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New items for sale at the AMSAT online store
by Bruce 22 Oct '09

22 Oct '09

Did you miss the symposium? Now available at the AMSAT online store -- a 40th Anniversary Tote as well as the Proceedings of the Symposium. Get yours while supplies last. 73...bruce Sent from my iPhone

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Putting the ISS together in sequences
by w6zkh＠comcast.net 22 Oct '09

22 Oct '09

Interesting concept: http://i.usatoday.net/tech/graphics/iss_timeline/flash.htm

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HRD satellite tracker + 2 radios
by Bruce R Brown 22 Oct '09

22 Oct '09

I wonder if anyone has had any luck doing this. I have a ft-100 and 706mkIIG for radios. HRD will talk to each radio. I cannot get the second radio recognized by the program. would like to tune downlink with one radio and the uplink with the other radio using one instance of the HRD program. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Reply off list if you wish to do so. 73, Bruce ke0lx willmarbrowns(a)q.com

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Re: volunteering
by Steve Daniels 22 Oct '09

22 Oct '09

Hi Joe, Most of my experience is with Gentoo Linux, Apache, mysql. Plus relevant utils. On top of which running SMF for a bulletin board integrated with coppermine for a gallery. Also Oww and RRD for display data from my weather station. Also used DADA for a mailing list. That being said I have plenty of time on my hands at the moment, so I am happy to load up Joomla or any other CMS and learn it. One of my reasons for volunteering was some of the very out of date web pages I was coming across. As I was attempting to get back into amateur radio. (I lived in a location that maid radio impossible) So I would be more than happy to help out. Steve G6UIM -----Original Message----- From: Joseph Armbruster [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 22 October 2009 02:18 To: Steve Daniels Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: volunteering Steve, You have web development experience correct ? Are you familiar at all with Joomla ? One of the current desires of Amsat is to port over the existing website to a content management system like Joomla. I set up wikimedia and joomla for testing purposes and Gould seemed to like Joomla better. The primary reason is that adding and editing content is a breeze with it. So, what i'm starting to move over content into the Joomla instance. I'm getting the menus, sections, etc... setup so that showing it off will be nice. If you're interested I could use your help in making it happen. I have a Parallels VM with Ubuntu that I could pass on to you if you'd like to test out Joomla. It's reasonably trivial to set up but i'm not certain of your experience. Let me know if you're interested in helping out. Joe On Oct 21, 2009, at 7:31 PM, Steve Daniels wrote: > Hi David > > Happy to help in any way I can. I can see updating web pages as a > way I can > help to some small degree. Recently clicked on amsat sites where > some pages > have not been updated in years. Even if the info is still valid it > looks > bad. > > Having worked in education am happy to get involved in that > direction, you > will know that experience. > > > > Steve G6UIM > > > > _____ > > From: G0MRF(a)aol.com [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: 20 October 2009 23:30 > To: steve(a)daniels270.eclipse.co.uk > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: volunteering > > > > In a message dated 20/10/2009 22:00:31 GMT Standard Time, > steve(a)daniels270.eclipse.co.uk writes: > > > Hi David > > Sadly no I don't have any 2m design experience, my design experience > is > mostly high voltage switch mode PSU for powering Traveling Wave > Tubes, and > the microcontroller based management systems for controlling high > power > travelling wave tubes + PSUs. Mostly I have done the microcontroller > aspect > of that. Over recent years I have been mainly involved in I.T. admin > in > schools > > > > Steve > > Hi Steve. > > > > Thanks for the reply. Always good to know that someone is interested > in > supporting the AMSAT cause. The ESEO project is being funded > (hardware only) > by AMSAT UK while the launch is supplied by ESA Education. It's an > educational project with a small role for AMSAT. Currently we need > some > expertise for a 2m TX and some satellite antennas...although > hopefully the > antennas shouldn't be too much of a problem. > > > > http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Education/SEMA0NEMKBF_0.html > > > > Great on the PSU for TWT's. - with the microcontroller aspect of > management. > Perhaps I can 'store' that in case we need a hand in those areas in > the > future. Is it the PIC variety or ARM or some other specialised type > you are > familiar with? > > > > I'm working at a school as a science technician at present, so > possibly I > can appreciate your working environment quite well. Half term in 3 > days. - > Yippee. > > > > Regards > > > > David > > _______________________________________________ > 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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New AO-51 Whole Orbit Data decoder released by DK3WN
by Mark L. Hammond 22 Oct '09

22 Oct '09

Thanks to our resident telemery guru Mike Rupprecht DK3WN a new AO-51 whole orbit data (WOD) telemetry decoder has been released! The file with decoder and coefficients file can be downloaded from here: http://www.dk3wn.info/files/ao51wod.zip The AO-51 telemetry archive is on the AMSAT FTP server. DK3WN's new decoder is for processing "raw" WOD telemetry files. For example, the WOD data collected for October 2009 is here: ftp://ftp.amsat.org/pub/amsat/telemetry/ao51/2009WOD/Oct2009/raw1009/ The decoder generates a .CSV (comma separated) file that can be opened in Excel, etc. A nice feature is that the telemetry program acutally graphs the data, too! THANKS, Mike DK3WN! 73, -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

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PIC sat tracker
by Andrew Rich 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

Putting together a USB 16F877 rotator control A/D serial and LOGIC Got a few options Predict as the AZ/EL engine and perl scripts. 1. Completely autonomous - quite hard to do in a PIC 2. Use the A/D and just send data back to LINUX and get LINUX to turn relays on / off via parra port 3. Send AZ and EL to the PIC, do a ASCII to BIN and then get the PIC to drive the rotators. 4. Use the A/D and send data to LINUX and then send back a serial command on what to do. Cheers Andrew VK4TEC

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the future is coming
by Rocky Jones 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

http://www.space-travel.com/reports/SpaceX_Completes_First_Stage_9_Engine_R… Robert WB5MZO _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Trusted email with powerful SPAM protection. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/177141665/direct/01/

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ANS-294 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin SumbandilaSat Designated as SO-67
by JoAnne Maenpaa 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-294.01 SumbandilaSat Designated as SO-67 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 294.01 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 21, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-294.01 AMSAT's OSCAR Number Coordinator Bill Tynan, W3XO announced he has received an e-mail sent to the AMSAT-NA Board of Directors by Hans van de Groenendaal, ZS6AKV, Secretary SA AMSAT requesting that an OSCAR number be allocated to SumbandilaSat. In the e-mail Hans states that the amateur radio transponder on SumbandilaSat was successfully switched on from the ground by ZS6BPZ during the test phase on Sunday 18 October 2009 and that several QSOs were made through the transponder. The amateur radio payload on SumbandilaSat was developed by SA AMSAT and incorporated by the University of Stellenbosch into the main pay- load. The SA AMSAT payload was officially coordinated through the IARU Satellite Frequency Coordination Panel with an uplink of 145.880 and downlink of 435.350 MHz Bill replied, "Therefore, by the authority vested in me by the AMSAT-NA President, I hereby designate this latest amateur radio satellite as SumbandilaSat Oscar 67 or SO-67. On behalf of AMSAT-NA and the world's amateur radio satellite community I congratulate those responsible for building, testing and launching this new satellite. May it have a long and successful life." [ANS thanks Bill Tynan, W3XO for the above information] /EX

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Re: Grid Square Map
by Wayne Estes 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

The ARRL sells a plain black 11x17 inch grid map of North America for $1. No color, no gray scale. Perfect for coloring in the grids as you work/confirm them. http://www.arrl.org/locate/gridinfo.html A smaller version of the map is also in the ARRL Operating Manual and perhaps in the ARRL handbook. I scanned, printed, and laminated the page from my ARRL Operating Manual. Wayne Estes W9AE Oakland, Oregon, USA, CN81ik

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FW: Re: volunteering
by Steve Daniels 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

_____ From: Steve Daniels [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 22 October 2009 00:31 To: 'G0MRF(a)aol.com'; 'amsat-bb(a)amsat.org' Subject: RE: [amsat-bb] Re: volunteering Hi David Happy to help in any way I can. I can see updating web pages as a way I can help to some small degree. Recently clicked on amsat sites where some pages have not been updated in years. Even if the info is still valid it looks bad. Having worked in education am happy to get involved in that direction, you will know that experience. Steve G6UIM _____ From: G0MRF(a)aol.com [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 20 October 2009 23:30 To: steve(a)daniels270.eclipse.co.uk Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: volunteering In a message dated 20/10/2009 22:00:31 GMT Standard Time, steve(a)daniels270.eclipse.co.uk writes: Hi David Sadly no I don't have any 2m design experience, my design experience is mostly high voltage switch mode PSU for powering Traveling Wave Tubes, and the microcontroller based management systems for controlling high power travelling wave tubes + PSUs. Mostly I have done the microcontroller aspect of that. Over recent years I have been mainly involved in I.T. admin in schools Steve Hi Steve. Thanks for the reply. Always good to know that someone is interested in supporting the AMSAT cause. The ESEO project is being funded (hardware only) by AMSAT UK while the launch is supplied by ESA Education. It's an educational project with a small role for AMSAT. Currently we need some expertise for a 2m TX and some satellite antennas...although hopefully the antennas shouldn't be too much of a problem. http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Education/SEMA0NEMKBF_0.html Great on the PSU for TWT's. - with the microcontroller aspect of management. Perhaps I can 'store' that in case we need a hand in those areas in the future. Is it the PIC variety or ARM or some other specialised type you are familiar with? I'm working at a school as a science technician at present, so possibly I can appreciate your working environment quite well. Half term in 3 days. - Yippee. Regards David

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EM-97 West Virginia Operation Saturday 24 Oct
by John Papay 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

A grid dxpedition to EM97 in West Virginia is planned for Saturday afternoon October 24th. It's about 600 miles round trip so the first pass of AO-27 at 1734z will likely be the beginning of the operation. Then AO-27 at 1912z, AO-27 a 2054z followed by AO-51 at 2200z and possibly 2339z if it's not too dark. West coast stations should try for the 2054z AO-27 pass since the 2339z AO-51 pass could be dropped. West Virginia is very mountainous and it is difficult to find a high point that can see down low to the horizon. That and the fact that there are not that many hams in this grid are likely the cause of it being uncommon. There are no digi's close to where I will operate but there may be coverage from mountaintop digis far away. Track with k8yse-8. I'll also have the ISS APRS radio going which might relay the position to the aprs servers. Unfortunately, there will not be any ISS passes while I'm at the operating location, however, there will be passes in the morning on the way down. The APRS radio is k8yse-9. I will attempt to operate on the way down while in motion. I'll have HF capability on the way, probably on 40 meters most of the time. The weather forecast is for rain and possible thunderstorms. I hope they will not be too severe. As long as it is not lightning, I will operate in the rain somehow. Please email with suggestions and/or schedule requests. As always, no qsl card is necessary. All contacts will be confirmed. 73, John K8YSE

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Grid Square Maps
by Tom 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

Back in my county-hunting days I had purchased, from somewhere, a poster size black on white map of the continental USA with all counties shown. As each county was confirmed I could "color in" that county with a felt-tip marker. So I could quickly see if I needed a county heard on the air. Is anyone aware of a similar commercially available map for the USA that shows grid squares which could be colored in as they were confirmed? How about for Europe or other areas? Thanks. Tom, KØTW

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Re: volunteering
by Steve Daniels 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

Hi David Happy to help in any way I can. I can see updating web pages as a way I can help to some small degree. Recently clicked on amsat sites where some pages have not been updated in years. Even if the info is still valid it looks bad. Having worked in education am happy to get involved in that direction, you will know that experience. Steve G6UIM _____ From: G0MRF(a)aol.com [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 20 October 2009 23:30 To: steve(a)daniels270.eclipse.co.uk Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: volunteering In a message dated 20/10/2009 22:00:31 GMT Standard Time, steve(a)daniels270.eclipse.co.uk writes: Hi David Sadly no I don't have any 2m design experience, my design experience is mostly high voltage switch mode PSU for powering Traveling Wave Tubes, and the microcontroller based management systems for controlling high power travelling wave tubes + PSUs. Mostly I have done the microcontroller aspect of that. Over recent years I have been mainly involved in I.T. admin in schools Steve Hi Steve. Thanks for the reply. Always good to know that someone is interested in supporting the AMSAT cause. The ESEO project is being funded (hardware only) by AMSAT UK while the launch is supplied by ESA Education. It's an educational project with a small role for AMSAT. Currently we need some expertise for a 2m TX and some satellite antennas...although hopefully the antennas shouldn't be too much of a problem. http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Education/SEMA0NEMKBF_0.html Great on the PSU for TWT's. - with the microcontroller aspect of management. Perhaps I can 'store' that in case we need a hand in those areas in the future. Is it the PIC variety or ARM or some other specialised type you are familiar with? I'm working at a school as a science technician at present, so possibly I can appreciate your working environment quite well. Half term in 3 days. - Yippee. Regards David

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Cute 1.7 re-entry
by John Heath 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

Cute 1.7 Re-entry Its still up !! Space Track elements for 07:24 this morning (October 21st) assign a Mean Motion of 16.2309.... and they have revised their re-entry forecast. Unless something unexpected happens it looks like the only serious contender left in the competition is Dave Bowman G0MRF who predicted October 27th. 73 John G7HIA

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SAT STATUS upgrade
by Andrew Rich 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

Hello I have added more detail to the data stream, and have started adding stats graphs I would also like to make a calender so you can see when the satellites were active. http://vk4tec.no-ip.org/sat_status/ Andrew VK4TEC

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New Kenwood HT for 2010?
by Clint Bradford 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

Well, the best info source for Kenwood-Amateur/US is still out of the office with a back injury. Leo might be back in a week or two ... Personally, I would be surprised if Kenwood dedicated a lot of engineering talent to a new, true full-duplex amateur handheld. The profit for them is not in the amateur world - but in the land mobile / commercial arenas. I hope I am wrong, though! Clint Bradford, K6LCS http://www.work-sat.com 909-241-7666

