- AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

Email alias not working
by w4upd 21 May '16

21 May '16

Anyone else aware that the email alias on the Amsat is not working? You can do a look up, but cannot enter a call in the Alias email form. The following error is received: Software error: syntax error at /srv/www/www.amsat.org/cgi-bin/aliastool line 1375, near ") {" syntax error at /srv/www/www.amsat.org/cgi-bin/aliastool line 1396, near "}" syntax error at /srv/www/www.amsat.org/cgi-bin/aliastool line 1432, near "}" Execution of /srv/www/www.amsat.org/cgi-bin/aliastool aborted due to compilation errors. For help, please send mail to the webmaster (root@localhost <mailto:root@localhost>), giving this error message and the time and date of the error. Reid, W4UPD

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Re: [amsat-bb] FT 736R
by Mark Spencer 21 May '16

21 May '16

Hi, I seem to recall running my FT 736 with sat32 pc running on a Windows 98 laptop (it has been some time since I have worked any satellites.) I used a generic USB to RS232 converter unit and a home brew RS232 to yaesu computer control interface that came with my radio. Sorry I don't have a schematic for it. There are some schematics floating around for the RS 232 to yaesu computer control interface. This link seems helpful but I can't vouch for it's accuracy as I haven't tried building the circuit. http://www.mindspring.com/~n2wwd/html/body_doppler_compensation.html If I was building an interface today I'd probably skip the RS 232 step and try using a USB to 5 volt TTL serial converter (I'd want to double check the voltage levels on the radio interface first but the prior URL implies to me that the voltage levels are 5 volt TTL which seems reasonable to me given the age of the radio.) Most of the USB to serial interfaces I've seen are 3.3 volt but I seem to recall seeing 5 volt ones advertised. Hope this helps Mark S VE7AFZ Sent from my iPhone

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Nothing heard in GN05 this morning
by Ken Alexander 21 May '16

21 May '16

Nothing heard in GN05 on the SO-50 pass at 1259 UTC. I will be leaving momentarily for GN06 and hope to work someone on the SO-50 pass at 1440 UTC! 73, Ken Alexander VE3HLS

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N8HM Paul on SO50 at Dayton 2016.
by PY5LF 21 May '16

21 May '16

https://youtu.be/wVPb1a9NqxQ PY5LF <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…> Livre de vírus. www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…>. <#DDB4FAA8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>

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Re: [amsat-bb] Eshail2 inverting yes or no?
by Remco den Besten 21 May '16

21 May '16

Peter wrote: >It will be non-inverting... >73s Peter DB2OS Pfff . . . thanks for this information Peter! 73 Remco PA3FYM

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MinXSS and CADRE identified
by Nico Janssen 21 May '16

21 May '16

All, The separation between MinXSS and CADRE has now increased enough to enable their identification. Detailed doppler measurements show that MinXSS is object 41474, 1998-067HU, so CADRE is object 41475, 1998-067HV. 73, Nico PA0DLO

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Eshail2 inverting yes or no?
by Remco 21 May '16

21 May '16

While actually building equipment for Eshail2 (soldering iron was smoking ;-) I had a local QSO about Eshail2. Suddenly someone asked if I knew if the transponder (up-/downlink) setup was inverted or non-inverted. I remember having been told that the setup will be non-inverted, but can't find information/verification on this subject. Personally I think it would be ideal if the transponder setup is non-inverting, so (let's say) 2.4G USB up --> 10.5G USB down. Anyone who can clarify this?

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Upcoming ARISS contact with Essex Heights Primary School, Mount Waverley, Victoria, Australia
by n4csitwo＠bellsouth.net 21 May '16

21 May '16

An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Essex Heights Primary School, Mount Waverley, Victoria, Australia on 20 May. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 08:35 UTC. It is recommended that you start listening approximately 10 minutes before this time.The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a telebridge between NA1SS and VK5ZAI. The contact should be audible over Australia and adjacent areas. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English. Essex Heights Primary School is situated in Mount Waverley, an eastern suburb of Melbourne. It provides a primary education of the highest quality for children and is recognised as a school of excellence. Children develop positive attitudes and acquire skills that equip them for their future. At Essex Heights, all children are valued and differences are accepted within a supportive school environment. The curriculum caters for the needs of all children and encourages each child to reach his/her potential in a stimulating and challenging classroom environment. The various needs of children with disabilities and highly able children are appropriately met. At Essex Heights Primary School, the curriculum is designed around the Victorian Essential learning Standards aimed at ensuring all students have the capacity to:- . Manage themselves as individuals in relation to others . Understand the world in which they live . Act effectively in that world Whilst literacy and numeracy remain a key focus, students are prepared for their future by being actively involved in learning programs covering a wide range of domains: Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. What different jobs do you do as work (on the space station)? 2. Do you prefer gravity or zero gravity and why? 3. How long does it take to get used to gravity again once back on Earth? 4. Why don't you run out of oxygen on the international space station? 5. Why is it important to conduct experiments in space? 6. What does a sunrise or sunset look like when you look through the windows of the space station? 7. What is the most AMAZING thing you have seen through your window? 8. Why does food taste different on the space station and do you have regular mealtimes together? 9. Why are you on your current mission and what do you hope to learn? 10. What was the thing you looked forward to the most when you were preparing to go into space? 11. What do you do on a typical day? 12. Does your body react differently living in space? 13. Have you seen space junk, and how bad is the problem? 14. How many spacewalks have you and the crew done and was it scary? 15. Why can the International Space Station stay in orbit around Earth, without falling? 16. What happens if you fall seriously ill on the ISS? 17. What do you like to read and is your book a real paper one? 18. How much spare time do you have and what do you do for fun? 19. How long and what sort of training did you do to become an astronaut? 20. What is the most interesting or surprising thing about being an astronaut. 21. Why did you want to become an astronaut? 22. What is your favourite food to eat on the International Space Station and what food are you missing the most? PLEASE CHECK THE FOLLOWING FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ARISS UPDATES: Visit ARISS on Facebook. We can be found at Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS). To receive our Twitter updates, follow @ARISS_status Next planned event(s): 1. Cradle of Aviation Museum and Education Center, Garden City, New York, telebridge via W6SRJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Jeff Williams KD5TVQ Contact is a go for: Mon 2016-05-23 12:57:05 UTC ABOUT ARISS Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or informal education venues. With the help of experienced amateur radio volunteers, ISS crews speak directly with large audiences in a variety of public forums. Before and during these radio contacts, students, teachers, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org, www.amsat.org, and www.arrl.org. Thank you & 73, David - AA4KN --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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Re: [amsat-bb] FT-736R vs. TS-2000X
by Christopher Maness 21 May '16

21 May '16

> On May 18, 2016, at 10:35 AM, Edward R Cole <kl7uw(a)acsalaska.net> wrote: > > Chris, > > Any progress in your decision making? If not then I am disposed to purchase the FT736R presently listed on e-bay before someone else grabs it. > > 73, Ed - KL7UW > I took the radio in to repair the 23cm module, and for a general tune/aline. I am going to get it on the air when it is done, and make a decision after I have played with it a little. Regards, Chris Maness KQ6UP

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Banquet Attire?
by Goody K3NG 21 May '16

21 May '16

What is the recommend attire for the banquet in Dayton this evening? Casual? Business casual? 73 Goody K3NG

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FT-736R
by Edward R Cole 20 May '16

20 May '16

After some deliberation I decided to purchase a venerable old FT-736R; just the basic 144/432 radio plus CTCSS board. surprising even the AC PS is working. I had initially thought about buying a good dual-band FM mobile but costs would have been $350. I'm getting the FT-736R for $550. Of course this provides multi-mode capability and satellite operation. My question is what I will need to run the radio from SatPC32 on a computer with only USB ports *XP32 OS? Does the radio need a special I/F for computer control? I'm hoping to have my antennas back in service this summer (YaseuB5400 with 2M7 yagi and 436CP26). I have an old Unitrac-2000 which I will try to make work for both auto-tune and auto-track. Probably be like a newby when I get back on - its been a long time off the sats (2002). 73, Ed - KL7UW http://www.kl7uw.com "Kits made by KL7UW" Dubus Mag business: dubususa(a)gmail.com

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TS 2000 mod for wide band
by Jim White 20 May '16

20 May '16

Does anyone have a pointer to a mod for the TS-2000 to make it transmit with greater deviation - up to about 8 KHz?

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Tickets
by onmontauk＠gmail.com 20 May '16

20 May '16

I have two extra spots for tonight's banquet dinner. Steve W2AKK Sent from my iPhone

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Cadre,nodes,minxss heard here
by jeffory broughton 20 May '16

20 May '16

At 1235 utc heard: Cadre 437.485 Bodes 437.100 Minxss 437.345 jeff broughton

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This morning at 1100 utc
by jeffory broughton 20 May '16

20 May '16

Again strong signals on 437.100 and 437.485 mhz during a 35 degree pass here NR lansing MI . WB8RJY.JEFF jeff broughton

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GN05/065 schedule
by Ken Alexander 20 May '16

20 May '16

Hi Everyone, We leave for Nova Scotia tomorrow morning. I've put together the following schedule of when I will be available. You will note that I am working through SO-50 only. I may try to get on some AO-85 passes but keep in mind I've had the radio for less than a week and am still learning how to use it. Anyway, this is what I have planned. I don't know how to which passes I will be on so I will simply tell you when my local AOS time is. I hope that's clear enough. If there's a better way to describe them I'd be happy if you let me know. All times are UTC. WinAos QTH: -60.0/46.0 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Day Objects AOS (U) LOS Period maxEl AZ *Grid* ------------------------------------------------------------------ Saturday 21.05.2016 SO-50 06:10 06:23 13 81 217 - 037 *GN05* 21.05.2016 SO-50 12:59 13:11 12 30 329 - 115 *GN05* 21.05.2016 SO-50 14:40 14:52 12 43 316 - 162 *GN06* Sunday 22.05.2016 SO-50 04:56 05:08 12 33 186 - 044 *GN05* 22.05.2016 SO-50 06:36 06:49 13 41 238 - 035 *GN05* 22.05.2016 SO-50 11:44 11:55 11 15 331 - 090 *GN0**5* 22.05.2016 SO-50 13:24 13:37 13 56 325 - 134 *GN06* 22.05.2016 SO-50 15:05 15:16 11 19 310 - 185 *GN06* Monday 23.05.2016 SO-50 05:21 05:34 13 70 208 - 039 *GN05* 23.05.2016 SO-50 07:02 07:14 12 23 258 - 033 *GN05* 23.05.2016 SO-50 12:10 12:21 11 24 332 - 106 *GN06* 23.05.2016 SO-50 13:50 14:03 13 63 320 - 154 *GN06* I'll do my best to stick to this schedule. Please note that some of these times are the middle of the night or very early in the morning for me and I am neither a night owl nor a "morning person". No flames please if you don't hear me:-) I will be very close to FN95 and FN96 and may use one or more of the above passes to activate them. We do have to drive in to Sydney to get our groceries anyway! Finally, I'm running 5 watts into an Arrow 146/437 handheld yagi. I don't know how strong I'll be. Keep your ears open! 73, Ken Alexander VE3HLS

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(no subject)
by jeffory broughton 20 May '16

20 May '16

Strong data bursts every few seconds On 437.485.next pass at 0600 here in central mich.will record the next pass if I hear it again.i tr was very visable on the spectral display and heard audibly. jeff broughton

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FINALLY -- STMsat-1 lack of signals explained
by Bob 19 May '16

19 May '16

The Twitter Account (@STMSAT11) just announced the following: "I am set to turn on when I am stable, have power, and my antennae is deployed. Thanks for being patient with me!" That explains why nothing has been heard so far. Glad that very important piece of information is out there now. Hopefully they will announce when things have been turned on. 73, Bob, WB4SON

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STMSat-1
by Rick Lindquist, WW1ME 19 May '16

19 May '16

Just updated this morning with info from someone at the school. http://www.arrl.org/news/student-built-stmsat-1-not-yet-ready-to-start-trans mitting-sstv-images (I believe the earlier Twitter reference to 437.000 was either speaking in general or just an error. There is only one IARU-coordinated frequency for STMSat-1: 437.800.) Rick Rick Lindquist, WW1ME ARRL -- the national association for Amateur Radio ARRL News & Contributing Editor NCJ Managing Editor

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Stmsat-1 heard ?
by jeffory broughton 19 May '16

19 May '16

at 1150utc,nodes at 437.1 was heard strong ,also Cadre at 437.485,very strong. At my max ele at 60 degrees,a very,very weak signal with doppler was heard on 437.000.I get another real good shot tomorrow am at 2 am est at 72 degrees.it vas very visable on hdsdr, but only at a very high,in the clear pass since it was very,very,weak.jeff wb8rjy jeff broughton

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STMSat-1
by Rick Lindquist, WW1ME 19 May '16

19 May '16

Just updated this morning with info from someone at the school. http://www.arrl.org/news/student-built-stmsat-1-not-yet-ready-to-start-trans mitting-sstv-images (I believe the earlier Twitter reference to 437.000 was either speaking in general or just an error. There is only one IARU-coordinated frequency for STMSat-1: 437.800.) Rick Rick Lindquist, WW1ME ARRL -- the national association for Amateur Radio ARRL News & Contributing Editor NCJ Managing Editor

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First linear sat
by Philip Jenkins 19 May '16

19 May '16

I know the first/easiest path to sat communications is on the FM birds (which I agree with), but when someone is ready to "graduate" to the linear sats, which would be the best/easiest one to start with? Philip N4HF

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Re: [amsat-bb] STMSat-1 on 437.00
by Ronny Risinger 19 May '16

19 May '16

5-19-2016 Tried this morning to listen for STMSat-1 on 437.00, but no signal received. Since we are a high school in Austin, TX, we were really cheering on the STM school community. And, as we know, the SSTV images are very popular. Hopeful that "something" will happen to get things to function properly, but STM group should be proud of all their hard work. Sincerely, Ronny Risinger Government/Law Instructor Trustee, K5LBJ, the LASA High School Amateur Radio Club National Board Certified Teacher Liberal Arts & Science Academy High School Austin, Texas Website: http://www.austinisd.org/staff/255 Classroom Phone: (512) 841-3090 Confidentiality Notice: This email message, including all attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential student information. Unauthorized use or disclosure is prohibited under the federal Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. §1232g, 34 CFR Part 99). If you are not the intended recipient, you may not use, disclose, copy or disseminate this information. Please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message, including attachments. ________________________________________ Confidentiality Notice: This email message, including all attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential student and/or employee information. Unauthorized use of disclosure is prohibited under the federal Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. §1232g, 34 CFR Part 99, 19 TAC 247.2, Gov’t Code 552.023, Educ. Code 21.355, 29 CFR 1630.14(b)(c)). If you are not the intended recipient, you may not use, disclose, copy or disseminate this information. Please call the sender immediately or reply by email and destroy all copies of the original message, including attachments.

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A first contact on AO-85, last night...
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 19 May '16

19 May '16

Hi! Going back to the hamfest I attended in Sierra Vista AZ on 7 May, I saw Fernando NP4JV and his daughter, Yalitza - call her "Yali". They were at the hamfest to see what was there, and so Yali could take her Technician license exam. She passed the exam, and then the waiting began. Fernando, proud father that he is, wanted to see Yali get on the radio as soon as possible, once her call sign was issued by the FCC. Fernando and I began checking the FCC database, waiting to see her call sign appear. Fast forward to Tuesday (17 May)... I had checked the FCC database in the morning, and still hadn't seen Yali's name appear with a call sign. I received a message from Fernando in the late morning... "Good morning Pat. At what time you get home today? Can you work AO85 at 6pm today? Somebody wants to talk to you." I figured that "somebody" wasn't Fernando, but a signal that Yali had her call sign. I checked the FCC database, and there it was - KI7EJR, issued on 17 May. The time in the message, 6pm (0100 UTC), was an AO-85 pass that went very high over Arizona, passing almost directly over my head in the Phoenix area and Nogales where Fernando and Yali are. We had made a plan, that I would call Yali a few minutes into the pass. When the AO-85 pass finally arrived at 6pm, Fernando, Yali, and I were ready. I heard some activity early in the pass, working Ted K7TRK in Oregon before the satellite was very high in the sky. Instead of making a call for KI7EJR as planned, Yali called me. I answered her, and we made a quick QSO. It may not have gone as we planned, but it worked. Yali had her first QSO via AO-85. During that pass, Fernando had someone take a picture of Yali on the radio. Fernando was at the edge of the photo, taking care of the antenna as she made her contact. Fernando sent the photo out using his @NP4JV Twitter feed last night, and this has been a very popular tweet in the past 24 hours. If you missed the photo, or don't use Twitter, you can see it at: http://twitter.com/NP4JV/media It's one thing to remember your own first radio contact, first satellite contact, contact with an ISS crewmember, etc. It's just as fun to be part of a first for someone else. Thank you, Fernando and Yali, for letting me be a part of Yali's first contact on the radio. It's also easy to document this "first", with photos and audio recordings of the contact. A QSL card will go in the mail for Yali, and hopefully she starts using Logbook of the World like her father... :-) 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

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Upcoming ARISS contact with Cradle of Aviation Museum and Education Center, Garden City, New York
by n4csitwo＠bellsouth.net 19 May '16

19 May '16

An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Cradle of Aviation Museum and Education Center, Garden City, New York on 23 May. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 12:57 UTC. It is recommended that you start listening approximately 10 minutes before this time.The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a telebridge between NA1SS and W6SRJ. The contact should be audible over the state of California and adjacent areas. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English. The Cradle of Aviation Museum and Education Center, located in Garden City, New York, opened in 2002. The mission of the museum is to inspire students with the spirit of discovery through the exploration of air and space technologies, and to encourage them to consider careers in science, technology, engineering and math. The museum is home to the Westbury Magnet Academy at the Cradle of Aviation, the first magnet school to open on Long Island. The Museum and Academy offer two summer STEM enrichment programs for students entering the seventh and ninth grades. The ARISS event will be an invaluable tool to supplement classroom instruction and research. Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. What do you do for entertainment when not working? 2. What do you plan to do with the knowledge gained from your experiments? 3. Do you have to go through any tests to be qualified for this job? 4. What do you do as a group when anyone becomes mentally or physically ill? 5. What is your daily schedule like when you are in space? 6. What type of medical testing qualifies an astronaut to be physically and mentally fit for space? 7. Does the lack of communication or human contact affect you? 8. Is exploring space what you imagined it would be when you were a child? 9. If there is any kind of failure who do you first contact? 10. What is the best college to prepare you for a career in space exploration? 11. Do you ever think about possible dangers you may face by being in space? 12. What colleges and majors do you recommend for students who want to do what you do? 13. How do you handle a fellow astronaut who is in a bad mood? 14. How do your family and friends cope with missing you? 15. Does the lack of gravity have any effect on your body? 16. How do you cope with missing your family and friends? 17. How big is the chip on the ISS window? 18. Do you have any feelings of claustrophobia? 19. Do you bring plants with you for extra oxygen? 20. What is the worst part of being in space? PLEASE CHECK THE FOLLOWING FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ARISS UPDATES: Visit ARISS on Facebook. We can be found at Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS). To receive our Twitter updates, follow @ARISS_status Next planned event(s): TBD ABOUT ARISS Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or informal education venues. With the help of experienced amateur radio volunteers, ISS crews speak directly with large audiences in a variety of public forums. Before and during these radio contacts, students, teachers, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. Thank you & 73, David - AA4KN --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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Firefox Error when connecting to Funcube Warehouse
by Rick Walter 18 May '16

