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Trip North
by w6gmt＠bak.rr.com 24 Mar '10

24 Mar '10

Hi all I will Start my annual trip north to the summer QTH on Wed April 7th. I will go through the States of OK KS NB IA and MN. I will activate Grids using my FT-817 and an Elk Log. I am Looking for Grid requests FM Birds only QSL to the MN Address. Send Requests to me off Line AT w6gmt(a)bak.rr.com 73 Brock

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AMSAT Journal
by Ed Long 24 Mar '10

24 Mar '10

Everyone, Once again I am late with the Journal due to content issues. However, I just uploaded the next issue to the printer and you should have it in the near future. As always, I am continually looking for new articles. If you have a topic to write about please send it in to the Journal e-mail address as found printed on page 3 of every issue. Thanks once again for your patience. I think you'll enjoy this issue. 73, Ed Long WA4SWJ Editor, The AMSAT Journal ----

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Looking for sat skeds with Europe (from south Florida)
by Bill Dzurilla 24 Mar '10

24 Mar '10

Hi, After some upgrades to my sat station, I am able to work western Europe on AO-7 Mode B. There is usually at least one 2-minute window to Europe/Africa on each Mode B day. So far, my best DX is 7438 km with Eric PA1TNO. Please email me if you would like to make a sked, or listen for me if you see the footprint over south Florida. 73, Bill NZ5N Plantation, FL EL96uc

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OT: Power Supply Crowbar Question
by Joel Black 24 Mar '10

24 Mar '10

I have a question about the crowbar circuit in my RS-35A I'm trying to repair after my lightning strike. Please contact me off list and I will pose my question. Thanks, Joel, W4JBB

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SatPC32 with IC-821H / IC-910H
by Peter Scheller 23 Mar '10

23 Mar '10

Greetings, Due to other reasons, I had to re-install SatPC32, a registered version. I deleted the old SatPC32 first, before installing the version from AMSAT NA, via internet. The installation seems to be trouble free, and the program is working fine, as far as I can tell. The problem encountered is that I cannot get the program to track the radio. Nothing. There is indication on the CI-V remote cable that the computer port is working. Smal deflection on the VTVM. I used a different application, in which the radio scans frequencies. No problems experienced. I switched from the IC-821H to the IC-910H, and that radio also scanned, eliminating both radios. I changed CI-V addresses with no avail. Both radios will not track with the SatPC32 program. Any advice out there? Thanks in advance. Peter, NH6VB _________________________________________________________________ The New Busy is not the old busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your inbox. http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID27925::T:WLMTAGL:ON:…

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Boy Scouts
by kj4psu＠gmail.com 23 Mar '10

23 Mar '10

I am going to a local Boy Scouts meeting in 10 minutes to let them hear the APRS from the ISS and to watch the pass. Almost 90 degs! There is a pass of AO-51 at 20:05 to my west (5deg) after the pass. I'm only using a handheld and arrow yagi, but I happen to make it into the bird and you hear my call, will any operator that hears me give the Boy Scouts a shout. Thanks! Will KJ4PSU Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

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New UK Space Agency announced
by Graham Shirville 23 Mar '10

23 Mar '10

Hi All, At a Conference in London held today, it was announced that April 1st 2010 is to be the "launch" date for the establishment of the United Kingdom Space Agency. This will take over responsibility for space from the previous voluntary partnerships of Government Departments and research councils, the British National Space Centre. It is reported that the new agency will bring these together "under one roof". It will also include the Technology Strategy Board and the Met Office. In addition to this announcement, the UK Government has stated that £24m will be invested into The International Space Innovation Centre (ISIC) at Harwell which is also the site of the new ESA technical facility. Lets hope the new Agency looks kindly towards UK cubesat projects like AMSAT-UK's FUNcube! For more details see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8579270.stm 73 Graham G3VZV

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FW: Regarding Release of the ADAMASat FREE GUI (Kentucky Space)
by Robert Bruninga 23 Mar '10

23 Mar '10

East Coast AMSAT Launch 11 March! You will be able to see it too over most of the mid-atlantic. I don't see a launch time or any other info yet. Here is what I have received: ----------------------------------------------------- A sounding rocket with amateur satellite operating on 144.39 MHZ APRS will rise to 100 miles or so for an 8 minute mission. The rocket (I think) is the Hall 12.067. The payload is called SOCEM/ADAMASat. There is a computer program and GUI to interface to your PC so you can grab the telemetry live. It is on: http://ssl.engr.uky.edu/adamasat_free_gui.exe It's a one shot deal, so I'm gonna have a backup TNC and HYPERTERM collecting everything. ADAMASat is the Antenna Deployment and Mono-filament Actuator Satellite. It's a 2U CubeSat designed by Kentucky Space as part of SOCEM, the Sub-Orbital CubeSat Experimental Mission. ADAMASat, which is scheduled to launch on Hall 12.067 out of Wallops Flight Facility on 11 March, will fly in space for roughly 8 minutes performing an engineering experiment and transmitting data down to Earth via APRS packets. More information on ADAMASat is available at http://ssl.engr.uky.edu/suborbital/adamasat Kentucky Space is hereby releasing to the AMSAT-NA community the ADAMASat FREE GUI, a free 32-bit Windows binary for amateur radio operators in the Eastern United States who are interested in tracking ADAMASat on its launch day. The GUI is a standalone application and upon opening it on his/her computer, the HAM will be greeted with a popup window which explains the steps required to track the payload. All that is needed is a Windows machine, a radio and TNC which can receive on 144.390 MHz, a serial or USB cable, and a suitable location. The GUI parses the APRS packets as they are received, graphing temperatures on-board the payload and reporting status of the mission in real-time. It also includes instructions on e-mailing the packet log to Kentucky Space to aid in post-processing, and a built-in aggregator for the official ADAMASat Twitter RSS feed. Disclaimer: Kentucky Space provides the GUI "as is" without warranties of any kind, and shall not incur any liability for any damages connected to the use of the GUI.

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Tracking software
by newsradio6＠gmail.com 23 Mar '10

23 Mar '10

Does anyone have a good suggestion for tracking the "easysats" using a blackberry? Thx in advance John Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network. Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.

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Fwd: [PNWVHFS] KP4AO Arecebo EME QRV NOW
by Bob- W7LRD 23 Mar '10

23 Mar '10

This email came across my inbox. I am just passing it on. It may be of some interest to some satellite ops. 73 Bob W7LRD ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: "T. M." <k7xc(a)charter.net> To: "PNWVHFS" <PNWVHFS(a)googlegroups.com>, "WSVHF Reflector" <wsvhf(a)mailman.qth.net>, vhf(a)w6yx.stanford.edu Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 4:01:22 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Subject: [PNWVHFS] KP4AO Arecebo EME QRV NOW QRV Now - 3-22-10 21:24Z KP4AO 432.045.60 CW - Arecebo Dish in Puerto Rico Easily heard with a single elevated 7wl K1FO Yagi, 75 feet of RG-8, and no preamp. 73s de Tim - K7XC - DM09nm... sk "One who fears limits his activities. Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again." -Henry Ford -- ~The Voice of the Pacific NorthWest VHF Society~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PNWVHFS" group. To post to this group, send email to PNWVHFS(a)googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to PNWVHFS-unsubscribe(a)googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/PNWVHFS To unsubscribe from this group, send email to pnwvhfs+unsubscribegooglegroups.com or reply to this email with the words "REMOVE ME" as the subject.

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S band Rx system for sale
by Bob- W7LRD 23 Mar '10

23 Mar '10

Hello Selling a "extra" complete S band rx system. Downconverter, feed, 18" dish, bias tee. Try here before ebay. Contact direct. 73 Bob W7LRD

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help needed
by Gkcarr 23 Mar '10

23 Mar '10

My VHF-DX software for logging my hamsat contacts apparently went south. The message is Runtime error 9. Subscript out of range. I tried system restore but to no avail. Does anyone have a copy? I have the data backed up but need the program. Am running VISTA. 73 and tnx, George WA5KBH

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XE2/KI6YAA Trip to BAJA
by Larry Teran 22 Mar '10

22 Mar '10

I like to thank all the station that contacted me, I now know the excitement operating as a rover station and the pleasure to activate not so usual grids. the operation of the satellite station was a secondary factor on this trip but I would like to thanks Ricardo Perez for his support chasing the grid boundaries, who were not so easy as we were using dirt roads that are designated for the Baja 1000 off road racers. Gonzaga's Bay is one of the most beautiful and pristine destinations in Baja. The fact that it is so difficult to get to has a lot to do with its slow growth. Bahia de Gonzaga is approximately 100 miles south of San Felipe and about 48 tough miles south of Puertecitos. The road south from Puertecitos has long had a reputation for being one of the worst roads in Baja. Despite a new 18 kilometers of scenic highway with view points recently constructed, this road is still very intimidating to all but the most seasoned Baja travelers. In a near future they will continue with the construction all the way down to Bahia de los Angeles, which will make the access more easy and activation of those grids will occur more often. I was using an Icom Z1A dual band full duplex with squirrel microphone connected to a power jump start battery to get the radio,s full 5 watts and an Arrow antenna both mounted on a tripod and the K7AGE's bracket, sat predictions printed from orbitron. Also the equipment consist of some Margaritas and Shrimp. I operate from DL29,DM20 and DM21. If you contacted me please send me an email to ki6yaa(a)amsat.org for QSL request, I should be printing them soon. 73,s Larry KI6YAA

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Grid Maps and Audio Recordings
by John Papay 22 Mar '10

22 Mar '10

My webserver has been updated with Grid Maps from N5AFV, KD4ZGW/M, ND9M, K4T and WD9EWK. I hope to have something from XE2AT as he is the VUCC leader with over 900 grids confirmed. Click on the images to download an Adobe Acrobat file which can be zoomed for a better look. If you want your grid map on this page just email your grid list in a .txt or excel file. Or create the map and email that. Adjust the radius to make the graphic more detailed. There are also approximately 25 audio recordings of satellite passes over the last 4 days. If you have been operating or have tried to make a satellite qso, you may be able to hear yourself on these recordings. More audio files will be posted as time permits. There is no intention to upload every satellite pass as it takes a bit of work to do this every day. If you are new to satellites and are not hearing very well, these recordings will give you an idea of what goes on during a pass. Enjoy: http://www.papays.com/sat 73, John K8YSE

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Re: K4T VUCC update
by John W Lee 22 Mar '10

22 Mar '10

Ah Yes ! Remember the old adage: The road to success is paved with patience, persistance and postage! On Mon, 22 Mar 2010 10:56:59 -0400 John Papay <john(a)papays.com> writes: > There is a new graphic on my webserver that > plots all of the grids that K4T worked on the > satellites. They easily achieved VUCC in just > a few days by working 127 different grids and > about 422 satellite qso's. VUCC seems a long > way off when you first start collecting grids, > but if you stay with it, you'll have the award > in short order. Getting the cards, of course, > is sometimes more difficult than making the contact! > > Congratulations to the K4T Team for working over 100 > grids from the Dry Tortugas! > > The graphic is here: > > http://www.papays.com/sat > > Click on the image to download an Adobe Acrobat file > that can be zoomed for greater detail. > > 73, > John K8YSE > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > > ____________________________________________________________ Small Business Tools Compete with the big boys. Click here to find products to benefit your business. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/c?cp=J3H4W4cQu-6uzARUzr31qAAAJ1CmZ…

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K4T VUCC update
by John Papay 22 Mar '10

22 Mar '10

There is a new graphic on my webserver that plots all of the grids that K4T worked on the satellites. They easily achieved VUCC in just a few days by working 127 different grids and about 422 satellite qso's. VUCC seems a long way off when you first start collecting grids, but if you stay with it, you'll have the award in short order. Getting the cards, of course, is sometimes more difficult than making the contact! Congratulations to the K4T Team for working over 100 grids from the Dry Tortugas! The graphic is here: http://www.papays.com/sat Click on the image to download an Adobe Acrobat file that can be zoomed for greater detail. 73, John K8YSE

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Re: RS-15 beacon signal
by Armando Mercado 22 Mar '10

22 Mar '10

Hello, I have been listening to RS-15 beacon for several years and it is still a mystery to me. I have heard it turn on in less than 60 seconds of entering sunlight. It will also remain silent while in continuous sunlight for weeks. My feeling is RS-15 is in a slow tumble with only some of its solar panels working. If it is in the right alignment with the sun, it will come on. I have noticed that the "beeps" seem to get longer the longer it stays on. Several years ago the "beep" seemed to be as long as the CW telemetry frame it used to transmit. 73, Armando, N8IGJ =============== Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 21:15:03 +0100 From: "Mike Rupprecht" <mail(a)mike-rupprecht.de> Subject: [amsat-bb] RS-15 beacon signal To: "'amsat bb bb'" <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Message-ID: <002501cac86a$09bd2600$1d377200$@de> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" All, this morning I made some very interesting measurements of the beacon signal from RS-15. Does anyone know the relationship between the length of the carrier and (presumably) the temperature? The length varies between 1.5 seconds and sometimes over 20 seconds. You can see some interesting graphs here: http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?p=13008 Thanks and 73, Mike DK3WN