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grid square maps
by Jerry 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

Hi : Just go to the hamfests and they give nice color Grid square maps for free. In the last year I get one or two and give them away at the club meetings. Jerry w0sat

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Re: Grid Square Map
by Tom 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

Thanks to all that responded to my post I'm looking for something along the size of the grid map that ICOM supplies (12" X 7") but in black and white so confirmed squares could be colored in. The 8 1/2" X 11" maps that I've found online seem too small and the resolution is not good. And, although ARRL chose to show only the cover of it's grid square book, I think the pages inside are in color(?). Tom, KØTW

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Grid Square Map - Grey Scale
by Clint Bradford 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

To the gentleman desiring a non-color grid square map ... You can download the Icom grid square map as a .pdf at ... http://www.work-sat.com ... then print it out grey scale ... or otherwise manipulate it in your favorite image/paint program! Clint Bradford, K6LCS

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Postscript: Road Trip to FN56, FN57, FN66, FN67, etc.
by Richard Crow 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

Hello All, Looking back, the "Road Trip to FN56, FN57, FN66, FN67, etc." was eminently successful. In the course of two days, I drove 1,119 miles from my Dad's home in Massachusetts to Maine and back: 429 miles up, 261 miles around the back woods of northern Maine searching for better-than-average operating locations, and 429 miles back. In the process, I activated every grid square north of Bangor, with the exception of FN45, plus I activated FN53 in southern Maine as well. Put another way, I worked 11 satellite passes to activate 7 rare grid squares in two days. In that time, I would estimate that I made over a hundred satellite contacts. My appreciation goes out to all who participated. If you're interested in the actual locations I worked from, it's summarized in the chart below in the order that I worked from them. The latitudes and longitudes were recorded on site from a Garmin "GPS 12XL", except as noted. ============================================= Actual Locations for Saturday, October 17th: # Lat Lon Grid Nearest Town -- ------- ------- ---- ---------------- 1 43.979N 69.978W FN53 Topsham, ME 2 45.596N 68.535W FN55 Medway, ME 3 46.791N 68.040W FN56 Caribou, ME 4 47.006N 68.180W FN57 Stockholm, ME 5 46.854N 67.988W FN66 Caribou, ME ============================================= Actual Locations for Sunday, October 18th: # Lat Lon Grid Nearest Town -- ------- ------- ---- ---------------- 6 47.132N 67.954W FN67 Van Buren, ME 7 47.132N 67.954W FN67 Van Buren, ME 8 47.006N 68.180W FN57 Stockholm, ME 9 46.854N 67.989W FN66 Caribou, ME 10 46.692N* 68.015W* FN56 Presque Isle, ME 11 45.988N 67.862W FN65 North Amity, ME ============================================= * At the time, I was so busy driving from one operating location to another that I didn't have time to record the latitude and longitude from the "GPS 12XL". So, it was determined later from topographic maps. ============================================= You probably won't hear me on the satellites for a while. Instead, I'll be focused on completing several antenna related projects before winter sets in. Among other things, I need to get my outdoor satellite antennas back in operation. But in the mean time, send me your list of other rare grid squares you need in the northeast USA. I'll consider traveling to and activating any grid square in NY, PA, CT, RI, MA, VT, NH, and ME. With winter approaching, this probably won't happen any time soon. But when the weather breaks next spring, the opportunity for doing this may come again. The most requested grid squares will be the ones I consider going to first. So, email me your grid square "wish list". And please put the phrase "grid square" somewhere on your email "subject line". 73, Richard, N2SPI n2spi(a)amsat.org

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Satellite Pass Predictions
by John Papay 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

There has been some discussion on how to determine when a bird will be in view over an extended period of time. You really don't need a pocket computer or laptop to carry around to do this. Just simply print out the pass predictions using SatPC32 sold by AMSAT and written by DK1TB who has donated the program to AMSAT. There are two accessory programs included in SatPC32. The first is called WinAOS and it will make predictions for multiple birds of your choosing over a 10+ day period of your choosing. Print out the results and keep them in your vehicle. You'll have AOS/LOS times and AOS/LOS azimuths plus max elevation and visible time. This is plenty of info to allow you to work a bird with a handheld antenna. Just watch the time and move the antenna accordingly. WinAos QTH: -81.7/41.3 T#: 11616 Sat.: 5 [Standard] ---------------------------------------------------------- Day Object AOS (U) LOS Period maxEl AZ ---------------------------------------------------------- 21.10.2009 VO-52 00:18 00:23 05 02 076 - 024 21.10.2009 AO-07 00:36 00:57 21 39 187 - 338 21.10.2009 AO-51 00:41 00:48 07 04 244 - 310 21.10.2009 VO-52 01:50 02:02 12 39 147 - 355 21.10.2009 AO-07 02:37 02:45 08 02 259 - 306 21.10.2009 SO-50 03:06 03:14 08 05 140 - 066 21.10.2009 VO-52 03:27 03:38 11 17 208 - 333 21.10.2009 SO-50 04:43 04:57 14 57 201 - 037 21.10.2009 AO-27 06:02 06:09 07 04 053 - 118 21.10.2009 SO-50 06:25 06:38 13 21 251 - 026 21.10.2009 AO-27 07:39 07:53 14 51 018 - 182 The other program that comes with SatPC32 is WinListen. This program will give you satellite visibility at various intervals throughout the pass. It has a two-observer feature which allows you to enter two grids and find the mutual window on a particular satellite. Here's an example between Ohio and Scotland on AO-51 at 20 second intervals. WinListen 8.0 [AO-51] T#:11616 QTH1: -81.7/41.3 QTH2: -8.4/52.3 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Time(U) Az1 El1 Az2 El2 MA Height Lon/Lat Orbit ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 21.10.2009 09:29:00 59 0 279 3 19.7 711 314 50 27911 21.10.2009 09:29:20 61 1 277 2 20.5 712 314 49 27911 21.10.2009 09:29:40 64 1 275 1 21.4 712 313 48 27911 21.10.2009 09:30:00 67 1 272 1 22.2 712 313 46 27911 I use this program to set up schedules when the likelihood of a "window" is remote. These two programs are selected under the "Programs" link in the SatPC32 toolbar. 73, John K8YSE

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SATPC32 Problem Taken Care of
by Randy 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

Never did get it to work properly in the program itself However, someone off the list sent me a link to his own software ( very nice software ) For controlling the rotor and it also ties into SATPC32, Orbitron, and NOVA. ( plus some others ) So all is well and its going great now.. Thanks for the replys.. Randy - N2CUA

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Re: HT supports full duplex satellite operation
by Clint Bradford 21 Oct '09

21 Oct '09

>> ... I believe Kenwood is going to 're offer ' a newer version of their recently disco'd TH7 ht ... And your source at Kenwood's corporate offices for this info is ... ? Clint Braddford, K6LCS

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Re: volunteering (Mobile Satellite PAPER Predictor)
by Clint Bradford 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

>> ... The small piece of paper that my proposal outputs is a single piece of paper with about 10 numbers on it, no bigger than about 2" by 3" suitable for taping to your dashboard above your radio. Then take your pencil, and write it out ... In my AMSAT presentations, I show both graphical representations of sat passes, as well as pure numeric data. My audiences much prefer the graphical representations. So, what you are requesting may not have a "market share" as great as you might think. This reminds me of the old Internet wives tale about the development of the space pen. You remember ... The story goes that America spent millions of bucks to develop a writing implement suitable for space travel. But what did the thrifty Russians do? Used pencils ... It is not a true story, of course: Both manned space programs used pencils at the beginning of their projects. But it makes a good Cold War story for the U.S. ANYWAY - There are several online (and FREE) sources for the info you seek ... as well as commercial programs that will generate the info. Want to slap something on your visor? Geeze, just write it out ... or cut and paste .... Curmudgeon-ly yours, Clint, K6LCS http://www.work-sat.com

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more information on the Iranian
by Rocky Jones 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0910/18iran/ bird and launcher... Robert WB5MZO _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Free, trusted and rich email service. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/171222984/direct/01/

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W6FOG ???
by Tim Goodrich 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

I was monitoring VO-52s pass last night and heard him on there. Tim KI6VBY -----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of amsat-bb-request(a)amsat.org Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2009 9:57 AM To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 4, Issue 557 Send AMSAT-BB mailing list submissions to amsat-bb(a)amsat.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to amsat-bb-request(a)amsat.org You can reach the person managing the list at amsat-bb-owner(a)amsat.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of AMSAT-BB digest..." No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.422 / Virus Database: 270.14.22/2446 - Release Date: 10/20/09 10:43:00

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Re: volunteering
by Steve Daniels 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

Hi David Sadly no I don't have any 2m design experience, my design experience is mostly high voltage switch mode PSU for powering Traveling Wave Tubes, and the microcontroller based management systems for controlling high power travelling wave tubes + PSUs. Mostly I have done the microcontroller aspect of that. Over recent years I have been mainly involved in I.T. admin in schools Steve G6UIM _____ From: G0MRF(a)aol.com [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 20 October 2009 17:00 To: steve(a)daniels270.eclipse.co.uk Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: volunteering In a message dated 20/10/2009 15:57:17 GMT Standard Time, steve(a)daniels270.eclipse.co.uk writes: Thanks for the replies. Since I am in the UK I have contacted Jim off list Steve G6UIM Or, do you have any experience of designing for 2m ? (For the ESEO project) Thanks David G0MRF

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Re: HT supports full duplex satellite operation
by Clint Bradford 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

>> ... looking only for current-production HTs, and I believe the Alinco is it when it comes to full-fuplex-capable HTs ... And unless Alinco comes up with a miracle-of-a-firmware-release, that little rig is not suitable for working the FM birds. >> ... In addition to the TH-F6A HT from Kenwood ... Just so that there's no confusion, the TH-F6a is *not* a true full- duplex radio. Dual-receive, yes. But key the mic, and nothing is heard on the sub-band. Clint Bradford, K6LCS http://www.work-sat.com

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HT full duplex ?
by Drew Squires 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

I note that Kenwood is releasing a new APRS/GPS handheld soon to replace the D7.Does anyone know if it will run full duplex or have the specs? 73 Andy VK3AS

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Re: THE DMSP launch
by Daniel Schultz 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

Robert WB5MZO, wrote: >Are the people who are suppose to be the experts in building state of the art >satellites so thin skinned that a bulletin board >slows their progress? LOL You missed my point entirely. The Amsat people who build the satellites mostly don't have time to read Amsat-BB, so the thickness of their skin is not the issue here. But Amsat-BB is not read only by Amsat members. Anyone who Google's "Amsat" will find Amsat-BB very quickly. Negative and unprofessional comments on Amsat-BB hurt our image as professional satellite builders and could quite possibly kill our chance of finding our next ride to orbit. In the 1990's the ESA management handed the president of Amsat-DL a pile of e-mail printouts from Amsat-BB following the repeated launch delays on Phase 3D, it almost got the satellite thrown off the Ariane 5 vehicle. With launches even harder to find in today's world, we cannot allow such bickering to tarnish our image as professionals who can be trusted not to screw up the mission. Dan Schultz N8FGV

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QSL cards mailed today
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

Hi! After printing more QSL cards on Sunday and writing out almost 200 cards along with envelopes last night, I dropped a large batch of envelopes at the post office this morning. These cards cover my activity from the east coast around the recently-concluded AMSAT Symposium (Washington DC/FM18, BWI Airport MD/FM19, Bear DE/FM29), as well as Saturday's activity - the Tucson AZ hamfest (DM42) in the morning, and at or just east of the Arizona/New Mexico state line (DM52) in the afternoon/early evening. Thanks to all who worked WD9EWK from these locations over the past couple of weeks. I enjoy getting on the air from almost anywhere I go, and the QSLing after the trip is an important part of that. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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Re: THE DMSP launch
by Ken Ernandes 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

Bob and Dan - I sympathize with what you're saying and know you both have AMSAT's best interests at heart. But unfortunately I don't see this exchange going in a positive direction. We all know this is not the first time somebody has come on this mailing list lacking a constructive motive. It appears that, with such a person, it is a counter-productive to continue the exchange. No matter what meaningful and accurate comments you might make, it will get twisted or otherwise re-interpreted in a negative fashion or in the light most favorable to an ulterior agenda. This is *my opinion* as an AMSAT member and thus *not* something I will debate online, or in private for that matter. Thus understand in advance ["Rocky"] why I will ignore any non-constructive responses to this message. I think we agree this list is a great thing for those wanting information, having bona fide questions, or wishing to offer a constructive opinion. I will be happy to exchange messages with anybody who (in my opinion) is engaging in something positive or constructive. I would, however, recommend that those of us who have AMSAT's best interest at heart try something different to deal with negativism. My suggestion is to attempt once (and only once) to steer things in a positive or constructive direction. If that fails, simply state that you are not obligated to exchange messages with anybody you believe is not pursing a positive or constructive agenda. Make it incumbent on the person making the objectionable comments to put things back in a positive direction if they wish to get any replies. If everybody who has AMSAT's best interests at heart followed that, I think we'd have much better exchanges on this list. Just a thought... 73, Ken N2WWD -----Original Message----- >From: Robert Bruninga <bruninga(a)usna.edu> >Sent: Oct 20, 2009 12:22 PM >To: 'Rocky Jones' <orbitjet(a)hotmail.com>, n8fgv(a)usa.net, 'Amsat BB' <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> >Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: THE DMSP launch > >> so what? We should never on the BB have >> differences with the direction that the >> satellite program is going? YOu have to >> be kidding. > >No we are not.. > >You clearly do not understand volunteerism in a highly techincal >endeavor where "Those that can... DO" and "Those that can't" >should contribute or GET OUT OF THE WAY. > >> The only comments I and others have raised >> or made have been completely professional. > >No, just incessant whining and no productive contribution. >Either BUILD something, or contribute to those that are, or shut >up and get out of the way.. (my personal opinion since I have NO >position within AMSAT other than as a contributor where I can). > >> And fair questions deserve fair answers. > >Yes, do some work instead of driviling... go develop some >answers, and stop acting like a troll just wasting everyone's >time. > >> what have I gotten back? >> "you are a troll" > >Yes, all of your posts seem to meet that definition perfectly... > >> Hope you are having a good morning. > >I will when I can stop having to read your drivel every >morning... > >Bob > >_______________________________________________ >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