18 May '16

Anyone else getting this error with Firefox 46.0.1 running on a Windows 7 Premium version computer? Your connection is not secure The owner of warehouse.funcube.org.uk has configured their website improperly. To protect your information from being stolen, Firefox has not connected to this website. Rick WB3CSY -- Sent from Rick's gmail account

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Office Closed
by Martha 18 May '16

18 May '16

The AMSAT Office will be closed Thursday, May 19th and Friday, May 20th If you are attending the Dayton Hamvention, please stop by our booth -- 73- Martha

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Arrow antenna
by Philip Jenkins 18 May '16

18 May '16

My 15 year old (or more) Arrow antenna has seen better days. Elements are faded, some are a bit bent, last director element on 440 is missing, coax and connector have been exposed to water briefly at various times, etc. I have the version with the built-in duplexer. I've always used it handheld (but now that I know that there's a mounting bracket for it, that could change) and until I got an email from Patrick WD9EWK a few minutes ago about another topic, I didn't know that the Arrow was being used for linear sats :-) So I'm looking to replace it, probably with the same model. I have considered the Alaska model, but I remember reading comments about how heavy it gets with handheld use. And I'm in EM85 (western NC) so that model is most likely excessive to my needs. And I could use it for linear birds, although the M^2 2M-440XP I already have is probably better for that. I've never used an Elk, though, so I'm considering that as well. One question I've had is how different this antenna might be since both sets of elements are in the same plane, as opposed to the Arrow with 90 deg offset. Is there really much ascertainable difference in operating between the Arrow and the Elk? Okay, I think I've tied up the BB enough for one day :-) Philip N4HF

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HyGain DB218SAT baluns/CP switches
by Philip Jenkins 18 May '16

18 May '16

I've had this antenna system for about 8 years, and have used it very little, so I took it down a few days ago. http://www.hy-gain.com/Product.php?productid=DB-218SAT I had never run power to the CP switches, but I noticed the insulation on the power leads on BOTH balun assemblies have almost completely disintegrated. The outputs - one for RHCP, one for LHCP - where the cylindrical baluns themselves connect to the driven elements have lost their protective coating. My question is - are there compatible baluns and/or CP switches from other manufacturers which are compatible with these antennas? (HyGain sells them, of course) The CP capability doesn't matter as much to me since there aren't any HEOs like AO 13 or AO 40 in the pipeline (but please tell me I'm wrong if I am :-) ) (An aside - I'm thinking about selling these antennas as is, since they are - and were - overkill for my needs (since, again, there are no V/U or U/V HEOs which are feasible at this time) and using the proceeds to purchase the M^2 LEO pack) Philip N4HF

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Re: [amsat-bb] LUSEX launch May-30-2016
by Amsat Argentina 18 May '16

18 May '16

Thanks for wishes Rick !! Hope everything goes as expected. 73, Amsat Argentina -------------------------------------------- On Tue, 5/17/16, Rick Tejera <saguaroastro(a)cox.net> wrote: Subject: RE: [amsat-bb] LUSEX launch May-30-2016 To: "Amsat Argentina" <lu7aa(a)yahoo.com>, amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Date: Tuesday, May 17, 2016, 10:57 PM Best of luck for the launch & success of your mission. Rick Tejera K7TEJSaguaroAstro(a)cox.net623-203-4121

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FT-736R 1.2GHz Issue?
by Christopher Maness 18 May '16

18 May '16

I have a fully equipped FT-736R. The other module works in the radio. There is white noise (sounds like it is working) on 1.2GHz, but it does not receive or transmit on this band. Is there a common known issue with this module failing in such a way? Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks, Chris KQ6UP

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1.2 ghz module
by jeffory broughton 18 May '16

18 May '16

Start by removing the module, visually inspect every pin on every connector.clean every connector,reinstall the module and see what happens. Ideally it would be great to have a Second 736 to swap it out to see if it's the radio or the module. jeff broughton

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Re: [amsat-bb] LUSEX launch May-30-2016
by Rick Tejera 18 May '16

18 May '16

Best of luck for the launch & success of your mission. Rick Tejera K7TEJSaguaroAstro(a)cox.net623-203-4121 -------- Original message -------- From: Amsat Argentina via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Date: 17/05/2016 11:37 (GMT-07:00) To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] LUSEX launch May-30-2016 Dear Friends, Launch of LUSEX, second AMSAT ARGENTINA amateur satellite next May 30, will mark an extraordinary event for our Institution and fostering of hope for satellite community. Details of LUSEX (LU Satellite EXperiment) are available on http://lusex.org.ar . As we quoted when the announcement of the launching of this experiment, Amsat Argentina has been working for several years to keep alive the dream of many Argentine amateurs to get back into Space with their own satellite as a follow-on of the legendary 1990's LUSAT-1, reaping the benefits of Technological advancement of our days. We believe technical activities and developments of experiments in near space share the same goals: preserving the human group, enhancing their capabilities as well as disseminate and guiding the education and development of the activity, meanwhile contributing to Space available resources. Our agreement with Satellogic Enterprises, which already launched three low orbit satellites: Captain Beto, Manolito y Tita, two of which transmit telemetry and data currently in UHF identifying themselves with callsign LU7AA, allowed us to ride a linear analog amateur radio transponder and corresponding antenna aboard one of their next satellite, ÑUSAT-1 AMSAT-LU provides simultaneously, support for this mission and the ÑUSAT-2 mission, by operating one of the control stations at Tortuguitas, Prov. of Bs.As. The experiment Amsat-LU developed, evolved from original design of our colleague and partner William, PE1RAH, while electronic adaptation, mechanical and software was made by LUSEX group, mounted on a 10 x 10 centimeters radiating plate, in which components of the power supply as well as a duplexer and dual band antenna were also incorporated. This set was installed on the Ñusat-1 bus, which supplies power and becomes part of several other experiments this satellite will make. The transponder receives UHF which is broadcasted in VHF, has a bandwidth of 30 KHz. with an output power of 250 mW. 435,935 ~ 435,965 are LSB/CW uplink passband 145,965 ~ 145,935 are USB/CW downlink passband 145,900 Basic CW Telemetry The launch will be from a Chinese launcher in a polar orbit at 500 km. height, with inclination of 97 degrees from Equator. 73 AMSAT ARGENTINA http://www.amsat.org.ar https://www.facebook.com/Amsat.LU http://lusex.org.ar http://amsat.org.ar/pass.htm info [at] amsat.org.ar _______________________________________________ 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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LUSEX launch May-30-2016
by Amsat Argentina 17 May '16

17 May '16

Dear Friends, Launch of LUSEX, second AMSAT ARGENTINA amateur satellite next May 30, will mark an extraordinary event for our Institution and fostering of hope for satellite community. Details of LUSEX (LU Satellite EXperiment) are available on http://lusex.org.ar . As we quoted when the announcement of the launching of this experiment, Amsat Argentina has been working for several years to keep alive the dream of many Argentine amateurs to get back into Space with their own satellite as a follow-on of the legendary 1990's LUSAT-1, reaping the benefits of Technological advancement of our days. We believe technical activities and developments of experiments in near space share the same goals: preserving the human group, enhancing their capabilities as well as disseminate and guiding the education and development of the activity, meanwhile contributing to Space available resources. Our agreement with Satellogic Enterprises, which already launched three low orbit satellites: Captain Beto, Manolito y Tita, two of which transmit telemetry and data currently in UHF identifying themselves with callsign LU7AA, allowed us to ride a linear analog amateur radio transponder and corresponding antenna aboard one of their next satellite, ÑUSAT-1 AMSAT-LU provides simultaneously, support for this mission and the ÑUSAT-2 mission, by operating one of the control stations at Tortuguitas, Prov. of Bs.As. The experiment Amsat-LU developed, evolved from original design of our colleague and partner William, PE1RAH, while electronic adaptation, mechanical and software was made by LUSEX group, mounted on a 10 x 10 centimeters radiating plate, in which components of the power supply as well as a duplexer and dual band antenna were also incorporated. This set was installed on the Ñusat-1 bus, which supplies power and becomes part of several other experiments this satellite will make. The transponder receives UHF which is broadcasted in VHF, has a bandwidth of 30 KHz. with an output power of 250 mW. 435,935 ~ 435,965 are LSB/CW uplink passband 145,965 ~ 145,935 are USB/CW downlink passband 145,900 Basic CW Telemetry The launch will be from a Chinese launcher in a polar orbit at 500 km. height, with inclination of 97 degrees from Equator. 73 AMSAT ARGENTINA http://www.amsat.org.ar https://www.facebook.com/Amsat.LU http://lusex.org.ar http://amsat.org.ar/pass.htm info [at] amsat.org.ar

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STMSat, Cadre, Nodes, MinXSS
by Roland Zurmely 17 May '16

17 May '16

Nothing from STMSat and Cadre... Strong signals decoded from MinXSS and Nodes: <http://www.qsl.net/py4zbz/minxss_nodes.htm> 73 de Roland PY4ZBZ

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Network Survey - Reminder
by Brandon Shirley 17 May '16

17 May '16

Dear AMSAT community members, This is a reminder email for the Network Survey, this is that last survey. So far about 20 participants have completed the survey, and if you have I am very grateful. I will keep the survey open for another week, I am hoping to get over 50 responses, so we are about 30 shy. 100-200 would be ideal. This survey is one of the shorter ones, but you can still take it in stages if you want. To do this you must resume or visit the link in the same browser on the same computer and have cookies turned on as this track your session: no other identifying information is collected or stored. You can you use the link below to access the Network Survey. https://usu.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_3jAwt3PdKrcSEx7 What follows is more information about the survey and is largely the same as what you have seen before. There is a chance to win some gift cards. Please see below for more information. The survey should take about 15 minutes. Thanks. Please note that the link is anonymous, so you are getting this reminder even if you have already taken the survey. I would like to thank everyone that has participated thus far, I really appreciate it, I know it is an inconvenience and that everyone is really busy. The second part of the survey has background questions that will give context to your answers. Try to fill the background out the same way if you take more than one of the surveys. Answer as many of the questions as you want and as much of each question as you want, partial surveys may still be very helpful. At the end of this survey, you will be redirected to a webpage that asks for an email address. You must enter a valid email address to be considered for survey drawings or the overall survey set drawing. We are currently on the last survey, Network Survey. You have a chance at receiving a gift card for participating in this survey as well as a chance at receiving a gift card for your overall participation in the entire survey set. There will be 2 winners of $25 gift cards for each survey and 2 winners of $200 gift cards for the survey set. The surveys are as follows and will be distributed in the following order: 1. Core Concepts 2. Development Preferences 3. Open Systems Architecture and Modularity 4. Security 5. Reuse, Interoperability, Portability, Code Complexity 6. Network <========= We are here ========= V/R, Brandon Shirley mailto:[email protected] Please see the http://brandon.bluezone.usu.edu/Files/LOISpaceSoftwareAttitudes_Final.pdf that explains your role as a participant should you choose to participate. This is a legitimate request for you participation, if you have any questions about the validity of this email you may refer to the Letter of Intent, contact Brandon Shirley via email at mailto:[email protected], or contact Utah State University's Internal Review Board administrator at (435) 797 - 0567 or email mailto:[email protected].

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STMSat-1, NODES
by KO6TZ Bob 17 May '16

17 May '16

1500utc pass over western USA STMSat-1 = nothing NODES = copy, binary data, (no telemetry decoder ) 15:08 KE6QLL/TELEM>CQ>UI,?,F0 (1199 baud): NODeSR(k !u‚^v^ 8 úm ! å !‚][ „?aŸ€’-(Žþ qwƒ‰–$£}13$xÿÿ ‘2Œš’ž ‚^n5'" /i " S$ % - 9û $.# 4žÿWœ¤ —ê340.ý*3² !ÉnïW 15:09 KE6QLL/TELEM>CQ>UI,?,F0 (1199 baud): NODeSR(k !u‚^v^ 8 úm ! å !‚][ „?aŸ€’-(Žþ qwƒ‰–$£}13$xÿÿ ‘2Œš’ž ‚^n5'" /i " S$ % - 9û $.# 4žÿWœ¤ —ê340.ý*3² !ÉªêW BOB KO6TZ

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Data received from MinXSS and Nodes
by Roland Zurmely 17 May '16

17 May '16

Received and demodulated 9k6 bps data from MinXSS and 1k2 bps from Nodes satellites: <qsl.net/py4zbz/minxss_nodes.htm> 73 de Roland PY4ZBZ

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LUSEX launch May-30-2016
by Amsat Argentina 17 May '16

17 May '16

Dear Friends, Launch of LUSEX, second AMSAT ARGENTINA amateur satellite next May 30, will mark an extraordinary event for our Institution and fostering of hope for satellite community. Details of LUSEX (LU Satellite EXperiment) are available on http://lusex.org.ar . As we quoted when the announcement of the launching of this experiment, Amsat Argentina has been working for several years to keep alive the dream of many Argentine amateurs to get back into Space with their own satellite as a follow-on of the legendary 1990's LUSAT-1, reaping the benefits of Technological advancement of our days. We believe technical activities and developments of experiments in near space share the same goals: preserving the human group, enhancing their capabilities as well as disseminate and guiding the education and development of the activity, meanwhile contributing to Space available resources. Our agreement with Satellogic Enterprises, which already launched three low orbit satellites: Captain Beto, Manolito y Tita, two of which transmit telemetry and data currently in UHF identifying themselves with callsign LU7AA, allowed us to ride a linear analog amateur radio transponder and corresponding antenna aboard one of their next satellite, ÑUSAT-1 AMSAT-LU provides simultaneously, support for this mission and the ÑUSAT-2 mission, by operating one of the control stations at Tortuguitas, Prov. Of Bs.As. The experiment Amsat-LU developed, evolved from original design of our colleague and partner William, PE1RAH, while electronic adaptation, mechanical and software was made by LUSEX group, mounted on a 10 x 10 centimeters radiating plate, in which components of the power supply as well as a duplexer and dual band antenna where also incorporated. This set was installed on the Ñusat-1 bus, which supplies power and becomes part of several other experiments this satellite will make. The transponder receives UHF which is broadcasted in VHF, has a bandwidth of 30 KHz. with an output power of 250 mW. 435,935 ~ 435,965 are LSB/CW uplink 145,965 ~ 145,935 are USB/CW downlink 145,900 Basic CW Telemetry The launch will be from a Chinese launcher in a polar orbit at 500 km. height, with inclination of 97 degrees from Equator. 73 AMSAT ARGENTINA http://www.amsat.org.ar https://www.facebook.com/Amsat.LU http://lusex.org.ar http://amsat.org.ar/pass.htm info [at] amsat.org.ar

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AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN - ARISS-US Kicks Off Major Fundraising Initiative with Challenge Coin Door Prize at 2016 Dayton Hamvention
by E.Mike McCardel 17 May '16

17 May '16

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN ANS-139.01 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: * ARISS-US Kicks Off Major Fundraising Initiative with Challenge Coin Door Prize at 2016 Dayton Hamvention SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-139.01 ANS-139 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 139.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. [MONTH DAY, YEAR] To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-139.01 ARISS-US Kicks Off Major Fundraising Initiative with Challenge Coin Door Prize at 2016 Dayton Hamvention The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Team has donated two of its handsome ARISS Challenge Coins to the Dayton Amateur Radio Association as a 2016 Hamvention door prize. The two keepsake coins are positioned side by side in a beautiful display box so that each side of the coin is seen from either direction. The Challenge Coin Door Prize can be viewed at http://tinyurl.com/ANS139-ARISSCoin The commemorative ARISS Challenge Coin is the premium received by donors who give $100 or more to ARISS. Dayton Hamvention General Chairman Jim Tiderman, N8IDS, agreed to feature the ARISS keepsake coin by holding a special prize drawing immediately following the introduction of the winners of the 2016 Dayton Hamvention national awards at 2 pm on Sunday. The ARISS Team kicks off its 2016 fund-raising campaign at the Dayton Hamvention to raise money for the very high cost of replacing its aging radio system on the ISS and to help defray the cost of continuing ARISS operations. This special Hamvention prize drawing is the first step of the campaign. ARISS International Chair Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, noted the importance of this fundraising campaign: "ARISS is in need of critical upgrades of our on-orbit equipment. The radio system in the Columbus module is over 17 years old and underpowered. We need a 21st Century next generation solution. This fundraising campaign will enable these upgrades and, as a result, significantly improve ARISS operations and provide the funding necessary to better support our stakeholders and the amateur radio community." Those wanting to support the ARISS fundraising campaign can donate to ARISS online via the AMSAT Website, www.amsat.org (select the "ARISS Donate" button) or the ARISS web page, www.ariss.org (select the "Donate" tab). ARISS representatives will also be at the AMSAT Booth during the Hamvention with Challenge Coins ready for people ready to donate $100 or more. Be sure to go to the Hara Arena at the Dayton Hamvention on Sunday, May 22, 2016 at 2 pm for the major door prize drawings … and good luck! About ARISS Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or informal education venues. With the help of experienced amateur radio volunteers, ISS crews speak directly with large audiences in a variety of public forums. Before and during these radio contacts, students, teachers, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, go to: www.ariss.org, www.amsat.org , and www.arrl.org . Also, join us on Facebook: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) / Follow us on Twitter: ARISS_status Contact: David Jordan, AA4KN ARISS PR aa4kn(a)amsat.org [ANS thanks ARISS and David AA4KN 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 Special's ANS Editor, EMike McCardel, AA8EM former KC8YLD kc8yld at amsat dot org

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STMSat-1_MinXSS_CADRE_NODES
by KO6TZ Bob 17 May '16

