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antenna attenuation
by w7lrd＠comcast.net 01 Feb '08

01 Feb '08

Hello Has anyone encountered this situation- My satellite antennas are about 15 feet off the ground. approximatly 18 feet away at that height is the base of a 25 foot tripod that holds my HF quad. When aiming at a certain direction about 15-20 degrees I can't seem to get through to AO-7. I am trying to connect with OH8MBN. Other directions I can usually hear my downlink almost down to the horizon. On 70cm I run about 80-100 watts to a 40 el cp yagi. I can pick up my down link when the sat is about 7 degrees. 73 Bob W7LRD Seattle -- "if this were easy, everyone would be doing it"

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Re: Satellite tracking programming ideas
by phillor＠telstra.com 01 Feb '08

01 Feb '08

> SatPC32 works similar as Instant Tune (see Anthony Monteiro's detailed > answer): Thank you Anthony and Erich for your replies. I'm always impressed by the generosity of this list's members. During the past week I've spent hours debugging my code because it was originally supposed to work the way that you have both described. Actually it did, or at least I thought it did, but that was before I bought a laptop computer and a USB to serial converter. The code has been updated many times during the past eight years and during one of those updates I changed the user interface so that the user had to stop the tracking during manual tuning; effective but clumsy. Reading the FT-847's receiver frequency originally caused me some frustration. I had included a delay after each read and write command because the FT-847 doesn't return a command acknowledgement. While writing this reply I realised that instead of a delay I shroud be waiting for the serial port to receive five bytes from the radio. This has turned out to be more reliable but I still get occasional read errors and I feel that it's due to the USB to serial converter. When an incorrect frequency value is read, at one second intervals, the same value is reread from the serial port buffer each second until the tuning knob is moved again. Maybe the read command is working correctly and instead it's the write command that instructs the radio to output it's frequency that's not working reliably. I remember reading about some sort of delay that the FT-847 requires but I cannot remember what it was all about. It could be important. A lecturer once told a class that I attended that explaining a problem to anyone, even your dog if no one else will listen, often leads to an answer. It's helping in this instance, but not enough to lead me to the final answer. To add to my frustration, my ISP has made changes to their mail server which now prevents me replying to any e-mails that are outside of their domain. I have a workaround but it's a real pain. Thank you Wayne for your thoughts on frequency drift. I spent many hours listening to AO40's beacon and did manage, eventually, to get the drift under control. -- Regards, Phil.

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SatPC32 wont stay in UTC mode
by Charles Reiche 01 Feb '08

01 Feb '08

Anyone know of a way to get SatPC32 to stay in UTC mode every time on startup. There is a setup checkbox to "turn on" the time feature on startup but I dont find that it acts any differently whether or not I have the program in UTC or Local when setting this option or when starting up or closing down the program. Thanks Charlie N3CRT

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ISS Repeater turned on
by Tony 01 Feb '08

01 Feb '08

All, The ISS repeater was on during the last pass - orbit #52688. Uplink - 437.800FM Downlink - 145.800FM Tony -K2MO

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Re: antenna attenuation
by Dave Guimont 01 Feb '08

01 Feb '08

> >Has anyone encountered this situation- My >satellite antennas are about 15 feet off the >ground. approximatly 18 feet away at that >height is the base of a 25 foot tripod that >holds my HF quad. When aiming at a certain >direction about 15-20 degrees I can't seem to >get through to AO-7. I am trying to connect >with OH8MBN. Other directions I can usually >hear my downlink almost down to the horizon. On >70cm I run about 80-100 watts to a 40 el cp >yagi. I can pick up my down link when the sat is about 7 degrees. Bob, Be wary of AO7! It is my old standby, and I do a lot of listening...In attempt to determine a pattern, but my efforts have been fruitless.. Today, 1feb08z, I chased the band and NOTHING until about 30°, then the sigs were erratic...made two contacts... Sometimes it is loud and clear AOS to LOS... Not suggesting that is YOUR problem, but be wary, my friend....And I have nothing but sky from horizon to horizon...with my sat antennas.... 73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1(a)san.rr.com Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E...

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RFI source found - sort of
by Tony 01 Feb '08

01 Feb '08

All, I was able to track down the general location of an RFI problem I've been hearing since December. It's in the vicinity of 3 new homes on a cul-de-sac not far from my QTH. I'm told the pulse noise sounds like the RFI from an invisible electric fence. At this point, it's hard to tell which home it's coming from with the HF mobile because the signal strength is overwhelming at the location. I'll have to get up close with a portable AM radio; I'll probably need some shielding around it. Wish I knew exactly what the noise was; I'd hate to 'accuse' a neighbor of causing RFI and have it turn out to be the power company. I have a recording if anyone is interested. The question is, what to do in the worse case scenerio if the home owner decides not to take action to remedy the problem? Anyone on the reflector been through this before? Apologies for the off-topic note -Please reply direct... Tony -K2MO

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Trade Compaq server for radio!
by chad phillips 01 Feb '08

01 Feb '08

As you may have seen in my last post, I am looking to purchase a handheld or rig similar to a Tr-751a to get me back on the air. I have a Compaq DL-360 server that I plan on posting on ebay this weekend. However if there is someone on this list that is interested in trading for it, I would be happy to consider it. Either email me for the specs if you are interested or I will post them tonight later. Thanks again, Chad kg0mw

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Which handheld for sats?
by chad phillips 01 Feb '08

01 Feb '08

I don't want to open up a can of worms, just looking for your advice....... I have been off the birds for a few years and am wanting to get back on next month. Because funds are somewhat limited, I am considering every possible combination of radio(s) for getting back on the air. One option is to purchase a handheld that I can use with an Arrow antenna. I would like to know which handheld do you use or which handheld is "the best" for sats. It must be full duplex. Thanks in advance! Chad kg0mw en-13 Sioux Falls, SD kg0mw.blogspot.com

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Explorer 1
by Daniel Schultz 31 Jan '08

31 Jan '08

I was just a baby when Explorer 1 was launched, but I well remember the 25th anniversary when I was at the University of Iowa and James Van Allen was still the department chairman. Where has the time gone.... http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/explorer/captions/briefing.php Dan Schultz N8FGV

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ISS repeater
by Håkan Harrysson 31 Jan '08

31 Jan '08

Hello, Looks to me the ISS repeater was right now activated as i heard some strange activity on 145800. Short after that i heard UA1TDZ calling CQ. Lets hear from people along the path. 73 Hakan SM7WSJ

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AO-16 over West Malaysia
by 9w2qc＠9w2qc.net 31 Jan '08

31 Jan '08

Hi All, I am pleased to submit my first operation report of AO-16 over West Malaysia. Uplink: 145.920 MHz +/- Downlink: 437.025 MHz +/- Maximum Elevation: 25 degrees AOS: 1654 Local or 0854 UTC I did not switch on the PC to perform automatic antenna and doppler tracking, so everything was done manually. Downlink doppler tuning was not as difficult as expected, though it takes some effort to tune the downlink especially approaching TCA. The downlink signal was very strong too, even without the mast head preamp switched on. USB seem to sound slightly better than LSB. Surprisingly this bird hears very well. About 30 watts of uplink power into 2x10 elements horizontally polarized stacked yagi for 2M was about enough. On the downlink, a 2x15 elements horizontally polarized stacked yagi for 70 CM was used. No stations were heard except HS1EAX that was coming in 59. Replied his call, but unfortunately, I got no response. I am really looking forward to work more stations via this amazing new bird soon. My thanks to the command team for taking all the effort to put this bird into the VHF FM/UHF SSB voice repeater mode. 73, Sion Chow Q. C., 9W2QC.

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Vers 2.2.1 of PB/PG for Linux released
by Bent 31 Jan '08

31 Jan '08

I'm happy to announce release 2.2.1 of PB/PG for Linux. PB and PG for Linux are programs used for download from and upload to digital satellites (Pacsats) supporting the FTL0 protocol. This software allows you to directly communicate with the Microsat series of satellites. It provides a Curses (Ncurses) based user interface. It features automatic directory fill requests and simple, rules based file download requests. This release serves two purposes: 1) To show that the project is still alive and kicking 2) To correct a number of small 'inconveniencec' and to add a few new features. These changes/additions are described in the document 'ReleaseNotes' q.v. (included in the release) PB/PG for Linux may be downloaded (in source form only) from one of these places: - www.fern.dk /pgpg/pbpg-2.2.1.tar.gz - ibiblio.org /pub/linux/apps/ham/pbpg-2.2.1.tar.gz - ftp.amsat.org /amsat/software/Linux/pbpg-2.2.1.tar.gz I may be contacted using this address: oz6bl (at) amsat (dot) org Happy hamming Best 73 de Bent/OZ6BL

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Vers 2.2.1 of PB/PG for Linux released
by Bent 31 Jan '08

31 Jan '08

I'm happy to announce release 2.2.1 of PB/PG for Linux. PB and PG for Linux are programs used for download from and upload to digital satellites (Pacsats) supporting the FTL0 protocol. This software allows you to directly communicate with the Microsat series of satellites. It provides a Curses (Ncurses) based user interface. It features automatic directory fill requests and simple, rules based file download requests. This release serves two purposes: 1) To show that the project is still alive and kicking 2) To correct a number of small 'inconveniencec' and to add a few new features. These changes/additions are described in the document 'ReleaseNotes' q.v. (included in the release) PB/PG for Linux may be downloaded (in source form only) from one of these places: - www.fern.dk /pgpg/pbpg-2.2.1.tar.gz - ibiblio.org /pub/linux/apps/ham/pbpg-2.2.1.tar.gz - ftp.amsat.org /amsat/software/Linux/pbpg-2.2.1.tar.gz I may be contacted using this address: oz6bl (at) amsat (dot) org Happy hamming Best 73 de Bent/OZ6BL

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Delfi C-3
by Luc Leblanc 31 Jan '08

31 Jan '08

The countdown clock is at -32 days and i cannot find any decoding software on their site? It will be a good thing if they want to have amateur stations to decode the telemetry to make their software available a couple of weeks before the launch in a way to be able to play with it a bit before starting to decode Bugs, problems, incompatibility with OS "VISTA"... and so on will be better solved right now rather than the day before launch! Radio Amateur section Delfi-C3 will have a downlink in the amateur satellite segment of the VHF amateur radio frequency band. Telemetry decoding software will be made available to participating amateur radio operators and universities which allows them to decode and display real time telemetry. Furthermore, the software allows for a data upload to the central Delfi-C3 ground station via the Internet for data processing. The Delfi- C3 team would like to invite all interested radio amateurs to receive, decode and forward telemetry data to the Delfi-C3 ground station. "-" Luc Leblanc VE2DWE Skype VE2DWE www.qsl.net/ve2dwe WAC BASIC CW PHONE SATELLITE

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Macbook and U232-P9 serial
by Andrew Rich 31 Jan '08

31 Jan '08

Howdy I am hoping someone might me able to help. I am making good progress with my new macbook, I have xastir running in brilliant colour and my gpredict install is coming along. I was disapointed when I plugged in my U232-P9 USB to serial device and the macbook would not see it. I have searched the net and tried a few drivers to no avail. I re-checked the device on a windows box and yes it is still fine. Ideas ? What device do you use ? Andrew VK4TEC

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gpredict
by Andrew Rich 31 Jan '08

31 Jan '08

I am almost there with gpredict on mac os x All i have left to do is GTK+ GLIB GTHREAD ideas ? Andrew VK4TEC

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Rotor freezing and S mode
by Luc Leblanc 31 Jan '08

