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

Election Results
by john＠papays.com 28 Sep '20

28 Sep '20

It was unfortunate that the election results were not released in a separate message on the amsat-bb. The mistake was explained by Mark Johns, K0JM, and is totally understandable. Putting out a weekly or monthly newsletter is a lot of work and those who have done it here or elsewhere know how much effort it takes. So hats off to those who do this for AMSAT. There has been little discussion about the meaning of the election results themselves and that is what really matters. About 57% of the votes were for the three candidates who campaigned on staying the course. 43% of the votes wanted a change of some sort. So the organization is divided, but how serious the divide remains to be seen. Although they were not on the ballot, In some ways the election was a referendum on Patrick and Michelle who have made their positions known to the membership that has been paying attention. Now that they did not pick up any support from the election, will they continue to serve? And if they choose not to serve, will the alternates (who wanted change also) feel that they would be able to contribute in a meaningful way? As Kenny Rogers once said, "You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, know when to run." Some members have already announced their intentions not to serve in various ways and for various reasons. Others may follow. The Symposium and associated Board Meeting coming up soon may provide some answers as to the future direction of AMSAT. We will wait and see how it all turns out. 73, John K8YSE

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Re: [amsat-bb] Election results
by Michael Tondee 28 Sep '20

28 Sep '20

The membership has spoken. I don't agree with their decision but that's life. I wish the organization the best. I was ready to move on and pursue some other things and was about to unsubscribe from the list but seeing a post like this where someone of Bob's stature in the hobby expresses his opinion gives me hope all is not lost and makes me want to not be so hasty and quick to judge. I may hang around awhile longer and see what direction the organization takes. 73, Michael, W4HIJ > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 9 > Date: Mon, 28 Sep 2020 17:21:31 -0400 > From: Robert Bruninga <bruninga(a)usna.edu> > To: amsat bb <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Election Results (diasppointing) > Message-ID: > <CALdCfNL_iX7yHvR=20vJMfhjGtO4rk90WtVYDW6yVKEUOXiGwA(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" > > I am disappointed to learn of these results. I thought the new progressive > group was headed in the right direction. > > Satellite research takes money and there is lots of it out there! I just > retired from a "university" where I found it fun to try to build amateur > satellites with available project funding. But My fun was building them, > not trying to figure out how to pay for them. I was getting by on maybe a > $10k per year budget. > > But then more academic faculty came on board. They spent their time > looking for grants and money and writing proposals and we were swimming in > so much money we did not have the resources to spend it! For a guy who > likes to build a cubesat on a table top,, I could not possibly spend even a > fraction of it. BUT THEY WERE leading in the right direction. They showed > how there is so much money out there that if you just direct your interests > and proposals correctly there is plenty to go around and to cover the > amateur interests as well. > > I learned the lesson that academics is all about making proposals and > getting BIG bucks to do things that meet your mutual interests. That is > the only way AMSAT can survive is to have those people on the leading edge > and making proposals where AMSAT and other interests overlap. > > I really ignored all the AMSAT BB arguing going on, because I thought it > was obvious that the progressives were on the right track and the status > quo was just holding us back. I am shocked to see the progressives lost. > > Bob, WB4APR > > On Mon, Sep 28, 2020 at 5:02 PM john--- via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> > wrote: > >> It was unfortunate that the election results were not released in a >> separate message on the amsat-bb. The mistake was explained by Mark >> Johns, K0JM, and is totally understandable. Putting out a weekly or >> monthly newsletter is a lot of work and those who have done it here or >> elsewhere know how much effort it takes. So hats off to those who do >> this for AMSAT. >> >> There has been little discussion about the meaning of the election >> results themselves and that is what really matters. About 57% of the >> votes were for the three candidates who campaigned on staying the >> course. 43% of the votes wanted a change of some sort. So the >> organization is divided, but how serious the divide remains to be seen. >> >> >> Although they were not on the ballot, In some ways the election was a >> referendum on Patrick and Michelle who have made their positions known >> to the membership that has been paying attention. Now that they did not >> pick up any support from the election, will they continue to serve? And >> if they choose not to serve, will the alternates (who wanted change >> also) feel that they would be able to contribute in a meaningful way? >> As Kenny Rogers once said, "You've got to know when to hold 'em, know >> when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, know when to run." Some >> members have already announced their intentions not to serve in various >> ways and for various reasons. Others may follow. >> >> The Symposium and associated Board Meeting coming up soon may provide >> some answers as to the future direction of AMSAT. We will wait and see >> how it all turns out. >> >> 73, John K8YSE >> _______________________________________________ >> > >

