- AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

FUNcube in TX Factor TV show
by M5AKA 21 Mar '14

21 Mar '14

FUNcube-1 and the FUNcube Dongle SDR are featured in the latest episode of the TV show TX Factor. AMSAT-UK's Howard Long G6LVB and Graham Shirville G3VZV are interviewed at the National Radio Centre in Bletchley Park. Watch the show at http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/21/funcube-in-tx-factor-tv-show/ ---- Trevor M5AKA AMSAT-UK Website http://amsat-uk.org/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/AMSAT-UK/208113275898396 Twitter https://twitter.com/AMSAT_UK ----

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Ham Video
by Gaston Bertels 21 Mar '14

21 Mar '14

HamTV Bulletin #10 March 21, 2014 Ham Video BlankTransmissions Planning Presently, Ham Video is transmitting permanently a "blank" image and no audio in configuration 3: * ARISS antenna 43 * Frequency 2395 MHz * Symbol rate 1.3 Ms/s Transmission will continue in this configuration till the end of the week. Sunday March 23, Ham Video will start transmitting in configuration 4, i.e. 2395MHz and 2.0 Ms/s. Due to SpaceX docking and related operations, Ham Video blank transmissions will come to an end March 31. The last commissioning step will be planned in April or in May 2014. We will keep you informed on the precise date and time. Reports on reception of blank transmissions are very welcome. Reports can be filed via this webpage: <http://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_FSTV/submit.php>http://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_FSTV/submit.php Participants using the Tutioune receiving software can record as well as stream detailed parameters of the received signal. Please see: <http://www.vivadatv.org/>http://www.vivadatv.org/ Thursday March 20, three ground stations tested chained reception of Ham Video signals. Jean Pierre Courjaud reported on this experiment on his website. The report is available at <http://www.vivadatv.org/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=294&p=785#p785>http://www.vivadatv.org/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=294&p=785#p785 Thank you for your participation to the Ham Video testing campaign. 73, Gaston Bertels, ON4WF ARISS Europe chairman

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Frequencies announced for QB50 Precursor CubeSats
by M5AKA 21 Mar '14

21 Mar '14

The QB50 project will be launching two precursor 2U CubeSats, QB50p1 and QB50p2, both carrying amateur radio transponder payloads. The launch is currently planned for May 2014 from the Russian ICBM base at Dombarovsky near Yasny on a Dnepr rocket manufactured in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine. The satellites will be put into a 650 km Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO). http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/20/frequencies-for-qb50-precursor-cubesats/ Launch dates for KickSat and its 104 Sprite satellites http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/20/new-launch-dates-for-kicksat-and-its-104-spr… ---- Trevor M5AKA AMSAT-UK Website http://amsat-uk.org/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/AMSAT-UK/208113275898396 Twitter https://twitter.com/AMSAT_UK ----

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Person of note: Jack A Kinsler - obit
by Arthur Feller 21 Mar '14

21 Mar '14

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/15/us/jack-kinzler-skylabs-savior-dies-at-94… http://afeller.us

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DSTAR net
by wa4hfn＠comcast.net 20 Mar '14

20 Mar '14

To all that WORK the satellites and those that have D STAR The net is tonight at 0100 utc on ref60b Would like to hear comments on the Icom 7100 and any bragging about new grids AND new countries worked Thanks WA4HFN em55 Damon

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Ham Video chaining experiment
by Gaston Bertels 20 Mar '14

20 Mar '14

The BATC screen was recorded during the chained stations experiment this morning. Please see: http://vivadatv.org/images/HamTV_20_03_2014_8h24UTC.html Total time of solid video copy was 7'40''. 73, Gaston Bertels - ON4WF ARISS-Europe chairman

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Re: Uni-Trac 2003 Parallel Port Version
by Matty Cunningham 20 Mar '14

20 Mar '14

Hi Mike, Not sure if this may help or not (depends on how you run your DDE) - and if your interface is compatible is it same protocol as AMSAT-IF100? I have got this to work with a G6LVB serial type tracker. I have been using the last free version of HRD that Simon Brown released (5.0 build 2893) - not sure if it works in the commercialised version - guess it probably would (will need to install on both machines). The HRD satellite tracking software can connect via TCP/IP to a 'remote server' (DDE running on your machine with interface) - (Menu - Tools - DDE Server). Setup the remote server with the IP address of your machine with the tracking interface, open firewall ports on both machines for ports 7815, create a new UDP password if you wish. Select the satellite you want to track, and az/el info etc will be sent from the Sat Tracking software to the DDE server. On the machine with the interface, run HRD Satellite tracking DDE Server (small executable in the HRD folder). Check you're using the same password as the other machine, when the other machine connects - you should see DDE date fill the DDE server screen. What I do is then run the HRD rotator software, pointing at the comm port for my interface, and connect this to the DDE server (Nova format) - this pulls the DDE strings from the local 'DDE Server' software that has it's own DDE info sent via the network from my main machine running HRD Sattellite tracking. You may be able to use the above step with your Uni-Trac software and interface - if it accepts DDE data from the DDE server. A bit convoluted - but it works, my solution now is to run a Raspberry Pi with a serial 'server' - connected to my rotator, driven by my main machine with a VSP virtual serial port as i don't have enough 'real' serial ports on my main PC. The rotator software 'thinks' it is sending the rotator commands to a local serial port, but is connecting remotely to the Raspberry Pi, connected to my serial tracking interface . Hope you get it running. Matty MD0MAN Uni-Trac 2003 Parallel Port Version - Any Users outthere ? Message-ID: <8D11155FE568006-FA0-3181A(a)webmail-m202.sysops.aol.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Mike, I have the same combo and tried a Win 7 machine (laptop) with a USB-to-Parallel adapter to no avail (I'm neither a PC guru nor patient). I gave up and just keep a legacy machine running XP for this controller. It has worked reliably since I bought it more than a decade ago. 73, Jerry, M0GOE *********************************************************************************************** Greetings, I'm still running a Uni-Trac Parallel port interface with ZL2AMD's Uni-Trac 3.0.b software on Windows XP to control a Yaesu G5400B. Yes its old, and yes, it works fine. It even has DDE capability to run it from SATPC32, which is credited to DK1TB (Erich - SATPC32 Author). Question, is there anyone out there using this tracker on an O/S later/other than Windows XP ? (If so, I'd be interested in the details) -- 73 Mike

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SUWS VHF/UHF/Microwave WebSDR update + ISEE-3 / ICE
by M5AKA 19 Mar '14

19 Mar '14

The SUWS WebSDR, a VHF/UHF/Microwave online radio, now has improved antennas for reception of amateur radio satellites and High Altitude Balloons (HAB) http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/19/suws-vhfuhfmicrowave-websdr/ Also on the AMSAT-UK site Der Spiegel newspaper features an article about the hopes of radio amateurs to transmit commands to control the NASA ISEE-3 / ICE spacecraft http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/19/can-radio-amateurs-command-the-isee-3-ice-sp… ---- Trevor M5AKA AMSAT-UK Website http://amsat-uk.org/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/AMSAT-UK/208113275898396 Twitter https://twitter.com/AMSAT_UK ----

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W1AW/7 Arizona satellite activity - 273 QSOs!
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 19 Mar '14

19 Mar '14

Hi! After receiving John K8YSE's file from his activity as W1AW/7, I generated two log files for my QSOs (from home most of the week, plus the Scottsdale AZ hamfest last Saturday morning), I have sent all 3 log files to the W1AW/7 Arizona coordinator. John logged 164 QSOs as W1AW/7, and I logged 109 QSOs (80 from home, 29 more from the hamfest), for a total of 273 satellite QSOs as W1AW/7 from Arizona in the past week. All QSOs were completed from DM43. I think this exceeds the satellite QSO counts for any other W1AW/x state activity so far in 2014. John and I worked SO-50 and all 4 SSB satellites (AO-7, AO-73, FO-29, and VO-52) as W1AW/7. Along with our satellite activity, there were almost 80 other operators putting W1AW/7 on the other bands from locations all over Arizona. One of the coordinators posted a schedule to help the operators keep track of when to operate, which also helped others looking for chances to work W1AW/7 in different band/mode combinations. I hope you were able to work W1AW/7 on HF, if you work those bands along with the satellites. Since ARRL is handling the QSL chores including uploading the logs to LOTW for the W1AW/7 activity, please be patient if you are waiting for the LOTW confirmation or want a QSL card for a W1AW/7 QSO. I don't know when our logs will get to ARRL, and I don't know when ARRL will upload them into LOTW or start processing QSL requests. Thanks to John for being able to work his K8YSE/7 station as W1AW/7 on so many passes in the past week. Having John working passes during weekdays in particular helped greatly. We coordinated our operating to ensure we covered most passes that weren't in the middle of the night - and didn't try to work the same passes as W1AW/7. I had fun getting on each evening, including the AO-73 passes in the late evenings, along with much of Saturday and Sunday to help our effort. I hope that we were able to work anyone trying for a W1AW/7 satellite QSO. Arizona will have the W1AW/7 call once again in late August and early September, including the Labor Day weekend, if you missed working W1AW/7 in the past week. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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Re: Uni-Trac 2003 Parallel Port Version - Any Users outthere ?
by K5OE 19 Mar '14

19 Mar '14

Mike, I have the same combo and tried a Win 7 machine (laptop) with a USB-to-Parallel adapter to no avail (I'm neither a PC guru nor patient). I gave up and just keep a legacy machine running XP for this controller. It has worked reliably since I bought it more than a decade ago. 73, Jerry, M0GOE *********************************************************************************************** Greetings, I'm still running a Uni-Trac Parallel port interface with ZL2AMD's Uni-Trac 3.0.b software on Windows XP to control a Yaesu G5400B. Yes its old, and yes, it works fine. It even has DDE capability to run it from SATPC32, which is credited to DK1TB (Erich - SATPC32 Author). Question, is there anyone out there using this tracker on an O/S later/other than Windows XP ? (If so, I'd be interested in the details) -- 73 Mike

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External Amplifier Legality Questions
by Zach Leffke 19 Mar '14

