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AMSAT-DL DONATIONS
by Dave Guimont 21 Jun '08

21 Jun '08

Hi Peter, Can you give us the url for donations to AMST-DL...in English.. A lot of us out here who would be willing to help with P3E.... Tnx... 73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1(a)san.rr.com Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E...

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Working the sats with FT-530 HT
by Bill Dzurilla 21 Jun '08

21 Jun '08

Hi, Would like to use my 530 to work the sats and have encountered a couple of problems. * First tried full duplex with the left hand VFO set to uplink frequency and the right hand VFO set to downlink. To transmit, the left side must be active. But it's necessary to change the downlink frequency to account for doppler, and I can't figure out how to do this except by pressing ALT, changing the frequency, then pressing ALT again. Is there a better way? Some HTs have a button that allows tuning on the sub VFO, but if the 530 has it I have not yet found it. * Next tried half duplex by setting a memory on the left VFO with the 2 meter uplink and the 70cm downlink. Problem is that the left VFO can't be set to tune in 5 khz steps on 70 cm (it can be set to 5 khz on 2m), and 5 khz tuning is needed for the sats. Is there any way to tune 70cm in 5 khz steps on the left VFO? The right hand VFO can be set to tune in 5 khz steps on 70 cm, but it will not transmit on 2m, so only the left VFO can be used for this purpose. I have heard the 530 is a great satellite HT but it will not be satisfactory unless I can resolve the tuning problem somehow. Thanks for any advice and 73, Bill NZ5N

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TR-851 help?
by SV1BSX 21 Jun '08

21 Jun '08

Hi all and sorry for "off topics" has anyone experience with Kenwood TR-851E ? I have a few questions, the Owner manual did not help me. "OFF list" your Emails please . 73, Mak SV1BSX Email: sv1bsx(a)yahoo.gr URL : http://sv1bsx.50webs.com

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Delfi-C3 / DO-64 status update 16 June 10:00 UTC
by Wouter Jan Ubbels 21 Jun '08

21 Jun '08

Hi all, another status update of the Delfi-C3 / DO-64 satellite: 1. The spacecraft continues to work fine, we have received over 270000 telemetry frames so far, thanks so much! 2. A magnificent model of the satellite, made by Stefan Wagener VE4NSA is available on our photo weblog at http://www.delfic3.nl/photoblog/ 3. The spacecraft still experiences the downlink dropout issue, since this is a non-critical issue, and since we are limited in our possibilities to do something about it, we have decided to leave it as it is. If the spacecraft's downlink is off when over our groundstation, we will command it back on. Our expectation is that this does not occur when the spacecraft is in transponder mode, so once we switch it to that mode, it should be fine. 4. The TX distortion issue has turned out to be a separate issue (contrary to our earlier assumptions, it is not related to the dropouts), related to the behaviour of the (battery-less) power system. This is also non-critical, and has shown to solve itself after the spacecraft has rotated a bit more. 73 on behalf of the Delfi-C3 team, Wouter Jan Ubbels PE4WJ

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Namaste Blog
by Alan P. Biddle 21 Jun '08

21 Jun '08

Morning, There is always a hunger for knowing what is going on at AMSAT. Probably semi-old news, but they have added a Namaste Ground Station link to the Quick Access Project Links on WWW.AMSAT.ORG Of considerable interest to me is if you go there you will find an RSS feed for your reader. Skimming through a few posts brought up some very interesting technical reports. Another great addition to the Wiki keeping people informed! Alan WA4SCA ----------------------------------- There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture from such a trifling investment of fact. Mark Twain

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LVB Tracker Installation Instructions
by Gould Smith 21 Jun '08

21 Jun '08

I have received a few questions about installing the LVB Tracker this week. The installation and setup instructions can be found at the LVBTracker.com web site. This information should have been passed along to the people that got the unit at Dayton or from the AMSAT office, but apparently was not. This will be corrected. The instructions on the web site should be straight forward, but if you have any questions send me an email and we will work it out. The first thing you need to do is to install the FTDI driver for your operating system, and then talk with the LVBTracker unit via a serial port and a terminal program. You must be able to do this before you can proceed. Sometimes the driver does not install correctly. Check via Control Panel, System, Device Manager (for Windows) that the driver is indeed installed correctly. Under Ports, a serial port should be assigned (without a warning) as a USB serial port. 73, Gould, WA4SXM

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repost from ARRL letter - DXCC on UHF!
by Nate Duehr 20 Jun '08

20 Jun '08

Wow. Mostly by EME... I thought this group would find this amazing... ==> GERMAN HAM CLAIMS FIRST DXCC ON 432 MHZ The world of Amateur Radio DXing has passed a new milestone: On Friday, June 6, Jan Bruinier, DL9KR, of Niedernhausen, Germany, worked his 100th country on 432 MHz (70 cm) via moonbounce (EME) and CW. Samek Zdenek, OK1DFC, and Hofbauer Zdenek, OK3RM, were getting ready to go on an EME DXpedition to Macedonia. Before they left, Samek asked Bruinier to help test out the equipment; Bruinier gave him a beacon, aiming a signal off the moon. According to VHF guru and conductor of QST's "World Above 50 MHz" column Gene Zimmerman, W3ZZ, this is done by transmitting a series of CW dashes and then stopping to listen for the signal to return a little more than a second later. The moon averages 384,000 km from the Earth; radio waves travel at ~300,000 km/sec. After one of these transmissions, Bruinier was excited to hear Samek appear on frequency with a 549 signal. Thus, after an exchange of calls and reports, Bruinier's 100th country on 432 MHz was in the log. Once his QSL cards are confirmed in the near future, he will become DXCC #1 on 70 cm. Bruinier's 70 cm EME operations began in 1977. He had followed the exploits of the early EME pioneers in QST, operators like KH6UK, W4HHK, W3GKP and W1FZJ who was conductor of the "World Above 50 Mc" during much of the 1960s. Jan and his family moved to a semirural location in Germany in 1976 where he could put up decent VHF antennas. Working initially on his own, he built an array of 16 ten-element quagis (antennas with single quad loop driven elements and reflectors and 8 Yagi directors) following the design described in QST by Wayne Overbeck, K6YNB (now N6NB). After a few false starts with other tubes, he obtained an Eimac 8938 and built a near-legal limit amplifier. The station exciter was a set of Drake twins as an IF strip using homebrew transverters with an increasingly sensitive group of GaAsFET preamplifiers, always working at the state-of-the-art. As time progressed, Bruinier built a bigger amplifier capable of running 1500 W continuously to deal with the high duty cycle found in EME operation -- long, slow CW with two minute transmissions at a time -- and receiver systems that yielded noise temperatures of 60 kelvins that could detect 7 dB of noise when he pointed his array into the ground. He eventually transitioned from the quagis to an array of DL6WU design Yagis fed with 1-5/8 inch Heliax, currently having a gain of 28.4 dBd. For comparison, this is slightly more gain than the 28 foot Kennedy parabolic dish has at 432 MHz. According to Zimmerman, the range of contacts covered by the 70 cm band is less than 1000 km; even under the most enhanced conditions, it is less than double that. "To work the 100 entities needed for DXCC, EME communications are essential. EME is the most demanding form of operation there is in Amateur Radio," he said. "Every single aspect of the station must be optimized: The equipment, the antennas, the feed lines and most particularly, the talent of the operator. Even 1 dB may make the difference between a contact and no contact. Bruinier's achievement was accomplished the old fashioned way -- by dint of hard work, excellent equipment, big antennas and many, many hours on the air looking for new countries and not missing many, if any, DXpeditions to the many countries where there is no 432 MHz EME activity." Bruinier told Zimmerman that many people going to many countries on all continents made this award possible: The Five Bells Group, the Yota Sawe Group, Michale Kohla, DL1YMK, and Monica; Bernd Mischlewski, DF2ZC; Mark De Munck, ON5FF (now EA8FF); Bernhard Dobler, DJ5MN; Mart Sakalov, SM0ERR; Dimitris Vittorakis, SV1BTR; Gudmund Wannberg, SM2BYA; Frank Hobelmann, DL8YHR; Joachim Werner, DL9MS, and Allen Katz, K2UYH, among others, as well as groups from Russia, Spain, France and Denmark. If you would like to read more details about Bruinier's career as an EMEer, please look for his story in his own words in the "World Above 50 MHz" column in the September 2008 issue of QST. -- Nate Duehr nate(a)natetech.com

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CP4 is alive again
by Bryan Klofas 20 Jun '08

20 Jun '08

Hey Everybody-- We heard CP4 this morning, and decoded two beacons. It's beaconing every 5 minutes (yeah, too long period) on 437.325 MHz. Since it's been brain dead for the past year, we would like to gather as many beacons as we can to determine satellite health. We'll increase the beacon rate to once per minute probably tomorrow. Just send any data back to me. Thanks for all your help! Here's the data we got this morning: Found port: COM6 ---> BEGIN ACK <--- Source: 9C 6C 86 A0 40 40 E0 Dest: 9C 6C 86 A0 40 40 61 Response: COMM B ---> END ACK <--- ---> BEGIN SENSOR SNAP <--- Type: 01 (Sensor Snapshot) SeqNum: 36377 RTC: 10:9:14 (HH:MM:SS) -- Side Panel Data -- JPx: SPV/SPI/PPTI/MAGI/MAGA/MAGB/INTT/EXTT/3VSP JP5: 4.5 V 1.8 mA 11.0 mA 3.7 mA 5E 95 4.3 C 1.0 C 3.0 V JP6: 4.5 V 12.9 mA 18.4 mA 3.7 mA 7C B0 -5.2 C -4.3 C 3.0 V JP7: 4.2 V 1.8 mA 0.0 mA 14.7 mA 99 2D 2.1 C -0.3 C 3.0 V JP8: 4.5 V 207.7 mA 176.5 mA 5.5 mA 8E 60 39.7 C 42.6 C 3.1 V JP9: 4.3 V 0.0 mA 0.0 mA 3.7 mA 65 86 12.9 C 12.4 C 3.0 V -- CDH Data -- CDHDAQ: RFAI = 0.0 mA CDHDAQ: RFBI = 46.0 mA CDHDAQ: 3CDH = 2.9 V CDHDAQ: RFAT = 4.3 C CDHDAQ: 3VCA = 2.9 V CDHDAQ: 3VCB = 2.9 V CDHDAQ: VSUM = 4.2 V -- Power Data -- POWDAQ: CDHI = 29.4 mA POWDAQ: SPAI = 27.6 mA POWDAQ: SPBI = 20.2 mA POWDAQ: CAI = 18.4 mA POWDAQ: CBI = 7.4 mA POWDAQ: PAYI = 9.2 mA POWDAQ: CDHT = -1.6 C POWDAQ: CAPT = -5.7 C POWDAQ: CBPT = -4.6 C POWDAQ: 3SPA = 2.9 V POWDAQ: 3SPB = 2.9 V -- Battery A Data -- BATA: PROT = 11000011 OV: Cell Overvoltage Fault UV: Cell Undervoltage Fault /COC: No Charge Overcurrent Fault /DOC: No Discharge Overcurrent Fault /CC: Charge Protection Inactive /DC: Discharge Protection Inactive CE: Charging Enabled DE: Discharging Enabled Status = 11000111, 4.3 V, 0.0 C, 80.0 mA AccCurr = -5791.0 mAh -- Battery B -- BATB: PROT = 11001011 OV: Cell Overvoltage Fault UV: Cell Undervoltage Fault /COC: No Charge Overcurrent Fault /DOC: No Discharge Overcurrent Fault CC: Charge Protection Active /DC: Discharge Protection Inactive CE: Charging Enabled DE: Discharging Enabled Status = 11000111, 4.1 V, 0.0 C, 0.0 mA AccCurr = -5801.8 mAh -- CDH -- Status: SENSOR_SNAP_NOW State: PRE_OPS CDH Reset Count = 02B0 -- COMM -- Status: SEL_RF (COMM A) SEL_RX READY XCVR_CAL CAL = 26, POW = 08, RSSI = 5E -- Bryan Klofas, KF6ZEO Cal Poly State University

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aprs UIView
by Bill Bruno 20 Jun '08

20 Jun '08

I'm trying to switch from winaprs to UIView32. I cannot find a way to register it. Been looking for two days now. Can someone point me in the right direction. Bill KB2RC

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aprs/UIView
by Bill Bruno 20 Jun '08

20 Jun '08

Thanks all. Finally got the registration. Had to get done from another computer. Don't know why. Bill

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2008 AMSAT Board of Directors Election!
by Stefan Wagener 20 Jun '08

20 Jun '08

Hi folks, In the past, the candidates running for the AMSAT Board of Directors positions have used this forum to provide the membership with some thoughts and ideas about their intentions if elected. I would very much appreciate if that could happen again. Also, in light of the current discussion on LEO’s and HEO’s, it would be very helpful to see where the candidates are standing. Thanks, 73, Stefan VE4NSA

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Re: Kid's day
by Interdonato, Dominick 20 Jun '08

20 Jun '08

Drew, You have to forgive me since I never heard of kids day. Now that I know it is an ARRL adventure, I realize why nothing too news on the AMSAT sites. I am going to program my HT with the uplink and hopefully I can get a few kids on the air that might be at the hamfest. I think an ANS bulletin could have gotten more attention to June 21st.... 73, Dee, NB2F -----Original Message----- From: Andrew Glasbrenner [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 9:10 AM To: Interdonato, Dominick Subject: Re: Kid's day http://www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/kd-rules.html We've participated in KId's Day with AO-51 for about three years, twice a year. 73, Drew KO4MA -----Original Message----- From: "Interdonato, Dominick" Sent: Jun 20, 2008 8:51 AM To: ko4ma(a)AMSAT.Org Subject: Kid's day Drew, Is there a place I can get all the info for Kid's day on AO-51?? I looked etc. and no info except that it's kid's day. If while I'm demo ing tomorrow I can get a few kids to talk I would like to know what kid's day is all about. Seems that no one knows what this day is supposed to be operationally except diff freqs and easier to get a contact. Please advise or point me to the right page... Thanks, Dee, NB2F nb2f(a)amsat.org Dominick Interdonato Maintenance Unit Supervisor COMSEG PANYNJ- Tech Center- Room 103 241 Erie Street Jersey City, NJ 07310 Communications, Security & Electronics Group 201-216-2150 201-216-2155 FAX NOTICE: THIS E-MAIL AND ANY ATTACHMENTS CONTAIN INFORMATION FROM THE PORT AUTHORITY OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY AND AFFILIATES. IF YOU BELIEVE YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS E-MAIL IN ERROR, PLEASE NOTIFY THE SENDER IMMEDIATELY, PERMANENTLY DELETE THIS E-MAIL (ALONG WITH ANY ATTACHMENTS), AND DESTROY ANY PRINTOUTS. NOTICE: THIS E-MAIL AND ANY ATTACHMENTS CONTAIN INFORMATION FROM THE PORT AUTHORITY OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY AND AFFILIATES. IF YOU BELIEVE YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS E-MAIL IN ERROR, PLEASE NOTIFY THE SENDER IMMEDIATELY, PERMANENTLY DELETE THIS E-MAIL (ALONG WITH ANY ATTACHMENTS), AND DESTROY ANY PRINTOUTS.

