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W3ZM from Escape Velocity 2016 in National Harbor, MD 7/2/16
by Paul Stoetzer 01 Jul '16

01 Jul '16

Good afternoon, ARISS will have a presence at the Escape Velocity 2016 event at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, MD this weekend. To demonstrate space communications to anyone interested, I will work two FO-29 passes tomorrow afternoon (at 16:49 UTC and 18:36 UTC) from outside the convention center using the AMSAT club callsign W3ZM. Please look for me around 435.865 MHz +/- Doppler. I may also work the SO-50 pass at 19:54 UTC. 73, Paul, N8HM

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Office Closed
by Martha 01 Jul '16

01 Jul '16

The AMSAT Office will be closed on Monday, July 4th. We will reopen on Tuesday, July 5th at 10:00 AM -- 73- Martha

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AO-16 telemetry 3 Oct 2010
by Mark L. Hammond 01 Jul '16

01 Jul '16

Hi All, Here is a quick AO-16 update. On Sunday I turned AO-16 long enough to get some telemetry packets. The satellite would remain on for less than one minute after being commanded on. A quick test of the "bent pipe" voice mode repeater was successful. . The "hardware watchdog timer problem" is still evident; as expected, spacecraft temperatures are insufficient to keep the transmitter ON (needs to be above 15 deg C). Orbit projections suggest that satellite illumination conditions will not result in increased temperatures for nearly 10 years. Command stations do periodically turn AO-16 "ON" to check on its condition and see if the hardware timer problem has "automagically" fixed itself (which in not anticipated, but who knows...). AO-16 telemetry 3 Oct 2010 1838 utc PACSAT MBL Telemetry Decoder Ver. 1.3 (c) Mike Rupprecht, DK3WN =============================================================================== (average values) +10V Battery Bus : 0.00 V Battery Charge Reg : 0.55 mA Base Temp : 9.07 °C PSK RF Out : 1.90 W +5V RX Bus : 4.87 V +8.5V RX Bus : 8.49 V +10V RX Bus : 11.24 V Here is another teaser :) Several months ago I commanded the AO-16 S-band transmitter ON; it too remains functional (albeit weak), and was received by me, Drew KO4MA, and Alan WA4SCA. 73, -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

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AO-73/FUNcube mode change
by Jim Heck G3WGM 01 Jul '16

01 Jul '16

Hi Folks, Just to let you know that I have just changed AO-73/FUNcube into full time amateur mode. Enjoy the transponder over the weekend. Plan as normal is to return the sat to auto switching mode on Sunday pm, utc 73 Jim G3WGM

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RS 7/8 foot print
by Bob Cutter 01 Jul '16

01 Jul '16

Does anyone have the diameter of the foot print? 73, Bob KI0G

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AO-40 & AO-16
by w4upd 01 Jul '16

01 Jul '16

Wonder if anyone has taken a shot at trying to see if AO-40 could be activated or even heard. Whether anyone may have heard its local oscillators? Stranger things have happened (AO-07 for one). Also, does anyone know when or if AO-16 can be activated again in its basic boot loader as it was some time ago. Its communications in the mode (FM/DSB/AM) worked really great. However, I believe there was a time issue due to sun angles. Wondering if we are getting close to that time frame again? Reid, W4UPD Amsat: 17002

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France (IN94) on AO-07
by F6GLJ 01 Jul '16

01 Jul '16

Hello, I' ll be on AO-07B for next pass, good foot print for NA<> EU qso 73 Qro de F6GLJ https://www.qrz.com/db/F6GLJ

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Re: [amsat-bb] Mode K
by rsoifer1＠aol.com 01 Jul '16

01 Jul '16

Bob, For more on HF satellite reception, see my article in October 1970 and Technical Correspondence in November 1968 QST. There are also some articles in Proc IRE by W8JK (SK) in the late 1950s, mostly about antipodal reception which GM4IHJ and I also noted. Interestingly, Owen W5LFL also worked with Kraus on this and is listed as a co-author. 73 Ray W2RS (then K2QBW).

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Re: [amsat-bb] AO-85 9k6 data
by skristof＠etczone.com 01 Jul '16

01 Jul '16

I use HD sdr with an rtl-sdr to get data from ao-85. I usually set the audio filter at about 500 hz since I'm just collecting data. Sounds like I'll need to open that up for any 9k6 data. Thanks for the replies!Steve AI9IN Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone-------- Original message --------From: Andrew Glasbrenner <glasbrenner(a)mindspring.com> Date: 7/1/2016 10:01 AM (GMT-05:00) To: Scott <scott23192(a)gmail.com> Cc: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] AO-85 9k6 data Correct. I find 12-15 kHz works best on the AO-85 9k6 data with SDR#. 73, Drew KO4MA > On Jul 1, 2016, at 9:58 AM, Scott <scott23192(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > Do I recall correctly that in order to receive the higher data rate, a wider RF and/or audio bandwidth might be required? > > I often have the audio bandwidth narrowed a bit (high end only) to better hear the voice traffic, which of course has no effect on the DUV as long as the low end of the audio filter is left at zero. Ditto on the RF bandwidth if it makes the voices easier to copy on a given pass. > > -Scott, K4KDR > Montpelier, VA USA > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > -----Original Message----- From: Alan > Sent: Friday, July 01, 2016 9:49 AM > To: skristof(a)etczone.com ; amsat-bb(a)amsat.org > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] AO-85 9k6 data > > Steve, > > 9k6 data is not used very much on AO-85 since it is not required for any of the experiments, and its > use turns off the repeater. It is turned on, rarely and briefly, for testing or other purposes. > There is usually an announcement on Twitter, Facebook and/or here in advance, though not always if > they are doing a quick look. The Auto mode will pick it up, assuming everything else is working > correctly at your station. It has been reported that the signal threshold to copy 9k6 is somewhat > higher than for DUV. > > Expect to see much more when Fox-1Cliff and Fox-1D fly. > > 73s, > > Alan > WA4SCA > > > > > <-----Original Message----- > <From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of skristof(a)etczone.com > <Sent: Friday, July 01, 2016 6:11 AM > <To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org > <Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-85 9k6 data > < > <I'm getting the hang of grabbing the AO-85 DUV data stream, but still > <haven't caught any 9k6 data. > < > <Can I get a quick refresher on when the 9k6 data is transmitted, please? > <I assume that FoxTelem set to "Auto" mode will pick it up when it > <happens, but please correct me on that if I'm wrong there also. > < > <Pointing me towards on informational url would be fine, but personal > <messages are lovely. > < > <Steve AI9IN > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! > Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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AO-85 9k6 data
by skristof＠etczone.com 01 Jul '16

01 Jul '16

I'm getting the hang of grabbing the AO-85 DUV data stream, but still haven't caught any 9k6 data. Can I get a quick refresher on when the 9k6 data is transmitted, please? I assume that FoxTelem set to "Auto" mode will pick it up when it happens, but please correct me on that if I'm wrong there also. Pointing me towards on informational url would be fine, but personal messages are lovely. Steve AI9IN

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SatPC32 leading the satellite
by Jim White 01 Jul '16

01 Jul '16

I was at a university ground station today and noted their antennas were not keeping up with their satellite on a high elevation pass. They are using SatPC32 with the G5500 rotor. They have the dead band set to 3 degrees. Since they are using a pair of long UHF Yagis for a total of 21dB gain there were some lost packets for about 2 minutes or so around TCA. Their sat was deployed from the ISS so is currently at about 400km altitude which means it's zipping by rather quickly when the elevation is above about 75 degrees or so. In the past I've used tracking programs that allowed a 'lead' setting. That is, you could tell the software to lead the satellite by a few seconds. That did a pretty good job keeping the sat in the beam width when the AZ was changing quickly. I'm not finding that setting in SatPC32. Is there one, or another setting to accomplish the same thing? Jim

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Mode K
by rsoifer1＠aol.com 01 Jul '16

01 Jul '16

The late John Branegan, GM4IHJ (CDR, Royal Navy) did a lot of good research on Mode K using the RS birds. It can be an effective way of working satellite DX despite today's low orbits. 73 Ray W2RS

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Re: [amsat-bb] US barriers to orbit (Re: Amateur communication satellites)
by David G0MRF 30 Jun '16

30 Jun '16

Hi Paul / Bob We are fortunate with AO-73, If I recall correctly, it is power positive in all modes except "Loopback" where it does drain the battery if left on 24/7 Elipse detection was our key to success. However, we have come to realise that an adjustable timer that allows a satellite to charge for X minutes after entering sunlight provides much more control over long term management of the power budget and battery life. - Another lesson learned. Thanks David G0MRF AO-73 is a 1U cubesat and power positive with a 20 kHz wide linear transponder at about 300 mW PEP. With a 10m downlink, you have less path loss to contend with than on 2m (but more loss through the ionosphere), but I'd think it would be doable if the passband is kept relatively narrow and the power output low. 73, Paul, N8HM On Wed, Jun 29, 2016 at 6:26 PM, Robert Bruninga <bruninga at usna.edu> wrote: >> How big and or heavy will this 15/10 bird be? > > A small cubesat. To support a linear transponder takes a lot of power. We > might have to leave it off at night. Not sure until we do the analysis. > Bob > > -----Original Message----- > From: Robert Bruninga [mailto:bruninga at usna.edu] > Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2016 3:28 PM > To: AMSAT-BB > Cc: bruninga at usna.edu > Subject: RE: [amsat-bb] US barriers to orbit (Re: Amateur communication > satellites) > >>> Within the US, when someone like Bob, WB4APR, tries to build amateur >>> communication sats, he runs into needless obstacles from FCC and NTIA.

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field day statistics
by Bruce 30 Jun '16

30 Jun '16

i was asked about some statistics for field day. usually in the journal article, i place about 3-4-5 years worth of data in there. i just created a page on the amsat.org site where you can peruse data back to 2005 with regard to field day. sorry, i did not keep data prior to that. i will update it with 2016 data after we get all the results in. http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=5301 73...bruce -- Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards AMSAT Board Alternate 2015-2016 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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Little Girl that lives aboard AO-85
by Peter Laws 30 Jun '16

30 Jun '16

Who is she and why did she announce her presence the other evening? (~0300 UTC Wednesday / 2200 CDT Tuesday) For me, it was right about/after AOS but I'm sure she wasn't talking solely for my benefit. Mode change? Reboot? Desperate plea for help? Peter -- Peter Laws | N5UWY | plaws plaws net | Travel by Train!

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DOD and FEMA Hams?
by Robert Bruninga 30 Jun '16

30 Jun '16

I'd like to build a list of HAMS that work for FEMA or DOD or other federal agencies as a resource to refer to when trying to show the value of Amateur Radio. We are all very much aware of the huge number of volunteers. That list would be "huuuge" and unmanageable... but in this case I'm wanting to build a list of only those actually employed there. (or so influential that their inclusion is demanded). Please respond directly to bruninga(a)usna.edu No, I am NOT militarizing the hobby, just trying to reach out to others in similar work environments. Its always nice to have friends in the right places. Bob, WB4APR -----Original Message----- > ... our next student experimental satellite will be a bent-pipe > HF linear transponder... with uplink on 15m and downlink on 10m.

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AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2016 Information
by Jim Heck 30 Jun '16

30 Jun '16

Hi Folks, Pls see below for details of our Colloquium this year 73s Jim G3WGM Hon Sec AMSAT-UK AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2016 This year’s Colloquium is now only a few weeks away. The event, taking place as usual at the Holiday Inn in Guildford, will be held over the weekend of the 29/31st July. A full programme of presentations, covering all aspects of the amateur satellite world, has been developed for the Saturday and Sunday and a “Beginners Session” is scheduled for the Friday afternoon. Sessions will include updates on the many new satellites that are expected to be launched over the next few months. This includes Eshail-2 which will carry the first ever geostationary amateur radio transponder and provide more than 8MHz of new intercontinental spectrum - it will provide coverage to five continents. Additionally we will have a session on how to develop software receivers using GNU radio, reviews of the Tim Peake ARISS contacts and the STEM results achieved, information about a new 76GHz satellite project, a review of how to operate “in the field” and lots more. As well as the presentations during the day, Libby Jackson, from the UK Space Agency, with whom the ARISS UK team worked closely during the Tim Peake mission, will be speaking during the Gala Dinner on the Saturday evening. Other highlights will include visits to the SSTL facilities (Friday evening and Saturday morning) and the opportunity to see the special ground station equipment that was used for all the ARISS contacts. This will be available for use for contacts during passes of all the available satellite transponders. Visitors can either turn up on the day, book day passes on the website or, if planning an overnight stay, now is the last week to make their hotel bookings at the preferential rate and which have been block-booked by AMSAT-UK. The URL for the AMSAT-UK shop to book day passes is http://shop.amsat-uk.org. If you wish to book overnight accommodation, please contact the hotel direct on 01483 784413. Please note that due to problems with their booking system THE HOTEL WILL KEEP OUR RESERVED ROOMS UNTIL 6 JUL. Day passes cost £10 per day (incl tea/coffee, etc) , please pay at the AMSAT-UK shop (not hotel reception). If you wish to attend the Gala dinner on Saturday, please book at least 7 days in advance, either with the hotel (by booking dinner, bed, and breakfast), or at the AMSAT-UK shop. As well at the AMSAT-UK shop, there will be a number of specialist suppliers present, and we are hoping that the RSGB bookshop will also be present Members and non-members will be made very welcome and booking info can be found here https://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/ The Colloquium team are looking forward to meeting many old friends and making many new acquaintances during the event.

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My first video from the July 2015 ISS SSTV event (and thank you to Dog Park Software)
by John Brier 30 Jun '16

30 Jun '16

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PJJixog12A "One ISS SSTV Image @ 1 A.M. @ 1 Degree" This is the first video uploaded where I used the full version of MacDoppler for satellite tracking screen captures. Before that I was using the trial version, and before that I was using Orbitron on Windows. I found that MacDoppler has a better looking map than Orbitron. Thank you to Don Agro, VE3VRW of Dog Park Software for providing the full license for me to use in Space Comms videos. https://www.dogparksoftware.com https://www.dogparksoftware.com/MacDoppler.htm If you liked this video please subscribe to me on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SpaceComms1?sub_confirmation=1 Filmed on July 19th, 2015 in Raleigh, North Carolina. 73, John Brier KG4AKV

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Re: [amsat-bb] AO-85 on AMSATDroid
by skristof＠etczone.com 30 Jun '16

30 Jun '16

A big THANK YOU! for all the quick replies. "Update Keps" --> "Amateur" took care of it. Steve AI9IN On 2016-06-29 20:34, Dave Webb KB1PVH wrote: > Hit MENU then select Update Keps and choose Amateur (amsat.org [1]) > > Dave-KB1PVH Links: ------ [1] http://amsat.org

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AO-85 on AMSATDroid
by skristof＠etczone.com 30 Jun '16

30 Jun '16

I put the AMSATDroid free app on my Samsung smartphone (I'm new at this high tech stuff), but I can't find AO-85 listed on the app. Does AO-85 have an alternate designation or is it just not covered by AMSATDroid? Steve AI9IN

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Re: [amsat-bb] US barriers to orbit (Re: Amateur communication satellites)
by Robert Bruninga 29 Jun '16

29 Jun '16

>> Within the US, when someone like Bob, WB4APR, tries to build amateur >> communication sats, he runs into needless obstacles from FCC and NTIA. > Expand, please. The FCC had held up our Advance Notice (API) filing on the Naval Academy's last 5 Amateur Satellites (2 in orbit!) in a disagreement over whether Amateur Satellites built by students at the Service Academies can be amateur or must operate under NTIA rules in Federal Bands. Since the 5 satellites all had 2-way ham-user transponders on them on 2m and 70cm, the NTIA disagreed and said it was an FCC part 97 operation. FCC said it had to be Federal (and back and forth). Note, we CANNOT get an "Experimental license" from the FCC, because it is true, that our institution is Federal. But when our students build an Amateur Satellite, it does not matter who built it, what matters is how it is OPERATED. Finally, I think the paperwork was accepted by the FCC for OPERATION in support of users in the Amateur Satellite Service and we have our fingers crossed that they will forward the API Notices to the ITU. To avoid any recurrence of this debate, our next student experimental satellite will be a bent-pipe HF linear transponder like the early AMSATS with uplink on 15m and downlink on 10m. We walk a fine line... In order for DOD to launch it, the experiment has to have some educational value to DOD. In order for us to be able to build something useful and economical at the undergraduate level, it needs to be amateur. So by proposing an HF transponder for our next project, we NAILED-IT! The Feds have NO SATELLITE allocations in HF, but the Amateur Satellite Service does. Therefore if they want to let us learn anything about HF satellites, then they have to let us operate it in the Amateur Satellite Service where there will be plenty of "users" to exercise it. So it will be a 100% amateur radio satellite for all hams worldwide and what we learn from it will have value to understaning HF satellites. Again, fingers crossed. This would be a 2018 satellite at the earliest. LESSON LEARNED: Don't let anyone but the Amateur Satellite Control operator get involved in the paper work. He files the paperwork and he takes the responsibility for ON/OFF command as required by the FCC. Bob, WB4APR

