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AO-27
by Jerry Felts 17 Aug '09

17 Aug '09

Am I doing something wrong or is AO-27 just very hard to hit with a FT-60R handheld, and ELK ant? I have no problems hearing it but working it is another thing!! -- Jerry - NR5A - South Dakota http://nr5abikeblog.blogspot.com/ http://nr5abeaconblog.blogspot.com/

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Re: Arrow Antennas
by John W Lee 17 Aug '09

17 Aug '09

AMEN ! I have used my Arrow right out of the box (bag), with a store-bought duplexer and it works great! No mods necessary. Thousands of QSO's on my trips around the country on AO-27, UO-14, SO-50, etc. I note that many of the messages I see on this subject are from people I've never heard on any satellite. Strange. 73 John K6YK SAT VUCC #10, 800+ grids confirmed SAT WAS #200 --------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "RONALD CADE" <w6zq_ To: <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 16:28:43 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Arrow Antennas Gentlemen, If you want to see some improvement from the Arrow antenna, leave it's physical dimensions alone and remove the diplexer in the handle, throw it away and replace it with one of my designs. I won't get into any of the design details however having a device with adjustable capacitors and wire wound inductors makes a world of difference. I have been using this antenna since it arrived on the market with great success. Most of my activity has been in California, Arizona and the Hawaiian Islands. I would not take any other antenna with me on my trips away from home. As Clint mentioned, there is a significant difference in the signal strength from the sats as I have to rotate my antenna at least 45 degrees during a pass. Ron, W6ZQ SAT VUCC #99, 500+ grids confirmed SAT WAS Arrow + Icom ICw32 ____________________________________________________________ Click here for fast, safe, easy money transfers. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/BLSrjpTOTyad2VyE2lm1KsWbeHeiRwM…

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Lighthouse/Lightship weekend
by Peter 17 Aug '09

17 Aug '09

Hello, I want to thank all the operators who made time to call W2GSB/Lighthouse, on Fire Island, NY, FN-30. In the two days of operating on the FM Satellites only we made a total 42 contacts, comprising 15 states and two Countries. The real Summer weather helped, we had large crowds listening and watching, as we did our acrobatics with our Antenna, up down, left right, to make the contacts. In fact, more than one spectator thought we were just doing it for show, they were calling our maneuvers with the Arrow the Darth Vader magic ray. I always called on one of the spectators to work the antenna, to show how easy it was to find the Satellite, we handed out many Amsat journals and I hope Martha is kept busy, signing a few new members. If you worked us, make sure you send in your card, the QSL in return will be worth it, thank you again for being so enthusiastic and exhibiting good operating skills for Lighthouse weekend... 73, Pete, WB2OQQ NY AMSAT Area Coordinator

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Best working freq SO-50
by PE0SAT 17 Aug '09

17 Aug '09

Hi, Thanks for reading, what is the best working freq. for SO-50. I tryed 145.850 - 436.795, 145.855 - 436.800 but it is not working for me. I use HRD Satellite tracking together with a Yaesu FT-847 and this is the only bird that experience as difficult to work. And Yes, I am transmitting the CTCSS tone 67hz and use the 74.4 to arm the timer. Anybody that can help me? 73's PE0SAT

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WG: Re: AO-27
by Mike Rupprecht 17 Aug '09

17 Aug '09

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- Von: Mike Rupprecht [mailto:[email protected]] Gesendet: Montag, 17. August 2009 20:34 An: 'Jim Jerzycke' Betreff: AW: [amsat-bb] Re: AO-27 Jim, it's a little bit more than WOD... You need a KISS TNC for decoding the AO-27 telemetry: [INF] AO-27 Orbital Time = 444080, [00:07:24] [INF] Changed TOPRState to 2 [HWS] Timestamp: 16.08.2009 12:01:21 - 80 2F 08 1F 0D 18 77 03 00 E4 FF 88 00 00 00 00 C0 00 00 00 [HWS] RXAART: 082F80 | TXAART: 180D1F | BCAART: 000377 | ModemAART: 88FFE4 [HWS] TXC Exciter ON [HWS] TXC 5V HPA ON [WOD] 16.08.2009 11:56:51 [12] 7F 00 0E 28 3A 05 32 00 F5 9D [WOD] 16.08.2009 11:57:01 [12] 80 00 0D 0E 46 08 37 2C 2E 9D [WOD] 16.08.2009 11:57:11 [12] 7F 00 0E 00 3D 0B 29 0C 27 9D [WOD] 16.08.2009 11:57:21 [12] 7F 00 26 02 1E 0C 29 0C 30 9D [WOD] 16.08.2009 11:57:31 [12] 80 00 3C 00 06 06 4C 0C 33 9D [WOD] 16.08.2009 11:57:41 [12] 80 00 40 07 00 10 43 0D 2F 9D [WOD] 16.08.2009 11:58:51 [12] 7F 00 04 42 08 00 4E 0C EE 9D [WOD] 16.08.2009 11:59:01 [12] 7F 00 07 2D 16 00 51 0C 27 9D [WOD] 16.08.2009 11:59:11 [12] 7E 00 07 11 24 00 55 0E 2E 9D [WOD] 16.08.2009 11:59:21 [12] 7C 00 08 00 2F 03 2D 10 30 9D [WOD] 16.08.2009 11:59:31 [12] 7E 00 1D 00 20 04 2B 10 27 9D [WOD] 16.08.2009 11:59:41 [12] 7E 00 2A 01 15 06 3C 0F 2C 9D [WOD] 16.08.2009 12:00:21 [12] 7D 00 05 05 01 2C 56 10 27 9D [WOD] 16.08.2009 12:00:31 [12] 7E 00 00 00 02 36 52 10 30 9D [WOD] 16.08.2009 12:00:41 [12] 80 00 00 1B 04 28 50 10 2E 9D [WOD] 16.08.2009 12:00:51 [12] 7E 00 01 25 06 1A 52 0F F0 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 12:01:01 [12] 7F 00 01 31 06 01 55 10 EB 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 12:01:11 [12] 7E 00 02 21 15 01 56 10 2C 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 12:01:21 [12] 7D 00 03 10 29 01 50 11 27 9D [WOD] 16.08.2009 12:01:31 [12] 7C 00 05 02 3A 02 2D 11 27 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:21:31 [12] 7F 00 09 0B 02 32 55 1A 2E 9D [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:21:41 [12] 81 00 07 1A 08 31 5C 21 2E 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:21:51 [12] 85 00 08 32 0D 20 58 22 38 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:22:01 [12] 87 00 09 4B 11 32 54 1F 2F 9D [TIME] AO-27 EOS 117 [169/02:52:30] [Sun Aug 16 12:01:41 2009] [INF] AO-27 Orbital Time = 454080, [00:07:34] [HWS] Timestamp: 16.08.2009 12:01:31 - 80 2F 08 1F 0D 18 77 03 00 E4 FF 88 00 00 00 00 E6 00 00 00 [HWS] RXAART: 082F80 | TXAART: 180D1F | BCAART: 000377 | ModemAART: 88FFE4 [HWS] TXC Exciter ON [HWS] TXC 5V HPA ON [SWS] 00 02 01 0F 80 05 01 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 2E 00 00 00 03 00 09 40 50 00 00 2C 05 00 0F 50 00 00 00 04 12 47 7B 51 53 55 57 59 5B 41 49 1F 20 01 01 00 00 14 7D 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 [SWS] Digi: 0 | TXMode: 2 | WODGather: 1 | TOTOut: 3 | TOTOver: 0 [SWS] WDOG0: 80 | WDOG1: 0 | WDOG2: 0 [SWS] WOD Version: 18 [SWS] WOC Channel: 71, 123, 81, 83, 85, 87, 89, 91, 65, 73, [SWS] SPSUN: 31 | SPECL: 32 | ECCO: 20 | EVCO: 125 [SWS] TEPR1 0 0 [SWS] TEPR2 0 0 [SWS] TEPR3 0 0 [SWS] TEPR4 0 0 [SWS] TEPR5 0 0 [SWS] TEPR6 0 0 [TOPR] 14 00 A4 01 3C 00 8C 05 3C 00 14 00 14 00 02 05 02 00 00 00 00 [TOPR] TOPR State 1: 20 Digital Med = NO Uplink ==> 500mW 436.797MHz AFSK Downlink [TOPR] TOPR State 2: 420 Analogue Med = 145.850MHz Uplink <==> 500mW 436.797MHz Downlink [TOPR] TOPR State 3: 60 Digital Med = NO Uplink ==> 500mW 436.797MHz AFSK Downlink [TOPR] TOPR State 4: 1420 OFF = Transmitters are turned off [TOPR] TOPR State 5: 60 OFF = Transmitters are turned off [TOPR] TOPR State 6: 20 OFF = Transmitters are turned off [TOPR] TOPR State 7: 20 OFF = Transmitters are turned off [TLM] Timestamp: 16.08.2009 12:01:41 UTC Battery 0 : 1.367 V Battery 4 : 1.371 V Battery 2 : 1.379 V Battery 6 : 1.463 V Battery 1 : 1.408 V Battery 5 : 1.413 V Battery 3 : 1.492 V Battery 7 : 1.433 V Solar Array : 11.262 V 8 Volts Bus : 8.328 V 5 Volts Bus : 4.838 V 10 Volts Bus : 10.722 V Batt #5 Temp : 0.640 °C 10 V Bus Cur : 98.335 mA 8 V Bus Cur : 23.540 mA 5 V Bus Cur : 836.426 mA X- Array Cur : 14.432 mA X+ Array Cur : 3.878 mA Y- Array Cur : 78.640 mA Y+ Array Cur : 3.490 mA Z- Array Cur : 56.789 mA Z+ Array Cur : 24.025 mA External Cur : -1.315 mA BCR Input Cur : 312.192 mA BCR Output Cur : 0.000 BCR Plate Temp : 1.560 °C BCR PC Board : 2.480 °C Batt #0 Temp : 15.360 °C TX A RF Output : 44.008 mW TX B RF Output : -125.428 mW TX THER A : 4.462 °C TX THER B : 5.346 °C TX THER C : 6.231 °C TX THER D : 8.885 °C EDAC Counter : 36.000 Eclipse : NO [0] Set Point : 31 TEPR State : 0 [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:22:11 [12] 89 00 0B 4A 15 08 52 1F 30 9D [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:22:21 [12] 88 00 0B 30 22 07 4E 1C 2F 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:22:31 [12] 88 00 0E 16 34 04 55 1E 38 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:22:41 [12] 86 00 0D 08 39 04 31 1D 30 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:22:51 [12] 86 00 24 07 2F 06 36 20 30 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:23:01 [12] 88 00 32 05 28 04 31 22 30 9D [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:23:11 [12] 8A 00 43 08 19 0E 50 1A 34 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:23:21 [12] 8A 00 46 08 07 0C 54 1C 34 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:23:31 [12] 8A 00 31 09 05 28 55 20 38 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:23:41 [12] 8B 00 1B 08 08 44 48 1D 30 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:23:51 [12] 8B 00 05 09 05 56 3D 20 34 9D [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:24:01 [12] 8C 00 08 1F 06 51 34 1D 30 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:24:11 [12] 8C 00 05 33 08 31 44 20 2F 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:24:21 [12] 8C 00 04 45 05 15 54 1E 31 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:24:31 [12] 8C 00 06 49 10 09 56 1C 30 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:24:41 [12] 8C 00 08 38 29 31 3D 1E 31 9B [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:24:51 [12] 8F 00 05 2D 4F 07 31 1D 30 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:25:01 [12] 8E 00 06 10 5C 08 28 1D 38 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:25:11 [12] 8C 00 16 06 56 06 29 1E 2F 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:25:21 [12] 8C 00 31 06 2F 04 2B 1C 31 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:25:31 [12] 8E 00 51 06 14 07 4C 20 36 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:25:41 [12] 8F 00 59 07 56 11 36 1E 34 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:25:51 [12] 8F 00 51 09 09 30 1B 20 38 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:26:01 [12] 90 00 3B 08 05 49 20 1D 31 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:26:11 [12] 90 00 1A 0C 06 5A 32 1C 38 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:26:21 [12] 8E 00 09 16 05 60 2B 20 30 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:26:31 [12] 91 00 05 41 05 50 1D 1D 38 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:26:41 [12] 92 00 07 61 07 33 1A 1D 36 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:26:51 [12] 92 00 09 6E 0E 0B 34 1D 31 9B [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:27:01 [12] 92 00 04 61 27 50 28 1E 38 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:27:11 [12] 91 00 03 40 45 09 2C 1B 2F 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:27:21 [12] 91 00 08 17 62 04 2C 1E 33 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:27:31 [12] 8F 00 11 61 6A 05 20 1D 30 9B [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:27:41 [12] 91 00 34 06 60 04 13 20 31 9C [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:27:51 [12] 93 00 53 17 41 08 18 1A 34 9B [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:28:01 [12] 92 00 60 07 14 09 39 1B 31 9B [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:28:11 [12] 90 00 5F 04 09 20 21 1C 33 9B [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:28:21 [12] 93 00 4D 03 06 50 18 1B 33 9B [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:28:31 [12] 94 00 2C 07 09 6C 17 17 36 9B [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:28:41 [12] 90 00 0B 08 06 75 08 19 31 9B [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:28:51 [12] 90 00 07 2A 07 68 17 18 34 9B [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:29:01 [12] 93 00 06 4C 07 48 1D 1A 31 9B [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:29:11 [12] 92 00 07 70 06 1A 1C 19 30 9B [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:29:21 [12] 91 00 08 75 10 09 24 15 33 9B [WOD] 16.08.2009 10:29:31 [12] 94 00 05 66 40 48 0C 18 34 9B 73, Mike DK3WN -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- Von: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] Im Auftrag von Jim Jerzycke Gesendet: Montag, 17. August 2009 20:24 An: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org; Chris Bloy Betreff: [amsat-bb] Re: AO-27 Yep, the first time we heard it, my son looked at me and said "Packet!". Jim --- On Mon, 8/17/09, Chris Bloy <chris(a)photofuture.co.uk> wrote: From: Chris Bloy <chris(a)photofuture.co.uk> Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: AO-27 To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Date: Monday, August 17, 2009, 11:04 AM Hi Jim, This is the Whole Orbit Data stream, it contains the battery status and solar panel voltages for the orbit. It can be decoded by using a TNC or via a software TNC... Thanks, Chris - M0DQO Jim Jerzycke wrote: > I asked this question after working AO-27 on Field day. There's a data burst right before it switches into repeater mode, and another one when it switches back out. > It's related to the timer that turns it on and off on each pass. > jim KQ6EA > > --- On Sun, 8/16/09, Jerry Felts <nr5ajerry(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > From: Jerry Felts <nr5ajerry(a)gmail.com> > Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-27 > To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org > Date: Sunday, August 16, 2009, 3:14 PM > > Just tried to worknthe AO-27 pass a few minutes ago but my lil FT-60R > and ELK Ant could not cut it. What is the digital signal at the > beginnig and end of the pass? > > _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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AO-27
by Jerry Felts 17 Aug '09

17 Aug '09

Just tried to worknthe AO-27 pass a few minutes ago but my lil FT-60R and ELK Ant could not cut it. What is the digital signal at the beginnig and end of the pass? -- Jerry - NR5A - South Dakota http://nr5abikeblog.blogspot.com/ http://nr5abeaconblog.blogspot.com/

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Re: Grids on the Road
by David Gendle 17 Aug '09

17 Aug '09

Greetings! I would like to add my voice to the choir of folks and thank Patrick (WD9EWK) for the five new grids in Utah. It was a real pleasure to find the QSLs in my mailbox and I greatly appreciate the effort and time Patrick and the many others have spent enhancing the amateur satellite hobby for me. Thanks again guys! 73, Dave - K4DLG

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Don't Forget to Vote
by Martha 17 Aug '09

17 Aug '09

The deadline for returning the gold "corrected" ballot to the AMSAT office is September 15th. If you need biographical information on the candidates, it can be found on the AMSAT website. -- 73- Martha

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AO-51 V/S observations
by w7lrd＠comcast.net 17 Aug '09

17 Aug '09

Hello I worked the last three passes of AO-51. I am observing some very deep fades during the pass. Some at fairly high elevations. Rx conditions are a three foot primestar dish, 5 1/2 turn helix feed, 3731AA transystem down converter, forty feet of RG-6 to a TS700A rcvr. Signals will peak at close to +15-20db, then fade to S2-4, which is about my noise level, then rise again to +15-20. I would be interested to know if anyone else experiences this, I do have some trees that can cause some variable conditions. Your mileage may vary. There are only a few on the bird, we can actually have a conversation! 73 Bob W7LRD Seattle

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suitsat on makezine
by Joseph Armbruster 17 Aug '09

17 Aug '09

Hey, I follow make magazine on twitter and noticed this article on suitsat: http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/08/suitsat_hacking_for_outer_space.ht… Enjoy! Joseph Armbruster, KJ4JIO

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Re: Arrow Antennas
by Clint Bradford 16 Aug '09

16 Aug '09

> ... Why are we modifying the Arrow? > ... Because someone's analysis says the element length is all wrong ... So Al Lowe's software program which he used to design these is all wrong? Sorry to get defensive on Al's behalf. This thread just "feels" like a re-hash of an "engineer's view vs. real world results" argument. Like when I was told here - by engineers - that it mattered how I twisted my Arrow while working the sats. "Ya gotta take polarization into account, Clint - there's a 22db difference when you turn your antenna 90 degrees - a tremendous performance hit if you don't take this into account ... " Yet in the real world of demonstrating workin' the birds, there's no such performance degradation. I have hundreds of witnesses to this fact: Capture SO-50 and AO-51 with the Arrow and operate TX and RX while twisting the antenna in different angles doesn't change the great reception and transmission quality. If you are in the market for an Arrow, I simply suggest that you use it as offered to you. You will be pleased with its 2M and 440 amateur bands performance. And leave the modding of the elements w-a-y on the bottom of your "things to do" lists. Clint Bradford ---------------------------------- Clint Bradford, K6LCS http://www.clintbradford.com

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AO-51 V/S
by w7lrd＠comcast.net 16 Aug '09

16 Aug '09

Good to know my old AO-40 (sobsob) S band gear is still FB! Very low pass here (Seattle) 4 degrees. Coppied Mike-KC9ELU right at his LOS. The next two passes I will be fine tuning my dish pointing, via the LVB tracker. Too much fun! 73 Bob W7LRD

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Huntsville Hamfest
by Alan P. Biddle 16 Aug '09

16 Aug '09

We got a few good words in the Huntsville Times: http://tinyurl.com/qw6xfk Tim Cunningham, N8DEU, was off conducting the AMSAT and APRS forums when the reporter came around. Alan WA4SCA

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Re: SATPC32 ?
by Rodney Waln 16 Aug '09

16 Aug '09

i know that you probably already did this, go to observer and check your location and elevation?? if ok, not sure what the problem is, Rodney kc0zhf

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SATPC32 ?
by WCP 16 Aug '09

16 Aug '09

Using SatPC32 I have trouble tracking ISS. I have SatPC32 running on two different WIN98se machines and I get two different tracks. I have the location and time set the same on both machines. Also using the same Keps. One reads 338 -61 with AOS 4:51 LOS 5:00 The other 313 -27 with AOS 4:34 LOS 4:41

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Re: Modifying the Arrow Ant?
by Clint Bradford 16 Aug '09

16 Aug '09

.. I opted to try to insulate the elements from the boom ... Please remind me why you think any such modification to the Arrow is necessary. If we are discussing the Arrow dual-band unit for satellites with the duplexer built into the mast, I personally wouldn't dream of modifying it as you decribe. It works the FM birds phenomenonally as designed. The only 'mod' I consider is the addition of a handle for portable ops, a pictured at ... http://www.k6lcs.com Clint Bradford, K6LCS

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S Meter Lamp Replacement for FT736R
by Ron Miles 16 Aug '09

16 Aug '09

Any idea where I can find front panel disassembly instructions for a FT736R? Both S meter lamps are out. Also need a lamp part number as I think the originals are out of production. Help in this matter greatly appreciated. Ron n6paa.