31 Jan '08

With the actual A0-51 configuration U/S transmitters ON i recheck my BBQ grill performance. As i expected a bumpy ride on S band it was exactly what i got! Signal with deep fades from nil to s9+ 60! Did anyone succeed in reducing theses fades? probably attempting to circularized the feed can be a part of the solution as i used the original linear feed. Guessing the problem i cover the grill with screen mesh at the first installation but i don't know what type of feed will be best for grill shape Patch? helix? it will be interesting to see what you are using in a way to kill theses ugly fades. Looking for a solution to my KR-500 elevation rotor freezing i succeed at 100% with a simple and cheap battery heating pad available at you nearest auto parts store for 25$+- It gives 80 watts and you just have to roll the pad around the rotor casing with a generous layer of duct tape. In bonus as you now have AC up the tower you can add a lamp this way you can see your antennas position in the dark making your antenna structure even more intriguing for you neighbours... P.S. Magnetic heaters are not practical as there is not enough flat and even surface to have a good contact. "-" Luc Leblanc VE2DWE Skype VE2DWE www.qsl.net/ve2dwe WAC BASIC CW PHONE SATELLITE

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Libertad Beacon ?
by john heath 31 Jan '08

31 Jan '08

Anyone know if this cubesat is still sending beacon signals? 73 John g7hia

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FW: 25 watt Moonbounce
by Les Listwa 31 Jan '08

31 Jan '08

Regardless if this is a record or not, the PR is great for the Ham community in general. Also, his accomplishments and the PR hopefully will motivate some of those working the birds to download the WJST software and slew their modest antennas towards the moon. Six months ago, on a whim I downloaded the WJST software, aimed my 20 element crossed yagi 2M satellite antenna at the moon and heard W5UN and worked him. I was so excited and felt like a Novice making my first contact. Since then I have made over 100 contacts ( although, I have slowly grown my antennas and power to do it). I happened to be on the air the day Angus made the contact. I could not hear him, but I heard the other station he was working. He was luckily ( or smart enough) to pick one of the few days of the month when EME conditions were close to perfect and also picked up an additional 6 db of ground gain as he was working the moon on his Horizon. He also was compensating for Faraday rotation as he was switching between horizontal and Vertical elements through out the QSO. Was it a record? It does not matter. It was an accomplishment! And hopefully it will serve as motivation for anyone with even a modest satellite station to aim for the moon. Les WB2SZR, Daniel W2DBL

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ISS/Moon occultation
by Stargate 31 Jan '08

31 Jan '08

Hi, Has anyone ever observed an occultation of a full Moon and the ISS? That would be a fantastic and RARE sight. RoD KD0XX

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Space Grade Soldering ?
by Tim Tuck 31 Jan '08

31 Jan '08

Hi all, I've been reading about the construction of a few microsats and I see "Space Grade Soldering" mentioned a few times. So I'm curious as to what that entails ? I'd guess for starters the solder itself wouldn't be your standard 60/40 rosin cored stuff but I don't know ! and I'd imagine there'd be something do with process too. Can someone enlighten me or point me at a URL on the matter ? thanks Tim -- VK2XTT :: QF56if :: BMARC :: WIA :: AMSAT =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Scanned with Copfilter Version 0.84beta3a (ProxSMTP 1.6) AntiSpam: SpamAssassin 3.2.3 AntiVirus: ClamAV 0.91.2/5599 - Wed Jan 30 03:27:10 2008 by Markus Madlener @ http://www.copfilter.org

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AO16
by Dale-KL7XJ 31 Jan '08

31 Jan '08

On the 2346 utc pass I head lots of stations and worked one from California and one from Canada. Heards lots more calling me but to much QRM. Dale/kl7xj

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AO-16 pass
by ANTHONY JAPHA 30 Jan '08

30 Jan '08

to W8ZCF Lots of sigs heard on that pass here in NYC. Unfortunately, my own was not 1 of them! 73, Tony, N2UN ANTHONY JAPHA tjjapha(a)earthlink.net EarthLink Revolves Around You.

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Re: 25 watt Moonbounce
by Tom Clark, K3IO 30 Jan '08

30 Jan '08

Ed, KL7UW noted: > It would be more significant if the antenna was described. I suspect > if one used a 1000-foot dish it would be quite easy to do! I know of a number of QRP, single Yagi QSOs on 2M with W5UN (see http://web.wt.net/~w5un/mba2003.jpg <http://web.wt.net/%7Ew5un/mba2003.jpg> & read the primer at http://web.wt.net/~w5un/primer.htm <http://web.wt.net/%7Ew5un/primer.htm>) and KB8RQ (see http://www.spasalon.com/kb8rq/). In his primer, W5UN notes > W5UN has worked a couple of stations who were using a single long boom > antenna and running less than 50 watts, so it can be done. I made one > such contact with W2RS who answered my CQ. At the time W2RS was > running 50 watts into a single Cushcraft 32-19 antenna Along the line of amateur adventures using big antennas, I'll relate a few things I have done when using large dishes on EME. By large dishes, we have twice activated the 140' dish at Greenbank, WV (K8HUH & W3IWI/8 calls used) and we have used an 85' dish near Fairbanks, AK (Calls were W3IWI/KL7 & KL7RA) on several occasions. Here are some notable QRP activities: 1. From both dishes, I have "kerchunked" myself on 70cm FM using just a HT. 2. From Fairbanks, I ran 70cm AX.25 packet with a small (probably 10 watt) radio & TNC and managed to have a full, legit QSO with myself (connect, ack, data packets sent "both" ways, etc.) 3. From Greenbank on 13 cm we set the EME DX record with a ZL who was using his 1 watt exciter after his PA and Driver burned up. 4. From both locations on 70 cm, I worked a number of stations running under 50 watts with single yagis. 5. Our 1296 MHz QSO from WV with WB5LUA (now W5LUA) was critical to his completing a 23 cm WAS. 6. W3IWI/8 managed a 70 cm WAC in under 12 hours (i.e. within a single calendar day). The streak started with Z25JJ for Africa and ended with several VK6 QSOs. So some things are pretty easy when you have a big antenna! 73 de Tom, K3IO (ex W3IWI)

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AO-16
by Farrell Winder 30 Jan '08

30 Jan '08

Could anyone in Eastern part of US confirm that AO-16 is presently active? Nothing heard on pass beginning 20:19 Z Cincinnati. Tnx, Farrell Winder, W8ZCF

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Re: AO-16
by Andrew Glasbrenner 30 Jan '08

30 Jan '08

http://oscar.dcarr.org/ N8ABY heard it sometime between 20:30 and 20:45. That is a great site to use for a sanity check on whether a satellite is active or not, except for the occasional erroneous entry. 73, Drew KO4MA -----Original Message----- >From: Farrell Winder <fwinder(a)fuse.net> >Sent: Jan 30, 2008 3:34 PM >To: AMSAT <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> >Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-16 > >Could anyone in Eastern part of US confirm that AO-16 is presently active? Nothing heard on pass beginning 20:19 Z Cincinnati. >Tnx, Farrell Winder, W8ZCF >_______________________________________________ >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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PREDICT! Re: Long time eclipse prediction
by Mark L. Hammond 30 Jan '08

30 Jan '08

Hi Chris, You can use PREDICT for this very purpose! You can look days and months ahead to see when a satellite in in eclipse, how much illumination it should receive, etc. It's really slick. http://www.qsl.net/kd2bd/predict.html Pick your OS, download, read a bit, and have at it. Thanks to Bruce WB9ANQ for directing me to this software just a few days ago and to John KD2BD for a great program! 73, Mark N8MH ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris Bloy" <chris(a)photofuture.co.uk> To: <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2008 8:15 AM Subject: [amsat-bb] Long time eclipse prediction > Hi All, > > I have never been able to get a straight answer on this one, but does > InstantTrack or any other program show you the long term > non-eclispse/eclispe period, or is there a way to calculate this? > > How do we know that PCSAT and UO11 are going to HIT sunlight or not for a > period of time? > > I can see from Orbitron the realtime, but not anything in the future? > > Thanks, > > Chris > -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

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AO-16 pass
by ANTHONY JAPHA 30 Jan '08

30 Jan '08

Just heard a few brief USB syllables on the 1850Z 4 degree pass here, but couldn't make it out. Had a couple of minutes to Eu., but not possible from indoors here. I'm sure a QSO could have been made if I were outside. Oh well, spring is just around a few corners. Who was that masked man just now? Anyone from across the pond? 73, Tony, N2UN ANTHONY JAPHA tjjapha(a)earthlink.net EarthLink Revolves Around You.

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Explorer I launch Anniversary
by Davidoff, Martin 30 Jan '08

30 Jan '08

Explorer I (First US success) was launched 50 years ago (31 January 1958). An article on today's NY Times Website credits Amateur Radio operators with being the first to confirm that it was in orbit and operating. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/29/science/space/29space.html de K2ubc

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BBS inefficiency -vs- PACSAT protocol
by Robert Bruninga 30 Jan '08

30 Jan '08

>> It is extremely inefficient to attempt to logon >> to [the ISS] BBS over Europe/USA since it blocks >> other users from the more efficient digipeater >> mode designed for those high density areas. > > This Apples and Oranges comparison. There is a huge > difference between a Store-And-Forward Mail box and an > Unacknowledged Broadcast packet. With an Unproto > Packet you never know if anyone heard your one-way > packet. Ah, but you do. You see it in the downlink. Congestion on the ISS packet system is only on the uplink. Rarely if ever on the downlink. If you see it in the downlink, then everyone else and the recepient should have seen it too... Very efficient without needing ACKS and RETRIES and CONNECTIONS, and CONNECT REQUESTS, and TIMEOUTS, and REJECT packets.. > Store-And-Forward packet mail has a whole different > set of uses. We used Packet Mail on Space Station Mir > for 10+ years.... Yes, but back then the crew had no other alternative for email. Now they have easy email 24/7. But I agree, it "works" fine, but one has to be careful how we define "works". Over the USA or Europe, it only works for one user and only if that user has killowatts of ERP to step on all other packets to complete his connection (or lives in Hawaii, or other island nation surrounded by no other users within 1200 miles). > The ISS Packet Mail project never caught on > because we had Hardware and software problems > with the TNC's and we never were assigned > a dedicated Laptop. ... The current system can > only support 1 mail box user at a time. But even with only one, in a congestion environment and the requirement for ACKS of every line received, the success rate for the average user is so low and frustration level so high, that it is impractical for the common user and all the lost packets and retries consume the entire pass at the expense of everyone else on frequency. > Marex has received initial approval to upgrade the > system to a Kantronics System that will support 5+ > mail box users and also includes full remote control > from ground System Operators. A worthy goal, but that will only multiply the existing impracticality by a factor of 5 in QRM and virtually nothing will get through (unless there is a drastic change to the protocol). That is why ALL flying BBS's since the mid 1980's use the PACSAT protocol which avoids all of the congestion issues of the normal AX.25 CONNECTED style BBS. The PACSAT protocol: 1) Continuously streams the MAIL List. 2) Allows everyone to capture the MAIL list passively without having to transmit a single packet. 3) Everyones software captures every line from every file on the BBS and builds its own copy of the files. (still passively without transmitting a single packet). 4) As needed stations can requist "fills" of missing lines. Still all other stations also capture these "fills" to minimize the number of requests and repeats. 5) Ground software automatically manages the access to avoid user congestion on the uplink and software contributes to equal sharing of the BBS. 6) Discourteous users can not easily hog the asset. The result was the PACSAT protocol that allowed multiple accesses, by dozens of stations able to download megabytes per day and was efficient, and completely avoided all the ACK problems of terrestrial BBS's when flown in space. Every digital satellite since AO16 has used the PACSAT protocol for their store-and-forward BBS's: AO16, LO18, KO23, KO25, IO26, UO22, GO32, AO51 and others. There are very good, published and well thought our reasons for this. > If you would like to see a multiple user Mail box > on ISS please help support Marex, it's a > long road into space. My next hardware demo is > scheduled for Moscow in June 2008. This sounds like a great project, but only if such a multi-user BBS will take advantage of the lessons learned for more than 20 years in Amateur Space and avoid any BBS that requires line-by-line acknowledgment. If they can implement the multi-user scheme as used on the PACSATS for the last 20 years, then that will be a great advantage to users by at least an order of magnitude. Bob, WB4APR

