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

AO-92 Mode L/v postponed
by Andrew Glasbrenner 15 Jul '20

15 Jul '20

I placed AO-92 in Mode L/v this evening at 0302Z. I tested the L band uplink and it was fine. About 6 minutes later and after I had quit listening, the voltage on the satellite dipped below 3.6v and it went into auto safe mode very briefly before exiting eclipse and rebounding. When entering auto safe mode, the L converter is reset to off. So, despite the mode change we are back into U/v. In a way this is good because auto safe mode is doing its job protecting the batteries from over discharge. Until I can work with the engineering team as to the best way forward, we'll have to postpone L/v for now. Sorry, and I'll share more when I know it. 73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT VP Operations

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Re: [amsat-bb] Slack vs. eMail -- The medium is the message
by Daniel Schultz 15 Jul '20

15 Jul '20

> The benefit to Slack is having channels for each topic. In this case, > discussion about Board Membership can be in it's own channel. People who > are not interested are not required to read. That is the basic problem with American politics today. Each of us can choose our own news sources so that we hear only the news that we want to hear. When the whole country tuned in to Uncle Walt (that's Walter Cronkite for you younger folk) every night at 6:30, we still had disagreements but at least we started out with the same facts. I'm sorry if you find these political matters distracting, but as I said before, these satellites are not going to build themselves. They take extreme effort and dedication from a lot of passionate people, and any time you have more than a few of these type-A personalities assembled together, there will be disagreements. Your support of AMSAT through your dues is important, but paying dues once a year is not enough. You have to be an involved citizen of YOUR organization, you have to keep up with issues, even political issues, and you have to cast your vote wisely. And if you care enough to read Amsat-bb every day but you are not an AMSAT member, why the heck not? We need your money, but more importantly, we need your active participation. 73, Dan Schultz N8FGV

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Field Day results are due soon
by Bruce 15 Jul '20

15 Jul '20

Time is drawing near. If you have not submitted your field day report, you still have a little bit of time left. They are due to me at kk5do at arrl.net or kk5do at amsat.org by Friday, July 17, 2020 at 11:59 PM. Even if you only made one contact, you can still submit. 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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AO-27
by Steve Kristoff 15 Jul '20

15 Jul '20

Did AO-27 shut down in the middle of a pass over N. America in the most recent pass a few minutes ago (or was it just me)? I heard some folks and was ready to call, then nothing but static. Steve AI9IN

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Former AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW, Endorses N8HM, N8MH, and KK5DO
by Upward To HEO 14 Jul '20

14 Jul '20

We are honored to receive the endorsement of former AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW, in this year's AMSAT Board of Directors election. Please read his letter at https://www.upwardtoheo.com/updates/former-amsat-president-barry-baines-wd4… While you're there, please check out our biographies and information about our plans on our website. We'd like your support. Together we will return amateur radio to HEO! 73, Paul, N8HM / Mark, N8MH / Bruce, KK5DO www.upwardtoheo.com

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Brief summary of the "unauthorized expenses" claim
by Rich Gopstein 14 Jul '20

14 Jul '20

First: I'm not a lawyer. These are my observations only. This is what I learned over the past few days while researching the claim that the AMSAT money spent on legal services related to the new directors was "unauthorized". - I read the AMSAT bylaws. They are very readable, BTW - and not long. - The bylaws say that expenses can be authorized either by the board itself or by the officers of AMSAT if the board delegates that authority. - If an expense went to the board for approval, it would show up in the minutes of that board meeting. - If an expense were authorized by an officer, then it wouldn't show up in the minutes of a board meeting. - The claim that the expenses were unauthorized was based on the observation that there was no record in the board meeting minutes of the authorization. However, as mentioned above, not everything has to go to the board for approval. And that decision is up to the board itself. - In this case, the members of the AMSAT board at the time said that the expenses were authorized. - Since the board has the authority to authorize expenditures (directly or indirectly) and they say the expenses were authorized, that indicates to me that the expenses were authorized. Note: Michelle and Patrick were not members of the board when this happened. They were analyzing this after the fact. Rich KD2CQ AMSAT Life Member

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Emergency Moderation Update.
by Robert Bankston 14 Jul '20

14 Jul '20

As you may or may not be aware, our IT department activated the Emergency Moderation feature last night. I am restoring AMSAT-BB back to full functionality; however I offer you this stern warning. If you violate AMSAT's Acceptable Use Policy, you will be individually moderated. This will serve as your first warning. A second offense will result in permanent removal from the list. Subscribing to the AMSAT-BB is a privilege, not a right. If you feel free to yell, scream, attack, and/or make false/baseless accusations, do it in your own back yard. It will not be tolerated here. Myself and my volunteer moderators are not here to babysit you. Read the AUP and understand this List is for constructive discussion, appropriate in content and respectful of the other readers. https://www.amsat.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/AMSAT_AUP_061819… understand Robert Bankston, KE4AL Vice-President, User Services Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT)

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Re: [amsat-bb] Slack vs. eMail -- The medium is the message
by Ciemon Dunville 14 Jul '20

14 Jul '20

Good luck with that. I too think that email is too slow and cumbersome for conversations these days so I set up a Discord server and whilst there was an initial influx of people there are usually only about 10 consistently there these days. I've set up extra channels for topics and countries, there could me more but it would seem that the AMSAT crowd are content with the way things are. Should you want a look at the Discord server the invitation link is https://discord.gg/S8M9NP2 73 Ciemon G0TRT

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Candidate Statements
by Ev Tupis 14 Jul '20

14 Jul '20

Where would one go to learn who the candidates are and what they wish to accomplish if elected?

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amsat-bb now on emergency moderation.
by Joseph B. Fitzgerald 14 Jul '20

14 Jul '20

The amsat-bb list has been placed in "Emergency Moderation" mode as of approximately 02:30 UTC Tuesday due to numerous violations of the Acceptable Use Policy for the AMSAT Public Mailing Lists. In relevant part: "Strong disagreements on issues are inevitable, but the AMSAT mailing lists are not the place for exchanges which become spiteful, unproductive exchanges. If you must have a heated exchange, it should be conducted privately and not in public on a mailing list. In addition, you agree that as a user of the AMSAT Lists, you will not ...communicate any .... vulgar, hateful ... material of any sort." Outgoing mail from the AMSAT mail server is rate limited. Recent unusually high list traffic has caused some delivery delays prior to the emergency moderation action made at 02:30 UTC. Joe Fitzgerald KM1P AMSAT IT

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