2 1

AO-07
by Vincenzo Mone 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

Hi folks, Please is there a schedule like the old AO-13 to understand on which mode is The AO-7? Every time I have the Ao-7 on my QTH I cannot hear it and cannot understand if it is not in mode B Or I have a problem. Thanks 73 de Enzo IK8OZV EasyLog 5 BetaTester EasyLog PDA BetaTester WinBollet BetaTester D.C.I. CheckPoint Regione Campania Skype: ik8ozv8520 *************************************** ***** GSM +39 338 9749786 ***** ***** SMS +39 338 9749786 ***** ***** FAX +39 328 7244294 ***** *** 2nd e-mail: vimone(a)tin.it *** ***************************************

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Fwd: SSPI Mid-Atlantic Evening Networking & Program: ITAR Reform
by Samudra Haque 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

Is anyone on AMSAT-bb or AMSAT-DC interested to attend ITAR event of SSPI ? I would like to attend, but will be unable to. $20 or $10 depending upon if you are SSPI member or not. 73 de N3RDX ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: <travis.taylor(a)intelsat.com> Date: Tue, Oct 20, 2009 at 12:50 PM Subject: SSPI Mid-Atlantic Evening Networking & Program: ITAR Reform To: samudra.haque(a)gmail.com SSPI Mid-Atlantic invites you to *An Evening Networking & Program Event* ITAR Reform: What does the future hold for ITAR and what will its impact be on the satellite industry? *10* *22* *09* * Moderator* * John Ordway<http://www.sspi.org/link.asp?ymlink=114141&finalurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ebcr%…> * Partner, Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe, L.L.P.<http://www.sspi.org/link.asp?ymlink=114141&finalurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Elink…> * Panelists* *Franceska Schroeder* <http://www.sspi.org/link.asp?ymlink=114141&finalurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Efr%2…> Principal, Fish & Richardson, P.C. * Kent Bossart<http://www.sspi.org/link.asp?ymlink=114141&finalurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Einte…> * Director of Trade Compliance, Intelsat *THURSDAY | Please join us this Thursday, October 22 at 6:30 p.m. to network and hear a discussion on ITAR reform.* ** *ITAR* is a hotly debated topic with discussion centering around U.S. export reform to encourage competition and diversification. Recently, several satellite operators have joined forces in an attempt to influence legislators that change is necessary. Join us to hear industry experts provide their perspective on ITAR, the current effort that is underway to influence change, and what ITAR's future may be for the satellite industry. Join other satellite professionals for an evening of networking and learning, all beginning at 6:30 p.m. Bring your *questions* and *business cards*! Location Intelsat 3400 International Drive NW Washington, DC 20008 (*directions*<http://www.sspi.org/link.asp?ymlink=114141&finalurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Einte…> ) Time 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Cost $10 members $20 non-members *Cash or check only, please.* (*join now!*<http://www.sspi.org/link.asp?ymlink=114141&finalurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Esspi…> ) RSVP <travis.taylor(a)intelsat.com> by Tuesday, October 20, 2009 www.sspi.org<http://www.sspi.org/link.asp?ymlink=114141&finalurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Esspi…>

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W6FOG ???
by Alvaro de Leon Romo 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

Hi guys is W6FOG on schedule ? He will use all FM satellites ? or just AO51 ... TNX Al XE2AT Pd someone has heard him ?? _________________________________________________________________ Si no está en Windows Live, nunca pasó http://www.actualizatuperfil.com.mx/

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Re: volunteering
by Steve Daniels 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

Thanks for the replies. Since I am in the UK I have contacted Jim off list Steve G6UIM -----Original Message----- From: Jim Heck [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 20 October 2009 08:58 To: Steve Daniels Cc: Graham Shirville Subject: RE: [amsat-bb] volunteering Steve, I wonder if you have heard of FUNcube? (see www.funcube.org.uk) I wonder if you know Word Press? (!) I also wonder where you are located (I live in Blandford, Dorset), and if you have any experience in PR/outreach. My records show that you aren't a member of AMSAT-UK. Maybe you would consider joining? See http://www.uk.amsat.org/content/view/35/34/ 73 Jim Heck G3WGM Hon Sec AMSAT-UK > -----Original Message----- > From: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]]On > Behalf Of Steve Daniels > Sent: 20 October 2009 00:04 > To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org > Subject: [amsat-bb] volunteering > > > Hi > > After reading various posts I decided that having time one my hands at the > moment, I would like to volunteer to help out in whatever capacity I can. I > think being able to help build a satellite is probably out of my league. But > I could help out collating information and updating websites etc. I run my > own web server built by myself and a few websites. > > Hopefully someone can contact me for a discussion on how I can help. > > > > Steve > > G6UIM > > Email steve(a)daniels270.eclipse.co.uk > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 8.5.422 / Virus Database: 270.14.21/2445 - Release Date: > 10/19/09 06:40:00 >

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satpc32 and labjack help
by Nick Pugh K5QXJ 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

I have satpc32 and labjack is there a stall command option ? Thanks nick

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Weekend on the Birds
by John Papay 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

This past weekend on the birds was second to none that I've experienced in the past two years. We had grid dxpeditions on the east and west coast, two hamfest demonstrations, the Boy Scout Jamboree stations and an Alaska Statehood special event station operating. Patrick, WD9EWK, was at the Old Pueblo Radio Club Hamfest in Tucson and made a big detour to continue down I-10 to the Arizona/New Mexico state line where he operated from in the afternoon. Doug, KD8CAO, was at the Holland Michigan Lakeshore Super Swap Hamfest and put on a demonstration there. Mark WA8SME operated on one AO-27 pass from the DN00/DN01 grid boundary, two very rare Nevada grids. John W6ZKH operated from DM07 but had some trouble with his equipment on this particular pass. He said he will go back some day. Mark also said he might be able to operate from DM07 in the near future. Then we had the Boy Scouts Jamboree on the Air with quite a few different stations operating on all of the FM birds including K2BSA/5, W0S, K5B etc. The most prominent grid dxpedition this weekend was by Richard, N2SPI. He had originally planned to operate from FN53, FN56, FN57, FN66 and FN67 but he found a way to also operate from FN55 and FN65 as well. He worked on the FM birds as well as VO-52. This operation began Saturday morning and finished up Sunday afternoon, about 30 hours from the first qso until the last on AO-27 at 1853z. Richard operated at least one pass in each of seven grids and never operated on a grid boundary. This was quite a trip! Richard returned back to Massachusetts late Sunday night. The weekend rounded out with an announcement to look for KL5O, an Alaska Special Event Station, on the birds. The AO-7 pass Sunday evening at 0043Z had at least 14 different stations operating including WV9E, KE5GFJ, WA4NVM, AA4FL, AA5PK, K6CDW, KE2CKO, K0OU, K3SZH, AJ9K, KD8CAO, W7LRD, K8YSE and KL5O! KL5O was down around 937 late in the pass. So if you think that there is no one on AO-7, this should put that thought to rest. Many of them were talking about KL5O. A special event does draw people to the birds just like it does on the HF bands. Of course working Alaska is a special treat under any situation. I believe KL7XJ was the operator. Activity is on the rise on the SSB birds in general. Many that have been active on the FM birds are getting equipment set up for the SSB/CW birds. It's nice to be able to have a qso that involves more than a callsign and grid exchange. We hope to have FO-29 back soon but VO-52 and AO-7 are there for us every day. A big thanks to all of the grid dxpeditioners who spent a lot of time and money operating from places away from their homes. They have given us many new grids. I hope this encourages others to try their hand at operating from other grids. It's a lot of work but you will have a lot of fun and satisfaction doing it. 73, John K8YSE John Papay john(a)papays.com

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Fox Delta ST2
by Randy 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

I bought this and programmed it to my rotor system But I can seem to get SATPC32 to work with it. I remember someone on the list saying they had one of these .. I hope you are reading this. When I go to the rotor setup and select SAEBRTrackBox Click the appropriate settings, and click ok or store ( tried both ) And restart PCSAT as recommended, and then go back to the rotor Setup, it has toggled back to NONE for the interface.. And his instructions also say that once I restart there is supposed To be a new program running called Server Easy Comm1 running. Don't see that either .. Can anyone shed some light on this? Thanks.. Randy - N2CUA

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Re: Weekend on the Birds
by Rodney Waln 20 Oct '09

20 Oct '09

i have to say the same thing, that it was a good weekend lots of good grids to be had and some new people on at least that i heard, and those that went out of there way to give them grids out, also i would like to thank the AO-51 team for the short period of L-band (L/U) last week, i think i got the kinks out and (john) k8yse was my frist contact all be it a sort contact, and for the jota set up, best regards Rodney kc0zhf DN94

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Re: ITAR is interesting to me
by k0vty＠juno.com 19 Oct '09

19 Oct '09

Gretting to the list I wish to thank everyone that took part in the discussion of ITAR as it pertains to Amateur Satellites. I have learned many things. I am sure others may have also. It is obvious that Amateur Radio before satellites had few if any ITAR problems. Now we have a very specific ITAR path to travel with any Amateur satellite. I submit that the AMSAT BOD is doing a good job for the membership on this ITAR issue There were a question or two dealing with security as it related to indiduals that were working on ITAR compontents or the AMSAT facility itself. At least it seemed to be a stretch for anyone to discuss that issue. There are those like AMSAT that have a almost impossible time dealing with ITAR There are many more that have to do business or engineering work where talking to anyone becomes a probems I never had to concern myself with ITAR and that is the reason I needed to learn more about ITAR. I can assure all that there is another side to ITAR when the rules are not followed and that is the side I worked for on for 37 years. Think of all the testing that must take place when information is lost when the ITAR rules are not followed. No offense to any of my Amateur friends that have hard feeling because of ITAR, I understand. But like always there is always two side to any story. Thanks again Gentlemen Joe Murray K0VTY ================= ____________________________________________________________ Diet Help Cheap Diet Help Tips. Click here. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/c?cp=b34MmqAMRN_tG728LfZcEAAAJ1CmZ…

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MIR sound clip
by Bill Howell 19 Oct '09

19 Oct '09

Here's a MIR clip I recorder years ago, using a cassette recorder with vox, hooked to a Radio Shack scanner. The file is named 8-25-99, but I'm not sure when the recording happened. http://web.mac.com/mrbillmac/Site/MIR_sound_file.html The file plays okay from the web page, on a Mac... haven't tried it on a PC yet. Bill Howell N5AB

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Re: THE DMSP launch
by Daniel Schultz 19 Oct '09

19 Oct '09

Someone wrote: >as I recall there were 50 some odd pounds of ballast launched with the bird...to >bad it wasnt an amateur repeater. >to bad we didnt have something to use that excess performance...they flew >ballast on the flight ----------------------------------------------------------------- Why would they fly ballast on their rocket when they could have flown a ham satellite? 1. Ballast does not need to be tested for Electromagnetic Compatibility or contamination of the primary payload. The Interface Control Document for a block of concrete can be exceedingly simple, with no need to pay a room full of engineers to review it for completeness and accuracy. 2. Ballast does not need to have a separation interface tested and qualified, there is no chance of it coming loose inside the payload shroud during liftoff. 3. Ballast is certain to be ready in time for the launch date, without bringing another organization into the mix. There is no need to conduct a crash engineering program to design a satellite structure that will fit on the Atlas and then test and certify the satellite for compliance with the Atlas vibration and acoustic specifications. 4. Ballast does not have an e-mail group full of whining little people who think they could have designed it better or that it operates on the wrong band or mode, and complaining loudly when the mission falls months or years behind its original launch date. If you were the Colonel in charge of the mission, you could not make a safer choice than launching a block of concrete ballast. A ham satellite is just a lot of additional risk and headache with no possible gain for you or your future career. Somewhere in the world there may be an officer who is willing to take that risk. That is how Oscar-1 was launched in 1961. The challenge is to find that person and nurture a relationship with him or her. If they are reading the comments on Amsat-BB they are probably thinking "there is no way I would ever want to have a relationship with that wacky organization" Dan Schultz N8FGV

11 15

WD5DWP needs help
by Allen F. Mattis 19 Oct '09

19 Oct '09

If anyone can help Philip WD5DWP please respond to him directly - I do not believe he receives amsat-bb. I still tune manually and can not help him. Allen N5AFV >From: "wd5dwp" <wd5dwp(a)gmail.com> >To: <afmattis(a)hal-pc.org> >Subject: I need help >Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:10:27 -0500 >X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.3598 >X-pstn-neptune: 0/0/0.00/0 >X-pstn-levels: (S:25.07981/99.90000 CV:99.9000 FC:95.5390 >LC:95.5390 R:95.9108 P:95.9108 M:97.0282 C:98.6951 ) >X-pstn-settings: 5 (2.0000:2.0000) s cv gt3 gt2 gt1 r p m c >X-pstn-addresses: from <wd5dwp(a)gmail.com> [2484/120] > >Hi Allen: > >Do you know anyone who mignt help me. I am trying to connect my >computer to my 910h and my IC718. Iwant to use HRD but have not >been able to get connected. I have a IC ct-17 interface. > >I dont Know of anyone in my area as we live in the country. Nearest >big city is 60mi in any direction. >Pass this to any one you think might help. I have long distance on >my phone so if they call me I will call them back so they wont have a charge. > >Phone: 985-839-2138 > >73, wd5dwp Philip Buras

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Mesbah-2
by Peter Guelzow 19 Oct '09