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FW: AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 4, Issue 401
by Frank H. Bauer 15 Aug '09

15 Aug '09

Miles, I find it really sad that you have stooped this low.....character assassination and the like. This e-mail is filled with so many inaccuracies and wrong statements that it would be a disservice to the amateur community to go through this and challenge each of your statements. While I am no longer part of the ARISS team, I think it would be best for me to respond to this e-mail as I think some clarifications are worthy of a response. And given the fact that I led the ARISS team for 13 years. Your main gripe was that you were not invited to the ARISS meeting at ESA Estec a few months ago. It should be noted that AMSAT did not make this final decision. Specifically, it was your (Miles) actions that caused you to be not invited. Not some "closed" organization as you (Miles) stipulate. The crux of the issue is that if one disregards verbal or written direction from space agencies and, as a result, you violate space agency policy or company/agency proprietary rules, then a significant element of distrust is built up. ARISS cannot let this happen. And Miles, through your actions, you did this. And as a result, you did this to yourself. Let me also be clear that MAREX as a team was not singled out. Only Miles. So if MAREX had thoughts or proposals, they were and are welcome to share them with the ARISS team. And, if there are other members of MAREX, besides Miles, that wanted to attend future meetings, I would expect that they probably would be allowed to attend. As long as they abide by the space agency rules. (But remember, I don't make those decisions) ARISS is an international working group consisting of National Amateur Radio Societies, AMSAT organizations and the international space agencies from the 5 ISS regions (Europe, Japan, Russia, Canada and the USA). This working group works hand-in-hand to develop and operate the amateur radio system on ISS. ARISS cannot do this without the space agencies and the crew on-board. ARISS has and continues to do its best to be as transparent (open) as possible. International meetings are open to the public, as long as an element of trust is not violated. While the ARISS model is not perfect, nothing is. But I must say that the international participation and support that comes from the ARISS team is some of the best I have ever seen anywhere. To say that ARISS is a failure is ludicrous. It is my personal opinion that the national radio society model (e.g. in the US ARRL and AMSAT) is the right model for ARISS. It has worked well and provides an outstanding educational outreach program that gives students and communities a very positive view of ham radio. ARISS has not excluded universities from participating. For example, the Kursk University in Russia is currently building an experiment for SuitSat-2. The Santa Rosa Junior College in the US is an ARISS telebridge station. Students at the College of New Jersey in the US participated in the testing of the SuitSat-2 SDX. And the Wroclaw University of Technology in Poland built the L/S band ARISS antennas that are installed on the Columbus module. In summary, I think we should stop the whining. And recognize that we need to work hand-in-glove with the international space agencies if we want to sustain a ham radio program on human spaceflight vehicles. This may mean that our pet project might not fly now (or ever). That there will be times when the crew does not get on the ham radio. And that there will be give and take within the international ARISS and international space agency team on how hardware gets developed, who develops it and when it gets tested, repaired or operated. With sincere interest in ARISS Program Success, Frank H. Bauer, KA3HDO -------------------------------------------------- Message: 9 Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 10:20:38 -0700 (PDT) From: MM <ka1rrw(a)yahoo.com> Subject: [amsat-bb] Lets Fix ISS, Replace ARISS To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Message-ID: <394473.2938.qm(a)web56401.mail.re3.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Marex Miles Mann WF1F Marex wf1f(a)marexmg.org August 25, 2009 Dear ARISS supporters: I am writing to you because of the extremely poor track record that ARISS has accumulated over the past 12 years regarding ISS hardware projects. The only way to correct the problem and fix the Amateur Radio educational program is to completely reorganization the current ARISS hardware structure. Under the new ARISS Closed Door policy, only selected members from AMSAT-NA are allowed to participate. This new policy has turned the once open ARISS into a closed door Monopoly controlled by the AMSAT Corporation. Based on the current actions of ARISS and their very poor performance with in-flight hardware I would like to propose a complete reorganization of the ARISS hardware process. Please review the enclosed information. I look forward to discussing the proposal with you are your earliest opportunity. Sincerely G. Miles Mann Memo from ARISS April 2009 >From Gaston Bertels ARISS Chairman Hi Miles, By decision of the ARISS Board, participation to ARISS-i meetings is limited to delegates from the Member Societies and observers nominated by these societies. USA member societies are the ARRL and AMSAT NA. Only these societies can nominate participants to the ARISS-i meetings. Best regards 73 Gaston Bertels, ON4WF ARISS Chairman ARISS Reorganization Proposal By Miles Mann June 17, 2009 Rev 1.01 What is ARISS? The goal of ARISS was to create an organization to select, control and coordinate Amateur Radio projects designed for the International Space Station (ISS). The ARISS program would then assist the 16 countries (Russia, Canada, Japan, Brazil, USA, member nations of ESA, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom), which are supporting the ISS to help choose the best educational Amateur Radio projects for ISS. Each county would have delegate-voting privileges on ARISS and project selection activities. Summary: When Dave Larsen and Miles Mann (MAREX) helped form ARISS in August 1996, one of our goals was to keep Space open for the public and not turn the ISS, into a monopoly controlled by the AMSAT Corporation. We were partially successful. Unfortunately most of the ARISS voting delegation came from AMSAT Corporation representatives from different counties and a few other radio clubs. The newly formed ARISS agreed to allow competing clubs to submit proposals. The MAREX team helped create ARISS, however since the majority of people present were from the AMSAT Corporation, MAREX was not allowed to have any voting privileges. Prior to 2009, ARISS would say that its meetings were open to the public and other clubs were welcome to observer. In 2009 ARISS changed its open door policy to a closed-door policy. The public is no longer allowed to attend any of the meetings. Now, only selected members of the AMSAT Corporation are allowed to present Amateur radio project proposals to ARISS for International Space Station. The AMSAT Corporation has full control over the voting and the hardware selection process, thus creating a monopoly on the International Space station for Amateur Radio projects. ARISS Reorganization Proposal: There are two main reasons to reorganize the ARISS delegate voting structure. 1) The AMSAT Corporation has a monopolistic control over ARISS and has routinely blocked competitive Educational Amateur radio projects from being submitted. The new closed-door policy and "Selected AMSAT Members only" policy are part of the struggling AMSAT Corporations attempt to make the International Space Station their private Space Station monopoly. The actions of the AMSAT Corporation remind me of a fictional movie Quote "Star Wars, A New Hope" Princess Leia, says to Governor Wilhuff Tarkin: "The more you tighten your grip, the more star systems will slip through your fingers" 2) Over the past 12 years AMSAT Corporation has demonstrated its inability to Select, Manage and Maintain Educational Amateur Radio hardware projects for the International Space Station. The hardware track record of the AMSAT Corporation control over ARISS projects on ISS has been very poor. In a separate document I will go over the hardware failures and the success we have had in the ARISS project. You will clearly see a pattern of extremely poor hardware management, including: Poor project selection (even when there is ample evidence to reject a project, the AMSAT Corporation would approve a project) Inability to maintain projects in flight. When problems were discovered in-flight, the AMSAT Corporation would either deny the problem existed or take 3 or 4 plus years to correct the problem. Failure to provide NASA and ESA valid project status information. The AMSAT Corporation would routinely deny there are problems with equipment, even when ISS crewmembers in-flight reported the problems with the ARISS projects. AMSAT Corporations refusal to perform basic compatibly and usability testing on projects has led to some embarrassing failures. The lack of testing has been a reoccurring team throughout the ARISS projects. Reorganization Solution: Change the current voting delegate structure from an AMSAT Corporation controlled formation to a new structure in which corporations do not control the Hardware project selection and voting. The best way to manage ARISS fairly is to select representatives from Universities from around the wold to take over the delegate voting positions in ARISS hardware projects. What I proposed is that representative from 16+ ISS countries each select two Universities to act as voting ARISS delegates. The new University delegates would take the place of the existing ARISS delegates. The supporting corporations would still be welcome to participate in ARISS projects, however the corporations would not have Voting rights. I also envision that most of the existing duties current performed by the existing ARISS volunteers wold still continue with the same volunteers and supporting agencies. The majority of changes will be focused on the University providing an independent view on which projects make the best sense. The ARISS team claims to provide educational opportunities for the world. However during the 12 years of ARISS existence, no school or university has ever built a project for ARISS. The new University Delegate plan would now open the doors for Universities and other schools to participate in future ARISS projects. Note: the Military funded PC-Sat-2 project by the US Naval Academy may have had some student involvement. Who should choose the University Delegates? The Space Agency representatives from each supporting ISS nation will be asked to contact qualifying universities in their countries. Our goal is to have two universities, with educational programs related to RF technologies or Space exploration / satellite programs participate as delegates for ARISS. The universities will be asked to participate in the ARISS program as a voting delegate for 4-year terms, with the option to renew. University Delegate responsibilities: The responsibilities of the university delegates will be similar to the existing ARISS tasks, including: Hardware Guild Lines Project Selection Hardware meetings and conferences Work with ESA, NASA and other agencies for the proper approvals and additional guidelines. In-flight Project Management Existing ARISS supporting corporations: The existing corporations and clubs such as, ARRL, AMSAT, IARU, MAREX and others will still be allowed to act as technical consultants and manage different aspects of ARISS. However these corporations will not have voting privileges in the hardware selection process. Additional Benefits: TBD This section contains a brief over view of example of common ARISS/AMSAT Corporation failures. Poor project selection: When ample evidence is presented to ARISS to reject a hardware project, the ARISS team will still peruse projects that have little benefit for the Amateur Radio community based on the amount of effort required to fly a project to ISS. Toss-Satellites: Toss-Satellites are usually small projects which are literally tossed out the hatch of the Space Station. Several of these projects were successfully launched from the Space Station Mir during its 15-year flight. Toss-Satellites will only run for a few months. Due to the orbit of ISS/Mir the orbit decay will cause these satellites to re-enter the earth astmothsphere in 6-18 months. With ISS scheduled to be retired in 2015, it is very important for ARISS to select projects that have a short development time and a great return on the effort. Early on during the ISS project, Frank Bauer (ARISS Chairman and VP of AMSAT Corporation) said he did not want to waste our valuable resources on building Toss-Satellites. The MAREX team supported Frank Bauer?s position on Toss-Satellites. A few years later Frank Bauer and ARISS approved the Suit-Sat1 Toss-Satellite project. The Suit-Sat1 project incorporated a "Expired" spacesuit that was scheduled to be disposed of in an incinerating Progress module. Instead, the spacesuit was stuffed with an Amateur Radio beacon and released as a free flying project. The original plan called for the "off-the-shelf-hardware" to be partially pressurized inside the spacesuit. At the last minute the plans changed and the equipment was exposed to the full vacuum of space. The transmitter for the project failed and only a handful of stations were able to hear its extremely weak signal. The project was partially successful in that it generated worldwide attention to ISS and Amateur Radio. The Suit-Sat1 version of the project used a combination of existing ARISS hardware and "off-the-shelf-hardware". The project was completed in a relatively short periods of time (less than 2 years) primary because it used mostly existing hardware. The Suit-Sat1 project did consume resources that could have been used for longer duration projects. In 2006, AMSAT Corporation director and ARISS Hardware Manager Lou McFadin proposed building another project called Suit-Sat2. For this project, rather than using affordable and easy to deliver "off-the-Shelf" hardware, McFadin decided to custom build a new transceiver from scratch, using new technology called "Software Defined Radio". The Suit-Sat2 project required over 4 years to develop and will not be ready for flight until 2010. The Suit-Sat2 project will have a flight life expectancy of 4-12 months. The effort placed into Suit-Sat2 has caused other long term projects to be ignored. Summary: The Suit-Sat1 transmitter failed immediately. Design called for a pressurized suit, was changed to full vacuum, without any testing. AMAST Corporation is continuing to push for more short duration projects. Longer duration projects are being ignored University Charter proposal changes: Under the new ARISS Reorganization Charter, I propose that we cancel all Toss Satellite projects for the duration of the remaining ISS mission and focus our attention on longer duration projects that reach more users. Inability to Maintain projects in flight Kenwood TM-D700 Project: The Kenwood TM-D700 Transceiver, is a very good product. It is unique it that is has a built in Data modem and mailbox. The downside to this transceiver is that it gives the users too much control over the "User Editable Software". It is possible to modify the software in a way that makes the transceiver too difficult to operate, and that is exactly what happened on this ARISS project. The MAREX team encouraged the AMSAT Corporation to keep the software setup simple. The MAREX team had used a similar transceiver on Mir and quickly discovered the Mir cosmonauts were easily confused by the Kenwood PM buttons (a PM button is a Function button that have the ability to reboot the radio into a completely new configuration). For the sake of brevity, the software complexity failed in many ways, I will highlight one of the significant failures caused by the complex "User Editable Software" TM-D700 software. The first thing we noticed in December 2003 when the Kenwood TM-700 was activated from the International Space Station, was that the Packet Mailbox was practically unusable. Only a very experienced operator, with thousands of watts of power could access the TM-D700 mailbox. The Data delays caused by the "User Editable Software" reduced the Mailbox data throughput from 300 bits per second to less than 50 bits per second (See Data Test note #1). Even very experienced Satellite packet mailbox users had extreme difficulty access the TM-D700 mailbox. By comparison, entry level users could easily access the Mailbox that MAREX installed on Mir. ARISS was immediately notified of the problem, however ARISS did not put any effort into analyzing or correcting the problem. The MAREX team researched the problem independently of ARISS and discovered that stock terrestrial versions of the TM-700 had a working Packet Mailbox. The MAREX team soon discovered the problem was caused by the Criss-Cross software configured that ARISS had used on the ISS version of the TM-D700. It took MAREX 4 years of actively lobbying ARISS to fix the problem. In the spring of 2008 (4+ years after the problem was first discovered) the ARISS team finally had a new version of software that appeared to work. The MAREX team tested a subset of this software that was manually configured on board ISS. The TM-D700 Mailbox began to work for the first time 4 years, with a normal data throughput. Unfortunately, due to a lack of coordination, a Replacement TM-D700 was sent to ISS in the summer of 2008. The Replacement TM-D700 was not loaded with the new software and we are back where we were in December 2003, running the bad software. As of spring 2009 the working "User Editable Software" software has NOT been loaded on to the ISS version of the TM-D700. The packet mailbox is still broken on ISS TM-D700. Summary: The ARISS / AMSAT Corporation never performed any type of functionality testing of the TM-D700 project before flight. The ARISS team accepted the project from Bob Brurunga team at face value and never attempted to verify if the project meet the original operational goals. The ARISS team took no action to research or fix the problem. After 5 years of flight, the easily fixable mailbox feature is still broken on ISS. University Charter proposal changes: Under the new ARISS Reorganization Charter, I propose that the university form a monitoring team to periodically review the status of all Amateur Radio projects on board ISS and other satellites sharing the same frequencies. The Review team will provide the NASA and ESA representatives the status of the On board projects. These reports will include the health of the projects and what adjustments if any may be required for the safe operation of the equipment. It is normal for projects to require simple periodic maintenance to ensure proper operation. The Amateur Radio projects are often used for dedicated School two-way radio links. It would be a simple procedure to have a basic safety check worked into each school schedule to verify basic aspects of the Amateur Radio project being used. If at any time an Amateur Radio project on ISS appears to be unstable or possibly on the verge of an unsafe condition, the Review team will notify NASA and ESA immediately and request the project be shutdown until it can be reevaluated for safety. Failure to provide NASA and ESA valid project status information The AMSAT Corporation would routinely deny there are problems with equipment, even when ISS crewmembers in-flight reported the problems with the ARISS projects. One example, Kenwood TM-D700 Fan. The TM-D700 transceiver has a built in Cooling Fan that operates when the transmitter is active. None of us really paid much attention to the cooling fan, nor did anyone bother to research the Duty cycle of the fan or its life span. Instead we did focus on trying to keep the radio cool by not using the High power mode and "Hard Wiring" the radio so that it would never transmitter with more than 25 watts, (the terrestrial of the TM-D700 version is capable of operating at 45 watts transmitter output). When the packet Radio options were being discussed, one of the features of packet is called the Beacon Mode. With this option the packet station would send out a short 1-2 second bust of data every few minutes. Example: RS0ISS>CQ [07/21/02 05:19:44]: <<UI>>:ARISS - INNTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION The purpose of the beacon is to signal stations on Earth that the ISS packet station is in range of their location. Normally the window of access opportunity to ISS is a small 10-minute window. By setting the beacon correctly we could ensue that most stations would hear the beacon at least once during their access window. If the beacon were set too frequently, it would waist power and increase the heat load on the transmitter. The MAREX team requested a beacon set for 3-4 minutes at a power setting of 5 watts. ARISS wanted a beacon set for 2 minutes at 10 watts transmitter power. ARISS got their way. The beacon option may seem trivial, however it did have a big effect on the status of the cooling fan. No one knew at that time, how the fan worked and what controlled the fans On/Off cycle. The way it works, is when the transmitter is ON, the Fan is ON. When the transmitter turns OFF, a timer is set and the fan keeps running for 2 more minutes after the transmitter turns OFF. Had we known this early, it would have influenced the beacon decision. Since the beacon was set to Broadcast every two minutes. And the Cooling fan would run for 2 minutes after the transmitter stopped, it meant that the fan was running continuously 24 hours a day 7 days a week, whenever the TM-D700 was turned on. The Packet software was designed to be on at all times (except during Repeater mode). Even when the radio was in Voice mode, the packet system was still running on a different pair of frequencies. And every two minutes the packet system would send out another beacon, which kept the cooling fan running all of the time. In August 2006 after 2.5 years of TM-D700 operations in flight, Cosmonaut Commander Pavel Vinogradov reported the TM-D700 fan did not seem to be working, "I blow on it, the fan moves and then stops". The day before the Radio had over heated and locked up due to a problem with the Laptop transmitter Vox-Box control cable (I will cover Vox-Box control cable in a separate section). I was in the Tele-conference with ARISS when our Energia representative repeated the conversation he had with Commander Pavel Vinogradov. ARISS immediately went into denial mode and refused to believe the comments made by Commander Pavel Vinogradov. The MAREX team requested on several occasions that ARISS should perform a routine check out of the TM-700 on during one of the weekly School schedule link days. It would be easy to add a few new "check list" items to the school schedule checklist to examine the operation of the fan to verify its status. ARISS flat-out refused to perform any examination of the fan on the TM-D700. Frank Bauer said "I do not want to bring any attention to NASA that we may be having a problem with fan". In August 2007 I talked to ISS crewmember Clayton Anderson on board ISS. I asked Clayton the question that ARISS had been refusing to ask, "Is the fan on the TM-D700 working". Clayton responded, "It?s hard to tell, I do not think the fan is working". The statements made by Clayton Anderson and Commander Pavel Vinogradov while using the TM-D700 on board ISS do not confirm the fan is actually broken, however there is substantial information present for ARISS to at least start an investigation. ARISS still refused to investigate the problem. Fortunately the Russian engineering team frequently ignores ARISS and decided that there was sufficient information and decided to send a replacement TM-D700 and Vox-Box to ISS in 2008. Summary: ARISS / AMSAT Corporation knew there was a possibility the critical cooling fan on the TM-D700 may have failed and took no action. ARISS / AMSAT Corporation went out of their way to deny there was any problem with the suspected cooling fan and continued to allow the transceiver to operate in unattended modes. ARISS / AMSAT Corporation refused to investigate the problem which had been reported by 2 ISS crewmembers in-flight. University Charter proposal changes: Under the new ARISS Reorganization Charter, I propose that the university assign an independent team to perform a complete safety and functionality check on every project approved by ARISS for ISS. The safety check will included the following: Complete review of all technical documentation. Hardware compatibility testing. Including full End-to-End testing at least a year before flight. RFI emissions testing Human Interface testing (Is the project too complex for the ISS crew to operate?) Project delivery schedule (If the project can not be completed in 2-years or less, it should be canceled) Hardware Donation to ARISS: The Kenwood Company donated (15) Kenwood TM-D700 transceiver to ARISS (around the year 2000) for the ISS projects. Very early on in the project TM- D700, MAREX asked Frank Bauer if we could to borrow one of the TM-D700 to evaluate the performance of the TM-D700 Software, Packet Mail system and over all functionality. Frank agreed and promised to let MAREX borrow one of the (15) TM-D700?s. MAREX made the request several time and was always give the same response, "Yes we will send you one when they are available". ARISS never came through with their promise and as a result the TM-D700 never received the planned crosscheck evaluation of the project as had been planned. This critical missing Quality Assurance check allowed many correctable problems to slip through and resulted in an over all very poor performing and embarrassing project for ARISS and ISS. Failure to test projects: AMSAT Corporations refusal to perform basic compatibly and usability testing on projects has led to some embarrassing failures. The lack of testing has been a reoccurring team throughout the ARISS projects. There are many example of the "Failure to test", however I will only highlight one of the best document cases. Slow Scan TV project (SpaceCam1 SSTV): The SSTV project consisted for 5 parts: SSTV Software, provided by MAREX and Silicon-Pixels MAREX Delivered the Beta software in 1999. Laptop Computer ARISS took the responsibility of acquiring an approved Laptop to be used for Amateur Radio project including Packet and Slow Scan TV. ARISS began the acquisition in 1999 and was finally able to secure a Laptop in 2008. The Laptop portion of the project only required 9 years to complete. Occasionally the ISS crew would borrow the "Tourist" Laptops from other projects that would be used intermittently with Amateur Radio projects. Erickson Transceiver The original SAREX team had some leftover hardware from previous Shuttle Missions. This hardware was flight qualified for ISS and delivered to ISS in 2000. Vox-Box adapter An interface needed to be built to allow a Laptop computer to connect to the Erickson transceiver. AMSAT Corporation directory Lou McFadin (ARISS Hardware Manager) volunteered to build the interface cable. This cable would be used for SSTV and other Amateur radio projects. The Vox-Box cable design began in 1999. Antenna System (Team effort from multiple agencies) A total of 5 cable feed-throughs, with antennas were made available to Amateur Radio project in the Russian modules. Lack of End-to-End Testing: In the summer of 2000, AMSAT had sufficient hardware and software to start performing End-to-end testing of the SpaceCam1 project. The ARISS/AMSAT hardware team had the Antennas, Flight-Laptop (IBM-760XD), SpaceCam1 software, VOX-Box hardware and the Erickson Transceivers. The AMSAT hardware team never performed any End-to-end testing until August 2003. At a meeting with ARISS in 2003, I was finally given access to the Erickson hardware for the first time. To my utter amazement, no one on the AMSAT hardware team had ever connected all of this equipment together prior to this meeting. The ARISS hardware team had only tested individual parts separately. I discovered numerous problems that should have been discovered years earlier. The SpaceCam1 project was scheduled to fly to ISS in 2004 and we had to perform qualifications testing in Moscow in November 2003. #1 Erickson Transceiver could not receive SSTV images. The first big problem was that the Erickson transceiver was not able to receive SSTV images. The Erickson Transceivers had an audio port connection, which would be connected to the Laptop through the Vox-Box adapter. The Audio voltage level coming out of the Erickson connection was approximately 10 volts p-p. The Laptop microphone input port requires a voltage level of 1-2 volt p-p. Since the Erickson was running a voltage much higher than the requirements of the Laptop, the images displayed on the laptop were completely distorted and unusable. The fix for this problem was never implemented by ARISS and thus the Erickson Transceiver could not be used for SSTV or any other type of Laptop project. #2 Vox-Box oscillations The Vox-Box is an adapter cable that takes the audio from the Laptop and sends it to the Radio. The Vox-Box is also responsible to telling the Radio, when to "Transmit". When the Vox-Box detects audio from the Laptop, it will then tell the radio to "Transmit". When the audio stops, the Vox-Box will tell the radio to switch back into receiving mode. During the Houston testing in August 2003, we noticed the Vox-Box adapter would intermittently go into an uncontrolled Oscillation. The Oscillation would then scramble any images being sent to the radio. Eventually a specific hardware configuration was found that seem to reduce the Oscillations. The Kenwood TM-D700 and the IBM-760XD seemed to be compatible. The AMSAT team that built the Vox-Box did not perform any additional circuit modifications to understand or eliminate the Oscillation problem. The two Vox-Box cables used on board ISS are both having problems controlling the transmitter. When the Laptop signals the Vox-Box to start transmit, the transmitter is activated correctly. When the Laptop signals the Vox-Box to Stop transmitter, the Transmitter gets stuck ON. #3 Wiener Laptop The Wiener Laptop (166 MHz CPU, Windows 2000) was a backup Laptop provided by the Russian team. This was the first time anyone at ARISS had seen this Laptop. The Russians said, there was a spare Wiener Laptop on ISS and we were welcome to use this computer for our Amateur Radio projects. The main problem with this computer was also associated with the Audio output voltage levels. This Laptop was designed to run either low voltage headsets (1-2 volts p-p) or higher voltage external speakers (15-20 volts p-p). The Windows 2000 operating Systems was all in Russian and we had very limited access to a Russian translator to assist with the settings. As a result we were not able to fully document the changes required to keep the Laptop running in the low voltage-operating mode. All images transmitted from the Wiener Laptop while in the default Speaker setting came out scrambled. Moscow KIS testing November 2003 During the months before the trip to Russia, the ARISS and MAREX team linked up frequently by conference call. One of the goals requested by MAREX was that we have a pre-test staging day set aside so that we could retest all of the hardware, before going to the KIS testing facility. The pre-test staging was very important because of the poor results we had during the August 2003 Houston testing session. Frank Bauer and the ARISS team agreed and plans were made to set aside a day to stage all of the hardware before taking the hardware to the KIS facility. Shortly after we arrived in Moscow, Frank Bauer told me that we would not have a Staging test day and that we wold not have access to the hardware until the morning of the KIS flight certification testing. A disaster was looming. On the testing day, a good portion of the morning was taken up by going through the required security processes. When we finally arrived in our testing office with all of our hardware, we only had 1 hour to unpack and get ready for the testing, inside the mockup module of the ISS service module. All of the problems we had in Houston came back and then some. The first stumbling block was that we did not have our translator with us. During the previous 2 days of meetings, we had full access to a qualified translator. However, in the KIS facility we did not have a translator, which would have really been useful. The Wiener Laptop was installed in the Service module first. Unfortunately the settings I made to the Wiener Laptop in August 2003 had been changed and the Laptop was now sending speaker audio out at 20 volts p-p. The high voltages caused all SSTV images sent from the service module to become completely scrambled. The IBM 760XD and TM-D700 combination in the Office overlooking the Service module was also having problems sending images to the Service Module. Our Back up Kenwood HT with a SSTV microphone (VCH1-Communicator) was out of service because the battery had not been charged. Fortunately we had the 220 Volt power cube for the HT, unfortunately the plug pins were too short to reach inside the Russian AC power outlet or Power strips. I went to a group of Russian engineers wearing white jackets and handed them the Power Cube and a Power Strip and said in English, "Fix". The engineers took the power cube and power strip and walked a way. A few minutes later they came back. They had removed the protective cover to the power strip and taped the Power Cube on to the exposed 220-Volt brass contact bars. The engineer said in English "No Touch". Wow that was fast and simple Russian engineering. I now had 1 working SSTV system. Unfortunately I needed two working SSTV systems. I began working on the IBM-760XD in the lab and discovered the Audio levels were set incorrectly, which was easy to correct. After a few minutes I was able to send and receive SSTV images to the Backup VCH1-Commander system in the same lab. I was also able to send Frank Bauer SSTVimages in the Service module. Frank was still not able to Send images because of the audio level problems with the Wiener Laptop. Frank ordered me into the Service Module to fix the Wiener computer. Unfortunately, without a Russian translator, I could not easily navigate the Russian version of Windows 2000 to find the correct audio settings. At one point, a group of Cosmonauts squeezed into the Service model to see the new SSTV project. Everyone posed for pictures. One of the cosmonauts looked at the scrambled SSTV images on the screen and said in English, "Not working?" I responded in poor Russian "Little Problem", I was very embarrassed. Then we got lucky, the battery on the Wiener computer died. We were not allowed to run the laptops on AC power, they had to run on batteries for their emission portion of the tests. The dead batter allowed us the blame the battery for the problems and gave us the opportunity to swap over to the IBM-760XD and Kenwood TM-D700 configuration. Within a few minutes the working IBM-760XD was moved from the lab, into the Service Module. Once setup Frank and I were able to Send and receive good quality SSTV images to and from the Service Module and we were able to pass the emissions testing. Changes to the Vox-Box power source: A few weeks after the Moscow certification test, the power source for the Vox-Box was changed from a 9-Volt battery to be able to receive power directly from inside the Kenwood TM-D700 transceiver. This modification was only performed on the TM-D700 in Russia, one of which was flown to ISS in the fall of 2003. None of the other TM-700 in the USA based ARISS Hardware team made the same changes or confirmed their functionality. When the Vox-Box was used in-flight for SSTV in August 2006, the Vox-Box would turn ON the transmitter, however the Vox-Box circuit would get stuck and would not turn the transmitter OFF. A new Vox-Box and TM-D700 were flown to ISS in the summer of 2008. When the SSTV was activated again, the same problem occurred, the transmitter would get stuck in the ON position. Flight participant Richard Garriott, tried two different SSTV applications and both had the same problem. ARISS wants to blame the SpaceCam1 SSTV software, however, since the problem was seen with two completely different SSTV applications, we can assume that is its not a software issue. The cause of the stuck transmitter is most likely and RF interference on the DC power source feeding from the TM-D700 transmitter into the Vox-Box. I have shown a few engineers the schematic for the ARISS Vox-Box and they all ask the same questions, "Where is the RF bypass filtering, there is none". Without proper RF bypass circuits, it would be easy for the Vox-Box switch to get stuck on the ON condition. Summary: Lack of End-to-end testing left us poorly prepared with limited hardware options. Canceling of the pre-test Staging resulted in an embarrassing and stressful testing session. The Vox-Box Oscillation problem was observed by oscilloscope in Moscow. Changes to Vox-Box power source were not fully tested and may be the cause of the two In-flight failures. University Charter proposal changes: Under the new ARISS Reorganization Charter, I propose that the university assign an independent team to perform a complete safety and functionality check on every project approved by ARISS for ISS. The safety check will included the following: Complete review of all technical documentation. Hardware compatibility testing. Including full End-to-End testing at least a year before flight. RFI emissions testing Human Interface testing (Is the project too complex for the ISS crew to operate?) Project delivery schedule (If the project can not be completed in 2-years or less, it should be canceled) Last minute changes will need to be verified before ARISS will signoff on a problem. ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Sent via amsat-bb(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb End of AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 4, Issue 401 ****************************************

