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Utah area mentor
by Andrew Glasbrenner 17 Jun '20

17 Jun '20

If there is anyone in the Utah area that would like to mentor a school trying to establish a groundstation and cubesat program, please contact me directly. Thanks, Drew KO4MA

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USB to Serial
by Gary 17 Jun '20

17 Jun '20

I'm going to try computer control of my rig again. Just a quick check. Is it the Prolific or FTDI chipset that has all the counterfeit issues? Thanks, Stay Safe and 73, Gary kk0sd

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SSB-Electronics preamps
by Joseph Trombino, Jr 17 Jun '20

17 Jun '20

Howdy Gang. Putting my meager satellite station together and have just purchased two “pre-owned” SSB preamps for 2M/70CM. Needing two U-bolts to secure the preamps to the mast I went in search of such U-bolts in a large hardware store today. Close but no cigar…I has suspected that the needed U-bolts were probably metric since the preamps came from Germany. Can some kind sole point me in the right direction to order two of these U-bolts? Does anyone have the correct size I can reference in placing an order? Does anyone have two on hand (even used ones) that they can spare for a reasonable price? Many thanks for any assistance. 73, Joe W2KJ

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SSB-Electronics preamps - U-bolts
by Rafael Pena 16 Jun '20

16 Jun '20

I've just hooked up my new 2m Preamp that I purchased from my local HRO. They are metric 73mm from end to end. I did not use my U-Bolts, I simply drilled one hole for each 2m / 70cm on my Glen Martin mini-tripod. Need to keep them for the just in case I ever get a real super tower :) Rafael / NN3RP Message: 6 Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2020 15:37:57 -0400 From: "Joseph Trombino, Jr" <w2kj(a)bellsouth.net> To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] SSB-Electronics preamps Message-ID: <479C7003-C5FB-45F2-B5F4-AF646ED0183B(a)bellsouth.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Howdy Gang. Putting my meager satellite station together and have just purchased two ?pre-owned? SSB preamps for 2M/70CM. Needing two U-bolts to secure the preamps to the mast I went in search of such U-bolts in a large hardware store today. Close but no cigar?I has suspected that the needed U-bolts were probably metric since the preamps came from Germany. Can some kind sole point me in the right direction to order two of these U-bolts? Does anyone have the correct size I can reference in placing an order? Does anyone have two on hand (even used ones) that they can spare for a reasonable price? Many thanks for any assistance. 73, Joe W2KJ

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Re: [amsat-bb] SSB-Electronics preamps
by David J. Schmocker 16 Jun '20

16 Jun '20

If you really want a precise (custom) U-bolt, McMaster Carr (Chicago) will make them to your drawing. Not inexpensive, but it's one solution option. 73, Dave KJ9I On 6/16/20 8:30 PM, Stephen E. Belter via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Joe, > > Look for your U-bolts at an auto supply store too. The muffler clamps are different sizes than the hardware store clamps. > > 73, Steve N9IP

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Funcube dongle Adios
by Rafael Pena 16 Jun '20

16 Jun '20

It appears as if Funcube went bye-bye....interesting. I am using SDRPlay RSP2 Pro to see the RX of the Sats via HDSDR. SDRPlay connected to Lindenblad ant which is blocked by adjacent structures left / right. I can only see RX sat when above me :( (((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((())))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) Message: 11 Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2020 17:02:53 -0700 From: Mike Hoblinski <hobergenix(a)gmail.com> To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Funcube Dongle site Message-ID: <CAMpzqDEWpH5VhOYRYyZQDLyXnugfnpRe4d5pkW8sazq6+Oqt3Q(a)mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" I went to the site for information and it appears to be gone and up for sale. http://www.funcubedongle.com/ Did the supplier go out of business or discontinue sale of the product. Mike N6IMF

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Re: [amsat-bb] AMSAT-BB Digest, Vol 15, Issue 196
by G7SVI Tiscali 16 Jun '20