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Folding 4' satellite Dish antenna
by Stan, W1LE 22 Mar '10

22 Mar '10

Hello The Net: This Ebay item may be of interest. 170460483013 <http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170460483013> Stan, W1LE Cape Cod FN41sr

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Dressler VV 2000 GAAS preamp
by John Neeley 21 Mar '10

21 Mar '10

I picked up a Dressler VV2000 GAAS preamp yesterday at a swapfest, and wonder if anyone on the board has ever used one? It is a mast mount 146-148 mhz Low Noise Preamp with N connectors. I have the manual, which was downloaded off the internet. Just curious as to see if anyone else had one of the critters...and any comments... it can take 1kw of power.......dont think my FT847 will ever do that... John W6ZKH

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NASA to Launch Three New CubeSats in November
by Jack K. 21 Mar '10

21 Mar '10

Subject: NASA to Launch Three New CubeSats in November > > Three small research satellites with amateur radio educational > payloads are scheduled for launch in late November. > > Called CubeSats because of their shape, they come from > Montana State University, the University of Colorado and > Kentucky Space as part of NASA's Educational Launch of > Nanosatellite mission. > > Kentucky's KySat-1 is believed to be the first CubeSat to > carry a 2 meter-to-70 cm FM transponder - truly a crossband > repeater in space and one that should be accessible by most > radio amateurs within its flight path, authorities said. > > CubeSats are in a class of small research spacecraft called > pico-satellites. They have a volume of about one quart and > weigh no more than 2.2 pounds. The University of Florida was > selected as an alternate in case one of the three primary spacecraft > cannot fly. >

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HO-68 Schedule - 21-28 Mar 2010
by Alan Kung 21 Mar '10

21 Mar '10

21 Mar. 2010 ================================ 16:35...Turn On--SSB/CW India, Africa, Middle East, Europe,NA 17:20...Turn Off 18:10...Turn On--SSB/CW Africa,Europe,Middle East,NA 18:55...Turn Off 22 Mar. 2010 ================================ 01:15...Turn On--SSB/CW South America,NA,North Asia 02:00...Turn Off 02:16...Turn On--SSB/CW North Asia,East Asia,South Asia 02:32...Turn Off 03:05...Turn On--SSB/CW South America,NA,North Asia 03:50...Turn Off 19:40...Turn On--SSB/CW Africa,Europe,NA 20:25...Turn Off 23 Mar. 2010 ================================ 01:00...Turn On--FM South America,NA,North Asia 01:45...Turn Off 01:59...Turn On--SSB/CW North Asia,East Asia,South Asia 02:15...Turn Off 02:45...Turn On--SSB/CW NA,South America,North Asia 03:30...Turn Off 11:40...Turn On--SSB/CW South America,Oceania,Asia 12:25...Turn Off 17:50...Turn On--SSB/CW India,Middle East,Europe,NA 18:35...Turn Off 19:20...Turn On--SSB/CW Africa,Europe,NA 20:05...Turn Off 24 Mar. 2010 ================================= 01:38...Turn On--SSB/CW North Asia,East Asia,South Asia 01:49...Turn Off 09:55...Turn On--SSB/CW Oceania,East Asia,North Asia,Europe 10:40...Turn Off 12:55...Turn On--SSB/CW South America,Oceania 13:39...Turn Off 16:00...Turn On--SSB/CW India,Middle East,Africa,Europe,NA 16:45...Turn Off 23:25...Turn On--SSB/CW NA,North Asia,East Asia,Oceania 24:10...Turn Off 25 Mar. 2010 ================================= 01:22...Turn On--SSB/CW North Asia,East Asia,South Asia 01:35...Turn Off 06:40...Turn On--SSB/CW NA,North Asia,Middle East, Europe,Africa 07:25...Turn Off 15:00...Turn On--SSB/CW Oceania,Asia,Europe,NA 15:45...Turn Off 17:15...Turn On--SSB/CW Africa,India,Middle East,Europe,NA 18:00...Turn Off 19:05...Turn On--SSB/CW Africa,Europe,NA 19:50...Turn Off 26 Mar. 2010 ================================ 00:10...Turn On--FM South America,NA,North Asia 00:55...Turn Off 02:51...Turn On--SSB/CW North Asia,East Asia,South Asia 03:06...Turn Off 11:10...Turn On--SSB/CW Oceania,Asia,Europe 11:55...Turn Off 18:45...Turn On--FM Africa,Europe,NA 19:30...Turn Off 22:55...Turn On--SSB/CW NA,Asia,Oceania 23:40...Turn Off 27 Mar. 2010 ================================ 01:40...Turn On--FM South America,NA,North Asia 02:25...Turn Off 02:40...Turn On--FM North Asia,East Asia,South Asia 02:55...Turn Off 10:50...Turn On--FM Oceania,Asia,Europe,NA 11:35...Turn Off 18:30...Turn On--SSB/CW Africa,Europe,NA 19:15...Turn Off 28 Mar. 2010 ================================ 01:25...Turn On--SSB/CW South America,NA,North Asia 02:10...Turn Off 04:07...Turn On--FM North Asia,East Asia,South Asia 04:22...Turn Off 07:20...Turn On--SSB/CW North Asia,Europe,Africa 08:05...Turn Off 10:35...Turn On--SSB/CW Oceania,Asia,Europe 11:20...Turn Off 73 Alan Kung, BA1DU HO-68(XW-1) Project Manager www.camsat.cn

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ANS-080 AMSAT Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 21 Mar '10

21 Mar '10

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-080 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 ******************************************************************** * The AMSAT team is preparing for the 2010 Dayton Hamvention AMSAT * * Booth and activities. For the latest information go to: * * http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/hamvention/2010/Dayton.php * ******************************************************************** In this edition: * Satellite Operations from Oahu and Kauai Hawii * AMSAT Hamfest Activities for 27 March 2010 * AO-51 to support Boy Scouts 100th Anniversary * AMSAT-DL Symposium and AGM * Call for Papers--2010 ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference * SpaceX Completes Falcon 9 Static Fire Test * ARISS Status - 15 March 2010 SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-080.01 Satellite Operations from Oahu and Kauai Hawii AMSAT News Service Bulletin 080.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. March 21, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-080.01 Adrian, AA5UK, will be on Oahu (BL11) and Kauai (BL02ic & BL01) operating portable KH6. He plans to operate on the Linear and FM satellites during his stay, mostly from his rented house in BL02ic (March 27th through April 5th) and will try to operate portable/mobile from BL11 and BL01 time permitting. Emphasis will be SSB on FO-29, VU-52, AO-7 and HO-68. He will post daily availability via AMSAT BB, his QRZ page and Twitter: @AA5UK. Schedule requests are encouraged due to the limited pass windows for those operators needing HI for WAS at the fringe of the footprints. Please use the email listed on QRZ.com to arrange for a time and date. [ANS thanks JoAnne, K9JKM, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-080.02 AMSAT Hamfest Activities for 27 March 2010 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 080.02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. March 21, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-080.02 The Radio Society of Tucson (K7RST) will host the Tucson spring hamfest on Saturday, 27 March 2010, at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, AZ. The Kino Sports Complex is on Ajo Way, east of the I-10 freeway and Tucson Electric Park stadium in Tucson. The hamfest will run from 7am-11am (1400-1800 UTC). Along with an AMSAT table, Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK, will have on-air demonstrations using various satellites during the hamfest. Meanwhile, further East, Keith Pugh, W5IU, will have an AMSAT booth and be conducting demonstrations at the Parker County Hamfest in Weatherford, TX. [ANS thanks Patrick, WD9EWK, and Keith, W5IU, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-080.03 AO-51 to support Boy Scouts 100th Anniversary AMSAT News Service Bulletin 080.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. March 21, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-080.03 AMSAT-NA is supporting the Boy Scouts of America 100th Anniversary Jamboree by dedicating an AO-51 V/U FM repeater for the event. From Friday April 16, 15:00 UTC until Sunday April 18 19:00 UTC, an AO-51 repeater will be allocated for Jamboree use. All users are requested to give way to Jamboree stations or QSO's with Jamboree stations. The frequencies used will be 145.880 FM uplink, and 435.150 FM downlink, no PL tone required. AMSAT wishes the Scouts good luck operating via the AO-51 satellite for the event. 73, Ed N8BBQ AO-51 Operations Group [ANS thanks Ed, N8BBQ, for the above information} /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-080.04 AMSAT-DL Symposium and AGM AMSAT News Service Bulletin 080.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. March 21, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-080.04 The AMSAT-DL Symposium and AGM will be held in the radome of the spectacular 20 metre dish at Bochum. The event takes place on Saturday April 24, 2010 from 10:00 to 17:00 local time. There will be a lecture programme and an update on AMSAT-DL projects and the results of the joint study between AMSAT-DL and the Federal Republic of Germany Research Center for Aeronautics and Astronautics (DLR). For further details of the Symposium including directions see http://tinyurl.com/ykezgjj AMSAT-DL in Google English http://tinyurl.com/AMSAT-DL Federal Republic of Germany Research Center for Aeronautics and Astronautics (DLR) http://tinyurl.com/GermanyDLR GO-Mars with AMSAT-DL's P5A Mission - Pixel Page http://ticket-to-mars.org/index.pl?lang=en_EN [ANS thanks AMSAT-DL for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-080.05 Call for Papers--2010 ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference AMSAT News Service Bulletin 080.05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. March 21, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-080.05 Technical papers are solicited for presentation at the 29th Annual ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference to be held September 24-26, 2010 in Vancouver, Washington [Portland, Oregon]. These papers will also be published in the Conference Proceedings (you do NOT need to attend the conference to have your paper included in the Proceedings). The submission deadline is July 31, 2010. Please send papers to: Maty Weinberg ARRL 225 Main St Newington, CT 06111 or you can make your submission via e-mail to: maty(a)arrl.org Papers will be published exactly as submitted and authors will retain all rights. [ANS thanks Steve, WB8IMY, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-080.06 SpaceX Completes Falcon 9 Static Fire Test AMSAT News Service Bulletin 080.06 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. March 21, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-080.06 On Saturday, March 13, SpaceX successfully completed a test firing of the inaugural Falcon 9 launch vehicle at Space Launch Complex 40 located at Cape Canaveral. Following a nominal terminal countdown, the launch sequencer commanded ignition of all 9 Merlin first stage engines for a period of 3.5 seconds. Just prior to engine ignition, the pad water deluge system was activated providing acoustic suppression to keep vibration levels within acceptable limits. The test validated the launch pad propellant and pneumatic systems as well as the ground and flight control software that controls pad and launch vehicle configurations. This was the final step for the rocket and launch pad before launch itself. SpaceX is now waiting for completion of the final set of tests of the flight termination system, specifically the explosives and initiators, and the acceptance of that test documentation by Air Force range safety. [ANS thanks SpaceX for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-080.07 ARISS Status - 15 March 2010 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 080.07 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. March 21, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-080.07 1. Upcoming School Contacts Shiogama Daini Junior High School in Shiogama, Japan has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Thursday, March 25 at 07:44 UTC. To prepare for the contact, the youth studied astronomy and were introduced to the Hubble Space Telescope. They learned about radio communication and some students continued their studies and prepared for their amateur radio license exams. 2. JAXA Astronaut Participates in ARISS Contact with Alma Mater On Tuesday, March 9, JAXA's Soichi Noguchi, KD5TVP participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with his alma mater, Ikaruga Elementary School, in Taishi Town, Japan. Approximately 350 guests watched as fifteen students asked their questions of the on-orbit astronaut. This ARISS activity was the highlight of the Ikaruga science curriculum on environmental issues and received significant media coverage. [ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, 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 additional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org

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Fun and exotic six on weekend !
by Nader Omer 20 Mar '10

20 Mar '10

Hello Gentelmen I succeeded to uploaded 6 messages today (20-03-2010) to Hope-1 BBS. My plan was to upload 13 messages!! (13 bad luck # ) ;-) Yes I did the math and many tests for this acording to satellite pass. Unfortunately the FM ruin my all week plan!! (For sure an unintended QRM from single station .But with a big gun hi hi ). Anyhow the following photos (link) show more info about Wisp and the amount of data it can handling according to pass time etc http://st2nh-blogger.blogspot.com/2010/03/6-messages-uploaded-more-wisp-inf… 73's Nader

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Lots of activity today..
by Patrick STODDARD 20 Mar '10

20 Mar '10

Hi! Lots of activity on the birds today. Kerry WC7V has been busy at DN46/DN56, and Larry XE2/KI6YAA was just on AO27 from the DL29/DM20 boundary on the east side of the Baja California peninsula. Kerry posted his plans to the -BB previously, and Larry mentioned to me earlier that he would be heading toward Bahia de los Angeles on the Gulf of California side of Baja California this weekend. Along with those two, I will be on various passes from DM34/DM44 in north-central Arizona today through the 0114 FO29 pass. Many of the regulars already have me in their logs from these grids, but some have picked these up as new grids for their logs. This is a great way to start springtime. Getting some new grids in the log from WC7V and KI6YAA from rarely-heard spots, and even giving out some grids from here. :-) Who knows what else might turn up later. Good luck to all, and 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK - south of Camp Verde AZ http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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iss recording.
by Greg Wycoff 20 Mar '10

20 Mar '10

looking for anyone who may have a audio recording of the ISS making contact with N0ZHE, this would have been a number of years ago. 3-5yrs? Thanks Greg.

