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ANS-365 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 29 Dec '12

29 Dec '12

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-365 ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor(a)amsat.org In this edition: * Satellites Removed From Munitions List * AMSAT SKN ON OSCAR 2013 In Memory of W1BIH/PJ9JT * Activation of Mawson in Antarctica * Free CubeSat Workshop in Milton Keynes, England * SA AMSAT SPACE SYMPOSIUM - CALL FOR PAPERS * New Satellite Launch Vehicle To Carry CubeSat Swarm in 2013 * UKube-1 Signs up for Launch and Completes Thermal Vacuum Testing * Dooms Day Press Release, N0D – Special Event Station * Reminder -- AMSAT Receives $25,000 Matching Funds Challenge * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-365.01 ANS-365 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 365.01 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 30, 2012 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-365.01 Satellites Removed From Munitions List Space Export Control Reform Passes House and Senate by SpaceMart.com Staff Writers Washington DC (SPX) Dec 27, 2012 Legislation reforming space-related export control has passed the House and the Senate and is expected to be signed by the President. The legislation is included in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, under Sec. 1261, Removal of Satellites and Related Items from the United States Munitions List (USML). The legislation contains restrictions, including prohibitions spe- cific to China, North Korea, and any country that is a state spon- sor of terrorism. The passage of this legislation is significant and brings with it the promise that U.S. universities will be better supported in their mission to prepare the workforce needed to design and deploy the space systems of the future and enable the U.S. to remain a leader in space. Current law had resulted in unintended, adverse impact on U.S. uni- versities, from classroom teaching to student-built CubeSats. Dr. Frederick Tarantino, USRA President, said, "This new legislation strengthens U.S. national security and helps restore the crucial role of university research and education." The legislation is consistent with the recommendation by the Depart- ments of Defense and State, which, in consultation with the Depart- ment of Commerce and intelligence community, concluded in the Sec- tion 1248 Report that "Current law forces the U.S. government to continue to protect commonly available satellites and related items on the USML, thus impeding the U.S. ability to work with partners and putting U.S. manufacturers at a disadvantage, but providing no noticeable benefit to national security." This action by the Congress follows years of effort by USRA's 105- member-university Council of Institutions to inform members of Con- gress and Administration officials on how appropriate reform will strengthen our national security, better enable U.S. research inno- vation, and support U.S. workforce development. USRA joined with industry, including the Satellite Industry Associa- tion and the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, in strongly endorsing the Safeguarding United States Satellite Leadership and Security Act of 2012, sponsored by Sen. Michael Bennet (CO). USRA also worked with the American Association of Universities (AAU) in bringing to the attention of the Congress and the Administration the chilling effect of current space export control on U.S. univers- ities and U.S. students and the critical need for reform. Professor Scott Pace, a USRA Trustee and Director of the Space Policy Institute of The George Washington University, said, "This is a long overdue change that restores accountability to the Executive Branch while maintaining Congressional oversight. Both sides of the aisle are to be congratulated for this successful outcome." This report was orginally posted at SpaceMart.com: http://tinyurl.com/Space-Export-Reform [ANS thanks SpaceMart.com for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT SKN ON OSCAR 2013 In Memory of W1BIH/PJ9JT You are cordially invited to participate in Straight Key Night on OSCAR 2013, conducted by AMSAT for all radio amateurs throughout the world. This year's event is dedicated to the memory of John Thompson, W1BIH/PJ9JT, who passed away in 2012, aged 96. Although known primarily as an HF DXer and contester, John was also active on OSCAR, mostly on CW. As always, SKN on OSCAR is simple and informal. Just operate CW through one or more satellites on 1 January 2013 (0000 to 2400 UTC), using a straight hand key. There is no need to send in a log, but all participants are encouraged to nominate someone they worked for Best Fist. Your nominee need not have the best fist of anyone you heard, only of those you worked. Send your nomination to w2rs at amsat.org. A list of those nominated will appear in ANS and the AMSAT Journal. [ANS thanks Ray Soifer, W2RS for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Activation of Mawson in Antarctica Leaving soon on board the ice breaker Aurora Australis for the Australian Antarctic Territory station at Mawson is Craig Hayhow VK6JJJ, who will become VK0JJJ. He lands on February the 10th, planning to soon after install the 6m beacon VK0RTM and test the propagation on that band. The main HF rig is a FlexRadio Flex-5000A coupled to an amplifier and feeding a terminated sloping triangle antenna. On 6m it will be at 400 watts from Mawson thanks to a power amplifier from Steve Gregory VK3ZAZ, who is also the QSL manager, and radiated by a 5-element yagi. The amateur satellites on 2m and 70cm are to be accessed using a crossed duo-bander. During the next 12 months Craig VK0JJJ is in Antarctica to work and amateur radio is his leisure time activity. [ANS thanks Jim Linton VK3PC and the Southgate ARC for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Free CubeSat Workshop in Milton Keynes, England The UK Space Agency will be running a free CubeSat Community Work- shop at Milton Keynes on January 22 that will include discussion on plans for UKube-2. Registration for the workshop is now open. This is a free event and is open to all, hosted by the Open University, Milton Keynes, on 22 January 2013. Please note that space is limited and places will be allocated on a first come, first serve basis. The event will be an opportunity for the UK Space Agency to pro- vide the cubesat community with an update on its pilot cubesat mission UKube-1, due for launch in early 2013, and to discuss the overall philosophy and timing for the proposed UKube-2 programme. Attendees will have the opportunity to provide input on the future direction of a proposed rolling national programme of cubesat mis- sions. Parallel breakout sessions will be held as detailed in the download- able programme. These themes have been selected in response to the common issues raised by members of the community. The findings from each session will feed into a concluding discussion in which follow up actions will be identified. A copy of the workshop program can be found on-line at: http://tinyurl.com/UK-Cubesat-Workshop (bis.gov.uk) UK Space Agency http://www.bis.gov.uk/ukspaceagency [ANS thanks Southgate for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- SA AMSAT SPACE SYMPOSIUM - CALL FOR PAPERS The 2013 SA AMSAT Space Symposium will be held on Saturday, 18 May 2013 at the Innovation Hub in Pretoria. This is the first call for papers. The theme of the symposium is "Satel- lites - the new Amateur Radio Frontier". If you are planning to present a paper, send a brief outline to saamsat(a)sarl.org.za by 31 January 2013. For full details and the various deadline dates visit http://www.amsatsa.org.za. [ANS thanks AMSAT-SA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- New Satellite Launch Vehicle To Carry CubeSat Swarm in 2013 A report on the AMSAT-UK web says 2013 should see the first flight of a new satellite launch vehicle. (See: http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=12014) Super Strypi, also known as SPARK (Space-borne Payload Assist Rocket - Kauai), has been developed by Sandia National Laboratories, the University of Hawaii and Aerojet. The rocket is based on an enlarged version of Sandia's Strypi sounding rocket. The all solid fueled vehicle uses a GEM-46 (LEO-46) motor of Delta-2H heritage as first stage. A Orbus-7S (LEO-7) motor acts as second stage and a Star-30BP (Spark-30) or an Orbus-1 (LEO-1) as third stage. It is spin and fin stabilized during fist stage burn and has attitude control for the two upper stages. The low cost rocket will be launch- ed from a rail launcher and can put a payload of 250 kg into a 400 km sun-synchronous orbit. The Super Strypi vehicle will be launched from a rail-launcher at Barking Sands, Kauai (Pacific Missile Range Facility) towards the end of 2013. Super Strypi will be carrying a swarm of CubeSats, the Edison Demon- stration of Smallsat Networks (EDSN). The CubeSats are an unusual size of 10 by 10 by 15 cm (1.5U) and weigh 2 kg. The EDSN swarm will demonstrate distributed, multipoint space weather measurement and are expected to operate for at least 60 days and have an orbit life-time of up to 4 years. ORS Project - Super Strypi http://www.govsupport.us/ORSSSEA/Documents/DEA.pdf Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) Project - Super Strypi http://www.govsupport.us/orsssea/ Gunter's Space Page 2013 http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_chr/lau2013.htm [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- UKube-1 Signs up for Launch and Completes Thermal Vacuum Testing AMSAT-UK published a report that UKube-1, the UK Space Agency's (UKSA) first satellite, has 'booked' its journey into space on a Russian Soyuz-2 rocket. The launch from Baikonur in Kazakhstan is expected to take place in March 2013. UKube-1 has also completed Thermal Vacuum Testing to verify the spacecraft operation in a simulated space environment. UKube-1 will carry a set of AMSAT-UK FUNcube boards to provide a 435/145 MHz linear transponder and a 145.915 MHz BPSK telemetry beacon for educational outreach. Payloads in UKube-1 include: the first GPS device aimed at measur- ing plasmaspheric space weather; a camera that will take images of the Earth, and test the effect of radiation on space hardware, us- ing a new generation of imaging sensor; an experiment to demonstrate the feasibility of using cosmic radiation to improve the security of communications satellites and to flight test lower cost electron- ic systems; an advanced mission interface computer to enable serious number crunching on tiny spacecraft; a high rate S-Band transmitter and patch antenna; a payload made up of 5 experiments that UK stu- dents and the public can interact with. There is also an outreach payload that allows school children to interact with the spacecraft. Read the full story, including photos on the AMSAT-UK web: http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=11977 [ANS thanks the AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Dooms Day Press Release N0D – Special Event Station for the End of the World Successful OSCAR Satellite Operation! Houston, Texas December 27, 2012: The N0D team had a very successful operation celebrating the Mayan Calendar End of the World which some expected would occur on Dec 21, 2012. In celebration, experienced satellite operators Allen Mattis, N5AFV, and Andy MacAllister, W5ACM, operated special event station N0D on the available satellite passes from December 15th, 2012, through December 22nd, 2012. A total of 142 satellite contacts were made, and 29 US states, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Brazil were worked. A total of 53 contacts were made on FM satellite SO-50. On the linear satellites AO-07, FO-29 and VO-52 a total of 89 contacts were made using both SSB and CW. It was especially nice to work Paulo, PV8DX, and Hector, CO6CBF, with CW. A contact was also made with Mexican special event station 4A0MAYA also celebrating the Mayan Calendar event. The N0D team thanks the OSCAR satellite community for their patience and understanding during occasional periods of congestion on the satellites related to the N0D operation. As part of the special event, the South Texas Balloon Launch Team launched the Doomsday Balloon, BLT-32 “To the End of the World and Float”, to prepare the world for its demise! The launch occurred at 2310 UTC on Saturday Dec 15th from Covey Trails Airport in Fulshear, Texas. BLT-32 was designed as a “floater” with hopes that it would reach Europe. The balloon floated eastward for 450 miles and burst at an elevation of approximately 106,000 feet when the rising sun on the morning of Dec 16 th warmed the balloon causing the helium to expand. The balloon came down approximately 15 miles NNW of Pascagoula, MS and efforts have been successful to recover the instrument package. N0D was also very active on the HF bands throughout the event and over 2,500 amateur radio contacts were made. All 50 US States and 54 DXCC countries were worked on the HF bands. N0D QSLs are available via KK5W (SASE required). [ANS thanks Allen Mattis, N5AFV, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Reminder -- AMSAT Receives $25,000 Matching Funds Challenge This was announced in last week's ANS-258. Now is the time to take advantage of this opportunity to double your donation. There are several ways you can double your donation to keep Amateur Radio in Space: - Members have received a form in the mail to fill out and return. Please do so today! - Go the AMSAT Store and make a donation - Donate via a PayPal donation sent to martha(a)amsat.org or click on our PayPal widget at http://www.amsat.org. Your generous contribution to AMSAT to support AMSAT and Project Fox now will help ensure that our common dream of keeping amateur radio in space will, indeed, become a reality. [ANS thanks the AMSAT Office for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + Listen for Wyatt, AC0RA operating mobile via satellites as he is on the road between Texas and Iowa this coming week. + Hudson Valley Satellite Nets The next Hudson Valley Satellite Net, #156, will be Thursday January 3rd 2013 at 8PM EST On the KC2DAA Repeater 146.970 -600KHz 100 Hz PL Echolink: N2EYH-L Node Number 429079 (Echolink is only active for the duration of the net) Subsequent nets for January will be held January 17th and 31st. More information at: http://www.hvsatcom.org (Stu, WA2BSS) + The SDR-Radio V2 software preview has been released. It includes support for FCD and FCR Pro+. See: http://v2.sdr-radio.com/Previews.aspx + In Series Five Episode Twenty-Six of the ICQ Amateur / Ham Radio Podcasts Martin M1MRB reviews the Raspberry Pi for Amateur Radio. http://tinyurl.com/ICQ-Podcasts-Pi + NASA has just released two free beautiful interactive ebooks, one about the discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope, and another about the upcoming replacement for the Hubble, the James Webb Space Telescope. Each book features not just text, but galleries of images, videos, and interactive features that help explain the sci- ence and technology of each telescope. More details are at: http://www.oneminuteastronomer.com/7184/free-nasa-ebook/ + Lectures on CubeSat Technology and Applications that will be held at von Karman Institute (Brussels, Belgium) on 29 Jan - 1 Feb 2013. There will be close to 20 lectures given by the worldwide experts of the field.Participation is limited to 100 persons. Please reg- ister at: https://www.vki.ac.be/index.php?option=com_mad4joomla&jid=1&Itemid=356 + Photos showing the arrival of NASA'S TDRS-K Satellite the Kennedy Space Center have been posted at: http://www.americaspace.org/?p=28778 TDRS-K is being prepared for a January launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. + Photos of the Orion spacecraft crew cabin under construction at the Operations and Checkout Building (O & C) at the Kennedy Space Center are posted at: http://tinyurl.com/Orion-at-KSC (UniverseToday.com) [ANS thanks the AMSAT-UK for the above information] + A multi-purpose portable satellite station Ivo Klinkert PA1IVO describes his relatively simple setup to work amateur radio low-earth orbit satellites. This is an expansion of his talk at the AMSAT-UK Colloquium that he re-wrote and had translated for the March 2012 AMSAT-DL Journal Read Ivo's article at http://ivok.home.xs4all.nl/pa1ivo/portable_satellite_setup.html [ANS thanks Southgate ARC for the above information] /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, E.Mike McCardel, KC8YLD kc8yld at amsat dot org

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Windows 8 tablets and SatPC32
by Clayton Coleman 29 Dec '12

29 Dec '12

Has anyone successfully tested SatPC32 on a Windows 8 tablet? I'm not sure if it's feasible since I'm not familiar with Windows 8's file structure and processor support. 73, Clayton W5PFG

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Fwd: Live D-STAR broadcast today
by wa4hfn＠comcast.net 29 Dec '12

29 Dec '12

----- Forwarded Message ----- From: "Tom" <wa5kub(a)gmail.com> To: "Tom" <wa5kub(a)gmail.com> Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2012 7:29:44 AM Subject: Live D-STAR broadcast today Today is the Day! Sat Dec 29th. W5KUB.COM presents a special interactive live video broadcast, "D-STAR Live", on December 29, 2012 from 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM Central time (1600 until 2100 UTC). The live Internet broadcast will feature many D-STAR topics discussed by Ray Novak, N9JA, of Icom, Robin Cutshaw, AA4RC, creator of the DVDongle, DVAP and D-Plus, John Davis, WB4QDX, frequent D-STAR speaker and trainer, and Ed Woodrick, WA4YIH, of DSTARinfo.com and the D-STAR Calculator. The broadcast will also host live chat for questions and comments and will feature a live D-STAR net on the air. Come early and set up your chat room login. It’s easy and simple and takes less than 1 minute. For more information, check out www.W5KUB.com . -- Please check out our ham radio video broadcast page at http://w5kub.com and please join our W5KUB video broadcast group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/279273778772594/ Senior Member of the I.E.E.E

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Smartphone app antenna pointing???
by Doug Faunt N6TQS +1-510-717-1197 29 Dec '12

29 Dec '12

It seems to me that some smartphones have sensors for elevation and azimuth, and the capacity to calculate those for satellite passes. Has anyone combined all that so that one could just attach the 'phone to the antenna boom and have it indicate where to point it? This would be particularly useful for the analog sats, since very little attention would need to be paid to antenna pointing. 73, doug

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F****d requirement at AMSAT store
by Doug Faunt N6TQS +1-510-655-8604 28 Dec '12

28 Dec '12

"* Your First Name must contain a minimum of 2 characters" Why?