16 Jun '20

Really weird, it is working here in the UK I used both Firefox and Edge and both worked although they now report the site is not completely secure due to images. Just wondering if it is being blocked by something else outside of the UK. If you can't access his site directly, there is a UK Hamstore selling it https://www.hamradio.co.uk/sdr-amsat-uk-funcube/funcube/funcube-dongle-pro-p d-4094.php Hope that helps Clive G7SVI -----Original Message----- I went to the site for information and it appears to be gone and up for sale. http://www.funcubedongle.com/ Did the supplier go out of business or discontinue sale of the product. Mike N6IMF

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Funcube dongle Adios
by Roy Dean 16 Jun '20

16 Jun '20

> > Really weird, it is working here in the UK The Funcube Dongle website works for me here in the US.... *shrug* --Roy K3RLD

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-06-16 16:00 UTC
by aj9n＠aol.com 16 Jun '20

16 Jun '20

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-06-16 16:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: ARISS sends Happy Birthday Greetings to Lou McFadin W5DID. Lou turned 80 years young yesterday. Lou has been very involved with ARISS, especially on the hardware side of things. (***) I.E.S. Pedro de Valdivia, Villanueva de la Serena, Spain, Multi-point telebridge via ON4ISS The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Chris Cassidy KF5KDR Contact was successful: Tue 2020-06-16 12:25:27 UTC 84 deg (***) Watch for live stream at: https://youtu.be/PyNqsTMqAoQ ######################################################################################################################################## ARISS would like to announce that Tony VK5ZAI has received a special award (also thanks to ARISS mentor and telebridge operator Shane VK4KHZ for letting us know): Congratulations to Tony Hutchison VK5ZAI in being recognised and awarded the Order of Australia medal (AM) in the June 8th Queens Birthday honours list. Well done Tony! Mr James Anthony HUTCHISON Kingston SE SA 5275 For significant service to amateur radio, particularly to satellite and space communication. For those that don't know what Tony has done, here a few stats. He has mentored 65 ARISS schools and been the telebridge station for 58 ARISS contacts. Plus he was very involved with SAREX. For even more info on Tony, check out these webpages (there are many more): http://www.electric-web.org/amateur_index.htm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chcgLwFy1v0 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-06/nasa-considers-amateur-radio-buff-pa… The actual announcement can be found on page 7 of 28 at: https://www.gg.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-06/QB2020%20Gazette%20-%20O%… ######################################################################################################################################## A multi-point telebridge contact means that each student will be on the telebridge from their own home. ************************************************* Looking for some stay at home activities related to science and for when you are not playing on your radio? Check out these links: >From ARISS Vice Chair Oliver Amend DG6BCE: ESA Astronauts to offer inspiration during isolation in #SpaceConnectsUs https://www.esa.int/Newsroom/Astronauts_to_offer_inspiration_during_isolati… Celestron, the telescope, microscope, and sports optics folks, now has something called #STEMINYOURBACKYARD that you can find on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. By the way, I don't work for Celestron or have any business dealings with them and this is just something I saw. Apparently there are 10 free STEM activities covering Astronomy, Nature and Wildlife, and The Microscopic World. Check out: https://www.celestron.com/blogs/news/discover-stem-in-your-backyard NASA has a STEM page with fun activities to do at home. Check out https://www.nasa.gov/stem ************************************************* ARISS is very aware of the impact that COVID-19 is having on schools and the public in general. As such, we may have last minute cancellations or postponements of school contacts. As always, I will try to provide everyone with near-real-time updates. The following schools have now been postponed or cancelled due to COVID-19: Postponed: No additional schools Cancelled: No additional schools The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Watch for future COVID-19 related announcements here also. Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) Note, all times are approximate. It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time. All dates and times listed follow International Standard ISO 8601 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS The complete schedule page has been updated as of 2020-06-16 16:00 UTC. (***) Here you will find a listing of all scheduled school contacts, and questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt The successful school list has been updated as of 2020-06-16 16:00 UTC. (***) https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. Message to US Educators ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The Proposal Window of February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 has now closed. For future proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Webinars, go to www.ariss.org. Please direct any questions to ariss.us.education(a)gmail.com. About ARISS: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the ISS National Lab and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. ******************************************************************************** ARISS Contact Applications (Europe, Africa and the Middle East) Schools and Youth organizations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East interested in setting up an ARISS radio contact with an astronaut on board the International Space Station are invited to submit an application from September to October and from February to April. Please refer to details and the application form at www.ariss-eu.org/school-contacts. Applications should be addressed by email to: school.selection.manager(a)ariss-eu.org ARISS Contact Applications (Canada, Central and South America, Asia and Australia and Russia) Organizations outside the United States can apply for an ARISS contact by filling out an application. Please direct questions to the appropriate regional representative listed below. If your country is not specifically listed, send your questions to the nearest ARISS Region listed. If you are unsure which address to use, please send your question to the ARISS-Canada representative; they will forward your question to the appropriate coordinator. For the application, go to: https://www.ariss.org/ariss-application.html. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD email to: ve3tbd(a)gmail.com ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ email to: ariss(a)iaru-r3.org, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) https://www.jarl.org/ ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) https://srr.ru/ ****************************************************************************** ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts. ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance. Feel free to send your reports to aj9n(a)amsat.org or aj9n(a)aol.com. Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8Ø MHz. ******************************************************************************* All ARISS contacts are made via the Kenwood radio unless otherwise noted. ******************************************************************************* Several of you have sent me emails asking about the RAC ARISS website and not being able to get in. That has now been changed to https://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do? How about receiving DATV from the ISS? Please note that the HamTV system has been brought back to earth for troubleshooting. Please monitor ARISS-EU or ARISS-ON for the very latest news on the troubleshooting efforts. If interested, then please go to the ARISS-EU website for complete details. Look for the buttons indicating Ham Video. http://www.ariss-eu.org/ If you need some assistance, ARISS mentor Kerry N6IZW, might be able to provide some insight. Contact Kerry at kbanke(a)sbcglobal.net The HamTV webpage: https://www.amsat-on.be/hamtv-summary/ **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: Francesco IKØWGF with 140 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 138 Sergey RV3DR with 133 Gaston ON4WF with 123 **************************************************************************** The webpages listed below were all reviewed for accuracy. Out of date webpages were removed, and new ones have been added. If there are additional ARISS websites I need to know about, please let me know. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1390. (***) Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1323. (***) Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 48. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ QSL information may be found at: https://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correcti… Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** Exp. 62 now on orbit Chris Cassidy KF5KDR Anatoli Ivanishin Ivan Vagner SpaceX-Demo2 now on orbit Bob Behnken KE5GGX Doug Hurley **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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Estonia's TTU100 X band satellite questions - reply from POC
by k.swaggart＠charter.net 16 Jun '20

