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

UO-11
by Graham c 12 Jun '20

12 Jun '20

Good morning all, I was monitoring 145.825 this morning and surprised to hear a data signal at a time when I was not expecting to hear anything. After a bit of research it turns out this was UO-11 ( I think ) FM 1K2 AFSK telemetry Strong signal at FN25ig (near Ottawa Canada) AOS, at least when I first heard the signal, approximately 2020-06-12 12:33UTC and LOS 12:38 UTC. I think I am going to monitor a few passes and see if I can decode some of the telemetry. cheers, Graham ve3gtc

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Mini Circuits components on Mouser
by Leffke, Zachary 12 Jun '20

12 Jun '20

Hi Folks, Just thought I'd drop a quick note for a recent discovery I made for the DIYers out there. Mini Circuits components are now being distributed through Mouser! On Mini Circuits, a lot of the stuff may be cheap, but usually comes with a minimum order quantity of 10 or 20 items. On Mouser you can place single item orders. The flipside of this though is the per unit cost is higher on Mouser, but totally worth it if you only need one or two of something and don't want to eat the cost for ordering 20. This could be a huge plus for microwave and other satellite projects. A lot (maybe all?) of the W1GHZ transverter designs are based around Mini Circuits components. There was some discussion on this list a while back about DIY VHF/UHF preamps and I piped up about a PGA-103 based design that I like. On Mini Circuits, one amp is $1.99, but again you'd have to buy 20 (so minimum cost of $40). On Mouser same amp is $3.12 for 1. Much more reasonable if you only need one or two. I haven't checked every component that might be of interest, and I'm mostly looking for SMT components at the moment. So far amps and baluns seem to be cross listed, though a number of mixers are listed but 'out of stock' on Mouser.....still that might just be stock ramp up delays if this is relatively new for Mouser. Just thought I'd let folks know. Keep your eye out for the 'buy on mouser' link if your searching around on Mini Circuits page. Spread the word to your microwave friends! If this is old news, sorry for that, I got excited when I found it! -Zach, KJ4QLP -- Research Associate Aerospace & Ocean Systems Lab Ted & Karyn Hume Center for National Security & Technology Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University Work Phone: 540-231-4174 Cell Phone: 540-808-6305

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FoxTelem changed?
by Mark Johns, K0JM 12 Jun '20

12 Jun '20

For weeks I have been successfully capturing 30-60 telemetry frames per pass on AO-91 and AO-92 with FoxTelem v.1.08z5. But suddenly, over the past week or two, I'm lucky to capture 10-20 frames in a pass -- sometimes as few as 1 or 2 frames for a 25 degree elevation pass! The eye just doesn't seem to want to lock up, even when the downlink signal is very strong. Nothing has changed in my station. Is something different with the DUV signals of the satellites, or with the program, or some screwy Windows update, or something else that I'm missing? Anyone else seeing the same? -- Mark D. Johns, KØJM AMSAT Ambassador & News Service Editor Brooklyn Park, MN USA EN35hd ----------------------------------------------- "Heaven goes by favor; if it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in." ---Mark Twain

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Re: [amsat-bb] HF and Satellite antennas on one mast?
by Rich Gopstein 11 Jun '20

11 Jun '20

Thanks. A LEO-pack might be a better choice for stacking then. Since the coax wouldn't hang down as far. Also less wind area... On Thu, Jun 11, 2020, 1:14 PM W3AB/GEO <w3ab(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > That would work. Your AZ rotor will determine how big a HF beam you can > install. Don't forget to add in the Sat array for wind load. The spacing > will probably be determined by your coax feed to the Sat antennas. > > ___ > Sent from my two way wrist watch > 73 de W3AB/GEO > On Jun 11, 2020, at 08:24, Rich Gopstein via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> > wrote: >> >> I'm considering putting up a tower to get my satellite antennas off the >> ground. As long as I'm doing that, I'm considering putting a small HF beam >> up there too (maybe the 2 or 3 element SteppIR?). >> >> Has anyone done that? Do you put the HF antenna below the AZ/EL setup? >> How much room would I leave between them? BTW - I have the larger M2 >> satellite antennas, not the LEO-pack, so the antennas are mounted near the >> middle of the booms, not at the ends. >> >> I imagine I'd split the G-5500 into separate AZ and EL rotators, placing >> the AZ rotator in the tower. >> >> Thoughts? >> >> Thanks. >> >> Rich, KD2CQ >> ------------------------------ >> >> 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: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb >> >>

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-06-11 18:30 UTC
by aj9n＠aol.com 11 Jun '20