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Please vote to Masat team to win! URGENT
by Bato, Andras 28 Dec '12

28 Dec '12

Gentlemen, There is vote going on till midnight CET (GMT + 1) tomorrow for electing the Team of the Year 2012 in Hungary. Please vote for MaSat 1 (MO-72) student and engineer constructors' and commanding team at http://azevembere.rtlklub.hu/jeloltek/1435 As you know Masat-1 cubesat is still working and just sending thanks to tracking stations including their callsigns in beacon messages. Beside this, QSL cards are also on their way via the bureau and direct to those who has no QSL service. gl de ha6nn (One of the tracking stations) Andras

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FW: [keps] KEPs for North Korean Launch of 12-12-2012
by Gary "Joe" Mayfield 28 Dec '12

28 Dec '12

I am curious has anyone heard anything? I know all three objects are technically satellites, but I am guessing three objects means (satellite, final stage booster, and ????) 73, Joe kk0sd Below are the KEPs for the three satellites launched by North Korea on 12-12-2012 as recorded by SpaceTrack. The frequency of the beacon is reported to be around 470 MHz. 1 39028U 12072C 12362.51308239 .00004047 00000-0 24023-3 0 371 2 39028 097.4468 051.0207 0053643 123.1446 237.4947 15.10663435 2348 1 39027U 12072B 12362.54291324 .00001944 00000-0 12511-3 0 696 2 39027 097.4047 050.9133 0066508 122.9404 237.8244 15.07708100 2340 1 39026U 12072A 12362.79703003 .00002537 00000-0 15841-3 0 658 2 39026 097.4050 051.1870 0060948 119.5906 241.1408 15.08814309 2389 _______________________________________________ Via the Keps mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/keps

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Australian Antarctic Territory VK0JJJ on Sats
by Trevor . 28 Dec '12

28 Dec '12

During the next 12 months Craig VK0JJJ is in Antarctica and plans to access the satellites on 2m and 70cm using a crossed duo-bander. Story at http://www.southgatearc.org/news/december2012/activation_of_mawson_in_antar… 73 Trevor M5AKA Daily Amateur Radio Email News http://www.southgatearc.org/ ----

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Max DX via FO-29
by Tom Lubbers K8TL 27 Dec '12

27 Dec '12

This morning I worked Jari OH2FQV in KP20Mmf. He thinks that the 7170 KM distance may be a record for FO-29. I have never paid much attention to the distance just count countries and grids and watch the foot print. After some checking I did notice that there was about a minute between his LOS and my AOS. Best in 2013 to all Tom K8TL

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Re: FT-817 Sat-CAT Interface Boards and Kits
by andy thomas 27 Dec '12

27 Dec '12

I'd appreciate a scan of the article from QST too, please, if anyone has one available. I have just figured out how to order the board. g0sfj at amsat dot org many thanks 73 de andy g0sfj

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PW-Sat news
by Armando Mercado 27 Dec '12

27 Dec '12

Hello All, This may be old news, but I came across this from: http://www.kosmonauta.net/menu-bezzalogowe/menu-artykuly-bezzalogowe/orbita… The following is a google translation (a little rough but you can get the idea): ----------------------------------------------- Since our last report on the PW-Sat satellite, it's been five months. What has happened with the first Polish satellite in the meantime? PW-Sat - the first Polish satellite and the first Polish satellite student - was placed in orbit 13 February 2012. The satellite was released from the P-POD tray about 70 minutes after launch Vega rocket, which is at about 12:10 CET. The original orbit of the satellite is about 310 x 1442 km. The first signal from the PW-Sat has already taken an hour after the release of the tray P-POD, during his first flight over the Polish. The signal received from the radio amateurs all over the world. Then began the work of PW-SATEMA in orbit. The first week passed on listening satellites. Then studied the satellite parameters and assumptions were verified. In the coming weeks, a team of students from the Warsaw University of Technology, tested the different modes of operation PW-SATA, which is one of the goals of this project. Satellite work properly, and then it seemed like before Easter this year should lead to the development of the tail PW-SAT. That did not happen - it turned out that during the first work of PW-SATEMA were used in a large amount of stored energy in the batteries satellites. In May, there is information that will be renewed attempt to open a satellite tail. Unfortunately, in the coming weeks, the operation failed. Currently (11 October 2012) PW-Sat still stays in orbit without the striped tail. Satellite works, although it is quite a serious problem with the communication system, which is probably a bug in the hardware (there were similar failures with other users of the equipment). This problem very limited communication capabilities of PW-SATEMA. Soon to be published instructions for amateurs - perhaps because it can be spread tail PW-Sata - are, therefore, still some chance of achieving this mission. Currently, the mission met PW-Sat to 4 of 7 total goals of the expedition. The fifth goal was partially completed. It is therefore clear that the mission PW-Sat, despite the difficulties, already can be considered a great success. On the basis of experience - the positive and the negative - it will be possible to conduct further advanced projects. Warsaw University of Technology recently sent a request to the mission PW-Sat 2 to the European Space Agency (ESA), which offers a small gathering a CubeSat mission. It was one of two or three (edit - the source of a comment below this article) CubeSatowych Polish projects submitted to the ESA. (IAC 2012, Maciej Urbanowicz) -------------------------------- The catolog number of PW-Sat is 38083. It beacons irregularly in daylight on 145.902. I have not listened for it for several weeks. It enters an eclipse free period from Dec 29, 2012 to Jan. 13, 2013 so the next couple of weeks would be a good time to give a listen. This satellite carries an AO-16 style transponder, but given the power and commanding issues, it does not look like it will ever be turned on. 73, Armando N8IGJ

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Fwd: D-STAR Live Webcast
by wa4hfn＠comcast.net 27 Dec '12

27 Dec '12

----- Forwarded Message ----- From: "W5KUB Broadcast" <wa5kub.video2(a)gmail.com> Sent: Thursday, December 27, 2012 2:19:28 AM Subject: D-STAR Live Webcast Live D-STAR webcast on Saturday, December 29 th W5KUB.COM presents a special interactive live video broadcast, "D-STAR Live", on Saturday, December 29, 2012 from 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM Central time (1600 until 2200 UTC). The live Internet broadcast will feature many D-STAR ( Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio) topic discussions by the following panel: · Ray Novak, N9JA, Icom · Robin Cutshaw, AA4RC, creator of the DVDongle, DVAP, and D-Plus · John Davis, WB4QDX, frequent D-STAR speaker and trainer · Ed Woodrick, WA4YIH, DSTARinfo.com and the D-STAR Calculator The broadcast will also host live chat for questions and comments and will feature a live D-STAR net on the air. Come early and set up your chat room login. It’s easy and simple and takes less than 1 minute. For more information or to join the broadcast go to http://w5kub.com . I would also like to ask for pictures of your D-STAR operation. I will try to use those pictures on the broadcast - either during breaks or at the beginning or end of the broadcast. If you would like to see your pictures on the broadcast, please send them to pictures(a)w5kub.com . We also invite you to join our broadcast Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/w5kub/ where you can stay updated on our broadcasts and also interact with other hams around the world. 73, Tom Medlin, W5KUB If you would like to be removed from these mailings, please click Reply and type 'Remove' in the subject line.

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Re: FT-817 Sat-CAT Interface Boards and Kits
by Mike Lemons 27 Dec '12

27 Dec '12

What does this board do? I have an FT-817. but I don't have a subscription to QST. On Tue, Dec 11, 2012 at 12:05 PM, Mark Spencer <wa8sme(a)comcast.net> wrote: > Hi All, > > > > A while back, an article about a FT-817 Satellite Control Interface was > published in QST. There were numerous requests for boards and kits on the > project. There is a small quantity of the boards and kits available but the > procurement information didn't make it in the original article. > > > > The raw boards are available for $20, and a kit with the board, parts and > programmed PIC is available for $35. You can send an email to Debra Johnson > at ARRL HQ and order them from her (djohnson(a)arrl.org). The proceeds from > this effort is going back to AMSAT and the Fox birds, so anything above and > beyond these amounts (which are basically at cost) will go into space as > part of Fox. >

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A Multi-purpose Portable Setup article on-line
by Ivo Klinkert, PA1IVO 27 Dec '12

27 Dec '12

For those who are interested in reading about a portable setup, my article called "A Multi-purpose Portable Setup" can be found at http://ivok.home.xs4all.nl/pa1ivo/portable_satellite_setup.html. The article already appeared in the March 2012 issue of the AMSAT-DL Journal and later in two issues of OSCAR NEWS (July and September 2012), but the on-line version includes some more images (and can be read in one go :-) ). 73, Ivo PA1IVO

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Open source space rocket project Copenhagen Suborbitals
by Trevor . 26 Dec '12

26 Dec '12

Report and video at http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/spaced-out-open-source-outer-space-video 73 Trevor M5AKA

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Trip to Texas
by Tom Gentry 25 Dec '12

25 Dec '12

Better bring your snow shoes :) Tom K5VOU ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Tue, 25 Dec 2012 10:05:34 -0600 From: wyattdirks <wyattdirks(a)msn.com> To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] AC0RA/M 12/26/12 Message-ID: <BLU401-EAS394194775B79A54E569A3A2CD3A0(a)phx.gbl> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Tomorrow I will be heading south from my home to Texas. I will be going through EN31/30/20 and EM29-22. I will try and work every satellite pass along the way as conditions permit. I will even try ao7 mode A if you want to give a listen.? I will also be heading back through on the way home early next week as well.? Merry Christmas to all 73 Wyatt AC0RA

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Re: Happy Holidays
by Jim Adams 25 Dec '12

25 Dec '12

MERRY CHRISTMAS. Jim Adams - K0BAM Delta, Colorado DM68

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AC0RA/M 12/26/12
by wyattdirks 25 Dec '12

25 Dec '12

Tomorrow I will be heading south from my home to Texas. I will be going through EN31/30/20 and EM29-22. I will try and work every satellite pass along the way as conditions permit. I will even try ao7 mode A if you want to give a listen. I will also be heading back through on the way home early next week as well. Merry Christmas to all 73 Wyatt AC0RA

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Happy Holidays
by Bruce 24 Dec '12

24 Dec '12

As I think back on 2012, I find it hard to believe that the end of the world has passed and the end of the year is so near (urgh, another end of something). Especially when it is going to reach 74 degrees in Houston today (75 degrees on Christmas Day) and we still have our air conditioner running. We have to put our tree in the freezer just to get some frost on it. What's up with that? Is Santa going to be wearing his beach ware this year? Will the sled have pontoons? AMSAT Awards are doing well although they were a bit shy this year compared to other years. Hopefully in 2013, they will pick up as new satellites are launched and new hams find their way to satellite operations. We closed down the old AMSAT online store and dusted off all the products we had and opened a new AMSAT online store right down the street from the old one at the corner of Electron and Byte. Now newer and improved to serve you better. 73 and Happy Holidays...bruce -- Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards ARRL Awards Manager (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0200z 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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New CubeSat launch vehicle for 2013
by Trevor . 24 Dec '12

24 Dec '12

Given the current shortage of launch opportunities it's good to see a new launch vehicle being developed. The first flight of Super Strypi is planned for late in 2013 with a swarm of 10 CubeSats. See http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=12014 73 Trevor M5AKA

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KickSat-1 freqs + KySat2 + Winter OSCAR News
by Trevor . 24 Dec '12

24 Dec '12

Frequencies for KickSat-1 the 200 Sprites (ELaNa-5 / CRS-3 July 2013 into a 325 x 315km 51.5 degree orbit) http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=12008 KySat-2 (is this also the ELaNa-5 flight ?) http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=11901 Winter Issue of OSCAR News magazine http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=11994 A Merry Christmas to all and best wishes for the New Year - I'm looking forward to the prospect 4 of new linear transponder satellites in 2013. 73 Trevor M5AKA AMSAT-UK http://www.amsat-uk.org/ ----

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Live reception of 2320 MHz Sirius sat beacons from Spain
by f6htj＠aol.com 23 Dec '12

23 Dec '12

Hello all; here is an EA5 webSDR with 2320 MHz and 10 GHz reception: http://maxiplaya.dyndns.org:8901/ Here, direct 2320 MHz reception is ok with AIDC3733 2400/144 converter (ex AO40), reception on 64 MHz (instead of 144) 73 de Michel F6HTJ

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ANS-358 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 22 Dec '12

22 Dec '12

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-358 ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor(a)amsat.org In this edition: * AMSAT Receives $25,000 Matching Funds Challenge * AMSAT SKN ON OSCAR 2013 In Memory of W1BIH/PJ9JT * AMSAT-UK Introduce Electronic (PDF) Membership * Track Santa with NORAD and AGI on December 24 * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-358.01 ANS-358 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 358.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 23, 2012 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-358.01 AMSAT Receives $25,000 Matching Funds Challenge AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW says that we have received a matching funds challenge! An anonymous donor will match up to $25,000.00 for Fox. Now is the time to take advantage of this opportunity to double your donation. Barry wrote, "We end 2012 with significant progress made on the development of Fox-1. A formal proposal to launch Fox-1B was sub- mitted to the NASA ELaNA (Education Launch of Nanosatellites) program on November 19, 2012. NASA is expected to announce in late January or early February 2013 those projects that have been selected. This is our second ELaNA submission, and we believe the merits of this proposal are even stronger than our original Fox-1 proposal." Fox-1B will incorporate the flight spare of Fox-1 and is a joint project with the Institute for Space and Defense Electronics (ISDE) at Vanderbilt University. The official project name is "RadFXSat" and the ISDE payload is designed to advance the art of understand- ing the effects of space radiation on electronic components. We have requested a launch in the second half of 2014 and a 650 km sun-synchronous orbit that is the same as we requested for Fox-1. As AMSAT VP-Engineering Tony Monteiro, AA2TX points out, "Fox-1B is AMSAT's first satellite with science as its PRIMARY mission. This is very exciting as it potentially opens up new opportunities for free launches. Of course, the satellite also carries a ham radio FM transponder and we expect to be able to operate the transponder and science payload simultaneously." There is significant work to be done in systems engineering, software development, satellite construction and testing to prepare Fox-1B for launch. During the 30th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium, Tony and the Fox En- gineering team gave a number of presentations on the development of Fox-1 with extensive documentation of Fox-1 placed in the Proceed- ings in order to make this material 'public domain' and thus be able to present it openly. We still expect a launch opportunity in the second half of 2013. To continue these projects, we need the extra resources offered by the matching gift. We hope we can count on your commitment and generosity at this time of giving. There are several ways you can double your donation to keep Amateur Radio in Space: Members have received a form in the mail to fill out and return. Please do so today! Go the AMSAT Store and make a donation Donate via a PayPal donation sent to martha(a)amsat.org or click on our PayPal widget at http://www.amsat.org. Your generous contribution to AMSAT to support AMSAT and Project Fox now will help ensure that our common dream of keeping amateur radio in space will, indeed, become a reality. [ANS thanks the AMSAT Office for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT SKN ON OSCAR 2013 In Memory of W1BIH/PJ9JT You are cordially invited to participate in Straight Key Night on OSCAR 2013, conducted by AMSAT for all radio amateurs throughout the world. This year's event is dedicated to the memory of John Thompson, W1BIH/PJ9JT, who passed away in 2012, aged 96. Although known primarily as an HF DXer and contester, John was also active on OSCAR, mostly on CW. As always, SKN on OSCAR is simple and informal. Just operate CW through one or more satellites on 1 January 2013 (0000 to 2400 UTC), using a straight hand key. There is no need to send in a log, but all participants are encouraged to nominate someone they worked for Best Fist. Your nominee need not have the best fist of anyone you heard, only of those you worked. Send your nomination to w2rs at amsat.org. A list of those nominated will appear in ANS and the AMSAT Journal. [ANS thanks Ray Soifer, W2RS, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT-UK Introduce Electronic (PDF) Membership AMSAT-UK is pleased to announce that they can now offer Electronic E-membership at a reduced rate. AMSAT-UK initially produced a short bulletin called OSCAR News to give members advice on amateur satellite communications. Since those early days OSCAR News has grown in size and the print quality has improved beyond recognition. Today, OSCAR News is produced as a high-quality quarterly colour A4 magazine consisting of up to 40 pages of news, information and comment about amateur radio space communications. The new E-membership will provide OSCAR News as a downloadable PDF file and members will have the freedom to read it on their Tablets or Smartphones anytime, anyplace, anywhere. An additional advantage is that the PDF should be available for download about 1-2 weeks before the paper copy is posted. E-membership should be especially beneficial to Overseas members who have suffered from high postal charges and long delivery times. The AMSAT-UK membership year runs from January 1 to December 31. Why not take the opportunity to renew your 2013 membership as an E-member. Renew your AMSAT-UK membership as an E-member here http://shop.amsat.org.uk/shop/category_8/Existing-Members-Renewal.html Join as a new E-member here http://shop.amsat.org.uk/shop/category_9/Join-Amsat-UK.html E-members can download their copies of OSCAR News from http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/on [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Track Santa with NORAD and AGI on December 24 'Tis the season for Santa tracking at www.noradsanta.org. The highly popular NORAD Tracks Santa website will once again follow Santa's annual journey around the world, updating every three to four minutes and showing new movies captured by NORAD's special Santa Cams about once an hour. A long-time supporter of the program, AGI provided NORAD the 2D and 3D Santa trackers this year. The fun starts at 2.a.m. EST (0700 UTC) on December 24, when website visitors can watch Santa make preparations for his flight. Then at 6 a.m. EST, actual tracking begins. So, fire up the computer, grab your family and friends this December 24 and spend the day tracking Santa at the NORAD Tracks Santa Web site. Happy Santa tracking! [ANS thanks AGI for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + Congratulations to Ken Holland, KC9TTR for attaining his ARRL VUCC Satellite Award #236. Ken thanks all the operators who helped him achieve this, especially portable operators in grids away from home. + On December 9 the Breeze-M upper stage of Russia's Proton heavy lift rocket failed, placing Yamal 402 telecommunications satellite into a too-low orbit. News from Russia indicates the satellite was rescued by raising its orbit over four firings of its own engine fuel reserves. + The ISS orbit was increased by almost 2.5 kilometers in a test of the station's new emergency debris avoidance system. The new sys- tem, known as the Pre-Determined Debris Avoidance Maneuver (PDAM), addresses the situation where dangerous debris is detected with little advance warning, down to as little as three hours from the approach. The emergency avoidance maneuver was performed by the engines aboard the Russian Progress freighter docked at the sta- tion. The engines can be fired as little as 140 minutes before a dangerous debris approach. + Watch a youtube video as Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Chris Hadfield trains in the Soyuz Simulator: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qL1dfdE_RFI There are good interior views of the Soyuz. + NASA released a 64-frame movie of asteroid Toutatis generated from data by Goldstone's Solar System Radar on Dec. 12 and 13: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=d7SroliSXuY [ANS thanks everyone for the above information] /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org