19 Mar '14

Hello everyone, I have a question about FCC Rules regarding external amplifiers. I am considering re-purposing a wideband commercial amplifier for amateur use as a final stage for my ground station. The amplifier is capable of producing about 100W of power between 20 MHz and 500 MHz. I want to use this amp in conjunction with coax relays to switch between the 2m band and the 70cm band depending upon which spacecraft I'm operating. My questions are as follows: Is it legal to use an amplifier designed for commercial applications in the Amateur Bands? This amplifier does not meet spurious signal suppression requirements, so I plan to use band specific filters after the amp to make sure I knock any spurs down below the required limits. Does the amplifier have to be type certified for use in the amateur bands? As far as I can tell reading Part 97.315(subsection 3), The amplifier itself does not need to be type certified if: "(3)The amplifier is sold to an amateur radio operator or to a dealer, the amplifier is purchased in used condition by a dealer, /or the amplifier is sold to an amateur radio operator for use at that operator's station/. [emphasis added]" I'm planning to use it in my amateur station so I don't think it has to be type certified. Am I missing something? Also, The amplifier's 2nd Harmonic is about -30dBc down at 145 MHz. According to 97.307e: "The mean power of any spurious emission from a station transmitter or external RF power amplifier transmitting on a frequency between 30--225 MHz must be at least 60 dB below the mean power of the fundamental." I'm planning to use a filter with about 40 dB of suppression at 290 MHz (2nd harmonic), so I get about -70 dB of suppression at the second harmonic, meeting the emission requirements of 97.307e. I see no specific spurious signal suppression requirement for the 70cm band. The amplifier has similar 2nd Harmonic characteristics and I'm planning to use a similar filter for the 70cm band so the spurs should be down by about 70 dB of the fundamental mean power as well. The only wording I see that might apply is 97.307c: "All spurious emissions from a station transmitter must be reduced to the greatest extent practicable. If any spurious emission, including chassis or power line radiation, causes harmful interference to the reception of another radio station, the licensee of the interfering amateur station is required to take steps to eliminate the interference, in accordance with good engineering practice. " I'm taking steps to eliminate interference by suppressing the 2nd Harmonic down about 70dB from the fundamental "in good engineering practice" so I think I meet all the requirements. Again, what am I missing? I've heard of lots of hams re-purposing amplifiers for amateur use without legal concern, and I think this might be the case for my situation. I'd like some advice from those that may have gone down this road in the past. Any and all feedback from the group on this would be greatly appreciated. If I'm way off, please let me know. Thanks in advance. Sincerely, Zach, KJ4QLP

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Re: External Amplifier Legality Questions
by Zach Leffke 19 Mar '14

19 Mar '14

Haha! I knew I was going to get questions about the peak power levels. I should have mentioned this in the first email, but it was already pretty long winded (so here goes a long winded reply). First up about my original question about legal issues: It looks like the consensus is I'm good to go. Right now based on calculation, I should be legal with enough suppression. I will measure the system performance before going on the air to ensure that I am legal. To address the numerous concerns about peak power: So the 100W figure is the peak power the amp can deliver. I will /not/ be operating this amp anywhere near its peak power levels when working the birds. So do not fear! I won't be blasting the birds. However, increasing the scope of my interests in the hobby a bit from Amateur Satellites to Amateur Radio in general, having a canned system capable of about 100W (a little higher at VHF, and just about 100W at UHF) could come in handy for things like VHF and up contesting. This system has overlapping amateur radio goals, of which satellites are one. The Radio: I am not using a traditional hardware radio, but rather an SDR (ettus research B210) my wife bought me for my birthday (best present ever) that only puts out about +10dBm (plenty to drive this amp). The Antennas: I'll be using M2 Antennas products with "gobs" of gain, further reducing the needed TX power requirements. I do want to experiment in the future with some homebrew omnis (lindenblad, eggbeater, etc..) and being able to bump up the power a bit on TX without having to worry will be a nice feature. To address Paul's note about control: My involvement to date with the Fox project is with the camera card, not with control ops. However, I am VERY interested in the possibility of joining the Operations team and becoming a control station for AMSAT for the Fox series (and beyond). However, for all my "book-learning," and LOTS of RX only ops on the birds, I only have a handful of actual contacts under my belt. So right now I'm just trying to get a station up and running to increase my activity on the birds. Maybe down the road when the bugs have been worked out of the system and I am a little less green, then I'll look at control ops a little more closely, and having a decent amp could come in handy there as well (assuming of course the AMSAT ops team needs/wants me to participate in control ops). Thank you very much to everyone for the quick feedback. I appreciate everyone taking the time to help educate me. -Zach, KJ4QLP

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Ham Video
by Gaston Bertels 19 Mar '14

19 Mar '14

Ham Video chaining Thursday March 20, at approximately 08.24 UTC, three stations will stream Ham Video on BATC server: ISS1 = F6DZP (Poitiers, France) ISS2 = IK1SLD (Casale Monferrato, Italy) ISS3 = Kayser Italia (Livorno, Italy) The stream will show the Tutioune screen. Please observe the TS LED and the Constellations. When Constellations form 4 quadrants and TS (Transport Stream) LED turns green, we have solid video copy. Please start viewing at 08.20 UTC (09.20 CEWT). You will observe how video reception starts in Poitiers and passes to Casale and to Livorno. Total time of solid reception should amount to 7 minutes. www.batc.tv select ISS select ISS select View stream select Multiscreen select ISS1+ ISS2 + ISS3 select Watch Enjoy 73, Gaston - ON4WF Gaston Bertels, ON4WF ARISS-Europe chairman Avenue Paul Hymans 117 B29 1200 Brussels Belgium Tel; +32 2 771 67 74 gaston.bertels(a)skynet.be

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100 Planet Lab CubeSats to image entire Earth every 24 hours
by M5AKA 19 Mar '14

19 Mar '14

It looks like the next 100 Dove CubeSats will be deployed by conventional launch vehicles presumably into a higher orbit which will give them an extended lifetime compared to the 5 or 6 months that the ISS offers. But it may completely tie up the entire CubeSat capacity of 3-5 rockets which could produce a shortage of launch capacity in 2015/16. See http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/19/100-cubesats-to-image-earth/ ---- Trevor M5AKA AMSAT-UK Website http://amsat-uk.org/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/AMSAT-UK/208113275898396 Twitter https://twitter.com/AMSAT_UK ----

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Galileo satellite
by Richard Ferryman 19 Mar '14

19 Mar '14

I have been wondering whether occasional bursts of noise/data in the 23cm band are emanating from Galileo satellites as they seem to come from an antenna elevation above 20 degrees. To help narrow things down I want to set up Nova with the Galileo satellites to see if there is any correlation with the noise bursts. Does anyone know what Galileo satellite names / numbers are active so I can set up Nova - assuming kep data is actually available for these birds. Dick G4BBH

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grid locator program
by george hinkle 19 Mar '14

19 Mar '14

I'm planning a trip this spring and plan on working some of the hard grids west of me. I'm in EM59. I'm looking for a program that I can figure the grids both ways. Type in my longitude and latitude and get the grid. Type in the grid and know the longitude and latitude of that grid. If anyone knows of a program it sure would help me. I have a Mac or PC would prefer using the Mac. george wi9i

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Amazon Smile
by Gus 18 Mar '14

18 Mar '14

God above, who thinks these names up? Anyway, Amazon Smile, with AMSAT as the recipient. It'll probably only result in a buck or two coming your way, but if enough people sign up, you might get $50, which apparently is all it costs to build a hamsat! -- Gus 8P6SM The Easternmost Isle

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Malaysian airplane mystery
by Anthony Japha 18 Mar '14

18 Mar '14

Thanks much for all the thoughtful comments. The fact that the sat pings the plane is very revealing because it means that the timing of the return transmission from the plane does not have to be independently timed. That makes the calculation of distance more credible. Let’s hope that one day we’ll have a bird up that high, i.e. 22,000 mi. 73, Tony, N2UN LM 183 --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com

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Field Day 2014
by Bruce 18 Mar '14

18 Mar '14

Field Day 2014 is right around the corner. If you would like to pick up your copy of the AMSAT Field Day rules, they are now available at http://www.amsat.org click on the Event drop down and select Field Day 2014 (file is a PDF) You can also get a copy of the rules in PDF or DOCX formats from my website http://amsatnet.com/2014fd.docx http://amsatnet.com/2014fd.pdf 73...bruce -- Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards ARRL Awards Manager (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0100z on Echolink - Conference *AMSAT* Also live streaming MP3 at http://www.amsatnet.com Podcast at http://www.amsatnet.com/podcast.xml or iTunes Latest satellite news on the ARRL Audio News http://www.arrl.org AMSAT on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/amsat

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JUNK
by wa4hfn＠comcast.net 18 Mar '14

18 Mar '14

I thought this BB was for making satellite contacts on ham birds, I see everything but that on here. Come on guys lets work the birds and make grid trips and things like that , Leave the spam off. Support AMSAT NA not cube sats that we cant work

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Re: Amazon Smile
by Clint Bradford 18 Mar '14

18 Mar '14

I am a Prime member, and also a merchant on Amazon, and did not know about this program! I donate a portion of eBay proceeds ... but THANK YOU for the heads up on Amazon Smile! I just entered "AMSAT" (without the quotation marks) and it found AMSAT-NA ... ===================================================== Amazon will donate 0.5% of your AmazonSmile purchase price. We will reach out to RADIO AMATEUR SATELLITE CORPORATION to ensure it is ready to accept donations from Amazon. ======================================= Clint Bradford, K6LCS 909-241-7666

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Re: Rocket Man
by Clint Bradford 18 Mar '14

18 Mar '14

Damon, just how much do you donate to AMSAT-NA annually? And how much is dedicated to them in your will? I just need to know if I should continue to participate in a fun, space-related thread where we are discussing the history of music and the history of space exploration and music playlists for amateur radio-related events - or if my posts might negatively affect the financial health and well-being of any AMSAT chapter. Clint Bradford, K6LCS AMSAT-NA member, benefactor / AMSAT-UK, member

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Re: Rocket Man
by Clint Bradford 18 Mar '14

