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

Next Rocket Lab launch
by Wendy and Terry Osborne 25 Apr '19

25 Apr '19

Hi Folks, The next Rocket Lab launch window is scheduled to start on May 4th NZST at 18:00 to 22:00 (06:00 to 10:00). So that will be in the dark. See: https://www.rocketlabusa.com/next-mission/launch-complex-1/ They should be streaming it from their web site. 73, Terry Osborne ZL2BAC

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Tripod for Arrow
by Chris Pohlad-Thomas 25 Apr '19

25 Apr '19

Can anyone please provide a recommendation on a tripod to use with an Arrow II? I want to make sure I find something that can handle the weight and do a 90 degree turn. Chris KC1E -- Chris Pohlad-Thomas

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HS1ØKING/mm.
by Tanan Rangseeprom 25 Apr '19

25 Apr '19

Dear AMSAT member To mark the Coronation of King Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun (King Rama X) from May 4 to May 6, 2019 the Radio Amateur Society of Thailand under the Patronage of His Majesty the King (RAST) will be operating a special event station from the Royal Thai Navy aircraft carrier, the Chakri Narubet, in the Gulf of Thailand from May 3 to May 6 using the callsign HS1ØKING/mm. This station will be making QSOs in the 40, 20, 15 and 10 metre HF bands, on 2 metres VHF and also using amateur radio satellites, including the Es'hail 2 / QO-100 satellite. Consequently, the May meeting of RAST will be postponed to the second Sunday of the month, and will take place on Sunday May 12 at Sena Place Hotel when applications to take the upcoming Intermediate Class examination will be available As usual all RAST members are welcome to attend this meeting and hopefully they will be able to have a QSO with HS1ØKING/mm. Sincere 73, Tony Waltham, HS0ZDX RAST Vice-President RAST English-language website: https://www.qsl.net/rast/

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A Modern Oscar Locator
by Chris Thompson 25 Apr '19

25 Apr '19

I wanted a simple program that showed when target spacecraft would be above the horizon. I remembered a picture of an old program that Rob Bruninga posted on AMSAT-BB some time ago. I could not find that picture, but I built something similar and it looks like this: http://www.g0kla.com/klatrack/klatrack_dark.png It's a simple program that plots the elevation of upcoming satellite passes as a horizontal display and then updates it in real time. It does a one time calculation to fill its buffer of positions, then its pretty efficient because it just calculates the next position it needs in the future. The details and the download are here: http://www.g0kla.com/klatrack/index.php Thanks again to Dave Johnson (G4DPZ) for his port to Java of John Maglicane's (KB2BD) predict library. The is made available under the Gnu GPL and I will upload the code to github when I get a chance. 73 Chris -- Chris E. Thompson chrisethompson(a)gmail.com g0kla(a)arrl.net

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Using an Arrow Antenna With Only Two Hands
by Corlissbs 24 Apr '19

24 Apr '19

I do not use a tripod with my Arrow antenna. But I do want to record the pass for logging ease. I do not want the outside sounds to be picked up by my recording device, which is my iPhone. So, I hard wire from the radio and my Heil, boom headset directly into my iPhone. I did have to put a mini guitar amp in line, between the radio and the phone It is called an “Appoge Jam 96K.” It works perfectly and draws it’s power from the iPhone. A perfect recording that I can use for logging. Brad Smith KC9UQR

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KlaTrack [ Problem Saving Settings ]
by Les Rayburn 24 Apr '19

24 Apr '19

Thanks (as always) for the great advice received on this forum. The problem with KalTrack turned out to be Windows 10 resizing the “settings” window so that “SAVE” and “CANCEL” buttons were not visible. Simply grabbing the lower right corner of the window and stretching it did the trick. Everything working great now. I had a couple of points of confusion along the way: Whenever the author recommends downloading Java Runtime Environment, that really just means “Java.” Download and install the latest version of Java—and uninstall any older versions. As many pointed out, “Run as Administrator” works best. This is a great piece of software to help quickly visualize what passes are coming up. Just what I needed. 73, Les Rayburn, N1LF Maylene, AL EM63nf AMSAT #38965, ARRL Life Member, CVHS Life Member, SVHF Member

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2019-04-24 20:30 UTC
by aj9n＠aol.com 24 Apr '19