16 Jun '20

Received a reply from the TTU100 point of contact: <snip> Thank you for good wishes! Unfortunately the control software of X-band transmitter is still not ready, so the transmitter will be silent in the near future. Hopefully we manage to activate the X-band transmitter in beacon mode first. Most probably it will take several months. I will let you know when you could try to receive X-band signals. 73, Eerik ES1JX, ES8JX (KO28LM) <unsnip> So, it looks like we have a while before there will be X-band signals. 73, Ken, W7KKE _____

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Estonia's TTU100 X band satellite questions
by k.swaggart＠charter.net 16 Jun '20

16 Jun '20

In a tweet from AMSAT-UK I saw that an Estonian university will launch their TTU100 cubesat on Friday with a X-band downlink on 10465 MHz. Thought it would be an interesting challenge to aim my X-band dish with a sat TV LNB at closest point of approach and see if I can see anything on the SDR waterfall. My LNB output would be at 715 MHz and the Doppler at AOS would be approximately +533 KHz! A couple of questions before I start configuring the equipment: * Will the 10465 MHz downlink be on during North America passes or only when in range of the Estonian ground station? * What is the modulation? It's an imaging satellite so I expect it will be high data rate. 73, Ken, W7KKE

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Next Rocket Lab launch
by Wendy and Terry Osborne 15 Jun '20

15 Jun '20

Hi Folks, Next Rocket Lab launch is scheduled for 3rd July. See: https://www.rocketlabusa.com/missions/completed-missions/pics-or-it-didnt-h… No, I don't know why it's in "completed-missions".......... Time yet to be announced. 73, Terry Osborne ZL2BAC