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Alaska Calling!
by Ken Farr 19 Jun '08

19 Jun '08

I am looking for FM contacts on AO-51, AO-27 and SO-50 from here in Anderson, Alaska, BP54kh (Alaska's Interior- 85 miles south of Fairbanks). I am active from 1600 to 0200 the following day GMT seven days a week until I return to Northern California. I am willing to arrange schedules. Please contact me at KL1WE(a)arrl.net. 73, Luci

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AO-51 L-band uplink off for ~24hrs / Kid's Day this Saturday
by Andrew Glasbrenner 19 Jun '08

19 Jun '08

The AO-51 L-band bbs uplink was turned off tonight for a day or so to aid in some command station functions before this weekend and the V/U and L/U dual repeater mode leading up until Field Day. Also, please remember AO-51 will be reserved this Saturday for Kid's Day contacts, and utilizing the alternate uplink of 145.880 and a downlink of 435.300. 73, Drew KO4MA

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Info Request
by Clint Bradford 19 Jun '08

19 Jun '08

From another forum - please reply directly to: siddhartha(a)siddharthajain.net I attended a presentation by Matt Ettus, N2MJI, at the Palo Alto Amateur Radio Association's monthly meeting about the Advanced Communications Package. The project sounded very interesting and as I remember, Matt said that the ACP project's goal was to send up these amateur stations on commercial satellites in the geostationary orbit so that it eventually, someday, gives a trans-global reach for amateurs with portable/handheld radios. This was supposed to be an alternative to the Eagle project. I got talking to a friend and fellow operator who used to be very interested in amateur satellite work and he was very interested in knowing more about ACP. Is there a whitepaper, wiki or some kind of documentation briefly describing the project? I looked at the AMSAT site and could not find much. Any pointers will be appreciated. 73, - Siddhartha WV6U Clint Bradford, K6LCS / KAF3359 909-241-7666

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Satellite antenna question
by John Geiger 19 Jun '08

19 Jun '08

I have a kind of minimal satellite antenna setup: a 16 element and a 14 element, both horizontally polarized, with no elevation. I notice that on some passes I can barely hear the satellites, or not at all, and other times they come through strong. Would upgrading to a real satellite antenna system: circular polarization with elevation remove these variances in signal strength? With such a setup, would I have perfect copy on every sat pass, or does is the differences in signal from pass to pass something everyone lives with? 73s John AA5JG (ex: W5TD, NE0P) 6M WAS #1275, 6m VUCC #1260 2m VUCC #615, Satellite VUCC #129

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Re: LEO
by Armando Mercado 19 Jun '08

19 Jun '08

Hi Andy, You have nothing to apologize for. You posting showed more balance and maturity than the ranting of the 3 or 4 "gentlemen" that appear on the list from time to time. Best 73, Armando, N8IGJ ------------------------------------------------ > Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:47:13 -0500 > From: "Andrew Koenig" <andrewkoenig(a)thathamkid.com> > Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: LEO's > To: "Edward Cole" <kl7uw(a)acsalaska.net> > Cc: AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> > Message-ID: > <2f52b89b0806181247y7192e24fv3398747cf158daec(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > > When I sent my first email out I didn't mean to bash the HEOs in any way. > I > just intended to get the point across that FM LEOs take the modest of > setup > to get onto, and that complaining about the lack of HEOs isn't helping > anyone.

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Re: LEO's
by h05ram-k9ldw＠usa.net 19 Jun '08

19 Jun '08

Dishes like that or the larger "BUD" (Big Ugly Dishes) that folks USED to use for TVRO can often be found FREE (for the removal) in many neighborhoods. I have two "standard sized" BUD's, a 12'+ fiberglass monster (not likely to go up), and a "mini" ex-dish network one, and actuators for the 3 biggest ones... net cost for ALL: $50, and that was labor for a helper to take down the biggest one. Separately I actually BOUGHT an N3IYR 3' dish a few years back, but it wasn't terribly expensive. It came with a helix feed. Granted, it's not always something everyone has laying around but they CAN be had cheap or free for a little effort. If it were golf, people wouldn't just find a driver or putter in their yard, growing like a mushroom, either. :-) The hobby of amateur radio is worth taking some time and effort to invest in. Kind regards Lowell K9LDW ------ Original Message ------ Received: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:08:56 PM CDT From: "John AA5JG" <aa5jg(a)lcisp.com> To: AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org>, Mark Vandewettering <kf6kyi(a)gmail.com> Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: LEO's > > > > > > >On Jun 18, 2008, at 2:46 AM, i8cvs wrote: > > > >> > >> A 3 to 4 foot dish with a 2400/144 MHz downconverter in the focal > >> point and > >> connected to any old 144 MHz CW/SSB receiver mounted on the balcony > >> was > >> sufficient to receive a nice downlink from all over the world by > >> many users > > > Yeah, and most of us, especially new hams, just happen to have a 3 to 4 foot dish laying around. > > 73s John AA5JG > > ________________________________________________________________ > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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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Eagle?
by ANTHONY JAPHA 19 Jun '08

19 Jun '08

I guess there's still an Eagle sometime in our future, but seeing no mention at all of it in the most recent Newsletter is disconcerting. As our most important project, shouldn't we have updates in every Newsletter? For example, is there any news about the Intelsat connection that was introduced several months ago? By the way, the writeup currently on the Amsat home page mentions ACP with a 3.4 Ghz (sic) downlink. Just a misprint? The nice Eagle flyer shows both up- and downlink on 5.6 Ghz. Most important. of course, is the projected date for completion of Eagle. Maybe it can't be completely finished before the launch is determined, but the transponders have been identified for some time now. Chicken and egg problems are solved by producing either a chicken or an egg and then nurturing the other. Right now, we have neither. When do we expect to have our chicken, i.e. a complete electronics package? I have great admiration for our designers and builders, and I also think that we should have some more visible time targets. If funding is an immediate issue that is limiting design and construction, or if it will be an issue in the near future, we should also to informed about that situation. Tnx and 73, Tony, N2UN

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LEO
by RFI-EMI-GUY 19 Jun '08

19 Jun '08

I can't agree more, I can't wait to hear the complaints about D-Star experiments from these folks. Instead of heterodyne, it will be dead air! Its just an experiment folks! Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:11:09 -0400 From: "Jim Danehy" <jdanehy(a)cinci.rr.com> Subject: [amsat-bb] LEO To: <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Message-ID: <70E4A3CC414A4FE9A70E7681904AAE8D@JamesPC> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" I am perplexed why some have to be critical of another person's interest. I am a QRQ CW operator. If you do not like CW that is OK. I do. We will probably not work on that mode if you don't like it. I cut my teeth on Oscar 6 and dropped out of satellites in about 1982. I have not yet tried an FM bird. I am working to get back on LEOs on CW. I will probably do SSB too. I hope to be on soon. There is a saying that if it isn't CW it is just CB. I look forward to HEO but until then it is LEO. -- Joe Leikhim K4SAT "The RFI-EMI-GUY"© "Treason doth never prosper: what's the reason? For if it prosper, none dare call it treason." "Follow The Money" ;-P

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Airing Suitsat's dirty laundry
by David Donaldson 19 Jun '08

19 Jun '08

Guys I am sorry but Tom Clarks description of stuffing Suitsats 2 legs with dirty laundry was just to much. The lines keep coming to mind. My mother (rip) used to call it Jr. High humor. So here goes.... 1) Thanks to Tom for airing the dirty laundry. 2) Can I donate some to the next flight? It would save me having to wash them. 3) I would like to propose an experiment on impact of weightlessness on muddy pants. Maybe we could measure the mud partical density in the lag. As the mud floats off the pants and into space the density will reduce. We could and send data via AX.25 packet, and provide a dirty online qsl card. 4) This project will actually help the enviorment by saving water necessary to wash. Just let the laundry burn up. Cool Maybe I will stick to designing cellsites and stay out of aerospace.... Sorry :>) this list sometimes takes its self to seriously.... Dave WB7DRU So many oppertunities so little time. Sent with Wireless Sync from Verizon Wireless - --- Get FREE High Speed Internet from USFamily.Net! -- http://www.usfamily.net/mkt-freepromo.html ---

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Re: DirecWav satellite internet useful?
by Chris Hackworth 19 Jun '08

19 Jun '08

On Wed, Jun 18, 2008 at 1:30 PM, Chris Hackworth <n8phucjh(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Greg and BBS, > > Here is an example of a lnb conversion: > > http://www.qsl.net/g0ory/10g/sce975/sce975.html > > On Wed, Jun 18, 2008 at 1:19 AM, Greg D. <ko6th_greg(a)hotmail.com> wrote: >> >> Hi folks, >> >> An update on my Ku dish, the result of some lite poking around. Links to pictures, below. >> >> The receive LNB has a sticker on it claiming "11.7-12.2 ghz", so this is a bit outside of the ham band. Judging from the construction, it looks like it's circularly polarized, and is fed with about a 3/4" round waveguide. According to another Ham, it appears to have what he called a "ceramic oscillator" or something like that, feeding a mixer for a low-gHz IF. He guesses the IF out is in the 1 to 2 ghz range. Since there's not a lot of filtering, and nothing is crystal controlled, we suspect that it should not be too hard to re-tune down to the 10-10.5 ghz range. It somewhat depends on whether the LO injection is on the high or low side, hopefully low. He's also worried if the waveguide is the right size. >> >> The transmit side of things appears to be linearly polarized, and at a higher frequency (guessing by the constrictions in the feed pipe). I haven't opened the full Tx module (didn't have a Torx screwdriver handy), so I don't know what's under the shield inside. Outside the shield are a bunch of parts, nothing resembling a transmitter... Their website talks about it putting out a couple of watts. >> >> I haven't opened up the control box yet. >> >> Some pictures, below. Any additional hints would be appreciated! >> >> The whole dish. Looking on the website, the new ones seem to be round; hopefully, they haven't changed the electronics part... http://home.wavecable.com/~ko6th/IMG_0115.JPG >> >> Side view of some of the plumbing. LNB is at the left, and the back of the feed horn is to the right. The transmitter is piped in from below. We are guessing that the lumps in the plumbing between the "T" and the LNB is a filter of some sort, keeping the Tx from frying the Rx. The crud on the parts is the remains of a rather large wasp nest that was waiting for me inside the plastic hood. http://home.wavecable.com/~ko6th/IMG_0123.JPG >> >> Outside of the LNB, with the round flange for the waveguide, and one of the feed probes. The other one is on the back side of the PCB, coming down from the top (up from the bottom on the next picture). http://home.wavecable.com/~ko6th/IMG_0131b.JPG >> >> Inside the LNB, with the cover and shield removed. The feed is on the right, and we believe the LO is the round doughnut thing just to the lower left of center. There's a set screw on the shield cover that comes down over the ring, to adjust the frequency. There's one filter section in the middle that might need tweeking. The IF comes out the upper left. http://home.wavecable.com/~ko6th/IMG_0130b.JPG >> >> Transmit module, with the inside shield still on. Haven't done much analysis on this yet... Where did I put that Torx? http://home.wavecable.com/~ko6th/IMG_0132b.JPG >> >> So, I turn it back to you guys... Any further thoughts? >> >> Greg KO6TH >> >> >> ---------------------------------------- >>> From: ko6th_greg(a)hotmail.com >>> To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org >>> Date: Tue, 27 May 2008 21:42:21 -0700 >>> Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: DirecWav satellite internet useful? >>> >>> >>> Hi all, >>> >>> Well, it's been saved from the dumpster, at least for now. But, I kind of don't care much about the dish itself - it's probably a bit big /heavy for my Az/El rotor setup, though it's hard to tell with the huge steel support mount still attached. I nearly wrenched my back out carrying it over to my side yard this morning. (I think the Advil is wearing off... oow) >>> >>> But, back to the pre-amp and other electronics pieces... I found a reference to the Hughes DirecWay (not wav) service on the Web. Looks like the stuff runs in the Ku Band (11-14.5 ghz, according to Wikipedia), and has a 0.5-2 watt transmitter, depending on model. Sounds like it's possibly a good bit out of band for P3E needs, and I'm not much good with microwave hacking. Am I better off taking another two pills and putting it back on the pile, or is there a reasonable chance that I can do some simple (think "Drake") modifications to get it to work? >>> >>> Greg KO6TH >>> >>> >>> ________________________________ >>>> From: w7lrd(a)comcast.net >>>> To: ko6th_greg(a)hotmail.com; kc6uqh(a)cox.net; amsat-bb(a)amsat.org >>>> Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: DirecWav satellite internet useful? >>>> Date: Tue, 27 May 2008 17:14:01 +0000 >>>> >>>> Greg- They seem to be an off center feed antenna, similar to the old primestar dish of which I have been successfully using for several years. If it's free you can't beat the price. >>>> 73 Bob W7LRD >>>> >>>> -- >>>> "if this were easy, everyone would be doing it" >>>> >>>> -------------- Original message -------------- >>>> From: "Greg D." >>>> >>>>> >>>>> Hi Art, >>>>> >>>>> The DirectWav is an Internet link - data, not TV - but good point about LO >>>>> stability being an unknown. >>>>> >>>>> But, my base question was whether any of the pieces can be used, and it sounds >>>>> like it's worth saving. Thanks! >>>>> >>>>> Greg KO6TH >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> ---------------------------------------- >>>>>> From: kc6uqh(a)cox.net >>>>>> To: ko6th_greg(a)hotmail.com; amsat-bb(a)amsat.org >>>>>> Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] DirecWav satellite internet useful? >>>>>> Date: Mon, 26 May 2008 22:20:55 -0700 >>>>>> >>>>>> Greg, >>>>>> These dishes are used on 10 GHz and lower frequencies. Designed to operate >>>>>> in Ku Band ~12 GHz they will give ~30 dBof gain. The LNB and feed can be >>>>>> used , at least the LNA section. As the intended use is television the LO is >>>>>> not stable enough for Amateur Satellite work. >>>>>> >>>>>> Art, >>>>>> KC6UQH >>>>>> ----- Original Message ----- >>>>>> From: "Greg D." >>>>>> To: >>>>>> Sent: Monday, May 26, 2008 8:23 PM >>>>>> Subject: [amsat-bb] DirecWav satellite internet useful? >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> Hi folks, >>>>>> >>>>>> My neighbor appears to be tossing their Hughes "DirecWav" satellite internet >>>>>> dish and associated dish-mounted electronics. By any stroke of luck, is >>>>>> this stuff reasonably convertable for use with any of the the proposed P3E >>>>>> up or downlinks? I have no idea what frequency it runs. It appears to have >>>>>> both transmit and receive capabilities (based on the warnings posted). >>>>>> There are no model numbers tha t I can find on the electronics. >>>>>> >>>>>> I've got my AO-40 S-band receive setup, but nothing for the higher bands. >>>>>> >>>>>> Thanks, >>>>>> >>>>>> Greg KO6TH >>>>>> _________________________________________________________________ >>>>>> >> _________________________________________________________________ >> The i'm Talkathon starts 6/24/08. For now, give amongst yourselves. >> http://www.imtalkathon.com?source=TXT_EML_WLH_LearnMore_GiveAmongst >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 >> > > > > -- > Chris N8PHU > ET1(SW) USN (Ret) > Chief transmitter Heavy SES-Americom > -- Chris N8PHU ET1(SW) USN (Ret) Chief transmitter Heavy SES-Americom

