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

APRS Messaging QSOs
by Stephen DeVience 26 Aug '20

26 Aug '20

I regularly try making APRS QSOs with my TH-D72 and a yagi, and I'm occasionally successful. I find the ARISS digipeater is difficult to get into with that setup. I'm not sure if it's an equipment issue or if the station blocks the antenna somehow. Hopefully they get the upgraded system going soon. The automatic beacon stations also don't help, since they just cause collisions. I put "live" in my beacon message so ops know they can try to QSO with me. PSAT is easier, but the APRS is barely ever on. Falconsat seems more reliable, but with fewer operators on it. Finally, I've found even terrestrial APRS to require more power than FM voice in order to work reliably. -Stephen, N8URE

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Rocket Lab Launch postponed until Saturday UTC
by Wendy and Terry Osborne 26 Aug '20

26 Aug '20

Weather forecast for the next couple of days is not so good so launch is postponed until Saturday 29th UTC. See: https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/1298342523203592192 Terry Osborne ZL2BAC

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Help with programming TS-2000 for satellites.
by Gerald Payton 26 Aug '20

26 Aug '20

I need help programming my Kenwood TS-2000 for satellites. I bought the R T System's software hoping that would do the trick, but NOPE. I've been told that Ham Radio Deluxe allows programming the satellite frequencies, but I cannot find anything regarding that. If I may please, I'd like to solicit help or advise please reply directly rather than tie up the BB 73. Jerry AB5R

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DMR TG 98006 & Fusion US-AMSAT links being disrupted by what appears to be two hotspots on the same freq.
by Steve Nordahl 24 Aug '20

24 Aug '20

I'm sure some of you who use either DMR Talk group 98006 or the Fusion US-AMSAT links have noticed over the last couple days, both the DMR TG98006 & Fusion US-AMSAT links are currently unusable & being disrupted by what appears to be a couple hotspots that have been activated by someone on the same frequency at one location. Basically repeating what ever they hear non-stop until the link times out. Steve NS3L

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ANS editors wanted
by Mark Johns, K0JM 24 Aug '20

24 Aug '20

Are you the sort of ham who may not have the skills to put together a satellite, but who does a pretty good job of putting *WORDS* together? The AMSAT News Service (ANS) prepares and distributes weekly news bulletins about the world of amateur satellites, and ANS is in need of additional rotating editors. Editors take turns putting together the weekly bulletins, one week each month, more or less. They also help one another out by seeking news items to pass along to the editor of the week, and proofreading. Online training and mentoring is provided. Time commitment is usually 4-6 hours per month, once trained and up to speed. This is a great way for wordsmiths to contribute to AMSAT and to serve your fellow amateurs. Contact k0jm [at] amsat.org with questions or to volunteer. -- 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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Satellite log book?
by Bob Hammond 24 Aug '20

24 Aug '20

Any suggestions for a small spiral-bound log book for satellite contacts? Bob W7OTJ

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FOX-1D (AO-92) in safe mode
by John E. Amdor IV 24 Aug '20

24 Aug '20

Today (8/24) at ~4:16 UTC I was attempting to uplink to AO-92 when Veronica announced “FOX-1 Delta, Safe Mode”. Does anyone know what put AO-92 in safe mode, and will this happen every night? KE0NEV

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Re: [amsat-bb] Excel to ADIF
by Roy Dean 24 Aug '20

24 Aug '20

Forgot to mention, I'm running linux exclusively. I could try Wine, but in the past that's led to a bunch of despair (frequent corruption of other stuff while wine tries to get the software to run). I appreciate the advice from everybody, however. I am giving Dave's software a try, for now. --Roy K3RLD > Roy, > > For me the fastest way from pencil and paper to ADIF is Fast Log Entry. You can see it here:https://www.df3cb.com/fle/ > > If your heart is set on a spreadsheet step that is another story. > > 73, > Joe kk0sd > >

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-08-24 15:00 UTC
by aj9n＠aol.com 24 Aug '20

24 Aug '20

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-08-24 15:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Information and Technologies Branch, Department of Education-Queensland Government, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, telebridge via AB1OC The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Chris Cassidy KF5KDR Contact was successful: Mon 2020-08-24 09:32:57 UTC 34 deg (***) Thanks to Bob VK4DA, the live audio should be available: Echolink *HAM* 69556 / IRLP 9556 / AllStar 48820 49903 ######################################################################################################################################## A multi-point telebridge contact means that each student will be on the telebridge from their own home. ************************************************* 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 new schools Cancelled: No new 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 2020-08-24 15:00 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 2020-08-24 15:00 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 135 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 1396. (***) Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1329. (***) 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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Excel to ADIF
by Roy Dean 24 Aug '20

24 Aug '20

So I have 4 pages of contacts I need to log, and I'm dreading it. I figured I may as well do myself a favor and write a spreadsheet that spits out an ADIF file so that I don't have to create the ADIF with TQSL (which I despise). I don't use any other logging software, either - just pen and legal pad (actually it's engineering paper this time). Before I embark on this journey of frustration, has anybody already created a satellite friendly excel (or better - libre office) file that converts multiple contacts into a single ADIF? Otherwise I'll share mine when I'm eventually done (I have found a bunch that are non-satellite friendly). --Roy K3RLD

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