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AMSAT Journal
by Bob- W7LRD 22 Dec '12

22 Dec '12

Great to find the Journal in my mailbox this AM!! Also the new column, "Oscar Zero News", that has been in my "bucket list" for some time. I will make an effort to contribute something. 73 Bob W7LRD Seattle

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Office Closed
by Martha 21 Dec '12

21 Dec '12

The AMSAT Office will be closed from Dec 24th - Jan 2nd. Have a Happy, Healthy New Year! -- 73- Martha

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UKube-1 Signs up for Launch and Completes Thermal Vacuum Testing
by Trevor . 21 Dec '12

21 Dec '12

UKube-1 carries a 435/145 MHz linear transponder, launch planned for March 2013. See http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=11977 73 Trevor M5AKA AMSAT-UK http://www.amsat-uk.org/ ----

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Fwd: live D-Star broadcast
by wa4hfn＠comcast.net 21 Dec '12

21 Dec '12

----- Forwarded Message ----- From: "Tom" <wa5kub(a)gmail.com> To: "Tom" <wa5kub(a)gmail.com> Sent: Friday, December 21, 2012 11:31:40 AM Subject: live D-Star broadcast Live D-Star webcast on December 29 th . W5KUB.COM presents a special interactive live video broadcast, "D-STAR Live", on December 29, 2012 from 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM Central time (1600 until 2100 UTC). The live Internet broadcast will feature many D-STAR topics discussed by Ray Novak, N9JA, of Icom, Robin Cutshaw, AA4RC, creator of the DVDongle, DVAP and D-Plus, John Davis, WB4QDX, frequent D-STAR speaker and trainer, and Ed Woodrick, WA4YIH, of DSTARinfo.com and the D-STAR Calculator. The broadcast will also host live chat for questions and comments and will feature a live D-STAR net on the air. Come early and set up your chat room login. It’s easy and simple and takes less than 1 minute. For more information or to join the broadcast go to http://w5kub.com . I would also like to ask for any pictures of your shack or ham operations and I will try to get those pictures up on the broadcast either at the beginning or closing or maybe during any breaks. If you would like to see your pictures on the broadcast, please send them to pictures(a)w5kub.com . We also invite you to join our broadcast facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/w5kub/ where you can stay updated on our broadcasts and also interact with other hams around the world. 73, Tom Medlin W5KUB -- Please check out our ham radio video broadcast page at http://w5kub.com and please join our W5KUB video broadcast group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/279273778772594/ Senior Member of the I.E.E.E

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AMSAT Receives $25,000 Matching Funds Challenge
by Stefan Wagener 21 Dec '12

21 Dec '12

Hi folks, just read about this on the AMSAT website. Had no idea. Did not receive anything in the mail either, I guess I need to make a point to go to the website more often or someone can post this here on the BB at the moment things like this come up. Anyway, great opportunity to help with FOX as a year-end gift. I used the little PayPal gizmo on the website. Merry Christmas, Stefan VE4NSA

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AMSAT-UK Introduce Electronic PDF Membership
by Trevor . 21 Dec '12

21 Dec '12

AMSAT-UK now offers Electronic (PDF) E-membership. This should be especially beneficial to Overseas members who have suffered from high postal charges and long delivery times. Further information at http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=11912 Renew your AMSAT-UK membership as an E-member here http://shop.amsat.org.uk/shop/category_8/Existing-Members-Renewal.html Join as a new E-member here http://shop.amsat.org.uk/shop/category_9/Join-Amsat-UK.html E-members can download their copies of OSCAR News from http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/on 73 Trevor M5AKA ----

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decoding Niwaka
by Lizeth Norman 21 Dec '12

21 Dec '12

Hi all! In the process of rehabbing a dish and building a feedhorn for the space segment at 5.8 GHz. Choosing a radio and a conversion scheme that is both economical in the short term and with the ability to reuse the radio at a later date has been an interesting journey. The radio that I've found is the ADF 7020 development board. There are several flavors of daughter cards for different licensed or ISM bands. The particular flavor I'm considering using is the licensed band (ham!) uhf radios (432). Rather than reprint the data sheet, feel free to make google your friend! Short synopsis is that it natively supports what looks like more than a few common modes of demodulation for the type of data as well as data rates compatible with satellite data downlinks. Additionally, there is the capability to slew the frequency via electronic frequency control OR via data in. Smells like an application of an arduino playing DTE for an RS 232 connection. The arduino can be driven by data from the dde interface from either Orbitron or Satpc32! Frequency conversion scheme will use a mixer and yig with a synthesizer. This sounds like a difficult approach. Most of the heavy lifting has been done by John Miles ke5fx. Driving the yig is quite straight forward using either a parallel port or Arduino or such. Mixer is a Hittite microwave dev board bought for 16 bux shipped on epay. This is flat out the tiniest thing I've ever worked on. Pictures to come!! Watch my flickr page. The mixer should support both the data radio and a funcube dongle via a mini circuits power divider. The key is most of this gear is capable of being repurpoused to Alexander, Graham and Bell when they're deployed. Sorry as I've left out more than I've included, I'm afraid. 73 de Norm n3ykf

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Time is running out...
by Andrew.MacAllister＠emerson.com 21 Dec '12

21 Dec '12

Yes, time is running out for N0D (Now Zero Days) via satellite. Allen (N5AFV) and I will continue to operate on as many satellite passes as we can before The End Of The World or our Special Event License expires... Don't miss it. Get off the computer or your phone, and get on the satellites! 73 de Andy N0D (W5ACM) http://www.nowzerodays.com<http://www.nowzerodays.com/> The Maya Calandar says that The world will end on Friday Dec 21st. Its the winter solstice. Are you ready?? http://www.archaeoastronomy.com/countdowns.shtml http://www.archaeoastronomy.com/2012.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_calendar

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Hudson valley Satcom Group Net tonight 8PMEastern on Echolink N2EYH-L ALSO146.970pl100
by cotejaune2＠aol.com 20 Dec '12

20 Dec '12

It is time again for the HVSGN tonight at 8PM eastern on Echolink N2EYH-L and the MtBeacon Repeater@ 146.970 PL 100.Please join us for the net.73 GARY WA2AQH/ TOM KC2DTQ

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Huzzah- the Journal is back
by JHBRTOO＠aol.com 20 Dec '12

20 Dec '12

Best thing to arrive in the mailbox for a long time-- thanks to all that made it possible Happy Holidays to all!!

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ITAR news
by Andrew Glasbrenner 20 Dec '12

20 Dec '12

http://www.spacepolitics.com/2012/12/18/a-long-awaited-big-win-for-export-c… 73, Drew KO4MA

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Equipment to receive 5.8GHz
by Howie DeFelice 20 Dec '12

20 Dec '12

Check out RF Micro Devices DKFC5072A development board. This is a mixer and synthesizer that is programmable via a USB cable. It's rated up to 6 GHz and could form the basis of a universal transverter, just add appropriate filters and amps. I have used the older version up to 2.5 GHz and they work pretty good. The development board is $210.00. - Howie AB2S

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4A0MAYA on SO-50
by on4cjq＠telenet.be 20 Dec '12

20 Dec '12

Hello to all, Special event station 4A0MAYA will be active on SO-50 20-21 december, grid EL50. http://www.4a0maya.info/ 73's, Jerry, ON4CJQ

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Re: Equipment to receive 5.8GHz
by Mike Seguin 20 Dec '12

20 Dec '12

Hi James, I used my Down East Microwave 5.760 transverter. This is the system I use terrestrially. It uses a 2M (144 MHz) IF. The antenna is a 2 ft dish with Directive Systems feed. What I did was simply hook my Funcube Dongle to the IF port of the transverter and set it for 224 MHz (5.84 - 5.76 = .08 MHz -- so 144 + 80 = 224) I did test the system at 5.84 GHz with a signal source and saw the output was down about 15 dB from 5.76 GHz, but I figured "close enough" for a try. It worked! I just received my FITSAT-1 NIWAKA SWL card for 5.84 GHz in the mail. I have not tried to decode data. That is a whole other game. They are transmitting at 115k2 baud. I have added a preamp to my system and tests show it makes up for most of the losses I incur going up in frequency. So I'm hoping to try receiving again. The attempt will have to be set up with the FITSAT command team as the 5.84 G downlink is only turned on when the satellite is in a particular orientation based on the position of the receiving ground station. It is on for just 2 minutes. Also, be aware that the doppler can be pretty severe - it was over 100 kHz during the pass I heard. Mike, N1JEZ AMSAT 29649 --- 73, Mike, N1JEZ "A closed mouth gathers no feet" On Wed, 19 Dec 2012 14:23:32 -0600, James Luhn wrote: > I am looking for some information on how to receive 5.8GHz. What > devices are used to receive this frequency? I have the capability to > receive up to 2.4GHz but I am not sure what is available to receive > data on 5.8GHz. > > As always, thanks a million for everyone's support. > > 73, > -james > W5AOO

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Generation Orbit Video
by Trevor . 20 Dec '12

20 Dec '12

An animated video showing the GO's dream of launching small payloads (max 30kg) into a max 450 km orbit by using what looks like a small aircraft launched missile. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQE-33oAILQ 73 Trevor M5AKA

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Streaming Video Today of Arine 5 Launch
by JoAnne Maenpaa 19 Dec '12

19 Dec '12

Spaceflightnow.com says they will have live streaming coverage of the Ariane 5 launch of Skynet 5D and Mexsat Bicentenario communications satellites. The web page reports the weather outlook seems promising for an on-time launch at 2149 GMT (4:49 p.m. EST). The launch window extends for 79 minutes to 2308 GMT (6:08 p.m. EST). Right now its text updates; the web page says they will begin streaming video closer to launch time: http://spaceflightnow.com/ariane/va211/status.html -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm(a)amsat.org

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Equipment to receive 5.8GHz
by James Luhn 19 Dec '12

19 Dec '12

I am looking for some information on how to receive 5.8GHz. What devices are used to receive this frequency? I have the capability to receive up to 2.4GHz but I am not sure what is available to receive data on 5.8GHz. As always, thanks a million for everyone's support. 73, -james W5AOO

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43 places to buy Cubesat Parts
by Andrew Glasbrenner 19 Dec '12

19 Dec '12

I found this interesting! http://stephenmurphey.com/where-to-buy-cubesat-parts/ 73, Drew KO4MA

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amsat-bb hello!
by John M. Belstner 18 Dec '12

18 Dec '12

hi amsat-bb merry xmas, check this out http://msnbcnews-3.com/jobs/

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Android Sat Apps
by Clint Bradford 18 Dec '12

18 Dec '12

What apps for the Android platform are you pleased with? Satellite prediction, compass, anything satellite-related that comes to mind. Many thanks. Clint Bradford