17 May '16

Results of the 1330utc pass over west USA: STMSat-1 = nothing MinXSS = easy copy, appeared to be binary data 13:26 MINXSS>CQ>UI,R,F0 (9599 baud): ..À5.÷¾«ðC³.’Ö......X..Î7.....â‰..Ñg..ïK........................]ë...T....€å.Á.Ä...Pü................RQ..$&.q....bŠ,...p.€÷.ú..€.ÐÈŽ@Ø.ÀFà.È.Ø..G. ¨.8. ..€.y.•.{.Ì.ˆ.Z...\.õ.ç.L.I.7.7.3...........8©....0î......Ç/..'ÿ........ü... .›ÿ~ÿµÿ....þÿ.2..?S¥¥ 13:26 MINXSS>CQ>UI,R,F0 (9599 baud): ..À8.÷Ç«ðC³.’Ö......Z..Î7.....ô‰..Ñg..ïK........................]â...T....€ä.À.È...Pü................TQ..%&._....p‹,...p.p÷.ú ..°ÈŽ@Ø. Fà.ˆ/¸.ÐFp.°.8. ..€.z.”.{.Ì.”.Y...V.õ.ç.K.J.7.7.3...........@©..€..í......Ç/..'ÿ........ü... .øÿìÿÿ..ÿÿøÿ.;..õÜ¥¥ CADRE = nothing NODES = short pass not monitored BOB KO6TZ

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GN05 and GN06 this weekend
by Ken Alexander 17 May '16

17 May '16

Hi All, I will be in Louisbourg, NS this weekend for a mediumwave DXpedition, which leaves my days free. I had a look at the maps and realized I would be in GN05 and a few minutes drive from GN06 as well as FN95 and FN96. I'm assuming GN05 and GN06 might be somewhat rare, since GN05 is about 97% ocean and GN06 is about 96% ocean. Making some satellite QSOs from there seems like a good thing to do! I am new to satellite operation. In fact, I have yet to make a QSO via satellite. However, I'm using this opportunity get force myself to get off my lazy butt and finally get on the air. Today I went out and bought a Kenwood TH-D72A handheld and the Arrow handheld 146/437 OSCAR antenna. I'll be struggling for the rest of the week, leaning how to use the radio. With luck, I might even make a QSO or two during lunch breaks. This will be FM only operation. We arrive in Louisbourg this coming Friday afternoon (May 20) and leave for home on Monday afternoon, May 23. The plan is to look for satellite contacts late Friday afternoon or early evening (Atlantic Time) and then during the days on Saturday and Sunday. I have yet to see what satellites will be available, so I can't say where I'll be. I have Gpredict and am familiar with it, but I don't know how far it can look ahead, i.e, I don't know if it will tell me what's coming up this weekend. Any help in that regard would be greatly appreciated. Any other tips for a beginner would also be most welcome. I'd like to make this a success! 73, Ken Alexander VE3HLS

5 8

Re: [amsat-bb] STMSat-1
by Bob 17 May '16

17 May '16

Nothing heard at FN41 during the 11:55 to 12:05 UTC pass (71 degrees max elevation, NW to SE) checked all frequencies from 437.750 to 437.850 with nothing heard. No change in noise level. Wonder if they have turned it on yet? 73, Bob, WB4SON

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May 16 CubeSat Deployment
by M5AKA 17 May '16

17 May '16

CubeSats with Amateur Radio payloads deploy from ISS https://amsat-uk.org/2016/05/16/cubesats-deploy-from-iss/ Ofcom propose using Ham Radio band for Wi-Fi https://amsat-uk.org/2016/05/13/ofcom-propose-using-ham-radio-band-for-wi-f… Schools in mass launch of 434 MHz balloons https://amsat-uk.org/2016/05/12/schools-in-mass-launch-of-434-mhz-balloons/ 25th Anniversary of first Briton in Space Celebration! Schools’ European Astronaut event hosted by Helen Sharman GB1MIR http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/administratio… https://twitter.com/VixenEventsUK LituanicaSAT-2 the first CubeSat propelled by liquid monopropellant based on ADN http://n-avionics.com/project-lituanicasat-2 IARU Region 1 VHF-UHF-Microwave newsletter mentions Satellite coordination and attempts to standardize APRS on a common global frequency http://www.iaru-r1.org/images/VHF/newsletters/Newsletter_69.pdf 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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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-05-17 05:00 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 17 May '16

17 May '16

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-05-17 05:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Essex Heights Primary School, Mount Waverley, Victoria, Australia, telebridge via VK5ZAI The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Jeff Williams KD5TVQ Contact is a go for: Fri 2016-05-20 08:35:16 UTC 30 deg Cradle of Aviation Museum and Education Center, Garden City, New York, telebridge via W6SRJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Jeff Williams KD5TVQ (***) Contact is a go for: Mon 2016-05-23 12:57:05 UTC 43 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 118 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 8061 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS The complete schedule page has been updated as of 2016-05-17 05:00 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 1057. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1022. 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 2016-05-15 06:00 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. 46 on orbit Tim Kopra KE5UDN Timothy Peake KG5BVI Yuri Malenchenko RK3DUP 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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Dayton AMSAT/TAPR Banquet
by Bruce 17 May '16

17 May '16

Last chance.... If you intend on purchasing tickets for the banquet you have until Tuesday, May 17th at 10PM Pacific Tuesday, May 17th at 11PM Mountain Wednesday, May 18th at 12AM Central Wednesday, May 18th at 1AM Eastern Wednesday, May 18, 0500 UTC There will be no tickets sold at Dayton. You will not have to pick up your ticket at the AMSAT Booth at Dayton. There will be a list at the door for those that have purchased tickets. 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

1 0

STMSat-1
by KO6TZ Bob 16 May '16

16 May '16

Does anyone know when the STMSat-1 satellite will start transmitting SSTV images ? Bob KO6TZ

6 7

Stmsat-1
by jeffory broughton 16 May '16

16 May '16

I posted the most recent TLE files on Amsat , facebook.WB8RJY jeff broughton

1 0

XW-2A/C/F Hat Trick
by Bob 16 May '16

16 May '16

Hi all, I had never tried the Chinese satellites until tonight. I managed to have a SSB QSO on each one. My thanks to N8HM, WI9I, and K4RGK for putting up with me as I got things dialed in. All three birds had a very similar TX offset on my end, about 0.5 KHz high, and it was easy to find my signal in the downlink. All three had VERY strong signals, but suffered from S9 to in the noise deep/long fades. I'm guessing the fading is antenna shading, as the fades were fairly pronounced even at the point of closest approach. Not many people on the birds, but they are three of the easiest to work. Also glad to hear AO-7 still up and kicking tonight. I don't think I've ever worked three new (to me) birds in one night before. 73, Bob, WB4SON

3 2

Chinese sats
by jeffory broughton 16 May '16

16 May '16

Congrats Bob,fun fun fun! Hope to work you soon. jeff broughton

1 0

FT847 for sale
by Richard Lawn 16 May '16

16 May '16

I just listed my ft847 on QTH.om today. It's in excellent shape. Details on the ad site. 73 Rick, W2JAZ -- Sent from Gmail Mobile

1 0

FoxTelem Release 1.04 support new graphs, better performance and the upcoming launches
by Chris Thompson 16 May '16

16 May '16

This is a quick note to say that FoxTelem Version 1.04 is being released. There is a lot in this version so I have written some blog posts to summarize new features. See below. You can download FoxTelem for your platform from one of these links: http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/windows/foxtelem_1.04f_windows.zip http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/linux/foxtelem_1.04f_linux.tar.gz http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/mac/FoxTelem_1.04f_mac.zip Broadly speaking the changes fit into the following categories: 1. Full support for Fox-1Cliff, Fox-1D and RadFXSat including better High Speed decoding and a better find signal algorithm. 2. Additional analytical capabilities so you can plot one telemetry variable against another. I hope this will inspire more people to analyze the telemetry from the spacecraft and post comments on what they see. I have put some of my own thoughts online here: http://www.g0kla.com/workbench/2016-05-07.php 3. Enhanced tools to analyze your ground station with SkyPlots for satellite measurements like Signal to Noise ratio and graphs for pass measurements. Skyplots in particular need a bit of explanation, so I have written more details here: http://www.g0kla.com/foxtelem/skyplot.php You can read a full list of the changes here on github: https://github.com/ac2cz/FoxTelem/issues?q=is%3Aissue+milestone%3A%22Releas… 73 Chris G0KLA / AC2CZ -- Chris E. Thompson chrisethompson(a)gmail.com g0kla(a)arrl.net

1 0

REPEAT of DN00/10 - Sunday SO-50 ~1842z then FO-29 ~1851-1855
by Kevin M 15 May '16

15 May '16

It turns out the location I picked for DN00/10 was just far enough away from the nearby mountain ranges to allow the <20 degree eastern passes of SO-50 and FO-29 to skirt just along the ridge tops on Saturday... I was able to work a good number of stations including Alaska between the 4 passes. But there are several ops that were unable to show up for the Saturday passes and a few that called me, but I was unable to work. - So, the bottom line is, no need to work me again if you already worked me on Saturday.... same grids. =^) I plan to be in the same spot for the mid US SO-50 and FO-29 passes. They will slightly overlap, so SO-50 starts for me around 1842z. Then when I lose the bird I plan to switch over to FO-29 which will be between 1851z and 1855z. There is a slight chance of rain or thunderstorms, so we will just have to hope they don't pick pass times to show up, because I will be unable to stay for any later passes. For the most part this will bring the Nevada part of my satellite adventure to a close. It's been a LOT of fun, but honestly, after two weeks of being on the road, the daughter and I are both starting to miss home. =^) Thanks to everyone for all the contacts! I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. I'm glad I was able to help out so many with some new grids... believe me, it was my pleasure! - 73, Kevin N4UFO

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-05-15 06:00 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 15 May '16

15 May '16

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-05-15 06:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: AstroNuts Kids Space Club Academy, David Dunlap Observatory, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, telebridge via W6SRJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Timothy Peake KG5BVI Contact was successful: Sat 2016-05-14 17:37:12 UTC 33 deg (***) Essex Heights Primary School, Mount Waverley, Victoria, Australia, telebridge via VK5ZAI The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Jeff Williams KD5TVQ Contact is a go for: Fri 2016-05-20 08:35:16 UTC 30 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 118 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 8061 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS The complete schedule page has been updated as of 2016-05-15 06:00 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 1057. (***) Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1022. (***) 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 2016-05-15 06:00 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. 46 on orbit Tim Kopra KE5UDN Timothy Peake KG5BVI Yuri Malenchenko RK3DUP 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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ANS-136 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 15 May '16