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Re: DirecWav satellite internet useful?
by Chris Hackworth 19 Jun '08

19 Jun '08

On Wed, Jun 18, 2008 at 10:14 AM, Chris Hackworth <n8phucjh(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Hi Greg, > > I am a bit of a lurker, my name is Chris. I work professionally in > the commercial satellite industry. > > What you have is a dish that was used as a Ku band up and downlink setup. > > 11.7 - 12.2 Ghz is the normal downlink band for Ku band transmissions > in the U.S.. Transmit for the U.S. is 14.0 to 14.5 ghz. Also the feed > horn assy. is linearly polarized, I.E. horizontal and vertical. > Usually they are setup so that transmit and rcv are opposite > polarities I.E transmit can be linear, but rcv is horizontal, or vice > versa.This is done so that you can get 500 mhz of space on the > horizontal pole, and still be able to use the same 500 mhz on the > vertical pole. This is called frequency reuse. > > Normal operation of this setup is the modem inside the house uses a > I.F. freq range of 950-1550 Mhz (L band) for both transmit and > receive. > > There is a set of articles on the net that explain how the satellite > end of things work, here are the links : > > http://www.uhf-satcom.com/misc/satloop/ > > http://www.uhf-satcom.com/misc/satellitebeacons/ > > The LNB might be able to be modified for use in the 10Ghz range. I > have seen a few articles on the net about conversion of LNA's to 10 > Ghz, so a LNB might be do able. > > The transmitter is usually in the range of 14 - 14.5 Ghz and usually > is only 2 to 4 watts out. I wouldn't think this would be a hard > conversion, but I haven't heard of anybody having done it, Maybe you > could be the first! > > Good luck, there is a lot of this stuff starting to become dumpster > fodder, maybe we can convert it for ham use... > > Chris N8PHU > Chief of Transmitters and RF > SES-Americom, Washington International Teleport > Alexandria Va. > > > On Wed, Jun 18, 2008 at 1:19 AM, Greg D. <ko6th_greg(a)hotmail.com> wrote: >> >> Hi folks, >> >> An update on my Ku dish, the result of some lite poking around. Links to pictures, below. >> >> The receive LNB has a sticker on it claiming "11.7-12.2 ghz", so this is a bit outside of the ham band. Judging from the construction, it looks like it's circularly polarized, and is fed with about a 3/4" round waveguide. According to another Ham, it appears to have what he called a "ceramic oscillator" or something like that, feeding a mixer for a low-gHz IF. He guesses the IF out is in the 1 to 2 ghz range. Since there's not a lot of filtering, and nothing is crystal controlled, we suspect that it should not be too hard to re-tune down to the 10-10.5 ghz range. It somewhat depends on whether the LO injection is on the high or low side, hopefully low. He's also worried if the waveguide is the right size. >> >> The transmit side of things appears to be linearly polarized, and at a higher frequency (guessing by the constrictions in the feed pipe). I haven't opened the full Tx module (didn't have a Torx screwdriver handy), so I don't know what's under the shield inside. Outside the shield are a bunch of parts, nothing resembling a transmitter... Their website talks about it putting out a couple of watts. >> >> I haven't opened up the control box yet. >> >> Some pictures, below. Any additional hints would be appreciated! >> >> The whole dish. Looking on the website, the new ones seem to be round; hopefully, they haven't changed the electronics part... http://home.wavecable.com/~ko6th/IMG_0115.JPG >> >> Side view of some of the plumbing. LNB is at the left, and the back of the feed horn is to the right. The transmitter is piped in from below. We are guessing that the lumps in the plumbing between the "T" and the LNB is a filter of some sort, keeping the Tx from frying the Rx. The crud on the parts is the remains of a rather large wasp nest that was waiting for me inside the plastic hood. http://home.wavecable.com/~ko6th/IMG_0123.JPG >> >> Outside of the LNB, with the round flange for the waveguide, and one of the feed probes. The other one is on the back side of the PCB, coming down from the top (up from the bottom on the next picture). http://home.wavecable.com/~ko6th/IMG_0131b.JPG >> >> Inside the LNB, with the cover and shield removed. The feed is on the right, and we believe the LO is the round doughnut thing just to the lower left of center. There's a set screw on the shield cover that comes down over the ring, to adjust the frequency. There's one filter section in the middle that might need tweeking. The IF comes out the upper left. http://home.wavecable.com/~ko6th/IMG_0130b.JPG >> >> Transmit module, with the inside shield still on. Haven't done much analysis on this yet... Where did I put that Torx? http://home.wavecable.com/~ko6th/IMG_0132b.JPG >> >> So, I turn it back to you guys... Any further thoughts? >> >> Greg KO6TH >> >> >> ---------------------------------------- >>> From: ko6th_greg(a)hotmail.com >>> To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org >>> Date: Tue, 27 May 2008 21:42:21 -0700 >>> Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: DirecWav satellite internet useful? >>> >>> >>> Hi all, >>> >>> Well, it's been saved from the dumpster, at least for now. But, I kind of don't care much about the dish itself - it's probably a bit big /heavy for my Az/El rotor setup, though it's hard to tell with the huge steel support mount still attached. I nearly wrenched my back out carrying it over to my side yard this morning. (I think the Advil is wearing off... oow) >>> >>> But, back to the pre-amp and other electronics pieces... I found a reference to the Hughes DirecWay (not wav) service on the Web. Looks like the stuff runs in the Ku Band (11-14.5 ghz, according to Wikipedia), and has a 0.5-2 watt transmitter, depending on model. Sounds like it's possibly a good bit out of band for P3E needs, and I'm not much good with microwave hacking. Am I better off taking another two pills and putting it back on the pile, or is there a reasonable chance that I can do some simple (think "Drake") modifications to get it to work? >>> >>> Greg KO6TH >>> >>> >>> ________________________________ >>>> From: w7lrd(a)comcast.net >>>> To: ko6th_greg(a)hotmail.com; kc6uqh(a)cox.net; amsat-bb(a)amsat.org >>>> Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: DirecWav satellite internet useful? >>>> Date: Tue, 27 May 2008 17:14:01 +0000 >>>> >>>> Greg- They seem to be an off center feed antenna, similar to the old primestar dish of which I have been successfully using for several years. If it's free you can't beat the price. >>>> 73 Bob W7LRD >>>> >>>> -- >>>> "if this were easy, everyone would be doing it" >>>> >>>> -------------- Original message -------------- >>>> From: "Greg D." >>>> >>>>> >>>>> Hi Art, >>>>> >>>>> The DirectWav is an Internet link - data, not TV - but good point about LO >>>>> stability being an unknown. >>>>> >>>>> But, my base question was whether any of the pieces can be used, and it sounds >>>>> like it's worth saving. Thanks! >>>>> >>>>> Greg KO6TH >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> ---------------------------------------- >>>>>> From: kc6uqh(a)cox.net >>>>>> To: ko6th_greg(a)hotmail.com; amsat-bb(a)amsat.org >>>>>> Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] DirecWav satellite internet useful? >>>>>> Date: Mon, 26 May 2008 22:20:55 -0700 >>>>>> >>>>>> Greg, >>>>>> These dishes are used on 10 GHz and lower frequencies. Designed to operate >>>>>> in Ku Band ~12 GHz they will give ~30 dBof gain. The LNB and feed can be >>>>>> used , at least the LNA section. As the intended use is television the LO is >>>>>> not stable enough for Amateur Satellite work. >>>>>> >>>>>> Art, >>>>>> KC6UQH >>>>>> ----- Original Message ----- >>>>>> From: "Greg D." >>>>>> To: >>>>>> Sent: Monday, May 26, 2008 8:23 PM >>>>>> Subject: [amsat-bb] DirecWav satellite internet useful? >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> Hi folks, >>>>>> >>>>>> My neighbor appears to be tossing their Hughes "DirecWav" satellite internet >>>>>> dish and associated dish-mounted electronics. By any stroke of luck, is >>>>>> this stuff reasonably convertable for use with any of the the proposed P3E >>>>>> up or downlinks? I have no idea what frequency it runs. It appears to have >>>>>> both transmit and receive capabilities (based on the warnings posted). >>>>>> There are no model numbers tha t I can find on the electronics. >>>>>> >>>>>> I've got my AO-40 S-band receive setup, but nothing for the higher bands. >>>>>> >>>>>> Thanks, >>>>>> >>>>>> Greg KO6TH >>>>>> _________________________________________________________________ >>>>>> >> _________________________________________________________________ >> The i'm Talkathon starts 6/24/08. For now, give amongst yourselves. >> http://www.imtalkathon.com?source=TXT_EML_WLH_LearnMore_GiveAmongst >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 >> > > > > -- > Chris N8PHU > ET1(SW) USN (Ret) > Chief transmitter Heavy SES-Americom > -- Chris N8PHU ET1(SW) USN (Ret) Chief transmitter Heavy SES-Americom

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(no subject)
by Tom Clark, K3IO 19 Jun '08

19 Jun '08

Domenico, I8CVS said > When OSCAR-10, OSCAR-13 and AO40 where alive and well we all > were assisted in solving our technical problems by some well know teachers > and radio scientists every day on this BB like James Miller G3RUH, > Charles Suckling, G3WDG and Tom Clark W3IWI now K3IO but > unfortunately they actually desappeared from this BB because they are > not anymore interested to discuss about the technical level and matters > actually seen on this BB. > > I won't speak for the others, but I am still here, reading all these discussions. I choose to be very selective in my posting of comments unless I have something positive to offer. Regarding these current discussions, I am at a loss to understand why the amateur community has become so self-centered that they cannot see that we MUST pursue programs that involve the education of new. young and enthusiastic amateurs to carry on the hobby in the future. The frequencies do not BELONG to us, they are merely entrusted to us to do good deeds for humanity. As far as I am concerned, unless we encourage projects like the Cubesats, then amateur radio est morte. I am also dismayed at the "linear vs FM" diatribes that seem to go on unabated. I was a major player in the decision for AMSAT-NA to pursue AO-51 because we needed a simple, short-term project to keep the organization alive. We solicited the contribution of a linear transponder and no one, none, zip, Nada was offered. NBFM hardware was available, so it flew. It was disappointing for me to learn that there was no one in the USA, Canada or Mexico (the "turf" of AMSAT-NA) who could tackle the building of such a simple piece of RF hardware. One piece of news on the linear transponder front that I do want to mention. This past weekend we had a small technical meeting to understand the status of Suitsat-2 -- like the first Suitsat, this will involve putting radio equipment on an out-of-warranty Russian ORLON space suit, stuffing the legs with dirty clothes, and pushing it out of the hold of the Space Station. The current plans for Suitsat-2 include a low-powered Software Defined Transponder (SDX) with 70 cm in & 2M out. The linear transponder passband will be 20-25 kHz wide. Some of you who were at Dayton may have seen some of the Suitsat/SDX hardware running on the air. The satellite demo folks (W5IU, N8MH) in the parking lot demonstrated it working to many folks. The SDX activity is being done under the auspices of the High Performance SDR (HPSDR) group which has AMSAT & TAPR sponsorship. An early version of the "Odyssey" SDX can be seen at http://hpsdr.org/wiki/index.php?title=ODYSSEY. All along, we have been hoping that we can make a version of the Odyssey SDX be small enough to fit into a Cubesat. And so Domenico, despite your statement, I'm still here! 73 de Tom, K3IO (ex W3IWI)

2 2

Re: LEO's
by John AA5JG 18 Jun '08

18 Jun '08

> >On Jun 18, 2008, at 2:46 AM, i8cvs wrote: > >> >> A 3 to 4 foot dish with a 2400/144 MHz downconverter in the focal >> point and >> connected to any old 144 MHz CW/SSB receiver mounted on the balcony >> was >> sufficient to receive a nice downlink from all over the world by >> many users Yeah, and most of us, especially new hams, just happen to have a 3 to 4 foot dish laying around. 73s John AA5JG ________________________________________________________________