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ISS Packet Digi-Path?
by Tony 30 Jan '08

30 Jan '08

All, What's the digi-path for the ISS? Is it RS0ISS-? or just ARISS? Thanks, Tony -K2MO

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Re: Ande Deorbit award received
by andy thomas 30 Jan '08

30 Jan '08

Mine safely received today too. A great reminder of a special event for us telemetry-chasers! ...Me mind on fire, me soul on fire Feelin' hot hot hot Party people, all around me Feelin' hot hot hot... 73 de andy g0SFJ __________________________________________________________ Sent from Yahoo! Mail - a smarter inbox http://uk.mail.yahoo.com

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Translation of FM satellite article going well
by OZ1MY 30 Jan '08

30 Jan '08

Hi all, As of now the article "Considerate operating practice" have reached Russia, Germany, UK, Spain and Italy :-) If you want to join in just send me an e-mail and I will send you the updated version. A large thanks to those who have responded already. See you on the satellites. 73 OZ1MY Ib

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25 watt Moonbounce
by Trevor 30 Jan '08

30 Jan '08

The story in the UK Scarborough Evening News about Angus Young M0IKB achieving Moonbounce with just 25 watts is a good illustration of the huge advances Amateurs have made in Moonbounce techniques over recent years. Not long ago it would have taken over 400 watts to achieve it. Why Angus is over the Moon - Scarborough Today (with picture of Angus) http://www.scarborougheveningnews.co.uk/news/Why-Angus-is-over-the.3686368.… Ham makes EME contact with just 25 watts http://www.southgatearc.org/news/january2008/record_eme_contact.htm The call book entry for Angus Young M0IKB can be seen at http://www.eham.net/callbook/M0IKB 73 Trevor M5AKA __________________________________________________________ Sent from Yahoo! Mail - a smarter inbox http://uk.mail.yahoo.com

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FO-29 schedule Feb.
by Mineo Wakita 30 Jan '08

30 Jan '08

Feb. UTC 1 2:10 - 2 3:00 - 3 2:06 - 4 none 5 3:45 - 6 2:50 - 7 3:45 - 8 2:46 - 9 3:36 - 10 2:42 - 11 3:33 - 12 none 13 3:28 - 14 2:33 - 15 3:23 - 16 2:30 - 17 3:20 - 18 none 19 3:15 - 20 2:20 - 21 3:10 - 22 2:15 - 23 3:05 - 24 3:55 - 25 none

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Long time eclipse prediction
by Chris Bloy 30 Jan '08

30 Jan '08

Hi All, I have never been able to get a straight answer on this one, but does InstantTrack or any other program show you the long term non-eclispse/eclispe period, or is there a way to calculate this? How do we know that PCSAT and UO11 are going to HIT sunlight or not for a period of time? I can see from Orbitron the realtime, but not anything in the future? Thanks, Chris

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Re: AO-27 Telem
by Mike Rupprecht 30 Jan '08

30 Jan '08

Hi Chris, yes, we should contact the AO-27 team and ask for the missing channel equations. Regarding your question for the MixW settings. I described this on my website - but it's in german. You can take a look at http://www.dk3wn.info/mixw_kiss.shtml But (it's easier for you) read here: http://www.mixw.co.uk/tune/tuneaprs/tuneaprs.html It's quite simple. I will write a decoding software for AO-27 (with KISS input) - the telemetry is similar to IO-26. You can see my decoding software here: http://www.dk3wn.info/software.shtml 73, Mike DK3WN -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- Von: Chris Bloy [mailto:[email protected]] Gesendet: Dienstag, 29. Januar 2008 21:42 An: 'Mike Rupprecht'; 'SV1BSX' Betreff: RE: [amsat-bb] Re: AO-27 Telem Hi Mike, Mak, Any idea on the setting for MixW as I cannot get anything to decode even close to your example? I think that we should have access to telemetry on this one, and would be willing to collect and build up a picture of what AO-27 is doing? Perhaps we should contact Amrad and ask? Thanks, Chris -----Original Message----- From: Mike Rupprecht [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 29 January 2008 18:00 To: 'SV1BSX' Cc: 'Chris Bloy' Subject: AW: [amsat-bb] Re: AO-27 Telem Hi Mak, yes - and no. AO-27 send it's telemetry in non-AX.25 frames. There is no standard UI Frame and the most packet radio programs cannot decode this frames. BUT, you can use any TNC in KISS mode to generate a data file. The structure of AO-27 telemetry is similar to IO-26 or the other microsats. 1 Byte Channel number + 1 Byte channel value -> see my posting on AMSAT-BB. AND there are some soundcard solutions (e.g. MixW) to generate an KISS file. 73, Mike Dk3WN -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- Von: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] Im Auftrag von SV1BSX Gesendet: Dienstag, 29. Januar 2008 15:55 An: Chris Bloy Cc: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Betreff: [amsat-bb] Re: AO-27 Telem Hi Chris, I think it's impossible the receiving of TLM without a TNC (hardware). I tried also with "standalone" 1200Bps AFSK softwares for packet radio (like MIXW etc) without success. And yes, the TLM is "ON" just for a few seconds at the beginning (and at the end) of each "active" pass. 73, Mak SV1BSX ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris Bloy" <chris(a)photofuture.co.uk> To: <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2008 15:12 Subject: [amsat-bb] AO-27 Telem > Hi All, > > Can anyone tell me how to decode the telemetry from AO27? > > I have tried to use MIXW in Packet mode and RTTY mode, but all I seem to > get > is the date and nothing else? I even tried to feed it through AGWE to see > if > that would work.. I use AO27 all the time and use a minidisc recorder to > record my passes, and always capture the telem data at the end.. it would > be > good if someone could help me out on this one? > > Thanks, > > Chris > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > > > --- > avast! Antivirus: Inbound message clean. > Virus Database (VPS): 080127-0, 01/27/2008 > Tested on: 1/29/2008 15:54:42 > avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2008 ALWIL Software. > http://www.avast.com > > > --- avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean. Virus Database (VPS): 080127-0, 01/27/2008 Tested on: 1/29/2008 16:55:20 avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2008 ALWIL Software. http://www.avast.com _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb ____________ Virus checked by G DATA AntiVirusKit Version: AVK 18.2572 from 28.01.2008 Virus news: www.antiviruslab.com No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.19.15/1249 - Release Date: 29/01/2008 09:51 No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.19.15/1249 - Release Date: 29/01/2008 09:51 ____________ Virus checked by G DATA AntiVirusKit Version: AVK 18.2584 from 29.01.2008 Virus news: www.antiviruslab.com

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G6LVB Tracker Kits
by john 30 Jan '08

30 Jan '08

Hello, I currently use this interface with nova for windows. It works very well, but I have a problem with moving arrows on the keyboard or with the paddle of nova because no data is transmitted, is this normal? Thanks for your help john No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.19.15/1249 - Release Date: 29/01/2008 TiTi 09:51 -- Ce message a été vérifié par MailScanner pour des virus ou des polluriels et rien de suspect n'a été trouvé. MailScanner remercie transtec pour son soutien.

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Sign up for Penelope Boards now!
by Scott Cowling 30 Jan '08

30 Jan '08

Just in case anyone here is not on the HPSDR list... 73, Scotty WA2DFI *** TAPR ANNOUNCES PRODUCTION OF HPSDR PENELOPE BOARD *** High Performance Software Defined Radio Project (HPSDR) *IMPORTANT* 29 January 2008 TAPR and HPSDR need your input! You have until Sunday, February 5, 2008 at 0200 UTC to take action on this message and express interest to obtain a finished tested board, partial kit or bare PCB for this project. Production quantities will be determined by the collective expression of interest at this time. To register your interest you need to go to Dale's (WA8SRA) HAMSDR website, in the projects section. If you are a member and have previously expressed interest in these projects, log in and re-enter your Quantities of each board. NOTE: Previous quantities have been reset to zero so you WILL HAVE TO RE-ENTER QUANTITIES. If you are new to HPSDR and Dale's Website, please join for instant access by providing the information requested. Go NOW to: HTTP://www.hamsdr.com Login and go to Projects > TAPR-HPSDR and follow instructions provided on that page. What is HPSDR? http://hpsdr.org What is a Penelope? http://hpsdr.org/penelope.html There are many other HPSDR projects in design and testing; please see the HPSDR website for details.

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Re: gpredict
by Doug Faunt N6TQS +1-510-655-8604 30 Jan '08

30 Jan '08

I didn't say that the denigration was always valid, but we used to switch an 11/45 betwen RSTS and V6 (I think) Unix and could handle as many users, and those users could do a lot more. System V was later and known as a pig, even then, which lead to BSD Unix. I actually liked DOS-11 a lot, for a single-user system. 73, doug Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2008 20:50:44 -0500 From: Anthony Monteiro <aa2tx(a)comcast.net> At 01:10 PM 1/29/2008, Doug Faunt N6TQS +1-510-655-8604 wrote: >Err, the DEC machines that ran Unix were (mostly) '11's and VAXen, and >while it may not be in the literature, there was a LOT of denigration >of the DEC-provided OS's, like DOS, VMS, RSTS, and RSX. > > Nate Duehr wrote: > > On Jan 28, 2008, at 11:32 PM, don wrote: > > > >> The PDP series ran unix, and I still have the original Bell System > >> Journals here at home describing the philosophy and design behind the > >> unix system. I tried over the last few days of re reading these > >> journals > >> to find any reference to the denigrating of any other systems or their > >> users... Are linux users and prophets now straying far from the > >> original > >> tracks for unix? > > > >I picked up my first Unix disk by going to Murray Hills and being loaned >an RK05 pack to take it back in my van (which had PDP-11 license >plates). Hi Doug! I worked at Bell Labs back then and guess what? When we needed good performance, we used VMS! The first release of UNIX System V did not have demand paged virtual memory but VMS did so it was significantly faster for big jobs like chip layouts and simulations. A very simple chip back then (2.5 micron) took overnight on a dedicated VAX11/780 to do the layout and simulation. Of course, this was a 1 MIPS machine (and that is being polite.) The original WeCo 3B2 mini computers were actually slower than even the cheapest IBM PC running DOS partly because the UNIX implementations were so bad (again no demand paged VM.) On the outside we probably laughed at DOS and VMS but on the inside we knew the truth! Enjoy the memories (some of them virtual and written to /DEV/NULL in my case!) 73, Tony AA2TX

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Video of indoor, ultra-cheap cubesat operations
by Bruce Robertson 30 Jan '08

30 Jan '08

I had a chance to do some more listening in on CO-55 using my FT-817 radio and a 1/4 wave ground-plane made of wire and a BNC. Given the number of all-band, all-mode radios that are available now, I think a simple experiment like this could be great fun to many hams, especially those who might fear that satellite operations of any sort are prohibitively expensive. In hopes of illustrating to them and others, I made a short video of the actual reception, to be viewed here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1251407580465862002 The audio does not do justice to the CW reception: it seems to roll off in the low frequencies so I was able to copy the telemetry much better than it might seem. I was tempted to process the audio, but I figured people know that these sorts of video recordings have crummy audio. I suppose the video needs some contextualizing for non-Amsat folks, but it's a start.