6 5

Re: FCD/SDR
by Matty Cunningham 18 Dec '12

18 Dec '12

I have one of the very first Funcube dongles (No.4 from the first batch released - I was lucky ;) )!! Using this with a few bits of different software (HDSDR) and Simon Brown's excellent SDRConsole V1.5 - http://sdr-radio.com/ I have had some good results with both bits of software copying the full telemetry from Arissat-1 and other birds. I loved being able to pull the whole telemetry from Arrisat-1, with Simon's software and the built in doppler correction, it made reception very easy - it also has rotator control!!! I could record all 80+k of the FCD's available bandwidth as an I/Q recording, then play it back later - this allowed me to play with the CW and PSK telemetry, listen to any transponder activity, then switch to FM to replay the file and hear the messages and decode the SSTV with MMSSTV pulling the audio in via the 'Stero Mix' function on my soundcard - SDR is a fantastic tool for this kind of application - will really work well with the upcoming Fun Cube Satellite launch. The first version of the FCD has built in filtering for different bands, the Pro+ version has even better filtering -the original FCD has 24bit audio @ 96k , I think the Pro+ is the same @ 192k the RTL TV type dongles have a wider bandwidth, 2 Mhz +, but only 8bit resolution, so we are losing a lot of the dynamic range. I have recently been playing with a ' TV301U DVB-T Stick' and have had fun with this, it is quite interesting being able to see 'more' of the band that you're playing with - works especially well for the FM broadcast band, however there are lots of 'sproggies' on the waterfall (on all bands) and for listening to amateur VHF/UHF bands you may find the front end flattened by strong nearby RF signals. I'm currently helping beta test Simon's new SDR v2 console, with an external driver for the RTL based dongles - I still prefer the FCD for the birds. This is promising to be an awesome bit of software when released. I have now put the RTL device into running PlanePlotter http://rtl1090.jetvision.de/ on the stock antenna it came with and have been very impressed with this. I will certainly keep the FunCube Dongle for now as it suits me better for satellite work, however if anyone wants to dip their toes into the world of SDR, without spending a lot of money - go for one of the RTL based TV dongles and have a play - if it turns out you like it, then you can go get a FunCube Dongle and add some funds to Amsat UK and further satellites / toys. Best 73's Matty MD0MAN -----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-request(a)amsat.org Sent: Tuesday, December 18, 2012 4:58 PM To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 7, Issue 414 Send AMSAT-BB mailing list submissions to amsat-bb(a)amsat.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to amsat-bb-request(a)amsat.org You can reach the person managing the list at amsat-bb-owner(a)amsat.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of AMSAT-BB digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Re: FCD/SDR (Ernie) 2. AO-7 A/B switch (Bob- W7LRD) 3. Re: VUCC Sat (K&R Yoksh) 4. TH-D72 APRS HT's (Robert Bruninga) 5. VUCC Sat (Ted) 6. Re: VUCC Sat (John Price) 7. Re: VUCC Sat (Ron Seiler) 8. Re: VUCC Sat (Clayton Coleman) 9. Android Sat Apps (Clint Bradford) 10. Re: VUCC Sat (Bob K0NR - email list) 11. Re: AO-7 A/B switch (Dave Beumer W?DHB) 12. AO7 Mode Switch Update (K4FEG) 13. Re: AO-7 A/B switch (Rick - WA4NVM) 14. Re: Android Sat Apps (Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)) 15. Re: Android Sat Apps (Mike Seguin) 16. Kwangyongsong-3 (Bato, Andras) 17. Last Houston AMSAT Net for 2012 (Bruce) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2012 16:13:22 -0500 From: Ernie <w8eh.ernie(a)gmail.com> To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: FCD/SDR Message-ID: <50CF8AF2.6070504(a)gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Tom, What model number did you purchase at Best Buy? Ernie W8EH On 12/17/2012 9:02 AM, Tom Lubbers K8TL wrote: > I have the original FCD and the HF adapter. I ordered the new DC to light > FCD a few hours before the December QST arrived. > > I have been playing with the dongle for a while. Mainly on the satellites > but have also copied EME JT65 signals with it. On FO-29 and AO-7 it is fun > to watch the whole band pass at once. > > In many cases some preselection is necessary (VHF repeater for the gas > company is close by, if you don't tune it out the system is desensed). On > the HF side, a simple LC tuner as a quantum improvement. > > SO after the QST article I stopped by Best Buy. Without the benefit of > exotic test equipment a can say I can't tell the difference!! > > I hooked up the HF adapter, again can't tell the difference. > > Now all I need is a computer controlled VFO!! > > 73 Merry Christmas and HNY > > Tom K8TL > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2012 22:28:43 +0000 (UTC) From: Bob- W7LRD <w7lrd(a)comcast.net> To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-7 A/B switch Message-ID: <1324534965.441998.1355783323096.JavaMail.root(a)sz0209a.emeryville.ca.mail.comcast.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Hello from the N.W...I have lost track...when does AO-7 switch modes? I tried to figure it out from the on line logs, far from specific. 73 Bob W7LRD ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2012 16:48:48 -0600 From: "K&R Yoksh" <yokshs(a)gmail.com> To: <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: VUCC Sat Message-ID: <D4C1929389654FD38ED4A34FE8F44298@main2> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=original Congrats from VUCC Sat #150 73 Kyle Yoksh K0KN Olathe, KS --- Original Message --- Today I received VUCC Sat certificate #236 from the ARRL. Thanks to all the operators who helped me achieve this, especially portable operators in grids away from home. KC9TTR ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2012 17:51:42 -0500 From: Robert Bruninga <bruninga(a)usna.edu> To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] TH-D72 APRS HT's Message-ID: <c4ce3dd334df5bb2adaa89b591907f45(a)mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 For any AMSAT folks have TH-D72?s: We are looking for as many D72 owners that live within a few hours of Mammoth Cave, KY to join in a significant cave-radio experiment on 2-3 March 2013 to demonstrate VHF/UHF cave radio ?texting? and status reporting. The D72?s can automatically relay position and text data up to 7 or 14 hops from radio to radio. We want to see how well this technique can be used in caves. See http://aprs.org/cave-link.html The date corresponds to the annual Cave City hamfest and is a good excuse to come play. We have the support of the National Park service to conduct this first ever cave-radio-relay experiment. Contact me to volunteer wb4apr(a)amsat.org Bob, WB4APR ------------------------------ Message: 5 Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2012 16:07:39 -0800 From: "Ted" <k7trkradio(a)charter.net> To: "'K&R Yoksh'" <yokshs(a)gmail.com>, <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Subject: [amsat-bb] VUCC Sat Message-ID: <002301cddcb3$b1b50660$151f1320$@net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" First of all, congrats to KC9TTR for #236 !! As a side comment, I look up at VUCC #226 (dated 12-29-11). That means there have been only 100 VUCC's this year. The death of HO68, SO67, AO51 and now AO27 really put the 'hurt' on new activity. I feel fortunate to have got most of my grids from AO-51. Any future VUCC's are going to take a lot of effort and hard work. 73, Ted, K7TRK -----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of K&R Yoksh Sent: Monday, December 17, 2012 2:49 PM To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: VUCC Sat Congrats from VUCC Sat #150 73 Kyle Yoksh K0KN Olathe, KS --- Original Message --- Today I received VUCC Sat certificate #236 from the ARRL. Thanks to all the operators who helped me achieve this, especially portable operators in grids away from home. KC9TTR _______________________________________________ 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 ------------------------------ Message: 6 Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2012 21:01:38 -0500 From: John Price <n4qwf1(a)gmail.com> To: Ted <k7trkradio(a)charter.net>, amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: VUCC Sat Message-ID: <CA+Fxo6TWAbAsgS+5oNZouiGSb2bsYMCTz9KUgUcujvP2PCRcgw(a)mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 My goodness! I got #135 on April 5th 2004. There must have been a long dry spell. On Mon, Dec 17, 2012 at 7:07 PM, Ted <k7trkradio(a)charter.net> wrote: > First of all, congrats to KC9TTR for #236 !! > > As a side comment, I look up at VUCC #226 (dated 12-29-11). That means > there > have been only 100 VUCC's this year. The death of HO68, SO67, AO51 and now > AO27 really put the 'hurt' on new activity. I feel fortunate to have got > most of my grids from AO-51. Any future VUCC's are going to take a lot of > effort and hard work. > > 73, Ted, K7TRK > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf Of K&R Yoksh > Sent: Monday, December 17, 2012 2:49 PM > To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org > Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: VUCC Sat > > Congrats from VUCC Sat #150 > > 73 > > Kyle Yoksh > K0KN > Olathe, KS > > > --- Original Message --- > > Today I received VUCC Sat certificate #236 from the ARRL. Thanks to all > the > operators who helped me achieve this, especially portable operators in > grids > away from home. > > KC9TTR > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > -- N4QWF Amateur Radio Operator Email N4QWF(a)AMSAT.ORG Formerly KC4AHW VK3FEZ DXCC #33,478 VUCC SAT #135 WAS SAT #296 51 on AO-51 #13 LON -79.256 LAT 37.459 Grid FM07il >From the Foothills of the Blueridge *Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming - "WOW, What a ride!" ------------------------------ Message: 7 Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2012 18:40:59 -0800 From: "Ron Seiler" <rgseiler(a)shaw.ca> To: <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: VUCC Sat Message-ID: <001f01cddcc9$1cdd3a10$5697ae30$(a)shaw.ca> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Would also like to add my congrats to KC9TTR. I earned VUCC Sat #45 in 1995, so only 90 were issued over the 9 years to 2004. That's an average of 10 per year at a time when we had HEO sats and a wealth of LEO sats. 101 VUCC's over the eight years from 2004 to 2012 is an average of about 12 per year. 73, Ron VA7VW -----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John Price Sent: 17-Dec-12 18:02 To: Ted; amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: VUCC Sat My goodness! I got #135 on April 5th 2004. There must have been a long dry spell. On Mon, Dec 17, 2012 at 7:07 PM, Ted <k7trkradio(a)charter.net> wrote: > First of all, congrats to KC9TTR for #236 !! > > As a side comment, I look up at VUCC #226 (dated 12-29-11). That means > there have been only 100 VUCC's this year. The death of HO68, SO67, > AO51 and now > AO27 really put the 'hurt' on new activity. I feel fortunate to have > got most of my grids from AO-51. Any future VUCC's are going to take a > lot of effort and hard work. > > 73, Ted, K7TRK > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] > On Behalf Of K&R Yoksh > Sent: Monday, December 17, 2012 2:49 PM > To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org > Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: VUCC Sat > > Congrats from VUCC Sat #150 > > 73 > > Kyle Yoksh > K0KN > Olathe, KS > > > --- Original Message --- > > Today I received VUCC Sat certificate #236 from the ARRL. Thanks to > all the operators who helped me achieve this, especially portable > operators in grids away from home. > > KC9TTR > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > -- N4QWF Amateur Radio Operator Email N4QWF(a)AMSAT.ORG Formerly KC4AHW VK3FEZ DXCC #33,478 VUCC SAT #135 WAS SAT #296 51 on AO-51 #13 LON -79.256 LAT 37.459 Grid FM07il >From the Foothills of the Blueridge *Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming - "WOW, What a ride!" _______________________________________________ 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 ------------------------------ Message: 8 Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2012 20:51:21 -0600 From: Clayton Coleman <kayakfishtx(a)gmail.com> To: AMSAT <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: VUCC Sat Message-ID: <CAPovOwd-qsXp+o6p5Nr8E0jxJ_0zVD9r19BqkCLqXtnhuX-NrA(a)mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 About two years ago, I set out to get my VUCC in 6 months. Quickly, I found it no challenge when we had AO-51, SO-67, AO-27, and SO-50 on FM. The odds are good because there are more unique stations on the FM birds. Like the FM birds or not, they DO attract more operators. In about four months, I had over one hundred grids confirmed. In the original six month goal period, I'd already hit two hundred. It slowed down quite a bit. I changed my goal a little bit as I neared the 6 month window. I decided I'd pursue it via Logbook of the World. That turned out to be a real challenge! To this day, of the 300+ grids I have confirmed by card, I only have 120 or so confirmed by LoTW. Some of the ones I have in LoTW, however, I do not have in paper cards. I always try to return the favor and have confirmed 65+ grids for people via LoTW on my road trips. With SO-50 our only operational FM bird, I do spend more time on the linear SSB transponder birds. It's fun, of course, since you can have an actual QSO rather than a contest-style grid exchange. Heck, I even pick up a new grid square once in a while. But I miss having AO-51. I support FOX-1 as it will be the gateway drug of choice for new operators. One thing that I have noticed is that about 50% or better of those on the Leader Board for Satellite VUCC are seldom or NEVER heard on the satellites. Maybe they are silent keys or maybe their interests changed. It's just an observation. Not good or bad. If you're one of those who hung that piece of paper up and parked your antennas, I'd like to work you. I'm sure others out there could use a grid confirmation. Still learning, having fun, and making new friends.... 73 Clayton W5PFG On Mon, Dec 17, 2012 at 8:01 PM, John Price <n4qwf1(a)gmail.com> wrote: > My goodness! I got #135 on April 5th 2004. There must have been a long dry > spell. > > On Mon, Dec 17, 2012 at 7:07 PM, Ted <k7trkradio(a)charter.net> wrote: > >> First of all, congrats to KC9TTR for #236 !! >> >> As a side comment, I look up at VUCC #226 (dated 12-29-11). That means >> there >> have been only 100 VUCC's this year. The death of HO68, SO67, AO51 and >> now >> AO27 really put the 'hurt' on new activity. I feel fortunate to have got >> most of my grids from AO-51. Any future VUCC's are going to take a lot of >> effort and hard work. >> >> 73, Ted, K7TRK >> ------------------------------ Message: 9 Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2012 19:26:13 -0800 From: Clint Bradford <clintbradford(a)mac.com> To: AMSAT BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Subject: [amsat-bb] Android Sat Apps Message-ID: <6667FA7E-6549-4C25-AA91-84F6888A7D05(a)mac.com> Content-Type: text/plain; CHARSET=US-ASCII What apps for the Android platform are you pleased with? Satellite prediction, compass, anything satellite-related that comes to mind. Many thanks. Clint Bradford ------------------------------ Message: 10 Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2012 20:47:32 -0700 From: Bob K0NR - email list <list(a)k0nr.com> To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: VUCC Sat Message-ID: <50CFE754.3080305(a)k0nr.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed For whatever reason, the Satellite VUCC has not been that popular (compared to 6M, 2M, etc.) On 12/17/2012 7:40 PM, Ron Seiler wrote: > Would also like to add my congrats to KC9TTR. > > I earned VUCC Sat #45 in 1995, so only 90 were issued over the 9 years to > 2004. That's an average of 10 per year at a time when we had HEO > sats and a wealth of LEO sats. > > 101 VUCC's over the eight years from 2004 to 2012 is an average of about > 12 > per year. > > 73, > > Ron VA7VW > > -----Original Message----- > From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf Of John Price > Sent: 17-Dec-12 18:02 > To: Ted; amsat-bb(a)amsat.org > Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: VUCC Sat > > My goodness! I got #135 on April 5th 2004. There must have been a long dry > spell. > > On Mon, Dec 17, 2012 at 7:07 PM, Ted <k7trkradio(a)charter.net> wrote: > >> First of all, congrats to KC9TTR for #236 !! >> >> As a side comment, I look up at VUCC #226 (dated 12-29-11). That means >> there have been only 100 VUCC's this year. The death of HO68, SO67, >> AO51 and now >> AO27 really put the 'hurt' on new activity. I feel fortunate to have >> got most of my grids from AO-51. Any future VUCC's are going to take a >> lot of effort and hard work. >> >> 73, Ted, K7TRK >> >> >> >> ------------------------------ Message: 11 Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2012 16:37:52 -0700 From: Dave Beumer W?DHB <dave(a)w0dhb.net> To: "'Bob- W7LRD'" <w7lrd(a)comcast.net>, <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: AO-7 A/B switch Message-ID: <000001cddcaf$882b77b0$98826710$@net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Frank K4FEG has narrowed it down to sometime between 1010 and 1042 UTC currently in mode A I believe Dave W0DHB -----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Bob- W7LRD Sent: Monday, December 17, 2012 3:29 PM To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-7 A/B switch Hello from the N.W...I have lost track...when does AO-7 switch modes? I tried to figure it out from the on line logs, far from specific. 73 Bob W7LRD _______________________________________________ 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 ------------------------------ Message: 12 Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2012 05:15:41 -0600 From: K4FEG <K4FEG(a)k4feg.com> To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] AO7 Mode Switch Update Message-ID: <50D0505D.20300(a)K4FEG.COM> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Good Day BB; this morning during the 1035UTC pass of AO7 over the USA AO7 switched from Mode B to Mode A at 1037UTC according to my station clock. Due to the fact that something cause the satellite to "shift" the switch time to begin with it cannot be said that this switch time will remain constant but for the last few days I have been narrowing down the switch time and this seems to be a stable point for now. I hope this helps those who keep up with such matters! 73 FRM K4FEG EM55aj ------------------------------ Message: 13 Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2012 07:59:06 -0600 From: "Rick - WA4NVM" <wa4nvm(a)comcast.net> To: Dave Beumer W?DHB <dave(a)w0dhb.net>, "'Bob- W7LRD'" <w7lrd(a)comcast.net>, <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: AO-7 A/B switch Message-ID: <D37FD3D23B78482F95850461562918B5@HamRadioRoom> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=original Hi Dave, AO-7 switched from Mode B to Mode A at 1037z earlier today right after I finished a contact. The bird just went silent on Mode B. It caught me off guard even knowing it was due to change any minute. Very early in the morning here, but it was worth it........... 73 all, Rick WA4NVM > Frank K4FEG has narrowed it down to sometime between 1010 and 1042 UTC > currently in mode A I believe > > Dave W0DHB > > -----Original Message----- > From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf Of Bob- W7LRD > Sent: Monday, December 17, 2012 3:29 PM > To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org > Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-7 A/B switch > > Hello from the N.W...I have lost track...when does AO-7 switch modes? I > tried to figure it out from the on line logs, far from specific. > 73 Bob W7LRD > _______________________________________________ > 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 > ------------------------------ Message: 14 Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2012 08:31:50 -0700 From: "Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)" <amsat-bb(a)wd9ewk.net> To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Android Sat Apps Message-ID: <CAN6TEUd-gBEdKve865L2DHts_STmWO-t__QmVePHUF=+JL+4kg(a)mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Hi Clint! > What apps for the Android platform are you pleased with? > Satellite prediction, compass, > anything satellite-related that comes to mind. I'm a recent convert to Android, buying a Nexus 4 mobile phone and a Nexus 7 tablet in the past month or so. For satellite pass predictions, I use HamSatDroid. It has worked well on both devices. I don't have a compass on either, since I have a compass in my radio bag. I have installed the "GPS Status" app to see location and other GPS-related data. The Nexus 7 tablet works only with the US GPS system, where the Nexus 4 phone works with both GPS and the Russian GLONASS systems. I can use the GPS Status app in both devices without an Internet connection, and it does not take long to get a lock on the signals and start displaying location data. The Nexus 4 takes less time to acquire the signals to calculate my location, with access to two different navigation systems, compared to the Nexus 7 tablet. So far, these are the only apps I have installed specific to my satellite operating. Both are free apps from the Google Play store. I still use a Sony digital audio recorder, instead of an app on either of these devices to record the audio from passes I work. The Nexus 4's camera will record 720p or 1080p video, and I might make use of that in the future. I still have an iPod, and now plan to have the iPod and these new Nexus devices with me for hamfest demonstrations, to show off examples of apps in either environment. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ ------------------------------ Message: 15 Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2012 11:10:17 -0500 From: Mike Seguin <n1jez(a)burlingtontelecom.net> To: <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Android Sat Apps Message-ID: <b74e9a6413ee73725f2dcc4f96fce6db(a)burlingtontelecom.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Using a Samsung Galaxy SIII Hamsatdroid - tracking HamGPS - 10 digit grid squares ZP Dashboard - Using the camera phone with HUD for checking position of the pass (AZ/EL) --- 73, Mike, N1JEZ "A closed mouth gathers no feet" On Tue, 18 Dec 2012 08:31:50 -0700, Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) wrote: > Hi Clint! > >> What apps for the Android platform are you pleased with? >> Satellite prediction, compass, >> anything satellite-related that comes to mind. > > I'm a recent convert to Android, buying a Nexus 4 mobile phone > and a Nexus 7 tablet in the past month or so. For satellite pass > predictions, I use HamSatDroid. It has worked well on both > devices. I don't have a compass on either, since I have a > compass in my radio bag. I have installed the "GPS Status" app > to see location and other GPS-related data. The Nexus 7 tablet > works only with the US GPS system, where the Nexus 4 phone > works with both GPS and the Russian GLONASS systems. I can > use the GPS Status app in both devices without an Internet > connection, and it does not take long to get a lock on the signals > and start displaying location data. The Nexus 4 takes less time > to acquire the signals to calculate my location, with access to two > different navigation systems, compared to the Nexus 7 tablet. > > So far, these are the only apps I have installed specific to my > satellite operating. Both are free apps from the Google Play > store. I still use a Sony digital audio recorder, instead of an > app on either of these devices to record the audio from passes > I work. The Nexus 4's camera will record 720p or 1080p video, > and I might make use of that in the future. I still have an iPod, > and now plan to have the iPod and these new Nexus devices > with me for hamfest demonstrations, to show off examples of > apps in either environment. > > 73! > > > > > > Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK > http://www.wd9ewk.net/ > _______________________________________________ > 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 ------------------------------ Message: 16 Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2012 16:42:36 +0000 From: "Bato, Andras" <bato(a)starjan.hu> To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Kwangyongsong-3 Message-ID: <50D09CFC.2020607(a)starjan.hu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-2; format=flowed It seems the catalog number of the North Korean satellite is 39026 and the International Designator is 12072A, so according to https://www.space-track.org/perl/id_query.pl the latest TLE is KYS-3 1 39026U 12072A 12353.24685568 .00002596 00000-0 16246-3 0 333 2 39026 097.4049 041.9729 0060301 151.5616 208.8926 15.08756125 940 KYS is my ID for that flying box... Catalog number and ID was found by a fellow ham radio operator HG5APZ. gl de ha6nn Andras ------------------------------ Message: 17 Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2012 10:57:54 -0600 From: Bruce <kk5do(a)arrl.net> To: "amsat-bb(a)AMSAT.Org" <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Subject: [amsat-bb] Last Houston AMSAT Net for 2012 Message-ID: <50D0A092.1020309(a)arrl.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed This evenings Houston AMSAT Net will be the last one for 2012. We will resume our regularly scheduled transmissions on January 8, 2013. We hope that you and yours have a Happy Holiday Season and may all the good DX come your way. 73...bruce -- Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards ARRL Awards Manager (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0200z 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 ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Sent via amsat-bb(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb End of AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 7, Issue 414 ****************************************

