May 2020 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

Two way SSTV exchanges using PSAT2
by Roy Dean 15 May '20

15 May '20

> > I assumem there are smartphone Aps for using the built in Mic to capture > SSTV audio from an HT and maybe even to transmit them to the HT. Bob, > WB4APR "Robot36" app for Android --Roy K3RLD

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Zazzle 40% Off Deal Ends Today - Get Your AMSAT Gear!
by Paul Stoetzer 15 May '20

15 May '20

We miss seeing all of you at Hamvention!. If, like one of AMSAT's past presidents, you do all your clothes shopping at hamfests and are wondering how you will supplement your wardrobe this year, Zazzle is currently running a promotion for 50% off ties, 40% off t-shirts and sweatshirts, and 15% off other items. Act now to get your AMSAT apparel at a great price. All of our items are fully customizable and you can even transfer the designs to products we don't offer directly through the storefront. Check out our Zazzle store at https://www.zazzle.com/store/amsat_gear. Be sure to include the promo code BESTDADGIFTS at checkout. Remember, this deal ends today! 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Executive Vice President AMSAT

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HUGE Shout out to AMSAT for New Member Portal
by Bob 15 May '20

15 May '20

I was SO excited to receive the email about launch.amsat.org member portal. The instructions for gaining access were spot on, and I quickly gained access to my account info from days gone by. Being able to access the Journal online is a fantastic addition, and it was so nice to be able to download an up-to-date satellite frequency guide. My sincere thanks to the entire AMSAT team! 73, Bob, WB4SON Life Member 2593

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-05-15 16:30 UTC
by aj9n＠aol.com 15 May '20

15 May '20

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-05-15 16:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Airdrie Space Science Club, Airdrie, AB, Canada, Multi-point telebridge via ZS6JON The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Chris Cassidy KF5KDR Contact was successful: Fri 2020-05-15 15:10:28 UTC 55 deg via ZS6JON (***) Congratulations to the Airdrie Space Science Club students and Chris! (***) Congratulations to ZS6JON for his first ARISS telebridge station contact! (***) Watch for live stream at: https://youtu.be/2mflSlShPHA A multi-point telebridge contact means that each student will be on the telebridge from their own home. ************************************************* Looking for some stay at home activities related to science and for when you are not playing on your radio? Check out these links: >From ARISS Vice Chair Oliver Amend DG6BCE: ESA Astronauts to offer inspiration during isolation in #SpaceConnectsUs https://www.esa.int/Newsroom/Astronauts_to_offer_inspiration_during_isolati… Celestron, the telescope, microscope, and sports optics folks, now has something called #STEMINYOURBACKYARD that you can find on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. By the way, I don't work for Celestron or have any business dealings with them and this is just something I saw. Apparently there are 10 free STEM activities covering Astronomy, Nature and Wildlife, and The Microscopic World. Check out: https://www.celestron.com/blogs/news/discover-stem-in-your-backyard NASA has a STEM page with fun activities to do at home. Check out https://www.nasa.gov/stem ************************************************* ARISS is very aware of the impact that COVID-19 is having on schools and the public in general. As such, we may have last minute cancellations or postponements of school contacts. As always, I will try to provide everyone with near-real-time updates. The following schools have now been postponed or cancelled due to COVID-19: Postponed: No additional schools (***) Cancelled: No additional schools (***) The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Watch for future COVID-19 related announcements here also. 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 2020-05-15 16:30 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. 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 2020-05-15 16:30 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 ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The Proposal Window of February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 has now closed. For future 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 140 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 138 Sergey RV3DR with 133 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 1389. (***) Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1322. (***) 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. 62 now on orbit Chris Cassidy KF5KDR Anatoli Ivanishin Ivan Vagner **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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TQSL 2.5.4 released and new HO-107 (HuskySat-1) is included..
by Steve Nordahl 15 May '20

15 May '20

ARRL released the new TQSL file V2.5.4 today with some bug fixes and the new HO-107 (HuskySat-1) is included.. Steve NS3L

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Control Cable for G5500
by Bruce 15 May '20

15 May '20

I am looking for a ready made cable from the G5500 control box (the 8 pin connector) to a FoxDelta controller. I need it already soldered on the 8 pin side and bare cable on the other end. I need the cable to be no less than 1 foot long. Is there somewhere to purchase one? I have the connectors but do not want to play with soldering anymore. I have been sitting on this for a year now and time to get the controller working. 73...bruce -- Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards AMSAT Board Member 2016-2020 ARRL Awards Field Checker (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0100z on Echolink - Conference *AMSAT* Also live streaming MP3 at http://www.amsatnet.com Podcast at http://www.amsatnet.com/podcast.xml or iTunes Latest satellite news on the ARRL Audio News http://www.arrl.org AMSAT on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/amsat