19 Oct '09

http://www.astronautix.com/craft/mesbah2.htm

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Re: ITAR is interesting to me
by k0vty＠juno.com 19 Oct '09

19 Oct '09

Thanks Bruce (VE9QRP) All Amateur Satellite ITAR Questions are welcome Bruce. Thanks Joe K0VTY ================== On Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:11:38 -0300 Bruce Robertson <ve9qrp(a)gmail.com> writes: > On Sun, Oct 18, 2009 at 8:31 PM, <k0vty(a)juno.com> wrote: > > Hi Bob (N4HY) > > > > Thanks for taking the time to ponder for the BB and me some of the > twists > > and turns > > of ITAR issues. > > > > I hope the BB apprecaites your time and effort. > > Here are a few more questions? > > I have a further question, if I may, and Bob needn't feel obliged to > answer it. > > Given that AMSAT-NA is by definition a collaboration between > amateurs > on both sides of the US/Canada border, do we have a clear idea > where > ITAR stands with respect to Canadian collaborators? I know that in > 1999 the previous exemption was revoked, but that in 2001 there > were > some changes again. > > 73, Bruce > VE9QRP > > ____________________________________________________________ Click now for great information on the latest in cancer treatment! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/BLSrjpTMhcS6UBOAzuAy7o1Or5C6rv2…

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Congrats to Sumbadilisat team!
by Mark L. Hammond 19 Oct '09

19 Oct '09

Wow, glad to learn of the first QSOs on Sumbadilisat! It must be hugely rewarding to make those first contacts. Bravo to AMSAT-SA! 73, -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

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I: Trouble Adding Satellite to DOPPLER.SQF
by Francesco Grappi 19 Oct '09

19 Oct '09

Hi David, you must have the same "satellite name" on file DOPPLER.SQF and kepler file (amateur.txt) 73 Frank IW4DVZ > -----Messaggio originale----- > Da: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] Per > conto di David Wing > Inviato: lunedì 19 ottobre 2009 18.21 > A: 'Amsat-BB' > Oggetto: [amsat-bb] Trouble Adding Satellite to DOPPLER.SQF > > Not sure what I'm doing wrong but I can't seem to get SUMBDILA > frequency > information added into SatPC32. The satellite recently showed up on my > satellite list the last time I updated my keps but there was no > frequency > information. > > I've updated the DOPPLER.SQF with the following: > > SUMBDILA,435350,145880,FM,FM,NOR,0,0 > > I inserted this in the middle of the file (just after the AO-51 > entries), > saved the file, restarted SatPC32 and still did not see the frequency > info > when I selected the satellite and went to the CAT Tuning window. > > I rebooted the PC and had the same results...no frequency info appears > in > the CAT Tuning window > > It seems pretty straightforward to add this to the file but I must be > doing > something wrong. > > Currently running a registered copy of v.12.8 > > 73 > David > K6CDW > > > _______________________________________________ > 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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Quite an update about Sumbandilasat...
by Andrew Glasbrenner 19 Oct '09

19 Oct '09

posted at http://sumbandilamission.blogspot.com/ . Congratulations to the SA-AMSAT team! 73, Drew KO4MA

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Re: ITAR is interesting to me
by k0vty＠juno.com 19 Oct '09

19 Oct '09

Hi Bob (N4HY) Thanks for taking the time to ponder for the BB and me some of the twists and turns of ITAR issues. I hope the BB apprecaites your time and effort. Here are a few more questions? 8.) How do exclusionary zones with in the US work as in the AO-40 integration and shipping zone, as it relates to ITAR? 9.) How does Amsat-NA insure ITAR security among it's own engineering staff? 10.) Does the German Government have ITAR like laws for the AMSAT-DL folks to follow? 11.) Are there any ITAR shipping limitation involved as to methods and ports? Global is getting to mean many things it would appear. Thanks you sir, when you get more spare time . Regards Joe Murray K0VTY On Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:18:52 -0400 Bob McGwier <rwmcgwier(a)gmail.com> writes: > k0vty(a)juno.com wrote: > > Greetings All: > > > > The Amsat BB is a great source of information we all know: > > I have a few questions about ITAR that I thought might interest > more than > > I. > > I tried to be careful of the words I used. > > > > 1.) Do all launched satellites that have US components or > interests fall > > under ITAR? > > > Yes > > 2.) When does ITAR interest begin for a launchable Amateur > satellite? > > > The minute you wish to discuss what is in it with someone who is not > a > US national or want to ship the thing overseas for launch. > > 3.) Is software and firmware that is a part of a Amateur satellite > at > > launch fall under ITAR? > > > Most definitely > > 4.) Who normally handles University Cube Sat ITAR issues when > Amateur > > frequencies are used? > > > Depends on who is going to do the launch but Cal Poly has been > involved > for sure. > > 5.) Who normally handles US Military school Cube-Sat ITAR issues > when > > Amateur frequencies are use ? > > > U.S. government entities have a form of an exemption because they > are a > component of the U.S. government (and not a for profit company which > > might be tempted to sell intellectual property to the highest > bidder) > and those equities are handled differently. Even then, ITAR only > comes > into play if non-U.S. citizens are involved in the program and/or an > > overseas launch is envisioned. > > 6.) When is there no ITAR interest in a Amateur satellite? > > > There is interest. That is what is causing us so much grief. It > has > effectively ended the participation of AMSAT-NA in Phase 3E. > > 7.) Did Suitsat one or two (ARISSaT-1) have any ITAR problems > since they > > are satellites > > using Amateur frequency? > > > NASA is able to work through different channels than AMSAT has to in > > order to get things launched to the space station. AMSAT-NA will be > > responsible for ALL transfer of components for ARISSat 1 to the > launch > site. We might get assistance from some places in the government > but it > will be handled as an export request and we will have to show how > we > will protect the equities that need protecting under ITAR. > > > > I have more ITAR related questions. > > > > Best Regards > > > > Joe K0VTY > > ==================== > > > > ANY aspect dealing with a satellite, software, hardware, ground > stations > (hardware, software, protocols, etc.), ideas, random ejaculations > from a > diseased mind or whatever that deals with spacecraft or ground > stations > are DEEMED EXPORTS when they depart a U.S. citizen and are delivered > to > a non-U.S. citizen. It is a nearly impossible task to abide by and > one > that really makes me want to throw my hands up in despair and walk > away. > > There are exceptions for classrooms and courses taught in U.S. > university's. A person, even a non-U.S. citizen, who can pay for > taking > a course, may go and involve themselves in course work, even if it > is > dealing with the design, construction, and control of spacecraft > during > the course work. Some of this applies to your earlier questions but > for > US service academies, there are very few non-U.S. citizens in > them. > > Bob > N4HY > > > > -- > (Co)Author: DttSP, Quiktrak, PowerSDR, GnuRadio > Member: ARRL, AMSAT, AMSAT-DL, TAPR, Packrats, > NJQRP, QRP ARCI, QCWA, FRC. > "You don't need to see the whole staircase, just > take the first step.", MLK. > Twitter:rwmcgwier > Active: Facebook,Myspace,LinkedIn > > > > ____________________________________________________________ Cheap Diet Help Tips. Click here. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/BLSrjpTMerseM6huiwDg7vZAreaZevO…

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Re: THE DMSP launch
by Ken Ernandes 19 Oct '09

19 Oct '09

Dan - Great points - especially #4 !!! 73, Ken Ernandes N2WWD -----Original Message----- >From: Daniel Schultz <n8fgv(a)usa.net> >Sent: Oct 18, 2009 11:51 PM >To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org >Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: THE DMSP launch > >Someone wrote: > >>as I recall there were 50 some odd pounds of ballast launched with the >bird...to >>bad it wasnt an amateur repeater. > >>to bad we didnt have something to use that excess performance...they flew >>ballast on the flight > >----------------------------------------------------------------- > >Why would they fly ballast on their rocket when they could have flown a ham >satellite? > >1. Ballast does not need to be tested for Electromagnetic Compatibility or >contamination of the primary payload. The Interface Control Document for a >block of concrete can be exceedingly simple, with no need to pay a room full >of engineers to review it for completeness and accuracy. > >2. Ballast does not need to have a separation interface tested and qualified, >there is no chance of it coming loose inside the payload shroud during >liftoff. > >3. Ballast is certain to be ready in time for the launch date, without >bringing another organization into the mix. There is no need to conduct a >crash engineering program to design a satellite structure that will fit on the >Atlas and then test and certify the satellite for compliance with the Atlas >vibration and acoustic specifications. > >4. Ballast does not have an e-mail group full of whining little people who >think they could have designed it better or that it operates on the wrong band >or mode, and complaining loudly when the mission falls months or years behind >its original launch date. > >If you were the Colonel in charge of the mission, you could not make a safer >choice than launching a block of concrete ballast. A ham satellite is just a >lot of additional risk and headache with no possible gain for you or your >future career. > >Somewhere in the world there may be an officer who is willing to take that >risk. That is how Oscar-1 was launched in 1961. The challenge is to find that >person and nurture a relationship with him or her. If they are reading the >comments on Amsat-BB they are probably thinking "there is no way I would ever >want to have a relationship with that wacky organization" > >Dan Schultz N8FGV > > > >_______________________________________________ >Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. >Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! >Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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Re: THE DMSP launch
by Ken Ernandes 19 Oct '09

19 Oct '09

Dan - Great points - especially #4 !!! 73, Ken Ernandes N2WWD -----Original Message----- >From: Daniel Schultz <n8fgv(a)usa.net> >Sent: Oct 18, 2009 11:51 PM >To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org >Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: THE DMSP launch > >Someone wrote: > >>as I recall there were 50 some odd pounds of ballast launched with the >bird...to >>bad it wasnt an amateur repeater. > >>to bad we didnt have something to use that excess performance...they flew >>ballast on the flight > >----------------------------------------------------------------- > >Why would they fly ballast on their rocket when they could have flown a ham >satellite? > >1. Ballast does not need to be tested for Electromagnetic Compatibility or >contamination of the primary payload. The Interface Control Document for a >block of concrete can be exceedingly simple, with no need to pay a room full >of engineers to review it for completeness and accuracy. > >2. Ballast does not need to have a separation interface tested and qualified, >there is no chance of it coming loose inside the payload shroud during >liftoff. > >3. Ballast is certain to be ready in time for the launch date, without >bringing another organization into the mix. There is no need to conduct a >crash engineering program to design a satellite structure that will fit on the >Atlas and then test and certify the satellite for compliance with the Atlas >vibration and acoustic specifications. > >4. Ballast does not have an e-mail group full of whining little people who >think they could have designed it better or that it operates on the wrong band >or mode, and complaining loudly when the mission falls months or years behind >its original launch date. > >If you were the Colonel in charge of the mission, you could not make a safer >choice than launching a block of concrete ballast. A ham satellite is just a >lot of additional risk and headache with no possible gain for you or your >future career. > >Somewhere in the world there may be an officer who is willing to take that >risk. That is how Oscar-1 was launched in 1961. The challenge is to find that >person and nurture a relationship with him or her. If they are reading the >comments on Amsat-BB they are probably thinking "there is no way I would ever >want to have a relationship with that wacky organization" > >Dan Schultz N8FGV > > > >_______________________________________________ >Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. >Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! >Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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Re: ao7 hand held ants//amsat listening
by paul robinson 19 Oct '09

19 Oct '09

Hi guys thanks for responding and i fully understand whats involved....but from a sat opp point of view it would be nice if we could manage one bird like a07 ...that is its hight? and transponder ever 25 years? or so...?? and not have to rely on 25 year old tech...that works and works well...im a big beleaver ...keep it simple it works and lasts Thanks for all ur hard work and im sure im not alone in saying keep up the good work and lets hope a ride comes along to for fill our needs..so we can keep this great part of the hobby on going! de paul ......raining in scotland

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Cheap CP 2.4 ghz antenna?
by Greg D. 19 Oct '09

19 Oct '09

Hi folks, So I have a pair of 14 dbi flat panel "Wi-Fi" antennas, complete with pigtail and N connector. I assume they're linearly polarized. Satellite downlinks really ought to be circular, if possible. For satellite use, could I simply mount the two on my Az/El rotor boom, with one rotated 90-degrees from the other, and with a 1.23 inch shim behind it (for the 1/4 wave offset, if I did the math right), then combine the two antennas with a simple "T" connector? The impedance would be wrong, but for Rx only, probably irrelevant. I'd be feeding it into a Kuhne preamp, and from there to the Drake downconverter. As a receive setup for the likes of AO-40, this probably wouldn't be all that good. My 30" screened BBQ Grill with helix feed, after all, was barely up to the job. But for AO-51's V/US mode, I'd think it would be fine, offer a whole lot less wind resistance, and weigh a whole lot less too. Since AO-51's 2.4 ghz antenna is linearly polarized, it probably doesn't matter whether the result is left-hand or right-hand polarized, so it doesn't matter that I forget which "hand" rule to use for figuring it out... I've also heard that these panel antennas may have great numerical gain, but also have a lot of loss (cheap PC board materials), so maybe this isn't too good of an idea. What do you think? Greg KO6TH _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Trusted email with powerful SPAM protection. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/177141665/direct/01/

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Why do hamsats? (Or anything else...)
by Mark VandeWettering 18 Oct '09