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Remote Sat Operations (Really Remote!)
by Clary, James T, Civilian 15 Aug '09

15 Aug '09

Diego Garcia (QTH 07S 072E, grid MI62) may not be the worst place for satellite ops, but for the rest of the year it's home for me! > Could be i'm wrong here if you know the worse place to be on earth > for an amateur satellite operator just mention it? (Poles excluded) > > Luc Leblanc VE2DWE Jim, ND9M / VQ9JC

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ANS=228 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by JoAnne Maenpaa 15 Aug '09

15 Aug '09

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-228 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 ********************************************************************** * 2009 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting October 9-11 * * Four Points Sheraton Hotel at the Baltimore Washington Airport * * Details - http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/symposium/2009/index.php * ********************************************************************** In this edition: * Final Call For Papers AMSAT 2009 Space Symposium * New Satellite Location Maps Available * AO-51 Mode Change This Weekend * South Africa's SumbandilaSat Launch Scheduled For September 15 * AMSAT Awards * SimSat-4 Amateur Radio High Altitude Ballon Flight Announcement * Satellite Shorts From All Over * Invitation to Join Nova East Star Party ARISS Video Link * Mars Orbit Getting Busier SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-228.01 Final Call For Papers AMSAT 2009 Space Symposium AMSAT News Service Bulletin 228.01 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. August 16, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-228.01 Symposium Proceedings Editor Daniel Schultz, N8GFV this week issued the final call for papers for the 2009 AMSAT Annual Meeting and Space Symposium to be held October 9 - 11 at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel at the Baltimore Washington Airport. Proposals for papers, symposium presentations and poster pre- sentations are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite community. Since the subject of launch opportunities is driving most of what AMSAT can do in the near future, papers on possible cooperative projects with other space organizations would also be relevant. You might also consider doing a tutorial session on some technical subject that you are an expert on for the education of the rest of us. Daniel requests a tentative title of your presentation as soon as possible, with final copy submitted by September 1, 2009 for inclusion in the printed proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be sent to Dan Schultz, N8FGV, at n8fgv(a)amsat.org. [ANS thanks Daniel Schultz, N8FGV for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-228.02 New Satellite Location Maps Available AMSAT News Service Bulletin 228.02 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. August 16, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-228.02 A map showing the current satellite location for most of the amateur satellites are now available on the AMSAT web site. >From the AMSAT front page, use the left hand side navigation, go to the 'Satellite Information' navigation box, then select 'Satellite Status'. You may also go directly there using this URL: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/satellites/status.php Next click on an underlined satellite name in the left hand column. This will display a satellite summary, scroll to the bottom of the page and there will be a map showing the current location of that satellite and the illuminated and dark portions of the earth. This feature can be used for a quick check of the satellite's location or to verify that your tracking program was setup cor- rectly. Thanks to Rick, W2GPS and Chip, N2YO for providing this useful feature. [ANS thanks Gould, WA4SXM for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-228.03 AO-51 Mode Change This Weekend AMSAT News Service Bulletin 228.03 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. August 16, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-228.03 On Sunday night Eastern Daylight Time (UTC - 4), around 0000Z Aug 17 UTC AO-51 will switch to V/S FM repeater mode using the 145.880 MHz uplink and 2401.200 MHz downlink. The AO-51 spin rate has slowed to over 7 minutes per revolution. Eighteen months ago this was about 2.5 RPM. So, either you should experience less to no fading during the pass or longer fades depend- ing upon the satellite's orientation to your QTH. The AO-51 modes team welcomes your observations, especially those providing actual measured data. Ground controllers probably will turn the L-Band digital uplink off, to get the best power allocation to both transmitters. You will still be able to receive the telemetry on 435.150 MHz. [ANS thanks AO-51 Operations Team for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-228.04 South Africa's SumbandilaSat Launch Scheduled For September 15 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 228.04 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. August 16, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-228.04 The South African Amateur Radio Satellite Association (SA AMSAT) reports that South Africa's second Amateur Radio satellite Sum- bandilaSat is due to launch on September 15 AMSAT-SA reported that the satellite is already in Baikonur for system integration and from where it will be launched on its journey around the earth on a Soyuz rocket. The Amateur Radio payload comprises a V/U FM voice transponder with an uplink in the 2 meter band and a downlink in the 70cm band. It has a parrot repeater (voice digipeater) and a voice beacon. The Amateur Radio Payload will be operating in conjunction with the University of Stellenbosch Software Defined Receiver project as it will share the VHF receiver and UHF transmitter used by the SDR pro- ject. The SA AMSAT payload has been assigned the callsign ZS0SUM. Control of the satellite's function from the ground will be accomplished by transmitting CTCSS tones which will be announced. One tone will will command the satellite in the transponder mode; another CTCSS tone will command the satellite into the parrot repeater mode; and if no tones are received for a period of time the satellite will activate its voice beacon. Frequencies of operation for the FM voice Transponder and Parrot are: Uplink 145.880 MHz Downlink 435.350 MHz Additional information can be found at these links. A paper presented by a Stellenbosch student on the SA satellite: http://dataweek.co.za/article.aspx?pklArticleId=4118&pklCategoryId=42 University of Stellenbosch http://www.sun.ac.za/ University of KwaZulu-Natal http://www.ukzn.ac.za/ SunSpace http://www.sunspace.co.za/ Southern African Amateur Radio Satellite Association (SA AMSAT) http://www.amsatsa.org.za/ [ANS thanks Trevor, M5AKA, The SouthGate Web site, and SA-AMSAT for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-228.05 AMSAT Awards AMSAT News Service Bulletin 228.05 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. August 16, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-228.05 AMSAT Director Contests and Awards, Bruce Paige, KK5DO congrat- ulates the following Amateur Radio operators who have earned these awards. AMSAT Satellite Communications Achievement Award: Rizkallah Azrak OD5RI #503 Dave Glow AA1VX #504 Evangelos Kafetzopoulos SV1EEK #505 The following have earned the AMSAT Sexagesimal Award. David Bird KC7USS #150 The following have earned the South Africa Communications Achievement Award. Evangelos Kafetzopoulos SV1EEK #US137 The following have earned the W4AMI Achievement Award (for 1000 contacts) Dimtrios Pallis SW1JGW #54 George Carr WA5KBH #55 Evangelos Kafetzopoulos SV1EEK #56 To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org [ANS thanks Bruce, KK5DO for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-228.06 SimSat-4 Amateur Radio High Altitude Ballon Flight Announcement AMSAT News Service Bulletin 228.06 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. August 16, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-228.06 The SimSat-4 high-altitude balloon flight experiment has been scheduled for Saturday morning, September 19, 2009. SimSat-4 Principal Investigator, Pat Kilroy, N8PK has posted the latest information on the web at: http://simsat.net then click SimSat-4. Pat invites you to check this link on a regular basis for updates and late breaking news about SimSat-4. Pat says he needs more volunteers to help execute a successful flight. He is looking for: 1. Net Control Station for the (A) HF or (B) VHF net. You are also invited to create your own net on a repeater more local to you and your club. 2. Amateur Radio stations to copy and save telemetry during the mission from the comfort of your own home/shack. 3. Invite a student (young or old) to participate with you. Show 'em how to listen. That's all. 4. Download and install a CW code reader on your PC. Play with it and let us know how well it works. 5. There are many other fun tasksand you can see the list on the SimSat-4 announcement page. http://simsat.net and then click SimSat-4. [ANS thanks SimSat-4 Principal Investigator, Pat Kilroy, N8PK for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-228.07 Satellite Shorts From All Over AMSAT News Service Bulletin 228.07 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. August 16, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-228.07 + Congratulations to Patrick, WD9EWK on his Worked All States award. Patrick completed WAS completely via the FM LEO satellites. + Short Notice! Mark WA8SME plans to activate the rare grid DM19 (smack in the middle of Nevada) on August 17 during the 2130Z AO27 pass (approximate). He will operate using an HT and Arrow antenna. + Software enhancement allows you to fly through the 10,000 galaxies of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field image at: http://tinyurl.com/n3fhjg Try the full screen option in the bottom toolbar for the best experience. (UniverseToday.com) + Congratulations to Doug, KD8CAO and Jim, W8MRR on their successful Amateur Satellite demonstration via AO-51 on 8/11/09 at the Holland Area Radio Club in Michigan. Jim said, "Everything went right, the weather was perfect, the satellite and our equipment performed flawlessly, and a huge crowd of hams were there for our monthly meeting." Doug and Jim also included a Power Point presentation. + AMSAT-UK's FUNcube satellite project is featured on the front cover of the August 12-18 edition of Electronics Weekly magazine. You can read the digital version of Electronics Weekly magazine online in PDF format at: http://cde.cerosmedia.com/1D4a803d8814a11352.cde + Roland PY4ZBZ has posted an audio recording from his AO-7 SSB QSO with Andre, ZS2BK covering a of distance of 6890 km. The recording is at: http://www.qsl.net/py4zbz/satelite/ZS2BK_AO7.wav Photos of his 2 element Yagi on VHF and 6 el on UHF are on-line at: http://www.qsl.net/py4zbz/satelite.htm#owa6 + The next Hudson Valley Satcom Group net is Thursday August 20 at 8PM EDT (UTC-4), on the 146.97 Repeater and Echolink node: N2EYH-L (via WA2BSS) [ANS thanks everyone for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-228.08 Invitation to Join Nova East Star Party ARISS Video Link AMSAT News Service Bulletin 228.08 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. August 16, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-228.08 On Saturday, August 22, 2009 participants at the Nova East Star Party (Smileys Provincail Park, Brooklyn, Nova Scotia Canada) will have the opportunity to speak with Canadian Astronaut and Expedition 20/21 Flight Engineer Dr. Robert (Bob) Thirsk, VA3CSA, on board the International Space Station. With the help of the Province of Nova Scotia's Emergency Management Office and Bell Aliant a LIVE satellite uplink will be used to pro- vide a 1 hour webcast of the event. Starting at shortly after 12:00 UTC the webcast will include amateur radio and astronomical topics. The webcast will conclude with the actual contact which begins with AOS at 12:54:08 UTC. Please join us for this very special educational outreach event at http://exclusive.bellaliant.net/spacestation. [ANS thanks the ARISS Mentor for Nova East Star Party 2009, Wayne Harasimovitch, VE1WPH for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-228.09 Mars Orbit Getting Busier AMSAT News Service Bulletin 228.09 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. August 16, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-228.09 MarsDaily.com reports that NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is in safe mode, a precautionary standby status, and in communications with Earth after unexpectedly switching to its backup computer on Thursday, August 6. Engineers are working to determine the cause of the spontaneous swap from the orbiter's "A" side computer and subsystems to the redundant "B" side. They have successfully increased the communication rate from the orbiter, but some engineering data about what was occurring just before the side swap may never be available. The team expects it will be at least several days until normal science operations resume. After the challenging mission to moon, ISRO has begun preparations for sending an Indian spacecraft to Mars within the next six years. Mission studies have been completed and collection of scientific pro- posals has begun. India is examining launch opportunities between 2013 and 2015. MarsDaily.com also reported this week that China's first satellite to probe Mars has been transported to Russia for a launch later this year. Yinghuo-1, the 110-kilogramme (242-pound) Chinese satellite, is scheduled to be launched along with Russia's "Phobos Explorer" aboard a Zenit rocket in October after final testing, the Beijing News said. After entering Mars' orbit -- 10 to 11 months later -- the orbiter will probe the Martian space environment, with a special focus on what happened to the water that appears to have once been abundant on the planet's surface. [ANS thanks MarsDaily.com and SpaceDaily.com 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 the camel who journeyed a thousand miles across the desert to reach the oasis palm, and yet he could not get a date. 73, This week's ANS Editor, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM K9JKM at amsat dot org

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Re: rotator questions
by David Gendle 15 Aug '09

15 Aug '09

Greetings! This thread is bringing back memories. Eons ago (60's) when I was servicing long range radar for the USAF once a month the third shift crew would have to verify the proper azimuth and elevation orientation of our antennas. We would stop all antenna motion, stop transmitting and crank the receiver gain full up. At a specific instant when the sun just broke over the horizon we would verify if the azimuth and elevation of the antenna was correct by using the large noise burst from the sun. Using this method we could get the antennas within 2 degrees of perfect orientation. It was a foolproof procedure because the location of the sun was always predictable. Ahh.... the good old days! :-) 73, Dave _ K4DLG