15 May '16

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-136 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: * STMSat-1 SSTV CubeSat to deploy from ISS May 16 * 2016 AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Nominations Notice * AMSAT/TAPR Banquet at the Dayton Hamvention ^TUESDAY MAY 17th SIGN UP DEADLINE^ * Dayton AMSAT Demonstration Plans * ÑuSat-1 to Carry AMSAT Argentina Linear Transponder * ARISS at Dayton Hamvention * CY9C DXpedition to St. Paul Island Announces Satellite Operation * Top 10 Reasons to Come to Dayton HAMVENTION * Saturday AMSAT Dayton Forum * AMSAT Thursday Dinner and Beverages at Tickets Pub and Eatery * ARISS News SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-136.01 ANS-136 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 136.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. [MONTH DAY, YEAR] To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-136.01 STMSat-1 SSTV CubeSat to deploy from ISS May 16 A Slow Scan TV (SSTV) CubeSat developed by students at Saint Thomas More Cathedral School (STM) in Arlington, VA, is set to be deployed from the International Space Station between 1400 and 1500 UT on May 16. For latest date/time check https://twitter.com/STMSAT11. STM is thought to be the first Elementary school to build their own satellite, even Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, and First Grade students were involved in the project. The satellite, a 1U CubeSat called STMSat-1, will transmit a SSTV Robot36 mode signal on 437.800 MHz. Middle School Students took the initiative to begin exploring how to receive data from the CubeSat and formed a Ham Radio Club. There, they learned the basics of operating a ham radio station and explored Slow Scan Television as an option for receiving images once the satellite is deployed. How Did 400 Grade School Students Built A Nano-Satellite? http://tinyurl.com/ANS136-NanoSat Watch the CBS This Morning show report on the satellite http://tinyurl.com/ANS136-CBS-MorningShow STMSat-1 https://twitter.com/STMSAT11 https://www.facebook.com/stmsat1/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/491135804399695/ http://www.stmsat-1.org/ [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016 AMSAT-NA Board of Directors Nominations Notice It's time to submit nominations for the upcoming AMSAT-NA Board of Directors election. Three director's terms expire this year: Tom Clark, K3IO, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM, and Lou McFadin, W5DID. In addition, up to two Alternates may be elected for one year terms. A valid nomination requires either one Member Society or five current individual members in good standing to nominate an AMSAT-NA member for Director. Written nominations, consisting of the nominee's name and call, and the nominating individual's names, calls and individual signatures should be mailed to: AMSAT-NA, 10605 Concord St, #304 Kensington, MD 20895-2526. In addition to traditional submissions of written nominations, which is the preferred method, the intent to nominate someone may be made by electronic means. These include e-mail, Fax, or electronic image of a petition. Electronic petitions should be sent to MARTHA at AMSAT.ORG or Faxed to (301)822-4371. No matter what means is used, petitions MUST arrive no later than June 15th at the AMSAT-NA office. If the nomination is a traditional written nomination, no other action is required. If it is other than this, i.e. electronic, a verifying traditional written petition MUST be received at the AMSAT-NA office at the above address within 7 days following the close of nominations on June 15th. ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS WITHOUT THIS SECOND, WRITTEN VERIFICATION ARE NOT VALID UNDER THE EXISTING AMSAT-NA BYLAWS. Paul Stoetzer, N8HM AMSAT-NA Secretary [ANS thanks Paul N8HM for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT/TAPR Banquet at the Dayton Hamvention The tenth annual joint AMSAT/TAPR Banquet will be held on Friday evening, May 20th. This dinner is one of the main AMSAT activities during the Hamvention. Tickets ($35 each) may be purchased from the AMSAT store at www.amsat.org. THE BANQUET TICKET PURCHASE DEADLINE IS TUESDAY, MAY 17th. The Banquet will take place at the Kohler Presidential Banquet Center, 4572 Presidential Way, Kettering, OH 45429 (just south of Dayton). Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for a cash bar with the buffet dinner served at 7:00 p.m. AMSAT and TAPR alternate the task of providing a speaker for the banquet. It is AMSAT¹s responsibility this year. Michelle Thompson, W5NYV, will present "It¹s just software, right?" She will survey the AMSAT Ground Terminal: Who, what, when, where, why, and how we¹re designing open source radio solutions for the next generation of AMSAT payloads. Michelle is AMSAT¹s Team Leader for the design and execution of the AMSAT Ground Terminal. The goal is to create a ³5 and Dime² (5 and 10 GHz) digital SDR transceiver that will support both voice and data modes, for both general QSOs and emergency communication, for the Phase 4B satellite and for future AMSAT projects. This is an effort to design an inexpensive ground terminal for amateurs that would cost tens of thousands of dollars commercially, for as much under $1,000 as we can get it. A true renaissance woman, in addition to being an engineer and a licensed amateur radio operator, Michelle has worked for Qualcomm, attends Burning Man, and is a longtime DEFCON participant. She is also the lead for Organ Donor (an AI pipe organ). Her Phase 4B Weekly Ground Engineering Reports are fascinating reading. Seating is limited to the number of meals we reserve with the Kohler caterers based on the number of tickets sold by the deadline. Tickets purchased online may be collected at the Books, Shirts & Memberships corner of the AMSAT booth (445-446). [ANS thanks Steve N9IP and the AMSAT Office for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Dayton AMSAT Demonstration Plans AMSAT will again have a demo station at the Dayton Hamvention this year. The station will be located outside the main entrance to Ball Arena, near the AMSAT booth. This year, the focus of many of the demonstrations will be on the use of inexpensive software defined radio (SDR) equipment as a downlink receiver. Using an SDR like a FUNcube Dongle Pro+, SDRPlay, or AirSpy allows owners of common all-mode transceivers with VHF/UHF functionality (such as the Yaesu FT-817, Yaesu FT-857, Icom IC-706MKIIG, or Icom IC-7100) to add full duplex satellite capability for use with linear transponder satellites at minimal cost. The receiver used will consist of a FUNcube Dongle Pro+ with a low cost 10.1" Windows 10 tablet. We may also use other radio combinations during the weekend. Demos will take place during satellite passes from 8:00am (12:00 UTC) until 5:00pm (21:00 UTC) on Friday and Saturday and from 8:00am until 12:00pm (16:00 UTC) on Sunday. Please keep in mind that the RF environment at the Hamvention is challenging and the arena blocks low elevations to the north and northwest. Due to these factors, we will only be attempting passes with a peak elevation greater than 10 degrees. Please stop by for any satellite pass or at any other time if you have questions about satellite operating. A special demonstration on SO-50 will take place during the 12:19pm (16:19 UTC) pass on Saturday May 21st. Nine year old Hope Lea, KM4IPF, will operate that pass after completing her talk at the ARRL Youth Forum. If you are not attending the Hamvention, please call us if you hear the AMSAT demo station on the air! AMSAT DAYTON HAMVENTION DEMOS - 2016 TZ = UTC N 39.820328 W 84.255224 ELEV. 296 M MIN PEAK ELEV. = 10 DEG GRID = EM79ut * = Listen Only Pass - Telemetry, Doppler, Ant. Perf, etc. WinAos QTH: -84.3/39.8 T#: 14019 Sat.: 12 [Standard] ---------------------------------------------------------- Day Objects AOS (U) LOS Period maxEl AZ ---------------------------------------------------------- 20.05.2016 XW-2A 12:17 12:26 09 62 016 - 187 20.05.2016 ISS * 12:28 12:37 09 40 300 - 143 20.05.2016 NO-84 * 12:28 12:38 10 21 294 - 168 20.05.2016 AO-85 12:45 12:59 14 62 200 - 036 20.05.2016 XW-2F 12:52 13:01 09 19 351 - 224 20.05.2016 AO-85 14:26 14:40 14 23 249 - 025 20.05.2016 AO-73 14:51 15:02 11 56 018 - 185 20.05.2016 EO-79 * 15:04 15:14 10 14 119 - 004 20.05.2016 SO-50 15:53 16:06 13 50 332 - 137 20.05.2016 FO-29 16:01 16:17 16 18 111 - 358 20.05.2016 AO-73 16:28 16:36 08 11 343 - 242 20.05.2016 EO-79 * 16:39 16:50 11 49 180 - 343 20.05.2016 SPROUT * 16:50 16:59 09 14 039 - 152 20.05.2016 UKUBE-1 * 16:57 17:08 11 30 025 - 171 20.05.2016 SO-50 17:34 17:45 11 17 309 - 187 20.05.2016 FO-29 17:43 18:02 19 88 163 - 348 20.05.2016 AO-07 18:12 18:28 16 15 099 - 356 20.05.2016 SPROUT * 18:25 18:36 11 44 004 - 209 20.05.2016 UKUBE-1 * 18:33 18:44 11 22 357 - 225 20.05.2016 FO-29 19:31 19:46 15 16 219 - 331 20.05.2016 AO-07 20:01 20:22 21 67 150 - 346 WinAos QTH: -84.3/39.8 T#: 14020 Sat.: 12 [Standard] ---------------------------------------------------------- Day Objects AOS (U) LOS Period maxEl AZ ---------------------------------------------------------- 21.05.2016 NO-84 * 12:04 12:14 10 22 295 - 167 21.05.2016 XW-2F 12:39 12:49 10 26 358 - 217 21.05.2016 AO-85 13:11 13:25 14 59 222 - 030 21.05.2016 XW-2C 13:12 13:20 08 11 345 - 238 21.05.2016 XW-2A 13:17 13:26 09 19 353 - 223 21.05.2016 SO-50 14:38 14:50 12 17 340 - 108 21.05.2016 AO-85 14:54 15:05 11 12 274 - 021 21.05.2016 AO-73 15:10 15:21 11 80 011 - 196 21.05.2016 EO-79 * 15:16 15:26 10 18 127 - 004 21.05.2016 SO-50 16:19 16:31 12 61 324 - 157 21.05.2016 FO-29 16:49 17:08 19 39 137 - 353 21.05.2016 EO-79 * 16:51 17:02 11 36 187 - 339 21.05.2016 SPROUT * 17:04 17:15 11 21 029 - 163 21.05.2016 UKUBE-1 * 17:14 17:26 12 45 020 - 182 21.05.2016 FO-29 18:34 18:53 19 42 189 - 342 21.05.2016 SPROUT * 18:40 18:51 11 30 360 - 217 21.05.2016 UKUBE-1 * 18:51 19:00 09 15 349 - 237 21.05.2016 AO-07 19:03 19:22 19 31 122 - 351 21.05.2016 AO-85 20:04 20:14 10 15 345 - 100 21.05.2016 AO-07 20:54 21:15 21 61 173 - 341 WinAos QTH: -84.3/39.8 T#: 14021 Sat.: 12 [Standard] ---------------------------------------------------------- Day Objects AOS (U) LOS Period maxEl AZ ---------------------------------------------------------- 22.05.2016 ISS * 12:19 12:27 08 17 288 - 162 22.05.2016 XW-2F 12:27 12:37 10 36 001 - 210 22.05.2016 XW-2A 12:44 12:54 10 47 006 - 203 22.05.2016 XW-2C 13:00 13:09 09 16 350 - 229 22.05.2016 AO-85 13:37 13:51 14 29 242 - 026 22.05.2016 AO-73 13:53 14:02 09 12 037 - 147 22.05.2016 SO-50 15:04 15:16 12 35 337 - 128 22.05.2016 EO-79 * 15:28 15:39 11 24 135 - 359 22.05.2016 AO-73 15:29 15:40 11 48 005 - 206 22.05.2016 FO-29 15:56 16:12 16 17 110 - 359 [ANS thanks Paul N8HM for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ÑuSat-1 to Carry AMSAT Argentina Linear Transponder Launch Scheduled for May 30, 2016. The Argentinian earth observation satellite ÑuSat-1 will carry a linear transponder built by AMSAT Argentina. The satellite is scheduled to launch on a CZ-4B rocket from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in China on May 30, 2016 into a 500 km sun-synchronous orbit with an inclination of 97.5 degrees and a Local Time of the Ascending Node (LTAN) of 10:30. The AMSAT Argentina U/v inverting transponder, named LUSEX, wiil have an uplink of 435.935 MHz to 435.965 MHz and a downlink of 145.935 MHz to 145.965 MHz. Total power output is 250 mW. There will also be a CW beacon at 145.900 MHz with a power output of 70 mW. For more information, see the AMSAT Argentina Facebook group. https://www.facebook.com/Amsat.LU/ [ANS thanks AMSAT Argentina for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS at Dayton Hamvention If you will be attending Hamvention next week, be sure to stop by the AMSAT area in the Ball Arena. We will have members of the ARISS team on-hand at all times and some of our ISS hardware (radios and an antenna) on display. During the AMSAT Forum (Saturday, 11:15-1:30), Frank Bauer will be presenting ARISS status and future plans. Also on Saturday, from 2:30-3:00, we will have a face-to-face meeting for anyone interested in ARISS. We’d like to see members of the ARISS team there. We will meet outside near AMSAT’s Satellite Demo area (outside the Ball Arena entrance) or, if it’s raining, inside at the ARISS display. [ANS thanks Dave W8ASS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- CY9C DXpedition to St. Paul Island Announces Satellite Operation The CY9C DXpedition to St. Paul Island, scheduled for August 19, 2016 – August 29, 2016, has announced that Lee Imber, WW2DX, has joined the DXpedition team and will add satellite operations, as well as 2 meter EME and 6 meter operations, to the DXpedition plans. St. Paul Island is located in gridsquare FN97 in the Cabot Strait between Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia and Cape Ray, Newfoundland and is a separate entity on the ARRL DXCC list. It also counts as a country for the AMSAT OSCAR Satellite Communications Achievement Award, AMSAT OSCAR Sexagesimal Award, and AMSAT OSCAR Century Award. Most of Europe and North America should be easily workable from this location. St. Paul Island has not been activated on satellite since July 1998. For further information about the DXpedition, please see the CY9C DXpedition website (http://www.cy9dxpedition.com/) This operation and other planned amateur satellite grid/DX operations are posted on the AMSAT Upcoming Satellite Operations page (http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=3921) [ANS thanks Paul N8HM for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Top 10 Reasons to Come to Dayton HAMVENTION 10. Rub shoulders with 25,000 of your best friends at the largest hamfest in the United States, including all of the AMSAT Directors and senior officers. See the latest equipment from Icom, Yaesu, Kenwood, Flex, Alinco, M2, Arrow, and many other manufacturers of amateur radio equipment and accessories. Take advantage of discounted pricing you won't find anywhere else. 9. Find out how to organize a contact with the astronauts on the International Space Station for your local school or youth group from our Education and ARISS experts. 8. Pickup the latest AMSAT golf shirts, T-shirts, and hats. Get your copy of the updated "Amateur Satellite Frequency Guide" (laminated frequency chart) and Gould Smith's just revised "Getting Started with Amateur Satellites" (book). We'll also have assembled wide-band preamps and antennas that are great for portable operation. 7. See demonstrations of SatPC32 and MacDoppler satellite tracking software, and get your operational questions answered. Meet Don Agro, author of MacDoppler (Friday & Saturday, 2-3 p.m.). See a demonstration of the LVB Tracker, a computer interface to the Yaesu azimuth-elevation rotors. Talk with Mike Young, who has built more LVB Trackers than anyone else. Assembled LVB Trackers will be available. 6. Hear a team presentation at the joint AMSAT/TAPR dinner on the new AMSAT Ground Terminal (AGT). AGT is using Five and Dime (5 GHz uplink, 10 GHz downlink) technology that is being developed for the Phase 3E (P3E) HEO satellite, the Phase 4B (P4B) geosynchronous satellite, and the Cube Quest Challenge (CQC) lunar mission. While much of the P3E and P4B *satellite* development is classified, the AGT is all open source and public information. 5. Hear the latest on the *five* Fox satellites, P3E, P4B, CQC, the International Space Station, other current and future satellites, education news, and an AMSAT update at the AMSAT Forum Saturday, from 11:15 to 1:30. 4. Get one-on-one guidance on setting up your satellite station and making contacts at our "Beginner's Corner". Witness live demonstrations of contacts through satellites AO-7, AO-73, AO-85, FO- 29, SO-50, XW-2A, XW-2C, and XW-2F using handheld antennas. 3. Meet and interact with some of the Engineering Team members working on the Fox-1 satellites and our new Five and Dime AMSAT ground terminal. Learn all of the public information and get breaking news on the Virginia Tech plans for the Phase 3E and Phase 4B satellites. 2. Get satellite station and operating tips from some of the best satellite operators in the country, including John Papay K8YSE (1,575 grids confirmed), Doug Papay KD8CAO (1,159 grids), Drew Glasbrenner KO4MA (1,343 grids), Paul Stoetzer (450 grids), and Wyatt Dirks AC0RA (938 grids). 1. Receive special premiums when you join or renew your AMSAT membership at Dayton, including an updated "Amateur Satellite Frequency Guide" (laminated frequency chart), and special pricing on the SatPC32 satellite tracking software. [ANS thanks Steve N9IP for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday AMSAT Dayton Forum The AMSAT forum will be Saturday morning from 11:15 a.m. through 1:30 p.m. in Forum Room 5. See the commercial vendor layout map in the Hamvention program or the Hamvention website for the location of Forum Room 5 (same as the last few years). The following speakers will be presenting at the AMSAT Forum, moderated by Mark Hammond, N8MH: “AMSAT Status Report” Barry Baines, WD4ASW, AMSAT-NA President, will highlight recent activities within AMSAT and discuss some of our challenges, accomplishments, projects, and any late breaking news. “AMSAT-NA Satellite Program” Jerry Buxton, N0JY, AMSAT-NA Engineering Vice President, will review the upcoming launches of four Fox spacecraft and exciting new engineering developments. “AMSAT’s HEO and GSO Plans” Bob McGwier, N4HY, AMSAT-NA Director, will discuss AMSAT-NA opportunities for High Earth Orbit and Geo- Synchronous Orbit satellites. “AMSAT Satellite Operations” Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, AMSAT-NA Operations Vice President, will survey the current operational amateur satellites, as well as those planned for launch in the next year. “ARISS Report 2016” Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, AMSAT-NA Vice President for Human Spaceflight, will discuss ARISS developments & operation on the International Space Station. “Teaching STEM Using the Fox Satellites” Joe Spier, K6WAO, AMSAT-NA Educational Relations Vice President, will explain how the Fox MEMS gyroscopes, radiation experiments, and cameras will be used to teach Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). [ANS thanks AMSAT Office for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Thursday Dinner and Beverages at Tickets Pub and Eatery Dinner and beverages at Tickets Pub and Eatery Thursday night, 1800-2000. The annual AMSAT “Dinner at Tickets” party will be held Thursday, May 19, at 1800 EDT at the Tickets Pub & Eatery. Everyone is invited regardless of whether or not they helped with setup or plan to work in the booth. You’ll find a great selection of Greek and American food and excellent company! No program or speaker, just good conversation. Food can be ordered from the menu; drinks (beer, wine, sodas and iced tea) are available at the bar. Come as you are. Bring some friends and have a great time the night before Hamvention®. Tickets Pub and Eatery, 7 W. Main St. Fairborn, OH 45324 (937) 878-9022 http://www.ticketspub.com/ [ANS thanks AMSAT Office for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News + A Successful contact was made between The Kings School, Ottery St Mary, Devon, UK and Astronaut Timothy Peake KG5BVI using Callsign GB1SS. The contact began 2016-05-09 09:26 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was direct via GB1OSM. ARISS Mentor was Ciaran MØXTD. + A Successful contact was made between H.A.L. School, Lucknow, India and Astronaut Tim Kopra KE5UDN using Callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2016-05-12 08:11 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was telebridge via K6DUE. ARISS Mentor was Satoshi 7M3TJZ. + A Successful contact was made between AstroNuts Kids Space Club Academy, David Dunlap Observatory, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, and Astronaut Timothy Peake KG5BVI using Callsign NA1SS. The contact began 2016-05-14 17:37:12 UTC and lasted about nine and a half minutes. Contact was telebridge via W6SRJ. ARISS Mentor was Steve VE3TBD. Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-05-13 06:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Essex Heights Primary School, Mount Waverley, Victoria, Australia, telebridge via VK5ZAI The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Jeff Williams KD5TVQ Contact is a go for: Fri 2016-05-20 08:35:16 UTC [ANS thanks ARISS, Charlie AJ9N and David AA4KN 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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Re: [amsat-bb] FT-736R vs. TS-2000X
by Edward R Cole 14 May '16

14 May '16

I've offered to buy the FT-736R from Chris. But he has other's interested once he makes a decision on which radio to keep. The radio has 144, 432, and 1200 modules. However, I am only interested in 144/432 and the 1200 module would be extra cost for me. So my question is whether anyone would be interested in buying the 1200 module? All is tentative depending on Chris' figuring out what he wants. I already have a DEMI 1296-28 25w transverter which I use on eme and also have a DEMI 144-1268 15w Tx converter for mode-L that I bought for AO-40. I had planned to buy an FM dual-band duplex radio ($350) but then thought maybe spending a little more would get all-mode satellite capability. I previously had a FT-847 sold in 2012. Both it and IC-910H sell used at around $1K (and up) which is more than I wish to spend. The FT-736R looks like a good fit for me. 73, Ed - KL7UW http://www.kl7uw.com "Kits made by KL7UW" Dubus Mag business: dubususa(a)gmail.com

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Re: [amsat-bb] Subject: Wasilla AK hamfest, Saturday (14 May) on SO-50
by Edward R Cole 14 May '16

14 May '16

Craig - KL4E and Dale - KL7XJ will be hosting the Amsat table (as far as I know), so one of them will be operating. I know they would appreciate stations to work for the demo during the hamfest. There are only three hamfests in Alaska and this is the closest to Anchorage which has half the population of the state! Your participation may excite some newcomers to get involved in hamsats; more KL7 stations for you to work! Dale - KL7XJ is the AK Amsat Field Op (probably well known to many of you). I did that from 1997 until about 2002 under my old callsign AL7EB. Mostly, I worked AO-10 and AO-40. I've been involved in eme since 1998 that took my attention away from satellite. I planning a come back to satellite operation once I can fit into my busy sched putting my station back into operation (looking at radios at present). 73, Ed - KL7UW http://www.kl7uw.com "Kits made by KL7UW" Dubus Mag business: dubususa(a)gmail.com

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Saturday West - Sunday East for DN00/10
by Kevin M 14 May '16

14 May '16

Because of pass times, low elevations of some passes, mountainous terrain and travel schedule, I have decided to split up the passes for DN00/10 over two days. Basically, Saturday will be for the western half of the US because the eastern passes appear too low for the terrain here. (If I get out there early enough, I may listen and see if I can't get in on at least part of the eastern passes over the mountains on Saturday.) Then Sunday will be a mid-US pass and reach the east a bit better. Normally, I would just wait until Sunday and work everyone, but I think there will be better chances to work as many as possible if there are two passes, especially since it's a weekend. On Saturday, there is another wrinkle... SO-50 overlaps the end of FO-29 on the western pass by seven minutes. SO, I will work the FO-29 pass starting at 1945z UNTIL callers are exhausted or SO-50 is up to a copy-able elevation and then I will switch over as quickly as possible. I will then work any callers on SO-50 until the end of the pass or until any other traffic becomes insurmountable. THIS WILL BE IT FOR SATURDAY. If you can work linear sats, I suggest you work me on FO-29 as early in the pass as possible. Barring that, by all means try me on SO-50, but again, as early in the pass as possible. If Saturday and Sunday passes are both open to you, please consider working me on Saturday and leave the Sunday passes open for the eastern stations that will have lower elevations and shorter windows. Sunday, will be one SO-50 pass starting at 1842z and then one FO-29 pass at 1851z... Yet again, there is an overlap in pass times, but it is only 3 minutes and highly likely that I will lose copy on SO-50 before FO-29 gets very readable. After that, I need to go directly back to the motel to pack up and head out. (At the very most, I MIGHT try AO-7 if someone gets missed, but I am not planning on it) I will definitely not work the western SO-50 or FO-29 passes on Sunday. And I will probably not get to doing Sunday's logs until later that night, or maybe even the next day. We will be staying in DN21 on Sunday night. If all works out, I will try getting on one of the XW birds as they will be passing over around 0100-0200z (technically Monday UTC time). But this is tentative at best. Then AFTER SUNDAY, I will not be working ANY passes for several days. My daughter has been very accommodating in regards to satellite ops throughout the first two weeks of our trip, but Monday begins a section of our travels that involves my daughter's well being and interests and I plan to devote all my time and attention to that. Perhaps later in the week, there may be time for a few more grids on our way home. My thanks for understanding... Hope to see you all on the birds one more time from Nevada... it's been a great trip so far and the rover ops have been a blast! 73, Kevin

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Wasilla AK hamfest, Saturday (14 May) on SO-50
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 14 May '16

14 May '16

Hi! Craig KL4E e-mailed me with a schedule for demonstrations planned for the Matanuska Amateur Radio Association's hamfest in Wasilla, Alaska, on Saturday (14 May). More information about the club and its hamfest is available at: http://www.kl7jfu.com/ Craig mentioned three SO-50 passes that are planned for the demonstrations: 1805-1825 UTC 1950-2005 UTC 2130-2145 UTC Craig didn't mention who would be on the mic for these passes, so listen for KL7 calls or Craig's KL4E if you are in the footprints at these times. The hamfest crowds would appreciate hearing contacts with stations in western Canada or parts of the "Lower 48" during these SO-50 passes. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

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UT1FG/MM
by A. Kevin Arber 13 May '16

13 May '16

Yuri was active in grids GM12 and GM01 today and was on XW-2F and XW-2C. Unfortunately he must have been listening on the wrong band when operating -2C as could not hear replys to his CQ, that I heard. Good luck with the WET grids! Kevin/W3DAD

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Re: [amsat-bb] FT-736R vs. TS-2000X
by Mark Spencer 13 May '16

13 May '16

Hi, I've owned a FT-736 for years and have several acquaintances who have (or used to have) TS 2000's. For satellite work I was happy with my FT736 (That being said I haven't been on the Hamsats in years..) I seem to recall it worked nicely with sat32PC (and also seem to recall helping test a program change that enhanced the functionality with PL tones. I may be miss remembering this..) As others have mentioned the built in AC supply on the FT736 can be a weak spot but the radio will run from an external DC power supply. If I ever get back into working the Hamsats I would plan on using my FT736 along with Sat32pc. I mostly use my FT736 for 222 and occasionally 1.2 GHz weak signal work. It's performance on 144 and 432 is okay in my view but not spectacular. It's my only SSB / CW radio for 222 and 1.2 GHz so I have nothing else to compare it to on those bands. The existence of the optional 222 module may make the FT736 fairly desirable to those who want to use SSB / CW on that band. If I was mostly into Hamsats and had a fT736 and a TS2000 I'd be inclined to try both of them and if I was happy with the TS2000 I'd look at selling the FT736. Hope this helps Mark S VE7AFZ Sent from my iPhone