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RS-15 beacon signal
by Mike Rupprecht 20 Mar '10

20 Mar '10

All, this morning I made some very interesting measurements of the beacon signal from RS-15. Does anyone know the relationship between the length of the carrier and (presumably) the temperature? The length varies between 1.5 seconds and sometimes over 20 seconds. You can see some interesting graphs here: http://www.dk3wn.info/p/?p=13008 Thanks and 73, Mike DK3WN

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AO-51 Back up!
by John Papay 20 Mar '10

20 Mar '10

Congratulations to the Control Team N8MH KO4MA and WA6FWF for their efforts to revive AO-51. This weekend was to be very active since some were planning grid expeditions. Not having AO-51 available would have impacted those efforts. This morning on the 1311z pass, Kerry WC7V was operating portable from DN46 and DN56 and Chris KC0YBM was in EN24. All of these are rare grids. It was great to hear them operating for our benefit. Thank you Kerry and Chris! The radio that Chris uses for satellites requires 120VAC power so he purchased a 400w inverter that would allow him to take his radio on the road! He may operate in EN25 next! If you haven't tried operating portable away from home, please consider doing so. It is a lot of fun and others will appreciate the effort you make to do it. 73, John K8YSE

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AO-51 reload
by Andrew Glasbrenner 20 Mar '10

20 Mar '10

Sometime between 1830Z and 2000Z today, AO-51 suffered a software crash. Thanks to K8YSE for the early heads up. Mark, N8MH and myself restarted and started reloading the software required to run the repeater. Until this is finished, I ask that everyone refrain from transmitting to the satellite. Now is a good time to tweak your 9600 baud receive setups, as the digital transmitter is on at about 2 watts. 73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Operations

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help with tlw3
by Nick Pugh K5QXJ 20 Mar '10

20 Mar '10

Hi All I install TLW3 from the arrl antenna hand book when I try to run the program it put the icon in the tray at the bottom of the screen and does nothing else. I am running xp-pro Help nick Office 337 593 8700 Cell 337 258 2527 Helping UL become a world Class Engineering and Educational School

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Oscar Zero - Live Webstream
by Trevor . 20 Mar '10

20 Mar '10

There should be some 3400.450MHz moon bounce from G4RSR later during National Science and Engineering Open Day. There will be a live web stream at http://www.batc.tv/ for further details see http://www.southgatearc.org/news/march2010/moon_bounce_web_stream.htm 73 Trevor M5AKA Daily Amateur Radio Email/RSS News: http://www.southgatearc.org/ Email Your News To: editor at southgatearc.org Or Upload Using Form At: http://www.southgatearc.org/news/your_news_1.htm ----

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Re: Ao-51 off for Reload
by Andre' v Deventer 20 Mar '10

20 Mar '10

Sri, a Blond moment. Posted to wrong detination. 73 andre zs2bk

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Ao-51 off for Reload
by Andre' v Deventer 20 Mar '10

20 Mar '10

Hi All, Quote: Sometime between 1830Z and 2000Z today, AO-51 suffered a software crash. Thanks to K8YSE for the early heads up. Mark, N8MH and myself restarted and started reloading the software required to run the repeater. Until this is finished, I ask that everyone refrain from transmitting to the satellite. Now is a good time to tweak your 9600 baud receive setups, as the digital transmitter is on at about 2 watts. 73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Operations Unquote 73 andre zs2bk

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Working Maritime Mobile via AO-51
by oldethai＠montevideo.com.uy 20 Mar '10

20 Mar '10

On March 21 at around 1600 UTC AO-51 will pass directly over Honolulu, HI. I may get up early and try to work some stations from on board my ship if there is anyone out there who might be interested. Actually, we would not be strictly maritime mobile as we'd be tied up at the pier at that time so it would be marine mobile. If anyone is interested, send me an email asap at: wa0yfb(a)amast.org 73's Herb ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Mantenete informado desde tu celular. Noticias, Deportes, Tiempo libre. Ingresa desde el navegador de tu celular en: http://www.montevideo.com.uy/movil -----------------------------------------------------------------------

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FS: Yaesu FT817ND transceiver
by John Geiger 19 Mar '10

19 Mar '10

I have for sale a Yaesu FT817ND HF/6/2/70cm QRP transceiver in very good condition. It does 5 watts on each band and can run off of internal batteries-1 internal battery pack is included. It comes with the hand mic, NC-72B wall charger, carrying strap, antenna, manual, and box. This makes a great satellite transceiver for portable operations, or can also be used in the base. Iam asking $425 plus shipping for it, and can take paypal/check/MO. 73s John AA5JG

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new satellite operators
by Mark L. Hammond 19 Mar '10

19 Mar '10

Hello All, In the last few weeks we have clearly been hearing new satellite operators on the air. It's a great thing. Let's continue to welcome them to the birds. Two calls come to mind: K4M0A--apparently our contact at K4T was his first satellite contact. How cool is that? :) And his call is rediculously close and confusing with KO4MA, HI HI. K4MF--Gary was on the K4T Team, and he's been active on AO-51 the last 2 mornings on newly constructed hombrew Moxon antennas. He's a CW guru from way back, but he was apparently moved by the satellites he helped me work during the trip :) Keep an ear open for these folks (and there are others, but their callsigns are in memory yet). They will appreciate your keen ears and kind words. 73, -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

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eQSL to N8MH in EL94 = N8MH/EL94
by Mark L. Hammond 19 Mar '10

19 Mar '10

Hello All, If you need an eQSL for my portable operations in Key West Florday on 10 March 2010 (the day before the K4T event) look for my call of N8MH/EL94 That seemed intuitive :) 73, -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

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WC7V/7 DN55 and DN46, DN56
by kladuke1144＠msn.com 19 Mar '10

19 Mar '10

All, On 20/3/2010 starting with AO27 at 1930Z I hope to be portable in DN55, and two grids at once in DN46, DN56. I will be operating AO27 and AO51. In the next couple of weeks I hope to be operating in DN43 and DN44. 73 WC7V Kerry

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QSL information for K4T Dry Tortugas Xpedition
by Mark L. Hammond 19 Mar '10

19 Mar '10

Hi All, 1) We are now working on the K4T logs so that the QSL Manager K5WW can handle the requests. Visit http://www.k5ww.com/ and use the QSL manager tab to request your QSL cards! 1 2) Can somebody point me to the "definitive source" that shows what fields/information that MUST be on the card in order to help you all with the various awards you are working on? There seems to be tremedous variablity on the satellite QSL cards I've seen over the years, especially regarding frequency, mode, etc. We want to get it "right" so links to the "perfect satellite QSL" will be appreciated. 3) Finally--the organizer Mike AC2V invested thousands of his own dollars into the K4T trip. Be aware that donations of any amount are appreciated and will be used to offset expenses in any way you see fit. Specific information is here: http://aroadventures.org/page8.html Thanks and 73, -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

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Re: Devices in Icom preamps AG-25 AG-35
by i8cvs 19 Mar '10

19 Mar '10

----- Original Message ----- From: "Angelo Glorioso" <n5uxt(a)hotmail.com> To: "i8cvs" <domenico.i8cvs(a)tin.it> Sent: Friday, March 19, 2010 12:53 PM Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: Devices in Icom preamps AG-25 AG-35 > Hello Domenico, > > I am not sure if you can help. I have been emailing Keps in Italy for > weeks with no > reply. I have a preamp that needs fixing.. I was wondering how far away > you > live from Keps?? > There is no phone number listed. > > http://www.keps.it/ > > > Any ideas how to get a hold of them?? > > My unit is a : > > > 2.4 GHz dual IF low noise downconverter > 13LNC72-DB > > 73 de Angelo Hi Angelo, N5UXT Keps was near Milano about 800 km away from me in Napoli. They were interested to sell downconverters when AO40 was alive and well. Nobody is actually able to communicate with Keps nor by phone or email so that I "believe" that they are anymore in business ! If I have more detailed informations I will write to you. 73" de i8CVS Domenico

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Re: Simple antennas
by Thomas McGrane 19 Mar '10

19 Mar '10

hi, I use a simple 30 dollar radio shack vertical scanner antenna on short 15 feet of 9913 cable and an arr preamp for uhf recieve and a regular low gain vhf vertical for transmit. These work quite well on the fm satellites where I start getting workable receive when the satellite is 10 to 20 degrees above the horizon and higher. Both antennas are connected to a duplexer and then to my ft8800r dual band fm rig. pat, n2oeq >------- Original Message ------- >From : Jacob Tennant[mailto:[email protected]] >Sent : 3/19/2010 7:44:32 AM >To : AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org >Cc : >Subject : RE: [amsat-bb] Simple antennas > >Could anyone give me some advice on using a setup consisting of the smaller antennas such as K5OE Eggbeaters, dual-crossed MOXON's from ARRL site. I am starting to build the dual-crossed MOXON setup as I am running into some snags getting my planned bigger antenna setup installed as well as I was hoping to use the smaller antenna setup for a Field Day setup but don't want to wait till that day to use them and look like a fool!!!! Would even consider the quadrifilliar antennas if I could find the plans for both bands? Jacob Tennant - K8JWT _______________________________________________ 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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Simple antennas
by Jacob Tennant 19 Mar '10

19 Mar '10

Could anyone give me some advice on using a setup consisting of the smaller antennas such as K5OE Eggbeaters, dual-crossed MOXON's from ARRL site. I am starting to build the dual-crossed MOXON setup as I am running into some snags getting my planned bigger antenna setup installed as well as I was hoping to use the smaller antenna setup for a Field Day setup but don't want to wait till that day to use them and look like a fool!!!! Would even consider the quadrifilliar antennas if I could find the plans for both bands? Jacob Tennant - K8JWT

2 1

Devices in Icom preamps AG-25 AG-35
by Mark L. Hammond 19 Mar '10

19 Mar '10

Hello all, We either had two bad preamps to begin with, or they became casualties during transport to K4T, but regardless--the Icom preamps we took appear to have bad GAsFET devices in them. Can anybody tell me what is the device in each unit (AG-25 and AG-35)? And are they something a skilled ham can reasonably replace? Specific suggestions for a parts source will be appreciated, too. 73, Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

5 8

Sorry folks!
by newsradio6＠gmail.com 19 Mar '10

19 Mar '10

On the 9pm edt pass tonight of HO68 I heard voice so I assumed this was a voice pass and called a few times...hope we didn't trample too many packet stations! Thanks to the unidentified station that notified us of the schedule on the air. Guess I best check the schedule myself rather than rely on other users! Again, my apologies! John VA3BL Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network. Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.

