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

Is This AMSAT's Future?
by Joe Leikhim 22 Jul '20

22 Jul '20

Why not? QO-100 is a success. The antennas for up link and downlink for such a station are easily made or procured. The LNB a simple decades old modification. The stations would be friendly to HOA and apartment dwellers alike. I dont see the objection. "These new projects - seems like they are “marketed” towards a very small segment os satellite operators. Is there truly a worthwhile “return on investment" when a ground station might have to include … “ … radio system is a 10 GHz downlink that will support 1 Mbps. You'll need a 10 GHz antenna that can be steered to track a LEO satellite and probably a low-noise block downconverter (LNB) feeding an SDR. I think similar receivers are used for QO-100, so a Google search may yield some designs that are currently working, although QO-100 is nearly stationary … “ Feels like a very few hams will partake … Exciting, indeed. But surely not geared to the masses … Clint Bradford K6LCS" -- Joe Leikhim Leikhim and Associates Communications Consultants Oviedo, Florida JLeikhim(a)Leikhim.com 407-982-0446 WWW.LEIKHIM.COM

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Upgrade of equipment
by Russ Kinner 22 Jul '20

22 Jul '20

When I first got my license, 2 meters was the highest freq. typically used, 440 was an experimenters band and anything above that was AT&T Microwave links for phone and network video. It took a few years but now you can buy 1.2 GHz gear from several sources. The experimenters area becomes common to all in a few years. I At my radio beginning, there were no PCs, mobile radios were crystal controlled mostly, and you bought a keypad to generate telephone tone pairs to use a repeater auto-patch and wired it in yourself. Things change to meet the demand and it won't take long to have microwave gear and antennas easily available. Just takes a demand that a HEO or better satellite in orbit generates. It's one of the reasons AO-92 has L/v mode. I welcome the change. Rusty, WA8ZID

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LVB Tracker vs. Yeasu GS-232B
by Robert MacHale 22 Jul '20

22 Jul '20

What is the status of the LVB Tracker - I notice it was once promoted by AmSat, but is currently out of stock. The Yeasu GS-232B feels a little over priced at $589. What is the current recommendation for connecting the Yeasu G-5500 to tracking software? [1] For reference, AmSat: https://www.amsat.org/product/lvb-tracker-complete/ [2] For reference, HRO: https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-002778 73 Robert MacHale . KE6BLR Ham Radio License . http://www.aprsat.com/predict . http://www.spaceCommunicator.club . Supporting Boy Scout Merit Badges in Radio, Robotics, and Space Exploration Silly Joke: What did the little mountain say to the bigger mountain? Hi Cliff! He who dares not offend cannot be honest. -- Thomas Paine

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Is This AMSAT's Future?
by Clint Bradford 22 Jul '20

22 Jul '20

These new projects - seems like they are “marketed” towards a very small segment os satellite operators. Is there truly a worthwhile “return on investment" when a ground station might have to include … “ … radio system is a 10 GHz downlink that will support 1 Mbps. You'll need a 10 GHz antenna that can be steered to track a LEO satellite and probably a low-noise block downconverter (LNB) feeding an SDR. I think similar receivers are used for QO-100, so a Google search may yield some designs that are currently working, although QO-100 is nearly stationary … “ Feels like a very few hams will partake … Exciting, indeed. But surely not geared to the masses … Clint Bradford K6LCS

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Re: [amsat-bb] Is This AMSAT's Future?
by Clint Bradford 22 Jul '20

22 Jul '20

>> This could very well be. Tech changes over time. IMHO, Hams need to change over time to keep the hobby viable. That required station is quite a jump from enjoying LEOs - and getting involved in satellite communications for well under $200, though. Clint Bradford K6LCS - Still having clubs approach me for info on “Getting Started … “ (g)

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Open Source Thruster (was: Elections HEO QO-100' Linear NB + Digital WB)
by Daniel Schultz 22 Jul '20

22 Jul '20

I've been going to Electric Propulsion conferences for over a decade now, and I always had a sneaking suspicion that I could build one of those things in my garage, but then common sense takes over when I remind myself how long it would take me to accomplish that. It looks like he is way ahead of me in getting a vacuum system up and running. One thing the twitter feed does not mention, where is Applied Ion located? An open source electric thruster is a very key element in returning AMSAT to HEO. Is there anything we can do to help him along? Dan Schultz N8FGV ------ Original Message ------ >As it happens, Applied Ion is reporting partial success with a thruster >design today: https://twitter.com/Applied_Ion >His cost per thruster is much closer to Zach's $100. Two thrusters of a >previous design of his are scheduled to fly on the AMSAT-EA Genesis >satellites, NET September. These are Open Source designs.

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Re: [amsat-bb] My Ballot arrived - now what?
by Clint Bradford 22 Jul '20

22 Jul '20

They’ll never do it. Clint Bradford K6LCS > On Jul 21, 2020, at 7:36 PM, amsat-bb-request(a)amsat.org wrote: > > I challenge each candidate to address the issue and detail a plan to > deal with it.