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Re: Macbook and U232-P9 serial U232-P9
by Bill Howell 29 Jan '08

29 Jan '08

Andrew, This may or may not help... I use a Keyspan USA-19HS with Mac (non-Intel) and Windows. Here's a link http://www.keyspan.com/products/usa19hs/ Bill Howell

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Ande Deorbit award received
by john heath 29 Jan '08

29 Jan '08

Trying to capture the very last telemetry frames from Ande as it de-orbited was a lot of fun. Chasing the award made it even more exciting. Thanks guys for a great job in creating this award, and following through with such slick execution. I received the award in the mail today, beautifully presented, and signed by Mike DK3WN. 73 John g7hia

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SAT contacts for WAS AWARD
by David Bird 29 Jan '08

29 Jan '08

HI ALL, I AM ALMOST THERE JUST HAVE 3 MORE STATES TO GO.I NEED DELAWARE, MAINE,AND ROAD ISLAND! PLEASE HELP IF YOU CAN.TNX AND 73 DE KC7USS _________________________________________________________________ Helping your favorite cause is as easy as instant messaging. You IM, we give. http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/Home/?source=text_hotmail_join

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AO-27 Telem
by Chris Bloy 29 Jan '08

29 Jan '08

Hi All, Can anyone tell me how to decode the telemetry from AO27? I have tried to use MIXW in Packet mode and RTTY mode, but all I seem to get is the date and nothing else? I even tried to feed it through AGWE to see if that would work.. I use AO27 all the time and use a minidisc recorder to record my passes, and always capture the telem data at the end.. it would be good if someone could help me out on this one? Thanks, Chris

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Re: Long time eclipse prediction
by John Marranca, Jr 29 Jan '08

29 Jan '08

Chris: Put Orbitron into simulated mode and manually advance it 1 day at a time....you'll see the eclipse or lack thereof first-hand.... John KB2HSH -- _______________________________ John Marranca, Jr PBX Technician/Shop Steward CWA Local 1122 BN Systems, Inc Orchard Park, NY (716)972-2006

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Re: A considerate operating practice on FM (one channel) satellites
by John Marranca, Jr 29 Jan '08

29 Jan '08

Likewise....trying to connect to the ISS BBS during PRIMETIME HOURS. Plenty of folks I talk with are getting fed up with it. John KB2HSH -- _______________________________ John Marranca, Jr PBX Technician/Shop Steward CWA Local 1122 BN Systems, Inc Orchard Park, NY (716)972-2006

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Fw: A considerate operating practice on FM (one channel)satellites, Europe
by john heath 29 Jan '08

29 Jan '08

> An Excellent post from Ib > > How about we all try to get a short item in our national ham radio > magazines covering "Good Operating Practice on Satellites" (probably with > a more imaginative headline...) > > I expect that most people on this bb know how to behave on the satellites, > its the less experienced ops. who need the guidance. > > 73 John g7hia

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Re: A considerate operating practice on FM (one channel) satellites
by Dave Guimont 29 Jan '08

29 Jan '08

>Likewise....trying to connect to the ISS BBS during PRIMETIME HOURS. > >Plenty of folks I talk with are getting fed up with it. > Yes, John, Just like any other 2-user channel (FM) that is open to hundreds of operators at the same time. Of course, the answer is, bandwidth on ssb/cw like was done years ago!! The attempt at promoting HT radio, because of expense and a little degree of difficulty, has obviously been a failure... And obviously some ulterior motive, and it has really cost AMSAT-NA.. It sold some HT's probably, which is OK, but put AMSAT-NA pre OSCAR 1!! Other worldwide AMSAT's have apparently figured it out!! And amateur satellite radio will survive.... 73, Dave, WB6LLO dguimon1(a)san.rr.com Disagree: I learn.... Pulling for P3E...

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TH-D7 Event Scoring and Messaging
by Robert Bruninga 29 Jan '08

29 Jan '08

Reason for this cross-post is due to the large number of AMSAT folks who have TH-D7's and TM-D700 radios and are maybe not using them to their full potential for HAM radio... Especially in light of our New interest in EmComm... POST: Had another great Scout Event using TH-D7's for troop score reporting. There were 17 event stations and 50 scout troops. We were able to field over half of the stations with D7's for score data entry (10). In an afterthought, we could have done at least 3 more stations for a total of 13 with data entry if we had thought about the D700's also parked nearby. Using the D7's for score entry substantially reduced voice traffic and transcription errors, and repeats, while providing error free Troop scores to the HQ tent. See http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/aprsevent.html The 2008 photos are at the end. Too many people ignore the message and data distribution aspect of these radios. Not only did the D7 data entry stations not have to busy up the 146.43 voice net, but we operated on 445.925 with our data to avoid any QRM to the 2m voice traffic -AND- we could also chat on the same UHF channel for data coordination. Further, every D7 operator could be tracked on the main APRS map back at HQ as operators moved around the event -BUT- without the encumberance of any GPS's, wires, laptops or fussy cables. We prepared a LAT/LON grid on the event map, and every location in the entire square mile venue could be entered on the D7 by just pressing the POS key and dialing in the last 2 hundredths digit of LAT or LONG. These were "scouts" and dads by the way, who should know how to look at a map and estimate their position from the grid. To make that even easier, we prepared the four XX/YY digits for each of the 17 event stations in advance, so that if an operator changed locations, he only had to adjust those 4 digits to update his position. RESULTS: It worked great! Net control could leisurely look at the incoming scores on the D700 control panel mounted to his clipboard, and pass them to the score keepers. The contrast with Voice reporting is that each voice report, interrupts the netcon's chain of thought and the voice net everywhere, and demands immediate attention, while with the data messages, they arrive in the background, and can be viewed by Netcon at HIS convenience. Even the newly trained D7 HT operators said it was great (after they got the hang of it). Of the 10 D7 operators, only 4 had ever used a D7 before. Training was 5 minutes on the spot when they were handed a D7 and a gouge sheet. LESSONS LEARNED: 1) Don't plan on the NETCON with the D700 on his clipboard at HQ trying to use it also as his voice rig... Everytime he might decide to read some messages, a voice call might come in, and the PTT bumps him off the message screen. 2) Don't assume the battery on your 10 year old D7 is any good. Yours truely showed up with 5 overnight-charged D7's, but two of them were dead in the first 15 minutes. 3) The few other ops that had D7's also had D700's in their cars. We should have realized that the D700's could just as easily been used for data entry at those stations, thus freeing up their D7's for use elsewhere. Score reporting is only a one-time event every 45 minutes. Easy enough to walk over to the car and enter the data on the Mic Keys. 4) The D7 is ideal for this application. Operating dual band, it was able to do both the 146.43 voice net and the 445 APRS data net at the same time. But to save power, either band could be toggled off when not needed with one press of the DUAL key. Or both could be on for voice but the TNC toggled off between entries. 5) Too many owners of D700's and D7's I fear are not practiced and ready to send, receive and edit messages and data. These radios (and APRS) are much more than just vehicle tracking! END POST. Sorry for the cross post, but we have had the D7 radio now for 10 years and it is the hottest selling Kenwood HT, yet I continuously find operators that are not prepared to use it to send messages, email, objects, alerts, bulletins and announcements locally and anywhere in the world from the palm of their hand. If AMSAT is going to take on an EmComm responsibility, we need to practice with what we have now... Along that vein, also see the Satellite Simulated Emergeny Test web page: http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/sset.html Bob, WB4APR

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A considerate operating practice on FM (one channel) satellites, Europe
by OZ1MY 28 Jan '08

28 Jan '08

Hi all, This is a short version of an article I wrote in 2000 about using FM (single channel) satellites. The reason for using bandwidth for it is that I listened to AO-16 at the pass with AOS at 1621 UTC here from Copenhagen. It was awful - but unfortunately just a repetition of what has been going on for the last couple of month on other FM satellites. I do not think anyone made a real QSO. One particular radio amateur counted 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 over most of the pass ?? Short version: The golden rule - do not transmit if you can not hear the downlink. Calling "CQ satellite" 3 - 4 or more times and give the call and the full locator at the same time is non-productive. It simply takes too long time. Experienced operators easily pick out new stations using a short CQ call. It is not really necessary to call CQ - just give your call. Considerate operating practice allows a QSO to finish. Many operators on the FM satellites do not adhere to this. You very often find a station calling on top of a running QSO, which makes the QSO take much longer time than necessary. Often it is because the QSO takes a long time, which leads to the next "rule". Make the QSO short when the satellite is busy. Valid QSO's just need to exchange calls and signal report. That is it. You do not need locator or operator name. If there is very little traffic OK go ahead and talk about anything - but not when the satellite is busy. Here in Europe we also have the habit of asking for the full lokator. I have tried to avoid that, but I have failed in this respect. For a terrestrial QSO or in a contest you need the full lokator - but not for a satellite QSO. A considerate operator will make one QSO per pass. If you are an experienced operator, who has made a lot of contacts before - limit your contacts to new stations. Do not use the FM satellites to elaborate on the weather situation in your local area, when the satellite is busy. Give priority to portable and mobile stations if they can hear the satellite. Give DX stations (rare calls) a chance to get through. I have witnessed JW stations being "drowned" by local QSO's. Look at your satellite tracking program in order to avoid calling stations that are out of the footprint. If someone is really annoying - don't try to block their signal - try to send them an e-mail especially if they are from your own country. Also respect if people want to use their own native language. It is perfectly OK to talk Danish, German or any other language, as long as they do not carry on for many minutes. AND no - I do not want to be a policeman on the satellites :-) AND please no flames. 73 OZ1MY Ib

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College Satellite night
by Dr. Jay Garlitz 28 Jan '08

28 Jan '08

AMSAT Friends: Look for club and student member stations from the Universities of Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, and Kentucky Tuesday Jan. 29th from 23:30 UTC to 04:00 UTC (Jan 29th USA time). We will be active on AO51, SO50, AO7, and VO52. Listen for us, say hello, get a QSO and QSL. If you know others who are interested at your area college have them contact me as more satellite college nights are planned and we would like their participation. jgarlitz(a)ufl.edu Dr. Jay Garlitz, AA4FL Gator Amateur Radio Faculty Advisor at UF

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2.4 GHz downconverter on Ebay
by K & R Yoksh 28 Jan '08

28 Jan '08

Hello, I've put a generic 2.4 GHz downconverter on EBay. It's surplus to my needs. Have used it to hears AO-51, among others. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=170189178318&ssPage… Thanks, Kyle Yoksh K0KN Olathe, Kansas

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Spy satellite out of control
by GU6EFB 28 Jan '08

28 Jan '08

Hi all BBC News is reporting that large US spy satellite has gone out of control and is expected to crash to earth next month and should impact the ground. Get ready to duck. 73 Keith GU6EFB . This message was checked by MailScan for WorkgroupMail. www.workgroupmail.com

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satellite chatroom
by pcalvi＠bluewin.ch 28 Jan '08

28 Jan '08

Hello everybody. Some of you may remember that the satellite chatroom on ON4KST.info enjoyed some popularity during LEO evening passes in Europe. "Some" was not enough for the SysOp, though, and the chat was closed for alleged lack of activity. It was a shame, because I remember a small but very friendly group gathering there. Now I stumbled on another similar thing - perhaps less cutting-edge that KST - but apparently very functional, run by a group of Brazilian enthusiasts. The address is http://www.satfm.org/chat/ Hope to see you there at some stage. 73 Piero HB9DSU

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Re: satellite chatroom
by matwood＠sover.net 27 Jan '08

27 Jan '08

I do not post much to the BB, but there is another satellite chat room online as well, www.Sat-Chat.net, a project of mine related to the other sites that I developed. I just completed the work on it last weekend (it is a pretty simple site). Another resource for us to use. Thanks es 73, Matt, WE1H

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Joe K3SZH - 5,000 in AO7 Log
by dlittel＠tds.net 27 Jan '08

27 Jan '08

Joe, Congratulations for reaching the 5,000 mark on the AO7 log. I'm proud to count you as a friend, and I look forward to many more contacts with you. Dan AJ9K