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Lighthouse Special Event Update
by Peter 15 Aug '09

15 Aug '09

Hello All, I want to thank all the satellite Stations that made contact with W2GSB/Lighthouse today, on Fire Island NY, FN30jp as a result of making contact with the station, you really excited the many visitors that listened to you, and are responsible for bringing a few more operators into our orbit, thank you. I had the recorder on, however I lost part of it, must be the salt air, I also had a paper backup but I want to be accurate. I would appreciate it if operators who made contact with W2GSB/LH today e-mail me their call, thank you. I will only operate one pass tomorrow, Sunday, A0-51- 11:31- 11:46 UTC, due to a family obligation, we will have other operators thru the day, but I can't be positive of that, thank you for making this event a lot of fun! If you want more information on the event, please visit www.gsbarc.org 73, Pete, WB2OQQ

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HOWTO: Insulate the Arrow's elements
by Majdi S. Abbas 15 Aug '09

15 Aug '09

I know there has been some discussion here in the past on Arrow modifications -- specifically, either electrically lengthening the elements, or insulating them from the boom. I opted to try to insulate the elements from the boom, rather than lengthen them. This was mostly due to my concern that it would be hard to ensure an electrically solid lengthening using commodity hardware. One possible approach: Either re-drill to expand, or ream out the existing holes in the boom, and install nylon bushings through both sides, possibly placing a little epoxy on them, to make them a permanent part of the boom. Then install the elements as normal. This would make for a nice finished product, but would require 20 bushings, which were in the range of 0.60- 0.70 USD each at the hardware store. This makes it the most expensive option. I opted for a much less expensive option using 1/4" neoprene bibb washers, of the type used in compression fittings (check the plumbing supplies aisle -- I was able to procure 25 of these washers for $3.49.) I did make one observation about the boom itself -- it is exactly the width of a standard roll of 3M vinyl electrical tape. Given this, with the use of tape, it should be possible to use insulating washers. Here's how to do it: Insulate the boom from the elements by removing the #8-32 threaded rod from each, and carefully wrapping 1 1/3rd turns of vinyl electrical tape around the center. Stretch the tape somewhat as you do this, and then mold it into the threads in the rod using your fingers. Removing the threaded rods entirely is necessary to ensure they are centered, or you will have trouble getting the elements to fit once the insulating washers are in place. Once this is done, carefully install it into the boom, rolling t in the direction of the threads (and tape) to avoid damaging the tape. It is a tight fight, but it is possible to do so. You should be able to see the tape just barely protruding from both sides of the boom. Install a 1/4" neoprene bibb washer (nylon washers could also be used, but those were $0.39 ea, and my goal was to keep this under $5) on each side, and then reinstall and tighten the elements. If you have the split boom model, you may have some trouble with the 70 cm element that joins the halves of the boom. You might need to ream out or file the holes in the copper tubing inside the boom to get a tape wrapped threaded rod insert to fit without disturbing the tape. Worst case, this could involve drilling out the blind rivet, removing the copper insert, expanding the holes and then deburring them, and then reinstalling it. If you don't have a deburrer, a large enough drill bit would do. If you don't have a blind ("pop") riveter, you could reinstall it using a small nut and bolt. The entire process should take about 15-20 minutes. Total cost was $3.49 for the 1/4" bibb washers and a few inches of electrical tape, which I had on hand. Even with tax, this is less than a $5 modification. Unfortunately, I've loaned out my digital camera for the day, so I don't have any pictures of this modification, but it's pretty straight- forward. I hope this has been helpful to someone who was considering this but wasn't sure what they needed from the hardware store. 73, Majdi, N0RMZ

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rotator questions
by Joseph Armbruster 15 Aug '09

15 Aug '09

Hey everyone at the amtat-bb! I spent a good portion of the day sick in bed yesterday and only naturally got to thinking about quite a few things. I figured i'd pop on here and start asking questions. Here's some background information on my sat experience; my rig consists of a TH-F6A (handheld, not full-duplex) and an arrow antenna. I have been successfull at manually trakcing the ISS and AO-51, but I have been unsuccessful at making a contact. I went out to field day (in Oviedo Florida) and was able to check out the rig the LMARS club uses. This got me wondering about sat tracking software, the internals and what definition of "North" that is used. I'm familiar with the IGRF (from my day job as a GIS guy) and was wondering if any of these apps use the IGRF for calculating magnetic declination: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/IAGA/vmod/igrf.html I've thought about creating my own rotator and started wondering about the configuration used. When you buy a rotator and put it out in the yard, i'm guessing you have to orient the base 'correctly'. How is the base of a rotator usually aligned? Do you get a compass out and use local magnetic north (without compensating for the declination from the IGRF). I'm still in learning mode and very new to the world of sat, so if these are really dumb questions, my apologies! I am open to any reading materials you can suggest on the matter. Joseph Armrbuster, KJ4JIO

10 12

FS: Yaesu FIF-232c interface
by James French 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

Wondering if anyone has a need for a Yaesu FIF-232c interface box? I have had one laying around here for the past couple of years and wondering if anyone needs one. Asking 75 dollars plus shipping from 48146 area code or best offer. Have no idea if it even works other than the LED for power switches on and off. Have no way to test it as all equipment here is Icoms. James W8ISS

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Lighthouse/Lightship Event this weekend
by Peter 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

Hello Again, Gail, KB0RZD asked me if other Satellite Operators were involved with this event. If anyone is planning to operate from a Lighthouse/Lightship this weekend, please let us know. If you're radio club is planning to operate, why not join them and make a few contacts, thank you. 73, Pete, WB2OQQ CQ CQ... this is W2GSB/Lighthouse - Fire Island Lighthouse NYSpecial Event Station, August 14th, 15th.

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Wallops APRS Space Launch
by Robert Bruninga 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

There will be a launch to 300+ km of an APRS payload on a sounding rocket out of Wallops Island VA, this fall. I don't want to steal anyone's thunder, but they said I could give this heads up. They will post details when available. It is only 300 milliiwatts and will be on the National APRS frequency 144.39 to make sure everyone can track it. The total mission duration is on the order of 10 minutes from launch to re-entry. AMSAT stations with beams in the mid-atlantic states will be valuable. APRS stations with Igates with beams will be even better so the student builders half way across the country can get their packets live via the APRS-IS (internet)... OMNI antennas in quiet locations should be able to hear the packets direct, so nearby Igates with omni's probably need no enhancement. WB4APR, Bob

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+ Dragonsat / ANDE-2
by PY2ZX 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

Hello, Can anyone confirm If that audio file is correspondent to a Dragonsat reception? http://archangelo.net/misc/sat/ande2/audio/dragon_10ago09_2107z.wav I tuned in CW mode since I knew the signal was weak. Images: http://archangelo.net/misc/sat/ande2/view.htm Flavio PY2ZX

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irc channel?
by Joseph Armbruster 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

Is there any specific server / channel that amsat folks hang out in on IRC? Joseph Armbruster, KJ4JIO

2 1

AO-7 mode B
by Roland Zurmely 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

Here is an audio recording from QSO with Andre ZS2BK, distance = 6890 km ! http://www.qsl.net/py4zbz/satelite/ZS2BK_AO7.wav Only 2 element Yagi on VHF and 6 el on UHF: http://www.qsl.net/py4zbz/satelite.htm#owa6 73 de Roland PY4ZBZ

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Fw: Lighthouse/Lightship Special Event
by Peter 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

Hello, I would like to correct the starting time for the Satellite portion of the event.. it will be 1200 UTC, Saturday, thank you. 73, Pete, WB2OQQ

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Lighthouse/Lightship Special Event
by Peter 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

Hello All, As part of the International Lighthouse/Lightship event, I will be operating on most of the FM Satellites, thru the weekend. In addition we will have AMSAT information available to the many visitors that tour the Fire Island Lighthouse, our goal is to have fun and bring new Satellite operators to the airwaves. So when you hear W2GSB/Lighthouse, give us a call, you can visit http://www.gsbarc.org to view the QSL card and more information about the event, thank you. 73, Pete, WB2OQQ CQ CQ... this is W2GSB/Lighthouse - Fire Island Lighthouse NYSpecial Event Station W2GSB/Lighthouse - August 15 and 16, 2009 Fire Island Lighthouse, Fire Island National Seashore, Fire Island, Suffolk County, New York The event is always held on the 3rd full weekend in August starting at 0001 UTC on Saturday and finishing at 2359 UTC on Sunday. It also now coincides on the Sunday with the International Lighthouse Day which is an event organized by the International Association of Lighthouse Keepers whereby as many world lighthouses will be open to the public for the day. The following are the various designators for the operation W2GSB/Lighthouse location information: Grid Square: FN-30-jp QSL via W2GSB/LH, PO Box 1356, West Babylon, NY 11704-0356. S.A.S.E. Please. The International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend came into being in 1997 from the Scottish Northern Lighthouses award weekend by Mike Dalrymple, GM4SUC, a member of the Ayr Amateur Radio Group, see also this web site for further history and this page for the event's first web site. Over the years it has grown to over 380 lighthouses in some 51 countries around the world participating in the event. 73, Pete, WB2OQQ

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EN63 active today
by Chris Lemon 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

Hello all, I will be active from EN63 Wisconsin today on the FM birds. I made it here in time to work some folks on the 1251Z AO-51 pass, and I plan to be on the 1756Z (low elevation) and 1933Z AO-27 passes, the 2227Z and maybe the 0006Z AO-51 passes, and the 2333Z SO-50 pass. All subject to change as I am working and my time is not always under my control. Don't know if EN63 is a terribly rare grid, but I don't have it so it's rare to me! I know there were some other rare ones on AO-51 this morning, so hopefully folks can work some new ones today. Chris KB9CL

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Special Event- Lighthouse Weekend
by roib＠optonline.net 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

Hello All, As part of the International Lighthouse/Lightship event, I will be operating on most of the FM Satellites, thru the weekend. In addition we will have AMSAT information available to the many visitors that tour the Fire Island Lighthouse, our goal is to have fun and bring new Satellite operators to the airwaves. So when you hear W2GSB/Lighthouse, give us a call, you can visit http://www.gsbarc.org to view the QSL card and more information about the event, thank you. 73, Pete, WB2OQQ CQ CQ... this is W2GSB/Lighthouse - Fire Island Lighthouse NYSpecial Event Station W2GSB/Lighthouse - August 15 and 16, 2009 Fire Island Lighthouse, Fire Island National Seashore, Fire Island, Suffolk County, New York The event is always held on the 3rd full weekend in August starting at 0001 UTC on Saturday and finishing at 2359 UTC on Sunday. It also now coincides on the Sunday with the International Lighthouse Day which is an event organized by the International Association of Lighthouse Keepers whereby as many world lighthouses will be open to the public for the day. The following are the various designators for the operation W2GSB/Lighthouse location information: Grid Square: FN-30-jp QSL via W2GSB/LH, PO Box 1356, West Babylon, NY 11704-0356. S.A.S.E. Please. The International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend came into being in 1997 from the Scottish Northern Lighthouses award weekend by Mike Dalrymple, GM4SUC, a member of the Ayr Amateur Radio Group, see also this web site for further history and this page for the event's first web site. Over the years it has grown to over 380 lighthouses in some 51 countries around the world participating in the event. 73, Pete, WB2OQQ

1 0

ANDE website telemetry corrected
by Ivan Galysh 14 Aug '09

14 Aug '09

Hello all, For anyone who is trying to analyze the sensor data, I discovered I put in the wrong information about the magnetometers. The values are not counts but measurements in uTesla. More info will be posted such as sensor locations and magnetometer orientation. I just need to get the CAD guy to crank out a few pictures. Ivan

1 0

Orbitron-Wispdde rotor control
by Gary Lockhart 13 Aug '09

13 Aug '09

All, I've been trying to get my pair of U-100 rotors under automatic control from a modified version of KO6TH AZ/EL Rotor Control program for a couple of months and have come up against a show stopper to get AZ/EL data from Orbitron on the serial port to load into a BS2. The BS2 loads programs and will display static data into a 2-line LCD display with no problem. It seems to be just the Wisp-DDE data is not recognized and stored. I have tried the original WispDDE and the Orbitron-Wispdde code AD5JN put out on the web but neither seem to work. I've disconnected the ATN line on the program-serial cable when trying receive data from the serial port but still no joy. I am sure this will work if I knew what I am doing wrong. Thanks for your attention, Gary AB3ID Snow Hill, MD

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Re: rotator questions
by Daniel Schultz 13 Aug '09

13 Aug '09

To find true north at your QTH: Go to http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications/data-services/rs-on… Enter your nearest city and state into the menu If you prefer to enter latitude and longitude, or if you are outside of the USA, go to http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications/data-services/rs-on… You will get a chart like this for your location: Thursday 13 August 2009 Eastern Daylight Time SUN Begin civil twilight 5:50 a.m. Sunrise 6:19 a.m. Sun transit 1:12 p.m. Sunset 8:05 p.m. End civil twilight 8:33 p.m. MOON Moonrise 11:04 p.m. on preceding day Moon transit 6:29 a.m. Moonset 2:04 p.m. Moonrise 11:44 p.m. Moonset 3:13 p.m. on following day Make a note of the "Sun transit" time. Set your watch by WWV or some other reliable time source. Drive a stake in the ground (use a plumb line to make sure it is vertical). Go outside at the exact moment of the sun transit, at that time the shadow of the stake (or your tower if it is vertical) will be true north. Mark the ground at that exact time. Dan Schultz N8FGV

2 1

Antenna pointing
by john heath 13 Aug '09

13 Aug '09

Hi, I agree with the comments that high degrees of pointing accuracy are not required for satellite work. However, if you are super keen to improve your pointing accuracy then you may like to consider the modern version of the "bore sight" method. A bore sight is basically a length of tube, you look through, you only get a view of the target when you are accuratly lined up with it. The longer the tube the greater the pointing accuracy. For an antenna boom mounted bore sight I used about six inches of 15mm copper water pipe with a stop end soldered onto it. I drilled a 1/8" hole in the stop end and fixed a light dependant resistor in the "eye end" Attached to the boom and ran wires to the shack where I had a battery and voltmeter. Point your antenna at where the Sun should be then "hunt" backwards and forwards, up and down until you see a peak reading on the meter = the sun. Its a bit of work but the benefit of this method is that its on the tower and you can check it anytime the Sun is out. Practical problems, waterproofing and true alignment to the boom. It was a lot of work but a fun project, eventially destroyed by water penetration. 73 John G7HIA

3 3

GeneSat-1
by Mike Rupprecht 13 Aug '09

13 Aug '09

downlink frequency has changed - now on 437.0695 MHz 20090813183201,KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAR,DK3WN-2:GeneSat1.orgE4242E150100001600 0000270069008F0A4E132C1F0013923005 20090813183206,KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAR,DK3WN-2:GeneSat1.orgE9242E8A00B6000000 040027006900013F029A8136C4F21CDC1F 20090813183211,KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAR,DK3WN-2:GeneSat1.orgEE242E00005A010000 00002700690001F31930581C2830054002 20090813183226,KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAR,DK3WN-2:GeneSat1.orgFD242E020000003E01 0000270068007802351A2C4F021AC61D1E 20090813183236,KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAR,DK3WN-2:GeneSat1.org07252E21010B000000 0000270069008FEC02C5070B30C102761D 20090813183309,KE7EGC>UNDEF,TELEM,qAR,DK3WN-2:GeneSat1.org11252E020039010000 0000280068008F4F4B1C1EF8FC1C30023D 73, Mike DK3WN

1 0

tracker
by Jerry 13 Aug '09

13 Aug '09

Hi: Does any one out there have interest in my AEA ST-1 satellite Tracker ???? If some one is interested contact me by e-mail off the amsat site W0sat(a)msn.com Jerry w0sat

1 0

Yaesu FT857/897 on satellites
by John Geiger 13 Aug '09

13 Aug '09

Is anyone on the list using a Yaesu FT897 or FT857 on the LEO satellites (both FM and SSB)? I am currently using an Icom 706MKIIG with pretty good results, but have been thinking about "upgrading" to a Yaesu FT897D or maybe a FT857D. I have used some Yaesu rigs on the sats before and the 706MKIIG seems to hear them better, especially AO27. I don't have a big setup-Cushcraft dualband yagi (5 elements on each band) with no elevation, so signals are not rockcrushing from the satellites. The QST reviews show that the Icom has better sensitivity on 70cm SSB (MDS of -143 vs -139 dbm) and on FM (.16 vs .21 microvolts) but are those differences really meaningful? Do the 897 and 857 still receive the sats really good with a minimal setup? 73s John AA5JG

2 2

Logging software or HRD for Linux
by Eric Seebohm 13 Aug '09

13 Aug '09

Any logging software for Linux? Is there a version of the beloved HRD for Linux?

3 2

Discovery Channel - How do they do it?
by Trevor . 13 Aug '09

13 Aug '09

SSTL & DMCii are scheduled to be featured on Discovery Channel’s ‘How Do They Do It?’ programme on Wednesday 26th August at 8pm, followed by a US version on Science Channel in early September, see http://www.southgatearc.org/news/august2009/how_do_they_do_it.htm 73 Trevor M5AKA Daily Amateur Radio Email/RSS News: http://www.southgatearc.org/ ----

1 0

Best source for LMR-400 coax assemblies, pre-config with connectors?
by Mark Lunday 12 Aug '09

12 Aug '09

Looking for recommendations.don't want to go the eBay route. Thanks in advance. Mark Lunday WD4ELG Hillsborough, NC - FM06kb <mailto:[email protected]> wd4elg(a)arrl.net <http://wd4elg.net> http://wd4elg.net <http://wd4elg.net> http://wd4elg.blogspot.com

3 2

Sumbandila
by Pieter Kotze 12 Aug '09

12 Aug '09

Hello all Intended orbit is around 500km to meet the imaging payload requirements. At this altitude and with the limited propulsion on board, 3 years is a good estimate of the satellite lifetime due to re-entry. No reason why the electronics should not last much longer than this. The Soyuz Fregat will return to a lower altitude to drop Sumbandila off after the main payload has been released. 73 Pieter >Gunter's Space Page lists the primary payload, Meteor-M 1, as going into an 830 km orbit. >I'm guessing SumbandilaSat will end up in a similar orbit as I'm not aware that the >launcher in question is capable of doing multi-drop of the payloads into different orbits. >SumbandilaSat was originally scheduled to be launched from a submarine platform, this >may be the source of the 500 km figure quoted, but the launch vehicle changed. >Unfortunately I've no definative information on SumbandilaSat's intended orbit. >Quoted design lifetimes are usually meaningless. For experimental systems it just means >the time required to complete the primary experiment. For many satellites it's quoted as 3 >or 6 months, but systems may continue to operate for many years after the primary >objective has been completed. -- This message is subject to the CSIR's copyright terms and conditions, e-mail legal notice, and implemented Open Document Format (ODF) standard. The full disclaimer details can be found at http://www.csir.co.za/disclaimer.html. This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean. MailScanner thanks Transtec Computers for their support.

