Phaser, Wellbrook ALA1530 Loop, Wellbrook Flag, Clifton Labs Active Whip. “Nothing but blues and Elvis, and somebody else’s favorite song…”

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SDRplay RSP2pro test antenna?
by Ted Krempa 02 Feb '19

02 Feb '19

Hi Just got around to install with SDR Console and will be playing around with the Satellite portion. Question: for testing on rx, would a discone or dual band vertical work best ? (before I set up the real antenna - Elk on a rotor) Any input appreciated 73, Ted K7TRK

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