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Election Results (diasppointing)
by Stephen DeVience 28 Sep '20

28 Sep '20

Bob, You make a good point about the money available for academic projects. It seems like there are more and more student- and university-built satellites using amateur frequencies (sometimes questionably), but with no actual transponder or digipeater. Working with them to add a small transponder payload like the LTM or the Brno PSK module could be an easy way to get more bandwidth up there without a lot of overhead cost. I also back your sentiment that AMSAT should consider applying to more grants from places like ARDC and maybe even the NSF or similar. Education is one of its main purposes, and the NSF may be open to it. -Stephen, N8URE

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Election Results (diasppointing)
by Joe Leikhim 28 Sep '20

28 Sep '20

I am with Bob on this. A month or two back I raised the question * about why we were not getting into HEO and got barraged with the same old excuses from the "old guard" about ITAR, Funding, etc. It was clearly distressing to me as a long time AMSAT member to learn that all the old guard can do is regurgitate the same mantra for 15 years. Meanwhile our friends on the other side of the globe have a GEO sat that anyone with a small amount of funds can use, and with no funds can listen to the downlink on the "internet". Michelle sent me some information about ORI and the "progressive" efforts being made to get past the ITAR logjam. It was not shared with me the funding windfall that was becoming available which should wake folks up now. I voted for the progressive group. I don't see the shortfall in votes as being a "referendum" for the old guard, rather, they need to step up and accept that continuing the defeatist mindset cannot continue. Get on the ball AMSAD BOD!!! * [amsat-bb] GeoSat OSCAR-2024 Positive comments, no whining....(Was need HEO..please..) Joe K4SAT VERY Cautiously optimistic Date: Mon, 28 Sep 2020 17:21:31 -0400 From: Robert Bruninga<bruninga(a)usna.edu> "I am disappointed to learn of these results. I thought the new progressive group was headed in the right direction. Satellite research takes money and there is lots of it out there! I just retired from a "university" where I found it fun to try to build amateur satellites with available project funding. But My fun was building them, not trying to figure out how to pay for them. I was getting by on maybe a $10k per year budget. But then more academic faculty came on board. They spent their time looking for grants and money and writing proposals and we were swimming in so much money we did not have the resources to spend it! For a guy who likes to build a cubesat on a table top,, I could not possibly spend even a fraction of it. BUT THEY WERE leading in the right direction. They showed how there is so much money out there that if you just direct your interests and proposals correctly there is plenty to go around and to cover the amateur interests as well. I learned the lesson that academics is all about making proposals and getting BIG bucks to do things that meet your mutual interests. That is the only way AMSAT can survive is to have those people on the leading edge and making proposals where AMSAT and other interests overlap. I really ignored all the AMSAT BB arguing going on, because I thought it was obvious that the progressives were on the right track and the status quo was just holding us back. I am shocked to see the progressives lost. Bob, WB4APR" -- Joe K4SAT

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ARISS Special Bulletin
by David Jordan 28 Sep '20