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Funcube Dongle site
by Mike Hoblinski 15 Jun '20

15 Jun '20

I went to the site for information and it appears to be gone and up for sale. http://www.funcubedongle.com/ Did the supplier go out of business or discontinue sale of the product. Mike N6IMF

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Break-down of APRS digipeats & ARISS.net
by Scott 15 Jun '20

15 Jun '20

As I was replying to a question about the ISS digipeater, and in particular the ARRIS.net website, I thought maybe the explanation might benefit others new to making APRS contacts via satellite. Kit (W3KIT) was kind enough to give me the ok to use my reply to him as a way to share with others that might be interested in this kind of thing. I've uploaded the 1-page explanation with an annotated screen shot to: https://www.qsl.net/k/k4kdr//how-to/ariss-aprs-explained.pdf 73! -Scott, K4KDR

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Raspberry Pi FUNcube satellite telemetry decoder
by M5AKA 15 Jun '20

15 Jun '20

The FUNcube Team has announced the availability of FUNcube CubeSat satellite telemetry decoder software for the popular Raspberry Pi computer board https://amsat-uk.org/2020/06/15/raspberry-pi-funcube-satellite-telemetry-de… Indian radio amateur starts petition for licence change https://amsat-uk.org/2020/06/13/indian-radio-amateur-starts-petition-for-li… 15 Canadian CubeSats to launch from 2021 https://amsat-uk.org/2020/06/10/15-canadian-cubesats/ Tony Hutchison VK5ZAI in Queen’s Birthday honours list https://amsat-uk.org/2020/06/09/vk5zai-in-queens-birthday-honours/ Longjiang-2 / LO-94: Journey to the Moon https://amsat-uk.org/2020/06/06/longjiang-2-lo-94-journey-to-the-moon/ Trevor M5AKA---- AMSAT-UK http://amsat-uk.org/ Twitter https://twitter.com/AmsatUK Facebook https://facebook.com/AmsatUK YouTube https://youtube.com/AmsatUK ----

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Re: [amsat-bb] Alpha Spid Rotator
by Edward R Cole 14 Jun '20

14 Jun '20

Note: I am using the Alpha-Spid RAK as azimuth rotator on eme for 50 and 144 MHz. No experience with RAS. Only have the RAK installed for my 144-eme array of four XP yagis at this point. I have about 150-foot cable run and using 8-conductor standard rotator cable (only four needed by the Spid) I had excessive voltage loss on the motor lines (dropped to 8vdc). Even paralleling some of the unused wires did not solve. I finally use a pair of No. 10 wires to get 12v to the rotator. I run 18vac into the controller (which has a bridge rectifier) to obtain 24vdc unloaded on output. Loaded the voltage sags to about 18vdc at the controller, but runs the rotator fine. Use the No. 20 control wires in the original rotor cable for indication with no issues. I have the 1-degree resolution rotator (good enough for 50 or 144-MHz). Previously, I ran a Ham-IV which only provides 5-degree movement due to the brake system. Ham-IV was challenged for torque by the eme array. Spid seems to handle that FB. 73, Ed - KL7UW http://www.kl7uw.com Dubus-NA Business mail: dubususa(a)gmail.com

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FUNCube Dongle Pro+
by Jim Sanford 14 Jun '20

14 Jun '20

All: I've been seeking to buy one of these. Any site that comes up in Google directs me to a site which cites names.co.uk and tries to sell me this domain. Has the FUNCube dongle disappeared, or am I being spoofed? Anybody have a direct link to purchase and get support? Thanks & 73, Jim wb4gcs(a)amsat.org -- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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WTB: SSB-electronic SP70
by Joseph Trombino, Jr 14 Jun '20

14 Jun '20

Howdy Gang. Want to buy an SSB-Electronic SP70 preamp for 432Mhz. Unit should be in good shape and working FB. Will pay with PayPal. Many thanks. 73, Joe W2KJ

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Cosmic signals in the 2m band
by Zach Metzinger 14 Jun '20

14 Jun '20

Here's an interesting article for y'all, and I noticed that they're listening right in one of our bands! https://phys.org/news/2020-06-scientists-billion-year-old-universe-dark-age… --- Zach N0ZGO