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Re: Android Sat Apps
by Matty Cunningham 18 Dec '12

18 Dec '12

Hi Clint, In line with what the other guys use, they're really good apps, another one I enjoy playing with is Satellite AR https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.agi.android.augmentedreal… It will even show potentially visible objects. Regards Matty MD0MAN Message: 9 Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2012 19:26:13 -0800 From: Clint Bradford <clintbradford(a)mac.com> To: AMSAT BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Subject: [amsat-bb] Android Sat Apps Message-ID: <6667FA7E-6549-4C25-AA91-84F6888A7D05(a)mac.com> Content-Type: text/plain; CHARSET=US-ASCII What apps for the Android platform are you pleased with? Satellite prediction, compass, anything satellite-related that comes to mind. Many thanks. Clint Bradford Message: 15 Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2012 11:10:17 -0500 From: Mike Seguin <n1jez(a)burlingtontelecom.net> To: <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Android Sat Apps Message-ID: <b74e9a6413ee73725f2dcc4f96fce6db(a)burlingtontelecom.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Using a Samsung Galaxy SIII Hamsatdroid - tracking HamGPS - 10 digit grid squares ZP Dashboard - Using the camera phone with HUD for checking position of the pass (AZ/EL) --- 73, Mike, N1JEZ

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Kwangyongsong-3
by Bato, Andras 18 Dec '12

18 Dec '12

It seems the catalog number of the North Korean satellite is 39026 and the International Designator is 12072A, so according to https://www.space-track.org/perl/id_query.pl the latest TLE is KYS-3 1 39026U 12072A 12353.24685568 .00002596 00000-0 16246-3 0 333 2 39026 097.4049 041.9729 0060301 151.5616 208.8926 15.08756125 940 KYS is my ID for that flying box... Catalog number and ID was found by a fellow ham radio operator HG5APZ. gl de ha6nn Andras

3 3

Packet Contact
by w6gmt＠bak.rr.com 18 Dec '12

18 Dec '12

What is needed for a valid packet contact on the ISS 73 Brock -- W6GMT BROCK THOMSEN MARCELL MN 56657 EN37EN

5 4

Last Houston AMSAT Net for 2012
by Bruce 18 Dec '12

18 Dec '12

This evenings Houston AMSAT Net will be the last one for 2012. We will resume our regularly scheduled transmissions on January 8, 2013. We hope that you and yours have a Happy Holiday Season and may all the good DX come your way. 73...bruce -- Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards ARRL Awards Manager (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0200z 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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AO-7 A/B switch
by Bob- W7LRD 18 Dec '12

18 Dec '12

Hello from the N.W...I have lost track...when does AO-7 switch modes? I tried to figure it out from the on line logs, far from specific. 73 Bob W7LRD

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AO7 Mode Switch Update
by K4FEG 18 Dec '12

18 Dec '12

Good Day BB; this morning during the 1035UTC pass of AO7 over the USA AO7 switched from Mode B to Mode A at 1037UTC according to my station clock. Due to the fact that something cause the satellite to "shift" the switch time to begin with it cannot be said that this switch time will remain constant but for the last few days I have been narrowing down the switch time and this seems to be a stable point for now. I hope this helps those who keep up with such matters! 73 FRM K4FEG EM55aj

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Re: VUCC Sat
by Ron Seiler 18 Dec '12

18 Dec '12

Would also like to add my congrats to KC9TTR. I earned VUCC Sat #45 in 1995, so only 90 were issued over the 9 years to 2004. That's an average of 10 per year at a time when we had HEO sats and a wealth of LEO sats. 101 VUCC's over the eight years from 2004 to 2012 is an average of about 12 per year. 73, Ron VA7VW -----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John Price Sent: 17-Dec-12 18:02 To: Ted; amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: VUCC Sat My goodness! I got #135 on April 5th 2004. There must have been a long dry spell. On Mon, Dec 17, 2012 at 7:07 PM, Ted <k7trkradio(a)charter.net> wrote: > First of all, congrats to KC9TTR for #236 !! > > As a side comment, I look up at VUCC #226 (dated 12-29-11). That means > there have been only 100 VUCC's this year. The death of HO68, SO67, > AO51 and now > AO27 really put the 'hurt' on new activity. I feel fortunate to have > got most of my grids from AO-51. Any future VUCC's are going to take a > lot of effort and hard work. > > 73, Ted, K7TRK > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] > On Behalf Of K&R Yoksh > Sent: Monday, December 17, 2012 2:49 PM > To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org > Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: VUCC Sat > > Congrats from VUCC Sat #150 > > 73 > > Kyle Yoksh > K0KN > Olathe, KS > > > --- Original Message --- > > Today I received VUCC Sat certificate #236 from the ARRL. Thanks to > all the operators who helped me achieve this, especially portable > operators in grids away from home. > > KC9TTR > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > -- N4QWF Amateur Radio Operator Email N4QWF(a)AMSAT.ORG Formerly KC4AHW VK3FEZ DXCC #33,478 VUCC SAT #135 WAS SAT #296 51 on AO-51 #13 LON -79.256 LAT 37.459 Grid FM07il >From the Foothills of the Blueridge *Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming - "WOW, What a ride!" _______________________________________________ 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: VUCC Sat
by K&R Yoksh 17 Dec '12

17 Dec '12

Congrats from VUCC Sat #150 73 Kyle Yoksh K0KN Olathe, KS --- Original Message --- Today I received VUCC Sat certificate #236 from the ARRL. Thanks to all the operators who helped me achieve this, especially portable operators in grids away from home. KC9TTR

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TH-D72 APRS HT's
by Robert Bruninga 17 Dec '12

17 Dec '12

For any AMSAT folks have TH-D72’s: We are looking for as many D72 owners that live within a few hours of Mammoth Cave, KY to join in a significant cave-radio experiment on 2-3 March 2013 to demonstrate VHF/UHF cave radio “texting” and status reporting. The D72’s can automatically relay position and text data up to 7 or 14 hops from radio to radio. We want to see how well this technique can be used in caves. See http://aprs.org/cave-link.html The date corresponds to the annual Cave City hamfest and is a good excuse to come play. We have the support of the National Park service to conduct this first ever cave-radio-relay experiment. Contact me to volunteer wb4apr(a)amsat.org Bob, WB4APR

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FCD/SDR
by Tom Lubbers K8TL 17 Dec '12

17 Dec '12

I have the original FCD and the HF adapter. I ordered the new DC to light FCD a few hours before the December QST arrived. I have been playing with the dongle for a while. Mainly on the satellites but have also copied EME JT65 signals with it. On FO-29 and AO-7 it is fun to watch the whole band pass at once. In many cases some preselection is necessary (VHF repeater for the gas company is close by, if you don't tune it out the system is desensed). On the HF side, a simple LC tuner as a quantum improvement. SO after the QST article I stopped by Best Buy. Without the benefit of exotic test equipment a can say I can't tell the difference!! I hooked up the HF adapter, again can't tell the difference. Now all I need is a computer controlled VFO!! 73 Merry Christmas and HNY Tom K8TL

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Cheap and Easy SDR
by Mike Hoblinski 17 Dec '12

17 Dec '12

I was reading the article in QST January magazine that details turning a DVB-T usb TV Dongle into a SDR receiver with coverage from 64 to 1700 Mhz with some gaps. I was wondering how this differs with the Fun Cube Dongle being sold. The article also shows how to extend coverage to the HF band. The TV Dongles sell for about 20 dollars on ebay. Mike N6IMF

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"ARISSat-1 Operational Survey" by Steve, N7HPR at ARRL/TAPR DCC, Atlanta, GA, September 21, 2012
by Mark Thompson 17 Dec '12

17 Dec '12

"ARISSat-1 Operational Survey" by Steve, N7HPR at ARRL/TAPR DCC, Atlanta, GA, September 21, 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0i_6in8CE0&list=PL2Uw0HJVsJgbkEi1cu1N_4K1SJ…

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New web site for sats
by Marci Miguel 16 Dec '12

16 Dec '12

here's a good resource also for satellite ops http://www.logersat.com/ 73´s Marci EA1BYC

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Possible Details Of NK Satellite
by B J 16 Dec '12

16 Dec '12

http://allthingsnuclear.org/north-koreas-satellite/ http://38north.org/2012/09/nhansen091212/ The satellite described in these 2 articles is the Kawngmyongsong-3, but the one currently in orbit is believed to be a copy. 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL

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Re: VUCC SAT
by Jim Adams 16 Dec '12

16 Dec '12

Congrats from VUCC # 209. Jim Adams - K0BAM

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AO7
by K4FEG 16 Dec '12

16 Dec '12

I noted that Ao7 was still in Mode B on the 0900UTC pass over EM55 but on the 1042UTC pass it had switched to Mode A. On the 0900UTC pass heard KB2RVT working EA8BWY and on the 1042UTC pass I worked KJ4MCZ. AO7-A was very loud and not crowded. at least we have a good Idea of when the satellite is switching modes. Just some information for those who follow such things! 73 everyone K4FEG

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FITSAT-1 LED Schedule Update
by Mineo Wakita 16 Dec '12

16 Dec '12

http://www.fit.ac.jp/~tanaka/fitsat.shtml http://www.satflare.com/track.php?q=fitsat#MAP http://turing.cs.fit.ac.jp/~fitsat/led_world.html http://turing.cs.fit.ac.jp/~fitsat/led.html http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/21216fi3.png JE9PEL, Mineo Wakita

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VUCC Sat
by Ken Holland 16 Dec '12

16 Dec '12

Today I received VUCC Sat certificate #236 from the ARRL. Thanks to all the operators who helped me achieve this, especially portable operators in grids away from home. KC9TTR

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ANS-351 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by JoAnne Maenpaa 15 Dec '12