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Friday DN01/11 FO-29 ~18:56z & SO-50 ~19:31z maybe more
by Kevin M 13 May '16

13 May '16

My rover plans for tomorrow are to drive up to the DN01/11 line and operate the FO-29 pass starting at 18:56z and SO-50 at 19:31z. It will be a bit hotter than it has been and participation on far western passes has been minimal. If conditions permit, I may try to stay for the later FO-29 & SO-50 passes and possibly AO-7 Mode B. I would be far more likely to do so if I know that someone will be on those passes needing the DN01 or DN11 grids. I do not know if I will have data connectivity from the op location... I have been lucky so far, but no way to know if it will happen again and I may also be close to running out of data on my plan. I'll check my e-mail before leaving the motel in the morning. I am also not sure about any ops on Saturday. A couple of the passes are low elevation (and there are mountains here blocking low passes) and the other two have a time overlap. I will consider whether an effort to work one or the other of the FO-29 or SO-50 western passes on Saturday would be fruitful. There may also be an AO-7 pass on Saturday that could work, if the transponder cooperates. On Sunday there appears to be one good SO-50 pass at 1842z and one FO-29 pass at 1851z. However, any later passes are in doubt as we are checking out of the motel here on Sunday and heading east again. I've been made aware that XE1AY has ops planned for Friday through Sunday on the FM birds from a rare grid down south. I'm sorry, but there is little to nothing I can do about this; I planned my operations months ago, have had motel reservations in place for some time and it's not something I can easily change. I can only encourage anyone who is able to contact me on FO-29 to look for me there instead and leave SO-50 to the FM only ops. I will be on the early (northern part) of the SO-50 passes. I will continue until callers cease or the traffic becomes insurmountable. Hope to work you 'from the high desert!' 73, Kevin N4UFO

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-05-13 06:30 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 13 May '16

13 May '16

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-05-13 06:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: H.A.L. School, Lucknow, India, telebridge via K6DUE The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Tim Kopra KE5UDN Contact was successful: Thu 2016-05-12 08:11:20 UTC 79 deg (***) AstroNuts Kids Space Club Academy, David Dunlap Observatory, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, telebridge via W6SRJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Timothy Peake KG5BVI Contact is a go for: Sat 2016-05-14 17:37:12 UTC 33 deg Essex Heights Primary School, Mount Waverley, Victoria, Australia, telebridge via VK5ZAI (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Jeff Williams KD5TVQ Contact is a go for: Fri 2016-05-20 08:35:16 UTC 30 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 118 (***) 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 8061 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS The complete schedule page has been updated as of 2016-05-13 06:30 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 1056. (***) Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1021. (***) 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 2016-05-13 06:30 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. 46 on orbit Tim Kopra KE5UDN Timothy Peake KG5BVI Yuri Malenchenko RK3DUP 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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Re: [amsat-bb] FT-736R vs. TS-2000X
by Andrew Glasbrenner 13 May '16

13 May '16

The TS-2000 by a mile, which is indeed full duplex. The only issue is the birdie on SO-50's downlink, and there are workarounds for that. 73, Drew KO4MA -----Original Message----- >From: Christopher Maness <christopher.maness(a)gmail.com> >Sent: May 12, 2016 9:54 AM >To: Tony Langdon <vk3jed(a)gmail.com> >Cc: "amsat-bb(a)amsat.org" <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> >Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] FT-736R vs. TS-2000X > >Let me restate the question in a different way. Say you had both radios, and your wife walks into your shack and says you don’t need two satellite radios. Shaking her finger, she says you need to sell one. Which one would go? > >(My wife knows nothing about these radios — the fiction is for effect :D ) > >Thanks, >Chris KQ6UP >_______________________________________________ >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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Saturday (7 May) at Sierra Vista AZ hamfest & other operating/travels report (long)
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 12 May '16

12 May '16

Hi! Sorry for the delay in posting this report. A project at the office has consumed a lot of my time this week - not just during the workdays, but also a couple of very late evenings and early mornings. Last Saturday's Cochise Amateur Radio Association hamfest in Sierra Vista, Arizona, was another good event for AMSAT. This is a small, half-day hamfest in southern Arizona, which had a good turnout on a great day. No rain or heavy winds to deal with. After the hamfest, the afternoon and evening was nice for some sightseeing and - of course - more operating. After I drove down to Sierra Vista the night before the hamfest, I only had a 15-minute drive to reach the hamfest on the edge of town. The gate for the hamfest site was open when I arrived a few minutes after 5am (1200 UTC). I started to set up my AMSAT table, knowing there was an SO-50 pass an hour or so after that. Even though the hamfest didn't officially start until 7am (1400 UTC), I still had a small crowd on hand for that pass that went to the west of the hamfest. Seven QSOs went in the log on that pass, 6 from stations in the western USA plus XE2BHL in Tijuana. A good start to the morning. The hamfest site is in grid DM41, not a rare Arizona grid with some active satellite operators in the area (NP4JV, W7JPI, W7JSD). I missed the passes for the XW-2 satellites after SO-50, as I had been talking with people walking around my AMSAT booth, outside the buildings at the club's "Green Acres" site. After the crowds eased, I set up for a demonstration on AO-73 around 1535 UTC. I moved the VFO on my receiver through the transponder and down to the telemetry around 145.935 MHz, so the crowd could hear the SSB activity as well as the data that comes from this satellite. I was able to work 3 stations, AA5PK in Texas followed by XE1AO and XE1AU (a club station at XE1AO's university in central Mexico). Omar, as always, greeted the crowd in English as I talked to him in Spanish. Some time passed before another satellite pass, the first of two AO-85 passes that have probably become the best for demonstrations. With the stronger 2m downlink from AO-85 compared to SO-50's 70cm downlink, many are now able to hear the satellite with almost any 2m FM radio they may have at a hamfest. The first of the two AO-85 passes Saturday morning came a little after 10am (1700 UTC), which provided for 14 QSOs from coast to coast. A great way to show off the capabilities of AMSAT's newest satellite, and for several in the crowd to hear the satellite for themselves on HTs with either duckie antennas or (in one case) a telescoping whip antenna. The later AO-85 pass, just before 12 noon (1900 UTC) and the official end of the hamfest, came up from the west and wrapped around the north. This wasn't as busy as the earlier AO-85 pass, but still enough activity for most of the pass. Stations in the western USA and Canada, and as far east as K8YSE in Cleveland, made up the 8 QSOs logged on this pass. The shortest QSOs were made with Fernando NP4JV, who was across the field from the AMSAT booth, and with Sid W7JSD who worked me from his house a few miles away. Sid had been out to the hamfest earlier in the morning, and I asked him if he could possibly try working this pass when he returned home. On the two AO-85 passes, John K8YSE figured prominently in both passes. Not that John made lots of QSOs on each pass, but that he initially made QSOs with me as K8YSE/7 from his Arizona station, and then made QSOs with me as K8YSE from his station in Cleveland. He was physically in Arizona at his home in the Phoenix area, and remotely operating his Cleveland station later in each of these passes. The crowd was impressed with the ability to be on from two different stations at the same time. They were also happy with the extremely long-distance QSO with NP4JV. :-) Along with talking with John through both of his stations and seeing both Fernando and Sid, Fernando had his daughter Yalitza ("Yali") with him at the hamfest. Yali took the Technician license exam at the hamfest, and passed. Yali has not received a call sign from the FCC yet, but hopefully she does soon, and we can hear her on the satellites from DM41 in the near future. Unlike most of my hamfest road trips, I had not made definite plans to go anywhere after the hamfest. Talking with Fernando and Yali at lunch after the hamfest, I wanted to try working at least one pass from the nearby Coronado National Memorial. This memorial is south of Sierra Vista, at the USA/Mexico border. It is so close to the border that my mobile phone made the switch to a Mexican carrier, until I left the memorial. The best place to work an SO-50 pass just after 3pm (2200 UTC) was just inside the east entrance of the memorial, near the large Coronado National Memorial sign at a parking area in front of that sign. I set up my station, took pictures of it and my GPS receiver, and proceeded to work 13 stations on that pass across the USA and Mexico. I think some were hoping another station was going to show up, so that helped me in making at least 10 QSOs to have this pass count as an activation for the ARRL's National Parks on the Air activity. This was my second NPOTA activation, and the first for me at a National Park Service site in Arizona following my operating from Lake Mead in Nevada the previous weekend (29 April-1 May). Like with the hamfest, this memorial is also in grid DM41. After working the SO-50 pass, I stopped at the visitor center to get the obligatory stamps in my passport to show I was at this location, and then took my time heading back to Sierra Vista. My drive home took several hours, with a drive through another scenic part of southern Arizona to Nogales along another portion of the USA/Mexico border, and then up through Tucson back home. I stopped to work one AO-85 pass in the evening, around 8.25pm (0325 UTC), logging 4 QSOs from a spot northwest of Tucson in grid DM42 before finishing my drive home. Between the hamfest and operating from the Coronado National Memorial, this was a fun day in southern Arizona. I'll be on the road for another hamfest in eastern Arizona on 4 June, plus I hope to operate from more National Park Service sites around Arizona during the summer. Thanks to the Cochise Amateur Radio Association for their hospitality in providing AMSAT a space at their annual hamfest, and to all of the stations that worked WD9EWK during the hamfest and later in the day at the other locations! 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK

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FT-736R vs. TS-2000X
by Christopher Maness 12 May '16

12 May '16

I have recently picked up both a TS-2000X and a FT-736R in a sale. I plan on selling one as I already have too many radios. I am not real active on the birds, but I occasionally get on, and usually work them for my club on FD. I have done some pro/con research on these radios, and I am slightly leaning towards the TS-2000X. I have heard that the FT-736R is a better radio, but is it so much better that it beats all the features that the TS-2000X has. I like the fact that it has a sub receiver so that I can work the FM birds full duplex, and I also like that it has a full 100W on 2m. I am thinking that if the receiver on the 2000 is deaf on VHF/UHF, I can add a preamp. Also, I have worked the June VHF/UHF contest in the bast an am considering working it again this June. Any thoughts? Regards, Chris KQ6UP

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Re: [amsat-bb] 736 vs. 2000X
by Christopher Maness 12 May '16

12 May '16

> On May 12, 2016, at 4:57 AM, Jeff Lamb <nx9b(a)comcast.net> wrote: > > Hi, Chris. I was reading the thread on the AMSATbb about choosing between the 736 and a 2000X. > One thing I think everyone missed is that the 2000X also has 23cm built in. Does the 736 have the 23cm module? If so, that evens it out a little but from strictly a power point the 100/50/10 from the Kenwood would trump the 25watts of the 736. Plus the 736 is an older design and while it 'might' have a better receiver, the differences would be negligible. > Yes, the 2000 has a birdy on the SO50 (& AO27) downlink but there are work-arounds for that too. > Plus computer control of the 2000 is easy while the 736 barely works with a computer. It's just older tech that does not do bidirectional signaling between rig and computer which the 2000 does with ease. > > I envy you for having to make such a decision. Most guys would take either one and be happy. > > Good luck with your choice. > > 73 de Jeff, NX9B, EM66sj > It has the 1.2GHz card, but I think it has an issue (the card), but hopefully it can be repaired. Everything else seems to work. Also, I am thinking the TS-2000X does not do SSB full duplex, correct? Someone in this thread mentioned the 736 does full duplex in both modes. Part of the deal included an SSB 150W brick from RFConcepts. However, it needs 40W to drive it to 150W. Another pro for the TS-2000X is that it has built in TNC’s. I do a bit of packet, so that is kind of neat. The manual mentioned 9k6 too, but I am not sure if any birds are running 9k6 packet anymore. If the TNC can do KISS, I can use my jnos running in linux again. Thanks, Chris KQ6UP

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Upcoming ARISS contact with AstroNuts Kids Space Club Academy, Richmond Hill, Ontario, CA
by n4csitwo＠bellsouth.net 12 May '16

12 May '16

An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at ASTRONUTS Kids Space Club Academy, David Dunlap Observatory, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada on 14 May. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 17:37 UTC. It is recommended that you start listening approximately 10 minutes before this time.The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a telebridge between NA1SS and W6SRJ. The contact should be audible over the west coast of the U.S. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English. The "Whats up in Space" camp & STEM contest was created by a 13 year-old, Brett Bielecki and father Ray, 5 years ago in order to ignite the curiosities of hundreds of elementary school children to learn about "all things space". Our volunteer-based space camp is held at the world famous David Dunlap Observatory in Richmond Hill Ontario where the children are engaged and inspired by 20 volunteer space educators, multiple Skype guests and educational activities in a fun and educational setting. The children's STEM contest brings together dozens of innovative future astronauts, scientists educators and engineers in the spirit of competition. Our space camp was launched because of the high interest for space education by elementary school students, their parents and teachers when they recognized the value of the "AstroNuts kids space club." Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. Astronaut Tim, when you look out the windows of the cupola, on the ISS, at our beautiful earth, it so peaceful but there are so many wars and disagreements going on here.how does that affect the workings of your peaceful multinational space station? 2. How did your time as an aquanaut prepare you for space flight and could any aspects of the training have been improved on? 3. Who was your biggest inspiration and why? 4. How did you feel when NASA told you that you might go blind or have difficulty seeing for the next couple of years or even permanently?. 5. I know that space missions have brought us many great inventions in the past (such as wireless blow dryers) but are there any new inventions your mission hopes to bring us over the next few months? 6. How did it feel to be the first astronaut to wear the British flag on a spacewalk? 7. What do you prefer: Earth or Space and why? 8. What is the hardest difference from living on earth and living in space that you've had to adjust to while living on the ISS? 9. With the satellites, in space do you get any cable service and watch t.v. in space? 10. What did you do to train to land on an asteroid? 11. What was the turning point in your life where you decided, that this career was the one and only destiny for you? 12. We know what it's like to get sick on earth, (cold and flu). what happens when you get sick in the ISS? PLEASE CHECK THE FOLLOWING FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ARISS UPDATES: Visit ARISS on Facebook. We can be found at Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS). To receive our Twitter updates, follow @ARISS_status Next planned event(s): 1. Essex Heights Primary School, Mount Waverley, Victoria, Australia, telebridge via VK5ZAI The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Jeff Williams KD5TVQ Contact is a go for: Fri 2016-05-20 08:35:16 UTC ABOUT ARISS Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or informal education venues. With the help of experienced amateur radio volunteers, ISS crews speak directly with large audiences in a variety of public forums. Before and during these radio contacts, students, teachers, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org, www.amsat.org, and www.arrl.org. Thank you & 73, David - AA4KN --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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SPECIAL EVENT QSO PARTY -- ROSELAND RADIO ON-THE-BIRDS !
by Robert Kovacs 11 May '16

11 May '16

To all radio amateurs: The Irvington Roseland Radio Club is celebrating its 70th Anniversary with a QSO Party on Saturday, May 14, 2016, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. EDT (1400 to 2000 UTC). Although we'll primarily be on 40m phone and 20m phone, and on the 2m WA2JSB repeater & IRLP, we're also hoping to be on AO-85 at 1332-Z and on SO-50 at 1641-Z. Please see our website and events page at www.k2gq.com<http://www.k2gq.com> and http://www.k2gq.org/init/static/files/flyer70th.pdf . Hope to hear from everybody then! 73, Bob Kovacs KC2WYH AMSAT No. 38304

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DM16 logs corrected
by Kevin M 11 May '16

11 May '16

Thanks to VE7CEW for bringing to my attention a lack of QSLs for DM16 operations Sunday. Apparently when I set up the recorder for each pass, I was looking at a clock that was still set to Mountain time. Mea culpa. Logs have been fixed and uploaded, just give it a bit to process as LotW is about an hour behind at the moment. Possibly may just need to catch up, but may be down again for maintenance like Monday. 73! Kevin N4UFO

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Wednesday NV 4 for 1 special! DM07/08/17/18
by Kevin M 11 May '16

11 May '16

Provided there is no issue with the terrain that does not show up in Google street view, I should be able to wander about 125 feet off of a highway out into the desert scrub and setup on the intersection of 4 grids tomorrow. Those being DM07, DM08, DM17 and DM18. Now THAT is a mouthful... so I will most likely opt for the phrase used by the rover warrior known as KL7R and just say, 'Delta Mike four grids'. (Trust me, we don't have to actually exchange grids numbers for the contact to count!) The bad news is... there is no favorable SO-50 pass from there to reach the Eastern US. FO-29 however is more favorable. I plan to work the 1900z FO-29 and the 2021z SO-50 for sure. Working more passes after that will depend on several factors... weather, fatigue, how well the first two passes go, etc. If I know there are Western stations that will be ON the later passes, I would be much more willing to hang around. If I know someone back east works linear birds and misses me on FO-29 but is desperate for those grids, I may try AO-7 if available. (I've never worked AO-7 with my portable gear so there may be a learning curve and or other issues, please bear with me.) So if you fall into one of those categories, let me know in advance. I will leave the motel by around 1700z and after that, I can only hope to get data coverage out there in order to receive e-mails and tweets. I was surprised I got it up in DM19 where my cell phone barely had one bar. - I'll do what I can to work everyone, but I'm not going to lie... the elevation, the constant wind & sun and ever present dehydration are starting to get to me. (We've gone through several cases of water.) If I don't see any clear reason to hang around, I will likely pack it in and head to the motel. I have to do laundry, pack up and rest a little before heading out Thursday for Winnemucca and the DN grids. For those that were curious about my trip today down to the small restaurant and gift shop near Area 51... First, that valley is loooong. We topped the hill, saw the place and I swear it took 20 minutes to get there. Second, there were no big revelations to be had, no secrets and no aliens. (Unless you count the plastic kind.) But after years of watching TV documentaries and such with my daughter, I did have a moment of, 'Holy Implant, Batman! I'm actually here!' The majority of people stopping in were tourists and geocachers, folks looking for lunch and souvenirs. (Yes, I bought the T-Shirt!) Sorry, but no pictures of me operating in front of the fake UFO or anything... There was a mountain right in the way of the low SO-50 pass, so we skedaddled it back up the highway several miles and operated from a turn off on the side of the road. What DID get to me out there was that I could HEAR stealth aircraft flying around... loud! The sound seemed to come from all over... but we NEVER SAW THEM. Someone said they hug the canyons and the sound echoes around and you have no clue where they are. Just standing there out in the open gave me a very vulnerable feeling... As in, <squawk!> "Weird guy down there waving his yagi at us, sir... request permission to fire." Okay, that is about as far off topic as I care to go... if anyone has a comment on the latter stuff, definitely off list, please! Same for requests about western passes. 73 and hope to work you 'from the high desert!' - Kevin N4UFO