4 3

Re: Eagle?
by ANTHONY JAPHA 18 Jun '08

18 Jun '08

Thanks JoAnne. I'm sure it's a great team. What's troubling is that the fullscale development effort will take a great deal of time. I had assumed, obviously incorrectly, that the development process was much further along than it appears to be. It may not be possible to project critical dates so early in the process, but the Cubs may show up in the World Series before this transponder is done--and I don't mean this year! What would be the impact on the completion date for Eagle (and the Intelsat transponder) if this ambitious piece of work was aimed instead at the following HEO? If our membership had some dates there could be an informed discussion of the options. There has been a lot of enthusiasm for a 5.6Ghz groundbreaking transponder, but its cost, in terms both of dollars AND TIME, must be considered as well. Will the development of this transponder delay our HEO beyond what is acceptable or not? As planned, can anything be produced ready to launch within 5 years? What's the outlook? 73, Tony, N2UN > [Original Message] > From: JoAnne Maenpaa <k9jkm(a)comcast.net> > To: <tjjapha(a)earthlink.net>; amsat-bb <amsat-bb(a)AMSAT.Org> > Date: 6/18/2008 7:59:52 PM > Subject: RE: [amsat-bb] Eagle? > > Hello Tony, > > > By the way, the writeup currently on the Amsat home page mentions ACP > > with a 3.4 Ghz (sic) downlink. Just a misprint? The nice Eagle flyer > > shows both up- and downlink on 5.6 Ghz. > > Perhaps these links will reveal the current system configuration: > > Summary description of the microwave utilization: > http://www.delmarnorth.com/namaste/Namaste_Overview_Microwave.pdf > > Project Namaste general information: > http://www.amsat.org/namaste (this link is also mentioned in the ACP article > on the AMSAT home page.) > > Hope this helps! > -- > 73 de JoAnne K9JKM > k9jkm(a)amsat.org > >

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Spanish cubesat
by ANTHONY JAPHA 18 Jun '08

18 Jun '08

My vote is for a linear transponder. Hope there's enough power and space for that. If there is, it would set a very nice precedent for a fair price to pay for using ham frequencies. Thanks for asking. 73, Tony, N2UN

2 1

Re: LEO's
by w7lrd＠comcast.net 18 Jun '08

18 Jun '08

Hi John and all Look around your neighborhood and I'll bet you will find an old primestar dish staring aimlessly at the sky. These can be had just for the asking. Right now I can drive over to about 5 of them. That with a 3731AA downconverter from K5GNA, and a simple 5 turn helix, you to can receive S band. 73 Bob W7LRD Seattle -- "if this were easy, everyone would be doing it" -------------- Original message -------------- From: "John AA5JG" <aa5jg(a)lcisp.com> > > > > > > >On Jun 18, 2008, at 2:46 AM, i8cvs wrote: > > > >> > >> A 3 to 4 foot dish with a 2400/144 MHz downconverter in the focal > >> point and > >> connected to any old 144 MHz CW/SSB receiver mounted on the balcony > >> was > >> sufficient to receive a nice downlink from all over the world by > >> many users > > > Yeah, and most of us, especially new hams, just happen to have a 3 to 4 foot > dish laying around. > > 73s John AA5JG > > ________________________________________________________________ > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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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An Observation.
by John W Lee 18 Jun '08

18 Jun '08

AMEN AGAIN ! My first attempts at Oscar 10 were with: Transmitter: Heathkit HW-24 FM rig, keying on CW (10 watts), 7 element vertical polarized yagi, no elevation. Receiver: Yaesu FT-221R no preamp, 12 element yagi horizontal polarized, no elevation. Many contacts made. Subsequent improvements made things better for sure. 73 John K6YK On Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:49:16 +0200 John Hackett <archie.hackett(a)hotmail.com> writes: > > An interesting post on the Amsat-BB from KC6UQH - whom stated ... > and I tend to agree ... HEO's are generally *EASIER* to work than > LEO's. > > That one needs expensive equipment to work an HEO is a myth that is > simply *NOT* true. - (try telling GM1SXX it's expensive) - it's his > pet niggle. > > Personally, I've worked the world on HEO's using an FT-290 and an > FT-790, both of which are 20 years old and purchased used on Ebay - > neither rig has bells and whistles, no automatic doppler tuning and > no computer interface. I used an El Cheapo Japanese azimuthal TV > rotor, fixed elevation and a maximum EIRP of 25 watts ... yes !!! - > E.I.R.P. > > ____________________________________________________________ Enter for Your Chance to WIN* The TotalBeauty.com Summer Spa Sweepstakes! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/JKFkuJi7Ufh173tdDllA9aiJZLRrPPB…

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JUBILEE and other frustrations
by pcalvi＠bluewin.ch 18 Jun '08

18 Jun '08

Honestly, if somebody has put a 45 kg amateur satellite into a 1,500 km plus orbit and has NOT included a transponder, then this hobby has really become a joke! What's the weight of a transponder module? And the cost? What's the problem in giving us something more like a "real" satellite? (and this is said with enormous love and affection for the old girl - which I use daily - and plenty of respect for HamSat). Yes - I am quite angry. We are kept in complete darkness as to real progress and launch opportunities for P3E - something I have repeatedly and completely uselessly complained about several times on this BB. I find this absolutely incredible. I have repeatedly said that I have the utmost respect for the work of AMSAT DL and I am quite keen to support it financially, bit I cannot see any reason for this total blackout on communication, which has been going on since the beginning of the project. I appreciate that AMSAT DL themselves must be quite uncertain, but the DO TELL US, for God's sake! Keep us informed on negotiations, progress, prospects. That fuels enthusiasm, attracts resources and somewhat cures frustration. We live on tiny bits of information - mostly speculations and rumours. How is this possible? And now, talking about frustration, somebody invest considerable resources to put a new bird in orbit and do not include a transponder? Tell me that's not true, PLEASE. 73. Piero ________________________ Piero Calvi-Parisetti MM0TWX currently also HB9DSU for music, Ham Radio and more visit http://www.chmusiq.com/ham

11 12

LEO's
by w0dxz＠aol.com 18 Jun '08

18 Jun '08

RE:? Usefullness of LEO's... I think there should always be at least one accessable LEO-FM bird... for the very reason that some (WB6LLO) think there should not be. It gets you started with satellites. If I had not gone to a hamfest and seen Patrick demo use of the FM birds, I would not now be active on not only FM birds, but? the all mode birds as well. Without the FM birds, the? imtimidation factor would have been too much, I never would have gotten started. Every hobby needs an easy entry level possibility... for many it is the LEO's, FM. When I bought my first Harley, a Sportster,,, many said oh, a beginners Harley, yeah, maybe, but I would never have? bought a motorcycle? if I had to buy a full dresser as my first bike.? And yes, my first gun was a .410, not a 12 gauge.? And I learned to snorkel before I learned to SCUBA. FM LEO's have a purpose, a use. Not everyone can? chase the other birds. Live and let live. That is the fun part of the ham radio hobbyt, there is something for everyone. There may be complaints about LEO-FM birds that are justifiable, but? the fact that you can work one with a HT is not one of those arguments. Bob W0DXZ DM33

9 10

An Observation.
by John Hackett 18 Jun '08

18 Jun '08

An interesting post on the Amsat-BB from KC6UQH - whom stated ... and I tend to agree ... HEO's are generally *EASIER* to work than LEO's. That one needs expensive equipment to work an HEO is a myth that is simply *NOT* true. - (try telling GM1SXX it's expensive) - it's his pet niggle. Personally, I've worked the world on HEO's using an FT-290 and an FT-790, both of which are 20 years old and purchased used on Ebay - neither rig has bells and whistles, no automatic doppler tuning and no computer interface. I used an El Cheapo Japanese azimuthal TV rotor, fixed elevation and a maximum EIRP of 25 watts ... yes !!! - E.I.R.P. (see "How much power is enough") <http://www.observations.biz> I have satellite QSL's from all corners of the world. (The world doesn't have corners twit, they're "round"......GM1SXX). Things like aerials, a preamp and a 5 watt PA were all home made. Despite certain schools of thought, circular polarisation is *NOT* a necessity. (A further discussion of circular polarisation can be found on the OBSERVATIONS website) - <http://www.observations.biz> Expensive to work an HEO ?? ... Gerroff !!!!. It's only expensive if you absolutely must follow the route of - Mine's bigger than yours" mentality. BTW Ib - (OZ1MY) - I agree with most of what you say but would like to point out that not everyone who would like to operate amateur satellites can afford a rig that supports auto doppler tuning if one moves to higher frequencies for LEO's as you suggest. Radio amateur satellites ought to be available to all amateurs - not just the affluent ones. As station "developement" I used the excellent ITUNE software and a homebrew interface via the push-buttons to give the rigs auto-doppler tuning for full doppler tuning at the satellite. Again - as cheap as chips - (those you have with fish). Expensive ? ... difficult ? ... Ballcocks !!!!. 73 John. <la2qaa(a)amsat.org>

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Re: Spanish cubesat
by G0MRF＠aol.com 18 Jun '08

18 Jun '08

Hi all. I've seen several posts on the BB in response to the Spanish Cubesat teams request for suggestions for communications payloads. Some have said.....A linear transponder....but you probably wont have the power for that. But. Looking at the ESA page for the cubesats, it appears our friends from Spain have a deployable solar array planned. In which case, there may be slightly more power than anticipated. "Xatcobeo (a collaboration of the University of Vigo and INTA, Spain): a mission to demonstrate software-defined radio and solar panel deployment; " 73 David

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AMSAT Awards
by Bruce 18 Jun '08

18 Jun '08

I have not posted in a month, so I have some catching up to do with the award posting. We would like to welcome the following to the satellite community. They have made their first satellite contact and are now members of the AMSAT Satellite Communicators Club. Robert Netzband, NA2H Piyumi Perera, VE4WPL Keith Cutter, KD7GOP The following have earned the AMSAT Sattelite Communications Achievement Award Dimitrios Pallis, SW1JGW #464 Rob Rousseau, KI4BKE #465 Rafael Valdez, Jr., XE2RV #466 The following have earned the AMSAT Robert Barbee, Jr., W4AMI Satellite Communication Achievement Award Rafael Valdez, Jr., XE2RV #51 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 SkyScanner Satellite Radio Network on Galaxy-25 @97° West, Transponder 23 (12115 Vert), Symbol Rate: 22425, APID: 1794 (DVB Free To Air) 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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2M1EUB/P QRV SCOTLAND 28/6/08
by paul robinson 18 Jun '08

18 Jun '08

Hi group ill be qrv once again from io87rj near aberdeen scotland from 28.06.08 for 7 days. its not an easy location for stateside but possible,if you wish to work me ,please be quick as only a small window for USA! would also be good to work some new calls from the states!! Europe window is ok! Ill be on all birds but mainly ao7 ssb .i will also be 160 and 80m as well as some hf ssb! including 6m and 4m ssb ..check out the qrz web page under 2m1eub ,theres a nice photo of the qth ,and of my dog ted.qsl is via home call 2e1eub.73 de paul amsat uk/na member --------------------------------- Sent from Yahoo! Mail. A Smarter Email.

1 0

Maderia Island on the AO-51 6/17 2121Z Pass
by Ben Jackson 18 Jun '08

18 Jun '08

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Interesting enough that I will bring this to -bb, partially to let others know, and partially to try to satisfy my own curiosity... On the 2121Z east coast pass (topping out at a whopping 5 degree elevation from my QTH) I was able to weakly copy a Maderia Island, Portugal station calling CQ North America. We were never able to trade grid squares, nor was I able to get 100% copy his call sign (I can only make out CT3?G on my recording), but we did hear each other. So, I want to let everyone on the east coast know that there are reasons to operate very low passes of AO-51, and I'm curious if anyone might know who the station might be that I heard? I'd love to try to try to set up another chance and give it another go. Also, just to show how well meager setups work: I was using FT-7800 into a mag mount for the uplink and a FT-60 with a K5OE handi-tenna for the downlink. All from my car sitting in my condo parking lot. :) - -- Ben Jackson - N1WBV - New Bedford, MA bbj <at> innismir.net - http://www.innismir.net/ -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.5 (MingW32) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iQEVAwUBSFiENgQiWVsfSvVvAQKLaAf8C3W3rlhr4Q1f5EOMoAHyPAmPKxHxtYzl /jL0l92VvGFIQPoSz74eySlZvNTRLwJ1UJ8D7+wRqpg+1U+tYKHGS4122/EJakZA My1wCdJWCs+MQgz+GXzGgTLOOnCwVUe49g/68u2Ag1AU18O32275DMIYgtwjwAXw eHyXrmo7bqRA88zZs3xoLzgSzsKpshwa4UdZba2rqadfRrpJOitq8f0LndnKQizI 3nz8RjUazG2iNm388zkaff2xmRe2mHWwRfkiGcpXR3FyiIVFgnZu8HRqbFDtoJix RHvgNVWo0JcfdPPAB1wbuioZOlCsCWrw5rZJB+r753Mn0w3DLvfFHg== =qyD/ -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: DirecWav satellite internet useful?
by Greg D. 18 Jun '08