18 Oct '09

I'll limit my comments to two issues: > Ham radio is about communicating. If we want to turn its primary task into > "education" then it will look very very different. Part 97.1 tells us what the intended (not always realized, it must be said) purpose of amateur radio is. it certainly is intended to be a communication service, but the regulations also recognize the importance of education in Part 97.1(c): (c) Encouragement and improvement of the amateur service through rules which provide for advancing skills in both the communications and technical phases of the art. Education (particularly self-education) has always been a principle of amateur radio. Indeed, from 97.3(a)(4), the definition of amateur service: (4) Amateur service. A radiocommunication service for the purpose of self-training, intercommunication and technical investigations carried out by amateurs, that is, duly authorized persons interested in radio technique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest. It does list "intercommunication", but it also lists "self-training" and "technical investigations", which certainly have a clear educational mandate. I admit that most hams don't seem to take this educational mandate very seriously, but it is there, and I applaud AMSAT in their educational efforts. In the grand scheme of things, I think having school kids talk to astronauts in orbit probably does more social good than allowing hams work DX. Secondly, regarding the chances of success of ARISS-Sat-1, first, I hope you are wrong. I hope it is successful, and that the SDX transponder provides some unique opportunities for radio amateurs. As to whether flying such a payload is a reasonable use of this rare launch opportunity, I think it clearly is. Yes, we could kick a very basic linear transponder out of the ISS, and it would float around in LEO and allow you to make some contacts, but so what? What purpose would be served? To get to _affordable_ amateur satellites, we have to find a way to actually pay for launches. This means (among other things) limiting mass, and that means relying on the benefits that digital control can in controlling and minimizing power consumption. You can't just run a bent pipe transponder on a 1U cubesat and expect anything useful to develop. We need to think Robert also mentioned the decreasing satellite population. It isn't decreasing because satellites are becoming more expensive: indeed, as Bob Bruninga has pointed out, the actual hardware costs of satellites have fallen dramatically. The problem is that we can't get people to donate free launches to get our stuff into orbit. AO-10 had a mass of about 90kg. Arianspace wants 1.8 million euros to launch that into HEO orbit. The cost of the development and construction of the satellite is just the smallest fraction of that cost. To make satellite launches affordable, we need to figure out new ways to shrink the mass, provide careful power control, and either accept lower orbits or figure out new ways to boost satellites to higher orbits (I find the micropropulsion work to be very interesting). It's a pity we can't harness the power of complaining to boost things to orbit... 73 Mark K6HX

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Tucson Hamfest
by Tom 18 Oct '09

18 Oct '09

It was my pleasure to meet both Patrick, WD9EWK, and Ed, N7EDK, at the Tucson Hamfest yesterday. My first eye-to-eye meeting with those whom I'd worked on the satellites. Tom, KØTW

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WD9EWK at the Tucson hamfest and New Mexico yesterday
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 18 Oct '09

18 Oct '09

Hi! Yesterday was a busy - and enjoyable - day spent in southern Arizona and (briefly) southwestern New Mexico. A hamfest, followed by a drive toward the Arizona/New Mexico border, for a total of 549 miles (883km) including my drive down to Tucson on Friday evening. The hamfest was the Old Pueblo Radio Club's annual hamfest in Tucson. I attended this event last year, which was a very cold morning. For yesterday, it was warm enough so I didn't need a jacket. In fact, it was getting rather warm by mid-morning. The better weather meant a larger crowd showed up - buyers and sellers. I brought the AMSAT "flag" back to this hamfest, and set up next to the ARRL table. There was a regular stream of traffic by the table, and good crowds for the demonstrations (one AO-51 pass, two SO-50 passes, and two VO-52 passes - although I did not work stations on the first of the two VO-52 pass). The AO-51 pass started just before the official start of the hamfest at 7am (1400 UTC). Despite the fact that this pass went by to my west, there were 12 QSOs made with stations across much of the USA along with stations in Canada and Mexico. Not a bad start. There was a VO-52 pass at 1537 UTC I had hoped to work, but I had problems hearing the downlink. Normally, I have not had problems with the 2m downlinks, even with an air force base a couple of miles/km east of the hamfest. I apologize to those who were hoping to hear - and work - me on that pass. SO-50 first came just after 1600 UTC, and there were a couple of JOTA stations from Texas on there. I worked one of them, along with 4 other US stations. Then the second (western) VO-52 pass showed up an hour later. This time, I had no problems hearing the downlink. Glenn AA5PK in Texas and Bob W7LRD in Washington state answered my CQ calls. Thanks for the contacts - they helped bring out a "that's cool" remark from a long-time ham who was previously active on AO-10 and AO-13, seeing me work SSB via satellite with two FT-817s and a handheld antenna. The final SO-50 pass came by a little after 1800 UTC, and 3 more stations were logged. Thenks to the Old Pueblo Radio Club for providing me the space for the AMSAT table, and also to those stations who worked me (and, on the first VO-52 pass, tried to work me). Having the crowd hear where the other stations are located helps to show that our satellites cover a large area - even if the footprints are not what we might hope for. After the hamfest, I decided to spend my afternoon and early evening around the Arizona/New Mexico border. I've operated from several locations in southeastern Arizona on trips earlier this year, so I wanted to do something a little different. Instead of parking on a grid boundary, this trip would be to the state line. From Tucson, I drove about 135 miles/217km - a little less than 2 hours - on the I-10 freeway to reach the state line. There is a freeway exit very close to this spot, and from there I drove on a dirt track up to the state line (grid DM52lf). Along with the signs on the freeway showing the state line, there was a concrete marker across the freeway on the state line. I lined up my truck so the radio gear in the back of it sat on the state line, and took lots of photos of that and the area - along with the GPS readout. Then I waited for the 2235 UTC AO-27 pass. Once the AO-27 repeater switched on, I worked 5 stations on that pass. This location was a good one for passes to the west, or high passes to the east. For the AO-51 pass around 2318 UTC, which was a shallow pass to the northeast, a hill blocked me in that direction. I drove 5 miles/8km east of the state line to reach the town of Road Forks in New Mexico (grid DM52mf). From here, I had good visibility to the northeast down to the horizon, and I was ready for this pass. The first few minutes were busy, when I worked 10 stations in a 3-minute apan. After that, several minutes passed with many signals or QRM clogged the uplink. Just before the end of the pass, I was able to work two more stations before the satellite went away from me. Even with the period where I logged no QSOs, that was still a good pass. I went back to the state line for the second AO-51 pass, at 0054 UTC. This was a very high pass, approximately 65 degrees maximum elevation to the west, as the sun was setting behind mountains to the west. Stations were heard from southern Mexico to Alaska and western Canada, and across most of the USA. Clint's JOTA station was on the air, and David XE3DX was also operating a JOTA station with a group of Mexican Scouts (Drew - I will get you more information on the XE JOTA satellite activity shortly). WD9EWK logged 17 QSOs on this western pass. Whether it was the rarely-heard grid DM52 or the fact I was working from a state line, it was an enjoyable pass. When AO-51 went away for the last time, I quickly disassembled my antenna and packed up for the 240-mile/386km drive home. Between the hamfest and the post-hamfest activity at or near the Arizona/New Mexico state line, I logged a total of 56 QSOs. I will mail QSL cards to all of those who worked WD9EWK at the hamfest. If you worked me after the hamfest and want a card, please e-mail me with the QSO details. I plan on mailing cards from Saturday's activity, along with the cards from my east-coast trip last week in the coming week. Thanks to everyone for the QSOs, and especially the QSOs at the hamfest during my demonstrations. Having some regular satellite operators show up and make contacts with me - especially when we are mentioning where the other stations are located - makes a great impression on the crowds listening in. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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JOTA Contacts on AO-51 00:55 GMT
by Clint Bradford 18 Oct '09

18 Oct '09

Thank you, Mexico! Thank you, Northern California and AMSAT Patrick! Thank you, Texas! (That IS three countries, isn't it ???) I was invited MONTHS ago to show off AMSAT at the Victor Valley Amateur Radio Club's JOTA at the San Bernardino County Fairgrounds. It's an hour drive each way for me ... there ARE "closer" JOTA events occurring ... But Victorville was the first to ask ... We had a GREAT time. Arrived at 1PM for lunch, set up out informal table for the scouts to visit, and then had the wonderful pass of AO-51 at 5:55PM local time. I did NOT record the pass to initiate QSL cards - but will certainly respond to ANY of the 8+ contacts we made on both the special JOTA repeater and the "normal" V/U repeater. (That's INCLUDING Patrick, who I think had one foot in New Mexico and the other in Arizona ...) Wonderful kids ... supportive parents ... Elmers from as far away as San Diego (150 miles' drive each way). Even got my wife to go with me this time, right after her month-long trip to Tibet. Ya know when you can impress your spouse, you've accomplished SOMEthing! We couldn't spend the night, as both our horse and burro(*) called us to remind us of their regular evening feeding. Seeing scores of kids that age as interested in amateur radio and electronics and mathematics as these kids were - just makes me believe that the next generation of policy makers were in the audience .... Clint Bradford, K6LCS http://www.work-sat.com (*) - Yes - If you have read my "bio" that's all over the 'Net, I do, indeed, own a burro. "His name" - you might ask? "edward R. Burro." ---------------------------------- Clint Bradford, K6LCS http://www.clintbradford.com

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Alaska Special Event Station
by Dale Hershberger 18 Oct '09

18 Oct '09

I want to thank the stations that I made contact with on the last pass on AO27 K7WIN, VA7VW, W6ZKH and Sawson, KG6NUB right at the end. As I stated before check out the KL5O.com website for QSL info. They have a nice QSL card. 73, Dale - KL7XJ

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2M1EUB/P VIA AO7 HAND HELD ANTS
by paul robinson 18 Oct '09

18 Oct '09

A BIG THANKS ! to every one who took place in the fun on ao7 mode b...i was working hand held ants at 2700' on a mountain top io87ie at the LECHT ski centre ....i had to give up in the end very high winds ,rain and cold ....4 below this morning! i was so cold after 4 and half hours!!! big thank you to bob w7lrd for geting up early ...sorry we didnt make it...but one of these days we will ...thanks bob!! and thanks to every one elce who worked me...what a great old bird it is ....good transponder and good foot print !!!!!! AMSAT ARE YOU LISTENING??? FOOT PRINT BEING IMPORTANT!! 73 all ill still be active from io87mc for 7days...de paul

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The Next Generation of Amateur Radio Satellites
by Alex, N3SQ 18 Oct '09

18 Oct '09

Robert, Congratulations for volunteering to organize development of an analog linear transponder. Please contact me and the AMSAT Systems Engineering team for mass, volume, power consumption, and heat generation requirements for your linear transponder board. We will provide you the interface specification to the IHU for control and ICB (Interconnect Control Board) for power distribution. Oh, and they're not 10 year olds, they are 22 year olds who are about 8 months away from receiving their Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering or Mechanical Engineering or Systems Engineering or Industrial Engineering Degree from the State University of New York system. And there are 34 (thirty-four) of them working on the NextGen Project for AMSAT. I will gladly set up a conference call next week at 6PM EDT on Wednesday where you can talk with the Systems Engineering team to discuss the details of the requirements. We are scheduling the CDR (Critical Design Review) for the last week in January 2010. I expect you will be ready for this design review because since "such people exist" and they will have designs that meet the spacecraft's requirements. You must have the board ready for Systems Integration Test in Mid-March 2010. We will be putting the system on AMSAT's table at the Dayton Hamvention. Please have your prototype board budget and schedule ready for PDR (Preliminary Design Review) during the 2nd week of December, 2009. They are tight time frames but we are just doing evolutionary, not revolutionary changes to the design. We also have a team of 27 upper-division undergraduate senior Systems Engineers, university System Engineering professors and experienced professional Systems Engineers with multiple decades of industry experience working on the project. I suggest, you and anyone else who wishes to declare their intension to volunteer on a board project should read our presentation from the AMSAT Symposium. Alex Harvilchuck, N3NP/SO4NNP Program Manager, AMSAT NextGen Program ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Sun, 18 Oct 2009 12:37:44 -0500 From: Rocky Jones <orbitjet(a)hotmail.com> Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Why do hamsats? (Or anything else...) To: <bbj(a)innismir.net> Cc: Amsat BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org>, k6hx(a)arrl.net Message-ID: <COL106-W45FA0985C6EE33197B1B54D6C20(a)phx.gbl> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > Date: Sun, 18 Oct 2009 12:57:34 -0400 > > From: bbj(a)innismir.net > > To: orbitjet(a)hotmail.com > I wrote: > > > >> > > In my view better engineering doctrine would imply that we try and >> > > put the digital transponder ON ISS and let it "cook" there for a bit. >> > > > you replied > > Yup, that would be ideal, I'm nominating you to head that project. This > > is right up your alley, as since you and your friends within the JSC > > can navigate the political process easily. Lets run this in tandem with > > the ARISSSat project. > > > > Thanks for volunteering! > > > > -- > > Ben Jackson - N1WBV - New Bedford, MA > > bbj <at> innismir.net - http://www.innismir.net/ > one has to wonder Ben why didnt they try it? There would have been a few more issues involved in terms of operating the thing on ISS other then just deploying it (mostly RF work)... but... as for me heading the project. I'd deep six the entire software defined transponder, put it on a development effort with some heavy program guidance...find some people who wanted to build linear transponders even if they were overseas (such people exist already) and start flying as many of those as possible. Right now what in my view the satellite community needs is a 100 percent Oscar 7 or 10...not some technological development issues. If I were king we would have something to offer the USAF if they had spare lift on a Centaur as they just had...remember the original Oscar's flew on USAF vehicles. in the meantime I will continue to keep my technical skills sharp (grin) by helping the 10 year olds put together a buoy that is going to float in Clear Lake... Robert WB5MZO

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Alaska Special Event Station
by Dale Hershberger 18 Oct '09

18 Oct '09

To all out there. I will be QRV on Satellites as KL5O, a special event station in celebration of Alaska's 50yrs of statehood. I was notified to participate just a short while ago. I was on some of the earlier passes. This event will go on until 10pm local time. QSL info is on the www.KL5O.com website. Special cards will be available. Hope to make contact with you. Dale-kl7xj

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FN65 on AO-27 18Oct 1845z
by John Papay 18 Oct '09

18 Oct '09

Richard, N2SPI, is in FN65 and will operate on the next AO-27 pass at 1845z, 18 Oct. This was unplanned, hence the short notice. Good luck! 73, John K8YSE John Papay john(a)papays.com

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Re: W7LRD to 2M1EUB/P via AO7 10/18
by Mika Siira 18 Oct '09