18 Mar '14

Damon, just how much do you donate to AMSAT-NA annually? And how much is dedicated to them in your will? I just need to know if I should continue to participate in a fun, space-related thread where we are discussing the history of music and the history of space exploration and music playlists for amateur radio-related events - or if my posts might negatively affect the financial health and well-being of any AMSAT chapter. Clint Bradford, K6LCS AMSAT-NA member, benefactor / AMSAT-UK, member

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The Chosen!!!
by Clint Bradford 18 Mar '14

18 Mar '14

OH MY GAWD - I was just chosen to attend this event! Meeting and rubbing shoulders with Astronaut Luca Parmitano for an afternoon in April ... That's the GOOD news. The BAD news? The meeting is at the European Space Agency site in Rome, Italy. 'Cuse me while I check out Travelocity for air fares ... Clint Clint Bradford, K6LCS 909-241-7666

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$50sat MO-76
by Howie DeFelice 18 Mar '14

18 Mar '14

While it is true that MO-76 does not have a transponder, the satellite WILL send you a signal report if you send it a correctly formatted data packet. To do this requires some technical ability. The satellite uses an RFM-22 transceiver and receives FSK, not AFSK, data signals. The packet must be formatted to the RFM-22 specification, it's not AX.25. All the required information for doing this is outlined in the $50sat communications document available from our dropbox account. The dropbox can be accessed through a link at www.50dollarsat.info. The MO-76 team will even award a Certificate of Technical Achievement to anyone that can confirm the two way QSO with the satellite. Hey, it's the best three guys working from their hamshacks can do in a 2" x 2" x 3" satellite.....at least until next time :) Howie AB2S

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Re: JUNK
by John Wright 18 Mar '14

18 Mar '14

At 18:49 17/03/2014, you wrote: >I thought this BB was for making satellite contacts on ham birds, I >see everything but that on here. >Come on guys lets work the birds and make grid trips and things like >that , Leave the spam off. >Support AMSAT NA not cube sats that we cant work Seems to me that a big part of these posts is about the capabilities of satellite communication, & whilst not really amateur related, it is satellite related

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Re: FUNcube-1 (AO-73) Continuous Transponder Test Update
by Andrew Glasbrenner 18 Mar '14

18 Mar '14

Take a look at http://warehouse.funcube.org.uk/realtime.html?satelliteId=2#tabs-rf You'll find max and min values listed for each telemetry channel. For example the comm system temperature ranges from -6 to 19.7 degree C Lots to explore on that website. 73, Drew KO4MA -----Original Message----- >From: Rich/wa4bue <richard.siff(a)verizon.net> >Sent: Mar 18, 2014 7:44 AM >To: M5AKA <m5aka(a)yahoo.co.uk>, AMSAT BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> >Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: FUNcube-1 (AO-73) Continuous Transponder Test Update > >What are the temperature extremes on the satellites. > >God bless > >R >W4BUE >_______________________________________________ >Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. >Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! >Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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auto trackers for sale
by Perry Yantis 18 Mar '14

18 Mar '14

I have and no longer use these auto tracking devices. Unitrac 2000 set up for a parallel port and a TS 2000. Endevour Auto tracker this will control the antennas but the tuning chip is not there (I think you can still get one?). $75 each and I will pay shipping. These items have not been used for 4-5 years, but they should still work OK. Perry WB8OTH py41(a)att.net sent from my Apple Macbook Pro

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FUNcube-1 (AO-73) Continuous Transponder Test Update
by M5AKA 18 Mar '14

18 Mar '14

An update on the FUNcube-1 (AO-73) transponder test this Saturday can be seen at http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/18/funcube-1-continuous-transponder-test/ Also on the AMSAT-UK site WRAPS Antenna Rotor System Introduction http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/17/wraps-antenna-rotor-system-introduction/ HamTV received on 2395 MHz http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/17/hamtv-received-on-2395-mhz/ ---- Trevor M5AKA AMSAT-UK Website http://amsat-uk.org/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/AMSAT-UK/208113275898396 Twitter https://twitter.com/AMSAT_UK ----

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Re: ROCKET MAN
by Clint Bradford 18 Mar '14

18 Mar '14

OK, Les, YOU started this ... (grin) Here's my partial PlayList from my Yuri Gagarin party ... The Beatles, "Across the Universe" Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Bad Moon Rising” Elton John, “Bad Side of the Moon” Emerson, Lake and Palmer, “Black Moon” Marcels, “Blue Moon” Ella Fitzgerald, “Blue Moon” Diana Krall "Fly Me to the Moon" Pink Floyd, “Dark Side of the Moon” Jamiroquai, “Cosmic Girl” Dinah Washington, “Destination Moon” The Byrds, “Eight Miles High” Duran Duran, “Electric Barbarelle” Neil Young, “Falling Off the Face of the Earth” Sinatra, “Fly Me to the Moon” The Doors, "Moonlight Drive" Duran Duran, "Electric Barbarella" ELO, "Ticket to the Moon" Jimi Hendrix, "3rd Stone from the Sun" Elton John, "Rocket Man" Led Zeppelin, "Stairway to Heaven" Julie London ,"Fly Me to the Moon" The Marcels, "Blue Moon" Louis Philippe, "Yuri Gagarin" Pink Floyd, "Dark Side of the Moon" The Police, "Walking on the Moon" Will Smith, "Men in Black" Richard Strauss, "Also Sprach Zarathustra", theme to 2001: A Space Odyssey Feist, “My Moon, My Man” Van Morrison, "Moondance” Dinah Washington, "Destination Moon" John Williams, “Theme to Star Wars” Zager and Evans, "In the Year 2525 Elton John, “Rocket Man” (a live version) Nick Reece’s NEW album, “Gagarin - Son of the earth” Clint

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W1AW/7 Arizona activity tonight
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 18 Mar '14

18 Mar '14

Hi! I just worked an FO-29 pass as W1AW/7, and plan on working at least 3 more passes. First up, an AO-73 pass around 0416 UTC that will cover the continental USA. As that pass wraps up, there is a very shallow western FO-29 pass I plan to try. I should be able to barely hear the downlink around 0426-0431 UTC, in case anyone is on from Hawaii or near the US west coast. Then a shallow SO-50 pass at 0520 UTC. I might stay up for the western AO-73 pass at 0552 UTC, if anyone on the west coast will be up around that time (please e-mail me directly or send a tweet to @WD9EWK to let me know if you want to try for a QSO on that pass). I will not be able to work the later SO-50 passes, but almost nobody has been on any of those passes that approach 0700 UTC or after. John K8YSE/7 should be on passes during the day Tuesday, to wrap up the W1AW/7 Arizona activity for this week. Arizona gets the W1AW/7 call again in late August, going through the Labor Day weekend into early September, and I plan on requesting the use of the call for satellite activity. Thanks again for all the contacts as W1AW/7 this week. Again, this has been a fun week, even if we are working on some passes to make even one QSO in 10-20 minutes. It's been good to make sure that W1AW/7 has been on lots of passes, giving satellite operators a chance to log this special call. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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AMSAT Awards Update
by Bruce 18 Mar '14

18 Mar '14

Here is our latest induction into some of the AMSAT awards community. There is a pretty good batch since my last report. The following have entered into the Satellite Communicators Club for making their first satellite QSO. Alan Ehrenberg, N9EDV Benjamin Gaston, KV4RH Scott Medbury, KD5FBA Doug Birky, KB8M Richard Manderski, W2SKI Eric Stapleton, VA7TU The following have earned the AMSAT Communications Achievement Award. Richard Manderski, W2SKI, #562 The following have earned the South Africa Satellite Communications Achievement Award. Richard Manderski, W2SKI, #US190 To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org or http://www.amsatnet.com/awards.html Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards ARRL Awards Manager (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0100z on Echolink - Conference *AMSAT* Also streaming MP3 at http://www.amsatnet.com Podcast at http://www.amsatnet.com/podcast.xml or iTunes

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Uni-Trac 2003 Parallel Port Version - Any Users out there ?
by Mike Sprenger 18 Mar '14

18 Mar '14

Greetings, I'm still running a Uni-Trac Parallel port interface with ZL2AMD's Uni-Trac 3.0.b software on Windows XP to control a Yaesu G5400B. Yes its old, and yes, it works fine. It even has DDE capability to run it from SATPC32, which is credited to DK1TB (Erich - SATPC32 Author). Question, is there anyone out there using this tracker on an O/S later/other than Windows XP ? (If so, I'd be interested in the details) -- 73 Mike

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Malaysian airliner puzzle
by Anthony Japha 18 Mar '14

18 Mar '14

Those so-called arcs that are said to be possible routes for the plane look much like the outer edge of one of the Inmarsat footprints. Is there logic behind the arcs or is it oversimplified nonsense? They are said to be the result of the signals Inmarsat received. But then why wouldn’t it be possible for the plane to be anywhere in the footprint? I’m sure many in our group have good ideas. I’m not trying to start a discussion of the entire mystery, only this one narrow, but possibly misleading, aspect related to our hobby. 73, Tony, N2UN LM 183 --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com

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used trackers for sale
by Perry Yantis 17 Mar '14

17 Mar '14

I have and no longer use these auto tracking devices. Unitrac 2000 set up for a parallel port and a TS 2000. Endevour Auto tracker this will control the antennas but the tuning chip is not there (I think you can still get one?). $75 each and I will pay shipping. These items have not been used for 4-5 years, but they should still work OK. Perry WB8OTH py41(a)att.net sent from my Apple Macbook Pro

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NY Times Article On Space Start-up Companies
by B J 17 Mar '14

17 Mar '14

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/17/technology/start-ups-aim-to-conquer-space… 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL

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Malaysian airliner puzzle
by Anthony Japha 17 Mar '14

17 Mar '14

Thanks Rick, How do those sats determine distance to the source? Tony, N2UN --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com

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Reducing Orbital Debris From Batteries
by B J 17 Mar '14

17 Mar '14

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2014/03/17/esa-reduce-debris-threat-batteries/ 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL

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Rocket Man
by Les Rayburn 17 Mar '14