18 Jun '08

Hi all, Well, it's been saved from the dumpster, at least for now. But, I kind of don't care much about the dish itself - it's probably a bit big /heavy for my Az/El rotor setup, though it's hard to tell with the huge steel support mount still attached. I nearly wrenched my back out carrying it over to my side yard this morning. (I think the Advil is wearing off... oow) But, back to the pre-amp and other electronics pieces... I found a reference to the Hughes DirecWay (not wav) service on the Web. Looks like the stuff runs in the Ku Band (11-14.5 ghz, according to Wikipedia), and has a 0.5-2 watt transmitter, depending on model. Sounds like it's possibly a good bit out of band for P3E needs, and I'm not much good with microwave hacking. Am I better off taking another two pills and putting it back on the pile, or is there a reasonable chance that I can do some simple (think "Drake") modifications to get it to work? Greg KO6TH ________________________________ > From: w7lrd(a)comcast.net > To: ko6th_greg(a)hotmail.com; kc6uqh(a)cox.net; amsat-bb(a)amsat.org > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: DirecWav satellite internet useful? > Date: Tue, 27 May 2008 17:14:01 +0000 > > Greg- They seem to be an off center feed antenna, similar to the old primestar dish of which I have been successfully using for several years. If it's free you can't beat the price. > 73 Bob W7LRD > > -- > "if this were easy, everyone would be doing it" > > -------------- Original message -------------- > From: "Greg D." > >> >> Hi Art, >> >> The DirectWav is an Internet link - data, not TV - but good point about LO >> stability being an unknown. >> >> But, my base question was whether any of the pieces can be used, and it sounds >> like it's worth saving. Thanks! >> >> Greg KO6TH >> >> >> ---------------------------------------- >>> From: kc6uqh(a)cox.net >>> To: ko6th_greg(a)hotmail.com; amsat-bb(a)amsat.org >>> Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] DirecWav satellite internet useful? >>> Date: Mon, 26 May 2008 22:20:55 -0700 >>> >>> Greg, >>> These dishes are used on 10 GHz and lower frequencies. Designed to operate >>> in Ku Band ~12 GHz they will give ~30 dBof gain. The LNB and feed can be >>> used , at least the LNA section. As the intended use is television the LO is >>> not stable enough for Amateur Satellite work. >>> >>> Art, >>> KC6UQH >>> ----- Original Message ----- >>> From: "Greg D." >>> To: >>> Sent: Monday, May 26, 2008 8:23 PM >>> Subject: [amsat-bb] DirecWav satellite internet useful? >>> >>> >>> >>> Hi folks, >>> >>> My neighbor appears to be tossing their Hughes "DirecWav" satellite internet >>> dish and associated dish-mounted electronics. By any stroke of luck, is >>> this stuff reasonably convertable for use with any of the the proposed P3E >>> up or downlinks? I have no idea what frequency it runs. It appears to have >>> both transmit and receive capabilities (based on the warnings posted). >>> There are no model numbers tha t I can find on the electronics. >>> >>> I've got my AO-40 S-band receive setup, but nothing for the higher bands. >>> >>> Thanks, >>> >>> Greg KO6TH >>> _________________________________________________________________ >>> E-mail for the greater good. Join the i’m Initiative from Microsoft. >>> http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/Join/Default.aspx?source=EML_WL_ GreaterGood >>> _______________________________________________ >>> 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 >>> >> >> _________________________________________________________________ >> Give to a good cause with every e-mail. Join the i’m Initiative from Microsoft. >> http://im.live.com /Messenger/IM/Join/Default.aspx?souce=EML_WL_ GoodCause >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 _________________________________________________________________ Change the world with e-mail. Join the i’m Initiative from Microsoft. http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/Join/Default.aspx?source=EML_WL_ChangeWorld

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Spanish cubesat
by rct＠uvigo.es 17 Jun '08

17 Jun '08

Dear colleagues, The Telecommunication School at Vigo University, Spain, is developing a cubesat that will be launched by ESA. It will transmit in amateur bands, and the University radioclub (EA1RCT) is collaborating in the project. The design is not yet closed and we can send proposals to the development team. The radioclub is willing to hear ideas from the amateur radio comunity: we would like to have a short list ready by next Thursday, June 26, so any proposal we receive before then will be carefully read. The satellite will be small and lightweight as you know, and it will run on a short electrical budget. Moreover, the time schedule is very tight. One of the main objectives is to test SDR systems in space (not necessarily in amateur bands). Neither the bands, power o full-duplex capability have been established. It could eventually end up with just a telemetry beacon. We would like to hear your opinions about what the amateur radio community would prefer to carry on board, in these three scenarios: · full-duplex communication capability (linear transponder, fm rep, etc) · half-duplex systems (digipeater?) · beacon modes (afsk, psk, cw) Best regards, EA1RCT RadioClub Telecomunicaciones Vigo http://lostrego.uvigo.es

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AO7 status
by John Geiger 17 Jun '08

17 Jun '08

I have been out of the satellite game for awhile, but now am back, after getting the 70cm antenna back up and a second radio to do full duplex with. What is the current status of AO7? The AMSAT page says "non-operational" but I seem to have seen some emails recently that might suggest otherwise. If it is operational, is it always in Mode B now? 73s John AA5JG (ex: W5TD, NE0P) 6M WAS #1275, 6m VUCC #1260 2m VUCC #615, Satellite VUCC #129

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Re: Spanish cubesat
by Sam KC2LRC 17 Jun '08

17 Jun '08

First off all, thank you for giving us the opportunity to toss out our ideas for the satellite! Since the power budget of the cubesat will be very limited, I feel an FM repeater is the way to go. Nihon University's SEEDS II cubesat shows that it is possible to run an FM transmitter for at least a significant time within the power budget of a single unit cubesat, and its signal is very easily received even with simple handheld 435MHz beams. At the same time SO-50, with its 250mW transmitter, shows that such a small transmitter power can still be reliably and clearly received. The FM transmitter involved in this design could be used for other purposes as well. It could be used for SSTV transmissions, AFSK telemetry, or even a digitalker. So if the satelite also has scientific payloads, the same transmitter could first be used to downlink payload data, and then could be switched to repeater mode when the experiments are complete. A BPSK transmitter could also be used but this would limit the audience - there are many hams out there, like me, who don't own all mode VHF/UHF gear. 73, Sam KC2LRC - FN13

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Satellites 101
by Tim Tuck 17 Jun '08

17 Jun '08

Hi all, I've been asked to give a "101" talk about satellites at my local radio club and before I go reinventing the wheel I was wondering if anyone has a slide deck in pdf or pps I could use ? thanks Tim -- VK2XTT :: QF56if :: BMARC :: WIA :: AMSAT =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Scanned with Copfilter Version 0.84beta3a (ProxSMTP 1.6) AntiSpam: SpamAssassin 3.2.3 AntiVirus: ClamAV 0.91.2/7484 - Mon Jun 16 06:11:46 2008 by Markus Madlener @ http://www.copfilter.org

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Re: LEO
by John W Lee 17 Jun '08

17 Jun '08

AMEN ! On Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:11:09 -0400 "Jim Danehy" <jdanehy(a)cinci.rr.com> writes: > I am perplexed why some have to be critical of another person's > interest. I am a QRQ CW operator. If you do not like CW that is OK. > I do. We will probably not work on that mode if you don't like it. I > cut my teeth on Oscar 6 and dropped out of satellites in about 1982. > I have not yet tried an FM bird. I am working to get back on LEOs > on CW. I will probably do SSB too. I hope to be on soon. > > There is a saying that if it isn't CW it is just CB. I look forward > to HEO but until then it is LEO. > > Jim W9VNE > Cincinnati, Ohio > EM 79 > _______________________________________________ > 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 > > ____________________________________________________________ Sweepstakes!!! Enter for your chance to WIN a summer spa getaway! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/JKFkuJi7UjkWoH7XEreOpxKX0rnHJmj…

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FM satellites versus linear HEOs
by OZ1MY 17 Jun '08

17 Jun '08

Hi all, I think the 14 year old radio amateur got it right :-) The are many aspects to the hobby as he points out. Some of us like one thing others want something else - but I think most of us want both linear transponders on HEO satellites and LEO satellites with FM transponders or linear transponders. As far as I can see, most large AMSAT organizations (DL and NA) are building and hope to launch HEO satellites these days. Small AMSAT organizations may still want to build and launch LEOs perhaps in cooperation with universities in their home country. I can not to see the problem. If the 2 meter band is too crowded and the same in the 70 cm band let us move to higher frequencies. These days with PC control of the transceivers it should not be a large problem to use these higher frequencies even with LEO satellites. 73 OZ1MY Ib

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LEO
by Jim Danehy 17 Jun '08

17 Jun '08

I am perplexed why some have to be critical of another person's interest. I am a QRQ CW operator. If you do not like CW that is OK. I do. We will probably not work on that mode if you don't like it. I cut my teeth on Oscar 6 and dropped out of satellites in about 1982. I have not yet tried an FM bird. I am working to get back on LEOs on CW. I will probably do SSB too. I hope to be on soon. There is a saying that if it isn't CW it is just CB. I look forward to HEO but until then it is LEO. Jim W9VNE Cincinnati, Ohio EM 79

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Re: Spanish cubesat
by Trevor 17 Jun '08

17 Jun '08

First of all my thanks to RadioClub Telecomunicaciones Vigo for inviting suggestions for an Amateur Radio payload for the Spanish cubesat. Personally I'd be keen to see a 435/145 MHz linear transponder for Amateur SSB/CW operation. Clearly the satellite power budget would present a major constraint but perhaps a 30 kHz bandwidth linear transponder running about 100 milliwatts PEP output would be feasable ? Maybe such a transponder could make use of the Software Defined Radio (SDR) system already planned for the cubesat. I wish you every success with whatever you decide to fly on the cubesat. 73 Trevor M5AKA __________________________________________________________ Sent from Yahoo! Mail. A Smarter Email http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html

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Re: Frequency Co-ordination.
by Wayne Estes 17 Jun '08

17 Jun '08

Andrew Koenig KE5GDB wrote: The FM birds are all that I have access to at the moment. I personally don't mind the fast paced callsign/grid exchange, but that doesn't seem to float some people's boat. I do just fine. My income is very limited, since being 14 years old doesn't really pay that much. I cannot afford some of these fancy all mode rigs that can even make you a cup of coffee. All I've got in my inventory is several FM UHF and VHF rigs that get me on the FM birds. Amateur Radio is a wide spectrum. There's lots of different things that can take place in different ways. Some rely on the ionosphere to get their contact, and other's rely on the pass predictions. It's not easy to float everybody's boat, but most of the time we seem to get along OK. Wayne W9AE replies: You posess wisdom FAR beyond your age. You will no doubt have a bright future, and I hope that future includes amateur satellites. 73, Wayne Estes W9AE Oakland, Oregon, USA, CN83ik

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Frequency Co-ordination.
by John Hackett 17 Jun '08

17 Jun '08

I believe this mail ought to be forwarded to *ALL* amateur radio satellite organisations. We've - (GM1SXX & LA2QAA) - said it often enough in the last 10 years but if we persist, somebody just might finally get the message. Commander John Brannegan G4IHJ made us aware of the problem in 1994 ... so far, to the best of my knowledge, it's been totally ignored. Please *DO* note the last paragraph. 73 John. <la2qaa(a)amsat.org> To: eu-amsat(a)yahoogroups.com From: allan_gm1sxx(a)hotmail.com Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:33:45 +0000 Subject: [eu-amsat] The IARU, Satellite Frequency Co-ordination and the CUBESAT Bands. Hi Folks. Having read through the material pointed to by Trevor, it seems the case that unco-ordinated satellites and the proliferation of University CUBESATs on 2M and 70Cms (the prime bands for linear transponder birds), are indeed a problem that is not being addressed, or about to be addressed, any time soon. Sure, there will be talk about addressing the problem, but that's all. As best I can understand, the IARU believes it is an issue for local (National) radio societies. With no-one 'steering the ship', as it were, it's hardly any wonder it ran aground a long time ago. Complaining to your national radio society is unlikely to carry much clout for a satellite builder at the other end of the world. In short, it's a free-for-all. It's not a new problem either, see Altruistic radio amateurs (1994) ftp://ftp.amsat.org/amsat/articles/satgen/sgen268.txt John GM4IHJ noted this growing problem 14 *years* ago, and yet nobody seems to care. Perhaps we really do get what we deserve. It's likely that AMSAT will be a forgotten organisation once the two most useful band segments we are allowed are littered with 'me-too' satellites. Can you imagine a future scenario....not too far in the future. 'Linear transponders on 2m & 70Cms?'.... don't be silly, those are the Cubesat bands :-). 73 Al. GM1SXX __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Database | Polls | Members | Calendar MARKETPLACE Blockbuster is giving away a free trial of Blockbuster Total Access to smart movie lovers like you. Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity 7 New Files Visit Your Group Real Food Group Share recipes and favorite meals w/ Real Food lovers. Dog Groups on Yahoo! Groups Share pictures & stories about dogs. Moderator Central An online resource for moderators of Yahoo! Groups. . __,_._,___

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Re: Spanish cubesat
by John Mock KD6PAG 17 Jun '08

17 Jun '08

Given that the power budget for a cubesat is unlikely to support a linear transponder in a meaningful way, an FM transponder would be nice, IF it includes a decent receiver. If the uplink is dependable but the signal weak, i think people will still use it. It won't be an 'easy sat' and folks will need a better receiving set up to use it (such as an 'Arrow' rather than some kind of omni). It should at least be a good experiment. My suggestion is to have such a transponder available once the primary mission of the cubesat is complete. Thus, like DO-64, there is likely to be a lot of interest in receiving telemetry given that folks may be able to use the satellite themselves later. Like DO-64, having a machine- independent telemetry decoder makes it possible for lots of people to participate. Best of luck to you! -- KD6PAG (Networking Old-Timer, Satellite QRPer)

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AO-51 PBBS really on?
by Alan P. Biddle 17 Jun '08

17 Jun '08

Hi, Decided to blow the dust off WISP and try the BBS. Downlink is rock solid using either WISP or TLMECHO, but I have not been able to request a directory. I have the current PECHO-11 and PECHO-12, and plenty of mode L ERP. It has been a while since I operated LS, but the uplink frequency was netted in and the TNC deviation was ~ 3Kz the last time I checked with no relevant changes. There hasn't been anybody in the queue on any of the passes. Before I break out the deviation and frequency meters, anybody operated successfully this round, and any suggestions if so? Alan WA4SCA ----------------------------------- There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture from such a trifling investment of fact. Mark Twain

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Satelite QSO's at FD
by kevin.j.smith＠comcast.net 17 Jun '08

17 Jun '08

A ham located in Somerset County in south-western PA is looking for a Field Day site that will be making satellite contacts during Field Day. My local club; the Wireless Association of South Hills (Pittsburgh) will be making satellite contacts but our location will be in eastern Washington County. If someone knows of a club making Field Day satellite contacts in Westmoreland, Fayette, Bedford or Cambria Counties; could you please contact me off list? Thanks. Kevin Smith, N3HKQ

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Re: Frequency Co-ordination.
by Trevor 17 Jun '08

17 Jun '08

--- On Mon, 16/6/08, Trevor <m5aka(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > IARU Region 1 Cavtat 08 papers > http://www.iaru-r1.org/Cavtat%20qwopaskl.htm I notice the IARU Region 1 link didn't work earlier, alternatives are: The full sets of C4(HF) and C5(VHF/Microwave) papers are being distributed by C5 chairman Michael Kastelic OE1MCU on his societies site: http://www.oevsv.at/opencms/modules/news/20080603_cavtat_iaru.html The VHF/Microwave Papers can also be found via http://www.southgatearc.org/news/may2008/cavtat_papers.htm specifically http://www.ok2kkw.com/iaru/cavtat_list_en.htm BTW is anybody having any success with the Video links quoted in the AMSAT News Bulletin - I could get them to work. 73 Trevor M5AKA __________________________________________________________ Sent from Yahoo! Mail. A Smarter Email http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html