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Re: [amsat-bb] US barriers to orbit (Re: Amateur communication satellites)
by Bryan KL7CN 29 Jun '16

29 Jun '16

Mode K is awesome! But, it seems more "old style ham radio-y" than using VHF/UHF gear -- big-ish gear, big antennas. I was thinking about how someone with a Raspberry Pi and a VHF/UHF module would use Mode K -- my HackerLab crowd. Like I said: Yay. More satellites. But I sure would like to see something more modern-feeling that would appeal to the Maker/DIY/Rasperry Pi crowd. But, see #1. :) -- bag Bryan KL7CN/W6 bryan(a)kl7cn.net On Jun 29, 2016, at 13:00, Paul Stoetzer <n8hm(a)arrl.net> wrote: Mode K was pretty popular back with RS-12/13! The Doppler shift is minimal enough at those frequencies that any normal HF transceiver in split mode will work fine. The neat thing is the potential for subhorizon access to the satellite. 73, Paul, N8HM On Wed, Jun 29, 2016 at 3:33 PM, Bryan Green <bryan(a)kl7cn.net> wrote: > 1. Yay. More satellites. > > 2. HF? Really? Huh. > > 3. Net-net: see 1. > > -- bag > > Bryan KL7CN/W6 > bryan(a)kl7cn.net > > On Jun 29, 2016, at 12:28, Robert Bruninga <bruninga(a)usna.edu> wrote: > >>>> Within the US, when someone like Bob, WB4APR, tries to build amateur >>>> communication sats, he runs into needless obstacles from FCC and NTIA. >> >>> Expand, please. >> >> The FCC had held up our Advance Notice (API) filing on the Naval Academy's >> last 5 Amateur Satellites (2 in orbit!) in a disagreement over whether >> Amateur Satellites built by students at the Service Academies can be >> amateur or must operate under NTIA rules in Federal Bands. >> >> Since the 5 satellites all had 2-way ham-user transponders on them on 2m >> and 70cm, the NTIA disagreed and said it was an FCC part 97 operation. >> FCC said it had to be Federal (and back and forth). Note, we CANNOT get >> an "Experimental license" from the FCC, because it is true, that our >> institution is Federal. But when our students build an Amateur >> Satellite, it does not matter who built it, what matters is how it is >> OPERATED. >> >> Finally, I think the paperwork was accepted by the FCC for OPERATION in >> support of users in the Amateur Satellite Service and we have our fingers >> crossed that they will forward the API Notices to the ITU. >> >> To avoid any recurrence of this debate, our next student experimental >> satellite will be a bent-pipe HF linear transponder like the early AMSATS >> with uplink on 15m and downlink on 10m. >> >> We walk a fine line... In order for DOD to launch it, the experiment has >> to have some educational value to DOD. In order for us to be able to >> build something useful and economical at the undergraduate level, it needs >> to be amateur. So by proposing an HF transponder for our next project, >> we NAILED-IT! >> >> The Feds have NO SATELLITE allocations in HF, but the Amateur Satellite >> Service does. Therefore if they want to let us learn anything about HF >> satellites, then they have to let us operate it in the Amateur Satellite >> Service where there will be plenty of "users" to exercise it. >> >> So it will be a 100% amateur radio satellite for all hams worldwide and >> what we learn from it will have value to understaning HF satellites. >> >> Again, fingers crossed. This would be a 2018 satellite at the earliest. >> >> LESSON LEARNED: Don't let anyone but the Amateur Satellite Control >> operator get involved in the paper work. He files the paperwork and he >> takes the responsibility for ON/OFF command as required by the FCC. >> >> Bob, WB4APR >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available >> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed >> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. >> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! >> Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! > Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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Re: [amsat-bb] Financial arguments about full duplex
by Ronald G. Parsons 29 Jun '16

29 Jun '16

After looking through Hector's slideshow below, I was left with great awe. This slideshow should be seen by every high school radio club. High school students can be very resourceful when a high goal is in front of them, even though funds are tight, as they almost always are. I think three of my favorite events in my ham radio "career" have been with three ARISS satellite events -- a middle school with MIR, an elementary school with ISS, and a high school when Richard Garriott W5KWQ, was on the ISS. Kodos to Hector and to all who helped him. Again, I am in awe. Ron W5RKN ------------------------------ Message: 12 Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2016 20:58:23 +0000 From: "Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)" <amsat-bb(a)wd9ewk.net> To: "amsat-bb(a)amsat.org" <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Financial arguments about full duplex Message-ID: <CAN6TEUckkTaw5ii04QUeEJ_1noDsaCdW+tEfzeOJmckGJD4jAg(a)mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Hi! When it comes to being creative in the face of little or no access to equipment, one example to remember is how Hector - CO6CBF at the time in 2012 and 2013, now also W5CBF - scrounged to get equipment and parts together to work satellites. For Hector in 2012 living in Cuba, even a $30 Baofeng radio was out of reach - nobody sells them in Cuba, and with a monthly income for most Cubans around US$20 to US$25/month even that radio is a luxury. If you'd like to see what Hector did to put together his station, he gave a presentation at the 2012 AMSAT Symposium in Orlando. The video of his presentation is at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eocmIubIBQ4 The slideshow that was displayed on the screen during Hector's 2012 talk is available at: http://mstl.atl.calpoly.edu/~bklofas/Presentations/AMSAT -NA_Symposium2012/Martinez_Cuban_Homebrew.pdf This is ingenuity and creativity taken to a high level, out of necessity. Hector gave another presentation at the 2013 AMSAT Symposium in Houston on a slightly different topic. You can see that video at: ?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH5Gb_dmuGs and the slideshow is at: http://mstl.atl.calpoly.edu/~bklofas/Presentations/AMSAT -NA_Symposium2013/Martinez_FUNcube_School_Support.pdf I am sensitive to hams who say that costs are an issue when trying to get on the satellites. I also remind myself, and other hams, that there are ways to get on the air when someone wants to make it happen. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

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Subject: Re: Financial arguments about full duplex
by Edward R Cole 29 Jun '16

29 Jun '16

Having read Michael W4HIJ e-mail is humbling - but certainly a testament to his dedication to getting on hamsats. I've been fortunate to own equipment able to work AO-10 (TS-180+432 transverter plus IC-211), AO-40 (FT-847 plus stuff) and AO-27 with my FT-817/Arrow (not duplex). Having extensive experience with the Heo's before using the FT-817 was certainly useful for working simplex. It's doable with care, but so much nicer if one has duplex to monitor the downlink. Using two Baefeng or equivalent brings the cost within range for most on FM-Leo's which predominate at present. I have been retired six years on only social security income so sympathetic on the subject of costs. Recently this has improved for us so easier, now. I recently considered radios for duplex-sat 144/432 operation and was considering a FM dual-band mobile radio (new) but the cost after acquiring a couple accessories ran to $350. That seemed a bit excessive for "just FM". So I did a little looking around and found a used FT-736R for $550. That gets me back into being able to run all the sats (again). I already have my AO-40 antennas and rotator so not having to spend on that makes is easier, for sure. Also at nearly 72 years I'm not so interested in waving an Arrow outside (but still have the Arrow). I have accumulated a lot of ham gear over the last 25-years (so cost has been spread out) but have more invested than most. Fortunate to do that in my last years of employment (could not do it in the early years). Michael is a real inspiration - you'll get there! Lately in discussions with P4 group on designing the "new sat station". 73, Ed - KL7UW http://www.kl7uw.com "Kits made by KL7UW" Dubus Mag business: dubususa(a)gmail.com

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US barriers to orbit (now: Cameras)
by Robert Bruninga 29 Jun '16

29 Jun '16

If anyone (non Federal) has successfully gotten a license for their Satellite CAMERA through the US process (NOAA) , please contact me. Thanks Bob, WB4APR

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US barriers to orbit (Re: Amateur communication satellites
by Peter Laws 29 Jun '16

29 Jun '16

On Wed, Jun 29, 2016 at 9:47 AM, RSoifer1--- via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> wrote: > > Within the US, when someone like Bob, WB4APR, tries to build amateur > communication sats, he runs into needless obstacles from FCC and NTIA. Expand, please. Just joined, so no back issues of the Journal to reference (that I know of ... and aside from the copy I got when I joined at Dayton). -- Peter Laws | N5UWY | plaws plaws net | Travel by Train!

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2016 AMSAT Symposium Call for Papers
by Daniel Schultz 29 Jun '16

29 Jun '16

This is the first call for papers for the 2016 AMSAT-NA Annual Meeting and Space Symposium to be held on the weekend of November 10 - 14, 2016. Proposals for papers, symposium presentations, and poster presentations are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite community. We request a tentative title of your presentation as soon as possible, but no later than September 15th. The final copy must be submitted by October 15th for inclusion in the printed proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be sent to Dan Schultz at n8fgv(at)amsat.org The 2016 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting will be held aboard the cruise ship Carnival Liberty departing from the port of Galveston, Texas on November 10, 2016 and returning to port on November 14, 2016. 73, Dan Schultz N8FGV

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Re: [amsat-bb] Amateur communication satelliteshttps://mail.aol.com/webmail-std
by RSoifer1＠aol.com 29 Jun '16

29 Jun '16

Good thought, Edson. I hope someone follows through on it. Kevin and others, let's also bear in mind that most of the satellites being built today for operation in the amateur bands are coming from outside North America. There are hundreds of them; to get an idea, look at the IARU frequency coordination data base at _www.iaru.org/satellite_ (http://www.iaru.org/satellite) . Very few of these are communication transponders. Wouter, AMSAT-UK, and a few others are doing a great job; we need more of them. Within the US, when someone like Bob, WB4APR, tries to build amateur communication sats, he runs into needless obstacles from FCC and NTIA. The purpose of this thread is to encourage more people, inside and outside the US, to consider building amateur comm sats. Especially outside North America, there are more launch opportunities than we might think. 73 Ray W2RS

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Fwd: [PNWVHFS] For Sale Icom IC-275H
by Bob- W7LRD 29 Jun '16

29 Jun '16

just forwarding from my inbox 73 Bob W7LRD ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: adambarbera(a)gmail.com To: "pnwvhfs" <pnwvhfs(a)googlegroups.com> Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2016 9:48:50 PM Subject: [PNWVHFS] For Sale Icom IC-275H Hello everyone, There is a local ham selling an Icom IC-275H. If interested you can contact him directly. See the details below. Thanks Adam W2NCC For sale Icom IC-275H 100 watts 2 meter all mode transceiver.featuring, panel meter with SWR, FM Discriminator, ALC, in addition to Signal and PWR. Front panel select/adjust of data switch, data level nob, RX audio notch filer, RX audio tone control. Also has installed FL-83 CW Narrow filter. Comes with original DC Power cord, Original SM-12 Mic, and original manual Asking $500.00 OBO For more information contact Martin Malliett n7dff(a)yahoo.com | 360.970.4088 -- ~The Voice of the Pacific NorthWest VHF Society~ You are subscribed to the Google Groups "PNWVHFS" group. To post to this group, send email to PNWVHFS(a)googlegroups.com To read message history, visit http://groups.google.com/group/PNWVHFS --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PNWVHFS" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pnwvhfs+unsubscribe(a)googlegroups.com . For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout .

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Amateur communication satellites
by rsoifer1＠aol.com 29 Jun '16

29 Jun '16

This past weekend, I made three ARRL/AMSAT Field Day QSOs via FO-29 (JAS-2). Nothing noteworthy about that, except that FO-29 will be 20 years old on August 17th. We're very fortunate that its linear transponder still works. The CW beacon and digital transponders are no longer functioning. Two more of the satellites carrying the bulk of amateur satellite communication are well beyond their design lifetimes. SO-50, our main FM transponder satellite, will be 14 years old in December. Then, of course, there is AO-7, whose linear transponders miraculously are still functioning some of the time. In November it will be 42 years young. Educational and research satellites are well and good, but amateur satellite communication is still overly dependent on aging space hardware. To those who are building new amateur communication transponders, especially linear transponders in the UHF and VHF bands, best wishes for success. I wish there were more of you. Maybe there will be. 73 Ray W2RS

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Anyone using SDRPlay RSP and SDRConsole for the birds?
by Mark Lunday 29 Jun '16

29 Jun '16

I am using SDRConsole v2.3. I have an FT817ND that I want to transmit I have an SDR-Play RSP that I want to receive (NOT connected to the FT817ND) I can connect to the FT817ND, but cannot get it to change frequency to the passband I want for a particular satellite, which I have entered into the database for that satellite. How do I set this up so that when I select a satellite (FO-29), it sets the correct passband for receive on the SDR-Play RSP and it sets the correct frequency on the FT817ND for transmit (and adjusts the transmit for doppler)? I don't see any instructions which relate to this use case, can someone please point me in the correct direction? Thanks. Mark Lunday, WD4ELG Greensboro, NC FM06be wd4elg(a)arrl.net http://wd4elg.blogspot.com

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Re: [amsat-bb] Financial arguments about full duplex
by Andrew Glasbrenner 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

>That is what I have done, built a cheap antenna. I have a Chinese radio and I have made contacts on SO-50, half duplex. I DO NOT get on the linear birds because >primary I do not have the means to run 2M/70CM SSB. I can also understand that it would near impossible to effectively make a contact But newbies can/should be >given guidance in the form of Elmers. Not being told they are not welcome if they don't have the equipment others have. The discussion centers on the importance of best practices being taught and demonstrated by those elmers you mention. Elmers walk with you, guiding, correcting, encouraging along the way. The need to have practical knowledge, and all too often we see people who don't operate, or just started themselves, passing out poor or erroneous information. If the shields can be dropped for long enough, there are lots of elmers right here on this list to help the newbies out. Elmers should continue to learn as well. > By the way check the prices an arrow >antenna that will give someone the best chance to get into AO-85 with a Cheap Chinese radio is about $150.00. Elmer moment right here: The arrow without the diplexer is $60 cheaper than the one with the diplexer (http://store.amsat.org/catalog/index.php?cPath=1). Use that $60 for a 2nd receiver and now you can hear if you are getting into AO-85 or SO-50, adjust for Doppler on AO-85, and make more contacts, and cause less QRM. You'll need a set of headphones as well, about $5 at Big Lots or Walmart. Better experience for you, better for everyone else, less money. Or, build the functionally same antenna for $10 and a few hours time, and save some more bucks. I love my Arrow(s), but a WA5VJB or IOio antenna works just as well. Links to plans can be found here: http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=2144 73, Drew KO4MA

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Topic Change -- Now FM Rule -- was -- RE: N8HM Field Day Report - 1B MDC -- Topic Change FM Rule
by Gary "Joe" Mayfield 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