17 Mar '14

One of most pleasant experiences that a satellite operator could ever have, occurred for me this weekend. Saturday night, sitting third row center, only ten feet from the stage. Listening to Elton John sing "Rocket Man" with my beautiful XYL at my side. For a lifelong space enthusiast, and amateur satellite operator, it doesn't get much better than that! -- -- 73, Les Rayburn, N1LF 121 Mayfair Park Maylene, AL 35114 EM63nf 6M VUCC #1712 AMSAT #38965 Grid Bandits #222 Southeastern VHF Society Central States VHF Society Life Member Six Club #2484 Active on 6 Meters thru 1296, 10GHz & Light

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W1AW/7 (Arizona) on satellites, as of 0400 UTC 17 March
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 17 Mar '14

17 Mar '14

Hi! It has been fun working satellites with the W1AW/7 call over the past few days. Especially this weekend, between the Scottsdale AZ hamfest yesterday and getting up early this morning to start on the satellites at 6am (1300 UTC). Add in other passes John K8YSE worked from his Arizona station, and I think W1AW/7 was on most passes workable from Arizona starting very early this morning into this evening. If I didn't need to get some more sleep tonight before going back to work, I would have tried for one or two more passes tonight before calling it a night. I logged 36 QSOs as W1AW/7 today, working 12 different passes between 1300 and 0400 UTC. As of now, I have logged 102 satellite QSOs as W1AW/7. John K8YSE told me yesterday afternoon how many QSOs he had logged as W1AW/7 at that point; I forget the exact number, but it was already over 100 at that time. With almost two days left before the W1AW/x calls move to two other states, the W1AW/7 Arizona effort has at least 200 satellite QSOs in the log. Thanks to everyone who has called John and me on so many passes over the past 5 days. I will come back and post an update with some statistics from our logs in a few days, once we have completed our week as W1AW/7. For Monday, John and I will go back to what we did before the weekend. K8YSE/7 will try to work passes during the daytime as W1AW/7, then I will work as W1AW/7 into the evening. I will plan on being on AO-73 at 0416 & 0552 UTC, as this will be the last evening we will have the W1AW/7 call. Then K8YSE/7 will be on during the daytime Tuesday as W1AW/7 until 2359 UTC. Even if you have already worked us, please feel free to give us a call if you hear us on a pass. All of the W1AW/x activity may be an ARRL event, but it is nice to see the interest in having those calls show up on the satellites along with the HF and other bands. If your state does not have a plan for satellite operating during its week with a W1AW/x call, please contact the coordinator for your state in the listing at: http://www.arrl.org/files/file/On%20the%20Air/W1AW_2014_sked.pdf Chances are good that you will be allowed to use the W1AW/x call for your state. If you're not careful, you may be asked (or drafted) to coordinate satellite activity for your state's week with the W1AW/x call. :-) 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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Re: Malaysian airliner puzzle
by Howie DeFelice 17 Mar '14

17 Mar '14

Hi Tony, I'm not up to speed on the current Inmarsat Aero service, but they are most likely using thee 4th generation satellite constellation which has numerous small overlapping spotbeams. They also have larger area beams as well as a global beam. There are several different aero services provided by Inmarsat for different classes of planes. I haven't seen the report you mention so I can't make any guesses how this relates to the footprints. - Howie AB2S

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AC0RA/m
by Wyatt Dirks 17 Mar '14

17 Mar '14

Good Evening This Friday the 21st of March I am going to leave westward to activate some of the rarer grids in ND, SD, CO, NE, and KA. I don't really have a set schedule and plans are pretty open at this point. I will be operating on SO50, VO52, FO29, AO73, and AO7 mode b. If you want more info on which grids I will be in and when just reply to this email and let me know. I can send updates on grids I will be in and when throughout trip but won't annoy the bb with such info. Also if there are any specific requests for grids I might be close to or going through I can try to activate those as well. Again just send me an email. I also believe and few of those states have been pretty quite on the birds lately so if you need any of those states listed above send me a note and I can try to help you out for WAS. Hope to catch you on the birds from the road. 73 Wyatt AC0RA

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FCC Invites Public Comment on 10-10.5 GHz Petition
by M5AKA 16 Mar '14

16 Mar '14

ARRL story at http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-invites-public-comment-on-petition-affecting-1… 73 Trevor M5AKA

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[CAUTION] The Satellite ID of CelesTrack is wrong!
by Roland Zurmely 16 Mar '14

16 Mar '14

Another error of Celestrak: The correct TLE for LitSat-1 are those with NORAD # 39568 (not 39570) The TLE for UAPSAT are actually the TLE for LitSat-1 ! 73 de Roland PY4ZBZ

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XF1T active on SO-50
by Humberto González 16 Mar '14

16 Mar '14

Just about a seconds after talk with John K8YSE/7 about XF1T iota NA-189, Ismael started to call on SO-50, it looks like he had some trouble to hear the sat and not to much oportunity to talk. Stay tuned and look for him. Next passes for sure will give a nice oportunity to give it a shout. 73's Bert / XE1HG Enviado desde mi Windows Phone

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Re: AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 9, Issue 93
by Leon Steenkamp 16 Mar '14

16 Mar '14

Hi, > Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 12:27:28 -0500 > From: "jerry keeton" <jkboxk(a)wildblue.net> > Just before ZACUBE-01 reaches its' apex , I hear a signal that sounds like pactor . That is on 14.099 . Never seem to find the correct software for decoding . Just wondering if that is zacube since I hear it on every pass ? > > Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 18:42:51 +0100 > From: PE0SAT | Amateur Radio <pe0sat(a)vgnet.nl> > I could be wrong, but as far as I know is the 20m experiment not yet > started > and is the 20m antenna not yet deployed. > > Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 19:53:54 +0200 > From: "Hans" <hans(a)intekom.co.za> > I have the same info. I will check tomorrow what the status is > Hans ZS6AKV > As Hans and Jan said we have not yet switched on the beacon transmitter or deployed the antenna. The initial beacon transmitted will be a short morse encoded text message, at eight or ten words per minute if I recall correctly. There is also a pseudorandom number message but that will likely only be used later on. We will definitely publicise it when we do start transmitting. In the mean time you can find more info at http://www.cput.ac.za/fsati and also on http://twitter.com/fsatispace . -- Regards, Leon Steenkamp (ZS1HD) French South African Institute of Technology Cape Peninsula University of Technology Cape Town, South Africa. Ldutsteenkamp(a)gmail.com http://www.cput.ac.za/fsati

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ZACUBE
by jerry keeton 16 Mar '14

16 Mar '14

Just before ZACUBE-01 reaches its' apex , I hear a signal that sounds like pactor . That is on 14.099 . Never seem to find the correct software for decoding . Just wondering if that is zacube since I hear it on every pass ? Jerry WB5LHD

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W1AW/7 through Saturday (15 March) evening
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 16 Mar '14

16 Mar '14

Hi! Thanks for all the QSOs with W1AW/7 at the Scottsdale Amateur Radio Club's "Springfest" hamfest in Scottsdale AZ this morning. I logged 29 QSOs on FO-29, SO-50, and VO-52 throughout the morning. This evening was not as productive for the W1AW/7 log, with only one QSO on FO-29 (thanks AC0RA!), not being able to complete a QSO at the end of an AO-73 pass, and logging XF1T on a late-evening SO-50 pass to wrap up the day. I have logged 66 QSOs as W1AW/7 so far, and I think I remember John telling me this afternoon his W1AW/7 QSO count is over 100. Between K8YSE/7 and me, we will try to have W1AW/7 on many passes on Sunday. Again, please give us a call and get in the W1AW/7 log. We are on pace to have the largest number of satellite QSOs for any of the W1AW/x activity so far in 2014. Thanks, John, for working so many passes during the week, while I was at work. Arizona still has the W1AW/7 call through 2359 UTC on Tuesday, and we plan on working passes on Monday and through Tuesday afternoon. Along with our two-man W1AW/7 satellite effort from Arizona, there are dozens of stations throughout the state working different HF bands and modes using the special call. If you want to try logging any of those before Tuesday afternoon, a schedule is available at http://www.n7cw.com/Schedule.html I am trying to post updates on my Twitter feed @WD9EWK (or visit http://twitter.com/WD9EWK to view my feed on a web page) for up-to-the-minute information on my W1AW/7 satellite activity. Time for bed... I am planning to work VO-52 just after 1300 UTC Sunday morning, and that's not too far away. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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HamFests a' Plenty!
by Clint Bradford 16 Mar '14

16 Mar '14

Thank you to Patrick WD9EWK - er, I mean, W1AW/7 - for the SO-50 contact this morning from his Hamfest in Arizona to our Palm Springs Extravaganza. I had about 45 people out on our patio - and FIVE had never experienced FM sat comms with minimal equipment before. It was a great session. A little side note: As far as I can recollect, I believe this date is the 10th birthday for the venerable Yaesu FT-60R. We "toasted" the rig ... Clint K6LCS http://www.work-sat.com PS Of course, the crowd was advised the working these birds in full-duplex mode if the preferable method.