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AO-7 CW telemetry loud 435.106 +/-
by Mark L. Hammond 19 Mar '10

19 Mar '10

Hi All, We printed some CW telemetry from AO-7 at K4T during our trip. Just checked it now, and it's back on loud. 73, Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

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Hudson Valley Satcom Group Net At 8PM EDT Tonight March 18 On N2EYH-L
by Cotejaune2＠aol.com 18 Mar '10

18 Mar '10

Hello all. Hopefully we will be on Echolink tonight. I have not been able to contact our club Director of engineering to confirm Echolink will be up. Hope to hear you there. 73 Gary/WA2AQH

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Low AO51 pass from Hawaii
by Robert Smith 18 Mar '10

18 Mar '10

Aloha All If my software is correct I see a 1.0 degree max. el. pass of AO51 at 0146Z this afternoon. That should provide nice coverage of the western portion of the US for me. I've had either fantastic results or no results whatsoever on these ultra low passes. No QSOs if I dont try tho! So, I will pack up my gear and try to be at the beach in time for the pass. If you do not have BL11 yet you might give me a call. Mahalo and 73. Respectfully, robert NH7WN

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Re: Presentation in Illinois
by Clint Bradford 18 Mar '10

18 Mar '10

>> ... What is this "100 mile" limit that you speak of? Nothing written anywhere, Patrick. Heck, I'm driving to PACIFICON later this year to give my show, and that's 400 miles each way. And San Diego this Fall is more than 100 miles each way. Actually, my accountant put that number in my head. When she realized that I was leaving the house at 3 or 3:30 to beat traffic for an engagement, and getting home 'bout 11pm or so, she asked me to think of a "100 mile" number. I didn't understand what she was trying to get at. But she treats me well, and helps me with all this stuff come tax time. Clint, K6LCS

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Effective Presentations
by Clint Bradford 18 Mar '10

18 Mar '10

CAUTION: I get REALLY WORDY in this post. If you reply, PLEASE edit/trim so that my ears won't turn red from people being mad at me for re-re-re-reading such a long post. Thank you. -Clint Bradford You run into the most pleasant people here and in the field speadin' the AMSAT gospel. I have had three fellow AMSATters contact me in the past week, asking for a copy of the presentation I give on working the sats with handheld radios. My immediate response is that I am humbled that someone would want a copy. But I drafted what follows and passes it along as a reply. And it has opened up great private conversations with fellow educators. >> If you were and wouldn't mind, I'd be interested in having it available for my presentation as good ones are hard to find. And mine is an excellent presentation (grin) ... Never have I given the exact same slideshow to a club ... I am honored that you would want a copy. I was where you are now about five years ago - looking for someone else's presentation. But I found it much more effective to make my own, personalized-to-the-club-I'm-speaking-to presentation for each club. Let me explain. I open up with a title page, then a screenshot of their local newspaper. I have "edited" the newspaper to announce, "Amateur Radio satellite demonstration at XYZ Club tomorrow night!" - with a photo ... it gets the audience IMMEDIATELY drawn to what is going to occur next ... THEN I show THEIR LOGO (from their Web site), and announce on a slide, "It's XYZ Club Trivia Time!" And I have two or three trivia questions regarding THEIR club's history ... How many Google hits for your club name? (That show how effective they are using the Internet). And, "When did you become an ARRL affiliate member club?" That gives me an opportunity to plug the ARRL and benefits of ARRL membership ... OK - that's the first ten slides. Then I briefly remind them of the SuitSat project - and what a marvelous public relations project that was for amateur radio. I ask them to keep that project in mind, as we now watch a video of the United States launching a cruiser-based missle and successfully destroying that U.S. satellite last year whose orbit was decaying. Why do i show that? Because I tell the audience: "When then-vice-president Dick Cheney heard about how expensive it was going to be to blow up that satellite, he came up with his own plan ... " And the next slide has a magazine-cover-quality photo of Cheney firing a shotgun - with the title, "Shoot Sat." NEVER FAILS to get the audience warmed up and laughing! (Totally "apolitical." You don't have to belong to any political party to be amused by Cheney's firearms antics.) I then give my brief bio info ... show a couple magazine articles that covered me ... my AMSAT display booth all set up and pretty ... And that takes us to slide 25 ... Do you see where this is going? The more your presentation reflects YOU - and involves THEM - the more effective it will be. The next slides demolish the common "preconceptions" regarding working the sats (You need a minimum of 100W, expensive rotator, multiple Yagis ... NOPE!!! Expensive radios ... NOPE!!! Tell 'em that most hams already own the necessary equipment ... ) Then I show the AMSAT logo. And amsat.org as our Web site. A slide shows very brief history of AMSAT. Another bullets the five major benefits of AMSAT membership. Advise 'em that you can painlessly contribute to AMSAT by including them in your estate - a painless way to support! NEVER does a slide contain more than just a couple words. Put complete sentences on a slide, and you have lost your audience: They will be reading when you want them to listen. Slides are NOT a speaker's script! For example, my first AMSAT slide looks like this: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - AMSAT logo - 1969, nonprofit - Mission - International - Contributions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Those five words evoke their own statements ... "We were founded back East in 1969 as a nonprofit educational organization ... " "Our mission is to disseminate information about - and build - amateur radio satellites ... " "AMSAT is international in scope with darned near fifty affiliates and clubs across the planet ... " "Contributions have their tax advantages for you - and AMSAT can be placed in your will - ask your CPA for details ... " Before they get bored, the next slide - my Number 37 - is another trivia question: just the word, "OSCAR" is on the screen. "OSCAR is an acronym - who knows what it stands for?" And I give out PRIZES, too! Trivia question answerers get a local repeater guide ... or a Firestone tire pressure gauge ... or a keychain flashlight - stuff that your local merchants give away as freebies. AUDIENCES LOVE THIS STUFF - and it gets them involved in what you are talking about! A very brief history of amateur satellites is Slide 43. The GLOSSARY is next. Just briefly define the few terms that they'll come across in the sat worls (orbit, Doppler, LEO, HEO, GEO, Uplink, Downlink, Footprint). Then I do an homage to George Carlin bit. Remember Carlin's comparison of "the wonderful, pastoral game of baseball VERSUS the militaristic, aggressive game of football?" Well, I show a slide, "Why use amateur satellites?" Then, "Traditional HF versus Ham Satellites." And I go through these comparisons, a la George Carlin ... Then comes Slide 72, a photo of AO-51. And the Chuck Greene photo in the clean room with AO-51. And photos showing our position on the launch vehicle. And discussion of AO-51's capabilities. Show the other easily-worked FM birds. Show a data screen from a control op for the geeky folks in the crowd. Slide 86 starts showing the "Minimum Requirements" equipment-wise: an HT that can do split freqs - my favorite intro HT is the Yaesu FT-60R ... "Receives 108-to-a-gig, bulletproof case design, strongest belt clip of ANY amateur radio chassis on the market, large display, easy to program, and a GREAT battery situation - when using the optional FBA-25 AA alkaline/NMH case, you have FULL TX POWER available to you! Try that on, say, a Kenwood TH-F6a, and you only hand one-half of a Watt TX power ... all this for about $200 bucks ... " Back to basics - an HT that can do split freqs, a "better" antenna, and either Internet printout of a pass, or a Palm PDA with PocketSat+. Slide 92 shows three antenna improvements for HTs ... -the $50 Diamond SRH-320A -the performance-equal-to-the-SHR-320A Smiley 270A - at a measley $19.95 -the BNC-only AL-800 massive beast One slide compares the should-be-taken-off-the-market Yaesu CN-3 BNC-to-SMA adapter with the adapters made by Stephen Gulyas. One of them protects your radio's SMA connector center pin from being stresses on its circuit board - the other is a $100 repair job waiting to happen ... One slide shows the concept of "getting perpendicular" to the sats ... I throw in a couple graphs showing that - for HT antennas and what we are doing - that longer is better ... I then tell/show what commercial sat tracking programs are available ... PocketSat+ for Palm / iPhone / iPod touch. I even have a screenshot of PocketSat on my new Apple iPad (g). Nova for Windows, MacDopplerPRO for Mac). Briefly explain Keplerian elements. There are others for the different platforms - look for ones that are currently supported ... Explain heavens-above.com and AMSAT.org's tracking systems. If we worked a pass - or will be after the presentation, I take screen shots of the AMSAT tracking data, reminding them to ADJUST FOR GMT !!! Make sure they know there's both COMMERCIAL sat trackers, but also COMPLETELY FREE pass info on the 'Net! Audiences are shown how to "decode" that screenful of numbers that the AMSAT sat tracking page spits out. Then tell 'em the general procedures for working the sats. Yes, it is preferable to work TRUE FULL-DUPLEX, but not absolutely mandatory. Another trivia question: What grid square are we in??? Hand out another prize. I show my programming matrix for AO-51 (in my .pdf handout on my Web site!) Explain Doppler again. Make sure that if they see a programming guide WITH a CTCSS for AO-51, that its old info. Then I show 'em the programming guide for SO-50, and point out the 74.4 there in the middle ... YOU get to be CONTROL OPERATOR if the bird's not up when you KNOW if should be there ... Then Q&A time - which is usually the best time of all. SO ... I am looking at last night's presentation and its 150+ slides ... many are that-club-specific, and I change those for each presentation. But the most important thing you can do is to make the group know you enjoy this aspect of ham radio, and maintain great eye contact throughout the presentation. Let 'em interrupt with a question. If you see anyone writing down any notes, stop yourself and state, "Wow - I am glad you're taking notes. But I have a handout for all of you at the end of the presentation with ALL this information for you! So just sit back and relax!" And I offer 'em my 4-page handout (also on my Web site) that I just had Staples make 50 copies of before the meeting ... You are welcome to use it as a handout ... I use to print it out so that it made a single sheet of paper 4-page booklet. But the type gets too small for my older eyes - so I just print it up two pages, back-to-back. Clint Bradford, K6LCS 909-241-7666 http://www.work-sat.com

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AO-51 close approach
by Mike Rupprecht 18 Mar '10

18 Mar '10

CelesTrak SOCRATES, predicts the following Orbital Conjunction Threats Data current as of 2010 Mar 18 01:00 UTCDate Time SAT 1 SAT 2 Minimum Range Probability--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2010 Mar 18 15:13 UTC ECHO (AO-51) - FENGYUN 1C DEB 54 m +/- 36 m 5.335E-0473, MikeDK3WN

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Locating a Grid Line
by claryco＠aol.com 18 Mar '10

18 Mar '10

Tks Norbert. It was definitely a lot of fun for both of us. To answer your question and even go a bit farther, every grid line and particularly the four-grid point in KS I operated from was measured using a Garmin 60CSX GPS. The VUCC rules indicate that an GPS receiver shows an accuracy of 20 feet or better is required for operating from a grid line or point. Each critical operating position during this trip was identified to this standard. Numerous photos were taken from various angles at every location so that additional identifying references were included. The GPS' display was photographed at close range as well. In most cases, the photos of the set up show the GPS placed directly in front of the rig sitting on the car's hood. (That said, several of the grid line operations were alongside roads with nothing but non-descript crop fields and asphalt as backgrounds, but the pix were taken anyway.) By the way, as I held the GPS at a grid line and directed my XYL, Cori, at the wheel, she'd move the car back and forth until the car's hood was exactly on the line. She found out just how tricky (and annoying!) it can be when the GPS would appear to have stabilized on the line, only for one of us to grab the camera and find that the last digits had changed to .999 or .001. That's only an error of about five feet, but it wasn't good enough, so she'd have to move the car again! 73, Jim, ND9M / VQ9JC Message: 16 Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:06:31 +0000 From: Richard Cubero <taramindo(a)hotmail.com> Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: ND9M Road Trip To: <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Message-ID: <BAY141-W15096C0722A8915CDC5FC1A82C0(a)phx.gbl> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" To: Jim ND9M Thanks for a great article, I see you had a lot of fun on your road trip. Quick question, what tool were you using to find the grid lines ? 73s Norbert KP4WK Tampa FL EL 87

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Sat Presentation in Illinois
by Clint Bradford 17 Mar '10

17 Mar '10

I just finished giving my "How to Work Amateur Satellites with Low Power" presentation to a classroom in Southern Illinois. Club president Gregg Sperling, KB9E, contacted me a few weeks ago, asking if I could speak at the March meeting of his Southern Illinois University Amateur Radio Club in Carbondale, IL. NO - I didn't use up my wife's frequent flyer miles. We did it via Skype. Audio AND video. I prepared a .pdf file ahead of time, tailored to the club (I always have a couple club-related trivia questions ... and always have the club's grid square id'd in the program) - and emailed it ahead of time to the tech guy. All slides were numbered, so we could stay in sync. The club used a computer/projector to show the slideshow, and I was able to see and hear the classroom attendees - and they could see and hear me - via Skype. Skype is almost "full duplex," so I could hear comments and questions ... and I could see when a hand raised up for a question. It really worked out well! So, presenters: I guess we are no longer limited to "hundred mile radii" restrictions for our shows! It wasn't as effective as actually going to a site, demo'ing a FM bird, THEN presenting. But it sure got the word out to a club that I couldn't physically get to! We had a great time! Clint Bradford, K6LCS 909-241-7666

5 6

FS: LMR 400 coax run with connectors
by John Geiger 17 Mar '10

17 Mar '10

I have for sale a brand new 75 foot run of Times Microwave LMR-LW400 low loss coax cable with N connectors installed. LMR-LW400 is Flexible Low Loss Communications Coax. The LW series uses a copper clad aluminum shield for a 30% weight savingsover standard LMR (which is already lighter than many similar coax). You can read more about it at http://www.yachtwire.com/webstore/index.html?190.html&1 It sells for $1.60 a foot, I will sell this coax run for $85 shipped in the US, and can take paypal/check/MO. 73s John AA5JG