Awesome Field Day report Paul! Good Job! Now the week after Field Day is the time for RATIONAL discussion of the single contact FM satellite rule: Does anyone think it works? Does anyone think it is better than the past? I will once again trot out my idea for the slings and arrows of others. + I would love to hear your ideas. Here is my idea: We call on our membership to establish two well equipped stations for the FM satellites on Field Day. A possibility would be a station using the call W1AW in the east and another using K6KPH in the west. The only FM satellite contacts that would 'count' would be those working W1AW or K6KPH. These commanding stations would be able to hand out contacts quickly and many more folks would be able to get a satellite contact in the log. As it is now the best station to call is one that just completed a contact (because you heard their exchange information) - but that station is prevented by the rules from returning the call without going over their limit. Think of it as two stations running and everyone else searching and pouncing. It has got be better than what we have now. My Opinion, 73, Joe, kk0sd -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Paul Stoetzer Sent: Monday, June 27, 2016 2:12 PM To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] N8HM Field Day Report - 1B MDC I only worked satellites during Field Day and I ended up making 97 QSOs on 24 passes of all active 10 voice satellites during the 24 hour period. My score for AMSAT Field Day was 83 points. The breakdown by satellite is below: AO-7B - 2 QSOs AO-73 - 10 QSOs, 1 dupe AO-85 - 1 QSO, 5 excess FM QSOs FO-29 - 37 QSOs, 4 dupes LilacSat-2 - 1 QSO, 1 excess FM QSO SO-50 - 1 QSO Ukube-1 - 6 QSOs XW-2A - 11 QSOs XW-2C - 6 QSOs, 2 dupes XW-2F - 8 QSOs, 1 dupe Total - 83 valid phone QSOs, 8 dupes, 6 excess FM QSOs = 83 points The major difference between AMSAT and ARRL Field Day rules for satellite is that "satellite" is considered a single band while for AMSAT Field Day, each satellite transponder is considered a separate band. For example, if I worked WD9EWK in SSB on FO-29 and then in SSB on XW-2A, that would be worth two points under AMSAT rules, but only one point under ARRL rules. VE3YRA was my most worked station this year - I worked them on six different satellites. I was operating 1B from the parking lot/courtyard of my apartment building in southwest Washington, DC. The equipment I used was as follows: 2 x Yaesu FT-817 (with 3000 mAh internal LiPo batteries) Microset VUR-30 dual band amplifier 5100 mAh LiPo battery for the amplifier High Sierra Microwave LNAA432 preamplifier High Sierra Microwave LNAA146FIL filtered 2m preamp Arrow II 146/437-10BP Dual Band Handheld Yagi All of this was carried in a camera bag and held by shoulder straps while I held the Arrow in my hand. It was lots of fun, though tiring to head downstairs and outside for 24 different passes. I only slept for about 2.5 hours between 3:30am and 6:00am (and skipped a pair of AO-7 passes as a result). One big issue I notice during Field Day is the use of excess power on the transponders and the inexperience and/or inadequate stations used by many of the satellite operators. Many times I would call a station and not receive a reply or someone would start CQing or tuning up on top of me. This was especially noticeable on AO-73 and UKube-1 as the frequencies for the uplink are somewhat different than published. It sounded like many were trying to use their computers to correct for Doppler and did not have the experience necessary to set the uplink offset. I heard several "ditters" trying to find themselves for entire passes. Operating satellites isn't difficult, but it does take some practice and experience to understand the characteristics of each satellite. Trying to figure it out at 1800Z on Field Day Saturday is not the recipe for success. I would note that my excess FM QSOs (both ARRL and AMSAT rules allow only one QSO per FM satellite, AMSAT rules further limit APRS digipeater QSOs to one per satellite as well) were made because stations were calling and attempting to make a contact with no one else replying and I wanted to make sure they got their QSO. It's fun doing Field Day from home, but next year I think I would like to head to a Field Day site and help with satellite operations for a club (and maybe fill in elsewhere between passes). 73, Paul, N8HM _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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Amateur communication satellites
by Kevin M 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

You and I go all the way back to RS-12/13, Ray. (AC5DK back then). The problem is not people to build the satellites or the desire to build them... it's the launch opportunities. Educational & research birds have them at free or reasonable costs... private birds for hobby use do not. There are many that feel as you do, but don't understand the 'why'. Just thought it deserved being stated. ANSAT-NA is still fighting the good fight, but most don't understand that the fight has changed over the years. It's not WHAT to put in orbit, it's IF we can find a way. 73, Kevin N4UFO This past weekend, I made three ARRL/AMSAT Field Day QSOs via FO-29 (JAS-2). Nothing noteworthy about that, except that FO-29 will be 20 years old on August 17th. We're very fortunate that its linear transponder still works. The CW beacon and digital transponders are no longer functioning. Two more of the satellites carrying the bulk of amateur satellite communication are well beyond their design lifetimes. SO-50, our main FM transponder satellite, will be 14 years old in December. Then, of course, there is AO-7, whose linear transponders miraculously are still functioning some of the time. In November it will be 42 years young. Educational and research satellites are well and good, but amateur satellite communication is still overly dependent on aging space hardware. To those who are building new amateur communication transponders, especially linear transponders in the UHF and VHF bands, best wishes for success. I wish there were more of you. Maybe there will be. 73 Ray W2RS

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NPOTA HP44 Thomas Edison NHP SO-50
by Chris Del Plato KQ2RP 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

Hello all, If all goes according to plan, I will cap off my NPOTA activation operation from Thomas Edison's Lab on SO-50. Activation is posted on the NPOTA page. Activation from that site will take place this Friday, July 1st. I will be on the HF bands from around 1630z until the SO-50 pass which will begin for me in FN20 at approximately 1929z. I will be operating handheld (as I always do) with my homebrew dual yagi & diplexer and VX-5R. Not sure if it's appropriate for me to ask for others to 'clear the way', but I would hope to get in as many NPOTA chasers as possible. If things get hot & heavy (expected) I will likely skip giving my grid and only announce it once or twice and focus on giving just the HP44 designator (as required by NPOTA rules). Hope to hear many of you! 73, Chris KQ2RP

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Re: [amsat-bb] Southern CA Satellite Presentations
by Clayton Coleman 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

The Yaesu FT-60R is often promoted as a good choice for beginners. This promotion can be misleading to many who buy this radio believing it has some magical ability to perform any better than any other dualband HT programmed for "split" (semi-duplex.) The radio itself is not the problem. It's the misperception that buying this HT will equate to success that leaves many frustrated. Let's set realistic expectations. Semi-duplex does work but it's not ideal. Promoting simple equipment is great but needs to be matched with the right fundamental skills. 73 Clayton W5PFG

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Re: [amsat-bb] Financial arguments about full duplex (ez-peezy)
by Robert Bruninga 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

You can make a UHF Satellite Receive Antenna for about a dollar. You take a 18" by 3' rectangle of garden fence, bend it into a linear parabola, mount a $35 UHF HT at the focal point and make a handle for it. Done. See the June 2004 QST cover photo of it in use by students: https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.qrz.com/h/kb9sxh/cover_shot_QST_bmp.jpg No coax, no feeds, no nothing. Just the HT, 6" from the back of the parabola. And it is lighter than an arrow (also shown in that photo) Bob, WB4APR -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Andrew Glasbrenner Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2016 11:03 AM To: Jerry Conner; AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Financial arguments about full duplex The financial argument is a weak one at best. A WA5VJB Cheap yagi is about 10 dollars of materials (you can skip the diplexer with two radios), and I have recently seen and purchased older full sized 2m HTs and UHF analog only scanners for as cheap as 5 dollars at hamfests. Add a $30 Baofeng and you have a satellite setup for next to nothing. Don't want to build or can't? The price difference between an Arrow antenna with a diplexer, and one without is about $60, or the cost of TWO cheap HTs. Use the extra $30 to buy some good cables. I certainly don't mind if those getting started try half-duplex at first, and it has it's place in some situations. I even wrote an article 10 years ago about half duplex ops with the FT-817 on FO-29, which I plan to update soon, but the linear sats are different animals, with different challenges. Once you try full duplex and realize the benefits of being able to hear if you are causing or being QRM, and being able to twist the antenna during transmit to get a better uplink signal, you won't want to go back to the old way. 73, Drew KO4MA -----Original Message----- >From: Jerry Conner via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> >Sent: Jun 28, 2016 10:42 AM >To: AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org >Subject: [amsat-bb] FW: [FWD: RE: Southern CA Satellite Presentations] > > > >Then what I am hearing, "AS A NEWBIE" is that I am not welcome on the Sats because I do not have the financial resources to invest in all the equipment needed to run full duplex. It is more than two cheap Chinese radios, it also involves an antenna, which at the very least it is almost double the cost of the two Chinese radios. > >Money that some of us have a hard time pulling together. > >I have a hard time with all the purest, my way or the highway mentality I am hearing. > > > >Just my 2 cents > >Jerry W4JWC > > > >-------- Original Message -------- >Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Southern CA Satellite Presentations >From: Michael <Mat_62(a)charter.net <mailto:[email protected]> > >Date: Mon, June 27, 2016 9:04 pm >To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org <mailto:[email protected]> > >I could care less whether you have ever uttered it or not in one of >your live presentations. It is printed in black and white in your handout. >You just quoted it yourself. The minute you typed that phrase and began >giving out handouts or telling people to print it out you became guilty >of spreading ignorance as far as satellite operation is concerned. You >are leading newbie sat operators down a path they should not be on. If >one does not have the means to hear their own signal coming back from >the bird so as to insure they are "making it there" then they should >not be on the satellites. End of story. >Michael, W4HIJ >On 6/26/2016 11:37 PM, Clint Bradford wrote: >>>> ... you would quit telling people that full duplex is "not mandatory" for working sats. >> You've never attended one of my sat sessions. I have never uttered >> the sentence to groups, "It is not mandatory to work full-duplex. - >> PERIOD." My standard mantra for the easy FM birds is all over the place: >> >> "Ideally, we should be working the satellites in full duplex mode, >> where we can simultaneously listen to the downlink as we are >> transmitting. Although this method is preferred, it is not mandatory: >> Carefully monitor the downlink, and wait for a break in the conversations to announce yourself." >> >> People you might be hearing stepping on others are not following those instructions. >> >> And all my audiences are very graphically shown and told the reasons >> why working full- duplex is preferable. >> >> I didn't work full-duplex when speaking with Commander Wiseman - who >> was aboard the ISS at the time during Field Day 2014. >> >> If you haven't already given a presentation to your club on working >> the easy birds, I am available. Just send me an email message. >> >> Clint Bradford K6LCS >> (909) 999-SATS >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org <mailto:[email protected]> . AMSAT-NA >> makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide >> without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. >> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! >> Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb > >_______________________________________________ >Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org <mailto:[email protected]> . AMSAT-NA >makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide >without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. >Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! >Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb > >_______________________________________________ >Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available >to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. >Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. >Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! >Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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Re: [amsat-bb] FW: [FWD: RE: Southern CA Satellite Presentations]
by Jim Walls 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

First, I said (in part): >> "If you're not using full duplex, you blindly >> keep transmitting and creating interference for the rest of the users." Then skriostof@... said (in part): > Not OK. If you're not using full duplex, you LISTEN to see if someone > answers your call. It is possible to successfully operate without full-duplex. Not quite. Repeating my situation of three people making a call after the previous conversation ends. You are operating full duplex: You start transmitting, and hear a hetrodyne, and stop transmitting within a second. Another person successfully makes a call because the hetrodyne ends. You are not operating fulll duplex: You start transmitting and speak the callsign of the person you are calling followed by your own callsign before you unkey. No one is heard because of the hetrodyne. Jim Walls K6CCC

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Re: [amsat-bb] Financial arguments about full duplex
by Andrew Glasbrenner 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

The financial argument is a weak one at best. A WA5VJB Cheap yagi is about 10 dollars of materials (you can skip the diplexer with two radios), and I have recently seen and purchased older full sized 2m HTs and UHF analog only scanners for as cheap as 5 dollars at hamfests. Add a $30 Baofeng and you have a satellite setup for next to nothing. Don't want to build or can't? The price difference between an Arrow antenna with a diplexer, and one without is about $60, or the cost of TWO cheap HTs. Use the extra $30 to buy some good cables. I certainly don't mind if those getting started try half-duplex at first, and it has it's place in some situations. I even wrote an article 10 years ago about half duplex ops with the FT-817 on FO-29, which I plan to update soon, but the linear sats are different animals, with different challenges. Once you try full duplex and realize the benefits of being able to hear if you are causing or being QRM, and being able to twist the antenna during transmit to get a better uplink signal, you won't want to go back to the old way. 73, Drew KO4MA -----Original Message----- >From: Jerry Conner via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> >Sent: Jun 28, 2016 10:42 AM >To: AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org >Subject: [amsat-bb] FW: [FWD: RE: Southern CA Satellite Presentations] > > > >Then what I am hearing, "AS A NEWBIE" is that I am not welcome on the Sats because I do not have the financial resources to invest in all the equipment needed to run full duplex. It is more than two cheap Chinese radios, it also involves an antenna, which at the very least it is almost double the cost of the two Chinese radios. > >Money that some of us have a hard time pulling together. > >I have a hard time with all the purest, my way or the highway mentality I am hearing. > > > >Just my 2 cents > >Jerry W4JWC > > > >-------- Original Message -------- >Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Southern CA Satellite Presentations >From: Michael <Mat_62(a)charter.net <mailto:[email protected]> > >Date: Mon, June 27, 2016 9:04 pm >To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org <mailto:[email protected]> > >I could care less whether you have ever uttered it or not in one of your >live presentations. It is printed in black and white in your handout. >You just quoted it yourself. The minute you typed that phrase and began >giving out handouts or telling people to print it out you became guilty >of spreading ignorance as far as satellite operation is concerned. You >are leading newbie sat operators down a path they should not be on. If >one does not have the means to hear their own signal coming back from >the bird so as to insure they are "making it there" then they should not >be on the satellites. End of story. >Michael, W4HIJ >On 6/26/2016 11:37 PM, Clint Bradford wrote: >>>> ... you would quit telling people that full duplex is "not mandatory" for working sats. >> You've never attended one of my sat sessions. I have never uttered the sentence to groups, >> "It is not mandatory to work full-duplex. - PERIOD." My standard mantra for the easy FM birds >> is all over the place: >> >> "Ideally, we should be working the satellites in full duplex mode, where we can >> simultaneously listen to the downlink as we are transmitting. Although this >> method is preferred, it is not mandatory: Carefully monitor the downlink, and >> wait for a break in the conversations to announce yourself." >> >> People you might be hearing stepping on others are not following those instructions. >> >> And all my audiences are very graphically shown and told the reasons why working full- >> duplex is preferable. >> >> I didn't work full-duplex when speaking with Commander Wiseman - who was aboard >> the ISS at the time during Field Day 2014. >> >> If you haven't already given a presentation to your club on working the easy birds, >> I am available. Just send me an email message. >> >> Clint Bradford K6LCS >> (909) 999-SATS >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org <mailto:[email protected]> . AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available >> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed >> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. >> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! >> Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb > >_______________________________________________ >Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org <mailto:[email protected]> . AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available >to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed >are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. >Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! >Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb > >_______________________________________________ >Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available >to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed >are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. >Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! >Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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FW: [FWD: RE: Southern CA Satellite Presentations]
by Jerry Conner 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

Then what I am hearing, "AS A NEWBIE" is that I am not welcome on the Sats because I do not have the financial resources to invest in all the equipment needed to run full duplex. It is more than two cheap Chinese radios, it also involves an antenna, which at the very least it is almost double the cost of the two Chinese radios. Money that some of us have a hard time pulling together. I have a hard time with all the purest, my way or the highway mentality I am hearing. Just my 2 cents Jerry W4JWC -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Southern CA Satellite Presentations From: Michael <Mat_62(a)charter.net <mailto:[email protected]> > Date: Mon, June 27, 2016 9:04 pm To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org <mailto:[email protected]> I could care less whether you have ever uttered it or not in one of your live presentations. It is printed in black and white in your handout. You just quoted it yourself. The minute you typed that phrase and began giving out handouts or telling people to print it out you became guilty of spreading ignorance as far as satellite operation is concerned. You are leading newbie sat operators down a path they should not be on. If one does not have the means to hear their own signal coming back from the bird so as to insure they are "making it there" then they should not be on the satellites. End of story. Michael, W4HIJ On 6/26/2016 11:37 PM, Clint Bradford wrote: >>> ... you would quit telling people that full duplex is "not mandatory" for working sats. > You've never attended one of my sat sessions. I have never uttered the sentence to groups, > "It is not mandatory to work full-duplex. - PERIOD." My standard mantra for the easy FM birds > is all over the place: > > "Ideally, we should be working the satellites in full duplex mode, where we can > simultaneously listen to the downlink as we are transmitting. Although this > method is preferred, it is not mandatory: Carefully monitor the downlink, and > wait for a break in the conversations to announce yourself." > > People you might be hearing stepping on others are not following those instructions. > > And all my audiences are very graphically shown and told the reasons why working full- > duplex is preferable. > > I didn't work full-duplex when speaking with Commander Wiseman - who was aboard > the ISS at the time during Field Day 2014. > > If you haven't already given a presentation to your club on working the easy birds, > I am available. Just send me an email message. > > Clint Bradford K6LCS > (909) 999-SATS > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org <mailto:[email protected]> . AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! > Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org <mailto:[email protected]> . AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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HM59/69 operation
by pedro＠dutrasousa.name 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

Hi, As previously announced I'll be in HM59/69 grid line operating FM satellites from June 29th to July 1st. Predicted passes are from evening June 29th (not morning as announced), June 30th all day and July 1st morning. You may follow me on Twitter for updates and last minute changes. 73 Pedro CU2ZG -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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AMSAT Field Day
by skristof＠etczone.com 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

Confession of ignorance: On the pdf Field Day Summary sheet, there is a space for voice QSOs (OK on those), CW/RTTY/PSK31 (OK on those), and for Up/Downloads (e.g. on UO-11(?)). What is meant by Up/Download with respect to Field Day and/or satellites in general? I couldn't find UO-11 listed as either a communications satellite or a telemetry satellite on the AMSAT website list of satellites. I figured if I found a link for the satellite it would answer my question. A point to a helpful link will be a sufficient answer, but a written introduction to the topic on this BB would be wonderful. Steve AI9IN (And I did not try to do any half-semi-anti-duplex up/downloads, so back off on that.)