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HO-59 HITSAT Reentry
by Armando Mercado 17 Jun '08

17 Jun '08

Hello, HO-59 HITSAT will be coming down in the next day or two. CW beacon on 437.275 is quite loud at times. HITSAT 1 29484U 06041F 08169.05480152 .02354730 30619-5 39313-3 0 4600 2 29484 098.2613 290.9733 0021824 316.3725 043.6034 16.32515448 98539 73, Armando N8IGJ

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Public Consultation on the European table of frequency allocations
by Trevor 16 Jun '08

16 Jun '08

The European Radiocommunication Office (ERO) has today (16th June) announced a public consultation on the European table of frequency allocations and utilisations in the frequency range 9 kHz to 3000 GHz, ERC Report 25 The consultation can be found in the list of ERO active consultations at http://www.ero.dk/consultation ERC Report 25 can be downloaded from http://www.ero.dk/6121184A-3C02-4C3A-A695-250B25B2F711?frames=no& Responses should be sent to Fatih Yurdal <yurdal(a)ero.dk> and the consultation closes on 16-Aug-2008. European Radiocommunications Office http://www.ero.dk/ 73 Trevor M5AKA __________________________________________________________ Sent from Yahoo! Mail. A Smarter Email http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html

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Nominations Closed
by Martha 16 Jun '08

16 Jun '08

Nominations for the 2008 AMSAT Board of Directors have closed. The list of qualified candidates is: Tom Clark K3IO, Lou McFadin W5DID, Bill Ress N6GHZ and Gould Smith WA4SXM. Three Directors' terms are up this year. Directors serve a two year term. Ballots will be in the mail by July 15th and must be received in Silver Spring no later than the close of business on September 15th. -- 73- Martha

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Oscar Satellite Status Page?
by Doug Kuitula 16 Jun '08

16 Jun '08

Hi all, Is anyone else having trouble getting into the Oscar Satellite Status Page? I haven't been able to access it for a few days. I don't have an e-mail address for KD5QGR to let him know. 73 de Doug KA8QCU

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Re: Frequency Co-ordination.
by G0MRF＠aol.com 16 Jun '08

16 Jun '08

Hi Archie. All 22 teams who were persuing the Free ESA ride to space on the Vega launcher were given a presentation on how to apply for a frequency via the IARU co-ordinating process. Thanks David In a message dated 16/06/2008 10:57:37 GMT Standard Time, archie.hackett(a)hotmail.com writes: I believe this mail ought to be forwarded to *ALL* amateur radio satellite organisations. We've - (GM1SXX & LA2QAA) - said it often enough in the last 10 years but if we persist, somebody just might finally get the message.

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DO-64 heard from 9M4CAN
by sreem karini 16 Jun '08

16 Jun '08

We heard DO-64 today but were unable to decode the telemetry downlink signal as it did not sync with the RASCAL software. Can anyone please advice. 73, Shida (9W2YMY) & Sreem (9W2VSK) __________________________________________________________ Sent from Yahoo! Mail. A Smarter Email http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html

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Satellite Papers for IARU Region 1 Cavtat 08 Conference
by Trevor 15 Jun '08

15 Jun '08

A number of Amateur Satellite related papers will be submitted to the Cavtat 08 IARU Region 1 Conference, 16th to 21st November, including: Sat Advisor Support for satellite frequency coordination 144 MHz increased satellite service 3400 MHz amateur satellite allocation Microwave spectrum requirements A new vision for 23 cm Amateur satellites handbook chapter Microwave spectrum requirements VHF spectrum requirements A link to the papers is available via: IARU-R1 Cavtat papers available http://www.southgatearc.org/news/may2008/cavtat_papers.htm 73 Trevor M5AKA __________________________________________________________ Sent from Yahoo! Mail. A Smarter Email http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html

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2.4 GHz downconverters for sale
by K & R Yoksh 15 Jun '08

15 Jun '08

Hi, I have two more S-band gear for sale. Pictures are available at the URL under each item. Contact me directly (not via the BB) at k0kn at amsat dot org. * California Amplifier brand, model # 130003, consists of a downconverter and integrated linear patch antenna. Can be mounted for either vertical or horizontal polarization. Includes screw-on set of disc director elements. 144 MHz IF (2400 MHz = 143.55 MHz). $45 + s&h http://www.qsl.net/k0kn/130003.jpg * Same as above, but with 122 MHz IF instead (2400 MHz = 122.019 MHz) $35 + s&h http://www.qsl.net/k0kn/130003.jpg These converters are capable of hearing AO-51, and can even be used as a makeshift dish feed. I worked AO-40 this way for a time! These should attach fairly easily to an Arrow type antenna for mode V/s on AO-51. I also have two Cal Amp 31732 "dead ducks" that did work at one point in the AO-40 days, but have since stopped working. Can be used for parts, a signal source, or worst case, a weatherproof enclosure with one N female connector, and two F female connectors. Paint peeling on one lid. $5 each http://www.qsl.net/k0kn/31732.jpg I had planned to follow the lead of GM1SXX, but have not yet found time to convert these ducks. See his article: "Project Duckling - or - Uses for Dead Drakes," The AMSAT Journal, May/Jun 2001, pp. 8-9. 73, Kyle Yoksh K0KN Olathe, Kansas

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Radio
by Anna Osborn 15 Jun '08

15 Jun '08

Hi folks the Icom 910H is sold . thanks ws4z Anna

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AO-51 schedule note
by Andrew Glasbrenner 15 Jun '08

15 Jun '08

There are presently two places people can look for AO-51 mode info, the graphic schedule at http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/echo/ControlTeam.php and the full text schedule at http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/echo/CTNews.php . If you'll note the graphic schedule shows no uplink to AO-51 on the 21st. This is only partially correct. On 6/21 we will be running AO-51 with an alternate uplink for the ARRL Kid's Day event, and QSOs should be limited to Kid's Day activities. This is posted in the text schedule, but there is no way to post that important information in the graphic schedule. The intent here is to keep the repeater free and clear for the Kid's Day participants, and showing the uplink as off is the only way to do that in the current graphic schedule design. If you see this type of entry in the future, please head over to the text schedule at http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/echo/CTNews.php to get the full story. The mode change today was moved up ~12 hours simply because I want to have dinner with my gravely ill father on Father's Day, and the other command stations are not available. Again, I apologize if this has caused anyone any inconvenience. Don't shoot me for trying to keep the users informed please. 73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Ops

4 3

AO-51 mode change early
by Andrew Glasbrenner 15 Jun '08

15 Jun '08

Due to command station availability, the mode change scheduled for AO-51 this evening was moved up to this morning. Sorry if this causes any inconvenience. 73, Drew KO4MA

1 0

(no subject)
by Nick Pugh 15 Jun '08

15 Jun '08

Hi JoAnne Is amsat-bb down? nick

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FO-29 Schedule June
by Mineo Wakita 15 Jun '08

15 Jun '08

June UTC 14 2:13 - 15 1:18 - 16 none 17 1:15 - 18 2:03 - 19 2:55 - 20 2:00 - 21 2:50 - 22 1:55 - 23 none 24 1:50 - 25 2:40 - 26 1:45 - 27 2:35 - 28 1:40 - 29 2:31 - 30 none July UTC 1 2:25 - 2 1:30 - de JE9PEL, Mineo Wakita

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ANS-166 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by JoAnne Maenpaa 14 Jun '08

14 Jun '08

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-166 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 ************************************************************** *** 2008 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting *** *** October 24-26 in Atlanta, Georgia *** ************************************************************** In this edition: * 2008 AMSAT North America Space Symposium * New AMSAT Videos available * PreSat and NanoSail-D CubeSats Launch on June 23 * AO-51 Operating Mode Announcement for Field Day * CUTE-1.7 + APD-II Satellite Camera Activated * AO-16 Operations Update * ARISS Status Report for the Week of June 9, 2008 SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-166.01 2008 AMSAT North America Space Symposium AMSAT News Service Bulletin 166.01 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 15, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-166.01 2008 AMSAT North America Space Symposium 24-26 October 2008, Atlanta, Georgia Call for Papers: This is the first call for papers for the 2008 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting to be held October 24-26, 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia. Proposals for papers, symposium presentations, and poster presentations are invited on any topic of interest to the amateur satellite program. An emphasis for this year is an educational outreach to middle and high school students. Another topic if interest is using amateur satellite tracking systems to monitor deep space network objects. In particular, papers on the following topics are solicited: + Students & Education + ARISS + AO-51 + P3E + Eagle + Deep Space Network monitoring + Any additional satellite-related topics. We request a one-page abstract as soon as possible. Camera ready copy on paper or in electronic form will be due by September 1, 2008 for inclusion in the printed symposium proceedings. Papers received after this date may not be included in the printed proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be sent to n8fgv(a)amsat.org [ANS thanks Robin, AA4RC and the 2008 Symposium Committee for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-166.02 New AMSAT Videos available AMSAT News Service Bulletin 166.02 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 15, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-166.02 We recorded videos of an AO-51 pass and of all the AMSAT Forum presentations at Dayton 2008. You can find out the latest on the current satellite projects, AO-51, AO-16, AMSAT Operations, ARISS and the ACP satellite and ground station progress. Barry, WD4ASW moderated the Forum. Thanks to Steve Belter, N9IP for doing the recordings and Mike Young, WB8CXO for the video equipment and converting the tapes to this format. Thanks to Gunther and Rob Meisse for hosting the videos at the WMFD site. The following videos are clickable if you have Windows Media Player (or equivalent) installed on your computer. The URLs can also be pasted into other compatible viewers. Operating AO-51 Video Keith, W5IU doing the demonstration during Dayton 2008 mms://media.wmfd.com/amsat/W5IU_AO51_Dayton_Demo.wmv Videos of 2008 AMSAT Forum at Dayton Rick, W2GPS AMSAT, P3E, Eagle, SuitSat-2 Update mms://media.wmfd.com/amsat/W2GPS_2008_forum.wmv Gould, WA4SXM Operations and AO-51 UpdateN2MJI mms://media.wmfd.com/amsat/WA4SXM_2008_forum.wmv Mark, N8MH AO-16 Update mms://media.wmfd.com/amsat/N8MH_2008_forum.wmv Michelle, W5NYV ACP Ground Unit mms://media.wmfd.com/amsat/W5NYV_2008_forum.wmv Matt, N2MJI ACP Satellite Unit mms://media.wmfd.com/amsat/W2GPS_2008_forum.wmv Tony, VK5ZAI ARISS Update mms://media.wmfd.com/amsat/VK5ZAI_2008_forum.wmv [ANS thanks Gould, WA4SXM for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-166.03 PreSat and NanoSail-D CubeSats Launch on June 23 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 166.03 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 15, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-166.03 Santa Clara University students invite amateur radio operators worldwide to participate with them by receiving beacon signals from PreSat and NanoSail-D, two pioneering cubesat missions that will launch from the Reagan Test Site (Omelek Island, Kwajalein Atoll, Republic of Marshall Islands) on June 23, 2008 at about 7:00 pm PDT. Both spacecraft will go into Low Earth Orbit as secondary payloads aboard a SpaceX Falcon-1 launch vehicle into a 685x330 km, 9 degree inclination orbit. PreSat is a 10 x 10 x 30 cm. spacecraft, operating at 437.318 MHz FM, will send an AX.25 packet every 5 seconds. The mission will evaluate the performance of a generic biofluidic sample management and handling system for future advanced in situ spaceborne biology experiments. NanoSail-D is a 10 x 10x 30 cm. spacecraft, operating at 437.269 MHz FM, sending an AX.25 packet every 10 seconds, will deploy a solar sail that also will be used as a drag sail to demonstrate orbital debris mitigation technology. Amateur radio operators are encouraged to submit received beacon packets through the mission websites in order to receive a web-based QSL card: PreSat - http://www.presat.org NanoSail-D - http://www.nanosaild.org [ANS thanks Mike Miller, KE7EGC for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-166.04 AO-51 Operating Mode Announcement for Field Day AMSAT News Service Bulletin 166.04 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 15, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-166.04 The AO-51 Operations Team says that during the week of June 22 to June 29 the satellite will be in the Field Day configuaration. The early start to the Field Day configuration will allow you to test your station prior to the event. Field Day is June 27 and 28. Please be courteous and remember both AMSAT and ARRL rules only allow ONE QSO per repeater during the contest. FM Repeater, V/U Uplink: 145.920 MHz FM, NO PL Tone Downlink: 435.300 MHz FM FM Repeater, L/U Uplink: 1268.700 MHz FM, NO PL Tone Downlink: 435.150 MHz FM All the details of AMSAT Field Day operation can be found on-line at: http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/awards/amsatfd.php. Refer to the ARRL Web Page for general Field Day operations. [ANS thanks Drew, KO4MA and the AO-51 Operations Team for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-166.05 CUTE-1.7 + APD-II Satellite Camera Activated AMSAT News Service Bulletin 166.05 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 15, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-166.05 Earth photos taken by the CUTE-1.7 + APD-II camera were successfully received at the ground station. See: http://lss.mes.titech.ac.jp/ssp/cute1.7/blog/080601_Picture_180degRotated.jp g JA1GDE created a diagram showing the area captured in the photograph: http://lss.mes.titech.ac.jp/ssp/cute1.7/blog/080601_Picture_JA1GDE.jpg Additional photos from the satellite camera can be seen at: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/cut17apd.htm#bottom [ANS thanks Mineo, JE9PEL for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-166.06 AO-16 Operations Update AMSAT News Service Bulletin 166.06 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 15, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-166.06 Drew KO4MA, AMSAT-NA Vice-President of Operations gave an update of AO-16's on-going malfunctions and troubleshooting. Drew reported, "AO-16 continues to spontaneously shut off. We suspect it is a watchdog timer that is malfunctioning, and that it is tempera- ture related." The resets on the satellite began shortly after AO-16 re-entered periods of eclipses after a long period of full sun. Mark, N8MH, and Drew have, at various times, re-commanded the bird on. It will stay on for anywhere from just a few seconds to a few minutes. They also experimented with doing the reset operation automatically, with not much success. Drew summarizes, "The current plan is to wait a little bit until the eclipses start getting shorter, the overall temperature of the satellite rises some, and see if the frequency of the resets goes down enough to make some sort of day-to-day operation feasible again." [ANS thanks Drew, KO4MA for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-166.07 ARISS Status Report for the Week of June 9, 2008 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 166.07 >From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. June 15, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-166.07 1. School Contact Status Planning continues for ARISS contacts; however, the level of school contacts will drop temporarily due to crew time constraints. On Friday, June 6, a successful ARISS contact took place between Kursk State University in Russia and cosmonauts Sergei Volkov, RU3DIS, and Oleg Kononenko, RN3DX, aboard the ISS. Over three hundred students attended the event. 2. ARRL Article on STS-124 The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) posted a story to its Web site on the STS-124 mission. The article covers ISS flight engineer Greg Chamitoff, KD5PKZ, and mission specialist Akihiko Hoshide, KE5DNI, who flew to the ISS on shuttle Discovery. It also includes information on the new JAXA Kibo laboratory. "Hams Head into Space" may be found at: http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/06/03/10139/?nc=1 The article was also published in the ARRL Letter. See: http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/08/0606/ 3. ARISS-Europe Posts DRS Article An ARISS contact took place with Delta Researcher Schools (DRS) on Friday, May 23 at Space Expo, Noordwijk, the Netherlands. ARISS-Europe has posted a summary of the contact with photos on its Web site. See: http://www.ariss-eu.org/2008_06_06.htm [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, JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM K9JKM at amsat dot org

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Re: Spanish cubesat
by Dave Guimont 14 Jun '08

14 Jun '08

> >· full-duplex communication capability (linear transponder, fm rep, etc) >· half-duplex systems (digipeater?) >· beacon modes (afsk, psk, cw) FULL DUPLEX LINEAR!!! Thank you for asking.... 73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1(a)san.rr.com Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E...