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-05-11 08:00 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 11 May '16

11 May '16

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-05-11 08:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: H.A.L. School, Lucknow, India, telebridge via K6DUE The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Tim Kopra KE5UDN Contact is a go for Option #7: Thu 2016-05-12 08:11:20 UTC 79 deg AstroNuts Kids Space Club Academy, David Dunlap Observatory, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, telebridge via W6SRJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Timothy Peake KG5BVI Contact is a go for Option #1: Sat 2016-05-14 17:37:12 UTC 33 deg Essex Heights Primary School, Mount Waverley, Victoria, Australia, telebridge via VK5ZAI (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS (***) The scheduled astronaut is Jeff Williams KD5TVQ (***) Contact is a go for: Fri 2016-05-20 08:35:16 UTC 30 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 117 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 8061 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS The complete schedule page has been updated as of 2016-05-11 08:00 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 1055. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1020. 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 2016-05-09 23:30 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. 46 on orbit Tim Kopra KE5UDN Timothy Peake KG5BVI Yuri Malenchenko RK3DUP 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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ISS voice transmissions received from underneath QRM
by J. Boyd (JR2TTS) 11 May '16

11 May '16

This morning at 10:44 JST there was a very high ISS pass during which I was able to record the commemorative Tomsk transmissions on 145.800 MHz. FUNCube Dongle Pro + and a VHF/UHF discone. https://soundcloud.com/minus2c/120th-anniversary-of-the-tomsk-polytechnic-u… Unfortunately most of the pass was marred by QRM from other satellite operators calling each other, and attempting to call the ISS, on the same frequency. Luckily I was able to hear most of the English version of the recorded announcement at the very end of this pass, so it wasn't a total loss. The next pass over my QTH will not be until late tonght when the transmissions will already have concluded, so this is as close as I'm going to get. -- J. Boyd, JR2TTS/NI3B the2belo(a)msd.biglobe.ne.jp http://www.flickr.com/photos/the2belo/ http://www.qrz.com/db/JR2TTS Twitter: @Minus2_C

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Telemetry BJ1SG XW2
by Helmut Klein 11 May '16

11 May '16

Hi, I have copied the Telemetry of XW2 satellite on 145975kHz. on 08.05.2016, 16:43 UTC. cw abbrevated letters as follows: BJ1SG DFH XW2 XW2 aaaa itbc kf6d ainu 4eei uiaf 6uck akik vtin in4d iu4n 4dtt tttt tttt trm4 tttt bct4 6k4m dddd dddd dddd dddd dddd dddd camsat camsat I looked into the decode instructions, but was not able to decode all, e.g. character c is not defined, and also character b. If necessary I can provide a NF recording. Regards, 73 Helmut, OE1TKW

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Re: [amsat-bb] Satellite timing question.
by Richard Tejera 11 May '16

11 May '16

Depends on th err inclination. Miss & SO-50 tend to repeat about every two week or so note that the passes tend to come earlier by about 15 minutes or so each day. Rick Tejera K7TEJ Saguaro Astronomy Club www.SaguaroAstro.org Thunderbird Amateur Radio Club www.w7tbc.org On May 10, 2016, at 21:14, B J <va6bmj(a)gmail.com> wrote: On 5/11/16, Jason Rearick <jbr13(a)md.metrocast.net> wrote: > Yes, I have and use Gpredict, but don't know how far ahead to go to find > when the birds come back around to about the same times as they did last > month. I figure they are on a cycle that repeats every so many days, weeks, > > or months. > <snip> Keep in mind that Gpredict will only produce data for up to 50 orbits in the future. Each day, I put the AOS times for the satellites I track into my computer's calendar program. Before I do that, I print out those 50 orbits as text files and import them into a database. I can then check the dates or specific times that a certain satellite will be visible. A simple way would be to estimate the precession rate from that orbital data and do a back of the envelope calculation for when a bird will be in a favourable position. Of course, one could always resort to looking up the necessary equations in an orbital mechanics text and do some number-crunching. 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL _______________________________________________ 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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Upcoming ARISS contact with H.A.L. School, Lucknow, India
by n4csitwo＠bellsouth.net 11 May '16

11 May '16

An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at H.A.L. School, Lucknow, India on 12 May. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 08:11 UTC. It is recommended that you start listening approximately 10 minutes before this time.The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be a telebridge between NA1SS and K6DUE. The contact should be audible over the eastern U.S. and adjacent areas. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English. Nestled in cosy, lush green and safe sphere is the prestigious education hub HAL School has inscribed a saga of success! Installed in 1974, the school has come a long way. The visionary founders dreamed of an ideal and prosperous institution whose torch bearers and pupils would write a history of academic excellence besides versatility in additional activities. Teachers burnt midnight oil and left no stone unturned and the students responded with equal dedication and brought laurels. Being a member of HAL factory, school frequently bore the responsibility of hosting memorable guests from Russia and celebrities like first Indian astronaut Wg.cdr Rakesh Sharma (Retd), President (Late) APJ Abdul Kalam etc. The school not only organized but also participated in major events organized by HAL Factory year by year. The recent activity which has caught momentum is ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) which is active all the world over and now has come as a great opportunity for HAL School to be the first in state (Uttar Pradesh) to contact with International Space Station and eminent astronauts, participate in seminars, presentations and workshops and associate themselves with radio academically. The School has been involved in many Amateur Radio activities like Amateur radio demonstration for students, JOTA for Scouts & Guides etc. There were 6 students who took the Amateur Radio licences during their studies in school. Workshops by eminent counsellors/experts/guest faculty/agencies from various fields benefitted the students in personality development and career counselling/awareness/advice. Year by year the number of such sessions has multiplied and continues till date. The concrete and farsighted plans and strategies are being worked upon. Innovation, modification, changes and publicity efforts are on to make better the things. The improved education, basic facilities, performance of both teacher and taught, inclusion of teachers training/orientation programmes are in pipe line for makeover of the school. Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. Is the atmosphere of Mars suitable for living? 2. Did you ever see aliens in space? 3. Have you measured the temperature outside of ISS during space walk? 4. What are your three favourite things about being in spaceship? 5. What challenges have you faced in space? 6. How is the atmosphere of Mars? 7. Did you find any adjustment problem during your journey? 8. Which city (area) on the earth is most illuminated as you have seen from ISS? 9. What do you want to do in future? 10. What we should do to become an astronaut? 11. What was your inspiration for being an astronaut? 12. Have you seen solar / lunar / earth eclipse from ISS? 13. How will the garbage affect the earth? 14. Which type of antenna do you use to communicate with us? 15. Why do you wear special suits? What will happen if you do not use this suit? 16. Does microgravity make your body tired or sick? 17. What will happen if we fire a bullet in space? 18. Do you bring your favourite items from earth? 19. Have the astronauts of Apollo 18 seen any alien? Is this true or false? 20. What do the stars look like from up in space? PLEASE CHECK THE FOLLOWING FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ARISS UPDATES: Visit ARISS on Facebook. We can be found at Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS). To receive our Twitter updates, follow @ARISS_status Next planned event(s): 1. AstroNuts Kids Space Club Academy, David Dunlap Observatory, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, telebridge via W6SRJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Timothy Peake KG5BVI Contact is a go for Option #1: Sat 2016-05-14 17:37:12 UTC ABOUT ARISS Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or informal education venues. With the help of experienced amateur radio volunteers, ISS crews speak directly with large audiences in a variety of public forums. Before and during these radio contacts, students, teachers, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org, www.amsat.org, and www.arrl.org. Thank you & 73, David - AA4KN --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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Satellite timing question.
by Jason Rearick 11 May '16

11 May '16

I started working sats about a month ago, and would get some good passes after 2100Z, once I got home. Now the birds are not hitting my area in that time frame much, how long is a cycle for the satellites to get back into my evening EST window? Jason N3YUG

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SatPC32 Active Satellites
by Les Rayburn 10 May '16

10 May '16

After a lengthy hiatus from the birds, I’m finally moving towards getting back on the air. Today’s first order of business was to upgrade to the latest version of SatPC32 to use with my Icom IC-910H. After installing the new software and updating Keps, I was shocked to see how long the list of available amateur birds had grown to. I “read the mail” on the AMSAT BB and the journal but can’t possibly keep track of everything in the sky these days. Can someone give me the “Satellite for Dummies” version of which birds i want to track? I’m not interested in doing a lot of digital work just yet—APRS through ISS is about as far as I’ve gotten on that trail. Mostly interested in SSB/CW and FM for now. I know I need to add Fox 1A, FunCube, and I think a couple of others, right? HELP! :-) All help gratefully appreciated and accepted. 73, Les Rayburn, N1LF 121 Mayfair Park Maylene, AL EM63nf Member WTFDA, IRCA, NRC. Former CPC Chairman for NRC & IRCA. Elad FDM-S2 SDR, AirSpy SDR, Quantum Phaser, Wellbrook ALA1530 Loop, Wellbrook Flag, Clifton Labs Active Whip.

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Re: [amsat-bb] SatPC32 Active Satellites
by Andrew Glasbrenner 10 May '16

10 May '16

You can go to amsat.org, then satellite info in the menu bar across the top, then down to communications satellites, which should take you to here: http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=177 where you will find links to frequencies and information for each satellite with a two-way payload. 73, Drew KO4MA -----Original Message----- >From: Les Rayburn <les(a)highnoonfilm.com> >Sent: May 10, 2016 4:12 PM >To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org, starcom-bb(a)star-com.net >Subject: [amsat-bb] SatPC32 Active Satellites > >After a lengthy hiatus from the birds, I’m finally moving towards getting back on the air. Today’s first order of business was to upgrade to the latest version of SatPC32 to use with my Icom IC-910H. > >After installing the new software and updating Keps, I was shocked to see how long the list of available amateur birds had grown to. I “read the mail” on the AMSAT BB and the journal but can’t possibly keep track of everything in the sky these days. > >Can someone give me the “Satellite for Dummies” version of which birds i want to track? I’m not interested in doing a lot of digital work just yet—APRS through ISS is about as far as I’ve gotten on that trail. Mostly interested in SSB/CW and FM for now. > >I know I need to add Fox 1A, FunCube, and I think a couple of others, right? HELP! > >:-) > >All help gratefully appreciated and accepted. > > >73, > >Les Rayburn, N1LF >121 Mayfair Park >Maylene, AL >EM63nf > >Member WTFDA, IRCA, NRC. Former CPC Chairman for NRC & IRCA. > >Elad FDM-S2 SDR, AirSpy SDR, Quantum Phaser, Wellbrook ALA1530 Loop, Wellbrook Flag, Clifton Labs Active Whip. > > >_______________________________________________ >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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Network Survey - Reminder
by Brandon Shirley 10 May '16

10 May '16

Dear AMSAT community members, It is everyone's favorite time of the week! The time where I try to guilt you into taking a survey; at least this is the last one. This is a reminder email for the Network Survey. So far about 10 participants have completed the survey, and if you have I am very grateful. I will keep the survey open until at least this coming Monday, I am hoping to get over 50 responses, 100-200 would be ideal. This survey is one of the shorter ones, but you can still take it in stages if you want. To do this you must resume or visit the link in the same browser on the same computer and have cookies turned on as this track your session: no other identifying information is collected or stored. You can you use the link below to access the Network Survey. https://usu.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_3jAwt3PdKrcSEx7 What follows is more information about the survey and is largely the same as what you have seen before. There is a chance to win some gift cards. Please see below for more information. The survey should take about 15 minutes. Thanks. Please note that the link is anonymous, so you are getting this reminder even if you have already taken the survey. I would like to thank everyone that has participated thus far, I really appreciate it, I know it is an inconvenience and that everyone is really busy. The second part of the survey has background questions that will give context to your answers. Try to fill the background out the same way if you take more than one of the surveys. Answer as many of the questions as you want and as much of each question as you want, partial surveys may still be very helpful. At the end of this survey, you will be redirected to a webpage that asks for an email address. You must enter a valid email address to be considered for survey drawings or the overall survey set drawing. We are currently on the last survey, Network Survey. You have a chance at receiving a gift card for participating in this survey as well as a chance at receiving a gift card for your overall participation in the entire survey set. There will be 2 winners of $25 gift cards for each survey and 2 winners of $200 gift cards for the survey set. The surveys are as follows and will be distributed in the following order: 1. Core Concepts 2. Development Preferences 3. Open Systems Architecture and Modularity 4. Security 5. Reuse, Interoperability, Portability, Code Complexity 6. Network <========= We are here ========= V/R, Brandon Shirley mailto:[email protected] Please see the http://brandon.bluezone.usu.edu/Files/LOISpaceSoftwareAttitudes_Final.pdf that explains your role as a participant should you choose to participate. This is a legitimate request for you participation, if you have any questions about the validity of this email you may refer to the Letter of Intent, contact Brandon Shirley via email at mailto:[email protected], or contact Utah State University's Internal Review Board administrator at (435) 797 - 0567 or email mailto:[email protected].

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STMSat-1 SSTV CubeSat May 16 + ISS Tomsk-TPU-120 May 10-11
by M5AKA 10 May '16

10 May '16

Tomsk-TPU-120 CubeSat celebrates University anniversary May 10-11 with ISS Relay on 145.800 https://amsat-uk.org/2016/04/30/tomsk-tpu-120-cubesat/ School SSTV CubeSat 437.800 to deploy from ISS May 16 1400-1500 UT https://amsat-uk.org/2016/03/03/school-sstv-cubesat-to-deploy-from-iss/ BBC TV Spotlight report on The King’s School Tim Peake ARISS Contact https://amsat-uk.org/2016/05/02/the-kings-school-tim-peake/ UBSEDS15 Solar Powered balloon https://amsat-uk.org/2016/04/28/ubseds15-balloon-launch/ 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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Recording of TOMSK English Greeting 2016-05-10 8:20 UTC Over NA on 145.80 Mhz
by John Brier 10 May '16

10 May '16

Barely heard it on the UHF side at max elevation 51 degrees. This was the first pass over a land mass after it was turned on. Also recorded russian, german, something I couldn't ID and a tiny bit of chinese at the end of the pass. https://soundcloud.com/spacecomms/tomsk-english-greeting-2016-05

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Tomsk-TPU-120
by Daniel Cussen 10 May '16

10 May '16

I heard the 10 language greeting on 145.800 from the ISS just now in the UK. I will send the audio file to the organisers of Tomsk-TPU-120. I will share it in a day or two here. For now you will have to receive the signal yourself! ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Gaston Bertels <gaston.bertels(a)skynet.be> Date: Sat, 7 May 2016 09:32:59 +0200 Subject: ARISS To: dan(a)post.com Tomsk-TPU-120 CubeSat Celebrates University Anniversary The Russian Tomsk-TPU-120 CubeSat is different from other CubeSats : it has a handle! The 3U CubeSat was launched from Baikonur to the ISS on March 31, 2016 in a Progress-MS-2 cargo vessel. It will be deployed by hand during a future Russian spacewalk (EVA), which is why it has a handle. The satellite was developed by students at the Tomsk Polytechnic University to test new space materials technology and will be the world’s first space vehicle with a 3D-printed structure. In May 2016 Tomsk Polytechnic University celebrates its 120th anniversary. As part of the celebrations on May 10-11 Tomsk-TPU-120 will be activated in the ISS and will transmit a greeting to Earth inhabitants, recorded by students of the university in 10 languages: Russian, English, German, French, Chinese, Arabic, Tatar, Indian, Kazakh and Portuguese. The greeting signal will be transmitted once a minute on 437.025 MHz FM. One of the Kenwood transceivers on the ISS will provide a simulcast of the signal on 145.800 MHz FM. The Tomsk satellite onboard ISS will be turned on May 10 at 07:55 UTC and switched off on May 11 at 10:10 UTC. Reception reports will be appreciated. Please send reports to mailto:[email protected]

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Tuesday DM27 one SO-50 pass only - 1956z
by Kevin M 10 May '16

10 May '16

My daughter and I will be going to the Little A'Le'Inn in Rachel NV on Tuesday. This is a touristy thing, tongue planted firmly in cheek, seeing the kitschy stuff on premises, maybe buying some souvenirs in the gift shop and probably having an 'Alien Burger'. =^P The location is in DM27, and I plan to operate one pass of SO-50 ONLY! (The FO-29 pass will completely overlap the SO-50 pass so I was forced to choose and SO-50 won out.) I want to ask everyone calling me to be courteous, civil and do not transmit unless you hear the bird. And please, don't call in the blind. I'll try to work everyone that wants/needs the grid, but cooperation will go a long way towards that. =^) If no one hears from me again, you will know that either the aliens or the 'cammo dudes' have taken me on a more permanent vacation, (Joke! Not going ANYWHERE NEAR the Area 51 gates/perimeter.) - For more info on the 'when & where' of the rest of my grid activations, please read my special QRZ page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ldAQ6Rh5ZI 73, Kevin N4UFO

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Re: [amsat-bb] Source for 3" (76mm) pipe for dish mount?
by Scott 09 May '16

09 May '16

Thank you Jerry! (and other replies) Yes, I did see 3” floor jacks at Lowe’s which might be an option for around $50. Heaven knows what I’ll cut them with; my mounting location can’t accommodate the full length that they came in. If nothing else turns up, perhaps I can find a shorter length which will not require cutting and should be cheaper, too. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jerry Buxton Sent: Monday, May 09, 2016 4:40 PM To: Andrew Glasbrenner Cc: 'Scott' ; amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Source for 3" (76mm) pipe for dish mount? Floor jacks used to be about 3 inch too. Used to keep old wood floors from sagging. Jerry N0JY

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-05-09 23:30 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 09 May '16

09 May '16

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2016-05-09 23:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: The Kings School, Ottery St Mary, Devon, UK, direct via GB1OSM The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be GB1SS The scheduled astronaut is Timothy Peake KG5BVI Contact was successful: Mon 2016-05-09 09:26:30 UTC 62 deg (***) Watch for HamTV during this contact. H.A.L. School, Lucknow, India, telebridge via K6DUE The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Tim Kopra KE5UDN Contact is a go for Option #7: Thu 2016-05-12 08:11:20 UTC 79 deg AstroNuts Kids Space Club Academy, David Dunlap Observatory, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, telebridge via W6SRJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Timothy Peake KG5BVI Contact is a go for Option #1: Sat 2016-05-14 17:37:12 UTC 33 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 117 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 8061 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS The complete schedule page has been updated as of 2016-05-09 23:30 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 1055. (***) Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1020. (***) 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 2016-05-09 23:30 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. 46 on orbit Tim Kopra KE5UDN Timothy Peake KG5BVI Yuri Malenchenko RK3DUP 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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Re: [amsat-bb] Source for 3" (76mm) pipe for dish mount?
by Zach Leffke 09 May '16