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Lake Meredith NPOTA on SO-50 today
by Clayton Coleman 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

I will activate Lake Meredith (RC14) for ARRL National Parks on the Air today via satellite SO-50 at 21:30-21:43 UTC (28-June.) 73 Clayton W5PFG/p DM95

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Nayif-1 linear transponder CubeSat article and video
by M5AKA 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

Nayif-1 article appeared in UAE The National and a video of the insertion of the CubeSat into the QuadPack deployer has been released. Nayif-1 carries 435/145 MHz FUNcube-5 linear transponder https://amsat-uk.org/2016/06/28/uae-satellite-will-have-amateur-radio-trans… UK radio amateurs help students reach for the sky https://amsat-uk.org/2016/06/28/radio-amateurs-help-students/ 2016 edition of Getting Started with Amateur Satellites available from AMSAT-UK shop https://amsat-uk.org/2016/06/27/getting-started-with-amateur-satellites-201… Phase-4A Geostationary Transponders leaflet and video of ground-based LEILA 2 Transponder https://amsat-uk.org/2016/06/24/phase-4a-geostationary-transponders/ Don't miss out on this year's AMSAT-UK Colloquium which takes place July 29-31 at the Holiday Inn, Guildford and is open to all https://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/ 73 Trevor M5AKA ---- AMSAT-UK http://amsat-uk.org/ Twitter https://twitter.com/AmsatUK Facebook https://facebook.com/AmsatUK YouTube https://youtube.com/AmsatUK ----

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WD9EWK - 2016 Field Day report (l-o-n-g)
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

Hi! This year's Field Day for WD9EWK was back to the mountains, in the Kaibab National Forest about 25 miles (40km) west of Flagstaff, Arizona, in grid DM45. This is where I had worked Field Day for a few years in a row until 2012, and really wanted to get back there after the past two Field Days where I operated from the Phoenix area. I also had another ham who was trying Field Day for the first time in almost 25 years of being licensed. For both of us, our plans were almost vaporized as we were heading to our site, and Murphy stuck around for the early part of the afternoon. We ended up having a great time, despite the early setbacks. The ham who accompanied me to the mountains is a long-time ham and coworker of mine, Mark N7UJI. He has mostly been on VHF/UHF bands, and until a year or two ago didn't even own an HF rig. Since then, Mark has equipped himself with some nice gear. Mark still has a Technician license, which limited his Field Day activities, but he wanted to try his portable station which was similar to what I took north for HF and 6m: Yaesu FT-897D, Buddipole portable dipole. Of course, I had other radios with me for the satellites: Kenwood TH-D72A, Icom IC-2730A, two FT-817NDs, Wouxun KG-UV9D, and an SDRplay SDR receiver with a couple of Windows 10 tablets. Our plan was simple - set up separate stations, then work whatever we could without going crazy. On our way to the Field Day site, we received calls from our office. A power cut shut everything down at the office, and we had to stop in Flagstaff to join a phone call to discuss how to react to the power outage. This ended our hopes of having time before the 1800 UTC start of Field Day to set up our stations, but that didn't stop us. After this and another phone call in the next hour, we were able to get to the place I had been talking about for Field Day over the past few weeks... The site I went to was the Garland Prairie Vista Picnic Ground, along the old US-66 between the cities of Flagstaff and Williams in the Kaibab National Forest. The operative word here is "was". All signage for the picnic area was removed, the picnic tables were gone, no restrooms, not even the concrete sidewalk leading to the former site of the restrooms. Other than the gravel driveway through the former picnic area, there was nothing left of its former state. Mark and I had our own folding chairs and tables, so we found some trees and set up our stations for HF and 6m under them. We arrived at 1800 UTC, and Mark set up his HF/6m station as I prepared for a shallow ISS pass about 20 minutes later. The ISS pass was a shallow pass, with maximum elevation of 10 degrees across the northern sky. With a hill immediately north of me, I had no luck even hearing my own packets being retransmitted by the ISS. No QSOs logged, but there were more - and better - ISS passes later in the afternoon. As Mark and I set up our HF stations, Murphy paid me a visit. The internal battery packs in my FT-897D both had problems. After 10 to 15 minutes, one of the two packs dropped from its nominal 13.2V down to 9V. Something went wrong with that pack, and soon I discovered a similar problem with the other pack. I used my jumpstart battery pack that normally powers my satellite station for the HF/6m gear. Mark's FT-897D packs did not have problems, but the lack of decent propagation on 10m and 6m meant he didn't do much operating with his own call. Mark found a club in Prescott, 40 miles (60km) south of us in Prescott, on 10m SSB for his first HF QSO in the almost 25 years he has had his ham license. I also worked Mark on 10m and 6m SSB, to give him a couple of other QSOs for his log - and mine. We could have made QSOs on 2m, 222 MHz, and 70cm, but didn't do that. Mark was happy to play around with his radio, and watch me work stations. Mark would pay closer attention to what I was doing, anytime I went to work satellites. Not knowing if AO-7 would survive the expected onslaught of high power from so many stations during Field Day, I looked to a western FO-29 pass around 2135 UTC for my first Field Day satellite QSO. This was also a shallow pass, with a maximum elevation of 8 degrees. I could hear myself through the satellite using my two FT-817NDs and Elk, but made no QSOs. Again, with Mark watching me, I was unsuccessful on a satellite pass. I explained the use of the two radios for full-duplex operation, how I tracked the satellite using an app on my mobile phone, and how I twisted the antenna so its polarity was in line with the FO-29 downlink. After the FO-29 pass, there was an SO-50 pass coming up from the south, going to the northeast. This was another shallow pass, up to a maximum elevation of 13 degrees. With my IC-2730A 2m/70cm FM mobile radio and Elk, and the power output set to LOW (5W), I tried to get through. I may have heard myself once, but heard a lot of other stations on that pass. With the next satellite pass over an hour away, I started to make a few HF QSOs, and saw a bunch of passes on various satellites that should be better for me and my QRP station later. An ISS pass at 2312 UTC was the turning point, where Murphy went away... The 2312 UTC ISS pass, with a maximum elevation of 37 degrees, was a good pass for me. With the pass going clockwise from the northwest to southeast, it would cover most of the continental USA and Canada. With my TH-D72A and Elk, I started watching the HT's screen for stations I could call and make QSOs with. I changed my APRS position beacon to show "CQ FD" followed by my Field Day station classification, state, and grid locator. That worked well, as VE5AA in Saskatchewan sent me an APRS message with their Field Day exchange. I was able to complete the exchange with VE5AA, and this was my first Field Day satellite QSO for 2016. I tried for other QSOs, and was successful making exchanges via APRS messages with two other stations - KK6QMS in southern California, followed by K7RDG in southern Arizona. K7RDG, the Cochise Amateur Radio Association club station, was operated by Fernando NP4JV on the ISS pass. Fernando tweeted later in the day that the K7RDG-WD9EWK ISS packet QSO got K7RDG its first Field Day satellite QSO. I also saw another Arizona club station on that pass, WK7B, but was not able to get that station in the log. Not yet, at least... About 10 minutes after the ISS went by, there was an SO-50 pass that favored the west coast. Back to the IC-2730A and Elk I went, the radio set at 5W, and this time a successful satellite QSO using the microphone instead of just using packet. I made a quick QSO early in the pass with W6KA in southern California, the Pasadena Radio Club's station, operated by Tom WA0POD. I heard myself through SO-50 at other points later in the pass, but I logged no other QSOs. I went back to HF, made a couple of 20m SSB QSOs, and decided to focus on just satellite passes over the next hour or so before Mark and I packed up for the day. At 0035 UTC, NO-84 passed by from the northwest to the south, up to a maximum elevation of 56 degrees. I started sending my position beacon, basically calling CQ on the pass. Exactly one other station showed up on this pass - WK7B. WK7B was the Thunderbird Amateur Radio Club's Field Day station, located northeast of Flagstaff and 26 miles (almost 42km) east of me. The Thunderbird Amateur Radio Club is a Phoenix-area club, and they - like me - prefer to do Field Day in the mountains of northern Arizona. :-) Rick K7TEJ was at the keyboard for the packet activity from WK7B. Rick and I, along with Fernando NP4JV, had been practicing how to make quick packet QSOs on ISS and NO-84 passes over the previous week or so, and it paid off. Even with the weaker downlink from NO-84 compared to the ISS, it was easy for us to complete the Field Day exchange. Unfortunately for both Rick and me, nobody else showed up on the pass. A few minutes after NO-84 went away, there was one more ISS pass for me to try at 0049 UTC. I worked two stations on that pass - KG6BFD in southern California, and Jack KC7MG in central Arizona - but neither of these stations sent me a Field Day exchange. I had sent my "1B AZ" Field Day exchange plus my grid locator DM45. I saw a few other stations from California and Nevada on the pass, but wasn't able to make any other QSOs. This was the last of my Field Day packet QSOs, and two more passes were coming up in the 0100-0200 UTC hour. A few minutes after 0100 UTC came a very high LilacSat-2 pass. I saw that the satellite had been active on earlier passes, so I took a chance and set up for it. I was not disappointed. For this pass, instead of using the IC-2730A I used on the earlier SO-50 passes, I went with my Wouxun KG-UV9D and the Elk. This meant I was only working half-duplex, but the joke between Mark and me was "Chinese radio, for a Chinese satellite". LilacSat-2 rose to a maximum elevation of 63 degrees, and I almost thought this was something other than Field Day. As the satellite rose from the south, I quickly made a contact with Glenn AA5PK in west Texas. I had seen Glenn on one of the earlier ISS passes, but missed getting a QSO with him then. This was the LilacSat-2 QSO that will go toward my Field Day score, but it wasn't my last contact. I worked 5 other stations, most of whom were operated by hams I know - W6KA operated by Tom WA0POD, Fernando NP4JV in Tucson after leaving the K7RDG Field Day station, Jack KC7MG in central Arizona (again, no Field Day exchange with KC7MG, but still nice to make the QSO), and Frank K6FW in California. The LilacSat-2 pass, being a very orderly pass, allowed me to explain to my audience - OK, it was an audience of one, Mark N7UJI - some things about satellite operating. For example, how I was working LilacSat-2 half-duplex, compared to using full-duplex on the FO-29 and SO-50 passes earlier. I made QSOs, but explained how working full-duplex meant I didn't have to rely on anyone else to answer me before knowing that my signals were making it through the satellite. I also demonstrated how antenna polarity matters for satellite operating, simply by twisting my Elk antenna to make the downlink signal sound weaker, before twisting it so the signal sounded better again. Along with answering Mark's questions about satellite operating, Mark was paying attention to the QSOs I made. He heard how most were calling me by name, and I knew their names. Mark asked me "Do you know all these people?" A little later, another question: "Why don't you save yourself some time and ask, 'Is there anyone I don't know on?'" I had to laugh at this one, knowing that this was a small part of the wider community of amateur radio operators, and many of us who work satellites do know each other and cross paths at different events. By this point in the late afternoon/early evening, around 0130 UTC (6.30pm local time), sunlight was starting to go away. Clouds, along with the trees around the picnic area, meant it would be dark here before sunset. I wanted to show Mark one more satellite pass, and have a shot at additional QSOs to wrap up my 2016 Field Day. XW-2F was coming by to the west, up to a maximum elevation of 32 degrees. A nice pass. I used an FT-817ND as my transmit radio, and the receive side of my station was an SDRplay SDR receiver with HDSDR running on an 8-inch Windows 10 tablet. Both were connected through a diplexer to my Elk log periodic. I plugged in a speaker, so Mark could hear what I heard from the SDRplay and tablet. I explained how the SDR receiver worked compared to a "normal" radio, where I could receive more than a single frequency, and in this case see the entire transponder downlink on the tablet's screen. Many of you here have read about my SDR exploits on this list and in other forums, and Mark liked what he saw. As with the earlier FO-29 and SO-50 passes, I worked XW-2F full-duplex. Once the satellite came up from the south, I made a quick QSO with Frank K6FW in California. After this QSO, it seemed like the center of the XW-2F transponder sounded like FO-29 on many passes - a few stations were competing for the center of the transponder. I tried to make a couple of other QSOs, but with so many stations in the small transponder, and at one point having to deal with someone sending CW over my SSB signals, I made no other QSOs. After the unsuccessful passes earlier in the day, I was finally able to show Mark some examples of amateur satellite operating - different modes (SSB, FM, packet), different radios or combinations of radios, and a fair amount of "what to do" and "what not to do" for satellite operating. After XW-2F went away, Mark and I packed up our stations, and drove to Flagstaff for dinner. After that, the 2-hour drive home. Even with only 3 QSOs in his log, Mark had fun. I had as much fun talking radio and being able to successfully demonstrate satellite operating for Mark, along with making some QSOs for my own log. I have updated my log, and uploaded all of my Field Day QSOs to Logbook of the World, but haven't started to put together my entries for Field Day. I logged a total of 21 Field Day satellite QSOs, and 3 other QSOs that only involved exchanges of grid locators. All done with only 5W transmit power, to stay within the Field Day QRP power class. By satellite... ISS: three Field Day packet QSOs on 2312 UTC pass, two non-Field Day packet QSOs on 0048 UTC pass. Station: TH-D72A/Elk NO-84: one Field Day packet QSO on 0035 UTC pass. Station: TH-D72A/Elk SO-50: one Field Day FM QSO on 2334 UTC pass. Station: IC-2730A/Elk LilacSat-2: one Field Day FM QSO on 0111 UTC pass, 4 other non-scoring Field Day QSOs and one non-Field Day FM QSO. Station: KG-UV9D/Elk XW-2F: one Field Day QSO on 0134 UTC pass. Station: FT-817ND/SDRplay/ HDSDR Seeing how well I did on the ISS and NO-84, it is unfortunate AMSAT limits the use of the orbiting digipeaters to a single QSO per satellite under its Field Day rules. I don't disagree with the "one QSO per FM satellite" rule, but question its application to the orbiting digipeaters. It seems like if we are wanting to encourage more than just FM satellite operation during Field Day, working packet would be one way to do that. Especially with that NO-84 pass where only two of us were around to make QSOs. That's it for now. Field Day is always fun, even when I worked last year's Field Day from a balcony at my office, as I had a project to work on during that weekend. It has been more fun over the past 10 years since I first worked satellites during a Field Day back in 2006. I know I won't set any records, but I was able to achieve my goals for this year - more packet QSOs than the two I made during last year's Field Day, using SDR for at least some of my Field Day satellite activity, and demonstrating satellite operating for another ham. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-06-28 09:00 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-06-28 09:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Ufa, Russia, direct via TBD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Skripochka RN3FU Contact is a go for Thu 2016-06-30 07:55 UTC Justus-Knecht-Gymnasium, Bruchsal, Germany, direct via DN1JKG The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Jeff Williams KD5TVQ Contact is a go for: Fri 2016-07-01 08:31:23 UTC 74 deg Science Museum of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, telebridge via VK5ZAI (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS (***) The scheduled astronaut is Jeff Williams KD5TVQ (***) Contact is a go for: Wed 2016-07-06 14:28:20 UTC 77 deg (***) **************************************************************************** ** 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. **************************************************************************** *** All ARISS contacts are made via the Ericsson 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 http://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? 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 **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: Gaston ON4WF with 121 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 119 Francesco IKØWGF with 116 **************************************************************************** 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. 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 2016-06-28 09:00 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. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1064. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1029. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 47. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. http://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: Arkansas, Delaware, South Dakota, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ QSL information may be found at: http://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS **************************************************************************** The successful school list has been updated as of 2016-06-14 04:30 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correction .rtf Listing of ARISS related magazine articles as of 2006-07-10 03:30 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ARISS_magazine_articles.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** Exp. 47 on orbit Jeff Williams KD5TVQ Oleg Skripochka RN3FU Aleksey Ovchinin **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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N8HM Field Day Report - 1B MDC
by Paul Stoetzer 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