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Rocket Lab Launch Replay
by Wendy and Terry Osborne 14 Jun '20

14 Jun '20

Hi Folks, The replay of yesterday's Rocket Lab Launch is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=10&v=VRfm6RGVHf8&feature=emb_lo… 73, Terry Osborne ZL2BAC

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UO-11
by gw1fky＠aol.com 13 Jun '20

13 Jun '20

Hi,With reference to UO-11 and comments from Graham ( VE3GTV ) about monitoring the satellite.Please also note that the frequency is 145.826 Mhz, and the satellite may be "OFF" due to the timer cycle which is approx every ten and a half (10.5 ) days.The late Clive Wallis from Amsat-UK was great supporter of the satellite and posted out monthly reports. He has been greatly missed for the news but the satellite continuesto operate, pleased to report after very long life.Decoding software and reports are also available from the web site of Mike (DK3WN) - The satellite status is also of course available on the Amsat-NA web pages. RegardsKen EatonGW1FKY

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2M Preamp - SSB Electronic 1032-NF
by Rafael Pena 13 Jun '20

13 Jun '20

The SP200 SSB-Electronic Gmbh 1032-NF is now in stock at HRO Virginia. They only have a meager few. It probably is too late by the time you read this. NN3RP / Rafael PS: I am not affiliated with the store but I $upport them by purcha$ing from them.

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satpc32
by Nick Pugh 13 Jun '20

13 Jun '20

Yesterday I replaced my Doppler.SQF file and the frequency control quit working. I have several copies of the Doppler.SQF file where does satpc look for the Doppuler file When I go to the aux file menu it finds the Doppler file but does not work Help tnx nick Cell 337 258 2527 Helping UL become a world Class Engineering and Educational School Disagree I Learn

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UO-11
by Pedro Converso 13 Jun '20

13 Jun '20

Hello, Regarding UO-11 there is an interesting audio capture on https://network.satnogs.org/observations/1390588/ Sounds similar to sample on http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/clivew/u2rpt.htm UO-11 can be tracked from http://amsat.org.ar/pass?satx=uo-11 73, lu7abf, Pedro

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Rocket lab launch now streaming
by Wendy and Terry Osborne 13 Jun '20

13 Jun '20

See: https://www.rocketlabusa.com/live-stream 73, Terry Osborne ZL2BAC

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ISS APRS Active?
by Mike Lucas 13 Jun '20

13 Jun '20

Anybody know if the ISS APRS digipeater station is active? Mike N7ASZ

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Rocket Lab Launch looking good for later today
by Wendy and Terry Osborne 12 Jun '20

12 Jun '20

See: https://twitter.com/rocketlab Catch the stream here: https://www.rocketlabusa.com/ at about 04:15 UTC 73, Terry Osborne ZL2BAC

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UO-11
by Roy Dean 12 Jun '20

12 Jun '20

> > Good morning all, I was monitoring 145.825 this morning and surprised to > hear a data signal > at a time when I was not expecting to hear anything. After a bit of > research it turns out this was UO-11 ( I think ) FM 1K2 > AFSK telemetry Strong signal at FN25ig (near Ottawa Canada) AOS, at least > when I first > heard the signal, approximately 2020-06-12 12:33UTC and LOS 12:38 UTC. I > think I am going to monitor a few passes and see if I can decode some of > the telemetry. cheers, Graham ve3gt I went through some SatNogs observations for UO-11 that had positive decodes, and 100% of the ones I looked at had either false positives due to the ISS digipeater RF-Bombing the pass, or they just had gibberish decodes of noise. There are also a few observations that seem to have very noticeable signals - but no decodes. Please do let us know how it goes. --Roy K3RLD

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UO-11
by Graham c 12 Jun '20

12 Jun '20

Good morning all, I was monitoring 145.825 this morning and surprised to hear a data signal at a time when I was not expecting to hear anything. After a bit of research it turns out this was UO-11 ( I think ) FM 1K2 AFSK telemetry Strong signal at FN25ig (near Ottawa Canada) AOS, at least when I first heard the signal, approximately 2020-06-12 12:33UTC and LOS 12:38 UTC. I think I am going to monitor a few passes and see if I can decode some of the telemetry. cheers, Graham ve3gtc