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AO-51 V/U V/S , new combined mode.
by EB3SA - Carles 27 Jan '08

27 Jan '08

Hello Today in the pass AO-51 2021 utc ,Over Europe, the satellite AO-51 was on the new "dual mode" V/U V/S. Good signals on the downlink 2,4 Ghz, QSO with G4VWI with only 3º, nice ¡¡¡ What is most interesting is that many stations do not know they dowlink in 2.4 Ghz, hi, hi¡ Enjoy -- Carles Roy eb3sa(a)eb3sa.com www.eb3sa.com

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Re: USA Spy satellite - out of control?
by Greg Beat 27 Jan '08

27 Jan '08

>From what I have been able to read on the Internet , so far -- USA-193/NROL-21, supposedly an Experimental radar reconsat with a similar orbit to that of Lacrosse satellites (but lower altitude), passing over the same area of Earth every two days. Supposedly the initial orbital elements were to be 354 x 376 km x 58.5 deg. USA 193 5.0 2.5 0.0 4.3 v 1 29651U 06057A 08022.26928906 .00106843 00000-0 21608-3 0 00 2 29651 58.4898 160.3690 0008009 84.4119 275.7892 15.98955224 06 Arc 2008 Jan 20.22 - 22.28, WRMS residuals = 0.016 deg Early estimates being posted across Internet that it will decay around March 24, 2008 (+/- 2 weeks). I will probbaly enter into my copy of Nova for Windows -- so I can get orbital elemnt updates -- to where where it is passing over. Greg w9gb Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2008 13:33:26 -0000 From: "GU6EFB" <gu6efb(a)cwgsy.net> Subject: [amsat-bb] Spy satellite out of control To: <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Hi all BBC News is reporting that large US spy satellite has gone out of control and is expected to crash to earth next month and should impact the ground. Get ready to duck. 73 Keith GU6EFB

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WAS Re: AO-16 report from Copenhagen
by Mark L. Hammond 27 Jan '08

27 Jan '08

Hello Francesco, The 437.024 transmitter antenna configuration on AO-16 is Left Hand Circular polarity (LHCP). The receiving antenna on the bird is a 1/4 wave vertical whip. The fading is quite dramatic, which means the bird is spinning/tumbling, or some combination. We could never hear this before on AO-16 when it was transmitting its normal PSK signal, since we didn't hear the effect of fading on the uplink in this mode. Now we hear it, loud and clear! It does take an uplink signal that is pretty close to on frequency (145.820). Adjusting for Doppler is helpful thing on the uplink. Doppler on the 435 DSB downlink will make you love (or covet) a computer controlled VFO :) It's so much fun to be a part of this NOW, on AO-16's 18th birthday---I vividly recall the launch and commissioning 18 years ago---THANKS to the folks that put them all together and got them in the air!! 73, Mark N8MH AO-16 Command Team >Hello, >I tried AO-16 too on one pass, noise level is high and also I noticed >a very deep fading I could not compensate with H/V polarity switch. >This is the only LEO I ever found difficult to access so far, I'm >going to test other known sat to check my setup, maybe the problem is >only here. >I also found difficult to tune some stations, the audio never come >good as if the modulation was distorted, I don't know if others had >the same results. I've never had problems with linear sats however. >I'll try again tomorrow. > >73 >Francesco IZ8DWF Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

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AO-16 Downlink
by Clint Bradford 27 Jan '08

27 Jan '08

>>...Mode FM Voice Repeater (Downlink is double sideband.) Hmmm...Isn't "double sideband" AM? Amplitude modulation of a carrier wave normally results in two mirror-image sidebands... How should I program my FT-817 for the downlink? Embarassingly yours, Clint, K6LCS

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AO-7 DX
by w7lrd＠comcast.net 27 Jan '08

27 Jan '08

Hello The next pass of AO-7, at 2127Z (in one hour) I will have a path to Northern Europe. I will be on 145.952 looking for DX especially OH8MBN. 73 Bob W7LRD -- "if this were easy, everyone would be doing it"

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Re: WAS Re: AO-16 report from Copenhagen
by Tom Clark, K3IO 27 Jan '08

27 Jan '08

Mark, N8MH noted: > The 437.024 transmitter antenna configuration on AO-16 is Left Hand Circular > polarity (LHCP). The receiving antenna on the bird is a 1/4 wave vertical > whip. > This whip operates against the body of the spacecraft as a "ground plane"; however the spacecraft body is a cube 22 cm on a side (you can see a picture at http://128.54.16.15/amsat-new/satellites/satInfo.php?satID=11&retURL=/satel… <http://128.54.16.15/amsat-new/satellites/satInfo.php?satID=11&retURL=/satel…>). This is about half of the quarter-wavelength you'd like to see for a proper ground reference, so the actual pattern undoubtedly has some weird nulls. > The fading is quite dramatic, which means the bird is spinning/tumbling, or > some combination. We could never hear this before on AO-16 when it was > transmitting its normal PSK signal, since we didn't hear the effect of fading > on the uplink in this mode. Now we hear it, loud and clear! > > It does take an uplink signal that is pretty close to on frequency (145.820). > Adjusting for Doppler is helpful thing on the uplink. > The receiver has a 15 kHz wide crystal filter with sharp skirts. So if your NBFM xmtr is set with a ±5 kHz deviation, you may well find your signal hitting the filter "walls". You may get better performance if you crank the deviation back a bit. 73, Tom

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K3SZH AO7 new record
by Fabio Teixeira Magalhaes 27 Jan '08

27 Jan '08

Dr Joe-K3SZH, congratulations to your mark: 5000 register in ao-7 log. I´m very happy to contribute with your record.......... 73 es DX - Fabio- PY4AJ AMSAT 19748

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AO-07 5000 Contacts
by dcowden＠nc.rr.com 27 Jan '08

27 Jan '08

Congrats on 5000 Contacts in AO-07 Log Joe. I enjoy our QSO's. Have Many more. Don, N8DDK

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Re: Full non-Eclipse time V on time
by Bob Bruninga 27 Jan '08

27 Jan '08

> How long or how many full orbits does it > take to enable these two satellites? > I can see what some days PCSAT is in > full sunlight for 2 or 3 full passes, > would this mean she would come alive > on 1 full pass or does it take more? PCSAT-1 comes alive on every single orbit, every day. But it only has enough power to transmit a full packet when it is in the northern latitudes (around 45 degrees) and then only when it is passing under the sun (near local noon). During this time, on every pass, a few user packets are sucessful. And yes,we can command un-needed loads off easily. But then it goes into eclipse 30 minutes later and the batteries die again. When it comes out of that eclipse, then it takes 15 minutes of sun before it can be heard again. This happens on every orbit, 14 times a day. But on 9 Feb, PCSAT will enter a period of zero eclipses and that is why it will not die and we can use it for a few weeks. Bob, Wb4APR And what about UO11, as Clive said this is due to go into eclipse for months in March onwards, but surely some days it should hit full sunlight for a few hours? Also, does instantrack show the eclipse and non eclipse periods on a

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AMSAT Web Updates
by JoAnne Maenpaa 27 Jan '08

27 Jan '08

Hello Everyone, The http://www.amsat.org main page has been updated with the good news of the AO-16 recovery. Scroll down the page, it will be the second headline item on the front page. This weeks ANS bulletins are also available at http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/news/ in case you are away from e-mail or have problems reading the message. -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm(a)amsat.org

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5000 on AO-7, K3SZH.
by TERRY BROMLEY 27 Jan '08

27 Jan '08

Joe congratulation's in reaching 5000 in ao-7 log. You keep me company most day's, i thank you for that my friend. 73. Terry G1WPR.

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Full non-Eclipse time V on time
by Chris Bloy 27 Jan '08

27 Jan '08

Hi All, This is a question for Bob and Clive about UO-11 and PCSAT. How long or how many full orbits does it take to enable these two satellites? I can see what some days PCSAT is in full sunlight for 2 or 3 full passes, would this mean she would come alive on 1 full pass or does it take more? And what about UO11, as Clive said this is due to go into eclipse for months in March onwards, but surely some days it should hit full sunlight for a few hours? Also, does instantrack show the eclipse and non eclipse periods on a chart? Thanks, Chris

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Re: old-sat questions
by Auke de Jong, VE6PWN 27 Jan '08

27 Jan '08

hmm, that one's not in my Orbitron list.... If I add it's Keps to my "amateur.txt", they'll get wiped-out in the next update. Anyone know how to prevent this? Auke VE6PWN ----- Original Message ----- From: "Douglas Quagliana" <dquagliana(a)aol.com> To: "Auke de Jong, VE6PWN" <sparkycivic(a)shaw.ca> Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2008 3:51 PM Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] old-sat questions > Hi Auke, > > If you are listening for supposedly "dead" amateur radio > satellites, then you might also want to listen for SSETI > Express on 437.250 using NBFM. SSETI went silent > shortly after launch. If it ever wakes up, you should hear > 9600 baud data signals on 437.250. This will sound like > white noise - slightly different than static. > > Douglas KA2UPW/5 > > Auke de Jong, VE6PWN wrote: >> Hello List, >> >> With the recent "resurrections" of old sats lately, I have decided to do >> some listening for other old sats which might, one day, un-fail. I think >> that the most likely ones would be Oscar-6 and Oscar-8. According to >> what information I have found thus far, their original modes of failure >> were battery-shorts a-la AO-7/AO-40, therfore they might also un-short >> based on my extremely limited knowledge of their design(assumptions >> comparing to ao-7) and regain their power supply. >> The problem that I am having, is that I can't find much information about >> AO-6's beacon transmitter frequencies for which to listen. Can anyone >> here offer some information about the beacon transmitter frequencies used >> for AO-6, and perhaps any other tech info such as how they might behave >> without command-station intervention? >> >> '73 >> Auke >> VE6PWN >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. >> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite >> program! >> Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb >> > > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: > 269.19.11/1244 - Release Date: 1/25/2008 7:44 PM > >

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The sky is falling down
by Chris Bloy 27 Jan '08

27 Jan '08

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7211443.stm Looks like the US have lost control of there spy sat, and they are making big news about it... Thanks., Chris

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AO-16 reconfigured.
by Andrew Glasbrenner 27 Jan '08

27 Jan '08

Since AO-16 was recovered approximately 6 months ago, the command team has attempted to reload the satellite software almost a dozen times without success. Subsequently a series of memory tests were performed which points towards a hardware failure which prevents restarting the spacecraft software successfully. This team included Bruce Rahn WB9ANQ and Jim White WD0E advising Mark Hammond N8MH as the primary groundstation. Mark put in many early hours during the multiple reloads and test sessions, with Bruce, Jim, and others advising. Thank you to all involved for your hard work. After the conclusion that the spacecraft computer system was damaged and as discussions about decommissioning were taking place, Jim recalled a series of low level commands included in the spacecraft design by Tom Clark, K3IO during construction. One of these commands allows an uplink receiver to be directly tied to a downlink transmitter. The twist is that the uplink is regular FM but the downlink via the BPSK transmitter is DSB (Double Sideband). Mark placed the satellite in this mode early this week and some testing was undertaken. The satellite hears VERY well, and the reduced bandwidth by using either USB or LSB on the groundstation receiver allows for a very robust downlink. Tuning the downlink is just like on a linear transponder, meaning it is tight and with fast Doppler. Uplink tuning is not required, just as with the FM mode V/U satellites. QSOs were made between N8MH, WD4ASW, KO4MA, K5QXJ, and WA6FWF. My personal observations include being able to access and hear the satellite within one degree of the horizon, much lower than any other current bird for my QTH. This should be an easy satellite with omni antennas and a 70cm preamp. With that explanation, I'm happy to open the satellite to general use on voice for a test period. Please submit reports either to the -bb or to ao16(a)amsat.org . The uplink is 145.920 FM, and the downlink is 437.026 SSB +/- Doppler shift. Please restrict your uplink power to a reasonable level, and do not transmit without being able to hear the downlink. All the general single-channel guidelines apply. Enjoy this bird's new life! 73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Operations