I only worked satellites during Field Day and I ended up making 97 QSOs on 24 passes of all active 10 voice satellites during the 24 hour period. My score for AMSAT Field Day was 83 points. The breakdown by satellite is below: AO-7B - 2 QSOs AO-73 - 10 QSOs, 1 dupe AO-85 - 1 QSO, 5 excess FM QSOs FO-29 - 37 QSOs, 4 dupes LilacSat-2 - 1 QSO, 1 excess FM QSO SO-50 - 1 QSO Ukube-1 - 6 QSOs XW-2A - 11 QSOs XW-2C - 6 QSOs, 2 dupes XW-2F - 8 QSOs, 1 dupe Total - 83 valid phone QSOs, 8 dupes, 6 excess FM QSOs = 83 points The major difference between AMSAT and ARRL Field Day rules for satellite is that "satellite" is considered a single band while for AMSAT Field Day, each satellite transponder is considered a separate band. For example, if I worked WD9EWK in SSB on FO-29 and then in SSB on XW-2A, that would be worth two points under AMSAT rules, but only one point under ARRL rules. VE3YRA was my most worked station this year - I worked them on six different satellites. I was operating 1B from the parking lot/courtyard of my apartment building in southwest Washington, DC. The equipment I used was as follows: 2 x Yaesu FT-817 (with 3000 mAh internal LiPo batteries) Microset VUR-30 dual band amplifier 5100 mAh LiPo battery for the amplifier High Sierra Microwave LNAA432 preamplifier High Sierra Microwave LNAA146FIL filtered 2m preamp Arrow II 146/437-10BP Dual Band Handheld Yagi All of this was carried in a camera bag and held by shoulder straps while I held the Arrow in my hand. It was lots of fun, though tiring to head downstairs and outside for 24 different passes. I only slept for about 2.5 hours between 3:30am and 6:00am (and skipped a pair of AO-7 passes as a result). One big issue I notice during Field Day is the use of excess power on the transponders and the inexperience and/or inadequate stations used by many of the satellite operators. Many times I would call a station and not receive a reply or someone would start CQing or tuning up on top of me. This was especially noticeable on AO-73 and UKube-1 as the frequencies for the uplink are somewhat different than published. It sounded like many were trying to use their computers to correct for Doppler and did not have the experience necessary to set the uplink offset. I heard several "ditters" trying to find themselves for entire passes. Operating satellites isn't difficult, but it does take some practice and experience to understand the characteristics of each satellite. Trying to figure it out at 1800Z on Field Day Saturday is not the recipe for success. I would note that my excess FM QSOs (both ARRL and AMSAT rules allow only one QSO per FM satellite, AMSAT rules further limit APRS digipeater QSOs to one per satellite as well) were made because stations were calling and attempting to make a contact with no one else replying and I wanted to make sure they got their QSO. It's fun doing Field Day from home, but next year I think I would like to head to a Field Day site and help with satellite operations for a club (and maybe fill in elsewhere between passes). 73, Paul, N8HM

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Southern CA Satellite Presentations
by Kevin M 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

You can hit the delete button. Every time this person with a narcissistic bent blows off and gets corrected here people on this list cry 'take it elsewhere'. The problem is you are rewarding the offending behavior. You are playing right into the hands of the person CREATING the problem in the first place. "I'll do what I want with no repercussions, because if anyone tries to correct me the masses will tell them to stop picking on me and take it off list." Don't indiscriminately tell everyone to be quiet just because you don't want to hit the delete button. The offender here uses this very public forum to spread his disinformation, yet you want everyone to just allow him to do it without being corrected. He needs to be denied the positive public attention he craves or he will never stop. Put another way, how do you like it if I say to you, "No more. Take your neutral stance elsewhere. Some people here are trying to stop the encouragement & creation of the chaos that regular satellite users have to deal with daily because of one individuals misinformation. One he has demonstrated time and again has ulterior motives and that needs to be discouraged. Agreed. No more. Sent from my iPhone > On Jun 27, 2016, at 08:59, Kelly Keeton <kellyrkeeton at gmail.com> wrote: > > Can we argue in a less public email reflector. > > We all get it - some people like ford some people like Chevy let's bury it or take it offline. My inbox is tired of this. > > Sent from a mobile device.

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FV80DX from FJ92PV in AO7
by Kevin M 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

Juan, my guess is that would be PV8DX Paulo who is located in PJ92pt according to QRZ. 73, Kevin N4UFO Hello, I worked FV80DX from FJ92PV through AO7 at 18.00z last Saturday 160625. I have not seen any comment about this station in amsat-bb and I can not find any info in the NET. Signal was clear and I could copy clearly its callsign and locator. Anybody knows about this station? Juan Antonio EA4CYQ

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Re: [amsat-bb] Southern CA Satellite Presentations
by Clint Bradford 28 Jun '16

28 Jun '16

>> ... you would quit telling people that full duplex is "not mandatory" for working sats. You've never attended one of my sat sessions. I have never uttered the sentence to groups, "It is not mandatory to work full-duplex. - PERIOD." My standard mantra for the easy FM birds is all over the place: "Ideally, we should be working the satellites in full duplex mode, where we can simultaneously listen to the downlink as we are transmitting. Although this method is preferred, it is not mandatory: Carefully monitor the downlink, and wait for a break in the conversations to announce yourself." People you might be hearing stepping on others are not following those instructions. And all my audiences are very graphically shown and told the reasons why working full- duplex is preferable. I didn't work full-duplex when speaking with Commander Wiseman - who was aboard the ISS at the time during Field Day 2014. If you haven't already given a presentation to your club on working the easy birds, I am available. Just send me an email message. Clint Bradford K6LCS (909) 999-SATS

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LOTW nick of UKUBE-1?
by Juan Antonio 27 Jun '16

27 Jun '16

Hello, I made my first QSO with this new bird, What nick should I use to load it in LOTW? Juan Antonio EA4CYQ --- El software de antivirus Avast ha analizado este correo electrónico en busca de virus. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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FV80DX from FJ92PV in AO7
by Juan Antonio 27 Jun '16

27 Jun '16

Hello, I worked FV80DX from FJ92PV through AO7 at 18.00z last Saturday 160625. I have not seen any comment about this station in amsat-bb and I can not find any info in the NET. Signal was clear and I could copy clearly its callsign and locator. Anybody knows about this station? Juan Antonio EA4CYQ --- El software de antivirus Avast ha analizado este correo electrónico en busca de virus. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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AMSAT Field Day Submissions
by Bruce 27 Jun '16

27 Jun '16

Now that Field Day is only a blur, it is time to prepare your score and submit it for the AMSAT Field Day results. All submissions are due by 11:59PM Central Time on Monday, July 11, 2016. I will then prepare the story and send it off to the editor of the AMSAT Journal who will have it in the upcoming issue that goes to press shortly thereafter. Please send your score sheet and photos to me kk5do(a)arrl.net or kk5do(a)amsat.org You will receive an email back that day or the next day when I have received your submission. If you do not receive the email from me, I did not get it. Don't assume that because you sent it that I have received it. Make sure you get the confirmation email. 73...bruce -- Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards AMSAT Board Alternate 2015-2016 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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FD: W1BIM 6A WMA
by Bill Acito 27 Jun '16

27 Jun '16

For the 13 of you who worked me (including W1AW) , thanks for the QSO's. We were in FN32, if you need the grid. I ran a modest satellite set-up for Central MA ARA; IC-820H and Arrow on a camera tripod. 12 Q's on FO-29, and 1 Q on AO-85. I left my spot at the 40 CW tent to work one AO85 pass and four FO-29 passes overnight and Sunday morning. I am a testament to prepping prior to FD -- spent much of May learning and practicing on FO-29; it became clear very early that I wasn't going to learn manual doppler control in a month, so I added SatPC32 to manage it and added an Icom "vox box" to the 820 to free up a hand and to allow me to hand control the Arrow and spin the VFO. Bill

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Any evidence of unscheduled voice QSOs between ISS SSTV transmissions?
by John Brier 27 Jun '16

27 Jun '16

I know the Cosmonauts sometimes make unscheduled voice QSOs between ISS SSTV transmissions but I can't remember exactly where I have read or heard that. Especially nice would be audio and/or video recordings with both the SSTV and voice QSO intact in the recording. Twitter, posts, blogs, articles etc are also very helpful. Thanks, John Brier KG4AKV

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Re: [amsat-bb] Southern CA Satellite Presentations
by skristof＠etczone.com 27 Jun '16

27 Jun '16

Attempting full-duplex as a best practice is agreeable but is certainly a different animal than making it MANDATORY. Sounds like the folks in my CW club who post on the sked page "QRO ONLY" or the folks who think everybody must be able to do 20 wpm before they put a dit on the air. Let's keep it a hobby, help and encourage newcomers, and not block folks from trying things by setting unnecessarily high bars to entry.Steve AI9IN Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone-------- Original message --------From: mvivona--- via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Date: 6/26/2016 7:34 PM (GMT-05:00) To: Michael <Mat_62(a)charter.net>, amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Southern CA Satellite Presentations I humbly agree with you Michael. Even though I do understand that some Hams can not afford a second radio, the swarms of cheap radios on the market lately has pretty much alleviated that issue.Maybe it's not always possible, but attempting full duplex is not only better practice, but is a very gratifying challenge to anyone that hears what the have been missing. I give you a thumbs up sir. KC4ZVA From: Michael <Mat_62(a)charter.net> To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Sent: Sunday, June 26, 2016 7:10 PM Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Southern CA Satellite Presentations It sure would be nice if you would quit telling people that full duplex is "not mandatory" for working sats. It absolutely should be MANDATORY. Having full duplex should be stated as rule # 1 of operating on a satellite regardless of which one it is and what mode you are operating. Not using full duplex results in needless interference and frustration. Just my humble opinion. 73, Michael, W4HIJ On 6/26/2016 2:49 PM, Clint Bradford wrote: > ARRL instructor and ARISS / AMSAT-NA / AMSAT-UK supporter > Clint Bradford, K6LCS, will be presenting his 84th and 85th > satellite presentations in September. > > "I have no idea how I have "missed" the Downey (CA) Amateur Radio Club," > Clint writes. "They are long-time ARRL supporters, and have been serving their > region well for more than FIFTY years." > > "The Victor Valley (CA) ARC is another story. This will be my fourth show for > them these past ten years. I suppose I will have to change some of the bad > jokes that are interspersed throughout the presentation ... " > > Attendees will be shown EVERYTHING needed to work the FM voice ham > satellites – with a re-occurring theme of, “Most hams already have > most of the necessary equipment … ” Attendees can download a > four-page tutorial beforehand at … > > http://www.work-sat.com > > … and Clint welcomes pre-presentation questions. Call him at > 909-999-SATS (909-999-7287), or send email to clint(a)clintbradford.com . > > Not in the Southern California region - but would like your club to experience an > hour-long educational and entertaining presentation on working the FM birds? > Send me an email - I will bring the show to your club! > > Thursday, September 1, 2016, 7:30 PM > Downey Amateur Radio Club > First Baptist Church, Room 120, in Downey, California. The church is between > 2nd and 3rd streets, at 8348 E. 3rd St. Use 2nd St, East from Downey Ave (one > block north of Firestone Blvd.) adjacent to City Hall. Entrance via double glass > doors on the north side of 2nd St. > > Tuesday, September 13, 2016, 7:00 PM > Sitting Bull Academy Library, 19445 Sitting Bull Road, Apple Valley. CA. > > /end/ > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! > Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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Re: [amsat-bb] Southern CA Satellite Presentations
by Clint Bradford 27 Jun '16

27 Jun '16

>> ... Any plans to demo the satellites on this presentation? Several times I have interrupted myself in the middle of a presentation and told the group, "OK - everybody up and outside. My wife will stay and watch your belongings. We're going to work a bird RIGHT NOW ... " I enjoyed reading about your then-record distance record on '85 - quite an achievement! i am sure we'll meet up sometime ... Clint K6LCS

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Southern CA Satellite Presentations
by Clint Bradford 27 Jun '16

27 Jun '16

ARRL instructor and ARISS / AMSAT-NA / AMSAT-UK supporter Clint Bradford, K6LCS, will be presenting his 84th and 85th satellite presentations in September. "I have no idea how I have "missed" the Downey (CA) Amateur Radio Club," Clint writes. "They are long-time ARRL supporters, and have been serving their region well for more than FIFTY years." "The Victor Valley (CA) ARC is another story. This will be my fourth show for them these past ten years. I suppose I will have to change some of the bad jokes that are interspersed throughout the presentation ... " Attendees will be shown EVERYTHING needed to work the FM voice ham satellites – with a re-occurring theme of, “Most hams already have most of the necessary equipment … ” Attendees can download a four-page tutorial beforehand at … http://www.work-sat.com … and Clint welcomes pre-presentation questions. Call him at 909-999-SATS (909-999-7287), or send email to clint(a)clintbradford.com . Not in the Southern California region - but would like your club to experience an hour-long educational and entertaining presentation on working the FM birds? Send me an email - I will bring the show to your club! Thursday, September 1, 2016, 7:30 PM Downey Amateur Radio Club First Baptist Church, Room 120, in Downey, California. The church is between 2nd and 3rd streets, at 8348 E. 3rd St. Use 2nd St, East from Downey Ave (one block north of Firestone Blvd.) adjacent to City Hall. Entrance via double glass doors on the north side of 2nd St. Tuesday, September 13, 2016, 7:00 PM Sitting Bull Academy Library, 19445 Sitting Bull Road, Apple Valley. CA. /end/

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Android SDR to FoxTelem
by skristof＠etczone.com 27 Jun '16

27 Jun '16

Anyone putting together a FoxTelem app for Android? Steve AI9IN

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First Demo of ground-based LEILA-2 for the NB transponder
by Peter Guelzow 27 Jun '16

27 Jun '16

First Demo of ground-based LEILA-2 for the NB transponder ==================================================== the first geostationary P4-A satellite Es'hail-2 will carry two amateur radio transponders: - a Narrowband (NB) transponder with 250 kHz bandwidth and - a Wideband (WB) transponder with 8 MHz bandwidth for Digital Amateur Television (DATV, DVB-S2 standard) The NB transponder is a bent-pipe, non-inverting, linear transponder with AGC. A LEILA-2 system, similar to LEILA flown on AMSAT OSCAR-40 (P3-D) will be used for Traffic Control and Telemetry Beacons. The mayor difference is, that this is a ground-based system which will be installed at the Es'hailSat Satellite Control Center (SCC) near Doha in Qatar. LEILA-2 will analyze the downlink power levels in the passband of the NB-transponder and automatically generate a Siren to remark users to decrease their uplink power. LEILA-2 is a joint development of AMSAT-DL's Achim Vollhardt DH2VA and AMSAT-UK's Howard Long G6LVB. LEILA is an german acronym for "LEIstungs Limit Anzeige", which means: Power Limit Indicator The following video gives a first insight to the Es'hail-2 LEILA-2 hardware concept: https://youtu.be/v-9jVw-pK0A 73s Peter DB2OS, AMSAT-DL

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For sale, FT-736r, TE amps, more
by Peter Klein 26 Jun '16