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Last pass Fitter Message from AO-73 regarding transponder
by Rick Walter 15 Mar '14

15 Mar '14

I copied the following information from the controllers of AO-73 (Funcube-1) in the Fitter messages on the last past of the satellite. "On 22 Mar 2014 at approx. 0930 UTC we are planning to switch to amateur mode (transponder with lo pwr beacon) for at least one whole orbit. The aim of the switch on 22 Mar is to check the effect on the satellite of continuous amateur mode, especially battery temp" 73, Rick - WB3CSY -- Sent from Rick's gmail account

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Uruguay on the birds!
by Hector, CO6CBF 15 Mar '14

15 Mar '14

Hello to all! CX1TH, Juan Miguel is looking for North American stations on AO-7 mode B. He is in GF25vi (GF25 was activated by Yuri, UT1FG/mm) but that contact doesn't count as DXCC country. Juan Miguel is able to work satellites down the horizon; I already worked him on FO-29. His email address is listed in qrz.com 73! Hector, CO6CBF / KF5YXV EL92sd

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French licence - satellite changes
by M5AKA 15 Mar '14

15 Mar '14

REF reports there have been alterations to the French license conditions regarding the Amateur-satellite service. They have also raised the issue of 1260-1300 MHz with their regulator the ARCEP. http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/15/satellite-changes-in-french-license/ ---- Trevor M5AKA AMSAT-UK Website http://amsat-uk.org/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/AMSAT-UK/208113275898396 Twitter https://twitter.com/AMSAT_UK ----

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Re: droid sat app
by Rizwan Merchant 15 Mar '14

15 Mar '14

Hey George, what is the app called? Sincerely, Rizwan Merchant Call Sign: KF5BNL Notice of Confidentiality This E-mail is covered by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-2521 and is legally privileged. This information is confidential information and is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. This email communication contains private and confidential information that is intended for the specific recipient, if you have received this communication in error please contact the sender immediately by phone or email to be removed from the contact list and please destroy all contents immediately. On Fri, Mar 14, 2014 at 8:08 PM, george hinkle <gwhink41(a)msn.com> wrote: > I have an IPad with a very nice App. It appears to update when you turn it > on so it keeps things up to date. > george wi9i > > On Mar 14, 2014, at 11:11 AM, Rizwan Merchant wrote: > > > I've been using ISS Detector. It gives me a warning before the ISS or > > CAPE-2 is overhead along with a schedule of future passes and elevations. > > > > -Rizwan > > KF5BNL > > On Mar 11, 2014 10:06 PM, "WA6FWF" <wa6fwf(a)sbcglobal.net> wrote: > > > >> Hi, > >> been looking at different sat tracking apps cant seem to find a > >> particular feature I want, I looking for a app that can run in the > >> background and then it will popup and alert me when a sat is about to > AOS, > >> I tend to get busy doing something and then miss a pass, anyone seen a > app > >> that will do this? > >> > >> Thanks 73 > >> Kevin WA6FWF > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the > author. > >> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite > program! > >> Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb > >> > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. > > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite > program! > > Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb > > > >

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Re: AO-73 Deaf again ????
by Peter Wilson 15 Mar '14

15 Mar '14

Clayton Thanks for reply. Understood - I only did the one calibration when Funcube was launched. I am aware that the satellite drifts, but I used to start -1.5Khz below the calibration point, then move up in frequency. My point is that I had to start the QSO +6.6Khz - seems a big difference. Again, thanks for reply Peter G8KEK From: Clayton Coleman [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 15 March 2014 01:33 To: Peter Wilson Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: AO-73 Deaf again ???? Peter, I suggest not calibrating SatPC32 every pass of AO-73 but instead utilize the plus and minus +/- keys on your keyboard to tweak your uplink as required. AO-73 tends to move a little bit. 73 Clayton W5PFG On Mar 14, 2014 4:45 PM, "Peter Wilson" <protest(a)virginmedia.com <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: Paul, Thank you for your reply - I think I have solved the problem I use SatPC32 to control my rig and I have calibrated it to be fairly close for receiving my own transmission early in the pass. HOWEVER - today, I had to tune 6.5Khz higher than I normally do to hear my own signal ! Once I found my own signal everything was back to normal I know there are other people having the same issue, so I wonder what has happened to the satellite? Thanks to everyone who has replied. Peter G8KEK _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org <mailto:[email protected]> . Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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ANNOUNCEMENT: 2014 ARRL/TAPR DCC (Digital Communications Conference) - Austin, TX, September 5th - 7th
by Mark Thompson 14 Mar '14

14 Mar '14

Please forward this announcement to clubs, groups & hams who might be interested. 33rd Annual 2014 ARRL/TAPR DCC (Digital Communications Conference) Announcement Friday, September 5th - Sunday, September 7th Austin Marriott South in Austin, TX The DCC is returning to Texas this year. The DCC has two days of Technical forums on Friday & Saturday and a concurrent Introductory forum on Saturday. On Saturday night the banquet will feature an interesting speaker and the Sunday morning Seminar will be a deep-dive into a technical topic. Those who submit Technical Papers for inclusion in the annual DCC Proceedings will receive preference for a forum, however you can propose to present a forum without submitting a technical paper. There will be free tables in the demo room to demonstrate projects and vendors to demonstrate products. We encourage those interested in attending the DCC to make your hotel reservations early to get special TAPR hotel rate. Updated DCC Information Available on TAPR's Web Site at: www.tapr.org/dcc Follow TAPR & DCC Announcements on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/taprdigital TAPR & DCC Announcements are on TAPR's Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/TAPRDigitalHam

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fo-29
by Jeff KB2M 14 Mar '14

14 Mar '14

Just tried a FO-29 pass for the first time in months. I don't get down here to operate at my main station much anymore. I put myself right around 435.850, a clear freq and proceeded to try and make a few contacts. Well, after one contact all of a sudden there were 3 or 4 stations calling CQ on 850, right on top of the station I was trying to work. I don't get it, there is plenty of bandwidth why do people call right in the middle of someone trying to make a contact. I gave up, unbelievable... 73 Jeff kb2m

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Re: AO-73 Deaf again ????
by Peter Wilson 14 Mar '14

14 Mar '14

Paul, Thank you for your reply - I think I have solved the problem I use SatPC32 to control my rig and I have calibrated it to be fairly close for receiving my own transmission early in the pass. HOWEVER - today, I had to tune 6.5Khz higher than I normally do to hear my own signal ! Once I found my own signal everything was back to normal I know there are other people having the same issue, so I wonder what has happened to the satellite? Thanks to everyone who has replied. Peter G8KEK

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LituanicaSAT-1 CubeSat Update
by M5AKA 14 Mar '14

14 Mar '14

Laurynas Maciulis LY1LM provides an update on LituanicaSAT-1. http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/14/lituanicasat-1-cubesat-update/ 73 Trevor M5AKA

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droid sat app
by WA6FWF 14 Mar '14

14 Mar '14

Hi, been looking at different sat tracking apps cant seem to find a particular feature I want, I looking for a app that can run in the background and then it will popup and alert me when a sat is about to AOS, I tend to get busy doing something and then miss a pass, anyone seen a app that will do this? Thanks 73 Kevin WA6FWF

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More On SpaceX Launch Delay
by B J 14 Mar '14

14 Mar '14

http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/space-flight-missions/commercial-space-sp… http://www.parabolicarc.com/2014/03/13/spacex-postpones-dragon-flight-iss-2… http://www.newspacejournal.com/2014/03/14/spacex-postpones-its-next-iss-mis… http://innerspace.net/spacex/sundays-spacex-3-launch-delayed/ http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/news/spacex-postpones-crs-3-launch-for-at-… 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL

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KickSat Sprites set for launch
by M5AKA 14 Mar '14

14 Mar '14

KickSat Sprites set for launch http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/13/kicksat-sprites-set-for-launch/ New Satellite Telemetry Decoder Apps Released http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/12/new-satellite-telemetry-decoder-apps-release… Amateur radio satellite operation from Isle of Lewis IO68UL http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/12/amateur-radio-satellite-operation-from-isle-… ---- Trevor M5AKA AMSAT-UK Website http://amsat-uk.org/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/AMSAT-UK/208113275898396 Twitter https://twitter.com/AMSAT_UK ----

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W1AW/7 from Arizona on satellites, after 2 days...
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 14 Mar '14

14 Mar '14

Hi! After just over 2 days, John K8YSE/7 and I have been busy putting W1AW/7 on lots of satellite passes. It's been fun! I just worked a couple of passes this evening on FO-29 and AO-73, bringing my QSO count to 23 over 7 different passes on 3 satellites (AO-73, FO-29, VO-52). John has been on during the daytime, working more passes and stations. I did not get an update from him today, but hope to get something from him tomorrow that I can pass along (if he doesn't post an update himself). On the AO-73 pass I just worked tonight, there was a Canadian station who was trying to call me in CW near the end of the pass. I'm sorry I could not copy enough of your call to make a cross- mode contact, as your CW was a bit faster than what I can copy outside of some HF contests. I have the keyer in my FT-817NDs set at 17wpm, a speed fast enough to be comfortable sending and copying without having to scribble anything down (my audio recorder comes in handy on CW just as it does for SSB and FM QSOs). I have been asked to make CW QSOs as W1AW/7, but I'm not very comfortable doing a lot of CW via satellite. Throw in Doppler on top of trying to concentrate on my sending and pointing the antenna - a lot to do. Despite my poor effort trying to decode that call, I was able to work CO6CBF early in tonight's AO-73 pass. Hector has been doing great things with his gear on the satellites lately, including operating portable - something he had difficulties doing in the past. Maybe we can get him to work SSB and FM satellites during Cuban grid expeditions, as he has done previously on SO-50. :-) I may not stay up too late tomorrow (Friday) night working the satellites, so I can be up early and at the hamfest in Scottsdale AZ early Saturday morning. I might be able to work a couple of passes, ending with an FO-29 pass around 0335 UTC, so I can pack my gear and get up to the hamfest early. I am shooting for the VO-52 pass around 1251 UTC and the FO-29 pass after that at 1305 UTC for good chances to work all across North America from the hamfest as W1AW/7. A reminder... I'm posting updates on my plans to work as W1AW/7 on my Twitter feed @WD9EWK (http://twitter.com/WD9EWK for those not using Twitter), and will continue to do that Saturday morning at the hamfest. I should be able to tweet some photos during the hamfest, and - assuming the mobile phone data network is 3G or 4G at the hamfest - I should be able to submit data from AO-73 to the FUNcube data warehouse from the hamfest site. Thanks for all the QSOs with John and me as W1AW/7 so far this week. We'll keep working passes through Tuesday afternoon, when this week of fun comes to an end for us using W1AW/7 in Arizona. Please call us when you hear us on, even if you've already worked us this week. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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AO-73 Deaf again ????
by Peter Wilson 14 Mar '14

14 Mar '14

Hi All, I reported AO-73 as being deaf a few days ago and I had a few responses which explained that it might be "alligators" or possibly a Military Radar station in the North of the UK causing interference. Tonight at 21:56 we had a high elevation pass in the UK - same again. I have made over 70 contacts through Funcube, so I don't think it's me. Tonight was a Westerly pass which is away from the Military site on the East Coast. Anyone else having the same issues from Europe ??? Peter G8KEK