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ANS-027 AMSAT Weekly Bulletins
by Lee McLamb 27 Jan '08

27 Jan '08

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-027 ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor(a)amsat.org In this edition: * New V/US Mode Operational on AO-51 * AO-16 Reconfigured for Voice Operations * AMSAT at Orlando Hamcation * AMSAT-DC Meeting Announcement * AMSAT President Testifies Regarding Antenna Restrictions * ARISS Status - 21 January 2008 SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-027.01 New V/US Mode Operational on AO-51 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 027.01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. January 27, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-027.01 On January 25th, AO-51 was switched to a new mode. Currently both the S band downlink of 2401.200 and the 435.300 downlink are on and tied together to the 145.920 receiver. This creates a single repeater that can be heard on either downlink. In the past the satellite power budget would not allow simultaneous S and U downlinks for more than a few moments, but the current no eclipse season allows us try try this new combination. The L/U BBS and U band telemetry will be off during this period, except for brief periods when command stations will be collecting telemetry. During these passes, the S band downlink may be shut off temporarily. Give this new mode a try this weekend. If you like using S-band AND working lots of stations, this mode is for you. Currently we plan to run this mode through the end of the month. 73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Ops [ANS thanks Drew, KO4MA, for the above information] SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-027.02 AO-16 Reconfigured for Voice Operations AMSAT News Service Bulletin 027.02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. January 27, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-027.02 Since AO-16 was recovered approximately 6 months ago, the command team has attempted to reload the satellite software almost a dozen times without success. Subsequently a series of memory tests were performed which points towards a hardware failure which prevents restarting the spacecraft software successfully. This team included Bruce Rahn WB9ANQ and Jim White WD0E advising Mark Hammond N8MH as the primary groundstation. Mark put in many early hours during the multiple reloads and test sessions, with Bruce, Jim, and others advising. Thank you to all involved for your hard work. After the conclusion that the spacecraft computer system was damaged and as discussions about decommissioning were taking place, Jim recalled a series of low level commands included in the spacecraft design by Tom Clark, K3IO during construction. One of these commands allows an uplink receiver to be directly tied to a downlink transmitter. The twist is that the uplink is regular FM but the downlink via the BPSK transmitter is DSB (Double Sideband). Mark placed the satellite in this mode early this week and some testing was undertaken. The satellite hears VERY well, and the reduced bandwidth by using either USB or LSB on the groundstation receiver allows for a very robust downlink. Tuning the downlink is just like on a linear transponder, meaning it is tight and with fast Doppler. Uplink tuning is not required, just as with the FM mode V/U satellites. QSOs were made between N8MH, WD4ASW, KO4MA, K5QXJ, and WA6FWF. My personal observations include being able to access and hear the satellite within one degree of the horizon, much lower than any other current bird for my QTH. This should be an easy satellite with omni antennas and a 70cm preamp. With that explanation, I'm happy to open the satellite to general use on voice for a test period. Please submit reports either to the -bb or to ao16(a)amsat.org . The uplink is 145.920 FM, and the downlink is 437.026 SSB +/- Doppler shift. Please restrict your uplink power to a reasonable level, and do not transmit without being able to hear the downlink. All the general single-channel guidelines apply. Enjoy this bird's new life! [ANS Drew, KO4MA, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-027.03 AMSAT at Orlando Hamcation AMSAT News Service Bulletin 027.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. January 27, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-027.03 AMSAT will have a large presence at the Orlando Hamcation. It will remind some people of Dayton. The Orlando Hamcation has grown in size and prominence in the U.S. After all, it is in a horrible place for Winter in the U.S.! http://www.hamcation.com/ The following AMSAT board members and officers will be there: AMSAT President Rick Hambly, W2GPS AMSAT President Emeritus, Tom Clark, K3IO (ex-W3IWI) AMSAT Executive V.P. Lee McLamb, KU4OS AMSAT V.P. Operations, Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA AMSAT V.P. Field Ops, Gould Smith, WA4SXM AMSAT V.P. Engineering Bob McGwier, N4HY and others. Some of the above are board members. Additionally, board members Lou McFadid, W5DID and Barry Baines, WD4ASW will be in attendance. Barry Baines is our new Eagle/Intelsat project manager. AMSAT has been granted prominent times and rooms for presentations. AMSAT is bringing the operational SDX and will soon thereafter put an SDX based linear transponder on the air covering much of the state of Florida and in a prominent place in Maryland. Additionally, one of the SDX will be in use in Europe thanks to a generous offer and help from Viktor Kudielka. AMSAT will hold engineering planning meetings here for engineering management. This was decided because so many of these people were going to be in attendance anyway. Please come hear about Eagle and Phase 3 E in Orlando. I hope to see you there Feb. 8-10! [ANS thanks Bob, N4HY, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-027.04 AMSAT-DC Meeting Announcement AMSAT News Service Bulletin 027.04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. January 27, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-027.04 We will meet in Pioneer Hall at the Historical Electronics Museum. Same place as last year, same time as last year, for one more time. WHO: YOU are invited! Amateur radio operators, students, educators and the public are all invited. WHAT: Talks, demos, tutorials and socializing about amateur satellites and balloon experiments in the greater mid- Atlantic USA area. A full day of activities. WHEN: Saturday, March 15, 2008, starting at 11:00 A.M. local. WHERE: Historical Electronics Museum (HEM) at 1745 West Nursery Road, Linthicum, Maryland 21090 (near BWI airport). In Pioneer Hall. HEM directions at http://www.hem-usa.org/ WHY: Fun, education, public service, cool stuff, and more fun. HOW: Talk-in on 146.760 MHz (107.2 Hz PL on some receiver sites) HOST: Pat Kilroy, n8pk(a)amsat.org or Patrick.L.Kilroy(a)nasa.gov WEB: See http://patkilroy.com/amsat-dc/ for late breaking news. Download the AMSAT-DC-2008 flier PDF from the N8PK web page to share as widely as you can. Thank you! [ANS thanks Pat, N8PK, for the above information] /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-027.05 AMSAT President Testifies Regarding Antenna Restrictions AMSAT News Service Bulletin 027.05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. January 27, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-027.05 On January 24, 2008 AMSAT President Rick Hambly W2GPS testified before the Maryland State Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee in support of Senate Bill 80 that would prohibit "homeowners associations from restricting or prohibiting the design, placement, screening, height, or use of specified amateur radio equipment." It is hoped that we will also get a hearing before a House committee in a few weeks. There was no opposition to this bill during the hearing, unlike previous years. For more information see http://mlis.state.md.us/2008rs/billfile/sb0080.htm and http://n3ij.home.comcast.net/. /EX SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-027.06 ARISS Status - 21 January 2008 AMSAT News Service Bulletin 027.06 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. January 27, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-027.06 1. ARISS School Contacts Status Due crew schedules onboard the ISS, no Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contacts are planned at this time. The ARISS team expects contacts to resume once STS-122 launches in early February. 2. Astronaut Training Status On Wednesday, January 16, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka, RN3FU, participated in a simulation of an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school contact. The Kenwood D700 radio in the JSC Service Module mockup was used for the contact. Skripochka spoke with the training support team who participated as students, asking Oleg questions about space and his visit on ISS. He is currently scheduled as an Expedition 17 backup crew member. 3. ARISS Annual Report Posted The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) FY2007 Annual Report has been posted to the ARISS section of the AMSAT Web site. See: http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/Papers/Annual%20Reports/ ARISS_Annual_Report_2007_Final.pdf 4. Gail Borden Library Wins Award The Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin, Illinois was one of five libraries to win the 2008 John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award. The library won the award for its "Space: Dare to Dream" exhibit. A highlight of the exhibit, which ran for four months during 2007, was an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact. The Summer Reading program resulted in an increase in program participants, library card registrations and material circulation. [ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, for the above information] /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. 73, This week's ANS Editor, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org

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AO-16 Doppler tuning using SatPC32
by Wayne Estes 26 Jan '08

26 Jan '08

SatPC32 users, what Doppler.SQF text are you using for automatic Doppler tuning of AO-16? Here's my guess, based on the published AO-16 info. AO-16,437026,145920,USB,FM,NOR,0,0 Exact tweaks of the frequencies would be appreciated. I suppose downlink mode can be USB or LSB. Or AM, with reduced sensitivity but relatively immune to tuning errors. Wayne Estes W9AE Oakland, Oregon, USA

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I: footprint edge
by Francesco Grappi 26 Jan '08

26 Jan '08

Hi Bob, W7LRD Unfortunatelly on previous pass AO-7 was active in "A" mode, (145,900 USB "UP" and 29,450 USB "DOWN") I had a good window to US and Canada ....,I called cq ... for entire pass on the middle frequency of the transponder ... but I didn't heard nobody else on frequency ... See you next window. 73 Frank IW4DVZ North of Italy JN54IL -----Messaggio originale----- Da: amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org [mailto:[email protected]] Per conto di w7lrd(a)comcast.net Inviato: sabato 26 gennaio 2008 20.58 A: AMSAT-BB Oggetto: [amsat-bb] footprint edge Hello-The next few passes of AO-7 will have a small window from Seattle to parts of Northern Europe. If you are in that area look for me on about 145.952. It might just work! 73 Bob W7LRD Seattle, Wa. CN87 -- "if this were easy, everyone would be doing it" _______________________________________________ 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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old-sat questions
by Auke de Jong, VE6PWN 26 Jan '08

26 Jan '08

Hello List, With the recent "resurrections" of old sats lately, I have decided to do some listening for other old sats which might, one day, un-fail. I think that the most likely ones would be Oscar-6 and Oscar-8. According to what information I have found thus far, their original modes of failure were battery-shorts a-la AO-7/AO-40, therfore they might also un-short based on my extremely limited knowledge of their design(assumptions comparing to ao-7) and regain their power supply. The problem that I am having, is that I can't find much information about AO-6's beacon transmitter frequencies for which to listen. Can anyone here offer some information about the beacon transmitter frequencies used for AO-6, and perhaps any other tech info such as how they might behave without command-station intervention? '73 Auke VE6PWN

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footprint edge
by w7lrd＠comcast.net 26 Jan '08

26 Jan '08

Hello-The next few passes of AO-7 will have a small window from Seattle to parts of Northern Europe. If you are in that area look for me on about 145.952. It might just work! 73 Bob W7LRD Seattle, Wa. CN87 -- "if this were easy, everyone would be doing it"

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Re: AO-16 report
by Tom Clark, K3IO 26 Jan '08