1 0

How to correctly log multiple grids?
by Michae J. Wolthuis 17 Mar '10

17 Mar '10

Can anyone tell me when Jim (ND9M) says he is in EM00/01 how do I best enter that in N3FJP's Amateur Contact Log program? Currently I have been putting in the grid exactly as EM00/01 but I don't know if that works with eQSO or LoTW or is even appropriate. Should I be making two entries? Also, If Jim says Portable I put it in as ND9M/P or if someone says handheld I put callsign/H is that the appropriate logging method for eQSO and LoTW or should I just put ND9M? Thanks Jim for the grids again tonight! 73s Mike Kb8zgl

4 3

Tickets
by Martha 17 Mar '10

17 Mar '10

For those who are planning to attend the joint AMSAT-TAPR Dayton dinner on Friday, May 14, you can purchase your tickets on line at the AMSAT store. -- 73- Martha

1 0

K4T Wind Turbine and Recordings
by John Papay 17 Mar '10

17 Mar '10

There is a picture of the wind generator that was used to power all of the radios on the K4T Dry Tortugas dxpedition up on my webserver. There are also 13 recordings of K4T passes to listen to. http://www.papays.com/sat I believe that this is the first time a major dxpedition has relieved totally on wind to power the radio equipment and charge the batteries. Great job! 73, John K8YSE

3 2

Re: ND9M Road Trip
by Richard Cubero 17 Mar '10

17 Mar '10

To: Jim ND9M Thanks for a great article, I see you had a lot of fun on your road trip. Quick question, what tool were you using to find the grid lines ? 73s Norbert KP4WK Tampa FL EL 87 _________________________________________________________________

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Re: AO-51 running 2W
by Mark L. Hammond 17 Mar '10

17 Mar '10

And of course I meant 435.300 :) 73, Mark At 06:26 AM 3/17/2010 -0400, Mark L. Hammond wrote: >Hello All, > >I made the mode change this morning at 1016utc and AO-51 425.300 is running 2W. > >73! Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

1 0

AO-51 running 2W
by Mark L. Hammond 17 Mar '10

17 Mar '10

Hello All, I made the mode change this morning at 1016utc and AO-51 425.300 is running 2W. 73! Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

2 1

(no subject)
by Jack Barbera 17 Mar '10

17 Mar '10

Bob,with the AG25 preamp on I see s5/6. I do get the audio at a higher level ,it seems to me,. Just added to AO-51 the L/u to my doppler for satpac32 FM/FM to add for cross mode do I have to add a separate line or add to the info on the FM/FM string. If anyone can figure out what my ? is pls let me know what has to be done. ThanksJack WA1ZDV

3 2

Scottsdale AZ hamfest on 13 March - report
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 17 Mar '10

17 Mar '10

Hi! Last Saturday's Scottsdale (Arizona) Amateur Radio Club hamfest was a very successful event. After 2 decades, this hamfest moved to a new location at a casino on the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation Indian reservation east of Scottsdale. While the hamfest was taking place, a local FM radio station was holding its annual "yard sale" swap meet in another part of the parking lot. These two events were advertised on TV, radio, and in print in the weeks leading up to last Saturday. Thousands of people showed up for both events, including a nice crowd of hams who found their way to the new location. As part of the hamfest, my AMSAT table was busy throughout the morning and into the early afternoon. Officially, the hamfest started at 7am (1400 UTC). I arrived two hours early, and I'm glad I did. By the time the hamfest officially started, I would not have had the chance to get a good space to set up. They filled up by the starting time - something that never happened at the old location. By getting set up early, I was able to start working passes from just before 1300 UTC throughout the morning, and I did just that. For the AO-51 pass that started around 1252 UTC, I initially went on the main 145.920/435.300 MHz repeater. Even though K4T was on the 145.880/435.150 MHz repeater with lots of stations calling, I wanted to start out and make some QSOs for the small crowd that was already roaming around the hamfest. At this hour, just before 6am local time, there was at least 30 minutes to go before daylight started appearing in the eastern sky. I was able to work 9 stations before 1300 UTC, when I switched over to the 145.880/435.150 MHz repeater. I wanted to see if I could get K4T from the hamfest, and Mark N8MH at K4T was aware I would be trying to work the DXpedition from the hamfest. I was unsuccessful on AO-51, but on an AO-7 pass that was starting just after 1300 UTC I was able to work K4T. So far, so good. FO-29 made its first appearance for the hamfest about 30 minutes later. Another pass to the east, and I got on there to work whoever was on there. I heard Doug KD8CAO getting set up on there, we chatted for a moment, and then K4T called on our frequency. We each worked K4T right there, and then I moved off to see who else I could work on that pass. I was able to get two more contacts during that pass. After an hour, AO-51 made an appearance to the west. I was able to make 2 QSOs on the 145.920/435.300 MHz repeater with the only two stations I could hear on there, so that was not a bad showing. About 20 minutes after that AO-51 pass, AO-7 came by with a very high pass slightly to my west. The AO-7 footprint is large enough that most of the continental USA is within reach. I did not hear K4T on this pass, but I did not try to find them on this AO-7 pass after working them on the early AO-7 pass. I was able to work 6 stations spread out all over the USA, with a nice crowd listening and watching closely. SSB satellite demonstrations continue to draw in the crowds, and especially when I use my all-mode satellite station (two FT-817NDs, Elk 2m/70cm log periodic, no computer control). Once AO-7 went away, I had most of the 1500-1600 UTC hour to chat with people walking by the table. I wanted to try SO-50 just before 1600 UTC, and then VO-52 shortly after SO-50 went by. SO-50 had a nice and disciplined crowd, waiting for K4T to be in the footprint later in the pass. :-) I was able to work 5 stations, and K4T was the last of those. After working K4T, I changed over to the all- mode FT-817NDs to get on the VO-52 pass. I only made 2 QSOs on this pass - one with K4T, the fourth (and last) K4T QSO I would make at the hamfest, and another with Bernardo XE2HWB. Bernardo is very active on VHF/UHF and microwave contests from up and down Baja California, has been active on the FM satellites in the past couple of years (including working from many of the grids he visits for those VHF/UHF and microwave contests), and is now trying to get on the SSB satellites from his home near the southern tip of Baja California (DL44). I had almost 90 minutes before the next pass I could work, the VO-52 pass to my west. Another nice pass, and this time only one QSO with Mark WA8SME for most of it. One ham asked if I knew the details of Mark's satellite station. I didn't, so I asked Mark on the air. He gave a clear description of his station, running the same power as I was (5W) but with different antennas and a different radio than I had. With people still milling around the hamfest into the early afternoon, I missed the only HO-68 pass I could have worked a bit after 1900 UTC. I didn't feel too bad about that, being on many other passes using 2 FM satellites and 3 non-FM satellites from the hamfest. Stats... I worked a total of 8 passes on 5 satellites - 2 each on AO-7, AO-51, and VO-52; and one each on FO-29 and SO-50 - and a total of 30 contacts were made from the hamfest in grid DM43dn. I used the station I described previously on the SSB birds, and substituted an IC-2820H 2m/70cm FM mobile radio on AO-51 and SO-50. All were powered by batteries, either the internal rechargeable packs in the FT-817NDs or a 12V/20Ah jumpstart battery for the IC-2820H. Thank-yous... Many thanks to Mark N8MH and the K4T team for 4 QSOs on 4 different satellites during the hamfest. I mentioned to Mark I would be at this hamfest, and he wanted to work the hamfest. Along with a QSO I had with Mark on AO-7 Thursday evening, I can't complain about their operation. K4T was a serious DXpedition for us on the satellites, two complete stations and experienced operators for us to work. Also thanks to everyone who made QSOs with WD9EWK at the hamfest. Having stations work me and mentioning where they were located (the grid locator, as well as their city and state) always makes a good impression on the audience for the demonstrations. As always, thanks to the Scottsdale Amateur Radio Club for allowing AMSAT a space to be at this hamfest. QSLs... please e-mail me with the QSO details if you want a QSL card from WD9EWK at this hamfest. If you are in the log, I will send a card. I'm working on a lot of cards, including those from my trip last month to the Yuma hamfest and to Mexico, and all of these should be in the mail before the next hamfest I attend (in Tucson AZ, on Saturday, 27 March). 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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Where my pul file # 161 gone?
by Nader Omer 16 Mar '10

16 Mar '10

At HO-68 Orbit #1205 Wisp started to upload a file number 161 The file 161 partial uploaded .on the next pass orbit # 1206 Wisp try to upload what left from the file but the sever on satellite denied existance of file # 161 !! and shift to upload the next file #162 (see 2nd photo) Again the Directory was empty ??? I uploaded 2 or 3 messages yesterday and 1 messages today file # 160 . As you can see this in the photo #2 .The satellite was accepted the file. I requested the directory as my friend Mike DK3WN did !but it was empty! see this on the 3rd photo . where the Multipsk on other PC monitoring the Hope-1 satellite downlink by soundcard. This question I 've asked several time ! is there something wrong on HO-68 BBS?? see photo at http://st2nh-blogger.blogspot.com/2010/03/where-my-pul-file-161-gone-and-wh… 73' Nader

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Rooms for Dayton
by Martha 16 Mar '10

16 Mar '10

If you are planning to go to Dayton AND work the AMSAT booth, there are hotel rooms available until April 13th. We are staying at the Country Inn & Suites in Fairborn. The cost is $99 (2 queen beds). To get a room in the AMSAT block, please call me at 301-589-6062. I need your room nights and a credit card number to secure the room. -- 73- Martha

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HO-68 - Digital
by PE0SAT 16 Mar '10

16 Mar '10

To all, Sorry I worked HO-68 in voice :( this evening I didn't realize that it was reserved for packet operation. It won't happen again. 73 PE0SAT -- With regards PE0SAT Internet web-page http://www.ham.vgnet.nl/

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K4T wind turbine
by Mike 16 Mar '10

16 Mar '10

The wind turbine is a TLG500 http://www.tlgwindpower.com/default.htm . They are bomb proof and worked flawlessly. The cost is $1,375.00 and if you mention K4T as a promotion code they will give you $25.00 off of the shipping. I built a special tripod for it to make it portable and we had it up and making power in about ten minutes. 73's Mike, AC2V Hi Mike: What kind of turbine were you running? 73, Jeff WB2SYK

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Re: K4T
by Mark Hammond N8MH 16 Mar '10

16 Mar '10

K4T was a super event, thanks to Mike and a great group of guys. Thanks to all of you for your contacts! On my early report I misread the log file, but our total contact number on satellite and vhf/uhf was right at 300. Futher details about the trip, the contacts, the station, and QSL info will be provided in the coming days. Some of you had a clean sweep (worked us on all birds, and even more than one mode (ssb/cw). I suspect K8YSE, N5UXT, and NZ5N are near the top :) If you worked me as N8MH in Key West (EL94) before the trip just send me a card directly. Tried SO-50 last night but couldn't get in... 73 for now. Mark N8MH ------Original Message------ From: Mike Sender: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org To: AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] K4T Sent: Mar 16, 2010 2:15 AM Well, the party is over and we had a great time and we hope you did too. You can see a few of the pictures here: http://aroadventures.org/page26.html We had a few glitches but it all worked out. We ran two 910H's. One with yagis and one with egg beaters plus a portable station. It was pretty cool to see CW and FM worked simultaneously. We hope this sets a new standard for satellite operations on DXpeditions. Mark will give you an update later. By the way, we ran two satellite stations, two HF stations, inverter, lighting and all acc. 24 hours a day all on green power for four days and made over 8,000 contacts with only batteries and a wind turbine. The wind turbine was making so much power that we never even took the 900 watts of solar panels out of the case! 73's Mike Forsythe, AC2V _______________________________________________ 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 BlackBerry from T-Mobile

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fun with preamps
by Bob- W7LRD 16 Mar '10

16 Mar '10

Hello Just installed a AG-25 (Icom preamp) on my 2M cp yagi. No preamp noise Smeter=0, preamp on Smeter=7. Signals "appear" better after backing down the volume with the preamp. I have 8-10 feet of LMR400uf from antenna to preamp, 50 feet of LMR400 to shack. I suppose I was expecting more "dramatic" results, I realize the AG-25 isn't the greatest and best, but it works well with the 910. Are these real world results for what I have. S7 noise level seems a bit high. as always-thanks 73 Bob W7LRD

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K4T
by Mike 16 Mar '10

16 Mar '10

Well, the party is over and we had a great time and we hope you did too. You can see a few of the pictures here: http://aroadventures.org/page26.html We had a few glitches but it all worked out. We ran two 910H's. One with yagis and one with egg beaters plus a portable station. It was pretty cool to see CW and FM worked simultaneously. We hope this sets a new standard for satellite operations on DXpeditions. Mark will give you an update later. By the way, we ran two satellite stations, two HF stations, inverter, lighting and all acc. 24 hours a day all on green power for four days and made over 8,000 contacts with only batteries and a wind turbine. The wind turbine was making so much power that we never even took the 900 watts of solar panels out of the case! 73's Mike Forsythe, AC2V