6 6

KEPS
by Nigel Gunn G8IFF/W8IFF 12 Aug '09

12 Aug '09

OSCAR 6 1 06236U 72082B 09223.96301254 -.00000027 +00000-0 +10000-3 0 02067 2 06236 101.3938 235.0908 0003865 136.9119 223.2257 12.53078183684394 OSCAR 7 1 07530U 74089B 09223.63401847 -.00000027 +00000-0 +10000-3 0 05532 2 07530 101.4243 246.2720 0011764 158.9444 201.2118 12.53576221589662 OSCAR 8 1 10703U 78026B 09223.70598801 +.00000325 +00000-0 +25490-3 0 05762 2 10703 098.8250 266.8473 0007428 022.1103 338.0375 13.98849682603782 OSCAR 10 1 14129U 83058B 09222.08706332 +.00000333 +00000-0 +10000-3 0 06838 2 14129 025.8121 142.5652 6030645 246.5160 041.1564 02.05866064168767 OSCAR 11 (UoSAT 2) 1 14781U 84021B 09223.66390103 .00000021 00000-0 10034-4 0 301 2 14781 098.1041 268.6530 0009325 151.4976 208.6723 14.79728682366038 OSCAR 16 (PACSAT) 1 20439U 90005D 09223.61972675 -.00000007 +00000-0 +12950-4 0 06751 2 20439 098.2829 189.5132 0011355 011.2957 348.8488 14.31830346021084 OSCAR 19 (LUSAT) 1 20442U 90005G 09223.59776281 -.00000007 +00000-0 +12565-4 0 05905 2 20442 098.2476 196.5411 0012031 007.5326 352.6038 14.32065296021241 JAS 1B (FUJI 2) 1 20480U 90013C 09223.45640268 -.00000013 +00000-0 +38577-4 0 02170 2 20480 099.0686 133.8813 0540829 045.3413 319.0476 12.83362300913998 INFORMATOR 1 1 21087U 91006A 09223.76464761 +.00000023 +00000-0 +72649-5 0 03498 2 21087 082.9428 004.8470 0036292 127.3643 233.0833 13.75045271930058 OSCAR 22 (UoSAT 5) 1 21575U 91050B 09223.64467842 -.00000023 +00000-0 +64813-5 0 06183 2 21575 098.4485 171.7909 0007021 206.5347 153.5481 14.39680757948683 KITSAT B 1 22825U 93061C 09223.59034576 -.00000009 00000-0 13169-4 0 3126 2 22825 098.4410 175.2801 0009411 100.7761 259.4488 14.29270750827822 POSAT 1 1 22826U 93061D 09223.78077008 +.00000007 +00000-0 +19369-4 0 00431 2 22826 098.4335 176.1892 0009931 094.8577 265.3727 14.29523318827951 ITAMSAT 1 22828U 93061F 09223.45351712 -.00000039 +00000-0 +12329-5 0 02476 2 22828 098.4259 175.7655 0010903 072.2903 287.9460 14.29822316796188 EYESAT A 1 22829U 93061G 09223.42190022 -.00000098 +00000-0 -21497-4 0 02818 2 22829 098.4220 176.8709 0010644 069.3402 290.8909 14.30220400828198 RADIO ROSTO 1 23439U 94085A 09223.94408562 -.00000039 +00000-0 +10000-3 0 02339 2 23439 064.8134 174.6511 0149302 040.9631 320.2390 11.27553442602401 JAS 2 1 24278U 96046B 09223.68852914 -.00000035 00000-0 69594-6 0 1087 2 24278 098.5448 090.2467 0350365 206.4377 151.8510 13.52944575641256 TMSAT 1 25396U 98043C 09223.86771137 +.00000023 +00000-0 +28026-4 0 04762 2 25396 098.3298 248.9379 0003586 076.4191 283.7388 14.23782357576221 TECHSAT 1B 1 25397U 98043D 09223.89580529 -.00000079 +00000-0 -17005-4 0 09661 2 25397 098.3252 243.2502 0002273 087.9870 272.1572 14.23161599576058 SEDSAT 1 1 25509U 98061B 09221.10790792 .00000059 00000-0 13592-5 0 5168 2 25509 031.4305 113.2442 0354007 081.2263 282.8284 14.28260535563405 ISS (ZARYA) 1 25544U 98067A 09223.87435278 +.00004919 +00000-0 +38794-4 0 03969 2 25544 051.6402 020.9601 0007800 322.5095 172.9419 15.73574002614726 KITSAT 3 1 25756U 99029A 09224.37482112 -.00000044 00000-0 11001-5 0 9794 2 25756 098.6633 059.0069 0014403 005.7341 354.4009 14.52542254541316 TIUNGSAT 1 1 26548U 00057D 09223.59541328 -.00000013 +00000-0 +16829-4 0 04653 2 26548 064.5552 269.2409 0052041 265.0100 094.5076 14.83378916480173 PCSAT 1 26931U 01043C 09224.25430983 -.00000168 00000-0 -33341-4 0 2381 2 26931 067.0512 279.9005 0006447 277.6183 082.4174 14.29562499410597 SAUDISAT 1C 1 27607U 02058C 09223.44265825 -.00000066 +00000-0 +11660-4 0 09585 2 27607 064.5562 217.2701 0061369 192.3069 167.6541 14.71451823356805 CUTE-1 1 27844U 03031E 09224.05459091 .00000034 00000-0 36214-4 0 6424 2 27844 098.7123 232.4309 0010111 348.2538 011.8414 14.20650633317197 CUBESAT XI-IV 1 27848U 03031J 09224.03993879 .00000023 00000-0 30980-4 0 5918 2 27848 098.7165 231.4800 0009839 352.6727 007.4278 14.20451123317154 MOZHAYETS 4 1 27939U 03042A 09223.65334093 +.00000055 +00000-0 +19469-4 0 08631 2 27939 097.9346 096.4812 0013026 321.8504 038.1769 14.63334161313682 AMSAT ECHO 1 28375U 04025K 09223.52742218 -.00000003 00000-0 11997-4 0 4588 2 28375 098.0528 229.9061 0084166 318.0509 041.4255 14.40648971268921 HAMSAT 1 28650U 05017B 09223.63142924 .00000088 00000-0 17691-4 0 2954 2 28650 097.7379 283.3698 0026518 206.1597 153.8252 14.81609667230858 BEIJING 1 (TSINGHUA) 1 28890U 05043A 09224.48470823 .00000000 00000-0 94930-5 0 4133 2 28890 098.0441 113.4341 0015557 164.6097 195.5580 14.60065789202124 TOPSAT 1 28891U 05043B 09224.44462347 -.00000054 00000-0 -17259-5 0 2590 2 28891 098.0423 112.6421 0017316 168.1988 191.9619 14.59769312202076 UWE-1 1 28892U 05043C 09223.62692431 .00000075 00000-0 25188-4 0 4030 2 28892 098.0458 112.1105 0017483 171.0505 189.1010 14.59758152201930 SINAH 1 1 28893U 05043D 09224.27101789 -.00000005 00000-0 84351-5 0 1932 2 28893 098.0465 113.4365 0015571 168.2788 191.8770 14.60079607202092 CUBESAT XI-V 1 28895U 05043F 09223.72188142 .00000065 00000-0 23148-4 0 3675 2 28895 098.0499 112.7624 0017978 170.8561 189.2984 14.59787075201834 MOZ.5/SAFIR/RUBIN 5/SL-8 1 28898U 05043G 09224.27022116 .00000061 00000-0 22821-4 0 3894 2 28898 098.0340 109.4277 0018632 182.7618 177.3493 14.58568251201871 CUTE 1.7 1 28941U 06005C 09224.48410105 .00051039 36888-5 13043-3 0 3393 2 28941 098.1357 049.8440 0066705 277.0486 082.3240 15.91628209196183 GENESIS 1 1 29252U 06029A 09223.93704890 -.00000181 +00000-0 +60124-7 0 08410 2 29252 064.5090 176.7351 0027245 201.5786 158.4184 15.03407393169298 HINODE (SOLAR B) 1 29479U 06041A 09223.94059277 +.00000094 +00000-0 +27600-4 0 09410 2 29479 098.0847 227.3984 0014471 218.4370 141.5803 14.62913821154139 GENESAT 1 29655U 06058C 09223.97492405 +.00009812 +00000-0 +93318-4 0 07842 2 29655 040.0220 193.4780 0003281 226.6121 133.4400 15.66676552151228 EGYPTSAT 1 1 31117U 07012A 09224.38474755 .00000006 00000-0 90446-5 0 6152 2 31117 098.0142 299.5085 0007250 074.0043 286.1963 14.69943564124585 CSTB 1 1 31122U 07012F 09223.62967078 +.00000555 +00000-0 +13192-3 0 07082 2 31122 097.9888 278.3313 0086634 100.8977 260.1955 14.55267216123223 MAST 1 31126U 07012K 09223.65751171 -.00000033 +00000-0 +28591-5 0 06615 2 31126 097.9839 275.9120 0095627 107.4038 253.7650 14.53511053123099 LIBERTAD 1 1 31128U 07012M 09223.62300386 -.00000045 00000-0 00000+0 0 7019 2 31128 097.9826 273.9198 0103799 113.3487 247.8681 14.52063056122949 CP3 1 31129U 07012N 09224.12283688 .00000056 00000-0 23286-4 0 1236 2 31129 097.9860 274.5122 0103437 111.5305 249.6992 14.52154177123008 CAPE 1 1 31130U 07012P 09223.61328302 +.00000079 +00000-0 +28776-4 0 06749 2 31130 097.9854 273.9303 0103697 113.4461 247.7666 14.52078982122734 CP4 1 31132U 07012Q 09223.63503960 -.00000032 00000-0 29908-5 0 6758 2 31132 097.9889 278.2331 0086714 100.7929 260.3022 14.55223131123099 AGILE 1 31135U 07013A 09223.22922553 .00001128 00000-0 12605-4 0 3725 2 31135 002.4685 075.4300 0020928 099.2296 261.0125 15.09919299127299 NFIRE 1 31140U 07014A 09223.57884556 .00002889 00000-0 40444-4 0 9048 2 31140 048.2357 268.6720 0051985 295.9981 063.5612 15.59031709130874 GENESIS 2 1 31789U 07028A 09224.43666084 -.00000127 00000-0 44850-5 0 5891 2 31789 064.5081 206.3041 0056932 253.9414 105.5431 15.03065207116582 GIOVE-B 1 32781U 08020A 09222.95159647 .00000059 00000-0 10000-3 0 2016 2 32781 055.9462 190.7895 0020723 221.0336 138.7777 01.70949905 8062 CARTOSAT 2A 1 32783U 08021A 09224.38008847 .00000010 00000-0 84343-5 0 4419 2 32783 097.9441 286.1328 0014521 228.9084 131.0872 14.78678530 69630 CANX-6 1 32784U 08021B 09223.17154424 +.00000173 +00000-0 +29169-4 0 04592 2 32784 097.9434 286.4540 0015368 204.0556 155.9940 14.81067127069562 CUTE 1.7 & AOD 2 1 32785U 08021C 09223.17037817 +.00000253 +00000-0 +39053-4 0 04513 2 32785 097.9396 286.6722 0014258 209.6264 150.4143 14.81507631069584 IMS-1 1 32786U 08021D 09223.74393191 .00000133 00000-0 24544-4 0 4513 2 32786 097.9447 286.3563 0011996 204.7676 155.2952 14.80056602 69601 COMPASS 1 1 32787U 08021E 09223.21003824 +.00000318 +00000-0 +47157-4 0 04371 2 32787 097.9392 286.5610 0015131 210.6841 149.3479 14.81638899069592 AAUSAT CUBESAT 2 1 32788U 08021F 09223.64602958 +.00000204 +00000-0 +32563-4 0 04304 2 32788 097.9375 287.0580 0014666 210.7216 149.3103 14.81763291069662 DELFI C3 1 32789U 08021G 09223.73545439 .00000248 00000-0 38168-4 0 4445 2 32789 097.9439 287.3461 0014928 208.0144 152.0265 14.81763553 69678 CANX-2 1 32790U 08021H 09223.17346179 +.00000197 +00000-0 +31895-4 0 04336 2 32790 097.9405 286.6399 0014854 209.8314 150.2047 14.81494256069568 SEEDS 1 32791U 08021J 09224.20486775 .00000168 00000-0 28256-4 0 4266 2 32791 097.9397 287.5784 0015316 206.0121 154.0319 14.81463974 69709 RUBIN 8/PSLV 1 32792U 08021K 09223.73553552 +.00000039 +00000-0 +12880-4 0 04221 2 32792 097.8633 279.1430 0029481 154.9356 205.3308 14.76499823069227 AMOS 3 1 32794U 08022A 09223.89781315 -.00000028 00000-0 10000-3 0 1778 2 32794 000.0389 259.7842 0001558 243.4157 136.4797 01.00272402 4749 YUBILEINY 1 32953U 08025A 09223.48617872 +.00000010 +00000-0 +00000-0 0 03788 2 32953 082.4970 222.2216 0020626 059.9406 300.3716 12.43002828055268 GOSAT (IBUKI) 1 33492U 09002A 09224.47361009 -.00000018 00000-0 53231-5 0 6018 2 33492 098.0630 332.8250 0001691 069.3527 290.7854 14.67552762 29529 PRISM (HITOMI) 1 33493U 09002B 09224.45817867 .00000161 00000-0 27935-4 0 6520 2 33493 098.0607 336.9262 0021295 061.8009 298.5349 14.80711647 29794 SPRITE-SAT (RISING) 1 33494U 09002C 09224.52611884 -.00000010 00000-0 65346-5 0 6185 2 33494 098.0458 332.8568 0005308 081.5985 278.5823 14.68728947 29569 SOHLA-1 (MAIDO-1) 1 33496U 09002E 09224.42810771 .00000024 00000-0 12219-4 0 6164 2 33496 098.0414 332.8696 0007833 100.9502 259.2585 14.69442620 29531 STARS (KUKAI) 1 33498U 09002G 09224.51291361 .00000110 00000-0 25818-4 0 6169 2 33498 098.0416 333.5483 0013761 140.5310 219.6902 14.71334027 29594 KKS-1 (KISEKI) 1 33499U 09002H 09224.46185114 .00000043 00000-0 15196-4 0 6233 2 33499 098.0427 333.3316 0010926 136.5961 223.6112 14.70699412 29574 EXPRESS AM-44 1 33595U 09007A 09224.42889527 -.00000083 00000-0 10000-3 0 1485 2 33595 000.0182 114.4281 0001479 122.5452 227.4237 01.00272210 1879 PROTOSTAR 2 1 34941U 09027A 09223.79879064 -.00000334 00000-0 10000-3 0 520 2 34941 000.0091 181.6215 0002896 344.5155 189.0872 01.00266161 928 PHARMASAT 1 35002U 09028B 09223.52328995 +.00001375 +00000-0 +39420-4 0 00762 2 35002 040.4699 269.2085 0027268 220.3869 139.4921 15.39784745012871 HAWKSAT 1 1 35003U 09028C 09224.21038239 .00001743 00000-0 47382-4 0 720 2 35003 040.4627 264.6729 0028539 227.9115 131.9304 15.40390812 12991 CP6 1 35004U 09028D 09223.49719790 .00006821 00000-0 16803-3 0 666 2 35004 040.4619 268.9430 0027578 223.7071 136.1453 15.40423645 12876 AEROCUBE 3 1 35005U 09028E 09223.57180317 .00002966 00000-0 76938-4 0 665 2 35005 040.4766 268.7291 0027562 221.7425 138.1288 15.40229439 12881 MERIDIAN 2 1 35008U 09029A 09222.71070389 +.00000412 +00000-0 +21923-3 0 00691 2 35008 062.8578 143.4175 7289625 290.5348 009.4245 02.22925382001818 DRAGONSAT 1 35690U 09038B 09223.85567830 .00020216 00000-0 10523-3 0 122 2 35690 051.6399 020.3562 0004721 120.7069 239.4394 15.80928957 1958 ANDE POLLUX SPHERE 1 35693U 09038E 09223.66978718 .00018310 00000-0 97923-4 0 127 2 35693 051.6410 021.3664 0003986 065.2708 294.8569 15.80420655 1898 ANDE CASTOR SPHERE 1 35694U 09038F 09223.73470237 .00010156 00000-0 56772-4 0 137 2 35694 051.6413 021.0516 0004598 069.4740 290.6717 15.80103585 1908 -- Nigel A. Gunn, 1865 El Camino Drive, Xenia, OH 45385-1115, USA. tel +1 937 825 5032 Amateur Radio G8IFF W8IFF (was KC8NHF), e-mail nigel(a)ngunn.net www http://www.ngunn.net Member of ARRL, GQRP #11396, QRPARCI #11644, SOC #548, Flying Pigs QRP Club International #385, Dayton ARA #2128, AMSAT-NA LM-1691, AMSAT-UK 0182, MKARS, ALC, GCARES, XWARN.

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AMSAT Awards
by Bruce 12 Aug '09

12 Aug '09

The following have earned the AMSAT Satellite Communications Achievement Award. Rizkallah Azrak, OD5RI #503 Dave Glow, AA1VX #504 Evangelos Kafetzopoulos, SV1EEK #505 The following have earned the AMSAT Sexagesimal Award. David Bird, KC7USS #150 The following have earned the South Africa Communications Achievement Award. Evangelos Kafetzopoulos, SV1EEK #US137 The following have earned the W4AMI Achievement Award (for 1000 contacts) Dimtrios Pallis, SW1JGW #54 George Carr, WA5KBH #55 Evangelos Kafetzopoulos, SV1EEK #56 To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org or http://www.amsatnet.com Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards ARRL Awards Manager (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0100z on Echolink - Conference *AMSAT* Also streaming MP3 at http://www.amsatnet.com Podcast at http://www.amsatnet.com/podcast.xml or iTunes Latest satellite news on the ARRL Audio News http://www.arrl.org

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Tuesday's DEMO
by James Jipping 12 Aug '09

12 Aug '09

Doug, KD8CAO (using the Holland Area Radio Club's call, K8DAA) and I (W8MRR) had a demo on Tuesday, 08/11/2009 of handheld operation through AO-51. It was a huge success. The success was due in a large part to the cooperation of the throngs of users -- some knew we were to do the demo and showed up for a QSO, some were already there and found us. AND thank you to those who chose not operate and cause QRM to give a chance to show our stuff. Everything went right, the weather was perfect, the bird and our equipment performed flawlessly. A huge crowd of hams were there for our monthly meeting, at which Doug and I gave a power point presentation on ham radio and satellites. Doug was using Kenwood TH-DA and an Arrow antenna, I was using a Yeasu VX-6R and a Arrow antenna. Doug was operating full duplex, I half duplex. He had a much easier time and more success than I. I guess I have some adjustments to make. SO, fellow hams and AMSATers, THANK YOU for making our evening a pleasant experience. The whole experience reminded me of the "good old days/ 1960's)" when as a young excited high school teacher/ham, I gave a slide (remember when cameras put images ONLY on film) presentation and a demo at a NSTA (National Science Teachers Association) convention. We used one of the early AMSATs (2 meters up/ 10 meters down). Same experience --- great interest, cooperative hams. And it's been that way as long as I can remember. THANKS! Jim Jipping, W8MRR AMSAT 5512 (small numbers translate to old geezer)

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Satellite WAS
by Frank A Cahoy 11 Aug '09

11 Aug '09

Hello All, It's been a very long time since I've posted to the BB. All the recent discussion about Satellite WAS has given me a chance to do some bragging. My first ever satellite QSO was on RS-12, Mode K, Jan. 29th, 1994. It was on CW with WA6OWM and one of the greatest thrills of my ham radio adventures. It took me about nine more months to complete my WAS. Believe it or not my last state worked/confirmed was KY! I had both AK and HI long before the elusive KY QSO. My RS-12 Elmer was Roger, N4ZC, who to my knowledge is the only station to ever achieve DXCC on a LEO bird. When the conditions were really good we could "cheat" a bit on RS-12. It was quite easy to work that bird when it was well below the horizon. I have DXCC entities such as SM, OK and JW (Actually in the footprint but for only about 3 or 4 minits.) confirmed on RS-12. I often heard this bird when it was well below the horizon and have received emails from several Europeans that tell me I was being heard but not hearing those that were calling me. My Satellite WAS no. 211 is dated Oct. 17, 1994. All 50 were worked via RS-12. I have been licensed since June, 1960 but the Satellite WAS Award is the only WAS I've ever applied for. Now I cannot even work the LEO birds. I've taken my AO-40 earth station completely down and put a 4 element 6 m. Yagi up in its place. As stated several times on this BB in the past, I am a DXer (115 DXCC via satellite and 368 DXCC alltime via HF.) and trying to work any DX at all on the LEO birds is more of a challenge than this OM has left. It would appear that there is no hope of getting an HEO up anytime in the near future so hence the move to 6 m. All of my station is safely stored away and I don't plan on selling any of it just in case we do actually experience a miracle launch. Most painful is seeing the ICOM 910 sit and gather dust and used to work, very occasionally, the local 2 m. repeater. 73 to all. Frank, KØBLT ____________________________________________________________ See the difference a digital projector can make. Click now! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/BLSrjpTMWJBShejJ9vXsnmVagzoXxom…

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FUNcube on Front Cover of Electronics Weekly magazine
by Trevor . 11 Aug '09

11 Aug '09

AMSAT-UK's FUNcube satellite project features on the front cover of the August 12-18 edition of Electronics Weekly magazine The printed edition of the magazine will be dropping through letterboxes during Wednesday morning and you can read the digital version of Electronics Weekly magazine online or download the pages in PDF format at http://cde.cerosmedia.com/1D4a803d8814a11352.cde The full FUNcube article titled 'Bringing FUN back to the classroom' by Steve Bush is on page 8 and contains an interview with Graham Shirville G3VZV. FUNcube is an educational single cubesat project with the goal of enthusing and educating young people about radio, space, physics and electronics. It has received major initial funding from the Radio Communications Foundation (RCF). It will support the educational Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths (STEM) initiatives and provide an additional resource for the GB4FUN Mobile Communications Centre. The target audience consists of primary and secondary school pupils and FUNcube will feature a 145 MHz telemetry beacon that will provide a strong signal for the pupils to receive. It is planned to develop a simple receiver board that can be connected to the USB port of a laptop to display telemetry in an interesting way. The satellite will contain a materials science experiment, from which the school students can receive telemetry data which they can compare to the results they obtained from similar reference experiments in the classroom. FUNcube will carry a UHF to VHF linear transponder that will have up to 1 watt and which can be used by Radio Amateurs worldwide for SSB and CW communications. Measuring just 10 * 10 * 10 cm, and with a mass of less than 1kg, it will be the smallest ever satellite to carry a linear transponder and the choice of frequencies will enable Radio Amateurs to use their existing VO-52 or DO-64 station. A key feature of the satellite is the absence of an On-Board Computer. For reliability and maximum power efficiency, the design has been kept as straight-forward as possible with satellite control being achieved using simple commands. FUNcube contact: Graham Shirville G3VZV Tel: +44 (0)7713 665725 Electronics Weekly Magazine http://www.electronicsweekly.com/ Radio Communications Foundation http://www.commsfoundation.org/ GB4FUN http://www.gb4fun.org.uk/ AMSAT-UK http://www.uk.amsat.org/ FUNcube a UK Linear Transponder Satellite http://www.southgatearc.org/news/july2009/funcube.htm AMSAT-UK Space Colloquium videos http://www.southgatearc.org/news/august2009/amsat_colloquium_videos.htm AMSAT-UK publish a colour A4 newsletter, OSCAR News, full of satellite information. You can join online at https://secure.amsat.org.uk/subs_form/ ---- 73 Trevor M5AKA

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SumbandilaSat Sept 15
by Trevor . 11 Aug '09

11 Aug '09

SumbandilaSat launch scheduled for Sept 15 http://www.southgatearc.org/news/august2009/sumbandilasat_launch_date.htm

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Re: Best walkie for portable?
by Nigel Gunn G8IFF/W8IFF 11 Aug '09

11 Aug '09

There is nothing currently better than you already have. Fco. Jiménez-Martín Sánchez wrote: > Hi there, > > > > I’m searching replacement for my old icom ic-w32e to use with my arrow > antenna for the fm sats. > > > > I would like to know your opinions about what can be the best walkie with > full duplex operation to work these birds. > > > > Any comment/suggestion is welcome! > > > > Regards from the old Spain > > > > Fran > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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: 8.5.392 / Virus Database: 270.13.50/2296 - Release Date: 08/11/09 06:10:00 > -- Nigel A. Gunn, 1865 El Camino Drive, Xenia, OH 45385-1115, USA. tel +1 937 825 5032 Amateur Radio G8IFF W8IFF (was KC8NHF), e-mail nigel(a)ngunn.net www http://www.ngunn.net Member of ARRL, GQRP #11396, QRPARCI #11644, SOC #548, Flying Pigs QRP Club International #385, Dayton ARA #2128, AMSAT-NA LM-1691, AMSAT-UK 0182, MKARS, ALC, GCARES, XWARN.