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DiSEqC Antenna Tracker System, HB9SCT
by Gregory Beat 15 May '20

15 May '20

Anyone in North America experimenting with DiSEqC Control for Tracking ?? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DiSEqC DiSEqC (Digital Satellite Equipment Control), pronounced "Die-Sec", is a special communication protocol for use between a satellite receiver and a device such as a multi-dish switch or a small dish antenna rotor. DiSEqC was developed by European satellite provider Eutelsat, which now acts as the standards agency for the protocol. DiSEqC Protocol and Low-Noise Block Voltage Regulator TPS65235 for Satellite by Na Xu, Texas Instruments (December 2016) http://www.ti.com/lit/an/slva863/slva863.pdf?&ts=1589027212595 === DiSEqC : Low Cost Antenna Tracker Christian Monstein, HB9SCT (Switzerland) http://www.e-callisto.org/Hardware/Diseqc/SARA%20Diseq_V01.pdf Callisto DISEqC Controller (June 2018) http://www.e-callisto.org/hardware/Diseqc/Doku%20Diseq.pdf The key components (and most expensive ones) are two DiSEqC motors (Az-El) and the Arduino micro-controller. Callisto Hardware - Knowledge Library. http://www.e-callisto.org/Hardware/Callisto-Hardware.html STAB (Italy), HH100, HH120 rotors (~ € 85.00) http://www.stab-italia.com/prodotto.php?cod=F208010 HH100, HH120 Manual http://www.stab-italia.com/downloads/rotor%20sat%20division/hh100%20and%20h… == greg, w9gb

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Re: [amsat-bb] L band gear
by Zach Metzinger 14 May '20

14 May '20

On 05/13/20 21:21, Ed Krome via AMSAT-BB wrote: > I’m a bit surprised that so few are using portable (and no homebrew) 1267. Here’s an alternative, homebrew style. Something old and something new. > Antenna: 12el hb yagi with folded dipole DE, mounted on top of Arrow with 8” fiberglass rod spacers > Amplifier: hb brick amp with RA18H1213G. See AMSAT Journal Jan-Feb 2019 for construction details. Can do 30W, but never use that much. > Transmit-converter: ancient hb, dbm + discreet transistor amps. Would be so much easier today with MMIC’s. ~1/2W out. Originally built for AO-10 and used a lot on -10 & -13 > RF (2M) source: Baofeng UV5R+ ht. Why? Because that thing has no problem transmitting slightly below the 2M band edge. The trans-converter was crystaled so 145 in = 1269 out. AO92 is 1267.x, so the trans-conv requires 143.x input. In the AO10&13 days, the driver was a Drake T4X driving an hb 2M transverter. Complicated, but as a fixed station (100+W out from 2x7289) it worked well. Ed- I'm an avid home-brewer, but family, work, grad school, and volunteering has gotten in the way of me getting a real satellite station on the air. I have a mostly-built 23cm FM rig (http://www.pe1jpd.nl/index.php/23cm_nbfm), which I bought as a first-pass attempt at getting on 23cm. Just needs to be buttoned up into a chassis and we're ready to roll. I've also duplicated a few preamp designs (https://www.n0zgo.net/lna), and started building a SatNOGS v2 rotator using laser-cut mounting plates (https://www.n0zgo.net/satellite/satnogs/rotator_build). Some day, I'll get this stuff done and on the air. :-) I hope more amateurs build their own equipment. So many diagnostic aids (SDR, o-scopes, spectrum analyzers) are available for cheap compared to 20 years ago! --- Zach N0ZGO

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PO-101 pass
by Steve Kristoff 14 May '20

14 May '20

Listening to my recording of the most recent pass of PO-101 it sounded like I might have stepped on someone. I did not notice it during the pass. My apologies to whomever that was. Steve AI9IN

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Re: [amsat-bb] Two way SSTV exchanges using PSAT2
by Stephen DeVience 14 May '20

14 May '20

You might be able to transmit with Fldigi and MMSSTV at the same time, depending on the setup. I've definitely received with both simultaneously. -Stephen, N8URE

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