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W5PFG/P West Texas Grids
by Clayton Coleman 13 Mar '14

13 Mar '14

I have been operating from some grids in DL79,88-89 the past few days. I am now moving to DM70 for several nights. I will squeeze in some passes from DM70 and DM80 the next several days. No set schedule though evenings are most likely. 73 Clayton W5PFG

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Got Grids? AWARD
by wa4hfn＠comcast.net 13 Mar '14

13 Mar '14

Got Grids ? Award Sponsored by The Star Comm Group http://www.starcommgroup.org/gotgrids.html To qualify for this award , you must log 1 contact in each of the 10 GRID FIELDS, CN,CM,DN,DM,DL,EN,EM.EL,FN,FM ( lower 48 states) in the U.S.A. by means of a SSB/CW amateur satellite. Send your log to WA4NVM or WA4HFN for checking , along with your call, name, and currant mailing address. wa4nvm(a)comcast.net wa4hfn(a)comcast.net This award will be effictive 01 January 2014 all contacts must be made on or after this date . This award is free. If you would like to make a donations to the AMSAT SATELLITE program send it to: Amsat 850 Sligo Ave. Suite 600 Silver Springs. MD. 20910

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DSTAR net
by wa4hfn＠comcast.net 13 Mar '14

13 Mar '14

D Star satellite users net tonight 0100 utc (day light savings time now) REF60B Would like to see some IC 9100 owners checkin and tell us how you like the radio,also lets have everyone tell how many grids they now have, states worked and countries confirmed Thanks WA4HFN Damon em55

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Question for the antenna gurus
by Gus 13 Mar '14

13 Mar '14

Regarding axial-mode helix antennas, what happens if you build a helix for each of two different bands (like 2M/70cm), and mount them concentrically, on the same backplane? -- Gus 8P6SM The Easternmost Isle

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Re: Question for the antenna gurus
by kc6uqh＠cox.net 13 Mar '14

13 Mar '14

Gus, As long as one is twice or more the frequency of the other it should work fine. If you are using them as a feed for a dish the phase center of each one must be considered for best focus.73, Art,KC6UQH -----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Gus Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2014 1:33 AM To: AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Question for the antenna gurus Regarding axial-mode helix antennas, what happens if you build a helix for each of two different bands (like 2M/70cm), and mount them concentrically, on the same backplane? -- Gus 8P6SM The Easternmost Isle _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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W5PFG/p
by Wyatt Dirks 12 Mar '14

12 Mar '14

Just talked to w5pfg and he asked me to post that he was going to be on the upcoming 0008utc pass of fo29 and the following vo52 pass from DM70. He also said he was going to try to operate from DM80 tomorrow evening. 73 Wyatt AC0RA

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Re: AO-73 deaf ?
by g0mrf＠aol.com 12 Mar '14

12 Mar '14

Hi Peter. I've sent you a private e-mail about the UK radar on 70cm, but I've just looked at the telemetry for the last pass and it shows a lot of transponder activity over Europe. It may be that the AGC was being suppressed by high power signals. The satellite is coming over to the west in about 15 minutes, I'll have a look at the passband then. - It's usually much quieter after 23.00 UTC Thanks David G0MRF -----Original Message----- From: Peter Wilson <protest(a)virginmedia.com> To: amsat-bb <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Sent: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 22:01 Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-73 deaf ? Hi all, I tried to work AO-73 this evening at 21:35 UTC from UK. Normally with an overhead pass I have a very good signal to/from the satellite - tonight, nothing. This is not the first time I have seen this - anyone else seeing this? Peter G8KEK _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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AO-73 deaf ?
by Peter Wilson 12 Mar '14

12 Mar '14

Hi all, I tried to work AO-73 this evening at 21:35 UTC from UK. Normally with an overhead pass I have a very good signal to/from the satellite - tonight, nothing. This is not the first time I have seen this - anyone else seeing this? Peter G8KEK

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Circular and elliptical polarization question.
by Douglas Phelps 12 Mar '14

12 Mar '14

I read in 'The Satellite Handbook' that I can mount to linear yagis side by side (and at right angles) and I will get elliptical polarization. My two questions are: 1. Is their a formula or rule of thumb that will tell me how elliptical (or non circular) the waveform will be as a factor of the separation between the two antennas? (I would expect that the greater the separation the more elliptical the waveform(farther from circular)). 2. I would think that the closer the better. I know when you mount two yagis next to each other, in the same plane, there is a minimum separation distance to prevent the antennas from affecting each other but with cross polarization intending circular polarization, the closer the better. Does this make sense? The reason I am asking is that I want to mount arrow antennas with the same element sets at right angles and offset a quarter wavelength, with the correct phasing harness and the WRAPS AZ/EL to create a portable auto tracking satellite setup that can be disassembled and easily moved. Yes, I know the VHF offset will be wrong for UHF but I intend to re-drill the UHF antenna holes so that both the VHF and UHF will be offset a quarter wavelength. The matching system used by arrow does not allow the crossing of the same wavelength antenna on the same boom. I would appreciate and advice from those that are more competent with antenna theory than myself. Doug K9DLP

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W1AW/7 satellite activity from Arizona has started!
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 12 Mar '14

12 Mar '14

Hi! Between John K8YSE/7 and me, we have logged 27 satellite QSOs as W1AW/7 on the satellites from here in Arizona this evening. John worked a VO-52 pass to start the activity, logging 8 QSOs, followed by 9 more QSOs on the FO-29 pass around 0104 UTC. I logged 7 QSOs on the later FO-29 pass at 0248 UTC, and 3 more QSOs for the night owls on AO-73 at 0514 UTC. Not a bad start, in the first few hours of Arizona's week with W1AW/7. K8YSE/7 plans to put W1AW/7 on satellites during the daytime tomorrow (Wednesday), including SO-50 for those wanting an FM QSO with W1AW/7. I plan on working some passes in the evening. Both of us will be giving out the official exchange - 59 Arizona - along with our grid locators to comply with the instructions for operating as W1AW/7 this week. We hope to work lots of different stations during this week, in the hopes of making a respectable showing for the satellite community while Arizona has the W1AW/7 call sign. I'll use W1AW/7 for my on-air demonstrations Saturday morning from the Scottsdale AZ "Springfest" hamfest, which should provide many across North America a good shot of logging this call (including SO-50 QSOs, as that satellite passes by the hamfest during Saturday morning). Time for bed... 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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ISS HamTV to switch to 2395 MHz on March 15/16
by M5AKA 12 Mar '14

12 Mar '14

ISS HamTV to switch to 2395 MHz on March 15/16 http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/12/iss-hamtv-to-switch-to-2395-mhz-on-march-151… Also on the AMAT-UK site: UK CubeSat Weekend: March 29-30, 2014 http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/10/cubesat-weekend-march-29-30-2014/ ---- Trevor M5AKA AMSAT-UK Website http://amsat-uk.org/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/AMSAT-UK/208113275898396 Twitter https://twitter.com/AMSAT_UK ----

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Fwd: [PVRC] W1AW/4 Virginia Ops Needed!
by Paul Stoetzer 12 Mar '14

12 Mar '14

Looks like K4ZW is looking for a satellite operator or two or more for W1AW/4 in Virginia. Worst case, I'll cross the Potomac and operate a few passes, but I know there are plenty of you out there! 73, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM Washington, DC ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Ken Claerbout <k4zw(a)verizon.net> Date: Mon, Mar 10, 2014 at 9:25 PM Subject: [PVRC] W1AW/4 Virginia Ops Needed! To: pvrc(a)mailman.qth.net Hi Gang - just a little less than a month before the ARRL Centennial QSO Party comes to the Commonwealth in the form of W1AW/4. We still have plenty of operating slots available. Given all of the top notch PVRC operators and contest stations in Virginia, we should have little problem putting on a big time effort. Please take a few minutes to go to http://www.nr4m.com/ARRL-Centennial-QSO-Party and check out the information we have posted. At the bottom of the page is a spreadsheet with the schedule, showing available slots. This is a unique opportunity. Others that have gone before us have reported high levels of activity with some big QSO totals for their week. I'm hoping we can tap this groups competitive spirit and push the bar even higher. Let's give our neighbors something to shoot for! I know it might be difficult to plan in advance but we need to start nailing things down. So if you can commit, please do so. If your plans change, we'll work with you. 73 Ken K4ZW ______________________________________________________________ PVRC mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/pvrc Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

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Re: lotw
by Kevin M 12 Mar '14

12 Mar '14

i think band is 2m, 70cm, 13cm (which is for the rx frequency) mode fm or ssb satname is so50, ao51, ao27 etc prop mode is sat anything else have to be changed (i have only logged the rx frequency, not the tx frequency) 73...bruce Sorry but "BAND" is the transmit band and "RX_BAND" is receive band. The Transmit band is what is relevant to matching. I am afraid you will need to change the BAND to the uplink band, or the QSOs will not match. A Sat QSO is: CALL, QSO_DATE, TIME_ON, BAND, MODE, PROP_MODE, SAT_NAME Maybe this will help: http://www.arrl.org/files/file/LoTW%20Instructions/N5JB.pdf Just a note, my logging program (WINLOG32) does not handle satellite QSOs very well. I have resorted to using TQSL to create sat logs. At first I had all my sat QSOs in one file... then a bright idea hit me. I keep a separate log file for each satellite/mode, so after a pass, when I go to enter new QSOs, I just enter CALL, DATE and TIME... and click next. The rest is always the same. Much quicker than having to constantly change the band and sat name. Anyway, you can also load an existing ADIF file into TQSL and use the pull down menus to edit fields. You can step through QSOs one at a time. Don't know if that would be any easier for you or not. 73 es GL! Kevin, N4UFO (ex-AC5DK)

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M2 PS 70M for sale
by Lizeth Norman 12 Mar '14

12 Mar '14

Greetings: The asshats at M2 cancelled my order without telling me. I now have a failed antenna AND a part that I have no use for. I'll sell it for 70% of retail as it's new in the box. Free shipping conus. 73 de Norm n3ykf