18 Oct '09

>----Alkuperäinen viesti---- >Lähettäjä: gordon(a)gjcp.net >Päivämäärä: 18.10.2009 11:56 >Vastaanottaja: <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> >Aihe: [amsat-bb] Re: W7LRD to 2M1EUB/P via AO7 10/18 > >On Sun, 2009-10-18 at 07:14 +0000, Bob- W7LRD wrote: >> >> That subject may be a bit optimistic. Bob and Paul will be trying to >> stretch the footprint. At the applicable passes between Scotland and >> Seattle. So when Seattle comes into the footpint a little bit of room >> would be appreciated. Remember, "if this were easy, everyone would be >> doing it!". >> > >>From the west coast of the US, to the east coast of the UK? That *is* >quite a stretch. I'm not even sure the satellite is over the horizon in >both locations at any point. > >Gordon MM0YEQ > >_______________________________________________ >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 > Hello Bob and Gordon, AO-7 is above the horizon in both locations on next pass (AOS here around 17:10 UTC). Bob, good luck in QSO attempt, I will be also monitoring from KP25 square! Mika, OH8MBN

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homemade arrow rotator motors
by Joseph Armbruster 18 Oct '09

18 Oct '09

All, I am working on designing a rotator that the arrow antenna can snap into. I am aiming for this platform to be portable, so that it could be packed up and taken to different events. The base of the system will be a small circular rotating platform, that will provide a full 360 degree of freedom. The 'arm' that will hold the antenna itself, will provide elevation and roll control. I have seen a couple of random videos online of people that have made rotators but I haven't seen any that have the entire antenna mounted... or a system that provides for a flexible amount of movement. I am interested in talking to anyone that has hacked at something like this, in order to discuss lessons learned. In addition, i'd like to find out which motors you chose and why. The arrow antenna with the di-plexer weighs roughly 2lbs. Right now, I am looking at two different companies that provide stepper motors, namely: http://www.kelinginc.net http://www.linengineering.com Joe

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I: homemade arrow rotator motors
by Francesco Grappi 18 Oct '09

18 Oct '09

Hi Joe You can see some picture may be interesting here http://195.43.189.179/yappa/index.php?album=%2FSatelliti%2F&page=1 73" Frank IW4DVZ -----Messaggio originale----- Da: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] Per conto di Joseph Armbruster Inviato: domenica 18 ottobre 2009 15.53 A: AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org Oggetto: [amsat-bb] homemade arrow rotator motors All, I am working on designing a rotator that the arrow antenna can snap into. I am aiming for this platform to be portable, so that it could be packed up and taken to different events. The base of the system will be a small circular rotating platform, that will provide a full 360 degree of freedom. The 'arm' that will hold the antenna itself, will provide elevation and roll control. I have seen a couple of random videos online of people that have made rotators but I haven't seen any that have the entire antenna mounted... or a system that provides for a flexible amount of movement. I am interested in talking to anyone that has hacked at something like this, in order to discuss lessons learned. In addition, i'd like to find out which motors you chose and why. The arrow antenna with the di-plexer weighs roughly 2lbs. Right now, I am looking at two different companies that provide stepper motors, namely: http://www.kelinginc.net http://www.linengineering.com Joe _______________________________________________ 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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New Satellite Concept for Earth-Mars Comms
by Jeff Davis 18 Oct '09

18 Oct '09

"Direct communication between Earth and Mars can be strongly disturbed and even blocked by the Sun for weeks at a time, cutting off any future human mission to the Red Planet. An ESA engineer working with engineers in the UK may have found a solution using a new type of orbit combined with continuous-thrust ion propulsion." Read the story at PhysOrg.com: http://www.physorg.com/news174907594.html -- Jeff, KE9V

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Re: satpc32 problems
by Erich Eichmann 18 Oct '09

18 Oct '09

Bob, my answer to your mail from Oct. 16 has twice been returned by comcast.net. The same happened with previous of my mails to you. In the returned message they say: "A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed: w7lrd(a)comcast.net SMTP error from remote mailer after initial connection: host mx2.comcast.net [76.96.30.116]: 554 IMTA07.emeryville.ca.mail.comcast.net comcast 194.25.134.18 Comcast block for spam. Please see http://help.comcast.net/content/faq/BL000000 ". Under the link they say: "Our filters have determined that email from your mail server has been sent in patterns which are characteristic of spam.". Do you still have another e-mail address? To be sure that you get this mail I send it also via AMSAT-BB. 73s, Erich, DK1TB ----- Original Message ----- From: Bob- W7LRD To: dk1tb(a)amsat.org Sent: Friday, October 16, 2009 5:43 PM Subject: Fwd: satpc32 problems ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: "Bob- W7LRD" <w7lrd(a)comcast.net> To: dk1tb(a)amsat.net Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 7:03:06 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Subject: satpc32 problems Hello Eric I hate to be a complainer but I am having ongoing issues with the program. When tracking a satellite and driving the LVB tracker. More often than not the LVB will stop tracking, while satpc continues. The only way I can get everything back running (short of manual control) is to shut off the LVB, turn it back on, restart satpc32 and then select the desired satellite. Lately with AO51 being in mode L/U close accurate tracking is necessary due to high gain antenna for 1.2ghz. I have been told there is no "hand shaking" between the computer and LVB, so the LVB just receives the data. I have reinstalled satpc32 and no change. I also get a note on the computer "program not responding", then asked if I want to send a message to MS. Could it be a windows issue?? Any advice is appreciated. 73 Bob W7LRD Seattle, Wa.

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W7LRD to 2M1EUB/P via AO7 10/18
by Bob- W7LRD 18 Oct '09

18 Oct '09

That subject may be a bit optimistic. Bob and Paul will be trying to stretch the footprint. At the applicable passes between Scotland and Seattle. So when Seattle comes into the footpint a little bit of room would be appreciated. Remember, "if this were easy, everyone would be doing it!". 73 Bob W7LRD Seattle, Wa.

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IC910/KJ6KO amp project
by Bob- W7LRD 17 Oct '09

17 Oct '09

Hello I have reactivated this project. I have finished a sequencer by W6PQL. With a handfull of various relays I will be connecting everything together. Before the last "smoke test" I would like to hear from anyone who has done this project before (910's aren't cheap). I would like to know how you connected everything PTT for 910, amp, relay timing etc. Anything else you can think of. On satellite uplink at 1268.7Mhz we don't care about receiving. However around W. Wa. there is some 1296 activity which is fun to play with. Antennas are either a 16 turn helix or two stacked 24 element loop yagis. 73 Bob W7LRD CN87

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Re: AO-51 @ 23:20 UTC
by k0vty＠juno.com 17 Oct '09

17 Oct '09

Hi Tim Your post reminded me of a time long ago. I understand FM and Discriminator capture versus side band. It was on AO-13 with a group chatting when all of a sudden there was a very strong signal that done the same thing to a linear transponder as a strong CW on freq would do to FM. As soon as the strong signal cease we attempted to get to the bottom of the issue. It took 15 minutes or so when we found we had a Russian EME station on our hands trying satellite for the first time. After much attenuation we all had a nice chat. I never heard that lad after that so I do not know what his summation of his efforts were. 73's Joe K0VTY =================== On Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:37:07 -0700 (PDT) Tim - N3TL <n3tl(a)bellsouth.net> writes: > Hey everyone, > > For those of you who didn't hear the pass, the ability to reach > AO-51 vaporized about 2/3 through this last orbit up North America > from the south, thanks to a carrier or some kind of interference > stronger than I have ever heard. Whatever captured the satellite's > uplink wiped out every signal trying to reach the satellite, based > on what I heard from EM84. > > I would direct this message to the control team and not post it to > the BB if I believed for one second that what resulted in complete > jamming of the satellite was not intentional and malicious. > > I believe that it was. > > Tim - N3TL > _______________________________________________ > 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 > > ____________________________________________________________ Best Weight Loss Program - Click Here! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/BLSrjpTFoYe97Lr6atFPx4DukBrl5vh…

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DN00-01 Grid-pedition Complete
by Mark Spencer 17 Oct '09

17 Oct '09

Geeeeze, now I know why DN00 and 01 are rare grids! There literally isn't anything out there, certainly no local RFI or traffic. It took 7 hours of driving round trip for 7 minutes of satellite time.hum 60 to 1, guess that ain't bad. Anyway, thanks to all who stuck it out through some QRM and congestion to make contact. Simply confirm the contact via e-mail and your cards will be in the mail, no SASE or QSLs required on this end. 73, Mark Mark Spencer, WA8SME ARRL, the national association for Amateur RadioT Education and Technology Program Coordinator mspencer(a)arrl.org http://www.arrl.org/FandES/tbp/ 530-495-9150

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Re: DM07
by w6zkh＠comcast.net 17 Oct '09

17 Oct '09

John, I dont know what happen, but I didnt hear a thing on the AO-27 pass that was East of me. Checked the pass data on SatPc32 and made sure I was on the right freq's, but didnt hear a thing, so was a complete bust for that Grid. I even had an audience, and sure felt like an idiot after building up the excitement, and then zilch. Oh well.... I guess it happens. Even the SO-50 pass that I talked to Patrick was very noisy, and that is probably due to all the intermod in the area I was in, not only from the commercial stations, but from hams walking around keying up their mikes, talking to no one, just kerchunking the 440 repeaters. Very thick and heavy fog this morning going to Fresno, with visibility down to 100 feet in some spots, and then most of the day overcast, hot and humid, which is rare here. There is an unusual High over us, causing this very early fog season. Felt like I was back in Alabama and Mississippi on my road trip... Unknown when I'll get back up that way......not for a month or more I am sure, but I'll hope for an AO-51 pass instead. Sorry it didnt work out.. John W6ZKH ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Papay" <john(a)papays.com> To: w6zkh(a)comcast.net Sent: Saturday, October 17, 2009 6:40:11 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Subject: DM07 John, Did you cancel your trip to DM07 today. Didn't hear you on the AO-27 pass that WA8SME was on. Patrick reported hearing you in the morning from DM06 but didn't hear you on any other pass. Hope everything is ok there. The AO-27 pass was a zoo but Doug and I both made a contact with WA8SME. Let me know if you plan to operate from DM07 in the future. Thanks. 73, John K8YSE John Papay john(a)papays.com

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ANS-291 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by JoAnne Maenpaa 17 Oct '09