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Re: satellite WAS #309
by Rafael Valdez G. 11 Aug '09

11 Aug '09

Hi Pat. Congratulations for WAS Award, I know for sure how difficult it is to work all states with a portable set up and LEO satellites. And is great to know that you could get it, since you have helped so many of us to get our awards by traveling (even during the expensive gas times) or elmering, specially the mexicans I hope to be hear you soon in the satellites.... 73 XE2RV ------Original Message------ From: Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Sent: Aug 10, 2009 10:37 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] satellite WAS #309 Hi! After over 3 1/2 years working the satellites, getting on the air for around 6000 satellite QSOs followed by requesting QSL cards from stations across the USA, I was able to complete one of my goals when I started on the satellites - work and confirm QSOs with all 50 US states. I had my applications and cards for the satellite Worked All States award reviewed here in Phoenix a couple of weeks ago, and the certificate arrived today. :-) Out here in the western part of North America, it is possible to work all 50 states with the existing group of LEO satellites we have. In fact, it can be done with just the FM satellites from out here if there are stations on from each of the states. My application used QSL cards from contacts only on the 3 FM satellites (AO-27, AO-51, SO-50). There is no special endorsement for doing that; the WAS certificate has "OSCAR" to identify this as a satellite WAS, along with the serial number for this version of the WAS (#309) and the date it was issued (last Thursday, 6 August). I wanted to use cards from only the FM-satellite QSOs, as that was one of the two goals I wanted to do when I started out in late 2005 (the other thing was to get QSL cards from at least 100 grids, for the satellite VUCC award). I'll use many of the same cards toward the AMSAT Sexagesimal award (confirming contacts with at least 60 US states/Canadian provinces/DXCC countries), and then do the bigger task of assembling a satellite VUCC application (I'm somewhere between 250 and 300 grids confirmed). Or I can go back on the radio, and leave that paperwork for some other time. :-) In any event, thanks to all the stations over 3 1/2 years that got on the air from the different states - and for sending those QSL cards to confirm the contacts. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ <http://www.wd9ewk.net/> _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb <http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb>

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AO-51 Telemetry
by Nitin Muttin [VU3TYG] 11 Aug '09

11 Aug '09

I have downloaded and configured Willow and Sabins to receive and decode the telemetry from AO-51.Anyone has the information of the IP address of the telemetry reflector to be setup in Sabins. 73's Nitin [VU3TYG] ________________________________________________

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satellite WAS #309
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 11 Aug '09

11 Aug '09

Hi! After over 3 1/2 years working the satellites, getting on the air for around 6000 satellite QSOs followed by requesting QSL cards from stations across the USA, I was able to complete one of my goals when I started on the satellites - work and confirm QSOs with all 50 US states. I had my applications and cards for the satellite Worked All States award reviewed here in Phoenix a couple of weeks ago, and the certificate arrived today. :-) Out here in the western part of North America, it is possible to work all 50 states with the existing group of LEO satellites we have. In fact, it can be done with just the FM satellites from out here if there are stations on from each of the states. My application used QSL cards from contacts only on the 3 FM satellites (AO-27, AO-51, SO-50). There is no special endorsement for doing that; the WAS certificate has "OSCAR" to identify this as a satellite WAS, along with the serial number for this version of the WAS (#309) and the date it was issued (last Thursday, 6 August). I wanted to use cards from only the FM-satellite QSOs, as that was one of the two goals I wanted to do when I started out in late 2005 (the other thing was to get QSL cards from at least 100 grids, for the satellite VUCC award). I'll use many of the same cards toward the AMSAT Sexagesimal award (confirming contacts with at least 60 US states/Canadian provinces/DXCC countries), and then do the bigger task of assembling a satellite VUCC application (I'm somewhere between 250 and 300 grids confirmed). Or I can go back on the radio, and leave that paperwork for some other time. :-) In any event, thanks to all the stations over 3 1/2 years that got on the air from the different states - and for sending those QSL cards to confirm the contacts. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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SumbandilaSat launch
by Pieter Kotze 11 Aug '09

11 Aug '09

The article link is slightly outdated, SumbandilaSat has been in Baikonur for quite some time now. Amsat numbers are usually only allocated once the bird has been succesfully activated on the ham frequencies. I would personlally vote for an SO-xx number for SumbandilaSat Oscar-xx, this would also link back to SO-35 which led the way for SumbandilaSat. Regards ZS1PK/M0PAK -- This message is subject to the CSIR's copyright terms and conditions, e-mail legal notice, and implemented Open Document Format (ODF) standard. The full disclaimer details can be found at http://www.csir.co.za/disclaimer.html. This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean. MailScanner thanks Transtec Computers for their support.

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Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK- WAS-
by Peter 11 Aug '09

11 Aug '09

Patrick, Congratulations on your WAS achievement, East or West, it is a significant accomplishment! You have contributed a great deal to the AMSAT community, Hamfests, Elmer, driving to rare Grids; we are enriched having you and the many friends you have made along the trail, thank you. 73, Pete, WB2OQQ

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Grids on the Road
by John Papay 10 Aug '09

10 Aug '09

Here are some interesting statistics on the movers and shakers in the world of grid dxpeditions. The list represents cards that I have received that have been used for VUCC filings or that will be used in a future filing. If you add them up, the 11 stations that I worked and needed in 4 or more grids total up to 100 grids, enough to file for the basic VUCC award! This is all in the past 2-1/2 years with the vast majority in the last year alone. These stations have operated from many more grids that I had already confirmed. Therefore, the number of grids they operated from is much higher than what I have listed below: Station Nr of New Grids -------------------------- WD9EWK 20 ND9M 16 KD4ZGW 15 KB0RZD 9 KD8CAO 8 N5AFV 7 N5ZNL 7 VO1ONE 6 W6GMT 4 VE6AB 4 WA4NVM 4 Thanks to all of you for making the effort to operate away from home and for giving all of us many new grids. John K8YSE

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Re: Grids on the Road
by Rafael Valdez G. 10 Aug '09

10 Aug '09

John, Congratulations for your VUCC, is impressive to have this achevement with the less possible stations. I also agree that all the /P stations have done a great job letting us to get the rarest grids on satellite... Anyway, griDXpeditions is a great way to hit the road an have aditional fun... 73 DE XE2RV DM41mh ------Original Message------ From: John Papay To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Sent: Aug 10, 2009 7:11 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] Grids on the Road Here are some interesting statistics on the movers and shakers in the world of grid dxpeditions. The list represents cards that I have received that have been used for VUCC filings or that will be used in a future filing. If you add them up, the 11 stations that I worked and needed in 4 or more grids total up to 100 grids, enough to file for the basic VUCC award! This is all in the past 2-1/2 years with the vast majority in the last year alone. These stations have operated from many more grids that I had already confirmed. Therefore, the number of grids they operated from is much higher than what I have listed below: Station Nr of New Grids -------------------------- WD9EWK 20 ND9M 16 KD4ZGW 15 KB0RZD 9 KD8CAO 8 N5AFV 7 N5ZNL 7 VO1ONE 6 W6GMT 4 VE6AB 4 WA4NVM 4 Thanks to all of you for making the effort to operate away from home and for giving all of us many new grids. John K8YSE _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb <http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb>

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Re: SumbandilaSat Sept 15
by Rodney Waln 10 Aug '09

10 Aug '09

C@@L i know it it still a month away before it goes up and hope there are no more delays, is amsat thinking of a name to give it yet?? just courios, thanks Rodney kc0zhf

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logging software
by Douglas Anoman 10 Aug '09

10 Aug '09

Hello everyone, I'm looking for a great logging software for my contacts, and i'm open for suggestions. Thank You Douglas Anoman KC9MLN KC9MLN(a)AMSAT.ORG Amsat #37043

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keps
by Nigel Gunn G8IFF/W8IFF 10 Aug '09

10 Aug '09

DRAGONSAT 1 35690U 09038B 09221.89608423 +.00022175 +00000-0 +11546-3 0 00164 2 35690 051.6395 030.5236 0004962 117.8896 242.2609 15.80851730001648 ANDE DEB (POLLUX CYLIN) 1 35691U 09038C 09221.70802767 +.00035012 +00000-0 +18101-3 0 00126 2 35691 051.6372 031.5130 0003278 060.5793 299.5342 15.80733597001589 ANDE DEB (CASTOR CYLIN) 1 35692U 09038D 09221.70695586 +.00062797 +00000-0 +31457-3 0 00147 2 35692 051.6378 031.5075 0003507 047.1048 312.9989 15.81158879001585 ANDE POLLUX SPHERE 1 35693U 09038E 09221.70956582 +.00019877 +00000-0 +10632-3 0 00114 2 35693 051.6401 031.5281 0003927 062.6051 297.5208 15.80349868001585 ANDE CASTOR SPHERE 1 35694U 09038F 09221.71086029 +.00010853 +00000-0 +60531-4 0 00126 2 35694 051.6408 031.5388 0004491 065.1875 294.9492 15.80061125001583 ANDE DEB (AVIONICS DECK) 1 35695U 09038G 09221.71034237 +.00026177 +00000-0 +13913-3 0 00128 2 35695 051.6404 031.5352 0004608 067.4387 292.6889 15.80288280001582 -- Nigel A. Gunn, 1865 El Camino Drive, Xenia, OH 45385-1115, USA. tel +1 937 825 5032 Amateur Radio G8IFF W8IFF (was KC8NHF), e-mail nigel(a)ngunn.net www http://www.ngunn.net Member of ARRL, GQRP #11396, QRPARCI #11644, SOC #548, Flying Pigs QRP Club International #385, Dayton ARA #2128, AMSAT-NA LM-1691, AMSAT-UK 0182, MKARS, ALC, GCARES, XWARN.

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U-100 rotor on ebay
by w7lrd＠comcast.net 10 Aug '09

10 Aug '09

I have a U-100 "elevation" rotor on ebay. XYL says too much "stuff" laying around! http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p4522.m38.l1313&_nkw=alliance+eleva… 73 Bob W7LRD

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Houston AMSAT Net special edition
by Bruce 10 Aug '09

10 Aug '09

The Houston AMSAT Net on Tuesday August 11 at 8PM Central time (Wednesday August 12 0100 UTC) have planned AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW, and AMSAT Vice-President of Human Spaceflight Will Marchant, KC6ROL, as their special guests. Join us on Echolink (conference *AMSAT*) or on our audio stream http://www.thathamkid.com/redirect.php?to=145.47 (works best when pasted directly into Winamp) 73...bruce -- Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards ARRL Awards Manager (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0100z on Echolink - Conference *AMSAT* Also live streaming MP3 athttp://www.amsatnet.com Podcast athttp://www.amsatnet.com/podcast.xml or iTunes Latest satellite news on the ARRL Audio News http://www.arrl.org AMSAT on Twitterhttp://www.twitter.com/amsat

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Re: New Cubesat - the Ultimate Fox Hunt
by G0MRF＠aol.com 10 Aug '09

10 Aug '09

In a message dated 09/08/2009 19:42:06 GMT Standard Time, nss(a)mwt.net writes: Why is it that all re-entries always end in the ball of fire over just a few minutes. Why cannot the re-enetry energy be disipated over a longer period to make it more survivable. Of course, if they could, they would. It appears to be the nature of the beast. You are entering an ever denser medium, so the drag has to escallate and you end up with the 6/7 minute burn. > >What if the surface of the re-entry vehicle radically changed during the re-entry phase? As the density of the atomosphere increased, the surface area decreases. An ablative system that instead of burning off a thin skin of material as in most re-entry systems, you planned on burning off 95% of the original drag volume? What re-entry profile could be achieved Could we make a golfball core "pinger" that could survive? Or, the not so 'cube'sat structure is an aerodynamic shape made from a cast ceramic material which glides in at a shallow angle allowing the energy to be dissipated over a much longer period of time. OK the solar cells burn off but an internal antenna would be OK as ceramics are fairly transparent to RF and a battery would provide the final hour or so of tlm. Would love to see the temp readings as it comes down. Would not love to be on the final end of the trajectory when it arrives. David G0MRF

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Wavetek 3000
by WILLIAMS MICHAEL 10 Aug '09

10 Aug '09

On the Wavetek 3000 signal generator, there are coax jumpers between the modules. What kind of plug/jacks are being used on these cables? It looks like SMC. I've lost lock on one of the modules and want to do some troubleshooting. Tnx, Mike (K9QHO)

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Re: US ANTENNA
by Jim Jerzycke 09 Aug '09

09 Aug '09

Steve Ford did a review on these a while back in QST. He said they work "As Advertised". Jim KQ6EA --- On Sun, 8/9/09, Fco. Jiménez-Martín Sánchez <ea1jm.fran(a)gmail.com> wrote: From: Fco. Jiménez-Martín Sánchez <ea1jm.fran(a)gmail.com> Subject: [amsat-bb] US ANTENNA To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Date: Sunday, August 9, 2009, 11:04 AM Hi there, Has anyone of you tried the us quadrifilar antenna to receive? It’s offered in this page: http://www.antennas.us/Store/ProductDetails.aspx?itemID=229# and it seems it’s a solution for me. Any report or comment is welcome. Thanks and regards from Spain, Fran. _______________________________________________ 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 Cubesat - the Ultimate Fox Hunt
by Bob Bruninga 09 Aug '09

09 Aug '09

One university at this year's Utah Cubesat Workshop, is designing a re-entry cubesat. Talk about the ultimate ham radio fox hunt! Find this pebble somewhere over a few million square miles... The problem is having a transmitter to survive the re-entry... One figure is that about 300 Killowatt Hours of energy has to be disipated in a few minutes. Why is it that all re-entries always end in the ball of fire over just a few minutes. Why cannot the re-enetry energy be disipated over a longer period to make it more survivable. Of course, if they could, they would. It appears to be the nature of the beast. You are entering an ever denser medium, so the drag has to escallate and you end up with the 6/7 minute burn. What if the surface of the re-entry vehicle radically changed during the re-entry phase? As the density of the atomosphere increased, the surface area decreases. An ablative system that instead of burning off a thin skin of material as in most re-entry systems, you planned on burning off 95% of the original drag volume? What re-entry profile could be achieved Could we make a golfball core "pinger" that could survive? With the cheap $8k launches and only 3 month mission life, this idea of concentrating on making an interesting mission at the re-entry phase is a new opportunity.. The ultimate fox hunt? Bob, WB4APR

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keps
by Nigel Gunn G8IFF/W8IFF 09 Aug '09

09 Aug '09

DRAGONSAT 1 35690U 09038B 09220.56856233 .00021783 00000-0 11381-3 0 94 2 35690 051.6413 037.4034 0005151 113.8576 246.2967 15.80788312 1436 ANDE DEB (POLLUX CYLIN) 1 35691U 09038C 09220.31717645 .00033475 00000-0 17407-3 0 97 2 35691 051.6395 038.7253 0003231 070.2278 289.9196 15.80629826 1369 ANDE DEB (CASTOR CYLIN) 1 35692U 09038D 09219.93719056 .00058653 00000-0 29734-3 0 116 2 35692 051.6389 040.6892 0003711 050.2950 309.8548 15.80925592 1308 ANDE POLLUX SPHERE 1 35693U 09038E 09220.00220717 .00019471 00000-0 10456-3 0 91 2 35693 051.6408 040.3791 0003921 060.7056 299.4416 15.80278896 1319 ANDE CASTOR SPHERE 1 35694U 09038F 09220.00320411 .00010606 00000-0 59344-4 0 107 2 35694 051.6416 040.3869 0004636 061.2908 298.8567 15.80020970 1319 ANDE DEB (AVIONICS DECK) 1 35695U 09038G 09219.93966721 .00024959 00000-0 13344-3 0 91 2 35695 051.6419 040.7123 0004748 061.1903 298.9647 15.80189807 1302 -- Nigel A. Gunn, 1865 El Camino Drive, Xenia, OH 45385-1115, USA. tel +1 937 825 5032 Amateur Radio G8IFF W8IFF (was KC8NHF), e-mail nigel(a)ngunn.net www http://www.ngunn.net Member of ARRL, GQRP #11396, QRPARCI #11644, SOC #548, Flying Pigs QRP Club International #385, Dayton ARA #2128, AMSAT-NA LM-1691, AMSAT-UK 0182, MKARS, ALC, GCARES, XWARN.