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Re: [amsat-bb] Because I am being asked
by Brennan Price 21 Jul '20

21 Jul '20

Zach, I will be checking returned ballots against the voter list as they are returned as an aid to determine who might be eligible for a replacement ballot come August 12. The voter list is static while the membership portal is dynamic, so I'm dealing with the accounting separately. With the caveat that my ability to accommodate requests to verify receipt will be inversely proportional to the number of requests I receive, members may feel free to ask. Without committing future leadership to a course of action, your suggestion is among several ideals that are worthwhile. 73 de Brennan N4QX Message: 7 Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2020 09:58:18 -0500 From: Zach Metzinger <zmetzing(a)pobox.com> To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Because I am being asked Message-ID: <901f8e60-b912-a524-f8fa-717e73014f89(a)pobox.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed On 07/21/20 0943, Brennan Price via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Out of necessity to determine a fixed voter list and in accordance with previous announcements, the voter list was invariantly determined on the basis of memberships in good standing on July 1. Membership in good standing on that date is the criterion I will use in determining whether to issue replacement or original ballots. Hello Brennan- Is there a mechanism whereby a voter could check that their ballot was received by AMSAT? This would not include the choices on the ballot, just that it was received. I imagine this could be part of the launch.amsat.org interface, but I don't really know. If not for this year, could this be implemented for the next voting season? Thanks, --- Zach N0ZGO

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Re: [amsat-bb] Elections HEO QO-100' Linear NB + Digital WB
by Daniel Schultz 21 Jul '20

21 Jul '20

Yes, we once had a deal with Intelsat until it fell through. More recently we had a deal with the US Air Force and one of its contractors, until that also fell through. The reason we don't have a western hemisphere transponder in GEO is not because the "old guard" wants to shoot it down, but because these types of deals are very difficult to pull off in a market driven economy such as the US satellite industry. QO-100 was hosted on a satellite built for a royal government which is not responsible to stockholders, a government in which an amateur radio operator held a high position of influence. A US based company would have to answer to Wall Street analysts to explain why they are giving away money that could have been paid out in stock dividends. Changing the BOD membership will not alter any of these facts. It is not because we haven't asked the powers that be, and not because we are reluctant to "jump ahead of the project and grab what is needed". Space is Hard, and all the wishful thinking in the world is not going to change that. 73, Dan Schultz N8FGV > I am intrigued about QO-100 and have monitored it here in Florida by > remote WEB SDR access. I have not been active in the years since AO-40 > failed and have been eager to see some HEO operations like I enjoyed > from AO-10 and AO-13. Listening to QO-100 has rekindled that interest. > > Last month on AMSAT-BB I posed the question about getting a GEO ride > share with a commercial satellite, something that was considered 12 > years ago with Intelsat. Having a QO-100 type transponder here CONUS > would grow the hobby and get folks like me active again (and > contributing sums as I did for AO-40). However, the "old guard" shot > my idea down for the usual reasons. (See my threads last month). > > Having a QO-100 type transponder with a hybrid of narrow band linear > side and wide band digital side would open up a lot of opportunities > for operations, public service and experimentation.?? I hope the new > "slate" of BOD will consider this type of project as a priority. > > Personally, I think GOLF has not achieved results fast enough to > getting us a larger footprint. I am not advocating scrapping of that > effort, but sometimes you have to jump ahead of the project and grab > what is needed. > > 73 Joe

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Elections HEO QO-100' Linear NB + Digital WB
by Joe Leikhim 21 Jul '20

21 Jul '20

*No argument that launches to HEO cost money. Every launch costs money. Has anyone tabulated launch costs for the last 10=15 years? Projecting forward 10 years 10 satellite launches into LEO at $100K each is a million dollars. This of course is made up, but has anyone looked at the options of how to fund an HEO launch? If not why not? I get a sense that AO-40 sort of put a damper on things, where instead we should have dusted off and launched AO-41.* *"Howie DeFelice* howied231 at hotmail.com <mailto:amsat-bb%40amsat.org?Subject=Re%3A%20%5Bamsat-bb%5D%20Elections%20HEO%20QO-100%27%20Linear%20NB%20%2B%20Digital%20WB&In-Reply-To=%3CMN2PR14MB3517642671013610148975FAE7780%40MN2PR14MB3517.namprd14.prod.outlook.com%3E> /Tue Jul 21 10:56:22 UTC 2020/ If Bill was still around I would ask him, I do miss him. There may be some details in the corporate records but as an alternate board member I don't have access to those archives. Perhaps some of the current board can provide the details. My memory of what I heard was that Intelsat treated the request as a commercial RFQ and we got the commercial price that was many times the cost to orbit AO-40. Any new HEO satellite is going to require huge amounts of money no matter what. The ability to raise funds will be the MOST IMPORTANT part of getting a HEO satellite launched. Anybody who says different does not know what they are talking about. Howie AB2S" -- Joe Leikhim Leikhim and Associates Communications Consultants Oviedo, Florida JLeikhim(a)Leikhim.com 407-982-0446 WWW.LEIKHIM.COM

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