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ND9M Road Trip - Final
by claryco＠aol.com 15 Mar '10

15 Mar '10

Thanks! Cori and I arrived at home this past Wednesday and found everything at home in good order. (That doesn't include having so much mail waiting for us at the post office that we overloaded up a hand truck to get it to the car!) Thanks to everyone we worked during our road trip and especailly to the AO51 Operations and Command Teams for their support throughout! Cori drove most of the time while I navigated. She's not a ham, but she's been with me on a lot of ham radio related trips. I really appreciated her willingness not only to meet every satellite pass, but also to move the vehicle back and forth to nail down the exact GPS coords for a grid line. After I climbed back into the car after many of the passes, her first response was "when's the next pass?" That's what makes a successful road trip! Thanks also go to everyone who provided information along the way, especially to WA4NVM, K8YSE, WB3JFS, and WB3JFS for the regular updates by phone and e-mail throughout the trip. QSL Info. Pse send me an e-mail off list indicating the grid squares you need confirmed. QSO data is helpful but won't be needed as I'll simply do a search on the Excel log and find the contacts. I'll mail the QSLs to you at the address on your QRZ.com page; if your mailing address is different, pse advise accordingly. QSLs are very welcome and appreciated but not necessary. Also there's no need to send an SASE or postage. Numbers. For those who like 'em, here are a few to summarize the trip. Driveway to driveway, we drove 10,022 miles through 13 states during the seven weeks we were "out there". The planned route included operating from 85 different grid squares; we made it to all 85 of the originally scheduled grids plus two more for a total of 87 or 18% of the grids in the continental US. In all, 1076 contacts were made during 92 passes. Of those passes, 51 were from two-grid lines and one more from a four-grid point. A total of 177 different stations were worked. Of those, 44 worked me in 10 or more grids. K8YSE led the pack by working me in 78 of the 87 grids! WA4NVM was next with 64 grids, and KB0RZD, N5UXT, and WA5KBH with 50 or more! Trip updates were sent regularly to the AMSAT-BB as well as to my distribution list containing more than 70 e-mail addresses. Hopefully the 20 or so updates were enough to keep everyone informed and interested but not feeling inundated. Two grids were the main focus for this trip: DL88 and El15. For the 6M buffs, DL88 is on the Most Wanted List for the 6M world. I had 6M with me - tks to WA4NVM for providing the antenna! - but unfortunately there were no band openings while we were there. EL15 at Brownsville, Texas, isn't hard to get to; there's just not much activity from there. Using simple rounding, a grid square measures 60 miles by 120 miles which comes up to an area of 7200 square miles. Multiply that area by 87 different grids and Cori and I were able to operate from enough territory representing more than 600,000 square miles. That's a lot of turf! (K8YSE plotted all the grids we covered on a GCMwin graphic and made it available on his web server. The address is "www.papays.com/nd9m.jpg"; check it out if you haven't already.) We would have loved to have spent a full day or more operating from each grid square to maximize the availability, but that wasn't possible. Still, several grids were available during multiple passes. DL88 came in first with being on during 9 passes during which 98 contacts were made. Second was DM72 at 6 passes and 59 contacts. The EL15/EL16 grid line was on for 5 passes that netted 37 contacts. Grids DM82, EL07, and EL08 were on four times; eight grids were on during three passes, and 14 others were on twice. Equipment. The gear used for this trip included an FT-897D for TX, and an FT-817ND was velcroed to the top of the 897 and did the RX work. An Arrow-2 was the antenna for all contacts. But we were on guard for Murphy's Law, so I had a spare FT-817ND still in the box as a back up, plus just in case the Law really kicked in, I brought my trusty TH-F6A HT. An Elk antenna rode shotgun for the duration, but it never came out of the trunk until we got home. I took out the Arrow's diplexer and fed the antenna with separate RG-58 coaxes. Before the purists scream about how lossy 58 cable is, the length of each cable was about 10 feet; the loss tables show that even at 70cm, that length would cost me a bit more than a dB of signal. Certainly that's nothing to disregard, but the flexibility of RG58 easily made up for the loss. Also less lossy cable types like RG-8, -213, and 9913 would still have introduced about a quarter to a half dB of loss themselves, so the benefit of using it really wasn't justifiable. A bag of silver teflon connectors, a 100-foot roll of spare coax, a butane soldering gun (with a can of refill gas), a couple rolls of wire, lots of spade connectors of both genders, a toolbox, and a portable table vice were among the back up supplies. Surprisingly, one of the most valuable accessories turned out to be a small portion of common kitchen shelf lining. Nearly all of my operating was done with the station set up on the hood of the SUV. The FT897D had its own rubber lining on its rail stand, but other things such as the laptop, GPS, digital recorder, headphones and other items often slid around on the sloping hood. The shelf lining was cheap as dirt and did the trick wonderfully. Hardware Failures. As with any lengthy project, there will be equipment issues. This trip was no different. The first 817 failed at Big Bend; it simply didn't power up at the start of a pass. It's under warranty and will be off to Yaesu this week. The original Arrow-2 had a hard day near the end of the trip when I was loading the SUV as we prepared to leave town and forgot that I'd put the antenna on top of the car's roof. I saw a glint of reflected sunlight in the rear view mirror as we joined the interstate traffic in Dallas. We stopped quickly, but by the time the antenna had been retrieved, it had been run over by two vehicles. The boom was bent somewhat and several of the 70cm elements were made of hollow aluminum arrow stock - hence the name "Arrow" - and were easily crushed. (I take off the 2M elements and store them separately inside a door well.) But as you know, crushed metal is still metal, and the elements performed as they should for the rest of the trip; they just weren't nice and pretty! Most of the EL15/EL16 operating was done at a highway interchange that was being constructed in Brownsville. The day before had been warm and sunny; this particular day was 30 degrees or more colder, overcast, and windy. Several ops commented on the air that they heard the wind howling across my microphone. What they didn't see was me leaning several degrees into the wind and still controlling the antenna! Did you know that an Acer Aspire One netbook will fly 30 feet if the right gust of wind catches it? I didn't, but I sure do now... The most embarrassing thing to occur during the trip was caused by Operator Headspace Syndrome. I was sitting in the motel room near Denver and knocked a nearly full commuter cup (top heavy by design) of coffee on to my laptop; most of the contents spilled directly onto the keyboard. The laptop worked fine after my stepson (whom we were visiting and has an IT service company nearby) performed emergency surgery on it. Everything had already been backed up, so it was just my pride that was in jeopardy. Weather. Although January and February are not the best months to plan outdoor activities in states know for heavy snow, we were very fortunate to have sensational weather for nearly the entire trip. A bit of snow here, some wind there, and a few frozen fingers to keep me wondering about the overall purpose, but overall we had very good luck. We were faced with the likely prospect of a borderline blizzard in Dodge City, Kansas. We did the usual tourist type stuff, but when the snow started falling and had already been predicted to be upwards of a foot, we really did have to "get the hell out of Dodge"... Later on in the trip, we "met" a new, if snowy, friend just after I operated from the DM86/DM87 line in southeastern Colorado. Now if only our friend, Gridley Square, would get his license... Big Bend / DL88. The majority of DL88 is located within Mexico. Since I don't have an XE recip permit, my only choice was to get to the very small sliver of the grid that's inside the US. That sliver lies within Big Bend National Park, which is mostly desert with very few roads. One of those roads, Talley Road, conveniently runs south across the 29-degree latitude into DL88. The only problem is that all roads in that part of the park require four-wheel drive vehicles, and in most cases high clearance is necessary as well. We discussed our plans with park authorities several times and were assured that there would be numerous ridges and gullies caused by previous flooding to deal with but that as long as we were careful while enroute, we would have no significant problems getting to our campsite. We took the shortest path, Black Gap Road, and were soon dealing with the road conditions as described. But one spot that surprised us was a section of the road that forced us to climb a two-foot high mini-cliff. Someone who'd been there before us had moved a lot of rocks to make a rock ramp. The ramp wouldn't get us over this thing, so I had to move a lot more to rebuild it. While I acted as a road spotter, Cori got the SUV up and over that cliff, but it was a huge challenge. The drive from the park office to our campsite was about 25 miles; the Black Gap Road portion was only 8 miles but took four hours to drive! (Our SUV's undercarriage took a major beating, and the muffler looks like a baseball bat went to town on it, but otherwise there was no sustained damage.) A few days later when it was time to leave, we decided to take River Road back even though it was more than 10 miles longer than Black Gap Road; our feeling was that it really couldn't be much worse. As it turned out, River Road was a breeze in comparison; there were still lots of wash outs and gullies, but no cliffs. Even with the additional mileage, we made our escape in a bit more than two hours, and that includes taking care of a flat tire! When we got back to the registration office a few days later, we were told that taking Black Gap Road was definitely not advised and that another less brutal road is recommended; we would have appreciated getting that info before we ventured out. Nasty road conditions and ham radio aside, this stay was incredibly quiet and relaxing. There were no other people or cars; the only critters we saw for several days were a couple hawks and a road runner. There was also no no cell signal, electricity, or water. We had to bring in all supplies, but we had everything we needed. By the way, as an indication of just how far out we were when camping in DL88, no park rangers drove out to patrol; they sent a surveillance plane to verify that we'd survived our trip and arrived at our campsite! If you want to go somewhere out of the way, this is a great place to consider. But if you come out there, don't forget your shovel... Grid Lines vs State Lines. One of the many interesting things learned during the trip was that all state lines are not created equal. Looking at a grid line map, a number of grid lines appear to run concurrently with state lines. For example, part of the Texas / Oklahoma line looks to be at the 100-degree west longitude line, which separates the DM and EM fields. We followed Oklahoma State Route 9 to the state line that was marked with a cement cornerstone alongside the road. My Garmin 60CSX GPS showed that the state line was actually at 100-00.025W or about 125 feet west of the DM94 / EM04 line. (The GPS was indicating +/- 11 feet accuracy at the time.) Our theory was that when the state lines were surveyed, they were identified using equipment that was state of the art at the time but hardly with the accuracy of GPS. Adjusting state lines (and probably municipal and county as well for that matter) much later after the fact would not only serve no productive or beneficial purpose and only rack up enormous costs. >From then on, we were no longer surprised to see state and grid lines look to be the same in the atlas but then find them to be as much as a couple miles apart. Since more than half of my operations were from grid lines, the GPS was used every time to decide the location of the gear. Arrow Factory. Since we were in the Cheyenne area, we stopped off at the Arrow shop. The owners, Matt (N0IMW) and Dot (N0JFW), gave us a great tour of the facility. We spent most of the afternoon being shown every detail of how they turn all the stock materials into the various antennas they make. A lot of the equipment used is commonly found at Home Depot or Lowes but We were surprised to learn that Matt fabricated many of the modifications to make a simple power drill or something else into production line assembly items. He interfaced programmable logic controllers (PLCs) to effect precision cuts and hole boring. He's also replacing many of the motor-driven tools with pneumatic systems using his own designs. Dot is the primary worker bee in the shop, and she clearly takes pride in the job she does. While we were there, she saw the Arrow-2 antenna that I'd been using, shook her head when she saw how battle tested it was, and refurbished it on the spot. And while we there, I operated an AO27 pass from outside their shop door. The building is all steel, which would have blocked the satellite's signal, but fortunately the bird's path cleared the building easily. It was a fascinating visit, and Cori and I enjoyed every minute. Houston. As the trip was winding down, I got word that the Greater Houston Hamfest was to be held a couple days later. We were a little behind schedule, a couple hundred miles away, and going another direction, but when I mentioned to Cori that there would be an AMSAT presence there, she said "let's go!" It was a welcome opportunity to meet so many of the sat ops from the Houston area and especially fun to help out as a receiving station during the W5H satellite demos during the 'fest. Wrap Up. There were many, many other events and things that went on during the seven weeks on the road, but these that I've described will have to suffice. Tks again for all the contacts and support. Now to the QSLs! 73, Jim, ND9M / VQ9JC Panama City Beach, FL / Em70

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EL89, EM70, maybe EM80
by Andrew Glasbrenner 15 Mar '10

15 Mar '10

I'm headed north tomorrow for work, and will likely be on from these grids at some point on some satellite. If you need any of these, drop me a note today and I'll call or listen for you. 73, Drew KO4MA

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Digital HAMSAT Centers
by Trevor . 15 Mar '10