26 Jun '16

*** FOR SALE *** I'm looking for new homes for the following. Asking prices do not include shipping, insurance. Local pickup welcome. Contact is pklein at threshinc dot com. Reasonable offers will be considered. Unless otherwise noted, all this equipment was purchased new in c. 1995-6, I am the original owner. Transceiver and indoor accessories' condition is very good to excellent. ------------- Yaesu FT-736r SSB/CW/FM/Satellite Transceiver. I used it on Oscar 10 and 13, Mir, etc. With original box and manual. Has 2m and 70cm stock modules. With hand mic, Keyer-B, FTS-8 CTCSS tone board, 500 Hz CW filter. Excellent shape, all functions work fine. Internal AC power supply works. Minor issue: The external speaker jack is worn and occasionally mutes the built-in speaker. Tap the rear of the cabinet and it comes back. Rather than mess with it, I just used the headphone jack for an external speaker. --- $650.00 --- Yaesu MD-1 desk mic, works with the 736r and many other Yaesu radios (8-pin plug). This was bought used last year. Great sound. --- $120 --- TE 1406G amp, 144 MHz, 25w in, 100w out. GAsFET preamp. With manual. --- $250.00 --- TE 4412G amp, 430-450 MHz, 30w in, 100w out. GAsFET preamp. With manual. --- $250 --- TIMEWAVE DSP-599zx AM SSB CW digital selectivity filter, noise reduction, heterodyne eliminator. Excellent at reducing noise for weak signal VHF/UHF operation, worked great on satellites. Original box and manual, first version firmware. ---$250 --- Kansas City Tracker board (full-size ISA board, only fits older PCs). It worked last time I used it several years ago. With docs and software. --- $30 --- Landwehr 144 MHz mast-mount GASFET preamp. It works, amplifies weak signals as it should. The N connectors are good. The 5-pin power and control socket has some oxidation and the label on the face has faded due to sunlight. --- $125 --- M2 EB-144 2m "Eggbeater" Antenna. Works, was outdoors since mid-90s, so shows some oxidation. --- $100 --- Advanced Receiver Research 10 meter receiver preamp. Remember Mode A? --- $20 --- -- Peter, KD7MW

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FUNcube-1
by Graham Shirville 26 Jun '16

26 Jun '16

Hi All, Just to confirm that FC1 is now back in autonomous mode for the week. If the spacecraft is in sunlight then you have high power telemetry. If it is in eclipse then low power telemetry and the transponder are available. 73 Graham G3VZV

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K4AMG FD
by Rich/wa4bue 26 Jun '16

26 Jun '16

Thank you everyone for our FO 29 contacts. We were able to work the first 1/2 of our pass. As our antennas turned towards the airport the local radar took over. We were the GOTA station for the RASON club. Rich K4AMG.org

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Android OS apps?
by skristof＠etczone.com 26 Jun '16

26 Jun '16

I finally joined the 21st century and got a smartphone (Samsung with Android OS). Anyone want to recommend their "must-have" apps to put on this thing? I looked at the list of available apps and figured I would just some folks who know about these things. That's you! Thank you! Steve AI9IN

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ANS-178 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 26 Jun '16

26 Jun '16

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-178 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. In this edition: * Fox-1Clif and Fox-1D Launch Window Update * 2016 AMSAT Symposium Call for Papers * AMSAT-SA Invites SDR Transponder Developers * Sathyabamasat Update * AMSAT P4 Information Published * UKube-1 Transponder Remains Active * Bahamas Satellite Activation * Final Call For Speakers For The AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2016 * CY9C St. Paul Island Expedition June Update * 2016 Candidates for the AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Announced * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-178.01 ANS-178 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 178.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. June 26, 2016 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-178.01 Fox-1Clif and Fox-1D Launch Window Update AMSAT has been informed that the launch period for Fox-1Cliff and Fox-1D has been moved and is now commencing on September 1, 2016 and ending on November 30, 2016. Fox-1Cliff and Fox-1D will be integrated onto the Spaceflight SHERPA platform for its maiden flight aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 launching into a sun-synchronous orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Fox- 1Cliff and Fox-1D carry university experiments from Pennsylvania State-Erie, Vanderbilt, University of Iowa, cameras provided by Virginia Tech, as well as amateur radio voice repeaters capable of U/V or L/V operation. [ANS thanks AMSAT and Paul N8HM for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016 AMSAT Symposium Call for Papers This is the first call for papers for the 2016 AMSAT-NA Annual Meeting and Space Symposium to be held on the weekend of November 10- 14, 2016. Proposals for papers, symposium presentations, and poster presentations are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite community. We request a tentative title of your presentation as soon as possible, but no later than September 15th. The final copy must be submitted by October 15th for inclusion in the printed proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be sent to Dan Schultz at n8fgv(at)amsat.org The 2016 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting will be held aboard the cruise ship Carnival Liberty departing from the port of Galveston, Texas on November 10, 2016 and returning to port on November 14, 2016. [ANS thanks 2016 Symposium Committee for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT-SA Invites SDR Transponder Developers AMSAT SA is accelerating the development of its Kletskous transponder by introducing a parallel development process. Two RF experts have recent joined the team, they are Leon Lessing ZS6LMG and Francois Visser ZS1CED. At its recent strategy meeting the association discussed its long term plans which includes the development of a Software Defined Radio transponder and other digital payloads. Radio Amateurs who have an interest in being part of discussions on these projects are invited to send their contact details including their Skype address to saamsat(a)intekom.com.za. For more information on SDR visit the AMSAT SA website at www.amsatsa.org.za and download the SDR presentation delivered by Deon Coetzee ZR1DE at the recently held space symposium. Join the conversation! {ANS thanks the SARL weekly news in English 2016-6-25 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sathyabamasat Update Forwarding a message received at the AMSAT Office. Keps sent by the Sathyabamasat team leader: I am Dr. K. Vasanth, team leader for sathyabamasat. Please find the TLE of sathyabamasat that was launched in PSLV c34 on 22 June 2016 by ISRO SATHYABAMASAT 1 99995U 16040Z 16175. 20805119 -.00000069 00000-0 00000+0 0 9993 2 99995 97.5054 234.3601 0013199 239.3342 211.7362 15.18710336 154 Kindly track our satellite and send me the tracked results if possible. E-mail vasanthecek at gmail dot com Thank you for the help regards Dr. K. Vasanth [ANS thanks the Sathyabamasat Team for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT P4 Information Published AMSAT-DL published information on Friday about their P4 mission: http://tinyurl.com/ANS178-amsat-p4-a-es-hail-2 (posted in German but on-line translation services are useful) The AMSAT-DL Phase 4 brochure is available at: http://amsat-dl.org/images/stories/satellites/Eshail-2/P4A_Leaflet.pdf AMSAT-UK covers this news also: https://amsat-uk.org/2016/06/24/phase-4a-transponder-video/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-DL and AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- UKube-1 Transponder Remains Active UKube-1's transponder continues to remain active. Users will find that their signals may disappear during short periods when the satellite's primary beacon is active. Once the primary beacon's transmission is finished, the transponder will go back to normal. The 145.15 MHz telemetry from FUNcube-2 is being copied a bit higher at 145.16 MHz. Users have noted that the transponder uplink is roughly 13-15 KHz high as well. [ANS thanks Clayton W5PFG for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Bahamas Satellite Activation Gabriel Zeifman, KM4RTS, made a successful satellite activation of the Bahamas as C6AGZ on Sunday, June 19. He reports that his Logbook of the World certificate has been approved and he will soon be uploading the contacts. Following his activation of the Bahamas, he activated several grid squares via satellite on a trip to Oklahoma City where he will reside following his recent college graduation. A relative newcomer to satellites, Gabriel has been steadily improving his portable station and now operates all FM and linear SSB transponders with ease using a pair of Yaesu FT-817ND transceivers and an Arrow II satellite antenna. [ANS thanks Clayton W5PFG for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Final Call For Speakers For The AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2016 Final call for speakers for the AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2016 which will be held from Saturday, July 29 to Sunday, July 31, 2016 at the Holiday Inn, Guildford, GU2 7XZ, United Kingdom: https://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/ AMSAT-UK invites speakers, to cover topics about Amateur satellites, CubeSats, Nanosats, space and associated activities, for this event. They are also invited to submit papers for subsequent publishing on the AMSAT-UK web site or Oscar News. Those wishing to participate should contact Dave, G4DPZ, dave at g4dpz dot me dot uk [ANS thanks Dave, G4DPZ for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- CY9C St. Paul Island Expedition June Update CY9C ST. PAUL ISLAND DXPEDITION (Update, dated June 18th). Randy, N0TG, reports: The countdown is on; just 60 days 'til activation. Procurement of final materials and supplies is in process and being shipped to team member K8LEE - Wayne. Wayne and Jay-K4ZLE will rent a cargo van for transport of most of the gear to our staging area in Canada departing their homes around 12 August. Phil, VA3QR, will be driving to the staging area with the generators and several other items. And, lastly Murray, WA4DAN, will also drive to Dingwall, Canada, with several yagi's. Other team members will be flying. The team is excited and looking forward to a very inclusive operation, i.e, satellite, 2 meter EME, RTTY, CW, SSB. We also have plans to include working Tech and General Class. We appreciate the visits to our website and those who have taken the "NEED SURVEY". We are gearing up to assure we meet the band and mode needs expressed, as well as, concentrating on successful contacts on the long and difficult propagation paths to various locations in Oceania, Japan, India, Asiatic Russia, western USA and VE, etc. Our thanks for the financial support; that helps greatly on the upfront cost of the dxpedition. Website: http://www.CY9DXpedition.com [ANS thanks Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1270 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016 Candidates for the AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Announced The 2016 candidates, in alphabetical order by last names are: Tom Clark, K3IO Clayton Coleman, W5PFG Mark Hammond, N8MH Bruce Paige, KK5DO Paul Stoetzer, N8HM This year AMSAT-NA will be electing three voting members of the Board of Directors. These will go to the three candidates receiving the highest number of votes. In addition, there will be two alternates chosen, based on the next highest number of votes received. Ballots will be mailed to the AMSAT-NA membership by July 15, 2016 and must be received at the AMSAT office by September 15, 2016 in order to be counted. Those sent outside North America will go by air mail. If you have not received your ballot package in a reasonable time for your location, please contact the AMSAT office. Completed ballots should be returned as promptly as possible, and those from outside North America preferably by air mail. Election of Board members is both an obligation as well as an opportunity by our membership to help shape the future direction of AMSAT. Please take the time to review the candidate statements that will accompany the ballot and determine who you wish to see on the Board. You have the option to vote for up to three candidates. [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA Secretary, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News + A Successful contact was made between Gagarin From Space, "Slavic Commonwealth" Sochi, Russia and Cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka RN3FU using Callsign RS0ISS. The contact began 2016-06-19 09:30 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was direct via R2Ø16SS. ARISS Mentor was Sergey RV3DR. Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule Ufa, Russia, direct via TBD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Skripochka RN3FU Contact is a go for Thu 2016-06-30 07:55 UTC Justus-Knecht-Gymnasium, Bruchsal, Germany, direct via DN1JKG The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Jeff Williams KD5TVQ Contact is a go for: Fri 2016-07-01 08:31:23 UTC [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN for the above information] Exp. 46 back on earth. Congratulations on a job well done! Tim Kopra KE5UDN Timothy Peake KG5BVI Yuri Malenchenko RK3DUP [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + John 9H5G reports that I'll once again be active in C6 from January. I expect to activate the following grids: FL 05, 15, 14, 24, 23, 22, and possibly 21. Some of these will be /MM as they lack land. Unless I magically come across a pair of 817s or the like I'll only be on the FM birds although I may do some APRS once I get that figured out. [ANS thanks John 9H5G for the aboive information] + Congratulations to Frank Westphal for the Got Grids Award #16 For more info on these free awards go to www.starcommgroup.org These awards are free we only ask that you make a donation to Amsat if you can. [ANS thanks Damon WA4HFN for the above information] + 2016 ARRL / TAPR DCC (Digital Communications Conference ) Hilton Saint Petersburg Bayfront Hotel Tampa, FL September 16 - 19, 2016 DCC Information at: www.tapr.org/dcc [ANS thanks Mark Thompson for the above information] + Satellite presentations in September - So CA Clint Bradford, K6LCS, will be presenting his satellite presentations in two venues in Southern CaliforniaSeptember. Thursday, September 1, 2016, 7:30 PM Downey Amateur Radio Club First Baptist Church, Room 120, in Downey, California. The church is between 2nd and 3rd streets, at 8348 E. 3rd St. Use 2nd St, East from Downey Ave (one block north of Firestone Blvd.) adjacent to City Hall. Entrance via double glass doors on the north side of 2nd St. Tuesday, September 13, 2016, 7:00 PM Sitting Bull Academy Library, 19445 Sitting Bull Road, Apple Valley. CA. [ANS thanks Southgate ARN for the above information] + Free Downloads: Mars Explorers Wanted Posters Mars needs you! In the future, Mars will need all kinds of explorers, farmers, surveyors, teachers … but most of all, YOU! Join NASA on the Journey to Mars as we explore with robots and, one day, send humans there. Download a Mars poster that speaks to you. Each of the eight posters represents a different type of explorer NASA is seeking. You can view them online, print them and share them with your friends. Check out the posters at http://tinyurl.com/ANS178-MoreOnMars And for more information about Mars, visit http://mars.nasa.gov/ [ANS thanks the NASA Education Express Message -- June 23, 2016 for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, EMike McCardel, AA8EM (former KC8YLD) kc8yld at amsat dot org

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CubaSat-1
by co8tw＠frcuba.co.cu 25 Jun '16

25 Jun '16

http://www.convenciones.uo.edu.cu/index.php/IICICT/CIIE2016/paper/viewFile/…

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W5YM 1A AR from EM26wd
by Peter Laws 25 Jun '16

25 Jun '16

HOPE to be on some SO-50 passes and MAYBE AO-85. Peter -- Peter Laws | N5UWY | plaws plaws net | Travel by Train!

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Use O 13 from Perth in 1990s?
by john & sylvia 25 Jun '16

25 Jun '16

I was called by a VK station in Perth Australia while testing my 5w rig and hand held 70cm 10 element yagi in my attic! Not just once but twice 2 days running via the Oscar 13 satellite. Think it was about 37000 km out in space in its elliptical orbit at the time. This took place in the mid 1990s and was a good solid SSB contact. My QTH was IO90LW .... Clanfield just north of Portsmouth UK. Never did get a QSL card! Anybody know who this may have been? 73 John G8HUY / G0WEH Sent from Samsung Mobile

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Operational Satellites and Frequencies
by Bruce 25 Jun '16

25 Jun '16

I pulled these from the AMSAT.ORG webpage. I dropped the list onto my iPhone in Notes to have it readily available for Field Day. These are the FM and Linear birds that should be active. 73...bruce FM Satellite Frequency Summary AMSAT Fox-1 Satellites Uplink FM (67 Hz CTCSS) Downlink FM Comments AO-85 (Fox-1A) 435.170 MHz 145.980 MHz Operational Fox-1B 435.250 MHz 145.960 MHz Launch 1/20/2017 Fox-1Cliff 435.300 MHz & 1267.300 MHz* 145.920 MHz Launch Fall 2016 Fox-1D 435.350 MHz & 1267.350 MHz* 145.880 MHz Launch Fall 2016 * Switchable by command station. Not operational simultaneously. SO-50 (SaudiSat-1C) Uplink FM (67 Hz CTCSS) Downlink FM Comments SO-50 145.850 MHz 436.795 MHz Operational SO-50 also has a 10 minute timer that must be armed before use. Transmit a 2 second carrier with a CTCSS tone of 74.4 Hz to arm the timer. =================================================================== Linear Satellite Frequency Summary AO-7 Mode A – V/a Non-Inverting Analog SSB/CW Uplink USB 145.850 MHz through 145.950 MHz Downlink USB 29.400 MHz through 29.500 MHz Beacon 29.502 MHz AO-7 Mode B – U/v Inverting Analog SSB/CW Uplink LSB 432.125 MHz through 432.175 MHz Downlink USB 145.975 MHz through 145.925 MHz Beacon 145.975 MHz AO-73 (FUNcube-1) – U/v Inverting Analog SSB/CW Uplink LSB 435.150 MHz through 435.130 MHz Downlink USB 145.950 MHz through 145.970 MHz Beacon 145.935 MHz telemetry. FO-29 (JAS-2) – V/u Inverting Analog SSB/CW Uplink LSB 146.000 MHz through 145.900 MHz Downlink USB 435.800 MHz through 435.900 MHz Beacon 435.795 MHz XW-2A (CAS-3A) – U/v Inverting Analog SSB/CW Uplink USB 435.030 MHz through 435.050 MHz Downlink USB 145.685 MHz through 145.665 MHz CW Beacon 145.660 MHz. Digital Telemetry 145.640 MHz 9.6/19.2kbps, GMSK XW-2B (CAS-3B) – Not Activated Uplink LSB 435.090 MHz through 435.110 MHz Downlink USB 145.750 MHz through 145.730 MHz CW Beacon 145.725 MHz. Digital Telemetry 145.705 MHz 9.6/19.2kbps, GMSK XW-2C (CAS-3C) – U/v Inverting Analog SSB/CW Uplink LSB 435.150 MHz through 435.170 MHz Downlink USB 145.815 MHz through 145.795 MHz CW Beacon 145.790 MHz. Digital Telemetry 145.145.770 MHz 9.6/19.2kbps, GMSK XW-2D (CAS-3D) – Not Activated Uplink LSB 435.210 MHz through 435.230 MHz Downlink USB 145.880 MHz through 145.860 MHz CW Beacon 145.855 MHz. Digital Telemetry 145.835 MHz 9.6/19.2kbps, GMSK XW-2F (CAS-3F) – U/v Inverting Analog SSB/CW Uplink LSB 435.330 MHz through 435.350 MHz Downlink USB 146.000 MHz through 145.980 MHz CW Beacon 145.975 MHz. Digital Telemetry 145.955 MHz 9.6kbps, GMSK EO-79 (QB50p1 / FUNcube-3) – Not Activated Uplink LSB 435.035 MHz through 435.065 MHz Downlink USB 145.965 MHz through 145.935 MHz CW beacon / 1.2kbps BPSK telemetry 145.815 MHz. UKube-1 (FUNcube-2) – U/v Inverting Analog SSB/CW Uplink LSB 435.080 MHz through 435.060 MHz Downlink USB 145.930 MHz through 145.950 MHz Primary CW / 1.2 – 9.6 kbps telemetry downlink 145.840 MHz. Nayif-1 (FUNcube on Nayif-1) – Launch Scheduled Fall 2016 Uplink LSB 435.045 MHz through 435.015 MHz Downlink USB 145.960 MHz through 145.990 MHz FUNcube on Nayif-1 1.2kbps BPSK telemetry 145.940 MHz. -- Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards AMSAT Board Alternate 2015-2016 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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field day
by george hinkle 25 Jun '16