11 Jun '20

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-06-11 18:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: I.E.S. Pedro de Valdivia, Villanueva de la Serena, Spain, Multi-point telebridge via ON4ISS The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Chris Cassidy KF5KDR Contact is go for: Tue 2020-06-16 12:25:27 UTC 84 deg Watch for live stream at: https://youtu.be/PyNqsTMqAoQ (***) ######################################################################################################################################## ARISS would like to announce that Tony VK5ZAI has received a special award (also thanks to ARISS mentor and telebridge operator Shane VK4KHZ for letting us know): Congratulations to Tony Hutchison VK5ZAI in being recognised and awarded the Order of Australia medal (AM) in the June 8th Queens Birthday honours list. Well done Tony! Mr James Anthony HUTCHISON Kingston SE SA 5275 For significant service to amateur radio, particularly to satellite and space communication. For those that don't know what Tony has done, here a few stats. He has mentored 65 ARISS schools and been the telebridge station for 58 ARISS contacts. Plus he was very involved with SAREX. For even more info on Tony, check out these webpages (there are many more): http://www.electric-web.org/amateur_index.htm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chcgLwFy1v0 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-06/nasa-considers-amateur-radio-buff-pa… The actual announcement can be found on page 7 of 28 at: https://www.gg.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-06/QB2020%20Gazette%20-%20O%… ######################################################################################################################################## 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 2020-06-11 18:30 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 2020-05-17 11:30 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 SpaceX-Demo2 now on orbit Welcome aboard! Bob Behnken KE5GGX Doug Hurley **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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FoxTelem changed?
by Roy Dean 11 Jun '20

11 Jun '20

> > Nothing has changed in my station. Is something different with the DUV > signals of the satellites, or with the program, or some screwy Windows > update, or something else that I'm missing? Anyone else seeing the same? This is typical (at least for me). I've been running a dedicated FoxTelem station (FCDP+ and a Raspberry Pi, 3/4 wave ground plane attic antenna) for a couple of years and I've noticed that I can go for weeks only getting about 20 to 50 frames a day, the all of a sudden I'll average 200 frames a day for a couple of weeks. The running average seems to be about 50 frames a day. Of course, there could also be a recent issue with one of the satellites or your station.... who knows. Just giving you another data point. --Roy K3RLD

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Pre amps
by Albert Ozias 11 Jun '20

11 Jun '20

I have used an AG-25 and an AG-35 mask mounted pre-amps which are no longer used being my station was down sized. If anyone has interest in acquiring both for moderate consideration contact me at alozias(a)live.com or N7EQF(a)amsat.org.

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HF and Satellite antennas on one mast?
by Rich Gopstein 11 Jun '20

11 Jun '20

I'm considering putting up a tower to get my satellite antennas off the ground. As long as I'm doing that, I'm considering putting a small HF beam up there too (maybe the 2 or 3 element SteppIR?). Has anyone done that? Do you put the HF antenna below the AZ/EL setup? How much room would I leave between them? BTW - I have the larger M2 satellite antennas, not the LEO-pack, so the antennas are mounted near the middle of the booms, not at the ends. I imagine I'd split the G-5500 into separate AZ and EL rotators, placing the AZ rotator in the tower. Thoughts? Thanks. Rich, KD2CQ

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AMSAT Member Portal Huge Success!
by Robert Bankston 11 Jun '20

11 Jun '20

It’s been 41 days since I first launched AMSAT’s new, online Member Total. In that short time, 1,060 members have logged in, and we added 254 new and previously expired members to our ranks. A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into transitioning our old dBase4 database into our new online Member Portal. It has been a humbling experience to see everything come together and the expanded services we can now offer our Members. While my original plan was to spend the first couple of months getting our members signed up, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, took the initiative to collect, capture and upload all of The AMSAT Journals, dating back to 2014, to make them accessible to our members. In addition, Paul also made added AMSAT’s latest Amateur Satellite Frequency Guide as a member only benefit. This was a huge effort and added a lot of value for our members. Be sure to thank Paul for making it happen. To all of the members who have already signed up on the new AMSAT Member Portal and those who I have exchanged emails with, I thank you. I hope the level of our service lives up to your expectations. For those who have not signed up, what are you waiting for? It’s a fairly simple process and only takes a few minutes of your time. It is important that each and every member log in and MAKE SURE YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION IS UP TO DATE. While you’re there, take a moment to download the current satellite frequency guide, the stroll on over to The AMSAT Journal Archive. If you not a member, there is no better time to join. Visit launch.amsat.org 73, Robert Bankston, KE4AL Vice-President, User Services Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT)

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ANS-162 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - 38th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting Moving to Virtual Event
by Paul Stoetzer 10 Jun '20

10 Jun '20

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN ANS-162 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, 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 communicating 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: * 38th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting Moving to Virtual Event SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-162.01 ANS-162 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin AMSAT News Service Bulletin 162.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE June 10, 2020 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-162.01 38th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting Moving to Virtual Event The 38th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting in- person event scheduled to be held in Bloomington, Minnesota has been canceled. The event will be shifted to a virtual, online platform. This comes after a decision made between AMSAT's Senior Leadership and Board of Directors in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. While AMSAT recognizes the national challenges related to recent events in Minneapolis, they have no bearing on the Symposium decision whatsoever. We anticipate holding 2021's Annual Space Symposium at the previously announced 2020 venue. The in-person event was scheduled to occur Friday, October 16th - Sunday, October 18th. As the 2020 virtual event plans are developed, they will be announced via the usual AMSAT channels. [ANS thanks the AMSAT Office for the above information] /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. 73 and Remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space, This week's ANS Contributing Editor, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM n8hm at amsat dot org

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