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

Thank you
by johnv＠frontier.com 22 Mar '19

22 Mar '19

I just got number VUCC #427 certificate in the mail this morning. Thank you to all those who helped me with it. It will be on the wall Monday after I show it off tomorrow at the Snohomish County Hams Club. JohnN7AME

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Next Rocket Lab Launch
by Wendy and Terry Osborne 22 Mar '19

22 Mar '19

Hi Folks, Next Rocket Lab launch (DAPRA satellite) is on Sunday 24th at 22:30 UTC at the earliest. See: https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/1108929530125680640 73, Terry Osborne ZL2BAC

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Programs to work/log Sats from separate Rigs ??
by Bob KD7YZ 22 Mar '19

22 Mar '19

So I have a K3 which "generally" Rx's on VHF mode (Downlink) And I have an IC910 which therefore is usually on xmit on the UHF side (Uplink). And invariably I am using, and quite happy with SatPC32 to control the two radios. And the latter is done with the help of VSPE to make some virtual serial ports. So what program(s) can I use to be able to LOG the xmit and the Rx frequencies, the Calls, the locations of the guys ... and also upload/download/match, from LOTW ? ....and as a by product, keep track of Grids Countries and the like? Contesting of any form is not needed. thank you -- 73 Bob KD7YZ AMSAT LM #901

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IC-970 --> IC-9700 A nostalgic journey
by Ronald G. Parsons 22 Mar '19

22 Mar '19

I cut my satellite teeth with a Icom IC-970 back in the early ‘90s. Getting to look through the IC-9700s manual was nostalgic. The 970 was my first VHF/UHF rig. I bought it used and it served me well for several years until I sold it and acquired an Icom IC-810. Satellites have been my passion ever since. I even wrote a Macintosh program to control the 970. The 970 was like an old used sports car – it required constant maintenance and repair. Every couple months, the 970 would stop transmitting. I soon learned that meant I had to open up the case and re-flow the solder tabs on the final. The 970 was where I realized the most important frequency to be aware of was the frequency of the uplink and downlink signal “as measured at the satellite.” In almost three decades, the satellite radio universe has changed a lot – for the better. Ron W5RKN

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Re: [amsat-bb] Thank you
by Kevin M 22 Mar '19

22 Mar '19

I earned VUCC-Sat #86 in Oct 1998 under my old callsign, AC5DK... Keep in mind though, John, your award means as much today as any of these old awards drawn with hand calligraphy on papyrus. X^D Kinda like that old joke... 'You know what they call the guy who graduates last in his class at medical school??? Doctor.' 73 & congrats!!! KevinN4UFO N1JEZ said: #73 in 1997 here.... On 3/22/2019 3:17 PM, Bruce wrote: > Oh, my..... I am showing my age now. I became a ham in 1993 and > immediately went into satellite operations. My VUCC in late 1993 is #17. > For at least a dozen years after that they increased very rarely. > > I am glad to see all the activity on the satellites and enough > satellites for everyone to have fun with. > > 73...bruce > > On 3/22/2019 1:54 PM, Paul Stoetzer wrote: >> Congrats! >> >> On another note, the fact that we're at #427 in VUCCs issued is a >> testament to the increase in popularity of satellite ops and grid >> chasing over the past few years. VUCC Satellite has been around since >> either the late 1980s or early 1990s. I received #248 in March 2014. >> So, in about 5 years, about 42% of all satellite VUCCs issued in about >> 30 years have been awarded. >> >> 73, >> >> Paul, N8HM >> >> On Fri, Mar 22, 2019 at 2:50 PM johnv at frontier.com >> <johnv at frontier.com> wrote: >>> I just got number VUCC #427 certificate in the mail this morning. >>> >>> Thank you to all those who helped me with it. It will be on the >>> wall Monday after I show it off tomorrow at the Snohomish County Hams >>> Club. >>> JohnN7AME

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Kicksat sprites detected on 437.24
by andy thomas 22 Mar '19