25 Jun '16

I will be operating field day for the "Sangmon Vally Radio Club". The club call is W9DUA in grid EM59 george wi9i

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Field Day Activities
by W2JV 25 Jun '16

25 Jun '16

Hello, I will be doing my FD demonstrations/presentations this year with the Great South Bay Amateur Club (GSBARC) active on all the satellites, as W2GSB, we will also be covered by News12, look for for a re-broadcast on You Tube, thank you. 73’s Peter W2JV

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Swayam and Lapan A3 identified
by Nico Janssen 25 Jun '16

25 Jun '16

All, Detailed doppler measurements show that Swayam is object 41607, 2016-040J, and Lapan A3 is object 41603, 2016-040E. Although it was suggested that Lapan A3 would not transmit on amateur frequencies, it appears to have a data downlink on 437.325 MHz. 73, Nico PA0DLO

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AMSAT P4-A, Es'hail-2 leaflet available
by Peter Guelzow 25 Jun '16

25 Jun '16

Hi, The leaflet about the first AMSAT P4-A project Es'hail-2 from Qatar can be found as .PDF under the following link: http://www.amsat-dl.org/index.php/news-mainmenu-97/247-amsat-p4-a-es-hail-2 http://www.amsat-dl.org/images/stories/satellites/Eshail-2/P4A_Leaflet.pdf The leaflet is jointly produced by Es'hailSat Qatar Satellite Company, QARS and AMSAT-DL 73s Peter, DB2OS AMSAT-DL

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Re: [amsat-bb] SWAYAM TLE
by Jean-Pierre Godet 25 Jun '16

25 Jun '16

Many thanks, Roland, The preliminary tle was too much ahead in time for Doppler shift tracking. Best 73 ! Jean-Pierre F5YG On 24/06/2016 23:30, Roland Zurmely via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Perfect Doppler correction for SWAYAM using object 2016-040J in tle-new.txt ! > 73 de Roland > ...

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Planned Field Day Activity
by Ed Empey 25 Jun '16

25 Jun '16

The Snohomish County Hams Club in Washington State plans to operate WA7LAW on the satellites during Field Day. Primary operations will be on the linear satellites, FO-29, XW-2A, XW-2C, and XW-2F and maybe even LilacSat. We may try to get through the pile-up on SO-50 but may not be successful. Please look for us and make a contact. Tks de Ed, WA7ETH

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Ukube QSO
by Nicholas Mahr KE8AKW 25 Jun '16

25 Jun '16

Had a nice first QSO on Ukube-1 with Rick W2JAZ/3, It was the first time I operated on the UKube-1 transponder! I got to say the transponder is quite stable compared to Funcube-1's probably due to it being a 3U cubesat. Are qso was only interuppted once by the satellites CW telemetry decensing the uplink of transponder, but other than that it works very well! During our QSO we were the only ones on the bird and the signal on the meter was a solid 57. Thanks for the QSO Rick W2JAZ and see on FD and more people should get on and work this new bird! Nick, KE8AKW

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SWAYAM TLE
by Roland Zurmely 24 Jun '16

24 Jun '16

Perfect Doppler correction for SWAYAM using object 2016-040J in tle-new.txt ! 73 de Roland

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Fwd: Got Grids Award Correctio
by wa4hfn＠comcast.net 24 Jun '16

24 Jun '16

----- Forwarded Message ----- From: "wa4hfn" <wa4hfn(a)comcast.net> To: "Grid gol" <starcom-bb(a)star-com.net> Sent: Friday, June 24, 2016 10:42:45 AM Subject: Got Grids Award Congratulations to K6FW Frank Westphal for the Got Grids Award #16 For more info on these free awards go to www.starcommgroup.org These awards are free we only ask that you make a donation to Amsat if you can. Thank you WA4HFN EM55ab Damon Runion Memphis,TN

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FUNcube-1 weekend operations
by Graham Shirville 24 Jun '16

24 Jun '16

Hi All, I am pleased to confirm that FUNcube-1 is now operating in continuous amateur mode with the transponder active for the weekend. It is available for everyone to use! 73 Graham G3VZV

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Sathyabamasat Keps Update
by JoAnne Maenpaa 24 Jun '16

24 Jun '16

Forwarding a message received at the AMSAT Office. Keps sent by the Sathyabamasat team leader: I am Dr.K.vasanth, team leader for sathyabamasat. please find the TLE of sathyabamasat that was launched in PSLV c34 on 22 june 2016 by ISRO SATHYABAMASAT 1 99995U 16040Z 16175. 20805119 -.00000069 00000-0 00000+0 0 9993 2 99995 97.5054 234.3601 0013199 239.3342 211.7362 15.18710336 154 Kindly track our satellite and send me the tracked results if possible. E-mail vasanthecek(a)gmail.com Thank you for the help regards Dr.k.vasanth -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm(a)amsat.org

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GOT GRIDS AWARD
by wa4hfn＠comcast.net 24 Jun '16

24 Jun '16

Congratulations to W6FW Frank Westphal for the Got Grids Award #16 For more info on these free awards go to www.starcommgroup.org These awards are free we only ask that you make a donation to Amsat if you can. Thank you WA4HFN EM55ab Damon Runion Memphis,TN

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Phase-4A Geo Transponder Video and PDF Leaflet
by M5AKA 24 Jun '16

24 Jun '16

Phase-4A Geostationary Amateur Radio Transponder Video and new transponder leaflet available at https://amsat-uk.org/2016/06/24/phase-4a-transponder-video/ India launches ham radio satellites https://amsat-uk.org/2016/06/22/india-launches-ham-radio-satellites/ Amateur Satellites at Skills Night https://amsat-uk.org/2016/06/21/amateur-satellites-skills-night/ AMSAT-UK Colloquium – Final Call for Speakers https://amsat-uk.org/2016/06/21/colloquium-final-call-for-speakers/ K1D to Operate Satellites on Field Day https://amsat-uk.org/2016/06/19/k1d-to-operate-satellites-on-field-day/ This year's AMSAT-UK Colloquium takes place July 29-31 at the Holiday Inn, Guildford and is open to all https://amsat-uk.org/colloquium/ 73 Trevor M5AKA ---- AMSAT-UK http://amsat-uk.org/ Twitter https://twitter.com/AmsatUK Facebook https://facebook.com/AmsatUK YouTube https://youtube.com/AmsatUK ----

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Ukube QSO
by Richard Lawn 24 Jun '16

24 Jun '16

Just had my first excellent qso with KE8AKW, Nick, on the new bird and I was very pleased and surprised with the quality of the signal. I think we were the only ones on t the end of the day Thursday and were interrupted only once or twice by what seems to be strong wide and telemetry. I can never remember a time when satellite operation has been better (aside from the AO40 days) with so many active birds! Rick, W2JAZ/3 -- Sent from Gmail Mobile

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Solar Eclipse Reservations 2017 AMSAT
by Robert Bruninga 24 Jun '16

24 Jun '16

AMSAT, If you plan on going to a special place between Oregon to South Carolina along the line of Solar Eclipse TOTALITY, better make your reservations now. (21 Aug 2017). I just tried a few cabins and resorts in west kentucky and they were all booked. So I gave up and called up my sister in North Georgia and said "Family reunion at your place next August 21, 2017! Not sure what AMSAT interest there is, but any satelliite with a camera on it should try to get ready to take a shot of the eclipse on the ground. A once in a lifetime opportunity. On APRS we are probably going to encourage people to post ECLIPSE objects when they are at totality so everyone can see it move across the country in real time on their APRS radios. DX'ers will probably be out in force too.. Bob, WB4APR

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Swayan
by PY5LF 24 Jun '16

24 Jun '16

Reception of Swayan beacon . https://youtu.be/XtNDMskAFiM 73

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Re: [amsat-bb] Solar Eclipse Reservations 2017 AMSAT
by Rick Tejera 24 Jun '16

24 Jun '16

Bob, I presume this is similar to the message we sent during the Venus transit? Rick Tejera (K7TEJ) Saguaro Astronomy Club www.saguaroastro.org Thunderbird Radio Club www.w7tbc.org 623-572-0713 623-203-4121 (cell) SaguaroAstro(a)cox.net -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Robert Bruninga Sent: Thursday, June 23, 2016 5:10 PM To: amsat bb Subject: [amsat-bb] Solar Eclipse Reservations 2017 AMSAT AMSAT, On APRS we are probably going to encourage people to post ECLIPSE objects when they are at totality so everyone can see it move across the country in real time on their APRS radios. DX'ers will probably be out in force too.. Bob, WB4APR _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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Austin Summerfest
by popopaige＠att.net 23 Jun '16

23 Jun '16

blockquote, div.yahoo_quoted { margin-left: 0 !important; border-left:1px #715FFA solid !important; padding-left:1ex !important; background-color:white !important; } anyone heading to austin for their summerfest august 5-6? i was thinking of heading there. 73...bruce Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone

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Re: [amsat-bb] ISS and NO-84 at the same time last night...
by Richard Tejera 23 Jun '16

23 Jun '16

I'm sorry I missed it yesterday, but I was a bit under the weather. I'll try to be out for tonight's passes. I'd like to get NO-84 in the log. 73 Rick Tejera K7TEJ Saguaro Astronomy Club www.SaguaroAstro.org Thunderbird Amateur Radio Club www.w7tbc.org On June 23, 2016, at 07:19, "Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)" <amsat-bb(a)wd9ewk.net> wrote: Hi! Last night around 0150 UTC (6.50pm PDT), we had a rare event - both the ISS and NO-84 were passing by at basically the same time, and in the same general direction. Both came out of the northwest, sweeping down the west coast and ending up in the south-southeast. NO-84 was higher than the ISS, and a few of us tried to make some double-hops through both. Fernando NP4JV and I started with a path RS0ISS,APRSAT to force our packets first through the ISS digipeater, and then through NO-84. I thought that it might work better having ISS retransmit the packets first, then go silent as NO-84 did its retransmissions. This did not work as well as I had hoped. Fernando did not see any of his packets make the double-hop. I saw one of my position packets make the double-hop near the end of the pass, but that wasn't picked up by any of the Internet gateways listening on 145.825 MHz. On my TH-D72A HT, I first saw "My Position via RS0ISS", followed a moment later by "My Position via ARISS". It is unfortunate that the TH-D72A won't store my own position in the list of stations heard, as many of the Yaesu APRS-ready radios do, as this means I don't have any evidence to show that packet making the double-hop. In any event, it was fun to give that a try. There may have been one or two other stations that had packets make the double-hop, along with what I saw for my position packet. Beyond the double-hop experiment, this was another opportunity to practice making QSOs using APRS messaging through the space-based digipeaters. I was able to make quick QSOs with NP4JV (Fernando is in southern Arizona, near the USA/Mexico border) and KG6BFD in California. I used only my TH-D72A HT and Elk log periodic antenna as my station, and Fernando wrote about his APRS station here on the AMSAT-BB last night. This is one way to get that 100-point ARRL Field Day bonus for making a satellite contact, something I did during last year's Field Day. I will be out this evening for the west-coast ISS and NO-84 passes around 0055-0125 UTC (5.55-6.25pm PDT). This time, the two will not pass over at the same time, so there will be a chance to make QSOs through each of them during their passes. If anyone out west is in the footprint on these passes and wants to try to make a QSO with me, please look for WD9EWK-9 - and be ready with APRS messages for the QSO. My TH-D72A won't show freeform text entered into a terminal program, but will display (and store) APRS messages addressed to my call. From a terminal program, you could send me APRS messages using this format: :WD9EWK-9 :Message follows the second colon A colon goes before my call sign, a space and a colon follows the call, and then the text of the short message. My replies to you would appear in this format, with the other station's call in place of WD9EWK-9. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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ISS and NO-84 at the same time last night...
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 23 Jun '16

23 Jun '16

Hi! Last night around 0150 UTC (6.50pm PDT), we had a rare event - both the ISS and NO-84 were passing by at basically the same time, and in the same general direction. Both came out of the northwest, sweeping down the west coast and ending up in the south-southeast. NO-84 was higher than the ISS, and a few of us tried to make some double-hops through both. Fernando NP4JV and I started with a path RS0ISS,APRSAT to force our packets first through the ISS digipeater, and then through NO-84. I thought that it might work better having ISS retransmit the packets first, then go silent as NO-84 did its retransmissions. This did not work as well as I had hoped. Fernando did not see any of his packets make the double-hop. I saw one of my position packets make the double-hop near the end of the pass, but that wasn't picked up by any of the Internet gateways listening on 145.825 MHz. On my TH-D72A HT, I first saw "My Position via RS0ISS", followed a moment later by "My Position via ARISS". It is unfortunate that the TH-D72A won't store my own position in the list of stations heard, as many of the Yaesu APRS-ready radios do, as this means I don't have any evidence to show that packet making the double-hop. In any event, it was fun to give that a try. There may have been one or two other stations that had packets make the double-hop, along with what I saw for my position packet. Beyond the double-hop experiment, this was another opportunity to practice making QSOs using APRS messaging through the space-based digipeaters. I was able to make quick QSOs with NP4JV (Fernando is in southern Arizona, near the USA/Mexico border) and KG6BFD in California. I used only my TH-D72A HT and Elk log periodic antenna as my station, and Fernando wrote about his APRS station here on the AMSAT-BB last night. This is one way to get that 100-point ARRL Field Day bonus for making a satellite contact, something I did during last year's Field Day. I will be out this evening for the west-coast ISS and NO-84 passes around 0055-0125 UTC (5.55-6.25pm PDT). This time, the two will not pass over at the same time, so there will be a chance to make QSOs through each of them during their passes. If anyone out west is in the footprint on these passes and wants to try to make a QSO with me, please look for WD9EWK-9 - and be ready with APRS messages for the QSO. My TH-D72A won't show freeform text entered into a terminal program, but will display (and store) APRS messages addressed to my call. From a terminal program, you could send me APRS messages using this format: :WD9EWK-9 :Message follows the second colon A colon goes before my call sign, a space and a colon follows the call, and then the text of the short message. My replies to you would appear in this format, with the other station's call in place of WD9EWK-9. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

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SWAYAM beacon, text and sound record
by Jean-Pierre Godet 23 Jun '16