15 Mar '10

The Times of India newspaper: OLKATA: If conventional communication networks fail when nature unleashes her fury in the form of Aila-like cyclones, extensive floods and earthquakes, governments can execute rescue and relief operations through satellite-based low-cost HAM radios. Article at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata-/Disaster-management-2-HAM-… 73 Trevor M5AKA Daily Amateur Radio Email/RSS News: http://www.southgatearc.org/ Email Your News To: editor at southgatearc.org Or Upload Using Form At: http://www.southgatearc.org/news/your_news_1.htm ----

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AO-51 Demo
by Clint Bradford 15 Mar '10

15 Mar '10

Well, I "broke my own rules" back on March 9. I was demo'ing AO-51 for the Apple Valley CA radio club, and we had a good pass of the sat at 5:01 PST (01:01 GMT). I ususally don't even turn the radio ON until a few minutes past breaking the horizon ... but I went ahead and turned my radio ON at the start of the pass. WOW! At a mere 4 degrees of elevation, stations were BOOMING into us. I always tell folks, "Don't key the mic ... " 'till about two minutes AFTER you hear voices well when working with low power. But I just HAD to try this tonight ... and I worked many stations. Fresno, North Dakota, Oregon, Montana, a grid square next door to me in California, and more. I was blown away at the strength of AO-51's downlink! (There were THREE electronic QSL cards waiting for me when I got home that night ... another in the mail over the weekend!) The fifteen folks in the parking lot for the demo were impressed! Unfortunately, we also all heard some poor behavior from a couple operators. A few minutes into the pass, there was a kid - sounded like a young girl - attempting to work the sat. She never got in well, and I couldn't copy anything she said. And she gave up after a minute or so. What was disturbing was on-the-air comments made by two "old timers" regarding what they perceived as "interference." "Must be from south of the border ... " one operator stated. The guy he was talking to agreed that "those Mexicans" were causing problems. Their comments were totally unnecessary. They were racist in tone. And quite ignorant: "Those guys" in Mexico have provided me MANY contacts, and several ALWAYS send QSL cards. I have NEVER experienced any "nonsense" on the air from those "south of the border." No need to cite their callsigns here. The BEST thing we should have done is backed off and try to copy the obviously low-power station. But these guys trampled on her intentionally with their unnecessary and irrelevant rants. It was a truly embarrassing situation. I have never had to apologize to a crowd for the on-the-air behavior of others. I hope it doesn't not happen again. Clint Bradford, K6LCS 909-241-7666

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Road Trip (Air) to Turkey
by Rick - WA4NVM 15 Mar '10

15 Mar '10

Hi all over the pond, I will be operating as TA/WA4NVM from Turkey during my trip March 19 - April 2. Time permitting, I will operate only on the FM birds. Below is a list of my locations. Date Location Grid March 20-22 Istanbul, Turkey KN41 March 22-23 Canakkale, Turkey KN30 March 23-25 Kusadasi, Turkey KM37 March 25-27 Pamukkale, Turkey KM47 March 27-29 Antalya, Turkey KM56 March 29-31 Cappadocia, Turkey KM78 March 31-April 02 Istanbul, Turkey KN41 I hope to make some new friends on the birds. 73 all, Rick WA4NVM - Memphis

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YAESU G-5500 AZ-EL COMBO ROTOR 4Sale
by Richard Meuse 15 Mar '10

15 Mar '10

I have this rotor that has been part of a field day satellite antenna setup and need to sell for $375.00. I'm selling at this price because I've lost the connections that go to the rotors and believe you can buy them off the net. Shipping would be extra. Thanks Rick

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use of PI in amsat development practice
by Samudra Haque 15 Mar '10

15 Mar '10

Hi, Pi-Day is today (3/14/2010) also we just sprang forward by 1 hour. (http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/03/12/pi.day.math/index.html?hpt=C2) and apparently it's also Einsteins Birthday! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein) Wow a lot of key dates here. My question is: in amateur satellite design/planning how many significant digits are used to calculate the value of pi? Is there a significant difference in results between (4 decimal poinits) and (3 decimal points). In professional space missions, such as NASA, what is the practice with regards to use of Pi ? Are there any published standards? Using Excel, is there any way to generate a large range of pi ? -samudra N3RDX

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Non linear rotator
by Phil 15 Mar '10

15 Mar '10

Thank you for reading this. I'm trying to devise an equation to correct the rotation of my non linear rotator. It's correct in the middle of its range but out at both ends of its travel. I asked this same question ten years ago and someone kindly told me about a simple Window application that did exactly want I wanted. I have searched through my e-mails back to 2000 and cannot find the reply. Can anyone, once again, suggest a suitable Windows or a Linux application? -- Regards, Phil

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Re: Road Trip (Air) to Turkey
by Bob- W7LRD 15 Mar '10

15 Mar '10

Be safe Rick- wish we had a HEO 73 Bob W7LRD ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rick - WA4NVM" <wa4nvm(a)comcast.net> To: "AMSAT BB" <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Sent: Sunday, March 14, 2010 8:47:18 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Subject: [amsat-bb] Road Trip (Air) to Turkey Hi all over the pond, I will be operating as TA/WA4NVM from Turkey during my trip March 19 - April 2. Time permitting, I will operate only on the FM birds. Below is a list of my locations. Date Location Grid March 20-22 Istanbul, Turkey KN41 March 22-23 Canakkale, Turkey KN30 March 23-25 Kusadasi, Turkey KM37 March 25-27 Pamukkale, Turkey KM47 March 27-29 Antalya, Turkey KM56 March 29-31 Cappadocia, Turkey KM78 March 31-April 02 Istanbul, Turkey KN41 I hope to make some new friends on the birds. 73 all, Rick WA4NVM - Memphis _______________________________________________ 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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K4T Update
by Rick - WA4NVM 15 Mar '10

15 Mar '10

Hi All, Looks like K4T will work their last pass of the trip (per Mark) on VO-52 tonight at 0311utc. Good luck all, Rick WA4NVM

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Is SO-67 On?
by Gary "Joe" Mayfield 15 Mar '10

15 Mar '10

Is SO-67 On? Thanks and 73, Joe kk0sd

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F/S KLM CP 145/435 yagi's
by w6zkh＠comcast.net 15 Mar '10

15 Mar '10

To my AMSAT friends........as some already know, I am having to move from this QTH, where I had unrestricted antenna locations, but, having to move into a fairly new subdivision , I dont have the room for these antennas. Looks like I am going to be restricted on an Arrow on a RS Tripod at 6 ft. Anyway, I have these older KLM Cross Polarized yagi's with Polarity Switchers, the 2M-14CP and 435-18CP at the unbelievable price of $100 !! I paid $200 for them last year. One stipulation though.....ah ha, here it comes........you have to pick them up, no shipping, ASAP . The 2M can be broken down into 3 sections and the 435 into 2, so a pickup can haul them. I live South of Fresno, in the middle of California (sorry)... These yagi's have been working well for me at an height of 15 ft above ground and the Polarity Switching works great, especially on FO-29. If you or you know of anyone looking for a great setup for the birds, contact me ASAP , so we can set time/date. Attached is a picture of them in the air........sorry, the AZ/EL system doesnt go with it... Contact me at 559-737-3411 John W6ZKH

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APS-1 for sale
by Alan P. Biddle 15 Mar '10

15 Mar '10

Hi, Some time in the dim past, I bought a Mirage/KLM APS-1 Antenna Polarity Switcher from a local ham who bought a nice 1990 vintage satellite station but never got on the air. They were designed to switch the antenna circularity of KLM satellite antennas, plus provides a regulated DC output, 5-13 volts. Should work fine the an M2. The front has two push buttons labeled 144 and 432 and a power switch/voltage knob. The back has two phono jacks for the circularity, and two terminal jacks for the adjustable power. It uses a wall wart with a standard 2.1 mm jack. The input power is 11-15 volts DC @ 500 ma. It is over 20 years old, but truly looks new, with no scratches or dents. The original parts list and instruction sheet are also included. The original wall wart is NOT included, but there is a compatible one included if desired. Pictures and a copy of the instruction sheet available on request. This works perfectly, but is more of a vintage gear item. $25 firm, including shipping, North America. Please contact me off list. Alan WA4SCA

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AO-51 is off
by Andrew Glasbrenner 14 Mar '10

14 Mar '10

It appears AO-51 is off. If the problem is what I think it is, I should be able to restart it on the 2150Z pass this afternoon. 73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Operations

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FM QRM on HO-68 Digital schedule !
by Nader Omer 14 Mar '10

14 Mar '10

For 1st time I enjoy the 1st 5 minutes of HO-68 on Pacsat Mode uploaded few Messages then the FM QRM took over the rest of the pass!! For sure they do not know the new regulation !! http://www.amsat.org/amsat/archive/amsat-bb/10day/msg79135.html This Regulation need more QST . Hay Mike DK3WN for 1st time I saw your callsign on my Wisp screen FB OM . photo at my blog . 73's Nader

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Fractal Antennas?
by Dave Marthouse 14 Mar '10

14 Mar '10

This seems almost too good to be true. Keep in mind that I'm not an engineer. Maybe this technology could be used for future amateur satellites, wider bandwidth, more gain, less space, etc. http://www.fractalantennas.com/ Dave Marthouse N2AAM dmarthouse(a)gmail.com

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Re: Playing With Lightning
by Wayne Estes 14 Mar '10

14 Mar '10

If you live in an area prone to lightning (especially Florida) you should invest in a good ground system and single-point ground panel with surge suppressors for all antennas, rotor/control cables, AC lines, and internet/phone connections. It's very costly and a lot of work to install. But the alternatives (destroyed equipment or even a burning house) are even worse. The information and required equipment is out there. Wayne Estes W9AE Oakland, Oregon, USA (where lightning is extremely rare)

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2010 Hamvention Forums
by Doug Kuitula 14 Mar '10

14 Mar '10

Hi all, It's hard to believe that the Dayton Hamfest is only 2 months away.May 14-16. I was checking out their website and noticed that the AMSAT forum will be on Saturday May 15th from 11:30 to 1:30. Other forums of interest are the APRS forum on Friday the 14th at 11:30 AM, and the BalloonSat forum on Friday at 12:15 PM. There may possibly be a balloon launch on Friday as well. Hope to see everyone there. 73 de Doug KA8QCU More info at the following: www.hamvention.org

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HO-68 Schedule - 14-21 Mar 2010
by Alan Kung 14 Mar '10

14 Mar '10

Hello all, I got a lot of responses about problem of digital mode through HO-68. The main problem is that Packet communication is often interrupted by voice. We are trying a new schedule in this week, voice and packet operations will be separated by the schedule, of course, this just depends on the hams'own discipline. If you have any comment and suggestion, please let me know. 14 Mar. 2010, Digital Transponder ================================ 16:45...Turn On--Linear Transponder India, Africa, Middle East, Europe,NA 17:30...Turn Off 18:20...Turn On Africa,Europe,Middle East,NA 19:05...Turn Off 15 Mar. 2010, Digital Transponder ================================ 01:25...Turn On--Linear Transponder South America,NA,North Asia 02:10...Turn Off 02:21...Turn On North Asia,East Asia,South Asia 02:36...Turn Off 03:15...Turn On--Linear Transponder South America,NA,North Asia 04:00...Turn Off 19:50...Turn On Africa,Europe,NA 20:35...Turn Off 16 Mar. 2010, Digital Transponder ================================ 01:15...Turn On South America,NA,North Asia 02:00...Turn Off 02:09...Turn On North Asia,East Asia,South Asia 02:25...Turn Off 03:00...Turn On NA,South America,North Asia 03:45...Turn Off 11:40...Turn On South America,Oceania,Asia 12:25...Turn Off 17:45...Turn On India,Middle East,Europe,NA 18:30...Turn Off 19:50...Turn On Africa,Europe,NA 20:35...Turn Off 17 Mar. 2010, Digital Transponder ================================= 01:43...Turn On North Asia,East Asia,South Asia 01:59...Turn Off 10:05...Turn On Oceania,East Asia,North Asia,Europe 10:50...Turn Off 13:05...Turn On South America,Oceania 13:50...Turn Off 16:00...Turn On India,Middle East,Africa,Europe,NA 16:45...Turn Off 23:25...Turn On NA,North Asia,East Asia,Oceania 24:10...Turn Off 18 Mar. 2010, Digital Transponder ================================= 01:32...Turn On North Asia,East Asia,South Asia 01:46...Turn Off 06:50...Turn On NA,North Asia,Middle East, Europe,Africa 07:35...Turn Off 11:30...Turn On Oceania,Asia,Europe,NA 12:15...Turn Off 17:15...Turn On Africa,India,Middle East,Europe,NA 18:00...Turn Off 19:10...Turn On Africa,Europe,NA 19:55...Turn Off 19 Mar. 2010, Digital Transponder ================================ 00:15...Turn On South America,NA,North Asia 01:00...Turn Off 03:04...Turn On North Asia,East Asia,South Asia 03:15...Turn Off 11:15...Turn On Oceania,Asia,Europe 12:00...Turn Off 18:45...Turn On Africa,Europe,NA 19:30...Turn Off 23:10...Turn On NA,Asia,Oceania 23:55...Turn Off 20 Mar. 2010, Digital Transponder ================================ 02:05...Turn On South America,NA,North Asia 02:45...Turn Off 02:50...Turn On North Asia,East Asia,South Asia 03:05...Turn Off 11:00...Turn On Oceania,Asia,Europe,NA 11:45...Turn Off 18:40...Turn On Africa,Europe,NA 19:25...Turn Off 21 Mar. 2010, Digital Transponder ================================ 01:35...Turn On South America,NA,North Asia 02:20...Turn Off 04:17...Turn On North Asia,East Asia,South Asia 04:32...Turn Off 07:45...Turn On North Asia,Europe,Africa 08:30...Turn Off 10:45...Turn On Oceania,Asia,Europe 11:30...Turn Off 73 Alan Kung, BA1DU HO-68(XW-1) Project Manager www.camsat.cn

