AMSAT-BB September 2020

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AISat1?
by Steve Kristoff 05 Jun '21

05 Jun '21

What happened to AISat? We have no more functioning APRS satellites? Steve AI9IN

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cube sat model
by Bob- W7LRD 07 May '21

07 May '21

Hi All-Is there a cube sat model, mock up etc, available anywhere 73 Bob W7LRD

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Re: [amsat-bb] ORI receives half million dollar grant, and, it's only the first.
by Michael Tondee 11 Oct '20

11 Oct '20

Wow! Sounds like you guys have done and are doing an awful lot for the hobby. My thanks to you. It appears there are resources out there if AMSAT is willing to do what's necessary to have access to them. I guess the question is what's that involve? Is it simply just going open source or is there more to it than that? Are there other stumbling blocks that they wouldn't be comfortable with for some reason? 73, Michael, W4HIJ > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2020 22:41:39 -0700 > From: Phil Karn <karn(a)ka9q.net> > To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] ORI receives half million dollar grant, and > it's only the first. > Message-ID: <38f30c90-6874-b8bc-5855-9e27bbb3bf66(a)ka9q.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 > > On 9/10/20 19:40, Bruce Perens via AMSAT-BB wrote: >> In the present time, people have grown to take the Internet a lot more >> seriously, and the world ran out of IPV4 addresses in their 32-bit space. >> We now have IPV6, which has a much larger address space, but IPV4 is still >> important. So, Brian and friends sold 3/4 of our addresses to Amazon for a >> lot of money, and formed a non-profit to manage it. > Correction: ARDC sold 1/4 (not 3/4) of its original IPv4 address block, > 44.0.0.0/8. The part that was sold is 44.192.0.0/10, i.e., the top > quarter, which had never been used on the "real" Internet though it had > been used internally in some European ampr subnets. > > ampr.org still has the bottom 3/4 of its original assignment: 44.0.0.0/9 > and 44.128.0.0/10. Hams running IP are still able to use these two blocks. > > The 44.0.0.0/8 block was originally obtained by Hank Magnuski, KA6M, in > the early 1980s, literally for the cost of a phone call. It did not see > much use until the mid 1980s when I began work on my KA9Q NOS TCP/IP > package; at that time, Hank transferred control of the 44 block to me. > Brian Kantor WB6CYT and Wally Lindstruth WA6JPR soon joined in its > management, with Brian running much of the infrastructure out of the > University of California San Diego (UCSD) where he spent his entire career. > > NONE of us had any idea whatsoever that these numbers would someday have > serious monetary value. We did amprnet simply because we really believed > in the potential of the Internet and, as hams, felt ham radio was the > perfect place to experiment with the Internet protocols. (Some of you > have fond memories of those days, as do I.) We thought it was a cool > idea that would find good uses, but we had no idea that the Internet > over radio would change the world as much as it did. It certainly > changed my life; in 1991 I moved from New Jersey to San Diego to accept > a position with Qualcomm largely on the basis of my work with TCP/IP > over ham radio, and Brian and I became very close friends. > > In the early 2010s, Brian obtained Hank's and my consent to transfer > formal ownership of this address block to a nonprofit he created for the > purpose: Amateur Radio Digital Communications, or ARDC. (Wally > Lindstruth had passed away by this time). In 2018 and 2019, with full > knowledge and consent of the ARDC board, Brian negotiated the sale of > the 44.192.0.0/10 block with the proceeds to ARDC to be used for a wide > range of charitable grants to benefit ham radio, the Internet, and > especially the intersection of the two and their role in STEM education. > Unfortunately, the nature of the IP address market and the size of the > sale necessitated secrecy, which none of us liked. A nondisclosure > agreement still limits what we can publicly say about the terms of the > sale, though some facts can be readily determined from public sources > such as the "whois" database and IP address market data. > > Brian passed away unexpectedly in November 2019 and I've taken over as > president and chair of ARDC. Hank continues to serve on the grant review > committee chaired by John Hays, K7VE. > > Since ARDC is an IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation, it is required to > file detailed tax returns (990 forms) with the IRS; this will happen > very shortly. By law, nonprofit tax returns are publicly available. > > Phil Karn, KA9Q > > ARDC President & Chair > > > > > > > > ------------------------------ >

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Happy 27th Birthday, AO-27
by Stephan Greene 04 Oct '20