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Mini Circuits components on Mouser
by Leffke, Zachary 12 Jun '20

12 Jun '20

Hi Folks, Just thought I'd drop a quick note for a recent discovery I made for the DIYers out there. Mini Circuits components are now being distributed through Mouser! On Mini Circuits, a lot of the stuff may be cheap, but usually comes with a minimum order quantity of 10 or 20 items. On Mouser you can place single item orders. The flipside of this though is the per unit cost is higher on Mouser, but totally worth it if you only need one or two of something and don't want to eat the cost for ordering 20. This could be a huge plus for microwave and other satellite projects. A lot (maybe all?) of the W1GHZ transverter designs are based around Mini Circuits components. There was some discussion on this list a while back about DIY VHF/UHF preamps and I piped up about a PGA-103 based design that I like. On Mini Circuits, one amp is $1.99, but again you'd have to buy 20 (so minimum cost of $40). On Mouser same amp is $3.12 for 1. Much more reasonable if you only need one or two. I haven't checked every component that might be of interest, and I'm mostly looking for SMT components at the moment. So far amps and baluns seem to be cross listed, though a number of mixers are listed but 'out of stock' on Mouser.....still that might just be stock ramp up delays if this is relatively new for Mouser. Just thought I'd let folks know. Keep your eye out for the 'buy on mouser' link if your searching around on Mini Circuits page. Spread the word to your microwave friends! If this is old news, sorry for that, I got excited when I found it! -Zach, KJ4QLP -- Research Associate Aerospace & Ocean Systems Lab Ted & Karyn Hume Center for National Security & Technology Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University Work Phone: 540-231-4174 Cell Phone: 540-808-6305

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FoxTelem changed?
by Mark Johns, K0JM 12 Jun '20

12 Jun '20

For weeks I have been successfully capturing 30-60 telemetry frames per pass on AO-91 and AO-92 with FoxTelem v.1.08z5. But suddenly, over the past week or two, I'm lucky to capture 10-20 frames in a pass -- sometimes as few as 1 or 2 frames for a 25 degree elevation pass! The eye just doesn't seem to want to lock up, even when the downlink signal is very strong. Nothing has changed in my station. Is something different with the DUV signals of the satellites, or with the program, or some screwy Windows update, or something else that I'm missing? Anyone else seeing the same? -- Mark D. Johns, KØJM AMSAT Ambassador & News Service Editor Brooklyn Park, MN USA EN35hd ----------------------------------------------- "Heaven goes by favor; if it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in." ---Mark Twain

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Re: [amsat-bb] HF and Satellite antennas on one mast?
by Rich Gopstein 11 Jun '20

11 Jun '20

Thanks. A LEO-pack might be a better choice for stacking then. Since the coax wouldn't hang down as far. Also less wind area... On Thu, Jun 11, 2020, 1:14 PM W3AB/GEO <w3ab(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > That would work. Your AZ rotor will determine how big a HF beam you can > install. Don't forget to add in the Sat array for wind load. The spacing > will probably be determined by your coax feed to the Sat antennas. > > ___ > Sent from my two way wrist watch > 73 de W3AB/GEO > On Jun 11, 2020, at 08:24, Rich Gopstein via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> > wrote: >> >> I'm considering putting up a tower to get my satellite antennas off the >> ground. As long as I'm doing that, I'm considering putting a small HF beam >> up there too (maybe the 2 or 3 element SteppIR?). >> >> Has anyone done that? Do you put the HF antenna below the AZ/EL setup? >> How much room would I leave between them? BTW - I have the larger M2 >> satellite antennas, not the LEO-pack, so the antennas are mounted near the >> middle of the booms, not at the ends. >> >> I imagine I'd split the G-5500 into separate AZ and EL rotators, placing >> the AZ rotator in the tower. >> >> Thoughts? >> >> Thanks. >> >> Rich, KD2CQ >> ------------------------------ >> >> Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available >> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed >> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. >> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! >> Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb >> >>