24 Apr '19

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2019-04-24 20:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Hidden Oaks Middle School, Prior Lake, MN, direct via N9CHA The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is David St-Jacques KG5FYI Contact was successful: Wed 2019-04-24 17:46:31 UTC 52 deg (***) Observatorio Astronómico de Mallorca (OAM), Costitx (Mallorca-Islas Baleares-España), Spain, telebridge via W6SRJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Nick Hague KG5TMV Contact is go for: Mon 2019-04-29 11:48:40 UTC 36 deg Mildred Hall School, Yellowknife, NT, Canada, telebridge via LU8YY The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is David St-Jacques KG5FYI Contact is go for: Fri 2019-05-03 18:32:19 UTC 59 deg The ARISS webpage is at http://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 http://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The ARISS webpage is at http://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. International Space Station Astronauts are Calling CQ Students ARISS-US program’s education proposal window is open April 1 - May 15, 2019 March 24, 2019: The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program is seeking proposals beginning April 1, 2019, from US schools, museums, science centers and community youth organizations (working individually or together) to host radio contacts with an orbiting crew member aboard the International Space Station (ISS) between January 1, 2020 and June 30, 2020. Each year, ARISS provides tens of thousands of students with learning opportunities about space technologies, communications, and much more through the exploration of Amateur Radio and space. The ARISS program connects students to astronauts on the ISS through a partnership between NASA, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, the American Radio Relay League, other Amateur Radio global organizations and the worldwide space agencies. The program’s goal is to inspire students to pursue interests and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and in Amateur Radio. Educators report regularly that student participation in the ARISS program stimulates interest in STEM subjects and STEM careers. One educator wrote, “Many of the middle school students who took part in and attended the ARISS contact have selected science courses in high school as a result of that contact.” Educators are setting up ham radio clubs in schools and learning centers because of students’ interest. ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed, exciting education plan. Students can learn about satellite communications, wireless technology, science research conducted on the ISS, radio science, and other STEM subjects. Students learn to use Amateur Radio to talk directly to an astronaut and ask their STEM-related questions. ARISS will help educational organizations locate Amateur Radio groups who can assist with equipment for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for students. The proposal window opens April 1, 2019 and the proposal deadline is May 15, 2019. For proposal guidelines and forms and more details, go to: http://ariss-proposal-webinar-spring-2019.eventbrite.com Proposal webinars for guidance and getting questions answered will be offered April 11, 2019 at 7 pm Eastern Time and April 16, 2019 at 9 pm Eastern Time. Advance registration is necessary. To sign up, go to https://ariss-proposal-webinar-spring-2019.eventbrite.com **************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** 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: http://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) http://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 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 114 **************************************************************************** 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 2019-04-24 20:30 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 1304. (***) Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1247. (***) 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 2019-04-24 20:30 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 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 Exp. 59 on orbit Christina Koch Aleksey Ovchinin Nick Hague KG5TMV **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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Re: [amsat-bb] Tripod for Arrow
by Ryan Noguchi 24 Apr '19

24 Apr '19

There have already been a lot of good comments on the list on why handheld antennas work a lot better if you can manage it, and I'm definitely in that camp. My experience with my home station (an Elk on a tripod in the attic with an azimuth-only TV rotator and a fixed elevation of about 18 degrees) also corroborates this, as I find that mismatched elevation makes very little difference, but mismatched polarization makes a huge difference. When I was confined to a fixed location, one trick that I've found helped is to suspend the tip of the antenna to bear part of its weight. In my back yard, I have strung up some horizontal (non-conductive) lines that are at about the right height for me to hold the Arrow horizontal with my arm extended and the tip of the antenna resting on the line, with line "hooked" on the forward-most element. This saves a lot of fatigue on those long portions of the pass when the elevation angle is low, provides added height to reduce the workable elevation angle, and enables almost complete freedom of rotation for polarization. I've used this approach with both the Elk and the Arrow to good effect. It does require a little more practice and attention with the Arrow due to the crossed geometry, but it was certainly very workable. I have the lines strung out in three directions optimized for different pass geometries, which was more useful for the Arrow than the Elk. I don't use them much any more since I got over my fear of being "outed" and started operating in full view of the public. Operating completely pedestrian-portable is also very handy if you have to move during the pass to clear obstructions or distance yourself from (audio) noise sources. Operating writing-hand-free can be very doable, even without VOX. I hold the antenna with one hand, and leave the other hand free for tuning, logging in real time, pressing the earpiece PTT switch, and occasionally holding an umbrella. 73, Ryan AI6DO

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KlaTrack [ Problem Saving Settings ]
by Greg Winterflood 24 Apr '19

24 Apr '19

Gday Les and Joe, I wonder if you have installed the Java 1.8 runtime environment which is required? You can download it from java.com. The file which keeps all your saved preferences can be found in your "Home" directory here: C:\Users\winte\KLATrack where "winte" is the first part of my surname. Of course you will have a different identified. 73s from PG66wh Greg *Greg Winterflood VK8KMD* *5 Burke Street, Alice Springs* *EAST SIDE* *Northern Territory * *Australia 0870*

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AMSAT on HF
by skristof＠etczone.com 24 Apr '19

24 Apr '19

I had a power outage a couple of days ago and I lost part of my "AMSAT on HF" log. (You don't need to ask if I was keeping a backup.) If you have had a 50th anniversary "AMSAT on HF" QSO with me, could you please send me the info? It was most likely in the first half of April. Thank you! Steve AI9IN

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