22 Mar '19

Sprite signals detected on 437.24 by Dwingeloo. Cees Bassa on Twitter there's a waterfall picture on the twitter site below showing the charateristic wide band tx of the sprite. | | | | | | | | | | | Cees Bassa on Twitter “The Sprites are alive! We just picked up transmissions at 437.24MHz with @radiotelescoop from the tiny Sprite s... | | | Sprites are 5mins ahead of Kicksat2. Zac Manchester, PI, reports hearing signals also in Stamford. 73 de andy G0SFJ

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IC-9700 manuals available
by David J. Schmocker 22 Mar '19

22 Mar '19

Everyone: For those English-readers who share interest in Icom IC-9700, manuals are now available: Basic Manual http://www.icom.co.jp/world/support/download/manual/pdf/IC-9700_ENG_Basic_0. pdf Advanced Manual: http://www.icom.co.jp/world/support/download/manual/pdf/IC-9700_AdvancedManu al_ENG_0.pdf CS-9700 Software Programming Instructions: (http://www.icom.co.jp/world/support/download/manual/disp_down.php?SWT=&ID=2 0190122001&GNR=Options&TYPE=C&PDNM=CS-9700&INQWORDSWT=No&INQWORD=) Very 73, David J. Schmocker, KJ9I

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IC-9700
by James Brown 22 Mar '19

22 Mar '19

Good news. My IC 9700 is due to arrive around the third week of April. Was thinking that the first challenge is getting sat32 to speak to it! Does sat32 need some form of software update for this radio or can we do it in the field? Jim KI6WJ

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ESEO has now started its commissioning
by Graham Shirville 22 Mar '19

22 Mar '19

On Monday December 3rd 2018, the 50kg ESA Education Office satellite ESEO was launched by Space-X on the Spaceflight SSO-A SmallSat Express mission. Following the launch from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Air Force Base, ESEO separated from the launch vehicle and automatically activated the periodic transmission of its telemetry beacon. However, by the time out of a predefined period, having not received commands from the ground station, the spacecraft automatically entered into safe mode. Some initial communications issues were experienced by ESEO in receiving commands from the ground stations in Forli’ (Italy) and Vigo (Spain), but they were resolved when the ESEO team of the Observatory of Tartu offered the possibility to use a ground station in Estonia. This is capable of transmitting with higher power, for a temporary contingent use. The Estonian ground station has been configured to be operated remotely by the ESEO MCC team, which involves students of the University of Bologna. ESEO then started executing the commands transmitted from ground. ESEO has now completed the LEOPS (Launch and Early OPerationS) phase of its mission, reaching the platform nominal mode and has begun the process of commissioning the whole satellite: firstly the platform functions, with the payloads functions following. As part of this commissioning process, but subject to the successful completion of other preparatory tasks of the platform subsystems commissioning, it is anticipated that initial testing of the AMSAT communications payload will be carried out within the next few weeks. AMSAT-UK will endeavour to provide some advance notice of these tests being undertaken, but the first step will be activation of the 1200bps BPSK telemetry beacon on 145.895MHz. The telemetry format matches previous FUNcube missions and data from this beacon will be forwarded to the FUNcube Data Warehouse using any of the FUNcube dashboards. However, to see the decoded values and graphical displays, please download the dedicated ESEO mission dashboard which is available here https://download.funcube.org.uk/ESEO_Dashboard_v1177.msi The payload has, additionally, a high speed, 4800bps BPSK data format downlink and also a Mode L/V FM transponder both of which will be tested. Further information about ESEO can be seen here: https://www.esa.int/Education/ESEO/ESEO_student_satellite_in-orbit_commissi… 73 Graham G3VZV

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AMSAT on HF
by skristof＠etczone.com 22 Mar '19

22 Mar '19

For anyone interested in the AMSAT on HF award I will be calling "CQ AMSAT" in slow code 2000 UTC to 2030 UTC today (Friday). Frequency will be between 10.110 MHz and 10.120 MHz. Award info: https://www.amsat.org/amsat-50th-anniversary-awards-program/ Steve AI9IN

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