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F.S. address
by Anna Osborn 14 Jun '08

14 Jun '08

F.S. address ws4z E-Mail ws4z1(a)yahoo.com

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F.S.
by Anna Osborn 14 Jun '08

14 Jun '08

F.S. Icom 910 H used 2 hrs , no scratches, non smoker, Manual, orig. box , 1 ut106 (DSP Unit) no 1200 mhz installed. $925.00 1 45 amp switching power supply (MFJ) $125 If bought together $1025 Postal Money Order please. Anna C. Osborn ws4z Amsat NA 1298A Ph. 352-793-3439

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AO-7 portable.
by John Hackett 14 Jun '08

14 Jun '08

OBSERVATIONS FROM NORWAY. June 2008. THE LA2QAA PORTABLE AO-7 STATION. The portable station comprises the following items of equipment. FT-290RII receiver. 0.4dB preamp Headphones. FT-790 700mW transmitter + mic Homebrew 10w amplifier Homebrew keyer and paddle 5 amp gel battery Assorted cables Split boom Arrow aerial - (diplexer removed) Lightweight collapsable tripod camera Shopping trolley/back-pack - (with handle & wheels) Noka phone with SATme tracking software. Bluetooth GPS - (position) Orienteering compass Creative Zen MP3 recorder Everything packs down into the shopping trolley and takes approximately 5 minutes to set up. There are several photos included in this short article. The rigs are self explanitory, they are light and easy to operate with gloves on in the winter months. The aerial is the split boom Arrow with 7 elements on 70cm and 3 elements on 2m. Remember, this is a QRP station for a QRP satellite so you don't want to be lugging around too much aluminium. The lighweight collapsable camera tripod is very handy for mounting the aerial for when your arms get tired from waving your pointy stick at the sky. The Nokia phone is essential since it has the SATme tracking program installed. Remember to update the keps before you hit the road. The Holux Bluetooth GPS receiver is self explanitory. If you move a fair distance from a previously set operating position you'll want to know where you are and the GPS will tell you - as well as give you the precise time for your tracking program. The electronic keyer is built into a small spice box. Note the paddles ... they're *RIPPED* out of a standard joystick and perform exellently ... OK, not 'Bencher' standard but almost !!. A boom mic attached to your headset, with a VOX could be an advantage too. The attenuator is a small homebrew -10dB item for the RA30H4047M 'brick' amplifier which is built into an aluminium lunchbox with forced air cooling from a small computer fan - 'heavy' heatsink material was deemed to be too clumsy for portable operation. The PA runs at 10w output to keep it in the 'official' QRP limit. The 5 amp battery is a gel type so it doesn't matter if it rolls over in your backpack/trolley. Needless to say, it's a geat advantage when operating portable to use headphones. The signals *WILL* be weaker than those from the average base station so I would appreciated if people also try to work the weak ones as well as the exotic DX. Remember, Frei Island is IOTA-EU-36 and anyone working me portable will receive a special AO-7 anniversay QSL card on request. Frei is surrounded by mountains except to my north so being portable is a definate advantage when the bird is coming up from my south. 73 John. <la2qaa(a)amsat.org>

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Mode S Antenna quest
by Ronald Nutter 14 Jun '08

14 Jun '08

I have been experimenting with different Mode S antennas for portable/mobile use. My latest test was with a Luxul flat panel antenna (http://www.wisp-router.com/wri/itemdesc.asp?ic=CPFP%2D24%2D11&eq=&Tp=). This one was a disappointment in this application. I went back to the K5GNA reflector. The problem is that it doesnt lend itself to packing into the Pelican 1490 briefcase that I keep my satellite demo kit in. Has anyone tried any of the "flat panel" type of antenna with good success ? Thanks, Ron KA4KYI

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Skeds ... not skids.
by John Hackett 14 Jun '08

14 Jun '08

Hello Al, The only 'sure' thing seems to be the weekend skeds with Kamchatskaya ... of this I am proud ("chuffed" to you) because it shows that QRP can and does get through in less than optimun conditions (see the low propagation index) on AO-7 ... mind you, more than 5 stations at the same time and the old girl starts throwing a wobbler ... (for those unfamiliar with "Manchester" slang - it means FM'ing ... ie, AO-7 can only sustain 5 QSO's simulataniously, any more and she starts "complaining". For the experienced operators ... please explain to your newcomer friends why AO-7 is a QRP satellite and why the power budget is as it is ... and give a friendly nod to those using too much power. If you !!! had 32 years of spacedust on your !!! panels - you'd probably be feeling a bit under the weather too. As GM1SXX is wont to say ... aluminium is cheap ... improve your receiving capabilities. 73 John. <la2qaa(a)amsat.org>

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News Release: Satellite Launch
by Michael L Miller 13 Jun '08

13 Jun '08

Please put the following on the bb and on the ANS. PreSat and NanoSail-D Beacon Alerts Santa Clara University students invite amateur radio operators worldwide to participate with them by receiving beacon signals from PreSat and NanoSail-D, two pioneering cubesat missions that will launch from the Reagan Test Site (Omelek Island, Kwajalein Atoll, Republic of Marshall Islands) on June 23, 2008 at about 7:00 pm PDT. Both spacecraft will go into Low Earth Orbit as secondary payloads aboard a SpaceX Falcon-1 launch vehicle. The vehicles will be launched into a 685x330 km, 9 degree orbit, with line of site communications only possible at low latitudes. PreSat is a 10 x 10 x 30 cm. spacecraft, that will evaluate the performance of a generic biofluidic sample management and handling system for future advanced in situ spaceborne biology experiments. NanoSail-D is a 10 x 10 x 30 cm. spacecraft, which will deploy a solar sail that also will be used as a drag sail to demonstrate orbital debris mitigation technology. These missions follow the earlier efforts of Santa Clara U. students in launching Genesat 1, in 2006. Of particular interest to the amateur radio satellite community are the PreSat and NanoSail-D beacons. The PreSat beacon will operate at 437.318 MHz FM, sending an AX.25 packet every 5 seconds; the packet contains data about the spacecraft systems operation. The NanoSail-D beacon will operate at 437.269 MHz FM, sending an AX.25 packet every 10 seconds; the packet contains data about the spacecraft systems operation. The beacons will initiate transmission as soon as each spacecraft is deployed from their separate carriers, which are attached to a Ride Share Adapter. Amateur radio operators are encouraged to submit received beacon packets through the mission websites in order to receive a web-based QSL card. The PreSat mission website at www.presat.org; the NanoSail-D mission website is at www.nanosaild.org. These sites provide general mission and spacecraft information, instructions on how to contact the Santa Clara University PreSat and NanoSail-D Mission Operations teams, and the latest orbit datam beacon packet format, and other information needed to work the beacons. 73, Mike Miller KE7EGC

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Yubileiny Rs30 tlm
by andy thomas 13 Jun '08

13 Jun '08

+/- 1510u NB and in footprint of Korolev control centre: mrxa2 mrxb2 rs30 us161 ibs12 usun0 isun0 itxa0 itxb6 ttxa65 ttxb66 tnap80 tab66 msep0 mcon53 sma115 smb69 mrxa2 mrxb2 rs30 us161 ibs12 usun1 isun0 itxa0 itxb6 ttxa65 ttxb66 tnap80 73 de G0SFJ __________________________________________________________ Sent from Yahoo! Mail. A Smarter Email http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html

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AAUSat Telemetry
by Mike Rupprecht 13 Jun '08

13 Jun '08

Hi, according this received telemetry (May 12, 2008 at 2245 UTC) restarted AAUsat during the pass (-> uplink time). | | EPS | | COM | | Uptime | Bat | I_Bat | Temp1 Temp2 | LastRSSI | HAM Sponsor | -------- | -----+------- | ------------- | ----------- | ----------------------------------+ 17460s | 8.3 | -87.10 | 47.39 45.55 | -172.0dBm | ------ Den Obelske Familiefond | 17490s | 8.3 | -70.97 | 47.00 45.55 | -172.0dBm | ------ Irfan Kuwetli | 17520s | 8.3 | -64.52 | 47.00 45.16 | -172.0dBm | ------ Grundfos | 0s | 0.0 | 0 | 0 0 | -172.0dBm | ------ Knud Højgaards Fond | 30s | 8.4 | -38.71 | 43.87 43.20 | -172.0dBm | ------ Joost Elstak | 60s | 8.4 | -119.35 | 44.26 43.59 | -172.0dBm | ------ Grundfos ! | 90s | 8.4 | -125.81 | 45.05 43.98 | -172.0dBm | ------ Karl Kaas Laursen | 120s | 8.4 | -122.58 | 45.44 44.37 | -172.0dBm | ------ Texas Instruments | 180s | 8.4 | -74.19 | 46.22 44.76 | -172.0dBm | ------ CTIF | 210s | 8.4 | -74.19 | 46.61 45.55 | -172.0dBm | ------ Peter Kai Jensen | 73, Mike DK3WN

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nifty experiment on ISS
by Nate Duehr 13 Jun '08

13 Jun '08

Well, I thought it was nifty, anyway... http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/nu-trt061008.php Nate WY0X

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Cute-1.7+APD II heard over Banting, MALAYSIA
by Yushida Mohd Yunus 13 Jun '08

13 Jun '08

June 13, 2008, AOS: 01:41 UTC LOS: 01:52 UTC CW 437.275 cute 87 cb ae aa 38 27 24 69 70 3b 17 cute 87 cb ad ab 38 29 63 37 .. .. 17 cute 87 cc ae a9 38 27 24 69 63 36 17 cute 87 cb .. ac 38 27 24 69 69 36 17 cute 87 cc ae b0 38 28 25 69 6a 3c 17 cute 87 cb ad bs 38 28 25 .. .. 3b 17 cute 88 cc ae b5 38 28 hy-gain 2x15 beam, no pre-amp Kenwood TS2000 73, Sreem, 9W2VSK & Shida, 9W2YMY

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SEEDS June 12th: CW and Digitalker + SSTV
by Henk, PA3GUO 12 Jun '08

12 Jun '08

Today SEEDS had both CW, and digitalker on. Actually the digitalker had the 'secret' code spoken, which, according to their WEB site, will enable you to receive the special digitalker QSL. So I did submit, let's see if I get it. Same holds for SSTV, so I submitted the received picture, which was transmitted in the same pass, inbetween the spoken messages. Reception was done during lunch, at around 5 degrees elevation, still good quality. Just now (in the evening) writing this email, after I monitored the 437.485 CW downlink. Also was fine. Would be nice if they would also be able to upload in the SSTV picture 'secret' messages. Not sure if it can be programmed still, or is fixed in the satellite. Henk, PA3GUO

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OT - Weather sats
by Ed Tump 12 Jun '08

12 Jun '08

Folks, Any idea on what kind of TX power is being used for the weather satellites? Thanks. 73, Ed KC9GWK Grid EN52 AmSat Member

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OT - Weather satellite antennas
by Ed Tump 12 Jun '08

12 Jun '08

Folks, Thanks for the response on power. Now I wonder if my Arrow satellite antenna will work for these weather satellites or my AL800 HT antenna. Any ideas? Thanks. 73, Ed KC9GWK Grid EN52 AmSat Member

3 2

ribbon cable in LVB Tracker
by Ollie Eisman 12 Jun '08

12 Jun '08

Hi, I am looking for a source for multi-color ribbon cable that is used to connect the LCD to the PCB header in the latest LVB Tracker box. Any suggestions on what to use and where to find it? 73, Ollie AJ1O

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CUTE-1.7+APDII Earth Picture analysis
by Mineo Wakita 12 Jun '08

12 Jun '08

CUTE-1.7+APDII camera Earth Picture was analyzed by the grand station as follows. First, rotate the picture by 180degrees. Can you see land in the left side of the picture? http://lss.mes.titech.ac.jp/ssp/cute1.7/blog/080601_Picture_180degRotated.j… Using the Google Earth and see Japan from the position of Cute-1.7 then trim the image by 50degrees. Coastlines are identical. http://lss.mes.titech.ac.jp/ssp/cute1.7/blog/080601_Picture_GoogleEarth_Jap… To clearly compare them, look at the picture below. In the picture, parts of coastlines are accentuated. Also, shapes of clouds looks the same. http://lss.mes.titech.ac.jp/ssp/cute1.7/blog/080601_Picture_Comparison.jpg JA1GDE/Mr.Kasei gives us the following picture which clearly shows what was in the picture. We'd like to say thank you for Mr.Kasei. http://lss.mes.titech.ac.jp/ssp/cute1.7/blog/080601_Picture_JA1GDE.jpg See more: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/cut17apd.htm#bottom

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Delfi-C3 report
by Stefan Wagener 12 Jun '08

12 Jun '08

My recent observations: The satellite is still experiencing abrupt termination of telemetry transmission. During ascending passes telemetry is transmitted once satellite comes out of eclipse. Initial signal sometimes rough and 500Hz-1Khz above nominal frequency. Rapid warming will bring signal frequency down to +450 Hz. Sometimes satellite telemetry starts repeatedly after 30 to 40 packets, other times it runs for 100 to 300 packets before abruptly stopping. Will wait for the Delfi-C3 team to report on their attempts on working this one out. However, the satellite is working and active. Stefan, VE4NSA

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Re: CUTE-1.7+APDII camera Earth Picture
by Mineo Wakita 12 Jun '08

12 Jun '08

The grand station says as follows: The CMOS camera like Mobile device is carried in Cute-1.7 + APD II. A picture is acquired by controlling from PDA which is OBC. Furthermore JPEG conversion is performed inside PDA. And the file size is compressed, and the downlink is carried out on the ground station using FM packet with a U-band. When a camera turned to the direction of the earth, a photograph was set up and taken so that a shutter might be cut. However, since this function worked normally, it is still under examination whether it is that the earth was reflected. Cute-1.7 + APD II took four photographs by the present and carried out the downlink of the thumbnail (64*48 pixels) about these all. The photograph of the full-size picture (640*480 pixels) which the earth is reflected finely and the downlink has completed is only what was exhibited on my website the other day.