17 Oct '09

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-291 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 ********************************************************************** * AMSAT thanks Frank Bauer, KA3HDO and Janet Bauer and the entire * * 2009 Symposium Team for a spectacular and inspiring event! * ********************************************************************** In this edition: * AMSAT Says "We're Going Back to Space" * AMSAT, IBM, SUNY-Binghamton Announce NextGen CubeSat Development * Discussions Continue For New AMSAT Lab Site * Canadian Hams to Share 430-450 MHz With Military System * AO-51 Operations Schedule Posted * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-291.01 AMSAT Says "We're Going Back to Space" AMSAT News Service Bulletin 291.01 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 18, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-291.01 The Board of Directors has adopted the Engineering Task Force recommendation that low-cost launch options be immediately pursued. The AMSAT engineering team will develop a 1U CubeSat design effective immediately. Tony Monteiro, AA2TX, Vice-President of Engineering said, "We are recommending an approach that gets AMSAT back up in space with new satellites by leveraging the skills and technology we have today." The new AMSAT CubeSat's initial capability is planned to add to the popular low-earth orbit FM transponder fleet allowing hams to continue to use their existing handheld and portable antenna systems. This also allows an accessible entry path for new satellite operators to get started. The existing FM satellites are starting to show their age. The flight version of ARISSat-1 has been developed to fit into the CubeSat model. AMSAT's flexible Software Defined Transponder (SDX), simplified IHU, power control subsystem, external interfaces to ex- perimental payloads and cameras will now allow a modular approach to mission design using proven subsystems and components. The ARISSat-1 mission planned in 2010 will be the initial flight test of AMSAT's modular satellite. Here are some of the highlights ... + AMSAT will develop comparable AO-51 level of performance packaged into a 1U CubeSat. This includes a U-V transponder, V telemetry, U command receiver, IHU, power control. This can be done with our modular design. + This will be a U/V FM Transponder, not done before in a 1U CubeSat, which can be worked with a HT and a simple antenna. CubeSat power limitations are planned to be addressed through research and devel- opment of deployable solar-cells. + AMSAT will make our open-design satellite modules and technology available for other satellite teams to build into their missions. + This new approach will provide a reliable radio link for future CubeSats allowing university teams to concentrate on their scientific objectives. + The modular nature of the AMSAT CubeSat system will allow add-on missions utilizing several different types of modulation and band- width. These can be pursued with future low-cost CubeSat launch opportunities. AMSAT President, Barry Baines, WD4ASW Annual Meeting Powerpoint Presentation has been posted at http://www.amsat.org [ANS thanks the AMSAT Board of Directors for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-291.02 AMSAT, IBM, SUNY-Binghamton Announce NextGen CubeSat Development AMSAT News Service Bulletin 291.02 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 18, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-291.02 AMSAT will work with a university student engineering team to develop the NextGen Cubesat. NextGen Program Manager, Alex Harvilchuck, N3NP introduced this new program at the AMSAT Symposium. Alex revealed program goals and its initial plans with a paper in the Proceedings and presentations to the AMSAT Board of Directors and to the attendees during Symposium sessions. NextGen consists of AMSAT volunteer mentors working with IBM Global Services Systems Engineering Division, and SUNY-Binghamton (also called University of Binghamton) senior level engineering students participating in their 'capstone' engineering project. Alex summarized the NexGen program goals: + Intial analysis of ARISSat-1, documenting the systems, and analysis of the lessons learned from ARISSat-1 and other prior spacecraft to create a building block architecture for future satellites. + Open, modular, evolutionary, and documented design based on this analysis. + Redesigning the ARISSat-1 Power Systems into a next generation power system using supercapacitors instead of batteries and reducing the footprint of some of the boards. + Analysis and modification to the structure to incorporate deployable solar panels with a scalable design that will work for 1U, 2U and 3U sizes. + Design a Picosat-class bus structure that AMSAT, or any other Univer- sity, can use for 1U, 2U, or 3U CubeSat spacecraft. AMSAT could make the open design available at low-to-no-cost to qualified University groups. + An Engineering Model of the NextGen CubeSat spacecraft bus will be on display at the Dayton Hamvention AMSAT Booth for everyone to study. Alex summarized, "Starting with our initial core team of 34 students, plus advisers, mentors and volunteers at Binghamton University this will be an ongoing effort. It is not a one time event, but the start of a stable, evolutionary design process that will further STEM (Sci- ence, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) with the Next Generation of engineers and amateur radio operators. We are looking for other individuals and University/School teams to participate in all aspects of the spacecraft design - RF Systems - Guidance, Navigation, Control & Experiment Systems - Power & Structure Systems." Volunteer mentors are needed! Even if you only have an hour a week, you can mentor a student over the phone or you can peer review a document that the students are working on. If you have more than an hour a week, you can implement a small design change to an existing subsystem; you could respin the board layout to meet a reduced form factor; you could redesign a module to use different technology. Contact Alex via e-mail at amsat(a)elkmtn.org . AMSAT's Board of Directors has approved the support of the University of Binghamton NextGen Cubesat Proposal and agreed to provide $1,200.00 in immediate funding to the Binghamton Foundation to support student expenses and initially budgeted $10,000.00 to cover material costs associated with hardware development between September 2009 and May 2010. The Board will review progress at the end of the first semester. [ANS thanks Alex, N3NP and AMSAT Board of Directors for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-291.03 Discussions Continue For New AMSAT Lab Site AMSAT News Service Bulletin 291.03 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 18, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-291.03 AMSAT President, Barry Baines, WD4ASW discussed an opportunity under serious discussions with the University of Florida, Gainesville to locate AMSAT's satellite laboratory on campus. Among discussions over the past 12 months, AMSAT has had conversa- tions with several universities concerning a potential relationship. This opportunity arose out of an amateur radio talk given at The Villages ARC by Dave, AA4KN and Drew, KO4MA in April. This lead to contact with UF's Dr. Norman Fitz-Coy. A Memorandum of Understanding has been drafted and is currently under review by legal teams. At this time there is no timeframe for bringing about a formal conclusion as the MOU discussions continue and internal UF approval still needed. Relocating the AMSAT Lab from the 'Eastern Shore' to 'The Swamp' offers significant potential: + Location on a major university campus in a state-of-the-art building + Integrated into a facility focused on small satellite development with clean room installation at the host's expense (not AMSAT) + Potential for student projects focused on AMSAT needs + Broadening of AMSAT's presence in the wider university community + Potential research/development opportunities for AMSAT and AMSAT members + Establishing a program that offers significant traction for education outreach [ANS thanks AMSAT President, Barry Baines, WD4ASW for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-291.04 Canadian Hams to Share 430-450 MHz With Military System AMSAT News Service Bulletin 291.04 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 18, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-291.04 Amateur Radio Newsline #1678 reported that Industry Canada has informed Radio Amateurs of Canada that it has authorized the Department of National Defense to use a digital system called Enhanced Position Location Reporting System or EPLRS in the 430 to 450 MHz shared 70 centimeter band. The EPLRS system consists of mobile, fixed, transportable and airborne stations that use 5 MHz-wide spread spectrum channels to provide strategic telemetry information for military platforms. This authorization is on a no-protection, non-interference basis, which means that no new restrictions will be imposed on Canadian amateur operations in this band as a result. Industry Canada says that there is a slight chance of minor interference to amateur radio systems. Typically in the form of a minor audible clicking noise. If Canadian amateurs encounter such interference, they are requested to report it by e-mail to Radio Amateurs of Canada at regulatory at rac dot ca. The information reported should include the geographical location, date, time, frequency and mode being used by the amateur station, and a description of theinterference. [ANS thanks Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1678 and RAC for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-291.05 AO-51 Operations Schedule Posted AMSAT News Service Bulletin 291.05 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 18, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-291.05 The AO-51 command team has posted the operating schedule for the remainder of October. For the latest Command Team and Operations Group news about AO-51 refer to: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/echo/CTNews.php October 17 - October 18 FM Repeater, V/U Uplink: 145.920 MHz FM Downlink: 435.300 MHz FM JOTA Only FM Repeater, V/U Please give way to JOTA stations or QSOs with JOTA stations Uplink: 145.880 MHz FM Downlink: 435.150 MHz FM October 19 - October 25 FM Repeater, V/U Uplink: 145.920 MHz FM Downlink: 435.300 MHz FM 9k6 BBS, L/U Uplink: 1268.700 MHz 9k6 FM Downlink: 435.150 MHz 9k6 FM October 26 - November 1 FM Repeater, V/US Uplink: 145.920 MHz FM Downlink: 435.300 and 2401.200 MHz FM [ANS thanks AO-51 Command Team Member Mark, N8MH for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-291.06 Satellite Shorts From All Over AMSAT News Service Bulletin 291.06 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. October 18, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-291.06 + The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) has a feature story on the ARISS antennas that will be launched to the ISS on STS-129 in mid- November and installed on the Columbus module during the mission's second spacewalk. See: http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2009/10/05/11110/?nc=1 + Mineo Wakita, JE9PEL reports that at present FO-29 is only turned on once a week over Japan for testing of its power system. + Bob, N4HY has uploaded his camera phone pictures from the 2009 Symposium at http://twitpic.com/photos/rwmcgwier + Although EME is a bit off topic, every ham wishes for antennas like these. Here is a video from the Echoes of Apollo event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHGXp4Afr4g&feature=related + Amateur satellite operators in range of the west coast will have an opportunity to work W6FOG as he sails from San Francisco to Puerto Vallarta departing on 10/19/09. Neil will be working many of the ocean grids on the way. + Jim, ND9M/VQ9JC is presently deployed on a Navy ship heading for Sumatra on a humanitarian mission with fresh water for the victims of the recent earthquakes there. Jim has been active with his FT897 (TX) and the FT817 (RX) using an Arrow antenna and a UPS battery for power. He operates from the Helicopter Pad on the ship. JIm says, "There isn't much activity in the Indian Ocean but he is working VU's and E21's and handing out rare water grids!" + Hams like science so here are a couple of links to follow. National Geographic has a zoomable map of space exploration http://books.nationalgeographic.com/map/map-day/index After you close the opening text screen you will see the image zoom control in the top right of the page. This page contains an embedded video, "Do the Oceans of Jupiter's Europa Harbor Life?" http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/10/europas-ice-sheet-enables-an-ox ygenrich-ocean.html [ANS thanks everyone for the above information] /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. And with that please keep in mind if you want to travel fast, travel alone. If you want to travel far, travel together. If you want to travel in comfort, fake an ankle sprain and convince the other travelers to carry you. 73, This week's ANS Editor, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM K9JKM at amsat dot org

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AO-51 @ 23:20 UTC
by Tim - N3TL 17 Oct '09

17 Oct '09

Hey everyone, For those of you who didn't hear the pass, the ability to reach AO-51 vaporized about 2/3 through this last orbit up North America from the south, thanks to a carrier or some kind of interference stronger than I have ever heard. Whatever captured the satellite's uplink wiped out every signal trying to reach the satellite, based on what I heard from EM84. I would direct this message to the control team and not post it to the BB if I believed for one second that what resulted in complete jamming of the satellite was not intentional and malicious. I believe that it was. Tim - N3TL

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WD9EWK from DM52 tonight!
by Tim - N3TL 17 Oct '09

17 Oct '09

Hey everyone, Patrick asked me to post the following, for any of you who need DM52 and/or New Mexico on the satellites. He will work the following passes: AO-27 at 2235 UTC from DM52 on the New Mexico-Arizona border. AO-51 at 2318 UTC from DM52 entirely inside New Mexico. AO51 at 0054 UTC from DM52 on the New Mexico-Arizona border. He'll be in Hidalgo County, New Mexico for all three passes, and on it's border with Cochise County, Arizona, for the two state-line passes. 73 to all, Tim - N3TL

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Re: Can we get them to fix AO-40 first then?
by Larry 17 Oct '09

17 Oct '09

Just out of curiosity, have any of the command stations tried to open the solar panels to give AO-40 another chance at life? I mean, if the "event" caused some damage to the satellite with the solar panels retracted, what's to say that opening the panels wouldn't possibly provide just enough power to the CPU to get some telemetry flowing (if the commands could be received, and the panels aren't damaged)? What else do we have to lose - she's been off for how many years now without any signs of coming back? If the command stations were to try something, might I suggest announcing a date first so the big stations ( if any are left) can possibly assist in listening for any type of signal? Just a thought I've had for some time now, and thought this might be an appropriate time / thread to finally say something. 73's ...Larry N1MIW

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OT: USB - RS-232 Adapter
by Josh Smith 17 Oct '09

17 Oct '09

Everyone, I know this is slightly (mostly??) off topic but I am in the market for a USB to RS-232 adapter for use with my radios (ft-897d and th-d7ag). My main requirement be that it works with Linux. Can any of you make a recommendation? Thanks, Josh Smith KD8HRX email/jabber: juicewvu(a)gmail.com phone: 304.237.9369(c)

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Re: Can we get them to fix AO-40 first then?
by Michael Tondee 17 Oct '09

17 Oct '09

Michael Tondee wrote: > Wow, interesting to see you admit you don't have a clue about > something Robert! Judging by the post I've been reading from you the > past few days, I thought you knew it all. > Michael, W4HIJ > Rocky Jones wrote: >> >> >>>> >>> On a more practical note, could there be some sort of failsafe "battery >>> went phut so disconnect it" device? I'm guessing a perfectly ordinary >>> inline fuse would be too simple, but perhaps some sort of mechanical >>> latch that would just pop the battery terminal if it lost power would >>> work. >>> >>> Gordon MM0YEQ >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> 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 >>> >> >> that is fairly common in many spacecraft (I have checked a few >> designs) and most transport category airplanes. I dont have a clue >> why it wasnt put into AO-40 >> >> Robert WB5MZO >> >> _________________________________________________________________ >> > >

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On the possibility of imaging AO-40 with earth bound telescopes...
by Mark VandeWettering 17 Oct '09

17 Oct '09

> Has there been any serious attempt to take a photograph of the damaged > bird using ground based optical telescopes while it is in sunlight ? It's not going to work. AO-40 just isn't big enough. For fun, let's worth through some of the details. > With modern telescopes such as > http://www.refractortelescopes.co.uk/reviews/orion/orion-shorttube-80-a-ref… > or similiar and a modern digital camera and a known RA/DEC co-ordinate > of the satellite at any point in its orbit, it should be possible get > a fairly decent picture of what is still up there... > Note RA / DEC are astronomy co-ordinates which should be able to be > calculated from AZ/EL or TLE, but I may not be able to do it myself. > We don't need to track it, but just to image it in several consecutive > frames. From: http://www.emergentspace.com/pubs/AIAA_GNC_2002_AMSAT_A040.pdf Table 1. Nominal Orbit Parameters for AO-40 Orbit Parameter Value Semimajor Axis (km) 36,245 Perigee Height (km) 1,042 Apogee Height (km) 58,691 Eccentricity 0.797 Inclination (deg) 6.04 Period (hours) 19.1 Let's look at a couple of potential telescopes. The short tube refractor that you linked to has an 80 mm (roughly 3 inch) aperature. According to the Rayleigh criterion, that scope should be able to resolve angles as small as about 1.5 arc seconds. At perigee, the resolving power is 1042000 * tan(1.5 arc seconds), or about 7.5 meters (or 25 feet). To increase the resolution by a factor of 2, you need to to double the aperature. To get resolutions down to 1/2 a foot, you need an aperature 50x larger, or 150 inches. This doesn't take into account any effects of atmosphere either. it's actually fairly rare to get sub arcsecond resolution from any earthbound telescope without using adaptive optics. This limits the practicality of high resolution imaging. Impressive photos of the space shuttle, ISS and HST have been taken using amateur equipment, but these objects are both closer and an order of magnitude larger than AO-40. While we might be able to measure spin rate and the like by measuring the brightness curve, actual imaging of the satellite isn't likely. 73 Mark K6HX

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Re: Why do hamsats? (Or anything else...)
by G0MRF＠aol.com 17 Oct '09

17 Oct '09

In a message dated 17/10/2009 04:37:16 GMT Standard Time, orbitjet(a)hotmail.com writes: I dont know how the "education" thing got into ham radio, but I imagine it is one of the virus that we got when we started interfacing with NASA for ham radio. There is no justification for human spaceflight (and I am not the only one that thinks that...the Augustine Commission agrees there is not) so NASA and its groupies try everything to justify it including "education". Ohhh. Who proded the troll again?