26 Jan '08

Mark, N8MH commented > Actually, this is a great idea, Greg. It's the basis for AE4JY Moe Wheatley's > AO40RCv program--the 400BPSK demodulator. In fact, his source coded is > posted--it should help with the programming I'd think. It provided button > pushes, com port selection, radio choices, etc. > > Not sure there is ENOUGH carrier..at least from what I've been hearing. But I > haven't looked at it with a waterfall yet; Drew KO4MA was doing that during > our initial tests--he could see the carrier well as I recall. > The BPSK modulator should have zero carrier in the middle unless it has drifted out of balance. I would be surprised if the carrier rejection is any greater than ~-20 dB below the sideband level -- this corresponds to the supposed 180° phase shift being off by about 0.1 radians (i.e. ~6°). If you try to inject carrier by simply turning on a BFO and receiving the signal as DSB, you will get distortion. This is because you want to extract the 2 sidebands with the same phase. You will be better off throwing away half the signal and receiving it as a SSB signal. One way to properly phase the signal is with a Costas loop demodulator. Such widgets were the hardware PSK demodulators offered by TAPR (designed by K3IO & N7CL) and a different design by G3RUH; the TAPR design was sold commercially by Paccomm as the PSK-1 (Google Paccomm PSK-1). These designs have been built with both 400 BPS (for AO-40) and 1200 BPS (for the PACSATs) data filters. These devices have a PLL to generate a coherent carrier and do not suffer the 3dB SNR loss; the PLLs will also help to track the satellites Doppler. As Mark pointed out, a similar design was done in software for use with a Soundblaster for AO40's 400 BPS BPSK by Moe Wheatley, AE4JY. You can fetch a copy at Moe's web site at http://www.moetronix.com/ae4jy/ao40rcv.htm. Moe's web site has the source code in C++ and you will probably want to modify the data filters by a factor of 3-4. Moe has also implemented a DSB demodulator in his SpectraVue SDR software that supports N4IP's RF Space SDR-14 and SDR-IQ receivers (see http://rfspace.com/Home.html). For those of you using a Flex SDR (http://www.flex-radio.com)like the SDR-1000 or -5000 (or the SoftRock, or a similar QSD design)as your receive IF, you should be able to do a proper demod on the AO-16 signal (including a properly phased carrier generated in a software PLL) using the [DSB] mode (also please try the Synchronous AM [SAM] detector)in PowerSDR. I haven't tried any of the SDR approaches myself, so I don't know about the AFC characteristics in [DSB] and [SAM]. Perhaps AE4JY or N4HY or AB2KT can comment. 73, Tom

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OSCAR-11 Report
by Clive Wallis 26 Jan '08

26 Jan '08

OSCAR-11 REPORT 26 January 2008 This report covers the period from 19 December 2007 to 26 January 2008. After two months of silence from 20 November, when eclipses started, the satellite resumed transmissions on 22 January 2008. This was three complete 20.7 day watchdog cycles after the satellite switched off. At the time of writing signals are consistantly strong, although the polarisation is very variable, with a cycle time of around 20 seconds, causing deep fading if the antenna polarisation is fixed. This suggests that the satellite may be tumbling. If the current watchdog cycle continues uninterrupted, the 145.826 Mhz. beacon should switch off around 01 February and on again around 11 February. However, if low battery voltage causes the watchdog timer to reset, then the beacon should switch on 21 days later. The real time clock in now very stable although it has lost a further 7.09 days since 20 November. On 26 January it is 81.36403 days slow. I am indebted to Peter ZL3TC, Mark KU7Z, Gene WA4UKX, SWL Mark in CM87, Ron G4PGY, Julian WB9YIG, John HB2HSH and Edward BX1AD for their reports. Many thanks. The satellite is now in continuous sunlight, and this is expected to continue until mid March, when eclipses will start again. Unfortunately eclipses will then become a permanent feature of the orbit, which is likely to prevent any periods of sustained operation after March. The current status of the satellite, is that all the analogue telemetry channels, 0 to 59 are zero, ie they have failed. The status channels 60 to 67 are still working. The real time clock is showing a large accumulated error, although over short periods timekeeping is accurate to a few seconds per month. The day of the month has a bit stuck at 'one' so the day of the month may show an error of +40 days for some dates. The time display has switched into 12 hour mode. Unfortunately, there is no AM/PM indicator, since the time display format was designed for 24 hour mode. More data is required to determine exactly when the date changes. The spacecraft computer and active attitude control system have switched OFF, ie. the satellite' attitude is controlled only by the passive gravity boom gradient, and the satellite is free to spin at any speed. When telemetry was last received it showed that one of the solar arrays had failed, and there was a large unexplained current drain on the main 14 volt bus. After 23 years in orbit the battery has undergone around 100,000 partial charge/discharge cycles, and observations suggest that it cannot power the satellite during eclipses, or sometimes during periods of poor solar attitude. The watchdog timer now operates on a 20 day cycle. The ON/OFF times have tended to be very consistent. The average of many observations show this to be 20.7 days, ie. 10.3 days ON followed by 10.4 days OFF. However, poor solar attitude may result may result in a low 14 volt line supply, which may cause the beacon to switch OFF prematurely, and reset the watchdog timer cycle. When this occurs, the beacon is OFF for 20.7 days. The Beacon frequencies are - VHF 145.826 MHz. AFSK FM ASCII Telemetry UHF 435.025 MHz. OFF S-band 2401.5 MHz. OFF Listeners to OSCAR-11 may be interested in visiting my website. If you need to know what OSCAR-11 should sound like, there is a short audio clip for you to hear. There is an example of the latest telemetry received from the satellite. The website contains an archive of news & telemetry data. It also contains details about using a soundcard or hardware demodulators for data capture. There is software for capturing data, and decoding ASCII telemetry. The URL is www.users.zetnet.co.uk/clivew/ If you place this bulletin on a terrestrial packet network, please use the bulletin identifier $BID:U2RPT141.CWV, to prevent duplication. 73 Clive G3CWV xxxxx(a)amsat.org (please replace xxxxx by g3cwv)

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Re: AO-16 signal periodicity
by Mark L. Hammond 26 Jan '08

26 Jan '08

Here's a link to a graph and some audio files; I forgot them on the first send! Sorry. http://www.dk3wn.info/sat/afu/sat_ao16.shtml ________________ Interesting data from Mike DK3WN! Mark N8MH >From: "Mike Rupprecht" <mail(a)mike-rupprecht.de> >To: "'Mark L. Hammond'" <n8mh(a)embarqmail.com> >Subject: AW: AW: AW: AW: AW: Help needed--AO-16 telem >Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2008 16:27:02 +0100 >X-Mailer: Microsoft Office Outlook 12.0 >Thread-Index: AchgKvZ3P6FZ18PKRfSduIgzex5w3AAA8lvg > >Hi Mark, > >yes, I think it's the same situation here in europe. There are some stations >in the south of Europe with big stations and it seems they block the >transponder ... > >There is indeed an interval of 14 seconds, that means 4.28 rpm - right? > >73, Mike > > >-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- >Von: Mark L. Hammond [mailto:[email protected]] >Gesendet: Samstag, 26. Januar 2008 15:52 >An: Mike Rupprecht >Betreff: Re: AW: AW: AW: AW: Help needed--AO-16 telem > >Thanks for the report, Mike! I'm glad you were able to make some contacts >via AO-16. > >The bird is quite busy here in the US, so making a QSO can be challenging >here, too. > >It's NICE to have AO-16 voice pileups on a "dead digital bird" :) > >73, > >Mark N8MH > >At 03:23 PM 1/26/2008 +0100, you wrote: >>Hi Mark, >> >>wow, great signals from AOS till LOS. >> >>Just worked (quite easy) some european stations (I6VMS, TA1D, OT4B and >RK3DXB). It's much QRM over Europe but with some discipline good QSO's are >possible. >> >>Thank you so much for all. >> >>73, Mike >> >> >> >> Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

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AO-16 signal periodicity
by Mark L. Hammond 26 Jan '08

26 Jan '08

Interesting data from Mike DK3WN! Mark N8MH >X-BINDING: pd02.embarq.synacor.com >X_CMAE_Category: 0,0 Undefined,Undefined >X-CNFS-Analysis: v=1.0 c=1 a=eTZUOTcYMmIA:15 a=8N5pNyA62PUA:10 a=Aza6Yw9YCZ4R+/7toVlBpg==:17 a=kxRU16pYAAAA:8 a=I2cWxC-P83Qs_bLxeIkA:9 a=A3zKyMl3O8P-v7Y0GwoA:7 a=iJP2CJsKPvG24uzA3iAhMztdHWUA:4 a=cvn8laQl214A:10 a=50e4U0PicR4A:10 a=PthV78sun1KT-ggwoAEA:9 a=Jv9cjD3ahT8RivWRcPsqCSrGXB4A:4 a=1Vq_FK4TplAA:10 a=CxA2Utj4LuEA:10 a=jkCuhmbb9PDjgNrtS5MA:9 a=-s-skpXRXbqpOtPb:18 a=bliBVldoaqZXmdE7:18 >X-CM-Score: 0 >X-Scanned-by: Cloudmark Authority Engine >Authentication-Results: spam03.embarq.synacor.com smtp.mail=mail(a)mike-rupprecht.de; spf=unknown >X-RZG-CLASS-ID: mo07 >X-RZG-AUTH: j/gCopV6EOvJkd7l0rsPX3RjtBH0bSjW8tsupzwqwzrbunA3QB/qOO8SEA74nBp5hKxSoIyC >From: "Mike Rupprecht" <mail(a)mike-rupprecht.de> >To: "'Mark L. Hammond'" <n8mh(a)embarqmail.com> >Subject: AW: AW: AW: AW: AW: Help needed--AO-16 telem >Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2008 16:27:02 +0100 >X-Mailer: Microsoft Office Outlook 12.0 >Thread-Index: AchgKvZ3P6FZ18PKRfSduIgzex5w3AAA8lvg > >Hi Mark, > >yes, I think it's the same situation here in europe. There are some stations >in the south of Europe with big stations and it seems they block the >transponder ... > >There is indeed an interval of 14 seconds, that means 4.28 rpm - right? > >73, Mike > > >-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- >Von: Mark L. Hammond [mailto:[email protected]] >Gesendet: Samstag, 26. Januar 2008 15:52 >An: Mike Rupprecht >Betreff: Re: AW: AW: AW: AW: Help needed--AO-16 telem > >Thanks for the report, Mike! I'm glad you were able to make some contacts >via AO-16. > >The bird is quite busy here in the US, so making a QSO can be challenging >here, too. > >It's NICE to have AO-16 voice pileups on a "dead digital bird" :) > >73, > >Mark N8MH > >At 03:23 PM 1/26/2008 +0100, you wrote: >>Hi Mark, >> >>wow, great signals from AOS till LOS. >> >>Just worked (quite easy) some european stations (I6VMS, TA1D, OT4B and >RK3DXB). It's much QRM over Europe but with some discipline good QSO's are >possible. >> >>Thank you so much for all. >> >>73, Mike >> >> >> >> Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

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(no subject)
by John Hackett 26 Jan '08

26 Jan '08

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ANDE Awards have been mailed
by Henk, PA3GUO 26 Jan '08

26 Jan '08

Dear all, ANDE Awards have been mailed this weekend. Details are available here: http://www.ande-deorbit.com/status.shtml In case you did not sign up yet, there is still a chance to do so: http://www.ande-deorbit.com/submission.shtml Mailing may take a week or so, but you should expect them one of these days in your mailbox ! For those interested, on the website there is the full overview of all telemetry of the final days (incl. the very last one, by JA0CAW). Also all the TLE (kepler sets) since launch: http://www.ande-deorbit.com/ande_all_tle.txt Mike & Henk http://www.ande-deorbit.com

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AO-51 orbital questions
by Greg D. 26 Jan '08

26 Jan '08

Hi folks, I'm writing my monthly newsletter article for our ham club, and thought I'd talk a little about AO-51's recent challenges, experiments, and results. You think you understand this stuff, until you try to explain it to someone else... AO-51, I thought, is in a sun-synchronous polar orbit, right? I thought that sort of orbit is characterized by having the satellite fly over the same point on Earth at about the same time every day. If so, then why do we have periods of eclipse and periods of no eclipse? If it's not sun-synchronous, is it in some other special form of a polar orbit, or just in a polar orbit? And, about the battery temperature. I get the idea of turning on all the transmitters, so that we "radiate" some of that excess power into space in a more useful way - in the form of RF. But, it would seem that the difference is maybe a watt or so, at the most, which doesn't seem all that significant. And since the power amps are never all that efficient, aren't we mostly just moving the point of dissipation from the batteries to the transmitter modules? I can see how this would help the batteries, but how does it help the spacecraft overall? Is this because of how the thermal design was done? And, more to the point of all this power stuff, does the power really need to be dissipated? I mean, you can put a solar cell in the sun, with no load, and it's not going to explode from not having some place to dump it's charge. Is there a need to take a certain amount of power from the solar cells, in order to maintain their own health? Or, is this really due to the design and function of the battery charging circuitry? Finally, I seem to recall that the spacecraft entered the no-eclipse period before the last crash. Is that the right sequence? Any connection between the two events? Thanks for your help, and also to the command team for the latest configuration. Next good pass is tomorrow; time to fire up the old S-and receive system. Greg KO6TH _________________________________________________________________ Connect and share in new ways with Windows Live. http://www.windowslive.com/share.html?ocid=TXT_TAGHM_Wave2_sharelife_012008