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WD9EWK from DM54/DM55 - report
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 09 Aug '09

09 Aug '09

Hi! Yesterday's road trip out to DM54/DM55 had been on my mind since my July 2008 road trip around northern Arizona. I have worked from most of the Arizona grids, and had thought I would need to make a multi- day road trip along the Arizona/New Mexico border to reach these two grids. After lots of looking at maps, I found a couple of spots near the I-40 freeway in eastern Arizona that could be reached in a day- trip from Phoenix. I e-mailed a few people, asking if they needed either grid (or both) and if they were available to be on the radio if I went out there. Things fell in place, leading to yesterday's 558.8-mile/899km road trip. After spending some time this morning transferring the QSOs from my mini-logbook to my log spreadsheet, I saw that I made a total of 69 QSOs. I worked 4 passes from the DM54bx/DM55ba grid boundary (2 AO-27 passes, 1 pass each on AO-51 and SO-50), and one shallow AO-51 pass from a location northeast of the grid boundary in grid DM55ba. The location that was not on the grid boundary was a different sort of boundary - the line between Navajo and Apache counties. There were 56 QSOs made at the grid boundary, and 13 more from the county line. For all of these passes, I used my normal FM-satellite setup when I do these road trips - Icom IC-2720H 2m/70cm FM mobile transceiver, Elk Antennas handheld 2m/70cm log periodic, Sony ICD-P620 digital audio recorder. I had another mobile radio as a backup (Yaesu FT-8800R) as well as assorted HTs I could have used in case of a problem with the IC-2720H. Here's a summary of activities from the two locations... ***** east of Goodwater, Arizona, along old US-66 east of I-40 exit 303 in Navajo County (grids DM54bx and DM55ba) 35 0.000 N 109 53.745 W In recent weeks, I had identified this area as the easiest way to work from DM54/DM55 in a day-trip. This area is approximately 50 miles/80km west of the Arizona/New Mexico border, where there is a portion of the old US-66 highway next to the I-40 freeway. I was able to park at an Indian trading post to be on this grid boundary. This part of Arizona is on a plateau, a desert without cactus, but this particular spot is lower than the surrounding area. Except for shallow passes to the east or west (below 10 degrees elevation), it worked well. Once I parked and took the photos to establish my location, I waited for the first of two AO-27 passes at 2046 UTC. This old satellite has been performing well lately, and this was a busy pass covering almost all of North America while the repeater was on. I was able to work 21 stations during this pass, so I guess there was some interest in this location. :-) The second AO-27 pass to the west at 2226 UTC was not as crowded, with 8 more QSOs going into the log. This pass was the only time I worked a Canadian station at DM54/DM55 (VA6BMJ). Later in the afternoon, I worked two more passes from this spot - an AO-51 pass at 0042 UTC, followed by an SO-50 pass at 0137 UTC. The AO-51 pass was a very high pass, with maximum elevation of 75 degrees at that location. Other than a 3-minute span just after the midpoint of the pass when I could not hear myself through the satellite, this was another good pass - 17 more QSOs, with stations from all over the US and a couple of Mexicans. SO-50 at 0137 UTC put 10 more QSOs in the log, with more stations across the US plus a Mexican station. This made a total of 56 QSOs logged at the DM54bx/DM55ba grid boundary, not bad for a handful of passes during a single afternoon. I had mentioned before the trip that I might try working an earlier AO-51 pass from this spot. Had I stayed here, I would not have had a chance to see/hear the satellite, due to the local surroundings. That's why I moved up the road a few miles/km for that pass, and I apologize if that meant some of you were not able to work both of these grids while I was out there. There will be other trips I can make to this area, now that I know of a quick way to get to DM54 when there is no snow in northern or eastern Arizona. ***** Navajo/Apache county line in eastern Arizona, along old US-66 3.4 miles/5.5km east of I-40 exit 303 (grid DM55ba) 35 1.122 N 109 50.694 W Between the two AO-27 passes, I drove around the area to find a spot where I could possibly attempt a 7-degree AO-51 pass at 2306 UTC. This location was northeast of the grid-boundary spot, with a nice clear view down to the horizon toward the northeast - where AO-51 would be. Since the grid-boundary spot was not a location I could have tried a shallow pass, I had a choice.... move to a better spot, or take a long break between the last AO-27 pass and the high AO-51 pass around 0042 UTC. Not wanting to lose a chance to make QSOs and give out at least one of these two grids, I went down the road for this pass. The county line was at a cattle guard on the road. I found a marker on one side of the road that appeared to mark the county line, and saw the signs on each side of the cattle guard announcing the county names. I took a series of pictures of the area including where I parked my truck, along with pictures of my GPS receiver's display. Once I did all of that, I drove away until just before the AO-51 pass. A couple of minutes before the start of the pass, I drove back onto the cattle guard and set up my station. I was surprised at how soon into the pass I could hear the AO-51 downlink. The increased power made a difference! I was able to work several minutes of the pass, logging 13 QSOs. A better way to spend that time, instead of driving to a nearby truck stop for an early dinner (I did that later). ***** It was nice to have the additional power on the AO-51 downlink. That helped me with the shallow pass at 2306 UTC, where I heard it earlier than on a similar pass last month up in Utah. AO-27 has been working well, and I had no problems on the SO-50 pass I worked up there. I did not stay out there for the later passes on AO-51 and SO-50, since I would have had to find another location with a better view to the west for a 9-degree AO-51 pass. The 3.5-hour drive home was also on my mind. There will be other times I head out there, now that I have a nice spot where I can park and be off the road at the DM54/DM55 grid boundary. I am printing QSL cards for yesterday's trip now, and those cards - along with other cards from my road trip last month - will start going to the post office tomorrow. If you worked me yesterday and want to receive a QSL card for any QSOs, please e-mail me directly with the information for each QSO. If you're in my log, I will send the card(s) for those QSO(s). Thanks to AMSAT's AO-51 Operations Group for having another weekend on AO-51 with a V/U voice repeater mode, as well as for the increased power on the 435.300 MHz downlink. As K8YSE mentioned in a recent post to the -BB, stations on the FM satellites from unusual/rare locations draw more activity to these passes. And, as always, thanks to all the stations who made contacts with WD9EWK yesterday. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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FT-736r com port settings.
by Norman W Osborne 09 Aug '09

09 Aug '09

Hello everyone, Could some one tell me the com port settings for cat control of the FT-736r. Can't seem to find the settings for the computer, I believe it is 4800 baud but not sure about the rest of the settings.. Norman.

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FW: ANS-221 AMSAT Weekly Bulletins
by Dee 09 Aug '09

09 Aug '09

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-221 ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor(a)amsat.org In this edition: * AMSAT-UK Colloquium Video and Powerpoint Available On-line * CW Contest Milestone * SpaceJam-3 Introduces Scouts to Amateur Radio in Space * UT Austin Requests Help to Track BEVO1 * Satellite shorts * ITAR Update * ARISS Status - 03 August 2009 SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-221.01 AMSAT-UK Colloquium Video and Powerpoint Available On-line AMSAT News Service Bulletin 221.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. August 9, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-221.01 The videos of the presentations at this years successful AMSAT-UK Colloquium in Guildford are now available to watch on the British Amateur Television Club (BATC) website Among the fascinating video presentations are: + FUNcube, the new AMSAT-UK linear transponder satellite project by Graham Shirville G3VZV + AMSAT-NA Update by Drew Glasbrenner KO4MA + AMSAT-DL Update by Peter Guelzow DB2OS + Electronics and Teddy Bears: A Near-Space Adventure" by Ed Moore M0TEK and Fergus Noble M0NBL, Cambridge University + Engineers Wanted! Tempting Teenagers to Explore Technology by Garry Bulmer, Software Architect + Medium Earth Orbits by David Bowman G0MRF All 18 videos can be seen at http://www.batc.tv/ Click on the "Film Archive" icon on the left to see all the videos available then select the video you wish to see (they start with 2009 AMSAT). To see the video full screen click on the icon at the bottom of the video player. PDFs of the slides from the presentations can be found on the AMSAT-UK website at: http://www.uk.amsat.org/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,278/ Thanks to the BATC for recording and editing the videos (a time consuming job) as well providing this invaluable video service at batc.tv for the Amateur Satellite community. [ANS thanks Trevor, M5AKA for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-221.02 CW Contest Milestone AMSAT News Service Bulletin 221.02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. August 9, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-221.02 FOR RELEASE: Immediate (August 4, 2009) 2008 CQ World Wide CW Contest Marks Major Milestone for K0DQ Becomes Possibly the Only Person Ever to Win All Six Major Ham Radio Contests Scott Redd, K0DQ, operating the 2008 CW weekend of the CQ World Wide DX Contest from Aruba as P40Q, racked up over a million more points than his closest competitor in the Single-Operator Low Power Class, and became perhaps the only person ever to win single-op world championships in all six major ham radio DX contests. "I don't know of anyone else" who has won all the major contests, said CQWW Contest Director Bob Cox, K3EST, in announcing the results, which will be published in the September issue of CQ magazine. Scott had his first taste of contest victory back in 1966, as a young Navy officer posted to Uruguay and operating CX2CO in the phone weekend of the CQ World Wide DX Contest. Over the succeeding years, Scott worked his way through the Navy ranks to Vice Admiral and became Commander of the Fifth Fleet, then served as a civilian in the Iraq Coalition P rovisional Authority and as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center before retiring in late 2007. But ham radio and contesting were never far away, and operating from Mexico as XE1IIJ in the early 1970s, Scott won single-op world championships in the CQWW Phone Contest, the ARRL DX Phone and CW Contests and the CQ WPX Phone Contest. Thirty years later, when his professional life permitted a little more hamming time, Scott added the WPX CW crown as P41P, operating from P43P's station in Aruba, in 2002. The only prize that eluded him -- until now -- was the CQWW CW. "I've been trying like a son-of-a-gun to win (the) CQ World Wide CW," Scott commented in a 2008 interview with CQ. "I've come in number two, I've come in number three, but I've never won that one . so that's still my goal, every time I get close, in CQ World Wide CW, to win the world." When informed that he had finally achieved that goal, K0DQ said, "I guess the message is if you keep at it long enough good things happen. In this case, four decades. It's been a great ride ... and it's still magic!" CQ congratulates Scott -- already a member of the CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame, for his contesting achievements on top of all his other achievements. [ANS thanks CQ Magazine for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-221.03 SpaceJam-3 Introduces Scouts to Amateur Radio in Space AMSAT News Service Bulletin 221.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. August 9, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-221.03 While the world was watching replays of the history making moon walk last week, dozens of Illinois Boy Scouts were taking their first steps toward space technology. Space Jam 3 got off the ground last week with a high altitude balloon launch in Rantoul, Illinois. Space Jam is sponsored by DePauw University. It's purpose is to get Scouts into technology. With assistance from the Vermillion County Amateur Radio Asso- ciation, they were able to launch a helium filled balloon and use the cross band repeater for amateur radio contacts across the Midwest. The longest radio contact occurred when the balloon reached the 99-thousand foot level. Two stations, one in Walbridge, Ohio the other in Mexico, Missouri, completed a 470 mile QSO. On the ground, Dave Cline KB9ZMF, said he thought 200 Boy Scouts were on the radios throughout the Space Jam. They also worked on high tech merit badges in Space Exploration, Aviation, Radio & Electronics and on Nuclear Science Composite Materials Talking with Astronaut Robert Thirsk, VA3CSA, onboard the Inter- national Space Station, topped the weekend Space Jam activities. Space Jam Four is already being planned for August of 2010. [ANS thanks Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1668 - July 31 2009 for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-221.04 UT Austin Requests Help to Track BEVO1 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 221.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. August 9, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-221.04 Last week STS-127 deployed DragonSat last week via its Space Shuttle Picosatellite Launcher (SSPL) system. Dragonsat was the designation for both Aggiesat2 and Bevo1 (DragonSat = AggieSat2 + BEVO1). They were ejected together from the SSPL, but it appears that they failed to separate. As of ANS press time still no signals have been received from BEVO1, although beacon packets were heard from AggieSat2. The current theory on the state of the satellites is that only partial separation occur- red. The inhibit switches keeping the satellites powered off have been closed, allowing the satellites to boot up. However, it is likely that the antennas did not deploy correctly, leaving the antennas disconnec- ted from their respective transmitters. AggieSat2 transmits with 1W of power so it is easier to hear, while BEVO1 only transmits with 200mW during beacon mode. AggieSat-2 transmits on 436.250 MHz using a proprietary data format. BEVO1 Downlink Information: Beacon Mode Downlink Freq: 437.325 MHz Modulation: FM, 200mW, Morse Code, ~20 WPM Data Mode Downlink Freq: 437.325 MHz Modulation: GMSK, 1W, 9600 baud, AX.25 (default) FM, 1W, Bell 202, AX.25 UT Austin has also posted some pictures here: http://paradigm.ae.utexas.edu/ops/ The 2-line tracking elements are: DRAGONSAT 1 35690U 09038B 09217.97658609 +.00019083 +00000-0 +10072-3 0 00133 2 35690 051.6416 050.8490 0005305 104.3300 255.8301 15.80669917001027 [ANS thanks Karla Vega, KE5FKU for above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-221.05 Satellite shorts AMSAT News Service Bulletin 221.05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. August 9, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-221.05 +AMSAT-UK's FUNcube Amateur Radio satellite project is featured in this week's Electronics Weekly email newletter and a longer article should appear in the next issue of the printed magazine which will also be available in digital format. See http://tinyurl.com/kmlssm for the article in the e-mail newsletter. A free subscription to the digital version of Electronics Weekly maga- zine is available at: http://www.qssweb.co.uk/controlledcirc/main/index.aspx Electronics Weekly Magazine is on-line at: http://www.electronicweekly.com/ [ANS thanks Trevor, M5AKA for the above information] + Gould, WA4SXM reported the AO-51 Command Team has set the satellite into the following configuration: FM repeater V/U (620 mW) Uplink 145.920 MHz FM Downlink 435.300 MHz FM FM 9k6 digital (590 mW) L band uplink on 1268.700 MHz Downlink 435.150 MHz FM + AMSAT INDIA July News letter is available for download at http://www.amsatindia.org/Newsletter or directly at http://amsatindia.org/Newsletter/AmsatIndia-News-July-09.pdf + Makoto, JI5RPT will operate as JD1BLY and Yoshihi, JO1LVZ will operate as JD1BNF from Chichijima, Ogasawara Island, Japan be- tween August 9-15. Satellite operation is planned. QSLs via homecalls. (DXNL DX Newsletter #1635 - Aug 5, 2009) /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-221.06 ITAR Update AMSAT News Service Bulletin 221.06 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. August 9, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-221.06 AMSAT Files CJ Requests with US State Department The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation filed four Commodity Jurisdiction (CJ) requests with the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, US State Department last week. These requests ask that the four commodity groups that AMSAT provided support for AMSAT-DL's Phase 3-E project (SDX, IHU-3, Can-Do! Bus, and thermal design) be transferred to the Department of Commerce and be regulated under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), removing them from ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) managed by the State Department's DDTC. "Our CJ requests are based upon AMSAT's status as a not- for-profit corporation that adheres to 'open source' and ' public domain' principles where all of our technical activities are freely available through the Internet and publications, such as the "AMSAT Journal", observed AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW. "Given the open nature of our activities, the focus on scientific and educational purposes of our satellites, and lack of military applications, we believe that our activities in these areas are better suited for EAR rather than ITAR", said Barry. The CJ requests will be reviewed by the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls as well as other federal agencies such as the Commerce Department and Department of Defense. AMSAT expects this review to take several months before a decision is made by DDTC whether to grant the request. AMSAT's involvement with P3-E halted in 2006 due to concerns over possible ITAR violations. In January 2009, AMSAT filed a 'Voluntary Disclosure' with DDTC outlining AMSAT's activities with AMSAT-DL and AMSAT-UK on P3-E. In March 2009, DDTC advised AMSAT that ITAR violations did occur but that the case was being closed. AMSAT was admonished not to violate ITAR in the future. Subsequent to receiving DDTC's letter closing the case, AMSAT is now seeking a means to re-establish technical exchanges in support of P3-E while abiding under rules administered by the Commerce Department. Further details on AMSAT's efforts to comply with ITAR while developing ways which will allow AMSAT satellite builders to work cooperatively with foreign nationals on amateur radio satellite projects will be available in the next issue of the "AMSAT Journal." [ANS thanks, Barry, WD4ASW, for the above info] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-221.07 ARISS Status - 3 August, 2009 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 221.07 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. August 9, 2009 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-221.07 1. ARISS School Contact with Space School An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been conducted with the United Space School in Seabrook, Texas on Wednesday, August 5 at 13:47 UTC via telebridge station ON4ISS. The school is a once a year session of high school students that meets annually in the NASA/Clear Lake Area. These students come from around the world for a two week session, during which they stay with local host families while being mentored by astronauts, engineers, and scientists to design a mission to Mars as their team project. Class sessions are held at the University of Houston at Clear Lake. The contact allowed students to learn firsthand what the experience of spaceflight is like. They will use this knowledge in putting together their team project presentation, which they will present to the Houston space community at the end of their session. 2. ARISS Contact with Hospital for Sick Children On Thursday, July 30, patients of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, Canada participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact. Children spoke with Astronaut Robert Thirsk, VA3CSA via telebridge station ON4ISS in Belgium and were able to ask 18 questions about life in space. Nearly 100 people were present for the event and the contact was broadcasted throughout the hospital on closed circuit television. 3. ARISS Contact Between Michael Barratt and Summer Playground Camp Borough of New Providence, NJ, Summer Playground Camp in New Providence, New Jersey took part in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Thursday, July 30. Ten children asked twenty questions of Expedition 19's Michael Barratt, KD5MIJ in front of an audience of approximately 100 people. This was a town sponsored summer camp activity for elementary school children (K - 6). The New Providence Amateur Radio Club (NPARC) has been involved with this type of camp for the last five years and regularly provides an introduction to amateur radio on the air by setting up HF and VHF stations so that campers may communicate with hams around the world. The ARISS contact was an extension of this activity. 4. ARISS News on Amateur Radio Newsline On July 31, Amateur Radio Newsline Report 1668 reported on the Scout Space Jamboree in Rantoul, Illinois which included an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact. To view "Ham Radio in Space: Space Jam 3 in Illinois," see: ftp://ftp.arnewsline.org/quincy/News-A/news.txt 5. ARISS International Meeting Minutes Posted The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) team held its annual meeting at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands in June. Minutes are now available and have been posted to the ARISS Web site. See: http://www.rac.ca/ariss/ARISS-I%202009%20Annual%20Mtg%20final%20edit%20minut es.doc 6. ARRL Articles on FUNcube The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) posted a Web story on a new AMSAT-UK (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) satellite project, FUNcube. FUNcube is a cubesat which will educate youth about radio, electronics and physics. For more information, see: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/07/29/10985/?nc=1 The article may also be found in the ARRL Letter: http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/09/0731/ 7. SuitSat-2 Demo The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) SuitSat-2 prototype was demonstrated at the Microchip Master's conference which was held in Phoenix on July 29 - August 1. See: https://secure.microchip.com/usmasters/EveningEvents.aspx 8. De Winne Comments on Importance of Amateur Radio on ISS During a recent Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact, Astronaut Frank De Winne was asked about the importance of amateur radio on the ISS. He answered that the radio was an important means of psychological support. The audio of this contact may be found on the ARISS-Europe Web site. See: http://www.ariss-eu.org/2009_07_31.htm 9. ARISS Teleconference Minutes Posted The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) team held its monthly meeting on Tuesday, July 21. Agenda items included a recap of the face-to-face meeting held in the Netherlands and the status of the SuitSat-2 project. The minutes have been posted. See: http://www.rac.ca/ariss/arisstel2009-07-21.htm 10. MAI-75 Experiments Planned MAI-75 (Moscow Aviation Institute) experiments are planned for August 3 and 4. The VC-H1 unit will run in auto mode (Robot-36 and transmitting once every 3 minutes) and should be operational on 145.800 MHz from approximately 0800-1600 UTC each day. Information on the MAI-75 experiment is available at: http://www.energia.ru/eng/iss/researches/education-26.html 11. Astronaut Training Status - Simulated Contact Scheduled A simulated contact is planned for Thursday, August 6 at approximately 13:30 UTC. The contact will be between Euro Space Camp (ESC) and Paolo Nespoli, IZ0JPA. Audio should be available on EchoLink and IRLP (Internet Radio Linking Project). The training session is a terrestrial-based amateur radio contact using Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) equivalent equipment. [ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, for the above information] /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Dee Interdonato, NB2F nb2f at amsat dot org

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AO-51 V/S mode
by Allen Vinegar 09 Aug '09

09 Aug '09

I would like to try this mode using a K5GNA downconverter. The problem is I am using an FT-736R and apparently you can not have Xmit and Rcv on same band in satellite mode. I am using SATPC-32 for doppler control. The downconverter uses a 2m IF. Anyone else with an FT-736R have this worked out? Many thanks!! 73, Al W8KHP

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AO-51 V/S mode
by Perry Yantis 08 Aug '09

08 Aug '09

I use a Kenwood ts 2000x for for v/s mode but think you can do it on your Yaesu ft 736 the same way I do here. I run the SSB 2.4 down converter with 2 meter output down the coax into the shack. Then the cable goes into a Hamtronics 2m to 10m downconverter. Then the now 10m signal goes into the rca jack on the back of the ts 2000 for a receive ONLY antenna or beverage ant. When this is used transmitting on 2m does not fry the 2.4 down converter. Most hf rigs do have this receive only plug on the back. Try it, works fine for me. This way was suggested here on the bbs many years ago. Perry WB8OTH I would like to try this mode using a K5GNA downconverter. The problem is I am using an FT-736R and apparently you can not have Xmit and Rcv on same band in satellite mode. I am using SATPC-32 for doppler control. The downconverter uses a 2m IF. Anyone else with an FT-736R have this worked out? Many thanks!! 73, Al W8KHP

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News from WD9EWK
by Tim Lilley 08 Aug '09

08 Aug '09

Hey everyone, Patrick, WD9EWK, has asked me to post that he will NOT be on the 0223 UTC pass of AO-51 nor the 0315 UTC pass of SO-50. He has a drive home of about 3 hours, and is starting that way shortly. He also sends his gratitude to the 70+ stations he logged during passes of AO-27, AO-51 and SO-50 this afternoon and evening. Patrick made almost 60 contacts from the DM54/DM55 grid boundary, and he also worked another 13 stations on AO-51 from a spot inside DM55, on the county line between Navajo and Apache counties. Patrick said he will post more details tomorrow. 73 to all, Tim - N3TL

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Re: SEEDS II
by Dave Webb KB1PVH 08 Aug '09

08 Aug '09

SEEDS II (CO-66) is a Japanese cubesat that transmits a sstv picture and also has a digi talker that transmits a "secret code" that enables you to get a QSL card from the group that built it. Hope this helps. Dave KB1PVH ------Original Message------ From: w6zkh(a)comcast.net Sender: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org To: AMSAT BB Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: SEEDS II Sent: Aug 8, 2009 5:36 PM Being a noobie on satellites, what is SEEDS II ? I dont see it listed in any of my keps I have. Does it have another name? Just curious.. John W6ZKH _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