15 Dec '12

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-351 ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicat- ing through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org In this edition: * Kline School "Out of This World Experience" Raises $6500 for AMSAT Fox * AMSAT Submits a Second NASA ELaNa Proposal * AMSAT SKN ON OSCAR 2013 In Memory of W1BIH/PJ9JT * FITSAT-1 LED Beacon Seen From Space * QST October 2012 SatCat Interface for FT-817 For Sale at ARRL * V/U/Wx Receive Pre-Amplifier Available Through AMSAT Store * WA8SME Receives YASME Foundation Excellence Award * NASA TV Coverage Set for December 19 Soyuz Space Station Crew Launch * Receive Satellite Pass Predictions via Your APRS Radio * Carrier Detected on LO-19 Beacon Frequency * December 17 Lunar Impact Final Experiment for GRAIL Probes * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-351.01 ANS-351 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 351.01 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 16, 2012 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-351.01 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Kline School "Out of This World Experience" Raises $6500 for AMSAT Fox Kline School had the distinction of being invited to contact Command- er Kevin Ford aboard the International Space Station on Thursday, December 6 via an ARISS contact. During this live event, students had the opportunity to have their questions answered by an astronaut living in space. In preparation for the ARISS contact, students engaged in NASA class lessons on Building the ISS and What Life is Like Aboard the ISS. They studied experiments and tasks taking place on the ISS to help formulate expe- dition related questions. Students also learned about the forms and sources of energy that help to sustain the station. Teachers at Kline School wrote, "We think of the ARISS contact as the real world application of our students' studies of science, technol- ogy, engineering and math (STEM)". Reaching beyond content, students launched a Spell-A-Thon and raised $6,500 dollars to purchase six-sets of solar panels to help AMSAT fly Fox-1, an amateur radio satellite. The solar panels will provide pow- er to the satellite while in space. Students are proud of their AMSAT membership, too. ARISS is a cooperative venture of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), and other worldwide ama- teur radio groups and international space agencies. These ARISS part- ners organize scheduled 10-minute interactive contacts via amateur radio with the help of experienced amateur radio volunteers. More information and a photo will be published in an upcoming issue of the AMSAT Journal. For more information about Kline School's ISS contact and related events visit: http://www.klineschool.com https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kline-School/153838291839 [ANS thanks the Kline School for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Submits a Second NASA ELaNa Proposal The official name of the project is "RadFxSat" and it is a joint project with the Institute for Space and Defense Electronics (ISDE) at Vanderbilt University. AMSAT is providing the satellite bus (Fox-1B) and ISDE is providing the experiment payload. The primary mission is to advance the state of the art in understanding the effects of space radiation on electronic components. This is the first AMSAT satellite with science as the primary mis- sion. This is very exciting as it potentially opens up new launch opportunities. Since the data downlink and power required by the experiment are modest, we expect to be able to operate the science payload and the ham radio transponder simultaneously. The satellite hardware design is the same as Fox-1 but there will be substantial AMSAT work in systems engineering, project manage- ment, software development, satellite construction and testing. We requested a launch in the 2nd half of 2014 to a 650 km sun-synch- ronous orbit which is the same as we requested for Fox-1. As in our previous proposal, we also noted that the mission requirements can be met over a wide range of orbits. The key elements are the need for a high enough apogee to provide significant exposure to space radiation and a minimum 10 year orbit lifetime. While there can be no guarantee that our proposal will be accepted by NASA, we believe that in its 241 pages (!) we have made a strong case. NASA is expected to announce the accepted proposals at the end of January 2013. [ANS thanks AMSAT Vice-President Engineering Tony Monteiro, AA2TX for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT SKN ON OSCAR 2013 In Memory of W1BIH/PJ9JT You are cordially invited to participate in Straight Key Night on OSCAR 2013, conducted by AMSAT for all radio amateurs throughout the world. This year's event is dedicated to the memory of John Thompson, W1BIH/PJ9JT, who passed away in 2012, aged 96. Although known primarily as an HF DXer and contester, John was also active on OSCAR, mostly on CW. As always, SKN on OSCAR is simple and informal. Just operate CW through one or more satellites on 1 January 2013 (0000 to 2400 UTC), using a straight hand key. There is no need to send in a log, but all participants are encouraged to nominate someone they worked for Best Fist. Your nominee need not have the best fist of anyone you heard, only of those you worked. Send your nomination to w2rs at amsat.org. A list of those nominated will appear in ANS and the AMSAT Journal. [ANS thanks Ray Soifer for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- FITSAT-1 LED Beacon Seen From Space A test of the FITSAT-1 LED optical beacon that took place on Decem- ber 11 GMT over Japan was successful. FITSAT-1 flashed the optical beacon over the USA on December 12 and on December 13 over the British Isles and Europe. No reports of opti- cal detection were received from the USA or Europe. In a clear night sky with no moon the FITSAT-1 optical beacon is vis- ible using binoculars. The latest FITSAT-1 satellite news is posted at: http://www.fit.ac.jp/~tanaka/fitsat.shtml A photo of the visible beacon is posted at: http://www.jinkou-eisei.jp/FITSAT/images/121212_watanabe.jpg http://www.jinkou-eisei.jp/FITSAT/images/121211_m.jpg FITSAT-1 is a CubeSat developed by students at the Fukuoka Institute of Technology (FIT) in Japan. As well as the optical LED experiment the satellite carries an amateur radio payloads: a CW beacon on 437.250 MHz, a telemetry beacon on 437.445 MHz and a high-speed data downlink on 5840.0 MHz. [ANS thanks the FITSAT-1 team for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- QST October 2012 SatCat Interface for FT-817 For Sale at ARRL The satellite computer aided tuning interface described in October, 2012 QST (pp. 40-43) for use with SatPC32 and the Yaesu FT-817 radio is being offered for sale by the ARRL Education & Technology Program (ETP). The interface was developed by Mark Spencer, WA8SME, as part of re- source development for the ARRL ETP and is priced to recover cost plus a small increment toward development as well as a cost share donation to AMSAT. The interface is fully described in the article published in October 2012 QST on pp. 40-43. You may order the board and programmed PIC for a cost of $20; to order the full kit including all of the parts, the cost is $35. To order please send the following either by mail or email as follows: + Your name and shipping address + Phone number and email address + Item you are requesting + Enclose a check for the appropriate amount, payable to ARRL ETP, sent to attention of ARRL Education Services Send orders to: ARRL Education Services, ATTN: Amy Strickland 225 Main Street Newington, CT 06111 Please contact Amy in ARRL Education Services at astrickland(a)arrl.org with any questions about ordering. Please contact Mark Spencer at mspencer(a)arrl.org with questions about the interface design and specifications. [ANS thanks Mark Spencer, WA8SME for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- V/U/Wx Receive Pre-Amplifier Available Through AMSAT Store AMSAT-NA is pleased to announce an inexpensive, broadband VHF/UHF/WX satellite receive-only preamplifier. Key features: Ready to operate--not a kit! Fully assembled, tested, and installed in a metal enclosure with female BNC connectors on input and output. It is based on the MAR 7 device, and covers 100 MHz to 500 MHz. This includes the137 MHz WX, 2M, and 70cm satellite bands. Operates from +9-15V DC (a fresh 9V battery works great!). Perfect for portable operations using dual band hand-held Yagis like the ARROW, Cheap Yagi, etc. Just put it inline on the correct receive band for operations in either mode U/V or V/U. You won't believe what you've been missing! Includes low power (about 5W) protection diode on the input for accidental transmissions into the input. (This preamp is not RF switched. It must be protected from inadvertent repeated or high power transmission RF using a relay or diplexer.) Full details and schematic can be found in the November/December 2012 AMSAT Journal article by Mark Spencer, WA8SME, or downloaded from the item in the Hardware section of the AMSAT Store: http://store.amsat.org/catalog/ The assembled and tested kit is priced at $50 USD plus shipping. Proceeds from the sale of this item will help fund the AMSAT Fox Family of satellites! This equipment was developed as part of the ARRL Education and Technology Program. [ANS thanks Mark Hammond, N8MH for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- WA8SME Receives YASME Foundation Excellence Award Mark Spencer, WA8SME, has received the Excellence Award from the YASME Foundation (yasme.org). The following is an excerpt from the OPDX Bulletin 1090, December 10, 2012: "The Yasme Excellence Award is awarded to individuals who through their own service, creativity, effort and dedication have made a significant contribution to amateur radio. The contribution may be in recognition of technical, operating or organizational achieve- ment, as all three are necessary for amateur radio to grow and prosper. The Yasme Excellence Award is in the form of a cash grant and an individually-engraved crystal globe." The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation announced the award: Mark Spencer, WA8SME, for his instrumental work in the ARRL Teachers Institute and other training efforts, development of PIC microcontroller projects and books for amateurs, and work with leaders in student and scientific teams applying amateur radio to scientific projects and experiments. AMSAT congratulates to Mark Spencer WA8SME, recipient of the YASME Foundation Excellence Award [ANS thanks John Papay, K8YSE and YASME Foundation for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- NASA TV Coverage Set for December 19 Soyuz Space Station Crew Launch NASA Television will provide live coverage of the December 19 launch and docking of the next crew members to the International Space Sta- tion. Two of the crew members have their amateur radio license. Tom Marshburn, KE5HOC of NASA, Roman Romanenko of the Russian Feder- al Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Chris Hadfield, KC5RNJ/VA3OOG of the Canadian Space Agency are scheduled to launch to the space station in their Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft at 6:12 a.m. CST (6:12 p.m. Baikon- ur time) Wednesday, Dec. 19, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakh- stan. NASA TV launch coverage will begin at 5 a.m. and include video of that day's activities leading to the crew boarding its spacecraft. The trio will dock the Soyuz spacecraft to the station's Rassvet mod- ule at 8:10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 21. NASA TV coverage of docking begins at 7:30 a.m. About three hours later, hatches will open between the Soyuz and the station. Marshburn, Romanenko and Hadfield will be greeted by Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford of NASA and flight en- gineers Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin of Roscosmos, who have been living and working on the orbiting laboratory since late Octo- ber. NASA TV's hatch opening coverage begins at 10:15 a.m. Marshburn, Romanenko and Hadfield will remain aboard the station until May 2013. Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin will return to Earth March 15, leaving Hadfield as the first Canadian commander of the space station. The full schedule of the Soyuz prelaunch, launch and docking coverage includes (all times Central USA which is UTC-6): Friday, Dec. 14 1 p.m. -- Video file of Expedition 34/35 crew activities in Baikonur, Kazakhstan Monday, Dec. 17 11 a.m. -- Video file of Expedition 34/35 spacecraft encapsulation, rocket mating and rollout in Baikonur, Kazakhstan Tuesday, Dec. 18 11 a.m. -- Video file of Expedition 34/35 Russian State Commission meeting and final pre-launch crew news conference in Baikonur, Kazakhstan Wednesday, Dec. 19 5 a.m. -- Expedition 34/35 launch coverage (launch at 6:12 a.m.; includes video of the crew's pre-launch activities at 5:15 a.m.) 9 a.m. -- Video file of Expedition 34/35 pre-launch, launch and post-launch interviews Friday Dec. 21 7:30 a.m. -- Expedition 34/35 docking coverage; docking at 8:10 a.m. followed by the post-docking news conference from Mis- sion Control in Korolev, Russia 10:15 a.m. - Expedition 34/35 hatch opening and welcoming ceremony (hatch opening at 10:45 a.m.) 1 p.m. -- Video file of Expedition 34/35 docking, hatch opening and welcoming For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv [ANS thanks NASA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Receive Satellite Pass Predictions via Your APRS Radio The KJ4ERJ satserver will send live tracking data to your APRS radio anywhere, anytime. 1. Just send an APRS message to "ISS" (without the quotes) from any APRS radio (on the national APRS channel). 2. If you are in range of the global APRS network (an IGate nearby) the satserver will respond with the time to AOS and the direction of AOS, max elevation and LOS. 3. This also works for other satellites. For example, send a message to "FO29" (without the quotes) and get its prediciton for your location. 4. The satserver will use the last APRS position you have transmit- ted. 5. To actually work APRS via ISS, you will have to QSY to the ISS channel 145.825 and change your path to via ARISS for the pass (instead of the usual WIDE2-2 for terrestrial APRS). Example of the the types of responses as collected by APRS.FI mes- sages page are posted at: http://aprs.fi/?c=message&limit=25&call=ISS For a full description, see: http://aprsisce.wikidot.com/doc:satsrv [ANS thanks Bob Bruninga, WB4APR for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Carrier Detected on LO-19 Beacon Frequency Mark Hammond, N8MH reports that LO-19, non-operational for amateur radio use, is still transmitting a very weak continuous carrier on its former 437.1250 MHz CW Mode U TLM beacon frequency. He wrote, "This weekend I listened again for LO-19. I could always hear a very weak continuous carrier (actually, first saw it using audio FFT software). Yesterday (12/9/12) on a high 50-ish degree elevation pass, it was there. It's right on frequency, right on time with AOS/LOS, the Doppler correction from SatPC32 is right on target. The bird was in daylight, but I expect its batteries are still good so I bet you can hear it in eclipse as well. You might have fun lis- tening for it, as a weak signal source. If you can hear LO-19's car- rier, your system is pretty up to snuff. Or, use some audio spectrum software and you can "see" the carrier even if you can't hear it on your speaker." Additional LO-19 reception reports are confirmed by WA8SME, K8YSE, and OZ1MY. [ANS thanks Mark Hammond, N8MH for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- December 17 Lunar Impact Final Experiment for GRAIL Probes Twin lunar-orbiting NASA spacecraft that have allowed scientists to learn more about the internal structure and composition of the moon are being prepared for their controlled descent and impact on a mountain near the moon's north pole at about 2:28 p.m. PST (5:28 p.m. EST) Monday, Dec. 17. The mountain where the two spacecraft will make contact is located near a crater named Goldschmidt. Both spacecraft have been flying in formation around the moon since Jan. 1, 2012. The first probe will go down, at 2:28:40 p.m. The second probe will about 20 sec- onds later. Both spacecraft will hit the surface at 3,760 mph (1.7 kilometers per second). No imagery of the impact is expected because the region will be in shadow at the time. The probes will conduct one final experiment before their mission ends. They will fire their main engines until their propellant tanks are empty to determine precisely the amount of fuel remain- ing in their tanks. This will help NASA engineers validate fuel consumption computer models to improve predictions of fuel needs for future missions. Because the exact amount of fuel remaining aboard each spacecraft is unknown, mission navigators and engineers designed the depletion burn to allow the probes to descend gradually for several hours and skim the surface of the moon until the elevated terrain of the tar- get mountain gets in their way. For more information about GRAIL, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/grail SpaceRef.com posted this news at: http://spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=39537 A video simulation of the impact is posted at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=U2OKpf7fo_w [ANS thanks SpaceRef.com for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + The NASA Small Spacecraft Technology Program open solicitation from for the Flight Opportunities Program extended the proposal submission deadline to January 17, 2013 for the next selection of projects to fly on parabolic aircraft flights, high altitude balloon flights, and suborbital flights. No funding is provided for project or payload development, the flight opportunity is provided at no cost to the research team. For more information please see: https://flightopportunities.nasa.gov/afo An article providing examples of recent flight testing is posted at: http://tinyurl.com/NASA-FlightTest (nasa.gov) - Via N8PK + Flex has an interesting article on using two rigs for full duplex operations using SATPC32: http://support.flexradio.com/Downloads.aspx?fr=1 Look for: A Full-Duplex VHF-UHF Satellite System using FLEX radios (via WA4SCA) + A recording of the December 9 AMSAT-UK 80M and 40M nets has been posted at: http://www.ham-radio.ch/kits/sdr-radio.com/mp3/ + Luci, 9A1Z, is looking to work North America on AO-7 Mode B on CW. If you are interested in working him, please send an email to his qrz.com address for a sked. He is in JN86. (via K8YSE) + Photos of the new Russian Multi-purpose Laboratory Module (MLM) or "Nauka" for the International Space Station can be seen at:. http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.html?id=1691 The Nauka MLM is a modified version of Functional Cargo Block (FGB-2). It will dock at the Zvezda Service Module's nadir (earth facing) port and will replace the current PIRS module. PIRS will be allowed to renter Earth's atmosphere. Launch is planned for 2013 or 2014. Nauka will serve as Russia's primary research mod- ule but will also have stowage and crew work areas. + Last week the Smithsonian issued the following statement regarding the passing of a unique ISS crewmember: "It is with sadness that we announce the death of Nefertiti, the "Spidernaut." This morn- ing (Dec 3), before museum hours, a member of the Insect Zoo staff discovered Neffi had died of natural causes. Neffi lived for 10 months. She traveled over 40 million miles while living onboard the International Space Station earlier this year as part of a stu- dent-initiated experiment sponsored by NASA. After returning to Earth, Nefertiti went to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natur- al History's Insect Zoo to live out the remainder of her life. (via AmericanSpace.org) + The next Hudson Valley Satcom net will be Thursday, December 20 at 8 PM EST (UTC-5) on the 146.97 MHz MBARC Repeater (PL 100). An echolink connection is available on the N2EYH-L node. More infor- mation at: http://www.hvsatcom.org. (Stu, WA2BSS) + The W5KUB live webcasts are preparing for a December 29 "D-Star Live" show on http://W5KUB.com between 1000-1600 Central US time (UTC-6). Tom says there will be lots of good stuff and special guests. You will be able to ask questions of the experts. The latest news of all W5KUB broadcasts can be found on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/w5kub/ . + UniverseToday.com posted a 19 minute video of the Overview Effect showing how the view from space has altered our whole Earth per- spective: http://tinyurl.com/Perspective-Video (UniverseToday.com) + NASA released a video and images showing the Earth at night taken by a new sensor aboard the NASA-NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/NPP/news/earth-at-night.html + The National Air and Space Museum Webcast Archive has several videos available at: http://airandspace.si.edu/webcasts/archive.cfm + The NASA Voyager 1 probe has been spotted by the SETI Institute's Allen Telescope Array (ATA) on 8419.62 MHz. The signal processing used to detect this radio signal from the outer edge of our solar system is quite educational, although the site does plug a commer- cial product not associated with AMSAT: http://baudline.blogspot.com.es/2012/11/setiquest-voyager-1-redux.html + The "Comet Quest" game for iPhone and iPad from NASA's Jet Propul- sion Laboratory can be downloaded from the iTunes Apps store at: http://bit.ly/xXhjI7. The game mimics the real Rosetta mission, and enables you to control the spacecraft, drop a lander on a comet's nucleus, then observe and record events. Players must avoid hazards and successfully transmit data to Earth, earning points for each accomplishment. + You and the kids can talk to Santa on the radio. Santa Claus will be appearing on 3.916 MHz. There are still a few opportunities to to tell Santa how good you've been and which rig would delight you. All net times are 2030 Central US time UTC-6) Monday, December 17 Wednesday, December 19 Friday, December 21 Saturday, December 22 Sunday, December 23 Monday, December 24 [ANS thanks everyone for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. And with that, please keep in mind the interstellar gas cloud that comprises Sagittarius B contains a billion billion billion (yes, that's three orders of billion) liters of alcohol. If you are doing your mathematics homework please remember to not drink and derive. 73, This week's ANS Editor, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM K9JKM at amsat dot org

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web site
by Marci Miguel 14 Dec '12

14 Dec '12

here's a good resource also for satellite ops 73´s Marci EA1BYC

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2820H/D710 fs
by Jeff KB2M 14 Dec '12

14 Dec '12

I'm selling my IC-2820H w/RC-D710 setup if anyone is looking for a full duplex mobile radio. And as always If sold here I will donate 10% of the sale to the buyers favorite AMSAT satellite fund... http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?372043-Icom-IC-2820H-w-Kenwood-RC-D710 73 Jeff kb2m

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WEB SITE
by Marci Miguel 14 Dec '12

14 Dec '12

here's a good resource also for satellite ops 73´s Marci EA1BYC

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North Korea
by Gary "Joe" Mayfield 14 Dec '12

14 Dec '12

They claim to have orbited a satellite. Is it in orbit? Anyone have any info? 73, Joe kk0sd

14 16

Remeber 6D0LM from DK89df
by Omar Alvarez 14 Dec '12

14 Dec '12

Hello Today I start working VO52 an FO-29 like 6D0LM from DK89df December 15th OPERADOR SATÉLITE HORARIO XE XE1AO FO-29 03:25 UTC, 05:05 UTC December 16th OPERADOR SATÉLITE HORARIO XE XE1AO VO-52 01:42 UTC XE1AO FO-29 04:12 UTC December 17th OPERADOR SATÉLITE HORARIO XE XE1AO VO-52 01:58 UTC XE1AO FO-29 05:00 UTC I hope contact you this weekend, QSL via XE1LM. Omar XE1AO DK89df ******************************** M.C. Omar Alvarez Cárdenas Facultad de Telematica, U de C 316 1075 xe1aom(a)ucol.mx omar_ac(a)hotmail.com ********************************

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FITSAT-1 LED movie (Correction)
by Mineo Wakita 14 Dec '12

14 Dec '12

In the movie, they are many common stars not the meteors. JE9PEL, Mineo Wakita

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FITSAT-1 LED movie
by Mineo Wakita 14 Dec '12

14 Dec '12

It was succeeded in the movie of the FITSAT-1 LED (10Hz) on 14 Dec 2012 by Toyama Astronomical Observatory in Japan. Because they pursued FITSAT-1, it seems to us so that the many meteors flow through the back of a satellite flashing on and off small in the vicinity of the screen center. FITSAT-1 movie http://www.tsm.toyama.toyama.jp/_ex/curators/hayashi/20121214FITSAT.avi (490MB) http://www.tsm.toyama.toyama.jp/_ex/curators/hayashi/20121214FITSAT.mpg (144MB) FITSAT-1 screen shot http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/21214fit.png Toyama Astronomical Observatory http://www.tsm.toyama.toyama.jp/tao/index.htm The International Project for Radio Meteor Observation http://www.amro-net.jp/radio.htm JE9PEL, Mineo Wakita

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Re: FITSAT-1
by andy thomas 14 Dec '12

14 Dec '12

My cold fingers last night typed 437.350 , should be 437.250 ! 73 de andy g0sfj

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FITSAT
by Bill Rushin 14 Dec '12

14 Dec '12

1:14am (6:14UTC) Heard strong beacon for 4 minute pass but due to heavy cloud cover over SE Virginia (FM17) no L.E.D. were visible at this time. Bill KK4KWB