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FT847 and Lightning
by Joel Black 14 Mar '10

14 Mar '10

I appreciate everyone who has responded to my incessant questions here lately regarding radios, etc.. Tuesday morning, I took a hit to my VHF/UHF vertical antenna. It came into the ham shack and got the following equipment: FT-847 FT-8100 RS-35A either the LVB Tracker, the G5400 controller or both (the G5400 controller is sluggish and the LVB tracker doesn't even turn on) cable modem router my PC's NIC my kids' PC's NIC and reset a couple of GFI outlets throughout the house. I have been asking the questions of the radios because I have an FT857 that I was not in use at the time; however, it does not have full duplex capability. I really like the 857 and wouldn't mind having another, but the FT817 would be (from what I read) a great little receiver and it's a bit less expensive (I can add filters to it at that cost). As for the 847, I work in telecom and I know what kind of damage you fight from a lightning strike. I could send it to Yaesu, but when it comes back, I'll be fighting with it from now on. I just don't want to spend $500 for repairs only to have to send it back six months later for repairs again. I'll try to fix it, but that's going to be kind of slow - it'll also make for a good teacher. As for the rotor controller, I was already going to completely take down the HEO antenna array and put up either homebrew eggbeaters or turnstiles. The 22 elements on 2m and 44 elements on 70cm are a tad overkill for what is up there and they need work. I really want to put a hexbeam up on that tower anyway. :) I guess I'm looking for advice. Do I send the radio to Yaesu for repair or purchase a companion for the 857? Any other advice is also welcome. Folks, unplug and disconnect everything. We had another lightning storm last night. At 3am, my wife woke me and said, "Honey, there's light..." I ran into the hamshack and just pulled everything out of the wall. It's funny looking back on it, but I still have a sick feeling in my stomach.

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For ALAN KUNG HO68 SCHEDULE REQUEST *******************
by paul robinson 14 Mar '10

14 Mar '10

Hi Alan ,ill be opperating portable from NE Scotland from 20.March for 7 days,and im hoping to work HO68 hope the ssb transponder may be ON ?? and some late evening passes ON so im able to work USA...i need mid atlantic if poss....so im able to hit deep in the states...ill also be looking Europe... grid locator io87mc .... thanks for your work Paul 2E1EUB 2e1eub(a)amsat.org

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K4T Audio Recordings
by John Papay 14 Mar '10

14 Mar '10

There is a page on my webserver that has audio recordings of K4T over the last 3 days. The one from the 14March2010, 1030z, is quite informative. Mark talks about the operation and states they have made over 300 satellite contacts! They have now been on every satellite and worked FM, SSB and CW. The next addition to the website will be the Grid Square Plots talked about in an earlier post. If you have a map that you would like to have on the website, please email it to me. http://www.papays.com/sat 73, John K8YSE

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Re: Seeking Input - Possible North Dakota operation
by Tim - N3TL 14 Mar '10

14 Mar '10

Hey everyone, One person responded to my post from yesterday about operation from North Dakota this evening. Since his was the only feedback I got and was negative, I'm leaving the ham gear at home. 73 to all, Tim - N3TL

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K4T is now active on the birds!
by Rick - WA4NVM 14 Mar '10

14 Mar '10

Hi All, Mark just activated K4T on the AO-27 pass at 1846 utc. Good luck working him thru March 15 from EL84. http://aroadventures.org/index.html 73 all, Rick WA4NVM

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AO-7 70cm CW beacon
by David Giles 14 Mar '10

14 Mar '10

Hello All, Just heard AO-7's 70cm CW beacon sending valid telemetry (2010/03/14 07:25 UTC). Entering the data below into the spreadsheet gives a beacon power output of 338mW. All else seems nominal. 73 de David VK5DG HI HI 100 172 177 177 273 201 210 254 370 311 344 347 431 440 441 441 531 502 540 557 600 655 601 651

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KP4TR & KP4WK working K4T at the Satellite Playground
by (KP4TR)Ramon Gonzalez 14 Mar '10

14 Mar '10

KP4WK and KP4TR video working K4T via AO-51 satellite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W28hsdxtYaY

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Successful Static Firing Of Falcon 9 Engines
by B J 14 Mar '10

14 Mar '10

http://spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/001/100313staticfire/ 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL __________________________________________________________________ The new Internet Explorer® 8 - Faster, safer, easier. Optimized for Yahoo! Get it Now for Free! at http://downloads.yahoo.com/ca/internetexplorer/

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Seeking Input - Possible North Dakota operation
by Tim - N3TL 13 Mar '10

13 Mar '10

Hey everyone, I'll be making a quick trip to North Dakota tomorrow (Sunday, March 14), and have the possibility of operating portable from DN96. However, the only satellite pass that I know with certainty that I can work is the 0345-ish UTC Monday (Sunday evening in North America) pass of HO-68, which has a maximum elevation of almost 70 degrees to my location in DN96. Alan Kung has asked that the orbit in question be reserved for packet in his latest schedule - and this is where I'm writing to seek input from the operators who will be in the footprint during this orbit. First and most importantly - does anyone need North Dakota and/or DN96? Second - if there IS interest in FM voice contacts during that particular orbit, will any packet operators reading this please respond with your thoughts about having roughly 10 minutes of voice contacts - maximum - during that orbit? I am not checking luggage, so will be carrying only my HT and a whip antenna. Given HO-68's outstanding performance and the path of this pass, I believe I should be able to work the satellite consistently on that handheld station from roughly 0345 UTC to 0355 UTC. I will be happy to activate North Dakota and DN96 if there is interest, and if the packet operators who plan to use HO-68 are OK with this 10-minute window of FM voice operation on Sunday evening. I'll also be happy to avoid the pass if there are major concerns. There is one AO-51 pass, during the 1300 UTC hour on Monday morning, that I may be able to work - but I'm not confident that will be the case. I expect to be in meetings by then, which makes the HO-68 pass in question the only one I am certain I'll be able to work. Please post any input to the BB so that everyone can see any feedback I get. Thanks in advance for your time and thoughts. 73 to all, Tim - N3TL Athens, Ga. - EM84ha

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Re: AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 5, Issue 117
by Bill Dzurilla 13 Mar '10

13 Mar '10

Alan, Thank you very much for your great work with HO-68 and for your effort to solve the voice/packet problem. I do not entirely follow the schedule, however. Does "Digital Transponder" mean packet? Where it says: > 14 Mar. 2010, Digital Transponder > ================================ > 16:45...Turn On--Linear Transponder > India, Africa, Middle East, > Europe,NA > 17:30...Turn Off does that mean digital (packet) or linear (SSB)? Does it mean that the linear transponder will be active on 14 March and 15 March and that the rest of thw week is digital only? Please clarify if possible. 73, Bill NZ5N > Message: 14 > Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:07:41 +0800 > From: "Alan Kung" <alankung(a)public3.bta.net.cn> > Subject: [amsat-bb] HO-68 Schedule - 14-21 Mar 2010 > To: <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> > Message-ID: > <009201cac1fe$35fc6db0$6c01a8c0@ba1duoffice> > Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="gb2312" > > Hello all, > > I got a lot of responses about problem of digital mode > through HO-68. The main problem is that Packet > communication > is often interrupted by voice. We are trying a new schedule > > in this week, voice and packet operations will be separated > > by the schedule, of course, this just depends on the > hams'own > discipline. If you have any comment and suggestion, please > > let me know. > > > 14 Mar. 2010, Digital Transponder > ================================ > 16:45...Turn On--Linear Transponder > India, Africa, Middle East, > Europe,NA > 17:30...Turn Off > > 18:20...Turn On > Africa,Europe,Middle East,NA > 19:05...Turn Off > > 15 Mar. 2010, Digital Transponder > ================================ > 01:25...Turn On--Linear Transponder > South America,NA,North Asia > 02:10...Turn Off > > 02:21...Turn On > North Asia,East Asia,South Asia > 02:36...Turn Off > > 03:15...Turn On--Linear Transponder > South America,NA,North Asia > 04:00...Turn Off > > 19:50...Turn On > Africa,Europe,NA > 20:35...Turn Off > > 16 Mar. 2010, Digital Transponder > ================================ > 01:15...Turn On > South America,NA,North Asia > 02:00...Turn Off > > 02:09...Turn On > North Asia,East Asia,South Asia > 02:25...Turn Off

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test
by claude boutru 13 Mar '10

13 Mar '10

test

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Re: K4T AO-27 12Mar2010 1818z
by newsradio6＠gmail.com 13 Mar '10

13 Mar '10

John, are they on echo main reptr or on the qrp repeater? We didn't hear them on last nights echo pass at 1700hrs est... John Va3bL ------Original Message------ From: John Papay Sender: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org To: Amsat bb Subject: [amsat-bb] K4T AO-27 12Mar2010 1818z Sent: Mar 12, 2010 1:52 PM Mark was loud and clear on AO-27 on the first PM AO-27 pass out over the Atlantic. He reported that their preamps and antennas are working now and they have plenty of transmit power to be heard. Thanks to those who provided wiring info for their preamps. They are definitely hearing better. Many stations were worked on this pass. 73, John K8YSE _______________________________________________ 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 wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network. Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.

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Antenna setup
by Jacob Tennant 13 Mar '10

13 Mar '10

Hello everyone, I have a antenna setup question as I am new to satellite operations so please bear with me... I have a 2meter beam and a 70cm beam from my former adventures into VHF weak signal operations and was wondering about using them for satellite work. Was thinking that since I don't have a az/el rotator yet, if I set them up on a single cross-boom with the TV rotator I have now, angle them with the elements at 45 degree angles and the booms angled 30 to 40 degrees front end up I might be able to get some decent ability into the FM satellites (AO51, SO50, AO27, ISS). I already have the good coax for them (LMR-400) and a duplexor for my FT-857D. Was going to try to install the antennas on top of my storage building with a height of approx. 16 feet. That's the highest structure I can get onto that belongs to me. Any alternate ideas or advice is always welcome as I said before this is all new to me. Jacob Tennant - K8JWT Morgantown,WV FM09ap

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Antenna setup
by Louis House, KD5GM 12 Mar '10

12 Mar '10

Hi Jacob, >From my point of view and short time experience, The description of your proposed set up would yield favorable results. I am using an 11 element 2m yagi and a 432 16 element both mounted vertically (with az/el). most of my worked passes are in the 10 to 35 degree range and the signals are fairly good and readable most of the time. Working the Birds without optimum conditions is still a ton of fun. 73 LOUIS, KD5GM CW, The original digital mode Message: 7 Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:32:20 -0500 From: "Jacob Tennant" <k8jwt(a)comcast.net> Subject: [amsat-bb] Antenna setup To: "Amsat BB" <AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org> Message-ID: <000001cac183$dbfd2f40$93f78dc0$@net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hello everyone, I have a antenna setup question as I am new to satellite operations so please bear with me... I have a 2meter beam and a 70cm beam from my former adventures into VHF weak signal operations and was wondering about using them for satellite work. Was thinking that since I don't have a az/el rotator yet, if I set them up on a single cross-boom with the TV rotator I have now, angle them with the elements at 45 degree angles and the booms angled 30 to 40 degrees front end up I might be able to get some decent ability into the FM satellites (AO51, SO50, AO27, ISS). I already have the good coax for them (LMR-400) and a duplexor for my FT-857D. Was going to try to install the antennas on top of my storage building with a height of approx. 16 feet. That's the highest structure I can get onto that belongs to me. Any alternate ideas or advice is always welcome as I said before this is all new to me. Jacob Tennant - K8JWT Morgantown,WV FM09ap

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