09 May '16

oops....meant to send this to the list... -Zach, KJ4QLP Research Associate Ted & Karyn Hume Center for National Security & Technology Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University Work Phone: 540-231-4174 Cell Phone: 540-808-6305 On 5/9/2016 7:08 PM, Zach Leffke wrote: > > I second the EMT conduit option as well, that's actually what I use > for my offset reflector setups, and they were perfect diameter for the > dish mount brackets (I think just around 3 inches, maybe 4, If I > recall properly). I made a couple H-frames with them and an old wire > feed mig welder. > > EMT conduit was throw away from the metal dumpster I mentioned earlier > (building upgrades on campus, woot!), and the dishes + mounting > brackets were throw away from a satellite installer in Roanoke Va that > was moving warehouses and opened up shop to local hams to 'get rid of > his junk' for him. The XYL was not happy that day when she got home > and I had about 30 dishes from 0.75m to 1.2m leaning up against the > fence getting hosed off (Some of the dishes stayed with me, some found > homes with other blacksburg hams, and the rest went to the VTGS and > will be used for student projects later). > > -Zach, KJ4QLP > > Research Associate > Ted & Karyn Hume Center for National Security & Technology > Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University > Work Phone: 540-231-4174 > Cell Phone: 540-808-6305 > On 5/9/2016 6:59 PM, Ted wrote: >> EMT electrical conduit/pipe...Home Depot has all sizes. >> >> 73, K7TRK >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Andrew >> Glasbrenner >> Sent: Monday, May 09, 2016 1:33 PM >> To: 'Scott';amsat-bb(a)amsat.org >> Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Source for 3" (76mm) pipe for dish mount? >> >> Well casing? >> >> 73, Drew KO4MA >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Scott >> Sent: Monday, May 09, 2016 4:28 PM >> To:[email protected] >> Subject: [amsat-bb] Source for 3" (76mm) pipe for dish mount? >> >> Greetings! >> >> I was fortunate enough to given a 100cm dish to play with but the mounting >> bracket requires a 3" (76mm) pipe. I need about a 1 meter length. >> >> The dish is a bit too heavy for me to use commonly available PVC pipe... I >> have to wonder if there is an industry that I should be looking at to find >> metal pipe of that diameter. Metal pipe is somewhat rare in the plumbing >> world these days - I wonder if others have had luck with suppliers of fence >> posts, signs, or some other industry. >> >> Of course, if there is a place to buy pipes intended for dish installations, >> all the better. >> >> I'm just looking for something that I don't have to take out a bank loan to >> purchase. Free is ok, too! >> >> Appreciate any suggestions - I'm located in the U.S. >> >> ---73! >> >> -Scott, K4KDR >> Montpelier, VA USA >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent viaAMSAT-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 viaAMSAT-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 viaAMSAT-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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ANS-129 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Joseph Spier 09 May '16

09 May '16

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-129 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: * RadFxSat (Fox-1B) Launch Date * Tomsk-TPU-120 Active On-board ISS May 10-11 * AMSAT at ARRL Nevada State Convention Last Weekend - report * Contact Lost with SamSat-218D Nanosatellite * Top 10 Reasons to Come to Dayton * AMSAT at the Dayton Hamvention -- Last Call for Volunteers * AIST-2D and SamSat-218D Satellites Launched * No Need for Panic Regarding Synthetic Aperture Radars on 70 Centimeters, ARRL CTO Says * AMSAT Events * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-129.01 ANS-129 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 129.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE May 8, 2016 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-129.01 --------------------------------------------------------------------- RadFxSat (Fox-1B) Launch Date This week AMSAT Vice-President Engineering, Jerry Buxton, N0JY, said that January 20, 2017 is the planned launch date for the RadFxSat (Fox-1B) cubesat. This cubesat will fly with the Vanderbilt University radiation experiments. RadFxSat (Fox-1B) pre-launch frequencies include: Uplink: 435.250 MHz FM 67.0 Hz CTCSS tone Downlink: 145.960 MHz FM (Frequencies may vary slightly after launch; changes will be announced) The latest versions of the Fox-1 Operating Guide can be found on AMSAT's Station and Operating Hints page at: http://www.amsat.org/?page_id=2144 AMSAT pioneered the concept of small satellites in low orbits. AMSAT's Project Fox consists of a series of cubesats that will provide FM transponders with a 70 cm uplink with a 2 meter downlink that will match the ground performance of previous FM satellites. AMSAT is dedicated to keeping amateur radio in space. Its membership includes a worldwide group of radio hams who monitor amateur radio satellite signals and use satellites for QSOs. They also design and build the satellites, and control them once in orbit. Not a member of AMSAT yet? You're invited to join on-line at: http://store.amsat.org/catalog/index.php?cPath=32 Please consider making a donation to support the Fox-1 series of cubesats using the links on the front page http://www.amsat.org. [ANS thanks AMSAT Vice-President Engineering, Jerry Buxton, N0JY, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tomsk-TPU-120 Active On-board ISS May 10-11 As part of Tomsk Polytechnic University 120th anniversary celebrations on May 10-11, Tomsk-TPU-120 will be activated in the ISS and will transmit a greeting to Earth inhabitants, recorded by students of the University in 10 languages: Russian, English, German, French, Chinese, Arabic, Tatar, Indian, Kazakh, and Portuguese. The 3U CubeSat was launched from Baikonur to the ISS on March 31, 2016 in a Progress-MS-2 cargo vessel. It will be deployed by hand during a future Russian spacewalk (EVA), so it has a handle. The satellite was developed by students at the Tomsk Polytechnic University to test new space materials technology and will be the world’s first space vehicle with a 3D-printed structure. The Tomsk-TPU-120 satellite on-board the ISS will be activated May 10 from 07:55 UTC and switched off on May 11 at 10:10 UTC. The satellite has been connected to an external ISS antenna and will transmit messages of 20-30 seconds in 11 languages, then pause 1 minute on the satellite's transmission frequency of 437.025 MHz. The ISS will simulcast the signal utilizing ARISS equipment on a frequency of 145.800 MHz. Reception reports from both the ISS and from the Tomsk-TPU-120 satellite are requested from the international amateur radio community and should be sent to Sergi at rv3dr(a)mail.ru Amateurs are requested to refrain from transmitting on either frequency as any transmissions would interfere with reception of the test transmissions. [ANS thanks Sergi, RV3DR and ARISS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT at ARRL Nevada State Convention Last Weekend - report AMSAT's long-time Area Coordinator in southern Nevada, Frank Kostelac N7ZEV, along with his wife Linda KC7IIT, usually have a booth at these events in Las Vegas and other locations in Nevada. With Linda working in a variety of roles at the convention, Frank and I took care of the AMSAT booth. Frank also had other convention-related tasks, and he was definitely busy throughout the weekend. When I arrived at the convention Friday afternoon, Frank had the booth ready to go. I set out some flyers, some equipment, and spent most of the weekend around the booth. The day before I arrived in Las Vegas, the region had a big rainstorm. Another storm blew through southern Nevada on Saturday morning, which made travel around Las Vegas a mess, and washed out my plans for demonstrations at the convention. Instead of being outside in the rain, I had set up a couple of tablets to run videos of past demonstrations, show off SatPC32, and show what software-defined receivers can do. Frank and I talked almost non-stop for the weekend. I posted photos from the convention throughout the weekend on my @WD9EWK Twitter feed. If you want to see those photos, but don't do Twitter, you can get to the photos with a web browser at: http://twitter.com/WD9EWK/media Just because there was rain that washed out the demonstrations I planned to do at the convention, that didn't ruin plans for me to work satellites from Nevada. I'll post a separate message describing my operating from around Las Vegas and while driving to and from Las Vegas. I have to thank Frank and Linda for letting me help with the AMSAT booth over the weekend. I had asked Frank about this convention a while back, and I am glad I made the trip. The NVCON organizers were all friendly, and the crowds were good, despite the Saturday rain. There were a bunch of people who came over from California, and a few from Arizona that I also saw. I will seriously consider heading back to Las Vegas the next time this event takes place up there. [ANS thanks Patrick, WD9EWK/VA7EWK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact Lost with SamSat-218D Nanosatellite The tiny nanosatellite SamSat-218, which was launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome on April 28, has failed to establish radio contact with mission control, several Russian media outlets are reporting. According to Interfax news agency, although the spacecraft was placed into orbit as planned, it is sending only fragmentary signals to Earth. “Currently, fragmentary Morse code signals are being heard coming from the nanosatellite, against the background of the noise during the satellite’s pass over the receiving station,” Interfax said in a press release. SamSat-218, built by the Samara State Aerospace University (SSAU), is a two- unit CubeSat with a mass of only 8.8 pounds (4 kilograms) and an additional empty one-unit compartment for aerodynamic stabilization. The tiny spacecraft was designed to demonstrate attitude stabilization by using aerodynamic forces. It was expected to develop algorithms necessary for nanosatellite orientation control. The nanosatellite was launched along with the Mikhailo Lomonosov (MVL-300) and Aist-2D spacecraft atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket from Vostochny on the Cosmodrome’s opening mission. The flight, lasting several hours, ended in the separation of the satellites from the launch vehicle. However, after SamSat-218 was placed into orbit, it started to spin around rapidly and probably failed to switch on. “There are currently no sufficient grounds to believe the nanosatellite established contact. There were fragmentary weak signals at the frequency of 145.870 MHz against a background of noises when the nanosatellite was in the area of [radio visibility] of the ground control center, which can’t be with confidence interpreted as signals from the satellite,” Igor Belokonov, the head of the SamSat-218 project told TASS. The designers of the satellite are currently analyzing the data received in order to understand the nature of the problem and look for possible solutions. According to Belokonov, the student mission control center of SSAU is continuing with attempts to receive signals from the satellite during passes above Samara. The satellite is equipped with a radio beacon, which transmits the word “SamSat-218”. Russia’s radio enthusiasts are also engaged in the activities to help establish contact with the satellite when it is in the area of the antenna systems’ coverage. Read more at http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/organizations/roscosmos/russia-loses- contact-with-its-nanosatellite-launched-from-vostochny/ [ANS thanks Bernhard, VA6BMJ and Spaceflightinsider.com for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Top 10 Reasons to Come to Dayton 10. Rub shoulders with 25,000 of your best friends at the largest hamfest in the United States, including all of the AMSAT Directors and senior officers. See the latest equipment from Icom, Yaesu, Kenwood, Flex, Alinco, M2, Arrow, and many other manufacturers of amateur radio equipment and accessories. Take advantage of discounted pricing you won't find anywhere else. 9. Find out how to organize a contact with the astronauts on the International Space Station for your local school or youth group from our Education and ARISS experts. 8. Pickup the latest AMSAT golf shirts, T-shirts, and hats. Get your copy of the updated "Amateur Satellite Frequency Guide" (laminated frequency chart) and Gould Smith's just revised "Getting Started with Amateur Satellites" (book). We'll also have assembled wide-band preamps and antennas that are great for portable operation. 7. See demonstrations of SatPC32 and MacDoppler satellite tracking software, and get your operational questions answered. Meet Don Agro, author of MacDoppler (Friday & Saturday, 2-3 p.m.). See a demonstration of the LVB Tracker, a computer interface to the Yaesu azimuth-elevation rotors. Talk with Mike Young, who has built more LVB Trackers than anyone else. Assembled LVB Trackers will be available. 6. Hear a team presentation at the joint AMSAT/TAPR dinner on the new AMSAT Ground Terminal (AGT). AGT is using Five and Dime (5 GHz uplink, 10 GHz downlink) technology that is being developed for the Phase 3E (P3E) HEO satellite, the Phase 4B (P4B) geosynchronous satellite, and the Cube Quest Challenge (CQC) lunar mission. While much of the P3E and P4B *satellite* development is classified, the AGT is all open source and public information. 5. Hear the latest on the *five* Fox satellites, P3E, P4B, CQC, the International Space Station, other current and future satellites, education news, and an AMSAT update at the AMSAT Forum Saturday, from 11:15 to 1:30. 4. Get one-on-one guidance on setting up your satellite station and making contacts at our "Beginner's Corner". Witness live demonstrations of contacts through satellites AO-7, AO-73, AO-85, FO-29, SO-50, XW-2A, XW-2C, and XW-2F using handheld antennas. 3. Meet and interact with some of the Engineering Team members working on the Fox-1 satellites and our new Five and Dime AMSAT ground terminal. Learn all of the public information and get breaking news on the Virginia Tech plans for the Phase 3E and Phase 4B satellites. 2. Get satellite station and operating tips from some of the best satellite operators in the country, including John Papay K8YSE (1,575 grids confirmed), Doug Papay KD8CAO (1,159 grids), Drew Glasbrenner KO4MA (1,343 grids), Paul Stoetzer (450 grids), and Wyatt Dirks AC0RA (938 grids). 1. Receive special premiums when you join or renew your AMSAT membership at Dayton, including an updated "Amateur Satellite Frequency Guide" (laminated frequency chart), and special pricing on the SatPC32 satellite tracking software. [ANS thanks Steve Belter, N9IP, Dayton Team Leader for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT at the Dayton Hamvention -- Last Call for Volunteers The Dayton Hamvention is less than two weeks away, May 20-22! If you’ve been waiting to volunteer until you’d firmed up your plans, we need to hear from you ASAP! If you're an experienced satellite operator, we can use you and your experience. If you've never operated a satellite before, we can use your help too. Whether you're available for only a couple of hours or if you can spend the entire weekend with us, your help would be greatly appreciated. Please send an e-mail to Steve, n9ip(a)amsat.org if you can help. Thank you! [ANS thanks Steve Belter, N9IP, Dayton Team Leader for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AIST-2D and SamSat-218D Satellites Launched Two Russian satellites AIST-2D and SamSat-218D operating in the Amateur bands were launched on April 28, 2016 at 02:01 UT on a Soyuz 2-1A launch vehicle from the new Vostochny Cosmodrome located in the Amur Oblast. The satellites were placed into a 471 km × 485 km orbit with a 97.3° inclination. AIST-2D weighs 500 kg and is a technology demonstration and scientific research satellite developed at Samara Aerospace University. The 3U CubeSat SamSat-218 was developed by students at the Samara State University and weighs just 4 kg. Frequency information from Dmitry R4UAB http://r4uab.ru/?p=11842 AIST-2D / RS-48 Downlinks • 435.3065 – 435.3235 MHz Telemetry Data • 435.3565 – 435.3735 MHz Telemetry Data • 433 – 438 MHz 200 watt Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) • 8025 – 8393 MHz Remote Sensing Data http://spaceflight101.com/soyuz-lomonosov/aist-2d/ SamSat-218D • 145.870 MHz Morse CW beacon transmits “SamSat-218D” every 150 seconds (or 30 seconds) • 145.850 – 145.890 MHz TRXSSAU downlink • 435.590 – 435.610 MHz TRXSSAU uplink http://spaceflight101.com/soyuz-lomonosov/samsat-218d/ Russian post on SamSat-218D http://zelenyikot.livejournal.com/94190.html Google English translation https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2 Fzelenyikot.livejournal.com%2F94190.html&sandbox=1 432-438 MHz was allocated to the Earth Exploration Satellite Service (Active) at WRC-03 https://www.itu.int/dms_pubrec/itu-r/rec/sa/R-REC-SA.1260-1-200305-S!!PDF-E… September 2003 issue of QST magazine has an article on page 44 by VE3PU on satellite-based Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) in 432-438 MHz (ARRL members only) http://p1k.arrl.org/pubs_archive/104721 [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- No Need for Panic Regarding Synthetic Aperture Radars on 70 Centimeters, ARRL CTO Says A recent BBC news article regarding a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) contract award for operation within the 70 centimeter band has raised some concern within the Amateur Radio community. The contract to Airbus Space would involve determining the density of Earth’s forests using a P-band (432-438 MHz) SAR. That band segment was allocated for use by the Earth Exploration Satellite (Active) Service at World Radiocommunication Conference 2003 (WRC-03). ARRL Chief Technology Officer Brennan Price, N4QX, said SAR activity has not been found to be a significant problem to Amateur Radio activity on the 70 centimeter band. Both EESS (Active) and Amateur Radio are secondary on the band in International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Regions 2 and 3 (Amateur Radio is co-primary with the Radiolocation Service in ITU Region 1), and Price said SAR operation is subject to significant constraints. “The interference potential from one orbiting SAR to one fixed Amateur Radio station is on the order of less than 1 minute over an orbital period of more than 10 days,” Price said. “Practically speaking, nearby electrical lines and Part 15 devices are more likely to be bothersome.” Price said news items in articles aimed at the general public are “often notoriously short” on technical details. ITU-R Recommendation RS.1260-11 — incorporated by reference in the ITU Radio Regulations and binding on EESS (Active) stations — spells out the WRC-03 consensus on SARs operating at 70 centimeters. Among other things, RS.1260-1 states that EESS (Active) instruments operation profile “shall be campaign-oriented, targeted to specific geographical areas and shall limit the instrument active time to the minimum required to achieve the campaign objectives. Thus, the measurements carried out by the instrument do not require continuous operation of the instrument, and intervals of months between successive measurements on the same area can be expected.” The Recommendation further states that the operational duty cycle of an SAR in campaign mode will be 15 percent (typically 10 percent). A Russian satellite, AIST-2D, launched on April 28, will conduct SAR work as a technology demonstration and scientific research satellite developed at Samara Aerospace University. Its 200 W SAR will operate in the 433-438 MHz band. It will also transmit telemetry in the 70 centimeter band. http://www.arrl.org/news/view/no-need-for-panic-regarding-synthetic- aperture-radars-on-70-centimeters-arrl-cto-says [ANS thanks the ARRL and Trevor, M5AKA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Events Information about AMSAT activities at other important events around the country. Examples of these events are radio club meetings where AMSAT Area Coordinators give presentations, demonstrations of working amateur satellites, and hamfests with an AMSAT presence (a table with AMSAT literature and merchandise, sometimes also with presentations, forums, and/or demonstrations). *Saturday, 14 May 2016 – Matanuska Amateur Radio Association Hamfest in Wasilla AK *Friday, Saturday, & Sunday, 20-22 May - HamVention at Harra Arena Dayton, Ohio *Saturday, 4 June 2016 – White Mountain Hamfest in Show Low AZ *Saturday, 13 August 2016 – KL7KC Hamfest in Fairbanks AK [ANS thanks AMSAT-NA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News Successful Contacts * A direct contact via GB1APS with students at Ashfield Primary School, Otley, West Yorkshire, UK, was successful Thu 2016-05-05 08:08:09 UTC 46 deg. Astronaut Timothy Peake, KG5BVI answered 16 questions for an audience of 200 students. Ashfield Primary School is in Otley, West Yorkshire, a historic market town to the north west of Leeds. The school has a fantastic semi-rural location with extensive grounds encompassing a playground, school field, wildlife area, magic garden and a specific outdoor area for Early Years. The school is a community primary school with one form entry. We have 240 children aged 3 to 11. Ashfield is also the site for the North West Leeds Area Inclusions Partnership’s Learning Support Center. The Orchard Center educates pupils from the area who are experiencing difficulties which affect their learning. Our vision is that children, parents and carers, staff and governors work actively together to ensure children receive a rich inspiring and engaging education enabling each child to become lifelong learners, aspiring to high standards of achievement in all areas of their life. As part of this rich inspiring and engaging education, pupils run a stall at the annual Otley Science Festival and recently hosted a space themed Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths festival within the school. All Ashfield classes ran stalls to inform, challenge and entertain each other. We had visitors from all seven local schools, who designed informative exhibitions to share. Exhibitors also came from Otley Amateur Radio Society, Leeds University, The Radio Society of Great Britain, Bradford Astronomy Society and Eureka Museum and worked with the children on STEM related topics. Dr Marty Jopson also created and presented a space related science show in the evening.” * All Saints STEAM Academy (AS2A), Middletown, Rhode Island, direct via N1ASA The ISS callsign was NA1SS The astronaut was Jeff Williams KD5TVQ Contact was successful: Fri 2016-05-06 16:43:47 UTC The contact went well, all 24 questions were answered and there was still time for a “73 Round.” An exceptional video is at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTkq5btNW_U Upcoming Contacts * A direct contact via GB1OSM with students at The Kings School, Ottery St Mary, Devon, UK, is scheduled for Mon 2016-05-09 09:26:30 UTC 62 deg The scheduled astronaut is Timothy Peake KG5BVI. Watch for HamTV during this contact. The King’s School is an 11-18 comprehensive school with approximately 1150 students of which 230 are in the Sixth Form. It has a long and proud history that can be traced back to a fourteenth century choir school which was replaced in 1545 by Henry VIII in 1545 with “The King’s School”. Although The King’s School became an academy in 2011 we continue to work in close partnership with Devon County Council and our fellow secondary schools to ensure that we offer the best educational opportunities possible. Our inclusive philosophy of “Achievement for All” encapsulates our belief that every person who enters The King’s School has unique skills and potential which we believe we have the creativity and ability to unlock. We were graded Outstanding by OfSTED in 2011, and in the latest 2014 OfSTED inspection we were again graded Outstanding but this time in every category. The report endorsed the school’s belief that its ethos has a hugely positive impact on student achievement. We are extremely proud of our students and of the brilliant examination results they achieve year on year. However, we are also incredibly proud of the myriad of extra-curricular activities in which they are involved. This richness of opportunity is central to what we believe develops our students into well rounded young people. We are very much a community school, working very closely with our hugely supportive parents, Governors, excellent partner primary schools, local business representatives and a wide range of other agencies to provide opportunities for all. * A telebridge contact via K6DUE with students at H.A.L. School, Lucknow, India is scheduled for Thu 2016-05-12 08:11:20 UTC 79 deg. The scheduled astronaut is Tim Kopra KE5UDN. Nestled in cozy, lush green and safe sphere is the prestigious education hub HAL School has inscribed a saga of success! Installed in 1974, the school has come a long way. The visionary founders dreamed of an ideal and prosperous institution whose torch bearers and pupils would write a history of academic excellence besides versatility in additional activities. Teachers burnt midnight oil and left no stone unturned and the students responded with equal dedication and brought laurels. Being a member of HAL factory, school frequently bore the responsibility of hosting memorable guests from Russia and celebrities like first Indian astronaut Wg.cdr Rakesh Sharma (Retd), President (Late) APJ Abdul Kalam etc. The school not only organized but also participated in major events organized by HAL Factory year by year. The recent activity which has caught momentum is ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) which is active all the world over and now has come as a great opportunity for HAL School to be the first in state (Uttar Pradesh) to contact with International Space Station and eminent astronauts, participate in seminars, presentations and workshops and associate themselves with radio academically. The School has been involved in many Amateur Radio activities like Amateur radio demonstration for students, JOTA for Scouts & Guides etc. There were 6 students who took the Amateur Radio licenses during their studies in school. Workshops by eminent counselors/experts/guest faculty/agencies from various fields benefited the students in personality development and career counseling/awareness/advice. Year by year the number of such sessions has multiplied and continues till date. The concrete and farsighted plans and strategies are being worked upon. Innovation, modification, changes and publicity efforts are on to make better the things. The improved education, basic facilities, performance of both teacher and taught, inclusion of teachers training/orientation programs are in pipe line for makeover of the school. * A telebridge contact via W6SRJ with students at AstroNuts Kids Space Club Academy, Duncan Observatory, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, is scheduled for Sat 2016-05-14 17:37:12 UTC 33 deg. The scheduled astronaut is Timothy Peake KG5BVI. The “Whats up in Space” Camp & STEM Contest was created by a 13 year-old, Brett Bielecki and father Ray, 5 years ago in order to ignite the curiosities of hundreds of elementary school children to learn about “all things space”. Our volunteer-based space camp is held at the world famous David Dunlap Observatory in Richmond Hill Ontario where the children are engaged and inspired by 20 volunteer space educators, multiple Skype guests and educational activities in a fun and educational setting. The children’s STEM contest brings together dozens of innovative future astronauts, scientists educators and engineers in the spirit of competition. Our space camp was launched because of the high interest for space education by elementary school students, their parents and teachers when they recognized the value of the “AstroNuts kids space club." Watch http://www.ariss.org/upcoming-contacts.html for information about upcoming contacts as they are scheduled. [ANS thanks ARISS, Dave, AA4KN, and Charlie, AJ9N for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over Biomass 432-438 MHz Synthetic Aperture Radar Satellite BBC News report: UK wins satellite contract to 'weigh' Earth's forests with P-Band 432-438 MHz Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-36195562 BBC news story says P-Band 432-438 MHz Synthetic Aperture Radar has never before been flown in space - this is not strictly true as AIST-2D launched a few days ago carries one. [ANS thanks Trevor, M5AKA 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, Joe Spier, K6WAO k6wao at amsat dot org