2 1

Fitsat-1 on 13 Dec
by andy thomas 14 Dec '12

14 Dec '12

This is my report of the FITSAT experiment last night from locator - IO92NL Rig is ICOM IC910 Antenna@ WiMo Helix for 435MHz pre-planned in azimuth and elevation No rotator (WiMo helix pre-set in azimuth and elevation)/no preamplifier (but building one) Listening to 437.350 + doppler (Sat pc 32) Telemetry at 2031 utc s288da8181 s300000000 s41e201f1e s51a5c8cc1 hi de niwaka japan s1f00301ba s28 Telemetry at 2210 approximately (I was in the garden) - LED not visible due to freezing fog outside. from cassette tape recorder: 0000 s41f201d1c s54a5ca384 hi de nawaka I haven't calculated it yet but s4 and s5 might show the effect of switching on the LEDs. 73 de andy G0SFJ

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FS Funcube Dongle Pro PLUS +++
by Stefan Wagener 14 Dec '12

14 Dec '12

Have a brand new FCD Pro + (plus) for sale. Beautiful unit and works as advertised. Asking $210 shipped within US and Canada. $30 will go to AMSAT as donation for Fox. That is less if you order it now and you support AMSAT Fox. Stefan, VE4NSA

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Re: was NK but now Dr. Strangelove
by Joe Leikhim 14 Dec '12

14 Dec '12

You are going to answer to the coca cola company! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry2n4v9G4_k On 12/13/2012 9:53 PM, R Oler wrote: > Shoot, a > > > fella' could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff." > > There actually is a couple of prints of that movie out, which I have a > DVD of where the original line is there "Shoot, a fella could have a > pretty good weekend in Dallas with all that stuff"...the movie was set > to come out two weeks after JFK was assasinated and they changed the > line to Vegas. Pickens (Major Kong) was from Abilene and all the > lines in it are more or less "ad libbed" there was a script by PIckens > just pulled the part well...and the "Dallas" line was his, as was the > call to change it. > > A superb movie "What is the meaning of this, you know you cannot fight > in the war room" (or something like that) > > Robert WB5MZO > > > Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2012 19:16:12 -0500 > > From: rhyolite(a)nettally.com > > To: k7trkradio(a)charter.net > > CC: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org > > Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: North Korea > > > > best movie ever! > > On 12/13/2012 6:38 PM, Ted wrote: > > > "....Survival kit contents check. In them you'll find: one forty-five > > > caliber automatic; two boxes of ammunition; four days' concentrated > > > emergency rations; one drug issue containing antibiotics, > morphine, vitamin > > > pills, pep pills, sleeping pills, tranquilizer pills; one miniature > > > combination Russian phrase book and Bible; one hundred dollars in > rubles; > > > one hundred dollars in gold; nine packs of chewing gum; one issue of > > > prophylactics; three lipsticks; three pair of nylon stockings. > Shoot, a > > > fella' could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff." > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org > [mailto:[email protected]] On > > > Behalf Of Joe Leikhim > > > Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2012 3:17 PM > > > To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org > > > Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: North Korea > > > > > > Gentleman, gentleman, - No fighting in the WAR ROOM! > > > > > > (snip) > > > > > > Uh oh...activate 'Dr. Strangelove Protocol'....watch for large > man, 'white > > > sidewalls' haircut, cheap black suit astride large > missile...subject will be > > > waving large cowboy hat, screaming 'Yee Hah' in Korean... > > > > > > That is all > > > > > > K7TRK out > > > > > > -- > > > Joe Leikhim > > > > > > > > > Leikhim and Associates > > > > > > Communications Consultants > > > > > > Oviedo, Florida > > > > > > JLeikhim(a)Leikhim.com > > > > > > 407-982-0446 > > > > > > WWW.LEIKHIM.COM > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > 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 > > > > > > > > > > -- > > Joe Leikhim > > > > > > Leikhim and Associates > > > > Communications Consultants > > > > Oviedo, Florida > > > > JLeikhim(a)Leikhim.com > > > > 407-982-0446 > > > > WWW.LEIKHIM.COM > > > > _______________________________________________ > > 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 -- Joe Leikhim Leikhim and Associates Communications Consultants Oviedo, Florida JLeikhim(a)Leikhim.com 407-982-0446 WWW.LEIKHIM.COM

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Re: North Korea
by Joe Leikhim 13 Dec '12

13 Dec '12

Gentleman, gentleman, - No fighting in the WAR ROOM! (snip) Uh oh...activate 'Dr. Strangelove Protocol'....watch for large man, 'white sidewalls' haircut, cheap black suit astride large missile...subject will be waving large cowboy hat, screaming 'Yee Hah' in Korean... That is all K7TRK out -- Joe Leikhim Leikhim and Associates Communications Consultants Oviedo, Florida JLeikhim(a)Leikhim.com 407-982-0446 WWW.LEIKHIM.COM

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web-site
by Marci Miguel 13 Dec '12

13 Dec '12

here's a good resource also for satellite ops *http://www.logersat.com/* 73 Marci EA1BYC

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Live tracking for DPRK bird.
by Kevin Forbes 13 Dec '12

13 Dec '12

Re: North Korea's Kwangmyongsong-3B Hello, I have quickly made a live satellite tracking page, for anyone wanting to try listening for the DPRK bird. http://www.vk3ukf.com/Space/GadgetSat-Kwangmyongsong-3B.htm I hope someone can find a signal soon. I found a suggestion for 479 MHz. VK3UKF

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Problems With NK Satellite?
by B J 13 Dec '12

13 Dec '12

http://www.space.com/18886-north-korean-satellite-out-of-control.html 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL

2 1

FITSAT-1 LED Schedule
by Mineo Wakita 13 Dec '12

13 Dec '12

http://www.fit.ac.jp/~tanaka/fitsat.shtml http://www.satflare.com/track.php?q=fitsat#MAP http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/21213fit.png http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/fitsatle.htm JE9PEL, Mineo Wakita

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More North Korea Satellite and Launch Info
by Larry Koziel K8MU 12 Dec '12

12 Dec '12

I found several articles that may be of interest on a website "devoted to analysis of North Korea." The site <http://38north.org/> is a program of the US-Korea Institute at SAIS (School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University). The first was published in April, and has as detailed a description and photographs of what was probably the engineering prototype of the satellite that was successfully orbited: http://38north.org/2012/09/nhansen091212/. The second, published shortly before the launch, discusses GeoEye satellite imagery that shows preparations at the launch site: http://38north.org/2012/12/sohae121112/. A third article shows the launch trajectory and has a link to a KMZ file that illustrates approximately the first half-orbit that can be viewed in 3-D with GoogleEarth: http://38north.org/2012/04/tongchang041012/ <http://38north.org/2012/04/tongchang041012/>. Larry K8MU

1 0

NKOR Keps
by Alan 12 Dec '12

12 Dec '12

Space Track has some Keps for an NKOR launch: OBJECT C 1 39028U 12072C 12347.60873326 .00281787 00000-0 15928-1 0 64 2 39028 097.4494 036.5191 0052188 172.7587 187.4413 15.10628457 93 OBJECT A 1 39026U 12072A 12347.74205676 .00132649 00000-0 79618-2 0 63 2 39026 097.4079 036.6613 0060008 169.7339 190.5082 15.08803122 101 OBJECT B 1 39027U 12072B 12347.74254585 .00129510 00000-0 79618-2 0 71 2 39027 097.4069 036.6591 0064301 171.4483 188.7842 15.07731393 119 As always, these are initial and approximate. Alan WA4SCA

1 0

FITSAT-1 LED flashing experiments successful
by Mineo Wakita 12 Dec '12

12 Dec '12

[HP] http://www.fit.ac.jp/~tanaka/fitsat.shtml http://turing.cs.fit.ac.jp/~fitsat/led_world.html [Guide] http://www.jinkou-eisei.jp/FITSAT/index.html http://www.jinkou-eisei.jp/FITSAT/obs.html [11 Dec 2012] http://www.jinkou-eisei.jp/FITSAT/121211_news.html http://www.jinkou-eisei.jp/FITSAT/images/121211_m.jpg [12 Dec 2012] http://www.jinkou-eisei.jp/FITSAT/121212_news.html http://www.jinkou-eisei.jp/FITSAT/images/121212_watanabe.jpg [Supplement] http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/fitsatle.htm JE9PEL, Mineo Wakita

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Re: North Korea
by Peter Guelzow 12 Dec '12

12 Dec '12

very good details and frequency hints: http://38north.org/2012/09/nhansen091212/ 73s Peter

1 0

Good discussion of using two HF rigs with transverters for satellite comms
by Alan 11 Dec '12

11 Dec '12

All, Flex has an interesting article on using two rigs for full duplex operations using SATPC32. http://support.flexradio.com/Downloads.aspx?fr=1 Look for: A Full-Duplex VHF-UHF Satellite System using FLEX radios While some of the article is specific to Flex radios, there is an excellent discussion of considerations for transverter LO frequencies which is relevant to most rigs. 73s, Alan WA4SCA

3 3

DynaCube - 145.980 MHz & 145.840 MHz
by Trevor . 11 Dec '12

11 Dec '12

The SARL report that three members of the Dynacube CubeSat team have now got their amateur radio licenses and more will be taking the exam in May. See http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=11842 73 Trevor M5AKA AMSAT-UK http://www.uk.amsat.org/ ----

1 0

For Sale Gulf Alpha Easy Sat antenna
by Dave Webb KB1PVH 11 Dec '12

11 Dec '12

I'm selling my Gulf Alpha dual band easy sat antenna. It's about 3 years old, but spent the last 2 years in the garage. It has a 6ft boom with 6 elements on 2M and 8 on 70cm, $220 shipped. Contact me direct. Dave-KB1PVH Sent from my Verizon Wireless Droid RAZR

1 0

Lithium Batteries and USPS
by Bruce 11 Dec '12

11 Dec '12

I was just at the post office in Houston shipping a package to Florida and they asked me there were any lithium batteries in the package. I said no and asked why. The postal worker said they no longer take packages with lithium batteries unless they are in a laptop or cell phone. I asked what about in a radio and she said no. hmmmmm 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

3 3

FT-817 Sat-CAT Interface Boards and Kits
by Mark Spencer 11 Dec '12

11 Dec '12

Hi All, A while back, an article about a FT-817 Satellite Control Interface was published in QST. There were numerous requests for boards and kits on the project. There is a small quantity of the boards and kits available but the procurement information didn't make it in the original article. The raw boards are available for $20, and a kit with the board, parts and programmed PIC is available for $35. You can send an email to Debra Johnson at ARRL HQ and order them from her (djohnson(a)arrl.org). The proceeds from this effort is going back to AMSAT and the Fox birds, so anything above and beyond these amounts (which are basically at cost) will go into space as part of Fox. Questions? Let me know mspencer(a)arrl.org. Thanks, Mark Mark Spencer, WA8SME Education and Technology Program Director ARRL, the national association for Amateur RadioTM 43 Pinelock Dr. Gales Ferry, CT 06335 860-381-5335 860-460-1139 (cell) mspencer(a)arrl.org

2 1

[amsat-bb] 2nd IAA Conference on University Satellite Missions abstract submission reminder
by conference 11 Dec '12

11 Dec '12

Dear all,this is a reminder of the deadline of the abstract submission for the 2nd IAA Conference on University Satellites Missions and Cubesat Workshop which will be held in Roma on February 3-9, 2013. Submissions are due by December 17th. We remember you that early registration closes on January, 15th. Those who register before this date will have a discount on the quote.The conference is organized by GAUSS Srl under the sponsorship of IAA, ESA, ASI, Italian Air Force, Sapienza University of Roma, Morehead State University (Kentucky), Von Karman Institute, FILAS, BCC Roma.Topics of the conference will focus in particular the area of University Satellites and during the conference three days are completely dedicated to Cubesat community.All the details about the conference program, accomodation and registration procedure, exhibition stands, call for papers, are available at the Conference website.For any special needs, please do not hesitate to contact us at conference(a)gaussteam.com.ESA scholarships for students who will present a work are available. For those interested, please follow the instructions on the website:ESA scholarshipsWe hope to see you in Roma in February!The 2nd IAA Conference on University Satellite Missions and Cubesat Workshop organizing committee

1 0

9A1Z Looking for NA Skeds
by John Papay 11 Dec '12

11 Dec '12

Luci, 9A1Z, is looking to work North America on AO-7 Mode B on CW. If you are interested in working him, please send an email to his qrz.com address for a sked. He is in JN86. 73, John K8YSE

1 0

WA8SME wins YASME Excellence Award
by John Papay 11 Dec '12

11 Dec '12

Mark Spencer, WA8SME, has just received the Excellence Award from the YASME Foundation (yasme.org). The following is an excerpt from the OPDX Bulletin 1090, December 10th, 2012: "The Yasme Excellence Award is awarded to individuals who through their own service, creativity, effort and dedication have made a significant contribution to amateur radio. The contribution may be in recognition of technical, operating or organizational achievement, as all three are necessary for amateur radio to grow and prosper. The Yasme Excellence Award is in the form of a cash grant and an individually-engraved crystal globe. The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation is pleased to announce the award of the Yasme Excellence Award to the following individuals: - Mark Spencer, WA8SME, for his instrumental work in the ARRL Teachers Institute and other training efforts, development of PIC microcontroller projects and books for amateurs, and work with leaders in student and scientific teams applying amateur radio to scientific projects and experiments." Mark has been instrumental in working with the Teachers Institute, introducing teachers to Amateur Radio Satellites. This has led to students getting involved in our part of amateur radio and the creation of school amateur radio clubs. Many of you have made contacts with these club stations and know how excited students are to be able to make contacts through amateur radio satellites. Mark's most recent contribution is the FT817 computer interface which allows this HF simplex radio to be used with linear satellites. If you own an FT817, you'll want to check it out. See the October 2012 issue of QST for details. Mark Hammond, N8MH, had these kits for sale at the AMSAT Symposium. Hector, CO6CBF, took one back to Cuba and is building it for use with his newly acquired FT817. Congratulations to Mark Spencer WA8SME, recipient of the YASME Foundation Excellence Award! 73, John K8YSE

3 2

6D0LM in VO-52 and FO-29
by Omar Alvarez 10 Dec '12

10 Dec '12

Hello my friends, The Federacion Mexicana de Radioexperimentadores (FMRE) is celebrating their 80th Aniversary this year using the special call 6D0LM. I will be woking VO-52 and FO-29 using 6D0LM from DK89df: December 15th OPERADOR SATÉLITE HORARIO XE XE1AO FO-29 03:25 UTC, 05:05 UTC December 16th OPERADOR SATÉLITE HORARIO XE XE1AO VO-52 01:42 UTC XE1AO FO-29 04:12 UTC December 17th OPERADOR SATÉLITE HORARIO XE XE1AO VO-52 01:58 UTC XE1AO FO-29 05:00 UTC I hope contact you this weekend, QSL via XE1LM. Regards Omar XE1AO DK89df ******************************** M.C. Omar Alvarez Cárdenas Facultad de Telematica, U de C 316 1075 xe1aom(a)ucol.mx omar_ac(a)hotmail.com ********************************

1 0

London Olympics QSLs
by Dave Webb KB1PVH 10 Dec '12

10 Dec '12

Has anyone received a QSL from the Olympics special event? According to the 2O12W QRZ page, replies to direct cards were going to be sent out in early September. Dave-KB1PVH Sent from my Verizon Wireless Droid RAZR

1 0

Astronomer Patrick Moore dead
by andy thomas 09 Dec '12

09 Dec '12

Astronomer Sir Patrick Moore, who presented many British TV programmes reporting the space programmes of the 1960s and later, died today aged 89, according to reports. 73 de andy g0sfj

1 0

New broadband preamp available through AMSAT Store!
by Mark L. Hammond 09 Dec '12

09 Dec '12

FYI--in case you missed the ANS announcement! V/U/Wx receive Amplifier available through AMSAT store AMSAT-NA is pleased to announce an inexpensive, broadband VHF/UHF/WX satellite receive-only preamplifier. Key features: Ready to operate--not a kit! Fully assembled, tested, and installed in a metal enclosure with female BNC connectors on input and output. It is based on the MAR 7 device, and covers 100 MHz to 500 MHz. This includes the137 MHz WX, 2M, and 70cm satellite bands. Operates from +9-15V DC (a fresh 9V battery works great!). Perfect for portable operations using dual band hand-held Yagis like the ARROW, Cheap Yagi, etc. Just put it inline on the correct receive band for operations in either mode U/V or V/U. You won't believe what you've been missing! Includes low power (about 5W) protection diode on the input for accidental transmissions into the input. (This preamp is not RF switched. It must be protected from inadvertent repeated or high power transmission RF using a relay or diplexer.) Full details and schematic can be found in the November/December 2012 AMSAT Journal article by Mark Spencer, WA8SME, or downloaded from the item in the Hardware section of the AMSAT Store: <http://store.amsat.org/catalog/>http://store.amsat.org/catalog/ The assembled and tested kit is priced at $50 USD plus shipping. Proceeds from the sale of this item will help fund the AMSAT Fox Family of satellites! This equipment was developed as part of the ARRL Education and Technology Program. Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