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Re: Spoutnik 41-AMSAT-F
by Jean-L. RAULT 26 Jan '08

26 Jan '08

Bob Cutter a écrit : > Is it possible to get a QSL for a contact with > Spoutnik 41? > > I have seen the log on AMSAT-F. > > 73, Bob KI0G Yes Bob, it is. Just send me please your report with a self addressed enveloppe and 2 IRCs to my home address. 73 Jean-Louis F6AGR Former AMSAT-F president

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AO-16 with small stn.
by ANTHONY JAPHA 26 Jan '08

26 Jan '08

Drew asked for reports from portable/small stations using AO-16, so I offer my experience. Just had Qs with VE2AHD and K8ALM on a 17 degree pass here in FN30, New York City. I was inside my apartment (brick building with metal windows) on the 17th floor, with many obstructions outside. Using 2 FT-817s, 5 watts up into 3 el; preamp and 7 el down. This is my portable gear used inside (temp in the 20s today). Can't wait for spring! There may actually be very short windows--1 or 2 minutes--from here to G-land, etc. This looks like a great bird. I love the SSB downlink. Tnx to all who made it happen. 73, Tony, N2UN ANTHONY JAPHA tjjapha(a)earthlink.net EarthLink Revolves Around You.

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QSL Cards with AMSAT Logo
by Clint Bradford 26 Jan '08

26 Jan '08

I have already obtained permission to use our logo...Who has had a great experience with a QSL card maker who will print the AMSAT logo on the card? Clint Bradford, K6LCS / KAF3359 909-241-7666

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AO-51 Mode Change (NEW MODE V/US)
by Andrew Glasbrenner 25 Jan '08

25 Jan '08

This morning, January 25th, AO-51 was switched to a new mode. Currently both the S band downlink of 2401.200 and the 435.300 downlink are on and tied together to the 145.920 receiver. This creates a single repeater that can be heard on either downlink. In the past the satellite power budget would not allow simultaneous S and U downlinks for more than a few moments, but the current no eclipse season allows us try try this new combination. The L/U BBS and U band telemetry will be off during this period, except for brief periods when command stations will be collecting telemetry. During these passes, the S band downlink may be shut off temporarily. Give this new mode a try this weekend. If you like using S-band AND working lots of stations, this mode is for you. Currently we plan to run this mode through the end of the month. 73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Ops

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Re: AO-16 with small stn.
by John Marranca, Jr 25 Jan '08

25 Jan '08

Reid, et al: Yep...the 817 works great! In fact, on the 2120z pass, I worked you with an 817! What is annoying though, is the amount of QRM. Some of it actually sounds intentional. 73 de KB2HSH -- _______________________________ John Marranca, Jr PBX Technician/Shop Steward CWA Local 1122 BN Systems, Inc Orchard Park, NY (716)972-2006

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QSO via AO7
by F2lq＠aol.com 25 Jan '08

25 Jan '08

Good afternoon To night i have qso a K station asking my call , but it was just at the end of the pass ! Sorry...a next time perhaps ! If you read this little return... 73's Guy F2LQ IN98eb

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Re: AO-16 report
by Mark L. Hammond 25 Jan '08

25 Jan '08

Actually, this is a great idea, Greg. It's the basis for AE4JY Moe Wheatley's AO40RCv program--the 400BPSK demodulator. In fact, his source coded is posted--it should help with the programming I'd think. It provided button pushes, com port selection, radio choices, etc. Not sure there is ENOUGH carrier..at least from what I've been hearing. But I haven't looked at it with a waterfall yet; Drew KO4MA was doing that during our initial tests--he could see the carrier well as I recall. 73, Mark N8MH _______ Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 22:55:47 -0800 From: "Greg D." <ko6th_greg(a)hotmail.com> Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: AO-16 report To: <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Message-ID: <BLU133-W280FF8A5783F16558CB4AAA9390(a)phx.gbl> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" If there is a slight carrier on the downlink side, I wonder if someone with a sound card and a "bit" of spare time could work up an automatic tuning adapter? Zero beat the carrier by tickling the mike up and down buttons; something like that. You'd need to sample (tap into) the received audio, and manually get the receiver close. Then let it run. Crazy idea? Greg KO6TH

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Re: AO-16 report
by John W Lee 25 Jan '08

25 Jan '08

Also if you have an SSB receiver with DSP or automatic notch filter, you can eliminate the carrier completely. 73, John K6YK On Thu, 24 Jan 2008 13:43:26 -0500 "Andrew Glasbrenner" <glasbrenner(a)mindspring.com> writes: > Hi Ray, > > Thanks for the report, and I hope you don't mind that I have > included part of it in this email to -bb in response to a few > comments I've seen. As Ray and others have noticed, there is indeed > some carrier on the downlink. It isn't what we might have designed > for a voice system, but given how this came about, it's tolerable. > >> > 73, Drew KO4MA > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: RaySoifer(a)cs.com > > The uplink is very sensitive indeed, and the downlink is as > expected given the power level. I would add, though, that in > addition to the DSB audio, there is a carrier output which helps to > tune in the downlink signal. It's not really DSBSC (suppressed > carrier) but more like DSBRC (reduced carrier, relative to what it > would be on AM). > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the > author. > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite > program! > Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb > >

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Re: the state of AO16 batteries
by Mark L. Hammond 25 Jan '08

25 Jan '08

Hi Robert, Great question!! We can get VERY little telemetry out of AO-16 given its current health condition. We get a bit of MBL telemetry, and it looks fine--but it doesn't say a whole lot. During the multiple attempts of loading the housekeeping code to AO-16, the bird ran JUST long enough to spit out ONE "regular" telemetry frame--and I recorded the pass, so I caught the packet :) The voltages on the batteries look good, based on one telemetry frame. We don't know how the batteries will hold up during various eclipse periods. But you can be sure we'll do our best to manage what we have the ability to manage with the bird. We are able to set the power output of AO-16, so that is an obvious way to help manage its power budget. Also, we can shut the transmitter OFF, should it be necessary. User observations and feedback will be very helpful when we resume esclipes in the new "best pipe mode"! 73, Mark N8MH -----Forwarded Message----- >From: Robert Turlington <rob_g8ate(a)hotmail.com> >Sent: Jan 25, 2008 11:02 AM >To: Amsat Buleitin Board <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> >Subject: [amsat-bb] the state of AO16 batteries > > >Hi All >does anyone know the condition of AO16 batteries (bearing in mind its age) at the moment the Sat is in full sunlight all of the time but after the 27th March it starts its eclipse season,so it will be interesting to see how things go on! >PS. I will be looking for contacts with NA on late afternoon/early evening mid atlantic passes over the next few days.Regards Robert G8ATE >_________________________________________________________________ >Who's friends with who and co-starred in what? >http://www.searchgamesbox.com/celebrityseparation.shtml >_______________________________________________ >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 -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

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AO-16 report number 2 from Copenhagen
by OZ1MY 25 Jan '08

25 Jan '08

Hi all, A few observations from today: The transmit frequency seems to change a little. On the first pass I used today I had to go up 500 Hz on the downlink to hit the right frequency. On the later passes the change was smaller. As others have observed the carrier is there. Tuning to zero beat puts you spot on frequency. Following Toms e-mail I tried to change to FMN (3.5 kHz deviation) on the transmitter. That makes the audio sound better - but my downlink signal to noise ratio decreased. That was to be expected. I do not know about other areas of the World - but here over Europe the background noise on the downlink is very high. Did not experience the normal FM quieting effect by increasing the uplink power. I do not understand that - any ideas ? Is AO-16 making the noise itself ?? The polarity of the downlink antenna is difficult to make out. I thought it is RHCP - but Mark says LHCP. For me on the passes to the East RHCP is best ! Passes from the South - LHCP is best ! That is a general observation - some times it helped to switch during the passes. AO-16 might be tumbling a lot ? Another thing is that using Noise Reduction on my IC-910 helps a little - not much. Have fun and thanks to the team and the builders. 73 OZ1MY Ib

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the state of AO16 batteries
by Robert Turlington 25 Jan '08

25 Jan '08

Hi All does anyone know the condition of AO16 batteries (bearing in mind its age) at the moment the Sat is in full sunlight all of the time but after the 27th March it starts its eclipse season,so it will be interesting to see how things go on! PS. I will be looking for contacts with NA on late afternoon/early evening mid atlantic passes over the next few days.Regards Robert G8ATE _________________________________________________________________ Who's friends with who and co-starred in what? http://www.searchgamesbox.com/celebrityseparation.shtml

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Spoutnik 41-AMSAT-F
by Bob Cutter 25 Jan '08

25 Jan '08

Is it possible to get a QSL for a contact with Spoutnik 41? I have seen the log on AMSAT-F. 73, Bob KI0G ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping

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AO-16 reception on mode-AM
by JA0CQP 25 Jan '08

25 Jan '08

Hi All, On the 06:06(UTC) pass over Japan, I have tried to receive downlink signal from AO-16 on mode-AM. As a result, I have enjoied better sound quality and easy tuning than USB in spite of heavy QRMs. (However, against deep QSB, USB mode offers some advantage for better readability. .) TRX which I used is Kenwood TS-2000 with SatPC32 At the TS-2000, minimum tuning step on the VHF, and UHF bands mode-AM are 5KHz, hence "fine tuning" by SatPC32 was absolutory necessary. Thanks to SatPC32. 73s Toyo Komatsu- JA0CQP

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Re: RFI identification
by Wayne Estes 25 Jan '08

25 Jan '08

Joe (no callsign given) wrote: Computers are also extremely noisy! When operating HF I never use a computer, every one I have ever had or used, adds at least 10 DB to the noise floor. Wayne replies: How close are your HF antennas to you computers? I don't notice an increase in the HF noise level from the computers in my house, but my HF vertical and HF dipole feedpoint are both 60 feet from the house (and even further from neighbor's houses). At the closest point the dipole's wire is less than 30 feet from two computers in the house. Do you use CRT monitors with your computers? I found that CRT monitors generate much more RF noise than the average home computer. LCD monitors produce far less RFI. Weak-signal ham operators should NEVER use CRT monitors. Wayne Estes W9AE Oakland, Oregon, USA, CN83ik

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AO-16 report
by Piero Baudino 25 Jan '08

25 Jan '08

Hi to the group! Just worked AO-16 this morning: - worked RW3XL and EB3SA between 5.24 and 5.35 UTC - very strong signal, sometimes better in LHCP, using my 2x15 elements antenna and PREAMP (always S7-S9 on IC-910) - voice quality better on USB - very diffult to tune the downlink, between 437.034 (AOS) and 437.014 (LOS) for me... - uplink very sensitive, worked all the pass with only 1-2 W and my 2x7 elements antenna (always on RHCP) Many thanks to the AO-16 command team, great job guys! '73 de Piero IZ1ERR (JN35UI)

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AO-16 6:35 utc Active
by EB3SA - Carles 25 Jan '08

25 Jan '08

Hi to all AO-16 Now is active, good signals, pass 0633 utc over Europe. But no stations, actives...... nice ¡¡¡ 73´s. -- Carles Roy eb3sa(a)eb3sa.com www.eb3sa.com

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