2 1

AMSAT at Fort Wayne Hamfest
by Doug Kuitula 17 Oct '09

17 Oct '09

For those going to the Ft. Wayne, Ind. Hamfest, Nov. 14-15. There will be an AMSAT Forum on Sat. the 14th at 1:15pm. There is also an APRS forum on Sun. 15 Nov. at 10 am. More info can be found at: www.fortwaynehamfest.com 73 de Doug KA8QCU

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AO-51 in JOTA mode
by Andrew Glasbrenner 17 Oct '09

17 Oct '09

Jamboree on the Air repeater is now on, 145.88/435.15 @ 780 mw, JOTA QSOs only please! 145.92/435.3 is on for general use @ 450mw 73, Drew KO4MA

2 1

What Are Others Using
by Joel Black 17 Oct '09

17 Oct '09

Years ago, when I first started operating the satellites, I used an IC-821. I "graduated" up to an FT-847. I don't ever remember using software to tune the rig (the IC-821 or FT-847) only software to steer the antennas. For the life of me, I cannot seem to find my downlink using the FT-847 and *any* tuning software with the linear birds (AO-7 and VO-52). It works fine with the "fixed" freq FM birds which, understandably, is easier for it to track. I am just wondering, does *anyone* use tuning software with the linear birds or do you just tune it manually? 73, Joel, W4JBB

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Re: Patrick on Saturday
by Clint Bradford 17 Oct '09

17 Oct '09

>> ... As for AO-51 in the evening - passes around 2318 and 0054 UTC ... I'll be working that 0053 GMT pass on the JOTA repeater pair from Victor Valley, CA. I'll try to move over to your repeater and have some kids talk to you! Clint, K6LCS http://www.work-sat.com

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Ares 1-X in highbay 3
by Joseph Armbruster 16 Oct '09

16 Oct '09

The subject of this email says it all. This is too incredible not to share with you all and an interesting look inside! http://nasatech.net/Ares1-Xmid091015/ Enjoy, Joseph Armbruster

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WD9EWK on the air tomorrow...
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 16 Oct '09

16 Oct '09

Hello from Tucson! >From the hamfest tomorrow morning, I plan on working the 145.920/435.300 AO-51 repeater. On VO-52, I will be on the high end of the passband. I typically try to park around 145.910 MHz USB on the downlink, and keeping in mind that N2SPI will be up around 145.915 MHz USB on the 1535 UTC pass I will try to work around him. If you are on VO-52 during that pass, look for both of us. Later in the day, I will probably have lunch with some local hams after the hamfest. I am not sure I will work the 2054 UTC AO-27 pass. Good luck to all of those working from rare grids during that pass. I will try to be on from somewhere in southeastern Arizona for the western AO-27 pass at 2235 UTC. As for AO-51 in the evening - passes around 2318 and 0054 UTC - I will be somewhere in southeastern Arizona and/or southwestern New Mexico. I may park on the Arizona/New Mexico state line, or look to be on the DM51/DM52 boundary from the New Mexico side of the border. I've worked from these grids on past trips, but only from the Arizona side of the border. I don't think I will try to drive up toward DM53, or toward the DM6x grids in New Mexico, as I will be driving back home in the evening. Again, good luck to the others who are going out to rare or unusual grids during various passes tomorrow. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

1 0

DMSP F18's launch vehicle far exceeds mission requirements
by Phil Karn Jr KA9Q 16 Oct '09

16 Oct '09

Seems like a missed opportunity for a secondary payload. Sigh.

2 1

Can we get them to fix AO-40 first then?
by David - KG4ZLB 16 Oct '09

16 Oct '09

Rogue satellites to be cleared from Earth's orbit by German robots German-built robots are to be sent into Earth's orbit to repair 'dead satellites' or push them into outer space, according to a report in Sunday's Guardian newspaper. Robots that rescue failing satellites and push 'dead' ones into outer space should be ready in four years, it has emerged. Experts described the development by German scientists as a crucial step in preventing a disaster in the Earth's crowded orbit. Last year it was reported that critical levels of debris circling the Earth were threatening astronauts' lives and the future of the multibillion-pound satellite communications industry. But senior figures at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) told the /Observer/ they have been given the go-ahead to tackle a crisis that will come to a head in the next five to 10 years as more orbiting objects run out of fuel. Their robots will dock with failing satellites to carry out repairs or push them into "graveyard orbits", freeing vital space in geostationary orbit. This is the narrow band 22,000 miles above the Earth in which orbiting objects appear fixed at the same point. More than 200 dead satellites litter this orbit. Within 10 years that number could increase fivefold, the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety has warned. You can read the full article / 'Rogue satellites to be cleared from Earth's orbit by German robots'/ at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/oct/11/space-robots-clear-rogue-sate… -- David KG4ZLB www.kg4zlb.com

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The power of complaining
by Randy 16 Oct '09

16 Oct '09

QUOTE " It's a pity we can't harness the power of complaining to boost things to orbit... 73 Mark K6HX " Mark ... I think that the orbit would be more like a VHEO .. *smile * Randy - N2CUA

1 0

Where's the Beef?
by Frank H. Bauer 16 Oct '09

16 Oct '09

Robert, You commented: "As for AMSAT's ARISSsat transponder. Well we will see if it works. They are not exactly burning up the track record with success. We have had this argument and I am willing to sit back and see if it goes, but it is far to much project for the program. Most of the folks I know at JSC give it less then 20 percent chance of working...In fact it was a source of mirth at a recent BDAY party." All your e-mails give the impression that you are well positioned within JSC and "know all" that is going on within NASA. But when I did a Search for your name within the NASA employee and contractor database, the database comes up empty handed. Given that I am a "facts and data" kind of guy, what up with this? And how are you all knowing??? What do you really do for a living?? Who are these people you are talking to that are so opinionated? Or are you using another alias besides Robert Oler or Rocky Jones? Or is all you are posting on this listserv just your own kind of fluff?? Inquiring minds want to know. Frank, KA3HDO

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FO-29
by Jerry Felts 16 Oct '09

16 Oct '09

Is FO-29 active?? I can't tell from AMSAT'S webpage. -- Jerry - NR5A - South Dakota http://nr5asstuff.blogspot.com/ http://nr5abeaconblog.blogspot.com/

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K2BSA and ARISS from the National Scouting Museum during JOTA - 17 Oct.
by Keith Pugh 16 Oct '09

16 Oct '09

K2BSA will be operating on the Amateur Radio Satellites from the National Scouting Museum in Irving, TX, from 14:00 to 22:00 UTC on Saturday, 17 Oct. 2009. We will be on as many of the passes listed below as possible. We will be operating as a portable, hand-held station. Bring your Scouts and join us on the "Birds." WinAos QTH: -97.0/32.9 T#: 11612 Sat.: 6 [Standard] ---------------------------------------------------------- Day Object AOS (U) LOS Period maxEl AZ ---------------------------------------------------------- 17.10.2009 SO-50 14:41 14:50 09 10 356 - 098 17.10.2009 AO-07 14:47 15:06 19 37 005 - 225 17.10.2009 VO-52 15:35 15:48 13 35 023 - 176 17.10.2009 SO-50 16:20 16:33 13 76 330 - 155 17.10.2009 VO-52 17:12 17:23 11 16 348 - 228 17.10.2009 AO-27 19:10 19:23 13 20 129 - 003 17.10.2009 AO-27 20:48 21:03 15 39 185 - 340 There will also be an ARISS Contact with Scouts at the museum that will take place starting at 21:53 UTC. This will be a Telebridge contact via WH6PN in Hawaii. The contact will be on the EchoLink AMSAT Conference and on a wide area, 442.400 MHz repeater in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. 73 - Keith, W5IU

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AO-51 for November
by John Marranca, Jr 16 Oct '09

16 Oct '09

Drew, et al: Any possibility of having SSTV on the 2nd channel for November? Thanks! John KB2HSH --composed with Windows 7 Ultimate _______________________________ John Marranca, Jr -PBX Technician- BN Systems, Incorporated Orchard Park, NY (716)406-7130

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More on imaging statellites...
by Mark VandeWettering 16 Oct '09

16 Oct '09

> Getting an image is clearly possible, but only if you can get a certain > agency known by its initials to do it. Recall that Skylab, circa 1973, took > some damage on launch. Some amazing pictures were provided by said agency, > among others, to assess what was needed for repair. Now imagine 35 years > later. However, that is not going to happen, and in any case, there is > little to be gained, though of course we are all curious. I was interested in the details of this, and dug around on the web to find some more information. It appears that on May 16, 1973, a KH-8 "Gambit" spy satellite was launched. These were apparently a "film return" satellite, that would deorbit film cannisters. Their resolving power was said to be about 1/2 a meter on the ground from orbit. These satellites appear to operate in fairly low orbits (say, between 220km and 350km), so let's take 300km as a reasonable orbit height. That means that their resolving power was around .3 arc seconds, which implies that their imaging optics were about 15 inches minimum in aperature. (I am assuming a straight heads down imaging geometry, if the resolution could be achieved at a different angle, the imaging optics would have to be increased, and this didn't take into account any atmospheric effects. The reality is that .3 arc seconds is probably fairly challenging through the atmosphere no matter what size optics you have, at least without adaptive optics). A bit more research bears this out: the KH-8 carried a 44 inch optic with a 77 inch focal length. Anyway, Skylab launched on May 14th. The first crew launched on May 25th. So, an interesting question was what imaging opportunities were there between the sats? Luckily, somebody else did all the heavy lifting and made a nice webpage (thanks Ted Molczan!) http://www.satobs.org/columbia/Skylab.html Ranges as low as 138km were acheived between the KH-8 and Skylab. At that range the nominal resolution of a 44 inch optic (which might be achieved without atmpsheric effects) might approach just 7 cm. Indeed, very good resolution. Check out more info on Ted's webpage: http://www.satobs.org/columbia/KeyHolesattosat.html

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When was GO-32 last heard?
by Mark L. Hammond 16 Oct '09

16 Oct '09

Curious when anybody last hear GO-32. I've checked recently, and don't think it is even transmitting short telemetry packets. Does anybody have contact information for a control station? 73, -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

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AO-51: Rest of October schedule posted
by Mark L. Hammond 16 Oct '09

16 Oct '09

FYI from : http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/echo/CTNews.php October 12 - October 16 FM Repeater, V/U Uplink: 145.920 MHz FM Downlink: 435.300 MHz FM FM Repeater, L/U Uplink: 1268.700 MHz FM Downlink: 435.150 MHz FM October 17 - October 18 FM Repeater, V/U Uplink: 145.920 MHz FM Downlink: 435.300 MHz FM JOTA Only FM Repeater, V/U Please give way to JOTA stations or QSOs with JOTA stations Uplink: 145.880 MHz FM Downlink: 435.150 MHz FM October 19 - October 25 FM Repeater, V/U Uplink: 145.920 MHz FM Downlink: 435.300 MHz FM 9k6 BBS, L/U Uplink: 1268.700 MHz 9k6 FM Downlink: 435.150 MHz 9k6 FM October 26 - November 1 FM Repeater, V/US Uplink: 145.920 MHz FM Downlink: 435.300 and 2401.200 MHz FM On behalf of the AO-51 Command Team, -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

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Re: Can we get them to fix AO-40 first then?
by G0MRF＠aol.com 16 Oct '09

16 Oct '09

In a message dated 14/10/2009 23:17:11 GMT Standard Time, n1miw(a)cox.net writes: My final thought on this is - if you can't get the receiver to decode commands, it's a loss, end of story. If it will receive, make it open the panels to get more power to the bird. Once the satellite is fully illuminated by the sun during its rotation, then try to work on stabilizing the satellite. Until that is tried, I personally feel that not every last attempt at reviving AO-40 has been attempted, Hi. The first time I read the post, I thought simply, no power = no receiver so no command to the satellite. But then, I thought of something else. When AO-40 was built, it would be launched with all systems off. When released into space some hardware would have switched on the receivers and a transmitter for telemetry. Now, it's sitting there with a shorted battery.....or is it? If the battery were to open circuit, then the satellite may think it's being switched on for the first time. But with AO-40 I seem to remember that telemetry was on 2m. The significance of your idea and my memory....is that the 2m transmitter does not work. So we would need to send a command to turn the S band transmitter on. It is virtually impossible for S band to just appear, like AO-7 did if it is not the default mode at switch on. But it completely justifies your idea of sending a command at it every now and again. Thanks for the thought Regards David

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Why is AO-27 not available in the Southern Hemisphere ?
by Allan Saul 16 Oct '09

16 Oct '09

Hi, Is there someone out there that can explain to me why AO-27 cannot be made available to Radio Amateurs south of the equator ? There are a bunch of operators in South America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand amongst others who would dearly like an opportunity to operate on this satellite. Is there some valid technical reason it cannot be made available to us for a few days per month ? Allan ZS1LS South Africa

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Re: What others are doing.
by WILLIAMS MICHAEL 16 Oct '09

16 Oct '09

Joel. For the 847, try this method to hear your down-link without using the CAT menu. With good reception of the satellite, pick a clear receive spot on the transponder, i.e. 148.885 MHz on VO-52. Put 847 in CW mode with SatPC32(select C+). Press "VFO/M" button ( this will switch your up-link (transmit)VFO to the center tuning dial. Hold the CW key down and start tuning the Transmit VFO (Large dial) usually downward. You should hear your up-link signal cross the downlink frequency. When you find it note the frequencies of both VFOs. When you zero beat your downlink, usually the VFOs are synced by the software at this point and your up-link and down-link will stay together for the remainder of the pass. Press "HOME" button on the 847. this will move your receiver to the large dial. Send a test "V." If you can hear your signal you are good for the entire pass. You can now tune your receiver anywhere in the pass band and the software will sync your receive/transmit with Doppler correction. This method can be used manually (without SatPC32) to find your down-link. However, you will have to manually tune your up-link VFO (with the Sub-Tune) to maintain a constant down-link frequency. But in the end, the proper way is to use the CAT menu to sync your up-link/down-link together. See the instructions how to do this, once this is done, you are set up permanently no matter how many times your computer is booted or the 847 is turned off. For SatPC32 to work properly, make sure your computer clock is accurate to the exact time and your Keps are kept up to date. If I can be of any help, please email. Mike K9QHO AMSAT 33589 ------------------------- Message: 8 Date: Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:15:03 -0500 From: Joel Black <jbblack(a)charter.net> Subject: [amsat-bb] What Are Others Using To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Message-ID: <4AD7ACF7.6020806(a)charter.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Years ago, when I first started operating the satellites, I used an IC-821. I "graduated" up to an FT-847. I don't ever remember using software to tune the rig (the IC-821 or FT-847) only software to steer the antennas. For the life of me, I cannot seem to find my downlink using the FT-847 and *any* tuning software with the linear birds (AO-7 and VO-52). It works fine with the "fixed" freq FM birds which, understandably, is easier for it to track. I am just wondering, does *anyone* use tuning software with the linear birds or do you just tune it manually? 73, Joel, W4JBB

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