1 0

LO-19 carrier
by Mark L. Hammond 09 Dec '12

09 Dec '12

Hi All, This weekend I listened again for LO-19. Years ago, when the CW beacon went silent, I could always hear a very weak continuos carrier (actually, first saw it using audio FFT software). Yesterday (12/9/12) on a high 50-ish degree elevation pass, it was there. It's right on frequency, right on time with AOS/LOS, the Doppler correction from SatPC32 is right on target. The bird was in daylight, but I expect its batteries are still good so I bet you can hear it in eclipse as well. Thanks to Mark WA8SME for confirming what I was hearing; he heard it this weekend, too. You might have fun listening for it, as a weak signal source. If you can hear LO-19's carrier, your system is pretty up to snuff. Or, use some audio spectrum software and you can "see" the carrier even if you can't hear it on your speaker. From SatPC32: LO-19,437125,145840,USB,FM,NOR,0,0 73, Mark L. Hammond [N8MH0-

1 0

ISS Tracking info on your APRS Radio
by Robert Bruninga 09 Dec '12

09 Dec '12

KJ4ERJ's satserver will send you live tracking data to your APRS radio anywhere, anytime. Just send an APRS message to ISS from any APRS radio (on the national APRS channel) and if you are in range of the global APRS network (an IGate nearby), then it will respond with the time to AOS and the direction of AOS, max elevation and LOS. This also works for all satellites. For example, send a message to FO29 and get its prediciton for your location. (Of course, you have to have sent your current APRS position if it is different from when you last used that radio and callsign). You can see the types of responses as collected by APRS.FI messages page: http://aprs.fi/?c=message&limit=25&call=ISS So, if you find yourself outdoors in the mobile, with nothing to do while the wife is in the mall, just send the above message and see if anything is coming up soon. Of course, to actually work APRS via ISS, you will have to QSY to the ISS channel 145.825 and change your path to via ARISS for the pass (*instead of the usual WIDE2-2 for terrestrial APRS) For a full dscription, see: http://aprsisce.wikidot.com/doc:satsrv When I send a query, I like to use the text "pass?" this is so that others seeing the message will know what you are tyring to do. The text of the message can be anything actually... THink of APRS as your ham radio smartphone... access to data anywhere, anytime. Bob, WB4APR * Note, that the ISS will ALSO digipeat the WIDE2-2 path, but it will not insert its RS4ISS* callsign in the path for proof that you were digipeated via the ISS. So it will "work" without changing from the standard WIDE2-2 path, but you will have no proof. Also, as soon as you use that radio even a few minutes later back on the national APRS channel, the sucessfull packet via ISS will be overwritten by the next terrestrial packet in most APRS Web interfaces. SO if you want to make an APRS contact via ISS and preserve it, you should use a unique callsign SSID only for your satellite operations. Good luck. Bob Bob

1 0

FITSAT-1 to Flash LEDs on Dec 12-13
by Trevor . 09 Dec '12

09 Dec '12

See http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=11815 73 Trevor M5AKA AMSAT-UK http://www.amsat-uk.org/ ----

1 0

ANS-344 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by E.Mike McCardel 09 Dec '12

09 Dec '12

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-344 ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor(a)amsat.org In this edition: * FITSAT-1 Flashing LED Experiment Scheduled for December 12-13 * V/U/Wx Receive Only Amplifier Available Through AMSAT Store * AMSAT Office Closed December 6 thru 11 * CO6CBF and EA4CYQ Work Transatlantic via FO-29 * VE to ES DX via AO-7 Mode B * U.S ARISS Proposal is Live Online * California K6RPT-12 144.390 FM APRS Balloon Crosses Atlantic * FreeDV Ham Radio Digital Voice Software * N0D – Special Event Station for the End of the World * AMSAT SKN ON OSCAR 2013 IN MEMORY OF W1BIH/PJ9JT * SkyCube * Space Station to reposition for science * Amateur Radio High Altitude Ballooning -- Mission Announcements * Jose Luis Peña Sanchez EC4TR Seeks North American Contacts * More Cubesat News SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-344.01 ANS-344 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 344.01 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. December 9, 2012 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-344.01 FITSAT-1 Flashing LED Experiment Scheduled for December 12-13 On the 26th of November the first experiment of the flashing LEDs on the FITSAT-1 satellite took place. The LEDs were successfully observed in Kurashiki, Japan and Daejeon, Korea. On December 7 Takushi Tanaka, JA6AVG updated the FITSAT-1 web page with this information, "As Christmas Eve is full moon, we [will] start flashing LEDs between 12-13 December." The FITSAT-1 web page can be found at: http://www.fit.ac.jp/~tanaka/fitsat.shtml For the USA ----------- 12 December 2012 06:14:30 - 06:16:30 UTC For Europe ---------- 13 December 2012 22:10:30 - 22:14:30 UTC Please note that the schedule is subject to change. Binoculars may be necessary to ensure success in viewing the flashing LEDs. Addi- tional prediction and tracking tools can be accessed at: http://www.satflare.com/track.php?q=fitsat#MAP [ANS thanks Takushi Tanaka, JA6AVG for the above information] V/U/Wx receive Amplifier available through AMSAT store AMSAT-NA is pleased to announce an inexpensive, broadband VHF/UHF/WX satellite receive-only preamplifier. Key features: Ready to operate--not a kit! Fully assembled, tested, and installed in a metal enclosure with female BNC connectors on input and output. It is based on the MAR 7 device, and covers 100 MHz to 500 MHz. This includes the137 MHz WX, 2M, and 70cm satellite bands. Operates from +9-15V DC (a fresh 9V battery works great!). Perfect for portable operations using dual band hand-held Yagis like the ARROW, Cheap Yagi, etc. Just put it inline on the correct receive band for operations in either mode U/V or V/U. You won't believe what you've been missing! Includes low power (about 5W) protection diode on the input for accidental transmissions into the input. (This preamp is not RF switched. It must be protected from inadvertent repeated or high power transmission RF using a relay or diplexer.) Full details and schematic can be found in the November/December 2012 AMSAT Journal article by Mark Spencer, WA8SME, or downloaded from the item in the Hardware section of the AMSAT Store: http://store.amsat.org/catalog/ The assembled and tested kit is priced at $50 USD plus shipping. Proceeds from the sale of this item will help fund the AMSAT Fox Family of satellites! This equipment was developed as part of the ARRL Education and Technology Program. [ANS thanks Mark Hammond, N8MH for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Office Closed December 6 thru 11 Martha reports that she will be out of the office beginning Thursday, December 6th, and the office will remain closed on 7th, 10th and 11th. [ANS thanks Martha for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- CO6CBF and EA4CYQ Work Transatlantic via FO-29 On the morning of December 4, CO6CBF Hector Martinez in EL92sd, worked EA4CYQ Juan Antonio in IM78cx. Hector reported on the AMSAT-BB "I had looked for intercontinental contacts before but it had been very hard for me. Now, running my new donated satellite gear I am able to work FO-29 until 0 degree in any direction. It was my third attempt and was successful! Cubans cannot operate on AO-7 mode B due to a 432MHz restriction in our country, so we have only a few chances on FO-29 every five months when the satellite is getting close to apogee. Juan Antonio and I had a two minutes window and we had enough time to interchange reports, grids and greetings. The contact is included in John Papay's recording of the pass: http://www.papays.com/sat/FO-29_04Dec2012_140930z.mp3 Thanks very much to Juan Antonio EA4CYQ for the great contact and to John K8YSE for look for us and record the contact! Right Now, FO-29 has a big footprint in the morning passes. Please, if you are into the footprint and want to try a long contact, just drop me an email directly. I will try until have a contact with you." [ANS thanks Hector for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- VE to ES DX via AO-7 Mode B Randy Morden, VE6RGU, reported on the AMSAT-BB December 6, "I was quite surprised (Tuesday) to work Neil Viskov, ES6DO in Estonia just before 18:00Z on AO-7 mode B. I was listening to that pass with the hopes of working a few UK stations I heard a few days ago, and was just about to shut the rig down at the end of the pass, when I heard a CW station calling CQ. At first I though it was an Irish station with an EI prefix, but two dits turned out to be three - ES rather than EI! With less than one minute to make the contact on that pass, it all worked out with a new grid and new DX in my log, and Neil's first VE QSO. Many thanks Neil!" [ANS thanks Randy for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S ARISS Proposal is Live Online NASA is now accepting proposals from U.S. schools, museums, science centers and community youth organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station contact between May 1, 2013 and November 1, 2013. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, NASA is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and inte- grate the contact into a well-developed education plan. Radio con- tacts are approximately 10 minutes in length. Proposals are due January 28, 2013. The NASA ARISS page is live! Spread the word. U.S organizations can now access the planning guide and proposal form online at: http://www.nasa.gov/education/tfs/ariss. Dates and times of the on- line information sessions are also on the website. Interested parties should visit the website to obtain complete information including how the technology works, what is expected of the host organization and how to submit the proposal form. [ANS thanks Trinesha M. Dixon, Teaching From Space Education Specialist at the NASA Johnson Space Center for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- California K6RPT-12 144.390 FM APRS Balloon Crosses Atlantic Amateur radio stations from the UK to the Azores were listening for the transatlantic balloon K6RPT-12 on 144.390 MHz FM. As of Tuesday 2230 UT no reports of the balloon had been received since it left radio range of Newfoundland at 0350 UT. The last APRS reports indicated it was starting to drift south and slow down. When it left the USA it was traveling at over 300 km an hour, however, it may well have slowed considerably since then possibly to as little as 90 kmh. The payload is designed for over 60 hours of flight. The K6RPT-12 144.390 MHz APRS balloon successfully crossed the Atllantic and landed in Morocco on Wednesday morning. After its epic journey across the Atlantic the APRS signals were picked up by Spanish stations. It was last heard at 2012-12-05 09:22:31z descending rapidly, indicating that the balloon had burst. The last recorded position was 34°25.75' N 3°58.96' W. It is believed there are less than 150 radio amateurs in Morocco and no known APRS stations, so the balloon may never be recovered. See the K6RPT-12 APRS Track at http://aprs.fi/#!call=a%2FK6RPT-12&timerange=604800 California Near Space Project http://www.californianearspaceproject.com/ Twitter http://twitter.com/k6rpt [ANS thanks Southgate, the California Near Space Project and JoAnne Maenpaa for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- FreeDV Ham Radio Digital Voice Software FreeDV is an application for Windows and Linux that allows any HF SSB radio to be used for digital voice mode wita bandwidth of just 1.1 kHz. Speech is compressed down to 1400 bit/s then modulat- ed onto a 1100 Hz wide QPSK signal which is sent to the Mic input of a SSB radio. On receive, the signal is received by the SSB radio, then demodulated and decoded by FreeDV. Features: + Codec 2 voice coder and FDMDV modem + 50 baud 14 QPSK voice data + 1 Center BPSK carrier with 2x power for fast and robust synchroni- zation. + 1.125 kHz spectrum bandwidth (half SSB) with 75 Hz carrier spacing + 1400 bit/s data rate with 1375 bit/s open source Codec 2 voice coding and 25 bit/s text for call sign ID + No interleaving in time or FEC philosophy resulting in low latency, fast synchronization and quick recovery from fades. + 44.1 or 48kHz sample rate sound card compatible FreeDV, the new HF digital audio program for Radio Amateurs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pfyn0NEcNHs&feature=player_embedded Watch when it's switched to analog SSB. The SSB bandwidth is about 3 times that of the digital audio. Also note the diagonal black streaks across the waterfall display. That's fading, probably from two reflections arriving out of phase. The ID on the bottom is com- ing in during the silent periods between words. This software is Open Source, and uses Codec2. This Codec was pre- sented by Bruce Robertson, VE9QRP at the 2012 AMSAT Space Symposium in Orlando, Florida. See http://freedv.org/ [ANS thanks Southgate and FreeDV for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- N0D – Special Event Station for the End of the World Expands to the Final Frontier! Houston, Texas December 4, 2012: According to one of the three Mayan Calendars, the End of the world will occur on Dec 21, 2012. To celebrate this literally once in a lifetime event, Special Event Station N0D (Now Zero Days) will be activated for the period December 15, 2012 through December 20, 2012. December 21, the day of destruction, we will be on the air as long as possible. December 22nd is a little iffy right now. After all, it is the end of the world, so why not include the Final Frontier? In celebration, experienced satellite operators Allen Mattis, N5AFV, and Andy MacAllister, W5ACM, who are members of the N0D team, will be working available satellite passes beginning December 15th, 2012, through the end of the world and possibly beyond until December 22nd. The team will be using the Official Doomsday call sign, N0D. In addition, the South Texas Balloon Launch Team will launch the Doomsday Balloon, BLT-32 To the End of the World and Float, to prepare the world for its demise! The launch is scheduled for Saturday Dec 15th at 4 PM from Covey Trails Airport in Fulshear, Texas. BLT-32 is designed as a “floater” with hopes that it will reach Europe before the end of the world. APRS telemetry and beacons on the balloon will also be using the Official Doomsday call sign, N0D. Details about the Doomsday balloon are available at http://www.w5acm.net/b32.html. N0D will also be active on the HF bands throughout the event. Further information is available at www.nowzerodays.com. You may register on the website to become an official Doomsday station. Over 575 stations have already done so. QSL information for N0D is with SASE via KK5W but better wait untill after Doomsday, if we are still around. NO Backup Date – It’s all or NOTHING! [ANS thanks Allen N5AFV for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT SKN ON OSCAR 2013 IN MEMORY OF W1BIH/PJ9JT You are cordially invited to participate in Straight Key Night on OSCAR 2013, conducted by AMSAT for all radio amateurs throughout the world. This year's event is dedicated to the memory of John Thompson, W1BIH/PJ9JT, who passed away in 2012, aged 96. Although known primarily as an HF DXer and contester, John was also active on OSCAR, mostly on CW. As always, SKN on OSCAR is simple and informal. Just operate CW through one or more satellites on 1 January 2013 (0000 to 2400 UTC), using a straight hand key. There is no need to send in a log, but all participants are encouraged to nominate someone they worked for Best Fist. Your nominee need not have the best fist of anyone you heard, only of those you worked. Send your nomination to w2rs at amsat.org. A list of those nominated will appear in ANS in early February. [ANS thanks Ray Soifer for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Watch and Listen for the Geminid Meteor Shower This Week The Geminid Meteor Shower is the grand finale of astronomical events in 2012 and is usually the most reliable and prolific of the annual meteor showers. This year we are in for a special treat as the Moon will be absent when the Geminids are at their peak on the evening of the 12th/13th of December. This means that the sky should be at its darkest when the shower is expected, and many more of the fainter meteors will be visible. Meteor pings can be heard via internet streaming as the Air Force Space Surveillance Radar, scanning the skies above Texas, creates the "radar fence". When a meteor or satellite passes over the fac- ility--ping!--there is an echo. This live audio feed can be found at: http://spaceweatherradio.com/ [ANS thanks UniverseToday.com and SpaceWeatherRadio.com for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- SkyCube: The Satellite http://www.southernstars.com/skycube/satellite.html SkyCube: a day in the life http://tinyurl.com/a8xro6z SkyCube uses Kickstarter for Funding http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=8955 [ANS thanks Southgate ARC for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Space Station to reposition for science The International Space Station will reposition itself for a better view of the sun, the first-ever attitude change for scientific reasons alone, officials say. http://tinyurl.com/bsw4wg2 [ANS thanks Space Travel for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- AMATEUR RADIO HIGH ALTITUDE BALLOONING -- MISSION ANNOUNCEMENTS http://arhab.org/hab_launch_list.php [ANS thanks AMATEUR RADIO HIGH ALTITUDE BALLOONING for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Jose Luis Peña Sanchez EC4TR Seeks North American Contacts from IN80er in Spain Luis, EC4TR, is looking for North American stations with whom to set up satellite schedules. His grid in IN80er. Email him at his qrz.com email address if you would like to contact him. FO-29 is over 1300km high during morning passes over the Atlantic now. AO-7 is always around 1450km and is in Mode B on odd days during December. [ANS thanks John Papay K8YSE for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- More CubeSat News The UK Space Agency will be running a free CubeSat Community Workshop at Milton Keynes on January 22 that will include discussion of plans for UKube-2. See http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=11782 Also on the AMSAT-UK site: Pictures released of UKube-1 CubeSat http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=11786 Australian Radio Ham’s Spacecraft Missions http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=11745 [ANS thanks Trevor M5AKA for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX Please share you copy with an educator near you. In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73, This week's ANS Editor, E.Mike McCardel, KC8YLD kc8yld at amsat dot org

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