23 Jun '16

Hi my friends, The SWAYAM 437.025 CW beacon was received here in western Europe this morning, begining after 0950 UTC, orbit number 20: five characters strings received, each string, lasting maybe ten seconds, including twelve Morse characters, the strings being spaced from each other by about one minute and a half: SWAYAMSNBNNN SWAYAMSNVNNN SWAYAMSNMNNN SWAYAMSNUNNN SWAYAMSNSNNN (only the ninth lettre changes, the one before the three last NNN) Here is a short sample of the record: http://f5yg.pagesperso-orange.fr/incoming/SWAYAM_orb20_23jun2016.mp3 I removed the large intervals between each CW beacon strings to shorten the file. I apologize for the lack of Dopper shift correction as the frequency and tle need now to be adjusted more precisely. :-) Best 73 ! Jean-Pierre F5YG

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A frugal approach to portable space APRS ops
by Fernando Ramirez 23 Jun '16

23 Jun '16

Good evening, For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been "experimenting” by using an Icom IC-2820h, an Elk Antenna, a Mobilinkd Bluetooth TNC and APRSDroid on my phone, to work the International Space Station digipeater (and PSat). I am happy to report that it works! I have made several contacts, some that have provided me with new grid squares. Besides the radio, the rest of the setup can be a budget friendly alternative to $500+ APRS-ready equipment. The Mobillinkd TNC, plus cables, can be obtained for less than $100 dollars. I prefer the Icom transceiver due to local RF sources that overwhelm the front end of cheap Chinese handheld radios. I am positive that better handheld devices will work just fine. The TNC is connected to the radio via the audio or data port and connects to the Android device via Bluetooth. The 2820h uses a DIN6 connector cable, compatible with other radios such as the Yaesu FT-817 and 857. APRSDroid acts as the main interface and has features that you will find on an APRS radio. Just enter the correct path and you will be able to work terrestrial and space APRS. The TNC can also be connected to your Bluetooth capable computer (dongles will work). I tried it with UISS and AGWPE and it worked perfectly. Today, I was able to work a simultaneous ISS and PSAT pass and heard packets from both spacecrafts. I saw messages from stations from Canada to Mexico and worked WD9EWK in Phoenix, 259 km north of my QTH. I also heard double-hop packets from K5UBQ in Texas and XE2OCM in Monterrey, Mexico. 73! Fernando, NP4JV Sent from Mail for Windows 10

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-06-23 07:00 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 23 Jun '16

23 Jun '16

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-06-23 07:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Ufa, Russia, direct via TBD The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be RSØISS The scheduled astronaut is Oleg Skripochka RN3FU Contact is a go for Thu 2016-06-30 07:55 UTC Justus-Knecht-Gymnasium, Bruchsal, Germany, direct via DN1JKG The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Jeff Williams KD5TVQ Contact is a go for: Fri 2016-07-01 08:31:23 UTC 74 deg **************************************************************************** ** 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. **************************************************************************** *** All ARISS contacts are made via the Ericsson 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 http://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? 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 **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: Gaston ON4WF with 121 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 119 Francesco IKØWGF with 116 **************************************************************************** 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. 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 2016-06-23 07:00 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. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1064. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1029. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 47. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. http://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: Arkansas, Delaware, South Dakota, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ QSL information may be found at: http://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS **************************************************************************** The successful school list has been updated as of 2016-06-14 04:30 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correction .rtf Listing of ARISS related magazine articles as of 2006-07-10 03:30 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ARISS_magazine_articles.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** Exp. 47 on orbit Jeff Williams KD5TVQ Oleg Skripochka RN3FU Aleksey Ovchinin **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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[Video] TOMSK Bandit ISS Repeater
by John Brier 23 Jun '16

23 Jun '16

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svnB7h_k7_M If you liked this video please subscribe to me: https://www.youtube.com/c/SpaceComms1?sub_confirmation=1 This was recorded on May 10th and 11th of 2016 in Raleigh, North Carolina. For more info on TOMSK TP-120 see this webpage: https://amsat-uk.org/2016/04/30/tomsk-tpu-120-cubesat/ For recordings and transcriptions of many (all?) of the TP-120 messages see this webpage: http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?p=71801 73, John Brier KG4AKV

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Swayam
by Jean-Pierre Godet 23 Jun '16

23 Jun '16

CW beacon received around 2055 UTC orbit nr 12. More on next pass tomorrow morning. 73 ! J-P F5YG

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Telefunken CF300 needed
by Jim White 22 Jun '16

22 Jun '16

I'd appreciate any leads to a source of Telefunken CF300 dual gate MosFETs used in the old Landwehr UHF preamps. We are trying to resurrect one here. Jim jim(a)coloradosatellite.com

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SWAYAM received in Brazil
by Roland Zurmely 22 Jun '16

22 Jun '16

Strong CW signal : <http://www.qsl.net/py4zbz/swayam.htm> 73 de Roland PY4ZBZ

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Swayam Satellite Launching on 22 June 2016 by ISRO
by Rupesh Lad 22 Jun '16

22 Jun '16

Dear All, Greetings from India! DE VU2LRD, Rupesh Lad from College of Engineering Pune. We are extremely glad to inform you that COEP's first satellite SWAYAM developed by the students of the COEP Satellite Team shall be launched by ISRO on 22 June, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR), Sriharikota at 9am. Swayam has a mass of 990 grams and dimensions of 10cm x 10cm x 11.35cm. It will be launched by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C34. After being launched into its orbit, Swayam shall stabilize itself passively i.e. without consumption of electric power. This concept of stabilization is the first of its kind in India. It also provides a messaging service for the Ground Stations in the HAM band. A functional Ground station is also developed by team to communicate with Swayam and have sucvessfully received data from 40+ satellites. Swayam will downlink analog CW Morse beacon at frequency of 437.025 MHz with a gap of 90 secs between successive beacons. I request you all to receive the beacon data and report your reception details on our website - www.coep.org.in/csat Swayam TLEs will be uploaded post launch on our website mentioned above. Cheers! Thanks 73, VU2LRD / VU2COE Rupesh Lad, COEP CSAT Team

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Post-hamfest road trip on 11-12 June - report (long)
by Patrick STODDARD 21 Jun '16

21 Jun '16

Hi again! After the Prescott Hamfest on 11 June, I planned on making a loop through northern Arizona before returning home the following evening (12 June). I ended up making stops in 3 grids (this included a grid boundary), three national monuments, and making an official ARRL National Parks on the Air (NPOTA) activation in the process. And, of course, having fun while doing all of this... When I packed up my stuff at the Prescott Hamfest on Saturday (11 June) afternoon, and after making a quick stop for dinner as I left Prescott, I drove north on AZ-89 toward the I-40 freeway. On the way up to I-40 is the DM34/DM35 grid boundary, and a spot I have operated from in the past. There is a county road that runs parallel to AZ-89 in that area, near a cement plant, and this was the spot I looked to operate from. I parked on the grid boundary, used my GPS receiver to confirm my location, and took pictures of my setup. I had an XW-2F pass coming by about 45 minutes after I arrived, and worked that pass with my FT-817ND/SDRplay combination. Only one station was heard, K0NW in California, but one contact was a nice start to my efforts at this location. The pass I had targeted as the best for handing out contacts with these two grids was an SO-50 pass around 7pm (0200 UTC). I was worried about how I would be working this pass, after a quick and heavy rain storm passed through the area after the XW-2F pass. The rain quickly went away, and I didn't have to put my radios in the car or under some sort of cover to shield them from the rain. Short of seeing lightning in the area, I wanted to work this pass, and I did. Twelve QSOs went in the log on this pass, with stations from coast to coast and also in Canada. I had over an hour until the next pass I worked at DM34/DM35, a western SO-50 pass. Between passes, I updated my logbook with the QSOs from the 0200 UTC SO-50 pass, and even uploaded them to Logbook of the World. I had good coverage on the mobile phone network, so I took advantage of that and also tried to quickly get at least a few of these QSOs turned into QSLs in LOTW. By the time the 0340 UTC SO-50 pass came, there was virtually no light left in the western sky. Out with a flashlight, and back on the radio for the west-coast pass. I worked 8 more stations, in Canada and mostly on the west coast. I did work W5CBF in Louisiana, the furthest east I worked on this mostly western pass. During this SO-50 pass, it was mentioned that AO-73 was coming by in a few minutes (at 9pm, 0400 UTC). I had not planned to work that pass, but knew I could set up quickly for it. Using my FT-817ND/SDRplay combination again, I worked two stations on AO-73 to wrap up my stay at the DM34/DM35 grid line. I knew there was an ISS pass coming by around 10pm (0500 UTC), and I had mentioned this on Twitter earlier in the day. I had one taker for a QSO attempt on that pass, and hoped to make it from the DM34/DM35 line over to grid DM45 near Flagstaff in time for this pass. I made the 50-mile drive in about 40 minutes to the first I-40 freeway exit inside DM45, only leaving me a couple of minutes to set up for the ISS pass. As I have been doing lately, I use only my TH-D72A HT and Elk antenna to work these passes using APRS messages. I logged two QSOs, with KK6QMS in California and NP4JV in southern Arizona, to wrap up my operating for Saturday evening. I then drove the last 20 miles to Flagstaff, checked into a motel, and called it a night. Sunday (12 June) morning came, and my plans for this day were simple - work some passes from a couple of the national monuments around Flagstaff, then head home. All of these monuments were in grid DM45, and I hoped I might be able to make one or two official NPOTA activations up in this area. I had planned to start my day at the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument north of Flagstaff. I went there, and found that this was a tough spot for satellite operating. The volcano rises above the forest surrounding it, and the only clearing that I could use to work satellites had no parking area. I'd have to hike about a mile to work from that clearing. I decided to move down the road to the Wupatki National Monument next door, and try from there. Wupatki National Monument is away from the trees, on the edge of a large plateau covering much of this part of Arizona. Other than some hills to the west, this was a great location to operate. The only drawback was that I had no access to APRS or the mobile phone network in most of this national monument, without driving back toward Flagstaff or the US-89 highway along the western edge of this national monument, almost 20 miles west of where I operated from. The lack of APRS or mobile phone coverage was not going to stop me. The first of the 5 passes I worked was a very low western SO-50 pass just before 7am (1400 UTC). I hoped someone would be on, to get my day started with something for the log at Wupatki. Christy KB6LTY was up early like me, and was my only contact on this pass. One QSO is better than none, and I felt like this was going to be a good morning. I had over an hour and a half until a pair of eastern passes, on AO-73 and AO-85. I worked only WN9Q on the AO-73 pass just before 9am (1600 UTC), followed by 7 other stations on the AO-85 pass a few minutes later. These QSOs brought me to 9 different stations worked from this national monument, and the next new call sign in my log would make this an official NPOTA activation. Between these two passes and the next pair of AO-73/AO-85 passes, I went to the visitor center for the Wupatki monument to get my passport stamps for this national monument. I did some sightseeing before returning to where I worked the early passes, to try the AO-73 and AO-85 passes between 10am and 11am (1700-1800 UTC). The western AO-73 pass was quiet, with no QSOs made. The AO-85 pass passed almost directly over my head, and this was better. Seven QSOs, five of which were new calls for my log at Wupatki, were made. This completed my NPOTA activation, and I drove back to Flagstaff and the third of the three national monuments around this area, Walnut Canyon National Monument. Walnut Canyon National Monument is only a few miles east of Flagstaff along I-40 and old US-66, still in grid DM45 like the other two national monuments. The national monument is in a forest, and a national forest surrounds the monument. For the afternoon, I did not have any other FM satellite passes available. I had passes on FO-29, AO-7, and the ISS. After visiting the visitor center to get more passport stamps to show I visited Walnut Canyon, I parked along the roadway between the visitor center and I-40, which was within the national monument's boundaries, for the 5 passes I attempted. FO-29 was first, around 12.30pm (1930 UTC). There was a lot of activity on there, and I was able to work 5 different stations. This was a good start to the afternoon. The ISS pass that followed about 20 minutes after the FO-29 pass wasn't so good. I heard the station's packet digipeater well, but made no QSOs. Around the 2-3pm hour (2100-2200 UTC), I had FO-29 and AO-7 passes. The FO-29 pass was quieter, and I worked KO6TZ and KI6WJ to add to my log. The AO-7 pass after that was completely quiet. No QSOs logged. Seeing that I was now at 7 QSOs for my stop at Walnut Canyon, and hoping to get to the magic number of 10 different stations worked for an official NPOTA activation, I stuck around for one last AO-7 pass near 4.30pm (2330 UTC). This was a complete bust. Although I heard a couple of stations on, AO-7 appeared to make a switch from mode B to mode A. Since the monument was closing at 5pm (0000 UTC), and I still had a drive of over 2 hours to get back home, I wrapped up my radio activities for the day and weekend. Although I was disappointed in not making my stop at Walnut Canyon an NPOTA activation, I was able to put that monument into a few logs. Between the Prescott Hamfest and the post-hamfest road trip, I covered over 500 miles in about a day and a half. This was fun, and I hope to be able to make a return trip to Walnut Canyon to add that to my list of activations for the NPOTA activity in 2016. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

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Prescott Hamfest on 11 June - report
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 21 Jun '16

21 Jun '16

Hi! I'm a little tardy in posting this report, but better late than never... Back on 11 June, I had an AMSAT booth at the Prescott Hamfest, on the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University campus in Prescott. There have been hamfests in and around Prescott over the years, but this was the first time attending a hamfest at Embry-Riddle. In fact, I had never been on the campus until this morning. The university's Eagle Amateur Radio Club was the co-sponsor of the event, along with the Yavapai Amateur Radio Club. The hamfest actually started the day before at noon, but I was not able to make it up there for that day. The Saturday portion of the hamfest was scheduled to run from 8am (1500 UTC) until 5pm (0000 UTC). Most had packed up and left before 5pm, but it was still a good day. The university's Student Union building was the site of the AMSAT booth. Nice, air-conditioned, and with electricity to power one of my tablets. I alternated between running SatPC32, HDSDR with my SDRplay receiver for general listening, and ADS-B software with the SDRplay to watch the planes flying around northern Arizona. SDR has been a popular topic whenever I have one of my receivers on display, or when I use an SDR receiver during a demonstration. This was no exception. It was too bright, and a little too warm, to run the SDR receiver and tablet outside for my demonstrations. Having that set up at my booth was more than sufficient to start conversations about that and extending into satellite operating. Having copies of the new 2016 edition of the AMSAT "Getting Started with Amateur Satellites" book on hand was big. In the past, I'd still have copies of the previous edition of this book for hamfests I visited in June. Thanks to Steve Belter N9IP, I received a couple of boxes with these new books, and they were popular at the hamfest. During the day, I had demonstrations on 5 different passes. In the morning, I worked an AO-85 and an FO-29 pass from outside the building. The AO-85 pass was a nice cross-country pass, with stations heard from coast to coast. I used my Icom IC-2730A mobile radio and Elk log periodic to make a few contacts. Some Embry-Riddle students were watching me work this pass, which was a nice bonus. In the late morning and mid-afternoon, a couple of FO-29 passes came by. I used one of my FT-817s with the Elk, working half-duplex, to show that it really doesn't take a lot to get on this SSB satellite. I made a few contacts on each of those passes. And there were a pair of ISS passes that led to a couple of contacts, including one with XE3ISS in Cancun at a distance of just over 2900km - a personal best for an ISS QSO, packet or voice. I used only my Kenwood TH-D72A HT and Elk log periodic to make the ISS packet QSOs via APRS messages. No computer or tablet was needed, and I have relearned the fine art of quickly tapping messages out on a DTMF keypad, as was done in the past with the non-smart mobile phones. :-) At the end of the hamfest, the organizers said they felt it was a success, and are hoping the 2017 Prescott Hamfest could be held at Embry-Riddle. AMSAT thanks both the Eagle Amateur Radio Club at Embry-Riddle and the Yavapai Amateur Radio Club for providing a booth and helping promote the satellite demonstrations throughout the day. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

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NO-84 PSK31 on Field Day
by Paul Stoetzer 21 Jun '16

21 Jun '16

Is anyone planning to work the NO-84 PSK31 transponder during Field Day? Even if you don't have two way capability from your Field Day satellite station, it would be fun to team up with your digital op and have them uplink while you receive and then shout back and forth the details for the QSOs. If you aren't in shouting distance, you could always coordinate via HTs. Remember that for AMSAT Field Day, digital contacts are worth three points each, but you're only allowed one QSO on each active digipeater. You can make as many QSOs as you want on the NO-84 PSK31 transponder. 73, Paul, N8HM

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