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Cute received 0820utc (CW), no packet
by Henk, PA3GUO 12 Jun '08

12 Jun '08

June 12, 2008, 08:20 utc CW 437.275 .... ........s52623615a3817 cute 87ccaeb9382624615d4017 cute 87cbadb8382723625b4817 cute 87cbaeb3382624625f4617 cute 87cbadb5382624635a4417 cute 87cbadb1382624635f4c17 ... Report send to the CUTE team as well. No packet activity heared at 437.475. Henk, PA3GUO

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Cubesats 2008/06/12
by David 11 Jun '08

11 Jun '08

Hello All, Just listened to the latest pass at 0030-0040 UTC CUTE1.7 not heard on 437.275 CW or anything on 437.475 either. DO-64 / Delfi-c3 not heard. SEEDS - digitalker/sstv mode (so my 70cm setup is still working ok.) 73 de David VK5DG

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Re: French QRM on the uplink of AO-51
by Henk, PA3GUO 11 Jun '08

11 Jun '08

Hi Ib ! In case you can derive from the accent that it was the North part of France, your French is not that bad at all :-) (wasnt it Marocco or did you look at the footprint ?) Henk, PA3GUO > At the pass with AOS at 1837 UTC here > in Copenhagen there was a VERY strong > QRM from the North of France. > My French is too bad to understand it :-)

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Cute CW June 11, 20:40utc
by Henk, PA3GUO 11 Jun '08

11 Jun '08

June 11, 2008, 20:40 utc cute 87cbaa9538272374533b17 hi hi de jq1ytc digi off .... ...................... .. .. .. ...... .... ... .... ..cba99a3826237a633a17 hi hi de jq1ytc digi off cute 87ccae923826237b633917 hi hi de jq1ytc digi off cute 87ccad923826237d553717 hi hi de jq1ytc digi off cute 87cca9973825227c673217 hi hi de jq1ytc digi off cute 87cca9993825237c5d.... hi hi de jq1ytc digi off cute 87ccaa973825 437.275 MHZ, CW, 2x8 elements beam, no pre-amp Kenwood TS2000 Henk, PA3GUO

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Satellite Demonstrations at Ham-Com 13-14 June 2008
by Keith D. Pugh 11 Jun '08

11 Jun '08

We will attempt to work/listen to as many of the passes below as possible within the constraints of weather, manpower, etc. The callsign will be W5IU and the times listed are in CDT. Ham-Com 2008 Plano, Texas Potential Satellite Demos WinAos QTH: -96.7/33.1 T#: 11121 Sat.: 7 [Standard] ---------------------------------------------------------- Day Object AOS (L) LOS Period maxEl AZ ---------------------------------------------------------- 13.06.2008 AO-07 08:38 08:59 21 45 024 - 179 13.06.2008 AO-51 09:23 09:36 13 41 003 - 210 13.06.2008 AO-07 10:31 10:51 20 35 005 - 226 13.06.2008 VO-52 12:09 12:21 12 38 002 - 209 13.06.2008 ISS 12:42 12:51 09 33 242 - 041 13.06.2008 SO-50 12:54 13:08 14 50 195 - 034 13.06.2008 AO-27 15:13 15:27 14 36 145 - 357 13.06.2008 RS-30 15:50 16:12 22 53 168 - 012 13.06.2008 AO-27 16:53 17:06 13 21 201 - 331 13.06.2008 RS-30 17:47 18:08 21 28 220 - 356 WinAos QTH: -96.7/33.1 T#: 11122 Sat.: 7 [Standard] ---------------------------------------------------------- Day Object AOS (L) LOS Period maxEl AZ ---------------------------------------------------------- 14.06.2008 AO-51 08:44 08:57 13 71 015 - 189 14.06.2008 AO-07 09:31 09:52 21 84 015 - 201 14.06.2008 AO-51 10:24 10:33 09 09 341 - 246 14.06.2008 VO-52 10:52 11:03 11 21 031 - 166 14.06.2008 AO-07 11:25 11:42 17 16 358 - 251 14.06.2008 ISS 11:29 11:38 09 46 214 - 051 14.06.2008 SO-50 11:44 11:55 11 13 161 - 051 14.06.2008 VO-52 12:28 12:39 11 23 354 - 220 14.06.2008 ISS 13:05 13:12 07 12 270 - 029 14.06.2008 SO-50 13:23 13:37 14 53 219 - 025 14.06.2008 AO-27 14:45 14:58 13 20 129 - 005 14.06.2008 RS-30 15:02 15:21 19 27 148 - 020 14.06.2008 AO-27 16:24 16:38 14 41 184 - 339 14.06.2008 RS-30 16:57 17:19 22 54 200 - 002 Lat: N 33.0550 deg Long: W 96.6821 deg Elev: 211.8 meters Grid: EM13pb See you on the "Birds!" 73 - Keith, W5IU

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French QRM on the uplink of AO-51
by OZ1MY 11 Jun '08

11 Jun '08

Hi, At the pass with AOS at 1837 UTC here in Copenhagen there was a VERY strong QRM from the North of France. My French is too bad to understand it :-) The uplink frequency is 145.880 MHz now with AO-51 in Mode-V/S. Hope someone can stop it. 73 OZ1MY Ib

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ESA CubeSats website
by Mineo Wakita 11 Jun '08

11 Jun '08

http://www.esa.int/esaED/SEM2BPUG3HF_index_0.html 1. SwissCube (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland): http://www.epfl.ch/ http://swisscube.epfl.ch/ 2. Xatcobeo (a collaboration of the University of Vigo and INTA, Spain): http://www.uvigo.es/indice/index.gl.htm 3. UNICubeSAT (University of Rome, Italy): http://www.uniroma1.it/ http://www.mat.uniroma2.it/english/main.html 4. Robusta (University of Montpellier 2, France): http://www.univ-montp2.fr/ http://robusta.ies.univ-montp2.fr/ 5. AtmoCube (University of Trieste, Italy): http://www.univ.trieste.it/ http://www2.units.it/~atmocube/ 6. e-st@r (Politecnico di Torino, Italy): http://www.polito.it/ 7. OUFTI-1 (University of Liege, Belgium): http://www.ulg.ac.be/cms/c_5000/accueil/ http://www.leodium.ulg.ac.be/cmsms/ 8. Goliat (University of Bucharest, Romania): http://www.unibuc.ro/en/home/ 9. PW-Sat (Warsaw University of Technology, Poland): http://www.iem.pw.edu.pl/Eindex.html 10. UWE-3 (University of Wuerzburg, Germany): http://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/home/ 11. HiNCube (Narvik University College, Norway): http://www.hin.no/index.php?ID=1717/

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Hamcon in Dallas
by K5GNA＠aol.com 11 Jun '08

11 Jun '08

To All: I will be in Dallas at Hamcon with an inside table on Friday, June 13 and Saturday, June 14 and will have some downconverter packages, downconverters and signal sources with me. I am fully stocked with downconverters and shipping in less than 3 days after receipt of order. _www.k5gna.com_ (http://www.k5gna.com) TNX & 73, Bob K5GNA **************Vote for your city's best dining and nightlife. City's Best 2008. (http://citysbest.aol.com?ncid=aolacg00050000000102)

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Cute over Europe (11:10utc)
by Henk, PA3GUO 11 Jun '08

11 Jun '08

June 11, 11:10utc cute 87ccadad382724526336f7 hihi de jq1ytc digi off cute 87ccadb2382824536a3af7 hihi de jq1ytc digi off And indeed I did not hear the packet downlink Henk, PA3GUO

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D-STAR experiment on Cubesat
by gi pi 11 Jun '08

11 Jun '08

from OUFTI-1 website : >> The key, innovative feature of OUFTI-1 is the use of the D-STAR amateur-radio >>digital-communication protocol. This means of radio-communication will be used for control and >> telemetry, and will of course be made available to ham-radio operators worldwide. In the future, it will also be used to control space experiments. >> more info on: http://www.leodium.ulg.ac.be/cmsms/ my questions are: what do you think about this experiment? and, is it possible to use this digital protocoll on a satellite (cubesat) ? 73 de Giulio AB2VY ___________________________________ Scopri il Blog di Yahoo! Mail: trucchi, novità, consigli... e la tua opinione! http://www.ymailblogit.com/blog/

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Cute-1.7 APD heard from 9M4CAN, Banting, Malaysia
by Yushida Mohd Yunus 10 Jun '08

10 Jun '08

New Cute banner heard from 9M4CAN this morning. AOS: 01:41 UTC LOS: 01:52 UTC MAX EL: 11 deg. cute 87cbab95392825546437f7 hihi de jq1ytc digion cute 87 ......................9328637f7 hihi de jq1ytc digion cute 87cb...........92825566536f7 hihi de jq1ytc digion cute 86ccadreø39282557612ff7 hihi de jq1ytc digion cute 87cbadesi392925576634f7 hihi de jq1ytc digion cute 87cbaea4392925576a3....7 hihi de jq1ytc digion 9W2YMY & 9W2VSK

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Uni_Trac2003
by Gerry 10 Jun '08

10 Jun '08

Having a problem setting up V/S mode for AO-51 on my Uni_Trac system. Could someone share their Satellite Data base file used for this mode with me . please reply off list to ve4gtb(a)mts.net 73 Gerry VE4GTB / KD7MDB

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Yaesu G-5400B az/el rotor for sal
by Bill Bruno 10 Jun '08

10 Jun '08

I have a buyer for the rotor, Thanks for all the replies Bill

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SATPC32 Updated version
by Alan P. Biddle 10 Jun '08

10 Jun '08

Hi, There is what appears to be an updated version of 12.8 available. It is still listed as 12.8, but the SETUP program is dated 9 Jun 08. After backing everything up, I installed this version, and then restored my SQF and other configuration files. The only issues I had noticed previously were with the available maps, and SuM. Both are now working correctly, and nothing new seems to be broken. Note that unlike past upgrades, the installation program detected the previous version and required me to uninstall it first. Perhaps the new installer? So be certain to keep copies of the configuration files. Alan WA4SCA ----------------------------------- There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture from such a trifling investment of fact. Mark Twain

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Cute 1k2 packet period = 16 seconds
by Henk, PA3GUO 10 Jun '08

10 Jun '08

... exactly every 16.0 seconds a new packet Henk, PA3GUO http://www.qsl.net/pa3guo

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Cute packet 437.475
by Henk, PA3GUO 10 Jun '08

10 Jun '08

Cute-1.7 437.475 FM 1k2 Packet June 10, 20:15 utc !S 20:16:09 !JQ1YTC>JQ1YCZ: !S 20:16:25 !JQ1YTC>JQ1YCZ: !S 20:16:41 !JQ1YTs>JQ1YCZ: !S 20:16:57 !JQ1UTC>JQ1YCZ: !S 20:17:13 !JQ1YTC>JQ1YCZ: !S 20:17:29 !JQ1YTC>JQ1YCZ: !S 20:17:45 !JQ1YTC>JQ1YCZ: !S 20:18:01 !JQ1YTC>JQ1YCZ: !S 20:18:17 !JQ1YTC>JQ1YCZ: !S 20:18:33 !JQ1YTC>JQ1YCZ: !S 20:18:49 !JQ1YTC>JQ1YCZ: !S 20:19:05 !JQ1YTC>JQ1YCZ:~ !S 20:19:21 !JQ1YTC>JQ1YCZ:~ !S 20:19:37 !JQ1YTC>JQ1YCZ:~ !S 20:19:53 !JQ1YTC>JQ1YCZ:~ !S 20:20:09 !JQ1YTC>JQ1YCZ:} !S 20:20:25 !JQ1YTC>JQ1YCZ:} !S 20:20:41 !JQ1YTC>JQ1YCZ:} !S 20:20:57 !JQ1YTC>JQ1YCZ:} !S 20:21:13 !JQ1YTC>JQ1YCZ:} !S 20:21:29 !JQ1YTC>JQ1YCZ:} !S 20:21:45 !JQ1YTC>JQ1YCZ:} !S 20:22:01 !JQ1YTC>JQ1YCZ:| !S 20:22:17 !JQ1YTC>JQ1YCZ:| !S 20:22:33 !JQ1YTC>JQ1YCZ:| ... guess I have a setting wrong ? Henk, PA3GUO The Netherlands

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Re: AO-51 Field Day Mode
by Andrew Glasbrenner 10 Jun '08

10 Jun '08

>From http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/echo/CTNews.php : June 22 - June 29 Field Day is June 27 and 28. Please be courteous and remember both AMSAT and ARRL rules only allow ONE QSO per repeater during the contest. FM Repeater, V/U Uplink: 145.920 MHz FM, NO PL Tone Downlink: 435.300 MHz FM FM Repeater, L/U Uplink: 1268.700 MHz FM, NO PL Tone Downlink: 435.150 MHz FM 73, Drew KO4MA -----Original Message----- >From: Charles Weems <chipw4pbg(a)verizon.net> >Sent: Jun 9, 2008 4:16 PM >To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org >Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-51 Field Day Mode > >Does anyone know what mode the AO-51 bird will >be set for on Field Day this year? > >Chip W4PBG > > >_______________________________________________ >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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