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Re: [amsat-bb] Source for 3" (76mm) pipe for dish mount?
by Gregory Beat 09 May '16

09 May '16

Check with your Virginia area Satellite shops that install rural 1.2 meter dishes for TV and Internet services. OnLine Metals, a division of ThyssenKrupp Materials North America You can specify Alloy desired, thickness/Schedule, and Length. http://www.onlinemetals.com K1CRA Ham Store sells Penninger Radio products (now located in Tennessee), ask for availability. https://www.k1cra.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=1840 ---- w9gb Sent from iPad Air Sent from iPad Air

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Alfa Spid controller
by Andrew Glasbrenner 09 May '16

09 May '16

I'm looking for a spare Alfa Spid or HyGain controller for the RAS rotors. Anyone have one? 73, Drew KO4MA

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ARISS contact with Kings School, Ottery St Mary, Devon, UK
by n4csitwo＠bellsouth.net 09 May '16

09 May '16

An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at The Kings School, Ottery St Mary, Devon, UK on 09 May. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 09:26 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be direct between GB1SS and GB1OSM. The contact should be audible over the UK and adjacent areas. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English. The King's School is an 11-18 comprehensive school with approximately 1150 students of which 230 are in the Sixth Form. It has a long and proud history that can be traced back to a fourteenth century choir school which was replaced in 1545 by Henry VIII in 1545 with "The King's School". Although The King's School became an academy in 2011 we continue to work in close partnership with Devon County Council and our fellow secondary schools to ensure that we offer the best educational opportunities possible. Our inclusive philosophy of "Achievement for All" encapsulates our belief that every person who enters The King's School has unique skills and potential which we believe we have the creativity and ability to unlock. We were graded Outstanding by OfSTED in 2011, and in the latest 2014 OfSTED inspection we were again graded Outstanding but this time in every category. The report endorsed the school's belief that its ethos has a hugely positive impact on student achievement. We are extremely proud of our students and of the brilliant examination results they achieve year on year. However, we are also incredibly proud of the myriad of extra-curricular activities in which they are involved. This richness of opportunity is central to what we believe develops our students into well rounded young people. We are very much a community school, working very closely with our hugely supportive parents, Governors, excellent partner primary schools, local business representatives and a wide range of other agencies to provide opportunities for all. Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. You have missed Christmas and Easter with your family and friends - how have you celebrated big events in space? 2. We have seen videos of you playing about in microgravity on the ISS - what is your favourite thing to do when 'weightless?' 3. From your elevated advantage point, looking down on the Earth, has your perception of the events on our planet, such as conflicts and wars been altered? Does the change in perception give any insight that we could learn from? 4. Having spent many months looking at the Earth from afar, where is the first place you would go for a family holiday when you get home? 5. Over 500 astronauts have been into space, but only 12 have set foot on the moon. Do you think that we will return people to the moon again in the future? How will your research on the ISS help us if we did? 6. We have learned about your experiments on how the human body adapts to conditions in space. How will the research improve our quality of life on Earth? 7. Taking into account Einstein's theory of relativity, do you think you are aging slower because you are travelling faster then the Earth? 8. I often stare into the inky blackness of space and wonder if the universe is expanding, then what is it expanding into? Has your time in space given you any insight? 9. Is the sunrise more spectacular from your perspective? 10. After 6 years of training to be an astronaut, I bet it's all been worth it. The experiments you are doing are amazing, but did you ever struggle with Science at school? What would you say to anyone that finds it difficult? 11. How do you get your air in space? Do you bring it up in tanks, or do you make it in the space station, if so, how? Also, do you have a special 'space mixture' of air or is it the same as we have on earth? 12. Do you and the other astronauts onboard control the space station, or is it controlled from Earth? 13. Research shows that your sleeping position can affect the kind of dreams that you have. Have you noticed any difference in your sleep patterns or dreams during your time in space? 14. I am reading 'The Astronaut's Handbook' at the moment, which is fascinating. If you could take one thing into space to make life more comfortable, or easier, what would it be? 15. We have enjoyed listening to your music choices on 'Space Rocks' - what is your all-time favourite song to listen to in space? 16. How do you keep the temperature constant inside the space station? 17. What would happen to a goldfish if you took it up to the ISS? Would it just float around in a bubble of water? 18. Do you have a special 'space mixture' of air or is it the same as we have on earth? 19. How will your research on the ISS help us return people to the moon? PLEASE CHECK THE FOLLOWING FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ARISS UPDATES: Visit ARISS on Facebook. We can be found at Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS). To receive our Twitter updates, follow @ARISS_status Next planned event(s): 1. H.A.L. School, Lucknow, India, telebridge via K6DUE The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Tim Kopra KE5UDN Contact is a go for Option #7: Thu 2016-05-12 08:11:20 UTC 2. AstroNuts Kids Space Club Academy, Duncan Observatory, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, telebridge via W6SRJ The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is Timothy Peake KG5BVI Contact is a go for Option #1: Sat 2016-05-14 17:37:12 UTC ABOUT ARISS Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or informal education venues. With the help of experienced amateur radio volunteers, ISS crews speak directly with large audiences in a variety of public forums. Before and during these radio contacts, students, teachers, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org, www.amsat.org, and www.arrl.org. Thank you & 73, David - AA4KN --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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Monday DM16 FO-29 1905z & SO-50 2111z (plus?)
by Kevin M 09 May '16

09 May '16

Planning to be in DM19 on Monday, FO-29 at 1905z & SO-50 at 21117z. There is also an SO-50 pass at 1932z and I will certainly try but it is less than 10 degrees for me and I don't know how much will get over the mountains to the east, just by looking at pictures. Same story with FO-29 at 2050z, but I will try. - Look for me around 435.935-945 on FO-29. Also, I am finding several stations are either not tuning up or tuning way off of me causing me to have to waste time 'running around'. I am running full duplex, by the way. Again, I want to ask folks not to routinely blind call, not to tail end and make your calls as short as possible. I am only running 5 watts and higher power levels will hit the AGC and cause me to loose the bird. My focus, as with all these grids, is to work those that need them for 'new ones'. Thanks and hope to see you 'from the high desert!' - Kevin N4UFO

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Sunday DM16 FO-29 2000z & SO-50 2047z
by Kevin M 08 May '16

08 May '16

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, should be in place from Armagosa Valley DM16 for two passes today. FO-29 at 2000z & SO-50 at 2047z. Again, I want to ask folks not to routinely blind call, not to tail end and make your calls as short as possible. I am only running 5 watts and higher power levels will hit the AGC and cause me to loose the bird. My focus, as with all these grids, is to work those that need them for 'new ones'. Thanks and hope to see you 'from the high desert!' - Kevin N4UFO

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Satellite Activation - GS3PYE/P - Isle of Arran (EU-123 / IO75HO)
by Peter Goodhall 08 May '16

08 May '16

Hi All, During the 22nd of May till the 29th of May 2016 the Camb-Hams (GS3PYE/P) will be operating from the Isle of Arran on the west of the island near Balliekine IO75HO (EU-123), the activation will include HF, 6/4/2m along with satellites. The location on the island favours the South/West/North as there's a hill to the east, but hopefully that will not limit us. We'll be taking along an ICOM IC-910, Wimo X-Quads, Preamps and Yaesu G-5500 rotator all controlled by our favourite bit of software SatPC32 for backup I'll have my FT-817 and Arrow but this kit hasn't let us down yet for the last few trips. The plans to operate on all satellites both FM/SSB/CW if you want a CW QSO you'll need to contact us as I'll need to find a suitable operator ;-) I'll try to post regular updates on Twitter either using my own account @2e0sql or the groups account @g3pye and also posting updates on the website http://dx.camb-hams.com Look forward to working you all in a couple of weeks time. 73, -- Peter Goodhall, 2E0SQL

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XW-2A Reception Report
by Hal Bilodeau 08 May '16

08 May '16

>From W9BBM – XW-2A received on 5/07/16 at 23:39Z Beacon Frequency: 145.662 TLM: BJ1SB DFH XW2 XW2 AAA RTR RUT RKN RUV RK6 R6V RMV RR6 UUV RNV TK4 MBR TTT TTT 6IT TTT TTI TTT TTT 6RK VTT CAMSAT CAMSAT (See attached for decoded version). Signal Strength – 579 Thank you! Hal Bilodeau Sent from Mail for Windows 10

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K4T on SO-50
by skristof＠etczone.com 08 May '16

08 May '16

Thank you to the K4T team on Dry Tortugas for being on SO-50 this morning! Steve AI9IN

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Re: [amsat-bb] QIKCOM-2 Question
by Rick Tejera 08 May '16

08 May '16

Bob, thanks. The concept is intriguing. Looking forward to trying it out 73 Rick Tejera K7TEJSaguaroAstro(a)cox.net623-203-4121 -------- Original message -------- From: Robert Bruninga <bruninga(a)usna.edu> Date: 07/05/2016 17:31 (GMT-07:00) To: Rick Tejera <saguaroastro(a)cox.net>, amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: RE: [amsat-bb] QIKCOM-2 Question You fill in with a SPACE and a SPACE is the first press of the 0 key. So it would have the key code of 1 I think... Bob -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Rick Tejera Sent: Saturday, May 07, 2016 6:01 PM To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] QIKCOM-2 Question A quick question for Bob Bruninga. I just read your article in the AMSAT JOURNAL regarding QIKCOM-2 and it's DTMF input. The example you use to determine the DTMF string to transmit your call & grid usesyour 6 charachter call. I didn't see anything (unless I missed it) about shot er calls. I presume the receiver on the satellite will be expecting 16 DTMF tones. How do I account for my 5 character call? I followed your example as best I could and came out with the following for K7TEJ & DM33: *173357832154# Did I get it right? If not, what did I miss? Thanks in advance. I'm looking fowarding to trying this bird out. 73DE Rick K7TEJ Rick Tejera K7TEJSaguaroAstro(a)cox.net623-203-4121 _______________________________________________ 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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QIKCOM-2 Question
by Rick Tejera 08 May '16

08 May '16

A quick question for Bob Bruninga. I just read your article in the AMSAT JOURNAL regarding QIKCOM-2 and it's DTMF input. The example you use to determine the DTMF string to transmit your call & grid usesyour 6 charachter call. I didn't see anything (unless I missed it) about shot er calls. I presume the receiver on the satellite will be expecting 16 DTMF tones. How do I account for my 5 character call? I followed your example as best I could and came out with the following for K7TEJ & DM33: *173357832154# Did I get it right? If not, what did I miss? Thanks in advance. I'm looking fowarding to trying this bird out. 73DE Rick K7TEJ Rick Tejera K7TEJSaguaroAstro(a)cox.net623-203-4121

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Re: [amsat-bb] QIKCOM-2 Question
by Rick Tejera 07 May '16

07 May '16

Correction on my DTMF string: Should be *1733578353154# Fat fingers, small keypad... Rick Rick Tejera K7TEJSaguaroAstro(a)cox.net623-203-4121 -------- Original message -------- From: Rick Tejera <saguaroastro(a)cox.net> Date: 07/05/2016 15:00 (GMT-07:00) To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] QIKCOM-2 Question A quick question for Bob Bruninga. I just read your article in the AMSAT JOURNAL regarding QIKCOM-2 and it's DTMF input. The example you use to determine the DTMF string to transmit your call & grid usesyour 6 charachter call. I didn't see anything (unless I missed it) about shot er calls. I presume the receiver on the satellite will be expecting 16 DTMF tones. How do I account for my 5 character call? I followed your example as best I could and came out with the following for K7TEJ & DM33: *173357832154# Did I get it right? If not, what did I miss? Thanks in advance. I'm looking fowarding to trying this bird out. 73DE Rick K7TEJ Rick Tejera K7TEJSaguaroAstro(a)cox.net623-203-4121 _______________________________________________ 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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Satellite programs in Linux?
by Larry 07 May '16

07 May '16

I have been reading about SatPC, which seems like a fine piece of software, but it runs on Windows, a serious flaw IMO. Are there any versions of SatPC for Linux? If not, are there any other software packages similar to SatPC for Linux? Thanks in advance from an old keypounder dragging himself into the 21st century, Larry W8ANT

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