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lotw
by Bruce 12 Mar '14

12 Mar '14

i have decided to try lotw again after using it in 2003 and having a miserable time with it. i need to find someone that i have had a satellite qso with that has uploaded their log so i can change that record or two and then see if i get a match before i try to modify each of my 6500 satellite contacts. it is going to take me a long time to go through and change each record to match the lotw criteria and will take me a long long time. want to make sure it is correct before i start logging new contacts. i have never found much use in lotw as all my contacts are confirmed by qsl card. not sure why i want to go through the exercise but what the heck. i think band is 2m, 70cm, 13cm (which is for the rx frequency) mode fm or ssb satname is so50, ao51, ao27 etc prop mode is sat anything else have to be changed (i have only logged the rx frequency, not the tx frequency) 73...bruce -- Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards ARRL Awards Manager (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0100z on Echolink - Conference *AMSAT* Also live streaming MP3 at http://www.amsatnet.com Podcast at http://www.amsatnet.com/podcast.xml or iTunes Latest satellite news on the ARRL Audio News http://www.arrl.org AMSAT on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/amsat

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FS: Jetstream 9913F 50 feet coax with PL259s
by John Geiger 12 Mar '14

12 Mar '14

In case anyone needs some coax for their satellite antennas-I have for sale a 50 foot role of Jetstream 9913 flex low loss cable with PL259s on each end. Never used, still in its package. I am asking $52 shipped and can take paypal/check/MO. 73 John AF5CC

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Re: Two hundred 437 MHz satallites launch March 16 + WebSDR
by Howie DeFelice 11 Mar '14

11 Mar '14

"Keep in mind that the downlink is not effected by usa rules...." This may be true if the owner of the satellite is not licensed in the USA or it is operating on some service other than the Amateur Radio Service. ITU recommends policy, it doesn't make or enforce law as I understand it. Before this gets too much further into the weeds, the purpose of my original post was to bring awareness that satcom is regulated by cooperative national authorities and is not the "wild west" of radio spectrum. This is true whether it is an amateur of commercial satellite regardless of size. Just because you can build it and get it launched does not mean it is legal. We all have a responsibility to be vigilant. I don't think too many people would intentionally put up a satellite in violation of the rule of law, but it is a complex issue. It never hurts to ask a question. - Howie AB2S

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Predict for LINUX notes
by Andrew Rich 11 Mar '14

11 Mar '14

Hello I re-discovered predict for LINUX and wrote some notes http://tech-software.net/predict/Predict_for_LINUX.pdf Andrew VK4TEC

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EM90,80,70, maybe EL79, EL89
by Andrew Glasbrenner 11 Mar '14

11 Mar '14

I'll be in EM90 tonight and tomorrow, then travel through EM80 to EM70 Wednesday afternoon to evening. I may pass back through EL79 Thursday afternoon, then EM80 and EL89 to home. If you need any of these grids, drop me an email. I only have my 817s and arrow, but should be fine on any of the sats as long as no one is hammering the transponder. 73, Drew KO4MA Sent from my iPhone

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Re: Two hundred 437 MHz satallites launch March 16 + WebSDR
by Howie DeFelice 11 Mar '14

11 Mar '14

Is CDMA an authorized emission type for the Amateur service? What is the chipping rate/bandwidth of these? Don't the PRN sequences need to be made public so as not to be classified as "encryption" ? Detailed specs on the Sprites is in short supply. Has anyone done a link budget, seems like allot of spreading gain is required to hear 10mW form a 300km orbit which translates into allot of bandwidth in a part of the band usually reserved for narrow band modes. The lack of transparency on many of these projects that use the amateur bands seems to run against the spirit of amateur radio in my opinion. Howie AB2S

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Soyuz Lands Safely
by Clint Bradford 11 Mar '14

11 Mar '14

March 10, 2014 NASA RELEASE 14-072 Space Station Crew Returns to Earth, Lands Safely in Kazakhstan Three crew members from the International Space Station returned to Earth Monday after 166 days in space, during which they made 2,656 orbits around the planet and traveled almost 70.5 million miles Expedition 38 crew members Michael Hopkins of NASA, and Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) touched down southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, at about 11:24 p.m. EDT (9:24 a.m., March 11, in Dzhezkazgan). /end/

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AMSAT @ Scottsdale AZ Springfest hamfest on 15 March
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 11 Mar '14

11 Mar '14

Hi! I will have an AMSAT table at the Scottsdale Amateur Radio Club's annual Springfest hamfest on Saturday, 15 March 2014. The hamfest will be at the Mountain Valley Church, on Perimeter Drive north of Princess Drive and west of the AZ-101 freeway in Scottsdale. This was the location of the hamfest in 2012. A map of the location is available at: http://scottsdalearc.org/springfest-our-version-of-a-swap/springfest-2014/s… The hamfest is scheduled to run from 0600 (1300 UTC) to 1200 (1900 UTC). More information about the hamfest is available at: http://scottsdalearc.org/springfest-our-version-of-a-swap/ http://scottsdalearc.org/springfest-our-version-of-a-swap/springfest-2014/2… During the hamfest, I will have some on-air demonstrations working different satellites. For this hamfest, I will not work the passes as WD9EWK, but as W1AW/7 as part of the ARRL centennial commemoration. These QSOs will be uploaded to LOTW by ARRL, and ARRL will handle the QSLing. I will also copy telemetry from AO-73 (FUNcube-1) and upload it in real time to the FUNcube data warehouse server, using my FUNcube Dongle Pro+ and Elk 2m/70cm log periodic as that satellite passes overhead. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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W1AW/7 from Arizona, starting Wednesday 0000 UTC
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 11 Mar '14

11 Mar '14

Hi! Starting tomorrow (Wednesday 0000 UTC, or 8pm Eastern time Tuesday evening), W1AW/7 will be on the air from Arizona. If you want to work this call on the HF bands and in different modes on those bands, there is a nice schedule posted at: http://www.n7cw.com/Schedule.html Satellite activity is not listed on that page, as I am managing the satellite activity on behalf of the coordinators of the Arizona W1AW/7 activity (Ned AA7A and Bud N7CW). John K8YSE, operating his K8YSE/7 station from DM43 in the Phoenix area, and I will be on the satellites as W1AW/7 during the upcoming week. Please give us a call, and get in the log. As with the other W1AW/x activity, ARRL will be handling the QSLing as listed on their web site, and QSOs will also be uploaded to LOTW. Among other times, I will use W1AW/7 for demonstrations at the Scottsdale Amateur Radio Club's Springfest hamfest on Saturday (15 March) morning instead of my own call. I will try to get on the birds in the weeknights, and at other times on the weekend in addition to the hamfest. K8YSE will be on other passes as W1AW/7 using his Arizona station, based on his availability. If there are other satellite operators who can operate from Arizona and want to help with this state's W1AW/7 effort on the satellites, please contact me directly. Thanks, and 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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WTB Icom AG-35 preamp
by Bob Mattaliano 11 Mar '14

11 Mar '14

If anyone has an Icom AG-35 preamp in good shape they are willing to sell, please contact me. TKS es 73, Bob

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[CAUTION] The Satellite ID of CelesTrack is wrong!
by Akihiro Kubota 11 Mar '14

11 Mar '14

dear amsat-bb members, hello. many people ask us that the CW of our new cubesat INVADER can not be received. this is because the satellite id of CelesTrack is wrong. http://www.celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/tle-new.txt the real data is INVADER = 39577U 14009F. we already send the measurement data of doppler shift to CelesTrack. i hope they will correct data ASAP. http://artsat.jp/en/news/invader%E3%81%AE%E8%A1%9B%E6%98%9F%E3%82%AB%E3%82%… anyway, please use the TLE of 39577U 14009F (ITF 1) in order to receive the CW of INVADER. thanks in advance. all the best, ARTSAT project leader akihiro kubota

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K&R Yoksh
by K&R Yoksh 10 Mar '14

10 Mar '14

http://thelanguageconsultants.com/jcg/fox-news.php K&R Yoksh

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Talk to Luca!
by Clint Bradford 10 Mar '14

10 Mar '14

Did you follow ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano’s updates and images during his Volare space mission on social media? Now there’s a chance to hear about his time on the International Space Station directly from Luca. ESA is inviting 50 followers of @Astro_Luca to join us for a SocialSpace event, open to all his followers on social networks, such as Twitter, Facebook and Google+. The event will take place on 11 April at ESA’s ESRIN facility in Frascati, Italy, starting at 16:00 CEST (in English). Complete the application at ... http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Volare/Meet_astronaut_L… ... and good luck on being chosen! Clint K6LCS http://www.hamradioprogramming.com

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Fwd: [CubeSat] Announcement from George Washington University - On-orbit Micropropulsion eXperiment Program (OMXP)
by Samudra Haque [GWU] 10 Mar '14

10 Mar '14

[Hi, I am sending this note to all local mailing lists I am a part of, to allow small satellite enthusiasts / experimenters to take advantage of our research work at GWU. Perhaps you could forward it to your friendly neighborhood educational institution and affiliate looking for a method to put up long duration missions in space - and in most probability head past Low Earth Orbit within a decent time frame - referrals requested - Samudra N3RDX ] 3/10/2014 On behalf of the Micro-propulsion and Nanotechnology Laboratory, and Dr. Michael Keidar, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at George Washington University, I am attaching the formal announcement of OMXP. I hope all of you will consider making use of this innovative program from our laboratory to enable your institution's CubeSat projects to include one or more channels of small form, efficient and safer electric propulsion subsystem at very low cost. If you are interested to know more details, or wish to discuss specialized applications of (electric) micro-propulsion in CubeSats, please follow the contact instructions in the attached PDF. We are in the process of setting up an online application portal soon. Regards to all. -- Samudra Haque Ph.D Student Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering George Washington University

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OSCAR NEWS #205
by Graham Shirville 10 Mar '14

10 Mar '14

Hi All, The next edition of OSCAR NEWS from AMSAT-UK is being prepared for publication right now. If you have any news or opinions that you would like to share please let us have some text in the next ten days so that it may be included. We are happy to accept articles of almost any length and we can deal with most formats. With all the many new launches that have taken place in the recent weeks there must be many stories to tell and lessons learnt to share. Thanks in advance 73 Graham G3VZV and Jim G3WGM Interim editors of OSCAR NEWS