04 Oct '20

Happy 27th birthday to AMRAD-Oscar 27, still alive and operating today! For an amateur radio satellite operator in the early 1990s, working on a satellite project based on the AMSAT Microsat design was a dream job! The hams on the team (including Dino Lorenzini, Mark Kanawati, Steve Greene and Mike Wyrick) couldn't help but include an amateur radio payload, and were successful with the help of fellow amateurs and the local Vienna, Virginia Amateur Research and Development (AMRAD) group: Paul Renaldo, Andre Castillot, Dave Rogers, Glenn Baumgartner, Sandy Sanders, Matt Butcher, Randy Mays, and Terry Fox, and with help from AMSAT’s Lyle Johnson, Chuck Green, and Jim White, among many others. EYESAT-1/AO-27 launched (with the amateur payload and an extra UHF antenna for the downlink) at 0145 UTC September 26, 1993. [Ariane-4 V59 also launched amateur satellites KO-25, IO-26, and PO-28, SSTL’s Healthsat-2, the Stella research satellite, and the Spot-3 earth observation satellite.] The satellite was commanded on during the next orbit and the first QSO on the amateur payload was made the following morning on September 27, 1993. (We think – does anyone have an archive of amsat-bb emails from 1993 who can check?) AO-27 was the first FM “bent pipe” satellite and proved to be easy to work with a strong downlink and sensitive receiver. The amateur FM repeater has served many Hams worldwide and was one of the first “Easy Sats”. AO-27 was later used for the first successful D-Star mode satellite QSO. The 800km orbit provides continent-spanning coverage. At least one station is known to have worked 49 states solely via AO-27! And here we are today, the 27th of September, 2020, celebrating the 27th birthday of AO-27! Thanks to Mike Wyrick N3UC who babysat the spacecraft for the last 27 years. And thanks to all those who helped. There are many untold stories and photos we hope to share in the near future. Current information on AO-27’s operating schedule is at www.ao27.net 73 Mark, Mike, Steve (N4TPY, N3UC, KS1G)

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Did anyone archive Clive's UO-11 website? Or, do you have any of the .zip files?
by Douglas Quagliana 04 Oct '20

04 Oct '20

Friends, Clive Wallis, G3CWV, used to maintain a website with lots of UO-11 information, recordings and telemetry. Unfortunately, he became a silent key in 2015. I recently tried to go to Clive's UO-11 website, http://g3cwv.co.uk/oscar11.htm, and discovered that is no longer on the web. I tried the Internet Archive's Wayback machine and found that they had archived most of the HTML pages, but not the zip files with the telemetry and recordings. Did anyone make an archive or a copy of Clive's website? Or, did you ever download and save any of the .zip files with the audio recordings or telemetry? If so, I would like to get copies of the .zip files with the recordings and telemetry. 73, Douglas KA2UPW/5

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Sad Tale of a New Rover
by Mark Johns, K0JM 30 Sep '20

30 Sep '20

I've been at this satellite thing for more than 35 years, so when a family trip took me through some relatively rare grids in Nebraska last week, I thought it would be a great chance to try out my new FT-818 on a rove. Looks like fun, and how hard can it be? Well, this old satellite hand had forgotten many of the skills needed back before I built a capable, computer-controlled station. I didn't practice enough with the new rig at home, I didn't get familiar enough with the location apps, and I assumed too much expertise on the part of the operator. In fact, I couldn't even find the grid line correctly! And on another pass, I couldn't even hear the bird (still working on what happened there). So, moral of the story, sometimes getting out of one's comfort zone and trying something different is a good thing. But doing so requires some humility. Some things are harder than they look, whether it's building and launching a satellite, or just working one from a gravel road in Nebraska. My hat is off to the successful rovers across the nation. And I shall work on (re)learning the necessary basic skills before setting out again. (P.S., if you were one of the stations I worked from the "grid line," the LoTW upload has been corrected. Sorry, it was only EN11.) -- 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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DM36 active Thursday Oct 1 by K7ZOO
by Curt Laumann 30 Sep '20

30 Sep '20

Hi All, I'm planning to be working satellite passes from DM36 this Thursday, Oct 1, during the afternoon and evening. Please see the link below for a schedule of passes I'll attempt. On the transponder birds I'd prefer to work CW, but will also do some SSB. I'll be about 40 miles SSW of Colorado City, AZ Hope to catch you on the air :) Regards, Curt / K7ZOO https://drive.google.com/file/d/1szF2-wSpscpw20DWbbyYBAWGjSjZyPKY/view?usp=…

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Chinese Amateur Radio Satellite
by Francis Geraci 29 Sep '20

29 Sep '20

Pretty excited about these "Sats". I "cut my teeth" on the "RS" birds. I still have the "Q" cards to prove it. No computer tracking software then. All by "hand". I'm sure there are many others here that did this also. Fond memories... W1FXX - Lost in Paradise

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EMERGENCY MODERATION MODE
by Robert Bankston 29 Sep '20

29 Sep '20

The AMSAT-BB is a mailing list to support technical discussions, inquiries, and suggestions related to amateur satellite service. Its audience includes both AMSAT members and non-members. At any given time, the readers may also include amateur radio operators, shortwave listeners, minors, potential financial donors, potential launch providers, officials from other amateur radio and satellite organizations, officials from international space agencies, and equipment suppliers and manufacturers. As such, the AMSAT-BB is not a "free speech" zone. There is prescribed acceptable and unacceptable content. Due to the continued abuse by some subscribers, I have placed the AMSAT-BB on Emergency Moderation. Moderators will review each post to ensure it complies with the Acceptable Use Policy. Those found not to be in compliance will be removed from the list. This will inevitably cause a delay in your messages being posted; however it is essential to ensure a safe and constructive environment. I apologize for the inconvenience. Respectfully, Robert Bankston, KE4AL Vice-President, User Services Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT)

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Amazon's Smile Program
by Gerald Payton 29 Sep '20

29 Sep '20

Please reiterate HOW to credit Amsat on Amazon's Smile Program. I tried, but "Amsat" was not found. Thanks 73, Jerry AB5R

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AMSAT-BB September 2020