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Re: SEEDS II
by w6zkh＠comcast.net 08 Aug '09

08 Aug '09

Being a noobie on satellites, what is SEEDS II ? I dont see it listed in any of my keps I have. Does it have another name? Just curious.. John W6ZKH

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SEEDS II
by acjohn1＠juno.com 08 Aug '09

08 Aug '09

Has anyone had any luck receiving SEEDS II? I have had two good passes and haven't received so much as a peep. 73. KG4VHV John Rusmiselle KG4VHV Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscripti catapultas habebunt. (When catapults are outlawed, only outlaws will have catapults!) ____________________________________________________________ Turn life into a beach with a new sandbox. Click now! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/BLSrjpTGaFNouDr7DSezjcBofsxgjTs…

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Re: Antenna project with 2 ELK antennas
by Jean-François Ménard 08 Aug '09

08 Aug '09

Le 8 août 2009 11:54, i8cvs<domenico.i8cvs(a)tin.it> a écrit : > Hi Jean, VA2SS > > Since the ELK antenna is a log-periodic antenna covering a wide > band from 2 meters and 70 cm it is difficult to connect 2 ELK in > phase and gain 3 dB in 2 meters and 70 cm as well. > > Also it is difficult to connect 2 ELK with a phase offset of 90° > to get circular polarization in 2 meters and 70 cm > > I would prefere to put one ELK horizontal and the other one > vertical feeding each antenna with an individual coax line. > > Using a coax relay in the shack you can immediately switch > from the Horizontal to the Vertical polarization. > > About the distance between the antennas over the plastic boom > the distance is a function of the antenna gain and higher is the gain > (in order do not overlap the aperture area of each antenna) larger > must be the distance between booms > > Since the gain of the ELK in the lover 2 meters band is 6.6 dBd > over the dipole or 6.6 +2.14 = 8.7 dBi over the isotropic then the > aperture area wich is a circle perpendicular to the antenna boom > can be computed using the following formula: > > / 2 > G x /\ > Aperture area= ---------- > 4 x Pi > > Since G= 8.7 dBi = 7.41 in power ratio > > 2 > 7.41 x 2 > Aperture area= -------------- = 2.36 square meters > 4 x 3.14 > > A circle with a geometrical area of 2.36 square meters > has a radius of > > \ /-------------------- > radius = \ / 2.36 / 3.14 = 0.86 meters > \/ > > Hence the distance between the booms is 0.86 x2 = 1.72 meters > > In this condition both aperture areas are tangents but it is better > to overlap the areas a 10 % to prevent the generation of side lobes > so that a distance of 1.55 meters between the antenna booms > is recommended. > > I hope this helps > > 73" de > > i8CVS Domenico > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Jean-François Ménard" <jf.va2ss(a)gmail.com> > To: "i8cvs" <domenico.i8cvs(a)tin.it> > Sent: Saturday, August 08, 2009 4:00 PM > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Antenna project with 2 ELK antennas > > > Hi, > > I do not know much about antenna... But I tought that could be better > for satellite this way... I did not do any search at this time about > this project... it is only an idea that I had. > > If you have any suggestion for such project using 2 Elk antenna.... > please let me know. > > I don't want to spend much money at this moment... and I have only > these 2 antenna. > Wow !! Thanks !! This is the kind of answer that I really like. I will try this with the recommendation you gave me. I'm not familiar with all those formulas regarding antenna, so a little help time to time is really helpful.... I like to learn, so you won't repeat the same thing twice. Thank again. Best 73 J-F VA2SS > 73 > > > 2009/8/8 i8cvs <domenico.i8cvs(a)tin.it>: >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "Jean-François Ménard" <jf.va2ss(a)gmail.com> >> To: "AMSAT Mailing list" <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> >> Sent: Thursday, August 06, 2009 10:44 PM >> Subject: [amsat-bb] Antenna project with 2 ELK antennas >> >> Hi, >> >> I have 2 ELK antennas here, and I would like to do an experiment with >> these two antennas. I would like to stack side by side, one vertical, >> and one horizontal. >> >> 73 >> >> Jean-François Ménard >> VA2SS >> >> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= >> AMSAT www.amsat.org / Member #37102 >> ARRL www.arrl.org >> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= >> >> Hi Jean, VA2SS >> >> Staking 2 ELK antennas side by side,one vertical,and one horizontal >> what type of polarization you plan to get ? >> >> 73" de >> >> i8CVS Domenico >> >> >> >> > > > > -- > Jean-François Ménard > VA2SS > > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > AMSAT www.amsat.org / Member #37102 > ARRL www.arrl.org > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > > > > > > > > > -- Jean-François Ménard VA2SS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= AMSAT www.amsat.org / Member #37102 ARRL www.arrl.org =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

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Packet software
by Randy 08 Aug '09

08 Aug '09

What software is everyone using and / or the most popular? I would like to setup to send packets to ISS and would like To do that via the computer only , no hardware TNC. Randy - N2CUA

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Antenna project with 2 ELK antennas
by Jean-François Ménard 08 Aug '09

08 Aug '09

Hi, I have 2 ELK antennas here, and I would like to do an experiment with these two antennas. I would like to stack side by side, one vertical, and one horizontal. My question, what would be the distance between both antenna !?!?! I will be using PVC tube to avoid interaction. The phasing line... will it be hard to figure how to do it !?!?!? Any rough guess to start with. I have an antenna analyzer here... probably will be handy for that project. I just want to experiment how good it could perform. Any help would be appreciated. 73 -- Jean-François Ménard VA2SS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= AMSAT www.amsat.org / Member #37102 ARRL www.arrl.org =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

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Avoiding statics on helix antennas
by Lars Petersen 08 Aug '09

08 Aug '09

Hello AMSAT list, I have a problem caused by static electricity building up on my two helix antennas (23 cm and 13 cm). Two converters have already been zapped, so I have to do something about it. What measure would you recommend to avaoid statics building up on helix antennas? Does anyone have experience using the shorted quarter-wave-stub mentioned in "The ARRL Handbook 2008" pages 23.20-21? Vy 73, Lars Petersen, OZ1BXM, AMSAT-Member 36222, oz1bxm(a)pobox.com www.oz1bxm.dk

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pollux-1 and castor report
by Rob Hardenberg PE1ITR 08 Aug '09

08 Aug '09

Received today from pullux-1 and 1 packet from castor (kd4hbo-1) on 145.825: !S 09:24:24 !POLLUX-1>CQ,TELEM/1: !S 09:24:25 !MEMS 748836 2.58 2.57 2.45 22.03 21.225 19.06 -1.08 0.07 1.660 -8.28 3.31 3.10 24.21 25.22 24.76 2.60 20 19 42 !S 09:24:51 !POLLUX-1>CQ,TELEM/1: !S 09:24:51 !SYST 748869 0 0 33 0 013a 15e8 fffe 1500 0022 1500 001c 05f0 0013 05d0 ffff ffff 0154 08c4 0fbe 003c !S 09:27:03 !POLLUX-1>CQ,TELEM/1: !S 09:27:03 !SYST 749001 0 0 33 0 0003 1690 0006 15b8 001c 15b0 0033 06b0 0026 06d0 ffff ffff 0154 08c6 0fbc 003c !S 09:27:42 !POLLUX-1>CQ,TELEM/1: !S 09:27:42 !MEMS 749034 2.57 2.57 2.45 21.771 21.09 18.990 -1.06 0.226 1.773 -8.58 4.53 -1.97 24.08 25.13 24.52 2.60 20 26 39 !S 09:28:09 !POLLUX-1>CQ,TELEM/1: !S 09:28:09 !SYST 749067 0 0 33 0 000d 16f8 0000 15f8 0179 1600 0018 0750 0046 0728 ffff ffff 0156 08c4 0fba 0038 !S 09:31:00 !POLLUX-1>CQ,TELEM/1: !S 09:31:00 !MEMS 749232 2.58 2.57 2.45 21.556 21.09 18.990 -1.01 0.444 1.443 -8.43 2.05 -6.98 24.10 25.11 24.46 2.60 35 34 4 !S 09:32:06 !POLLUX-1>CQ,TELEM/1: !S 09:32:07 !MEMS 749298 2.57 2.57 2.45 21.771 21.09 18.990 -1.113 -0.119 0.559 -9.62 -2.24 8.12 24.01 25.11 24.45 2.60 3 41 38 !S 09:32:33 !POLLUX-1>CQ,TELEM/1: !S 09:32:33 !SYST 749331 0 0 33 0 0011 1858 0154 1758 0157 1788 000e 0960 001b 0910 ffff ffff 0156 08c6 0fba 003c !S 09:33:13 !KD4HBO-1>CQ,TELEM/1: !S 09:33:14 !SYS 744510 65535 0 30 0 feac 0b58 ffec 09c0 fea9 0f20 ffc1 0d48 fffa 10d8 ffd5 0f98 13.8 5.0 9.9 .00 0.13 0.55 12.21 9.91 9.91 44 19 44 73 Rob PE1ITR http://www.pe1itr.com

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POLLUX TLM - via remote station
by Fabiano Moser 08 Aug '09

08 Aug '09

Today I decoded POLLUX telemetry, by remote station control, from my job. Works FINE! Fm POLLUX-1 To CQ Via TELEM <UI pid=F0 Len=101 >[10:22:40] SYST 748737 0 0 33 0 fffe 1530 0002 1460 0015 1448 001a 04d8 000d 04e0 ffff ffff 0156 08c4 0fbe 0038 -- 73 Fabiano Moser CR7/PY5RX ARISS-PORTUGAL (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) Representative at Teleconference and Portugal Telebridge Coordinator. AMRAD/AMSAT-CT http://www.amrad.pt/ariss.php "There is no great talent without great will. (Honoré de Balzac)"

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PCSAT report 2009-08-08
by Rob Hardenberg PE1ITR 08 Aug '09

08 Aug '09

Hello, Received some readable packets from pcsat: !S 08:44:23 !W3ADO-1>BEACON,SGATE/1: !S 08:44:23 !T#010,063,065,061,072,214,11111111,0001,1 !S 08:44:24 !PCSAT-11>BEACON,SGATE/1: !S 08:44:24 !T#003,064,059,131,232,215,11111110,0010,1 !S 08:46:17 !W3ADO-1>APRS1/1: !S 08:46:17 !Default LT1 73 Rob PE1ITR http://www.pe1itr.com

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New satellite rigs?
by John Geiger 08 Aug '09

08 Aug '09

Is anyone hearing any rumors of new satellite rigs on the horizon (pun intended)? The TS2000 and Icom 910H are hitting 9 years on the market, and Yaesu isn't currently marketing a satellite rig. 73s Jon AA5JG

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[keps] Satellites Added to AMSAT KEPs
by Randy 07 Aug '09

07 Aug '09

-----Original Message----- From: Randy [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, August 07, 2009 7:26 PM To: 'amsat-bb(a)amsat.org' Subject: FW: [keps] Satellites Added to AMSAT KEPs I also asked them to add them to their satellite pass prediction page.. Randy - N2CUA -----Original Message----- From: keps-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ray Hoad Sent: Thursday, August 06, 2009 11:34 PM To: AMSAT KEP Subject: [keps] Satellites Added to AMSAT KEPs Pollux Catalog Number 35693 and CASTOR Catalog Number 35694 have been added to the AMSAT KEPs this week. I am not sure of the Catalog Number for Dragonsat (BEVO-1 and AGGIESAT-2) because AF Space Command had not yet listed in recent launches. Does someone know the Dragonsat Catalog Number?

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FW: [keps] Satellites Added to AMSAT KEPs
by Randy 07 Aug '09

07 Aug '09

I also asked them to add them to their satellite pass prediction page.. Randy - N2CUA -----Original Message----- From: keps-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ray Hoad Sent: Thursday, August 06, 2009 11:34 PM To: AMSAT KEP Subject: [keps] Satellites Added to AMSAT KEPs Pollux Catalog Number 35693 and CASTOR Catalog Number 35694 have been added to the AMSAT KEPs this week. I am not sure of the Catalog Number for Dragonsat (BEVO-1 and AGGIESAT-2) because AF Space Command had not yet listed in recent launches. Does someone know the Dragonsat Catalog Number?

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Receiving ISS Packet
by w6zkh＠comcast.net 07 Aug '09

07 Aug '09

I am having a problem receiving packets from ISS. Good signals, data LED lights, but nothing shows on the screen. If I monitor normal 2m packet freq or APRS channel, I have no problems. I am monitoring the 145.825 mhz freq and I guess it is still 1200 baud, not 9600? Anyone with any ideas. I would eventually like to set up a station to operate there. John W6ZKH DM06

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uhf amp
by Jerry 07 Aug '09

07 Aug '09

Hi: I,m in a need of a manual for a TE Systems RF power amp Model 4410G . I would settle for a copy or schematic. Jerry w0sat

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AO-51 (Aug 7-09)
by Gregory Dober 07 Aug '09

07 Aug '09

Haven't been on in a few days and saw that Gould did some software uploads. Before I rip my system apart to troubleshoot, is the bird on a lower power level? Usually those 32 degree passes over the Midwest for me are not difficult to hear. Today, I could hear it but barely audible. Getting the ladder ready! Thanks and 73 Greg N3MVF

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Re: Acer Aspire One & SatPC32
by claryco＠aol.com 07 Aug '09

07 Aug '09

Hi Tim, I'm curious about what "symptoms" you're experiencing with your Aspire One, which I'm also using. ? In my case, during the short time I had available?to use SatPC32 with mine netbook just before leaving the country, I found that the Doppler corrections from the program were slow in keeping up with what the satellites were actually doing. That is, once I had a station tuned in on the 70cm freq, the?corrections would kick in at the right intervals as I'd set them, but the corrected?downlink freq would soon be off a bit following the next correction. (The downlink freq displayed on SatPC32 matched what the rig's display showed, so the rig and program are talking fine.) With each correction applied, the disparity between the new downlink freq and what I?was actually hearing would quickly widen. Soon, I would have to manually re-tune the station again to clarify the signal; the uplink?seemed to follow my hands on?changes though, so that seemed to be a functional "band aid". There's one issue on my end that may figure in. My FT-817ND is at Yaesu for a warranty repair, so I'm currently limited to half duplex only with my FT-897D. With that single-rig config, I can't use a rapid correction interval because the rig switches VFOs at the specified intervals (currently set at 50 cycles), and I lose my RX capability for a noticable amount of time, say about a half second each time. The VFO switches become more frequent as the bird passes overhead of course, so it's a trade off. I've been stuck in Bahrain for the better part of a week while waiting for the military hop that goes to Diego Garcia where my ship is located. My rig is on the ship waiting for me, so it'll be a few days?before I can try anything new. With luck, my 817 will be shipped to me while I'm at VQ9 and I'll be able to go full duplex with a much faster Doppler interval setting. 73 for now, Jim, ND9M / VQ9JC Manama, Bahrain -----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-request(a)amsat.org To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Sent: Fri, Aug 7, 2009 6:34 am Subject: AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 4, Issue 387 Date: Thu, 6 Aug 2009 12:21:19 -0700 (PDT) From: Tim Lilley <n3tl(a)bellsouth.net> Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: HRD software question To: david.barber(a)dbelectronics.co.uk, "Simon $HB9DRV$" <simon(a)hb9drv.ch> Cc: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Message-ID: <484785.88782.qm(a)web180213.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Simon, ? I will be thrilled if you are able to get the Doppler-tuning function to work with stability on a netbook with an Intel Atom processor driving an 8.9-inch screen (the one built in to my Acer Aspire One). :) ? Tim - N3TL --- On Thu, 8/6/09, Simon (HB9DRV) <simon(a)hb9drv.ch> wrote: From: Simon (HB9DRV) <simon(a)hb9drv.ch> Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: HRD software question To: david.barber(a)dbelectronics.co.uk Cc: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Date: Thursday, August 6, 2009, 2:47 PM Well, When I get to this stage I will offer to help anyone using teamview - I did this yesterday with a beta-tester in Holland and in just a few minutes found a serious resource leak. The main problem with netbooks is the graphics chip isn't too fast, but I do have some poor code in the satellite tracking anyway :) My general aim is to be able to run HRD 5.0 on a netbook driving a 24" display. Simon Brown, HB9DRV www.ham-radio-deluxe.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Barber" <david.barber(a)dbelectronics.co.uk> > That's excellent news, most encouraging.? Wish I was able to do more to > assist. _______________________________________________ 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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ande keps
by Nigel Gunn G8IFF/W8IFF 07 Aug '09

07 Aug '09

DRAGONSAT 1 35690U 09038B 09217.97658609 .00019083 00000-0 10072-3 0 76 2 35690 051.6416 050.8490 0005305 104.3300 255.8301 15.80669917 1027 ANDE DEB (POLLUX CYLIN) 1 35691U 09038C 09217.59842416 .00029864 00000-0 15710-3 0 67 2 35691 051.6403 052.8229 0003389 052.3170 307.8122 15.80440083 932 ANDE DEB (CASTOR CYLIN) 1 35692U 09038D 09217.59817003 .00052966 00000-0 27257-3 0 82 2 35692 051.6401 052.8230 0003644 045.0060 315.1255 15.80641538 931 ANDE POLLUX SPHERE 1 35693U 09038E 09217.59911989 .00017271 00000-0 93597-4 0 71 2 35693 051.6411 052.8302 0003607 057.3899 302.7417 15.80180157 935 ANDE CASTOR SPHERE 1 35694U 09038F 09217.97925578 .00009761 00000-0 55030-4 0 89 2 35694 051.6417 050.8709 0004425 058.6932 301.4497 15.79973262 997 ANDE DEB (AVIONICS DECK) 1 35695U 09038G 09217.97914313 .00023078 00000-0 12428-3 0 74 2 35695 051.6422 050.8703 0004561 058.4233 301.7212 15.80084491 998 -- Nigel A. Gunn, 1865 El Camino Drive, Xenia, OH 45385-1115, USA. tel +1 937 825 5032 Amateur Radio G8IFF W8IFF (was KC8NHF), e-mail nigel(a)ngunn.net www http://www.ngunn.net Member of ARRL, GQRP #11396, QRPARCI #11644, SOC #548, Flying Pigs QRP Club International #385, Dayton ARA #2128, AMSAT-NA LM-1691, AMSAT-UK 0182, MKARS, ALC, GCARES, XWARN.

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ANDE-2 frequencies
by Henk, PA3GUO 07 Aug '09

07 Aug '09

>>> Please note this is not a formal statement of the ANDE-2 owners <<< My observation, confirmed by Mike, DK3WN, is that for best results the following downlink frequencies should be assumed: POLLUX: 145.826 MHz 1200 bd AFSK CASTOR: 145.828 MHz 1200 bd AFSK Henk, PA3GUO

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Is HRD Version 5 Released yet?
by Randy 07 Aug '09

07 Aug '09

Is HRD Version 5 Released yet? Randy - N2CUA "" Gotcha! You are correct. maybe the independences that were discussed with 5.x will take care of that problem. It would be nice to bring up just the satellite portion only. I have been so use to using WISP32 since my SATGATE days that I use it most of the time except on my newer radios. HRD indeed is very good and looks even more promising for the future. I have downloaded the 5.x beta version but have yet to install it to see how it does. Regards, Reid, W4UPD""

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Update on my Saturday DM54/DM55 trip
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 06 Aug '09

06 Aug '09

Hi! I'm working on plans for Saturday, and looked at my maps again. Since some are interested in working different counties, I wanted to correct an item from my earlier e-mail. I will be in Arizona's Navajo County, not Apache County, on Saturday. I will only be a few miles/km from the Navajo/Apache county line, the Petrified Forest National Park, and parts of the Navajo Nation reservation, but not in the park or on that reservation. Barring problems on Saturday, I still plan on being at the DM54/DM55 grid boundary for the passes I referenced in the earlier e-mail. 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/

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Elk on tower
by Jerry Felts 06 Aug '09

06 Aug '09

How far away from the mast on my tower should I mount my Elk?? The mast is 2" steal anf the lk will be mounted horiz at a 15 deg angle. -- Jerry - NR5A - South Dakota http://nr5abikeblog.blogspot.com/ http://nr5abeaconblog.blogspot.com/

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Elk antenna on tower
by Jerry Felts 06 Aug '09

06 Aug '09

I didn't mean this as a joke but it seems everyone took it as a joke. I will try not to askany more questions here. -- Jerry - NR5A - South Dakota http://nr5abikeblog.blogspot.com/ http://nr5abeaconblog.blogspot.com/

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Re: Elk antenna on tower
by Rodney Waln 06 Aug '09

06 Aug '09

if you have any question or need any help with anything, i am only 150 miles from you, or email me or get a hold of me on the SD link system, no joke, Rodney kc0zhf

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HRD software question
by Randy 06 Aug '09

06 Aug '09

I just downloaded HRD and am having trouble figuring out How to look at more than one satelite at a time in the Satellite part of the program. TIA 73, Randy N2CUA

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