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OSCAR-11 Report
by Clive Wallis 10 Mar '14

10 Mar '14

OSCAR-11 30th BIRTHDAY REPORT OSCAR-11 (AKA UoSAT-2 and UO-11) celebrated it's 30th birthday in space on 01 March! It was designed, built and launched within a period of six months, using commercially available 'off the shelf' components (COTS). Once again, congratulations to Professor Sir Martin Sweeting G3YJO, his team at the University of Surrey and the groups of radio amateurs who also contributed to the project. This report covers the period from 01 January 2013 to 05 March 2014. During this time there have been no significant changes apart from the gradual drift of the on-board clock. There was also an advance of one day in the displayed date. This was caused by a known leap year problem in the date chip, which has always existed since launch. Owing to the large accumulated time/date error 29 February 2012 on the satellite occurred in January 2013 on earth! The satellite has been transmitting on a regular cycle of 10.35 days on followed by 10.35 days off. Good copy has been obtained obtained from decoded telemetry frames and many reports have been posted on the DCARR general satellite status website, The satellite continues to be subjected to eclipses during each orbit, resulting in weaker signals at those times. During the winter in the UK the evening passes were in the earth's shadow, and very weak signals have been received, which could not be demodulated and could be only detected with the receiver in CW mode . As the longer daylight hours of summer approach, the evening passes in the UK should gradually become clear of eclipses, resulting in stronger signals. Eclipses are expected to continue until 2019. The on-board clock gained 98 seconds during the 14 month reporting period, which is comparable with the 60 seconds gain per year when the satellite was launched. There is however a large accumulated error of 307.54090 days slow. This was caused mainly by the clock stopping during eclipses, when there was also an unknown drain on the power supply. The units of the least significant digit correspond approximately to seconds (0.86 seconds actually). At the present time, while OSCAR-11 is operating in a predictable way, please DO NOT send reports or files by e-mail. However, could all listeners continue to enter their reports on the general satellite status website. This is a very convenient and easy to use facility, which shows the current status of all the amateur satellites, and is of use to everyone. Reports around the expected times of switch-on and switch-off are of special interest, especially for times 13:00 to 18:00 and 22:00 to 08:00 UTC, to when the satellite is out-of-range in the UK . The URL is http://oscar.dcarr.org/index.php The VHF beacon frequency is 145.826 MHz. AFSK FM ASCII Telemetry. The satellite is operating in the default mode, controlled by the watchdog timer, with a cycle time of 20.7 days. 10.35 days on followed by 10.35 days off. An extended version of this report is available on my website, and new listeners to OSCAR-11 should read this for further information. The URL is www.g3cwv.co.uk/oscar11.htm . This page contains links to the report, a short audio clip to help you identify the satellite and a file of recent telemetry received. The website also contains an archive of news & telemetry data which is updated from time to time, and details about using a soundcard or hardware demodulators for data capture. There is also software for capturing data, and decoding ASCII telemetry. The easiest way to check whether OSCAR-11 is operational is to look at the General Satellite Status website http://oscar.dcarr.org/index.php . If you place this bulletin on a terrestrial packet network, please use the bulletin identifier $BID:U2RPT159.CWV, to prevent duplication. 73 Clive G3CWV xxxxx(a)amsat.org (please replace the x's by g3cwv)

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AO-40 Telemetry Audio Files
by Paul Willmott 10 Mar '14

10 Mar '14

If anyone has some audio recordings of AO-40 telemetry (regular or FEC) (.WAV or .AIFF format), then please could you zip them and send them to me. I need them for some experiments. email: pwillmott(a)northrock.bm Thanks Paul, VP9MU

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Interview With Bob Twiggs, CubeSat Developer
by B J 09 Mar '14

09 Mar '14

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1403/08cubesats/ 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL

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GOT GRIDS?
by wa4hfn＠comcast.net 09 Mar '14

09 Mar '14

Congratulations to Glenn AA5PK He has completed the requirements for the GOT GRIDS ? AWARD # 1 WA4HFN Damon em55

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AggieSat4 Dropbox file type
by M5AKA 09 Mar '14

09 Mar '14

I tried downloading the new AggieSat4 .doc files from their Dropbox at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/v8razh1evcabt7a/jrGSjbOJb4 Was unable to read either until I changed the file type from .doc to .pdf Looks like they plan to runa high speed 153.6 kbps downlink in 436/7 MHz with 5 watts output using emission designation 406KF7DBN. SpaceX launch is currently slated for September. 73 Trevor M5AKA

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AMSAT-DL and Bochum Observatory receive signal from retired NASA spacecraft
by Peter Guelzow 09 Mar '14

09 Mar '14

see also: http://www.amsat-dl.org/index.php/news-mainmenu-97/199-ice-satellite-receiv… --------------------- AMSAT-DL and Bochum Observatory receive signal from retired NASA spacecraft On March 1st and 2nd, 2014 radio amateurs were able to detect the beacon signal from the retired NASA deep space probe ICE (International Cometary Explorer) at the Bochum Observatory (Germany). After some changes to the ground equipment and aligning the receive antenna to the predicted position in the sky, the beacon signal could positively be identified due to its frequency, the position in the sky and the frequency shift due to the radial velocity (Doppler shift). For this detection the 20m radio telescope from the Bochum Observatory was used. In 2003, AMSAT-DL converted this former industrial monument into a fully functional groundstation for deep space probes. Since 2009 the facility is being used by volunteers almost full time as ground receive station for data from the STEREO mission with its two spaceprobes monitoring the sun from different viewing angles. The International Sun-Earth Explorer 3 (ISEE-3) was launched in 1978 and became the first spacecraft to orbit the Earth-Sun L1 Lagrange point, measuring the interaction between the Earth's magnetic field and the Sun. It was the first spacecraft to detect the stream of particles ("solar wind") approaching Earth. In 1982, the spacecraft was renamed the "International Cometary Explorer" (ICE) and diverted to the Moon, where its gravitational pull placed ICE on a heliocentric orbit. In 1985, the comet Giacobini-Zinner was visited (the first time a comet had been encountered by a spacecraft), followed by observation of Halley's Comet in 1986. While the instrumentation on board was still functional and fuel for more trajectory maneuvers was available, support for the ICE mission was terminated in 1997, though the spacecraft transmitter was left on. It was last detected by the NASA Deep Space Network in 2008. Its orbit however results in the spacecraft returning to Earth-Moon space in August of 2014. A small propulsive maneuver and lunar flyby could allow ICE to be directed into an Earth-Sun L1 halo orbit and perhaps resume a science mission, depending on instrument health. However in February 2014 a NASA study determined that the required resources to contact the spacecraft were not available anymore and due to budgetary constraints no further contact attempts were planned. In light of the recent observations and the available facilities in Bochum, additional studies about the economic feasibility to add a suitable uplink are being done. We would like to thank Jeremy Bauman from KinetX Aerospace (Tempe AZ, USA) for providing the ICE trajectory solution which was essential in finding the spacecraft and Jon D. Giorgini from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena CA, USA) for his support. About AMSAT-DL: AMSAT-DL (short for AMSAT-Germany) is an organization consisting of engineers, scientists, students, radio amateur operators and space enthusiasts. They design, develop, build, operate and use satellites in their spare time. In addition to ca. 600 members of AMSAT-DL other national AMSAT organizations count in total about 6000 members. AMSAT-DL is one of the few space organizations which lead satellite projects from the drawing board through design stage and construction into the operative service. AMSAT-DL projects strictly follow the open-source principle so technologies and procedures can be used by third parties. This includes also lessons learned and scientific results obtained during the satellite's operation. About the Bochum Observatory: The Bochum Observatory is a recognized and sponsored higher-education institution of the state Nordrhein-Westfalen (Germany) and is also funded by the 'Landeszentrale für politische Bildung NRW'. Next to optical sky surveys the focus of the current work is the recording of earth monitoring data from satellites. The main task is the scientific analysis and the public presentation of this data to understand the function of the 'earth system' and to characterize the effects and risks of human actions in the context of globalization. contact AMSAT-DL: Dr. Achim Vollhardt, ICEteam(a)amsat-dl.org contact Sternwarte Bochum: Thilo Elsner, info(a)iuz-bochum.de <mailto:[email protected]>, +49 177 50 70 797 ---

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New EsSense Application for VhF
by Les Rayburn 09 Mar '14

09 Mar '14

In many ways, VHF operators in the EU lead the United States in their activity on the VHF band. If you've ever read a copy of the German/English publication, DUBUS magazine, you quickly get a sense of just how much is being done across the pond. Recent advances that I can think of include the low-noise LFA antenna, and the MSRX software decoder for WSJT modes. Here's another development that I think holds promise for US operators too. It allows much more active monitoring of E-Skip DX when you're away from the rig. Download it, and start using it today. E-Skip season is coming soon. Hope to see you on 2 Meters! The Android app "EsSense", which was launched in December, has been received well by the VHF community. Several hundreds of European operators have meanwhile downloaded the app; they are using it to literally "stay tuned" at all times and greatly enhance their DX power. Many thanks to all users for their useful feedback - this was a great help to fix bugs and further improve the app. Now that EsSense has reached a mature level it's time to expand the functionality to other regions: The latest version (0.10) now also supports North and South America, Middle East and Africa! (East-Asia, Oceania, Australia coming soon). EsSense can be downloaded for free from the Google Play store at: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.gooddx.essense Good DX! 73, Allard PE1NWL -- -- 73, Les Rayburn, N1LF 121 Mayfair Park Maylene, AL 35114 EM63nf 6M VUCC #1712 AMSAT #38965 Grid Bandits #222 Southeastern VHF Society Central States VHF Society Life Member Six Club #2484 Active on 6 Meters thru 1296, 10GHz & Light

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LitSat-1 Transponder Test
by M5AKA 09 Mar '14

09 Mar '14

The LitSat-1 transponder test was successful. http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?p=42732 http://amsat-uk.org/2014/03/09/litsat-1-transponder-test-successful/ 73 Trevor M5AKA

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