28 Sep '20

A Moscow Aviation Institute MAI-75 SSTV Experiment event is planned for Wednesday, September 30 starting 13:05 UTC to 18:45 UTC and Thursday, October 1, starting at 12:30 UTC to 17:45 UTC. Listen for Slow Scan TV (SSTV) signals to be downlinked at 145.800 MHz +/- Doppler. The mode is expected to be PD 120. Received images of reasonable quality can be posted at the ARISS SSTV Gallery at https://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/ Dave, AA4KNARISS PR

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5 years of IO-86 satellite
by Yono Adisoemarta 28 Sep '20

28 Sep '20

Today is the celebration of 5 years of flawless operation of IO-86 satellite. This satellite has performed in at least 3 emergency communications from disaster area in Indonesia, and has been a breeding ground for close to 100 new Indonesian amsat operators. Yesterday we’ve concluded a 3-day event to celebrate this huge milestone thru a VR and APRS qso party. Please remember this satellite was designed for portable (HT with handheld yagi / elk antenna) ops, so please refrain of using high power in accessing IO-86. 73 de Yono - YD0NXX AMSAT-ID Technical Team IO-86 design team Sent from my iPhone

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Sources for LMR400UF
by Gerald Payton 27 Sep '20

27 Sep '20

I may be opening Pandora's Box, but I would like to ask the BB for their best source(s) for LMR400UF cable. I will need two cables (N to N and PL259 to PL259) approx. 75 ft. long. Thanks for help. 73, Jerry AB5R

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Coax Sources
by Gerald Payton 27 Sep '20

27 Sep '20

MANY THANKS to all that responded to my coax question. Now, does anyone know where I can find a MONEY TREE? 73, Jerry AB5R

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Are you interested in a 70 cm ParaLindy kit?
by Curt Laumann 27 Sep '20

27 Sep '20

Hi All, Learning about a well-established parametric Lindenblad design, adding on to it a bit, along with manufacturing and building (and using!) this version of a Lindenblad antenna was really a joy over the last couple months. I believe other satellite enthusiasts might enjoy building it too, but possibly the 3D printing is not a keen interest. Not to make any profit but really just to share, I'm considering offering a kit as described below. Assembling this kit would result in four parametric elements that bolt onto the aluminum dipole described in the AMSAT article by AA2TX. (article available in a Google share folder; see link below) The proposed cost of the kit would be $42.53, shipped via USPS to CONUS. A list of kit contents and costs is shown below. If you're interested in this kit, please drop me a note to k7zoo(a)arrl.net If there is sufficient interest, I'll put together a limited number of kits and ship them out. (It's not my intent to go into the antenna business, but just to share a bit!) As an alternate approach: please note there are commercial 3D printing services from which you can order 3D parts. Regards, Curt / K7ZOO *LINK TO DOCUMENTATION ABOUT THE ANTENNA* https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/15BXhG_1jJZcUSbdn8j4leHhwdGFLSOZq?us… *DETAILS OF PARTS IN THE KIT* K7ZOO 3D Printed ParaLindy Support PETG printed support structure for parasitic elements in AA2TX Lindenblad antenna. Price is driven by cost of material & printer maintenance. Bulk material cost for 1 kilogram of PETG is approx. $25. The piece is 132 grams. Cost of material in this part: $3.30. Estimate a little more to support printer maintenance. $7.50 Arrow Shafts Size 2219, length 11.75 $3.62 each, $14.48 for a set of four. $14.48 Rubber End Caps McMaster PN 9753K16. 10 each (8 needed + 2 spares) $1.50 Modeling Clay 25 grams of clay. Used to hold arrows and seal against resin leaking during bonding operation. $1.00 Packing Material Bubble wrap and/or packing peanuts. $3.00 Shipping USPS large flat-rate box $15.05 TOTAL $42.53

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Connection Question
by Jeff Davis 26 Sep '20

26 Sep '20

LMR400 routed into the shack to the main transceiver. Curious how others have implemented a semi-elegant solution for using these antennas with FCD+ or other dongle requiring an SMA connection. I know how to do it clumsily, I’m interested in learning how you're doing that nicely? 73 Jeff KE9V

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