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-06-11 18:30 UTC
by aj9n＠aol.com 11 Jun '20

11 Jun '20

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-06-11 18:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: I.E.S. Pedro de Valdivia, Villanueva de la Serena, Spain, Multi-point telebridge via ON4ISS The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Chris Cassidy KF5KDR Contact is go for: Tue 2020-06-16 12:25:27 UTC 84 deg Watch for live stream at: https://youtu.be/PyNqsTMqAoQ (***) ######################################################################################################################################## ARISS would like to announce that Tony VK5ZAI has received a special award (also thanks to ARISS mentor and telebridge operator Shane VK4KHZ for letting us know): Congratulations to Tony Hutchison VK5ZAI in being recognised and awarded the Order of Australia medal (AM) in the June 8th Queens Birthday honours list. Well done Tony! Mr James Anthony HUTCHISON Kingston SE SA 5275 For significant service to amateur radio, particularly to satellite and space communication. For those that don't know what Tony has done, here a few stats. He has mentored 65 ARISS schools and been the telebridge station for 58 ARISS contacts. Plus he was very involved with SAREX. For even more info on Tony, check out these webpages (there are many more): http://www.electric-web.org/amateur_index.htm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chcgLwFy1v0 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-06/nasa-considers-amateur-radio-buff-pa… The actual announcement can be found on page 7 of 28 at: https://www.gg.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-06/QB2020%20Gazette%20-%20O%… ######################################################################################################################################## A multi-point telebridge contact means that each student will be on the telebridge from their own home. ************************************************* Looking for some stay at home activities related to science and for when you are not playing on your radio? Check out these links: >From ARISS Vice Chair Oliver Amend DG6BCE: ESA Astronauts to offer inspiration during isolation in #SpaceConnectsUs https://www.esa.int/Newsroom/Astronauts_to_offer_inspiration_during_isolati… Celestron, the telescope, microscope, and sports optics folks, now has something called #STEMINYOURBACKYARD that you can find on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. By the way, I don't work for Celestron or have any business dealings with them and this is just something I saw. Apparently there are 10 free STEM activities covering Astronomy, Nature and Wildlife, and The Microscopic World. Check out: https://www.celestron.com/blogs/news/discover-stem-in-your-backyard NASA has a STEM page with fun activities to do at home. Check out https://www.nasa.gov/stem ************************************************* ARISS is very aware of the impact that COVID-19 is having on schools and the public in general. As such, we may have last minute cancellations or postponements of school contacts. As always, I will try to provide everyone with near-real-time updates. The following schools have now been postponed or cancelled due to COVID-19: Postponed: No additional schools Cancelled: No additional schools The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Watch for future COVID-19 related announcements here also. Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) Note, all times are approximate. It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time. All dates and times listed follow International Standard ISO 8601 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS The complete schedule page has been updated as of 2020-06-11 18:30 UTC. (***) Here you will find a listing of all scheduled school contacts, and questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt The successful school list has been updated as of 2020-05-17 11:30 UTC. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. Message to US Educators ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The Proposal Window of February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 has now closed. For future proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Webinars, go to www.ariss.org. Please direct any questions to ariss.us.education(a)gmail.com. About ARISS: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the ISS National Lab and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. ******************************************************************************** ARISS Contact Applications (Europe, Africa and the Middle East) Schools and Youth organizations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East interested in setting up an ARISS radio contact with an astronaut on board the International Space Station are invited to submit an application from September to October and from February to April. Please refer to details and the application form at www.ariss-eu.org/school-contacts. Applications should be addressed by email to: school.selection.manager(a)ariss-eu.org ARISS Contact Applications (Canada, Central and South America, Asia and Australia and Russia) Organizations outside the United States can apply for an ARISS contact by filling out an application. Please direct questions to the appropriate regional representative listed below. If your country is not specifically listed, send your questions to the nearest ARISS Region listed. If you are unsure which address to use, please send your question to the ARISS-Canada representative; they will forward your question to the appropriate coordinator. For the application, go to: https://www.ariss.org/ariss-application.html. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD email to: ve3tbd(a)gmail.com ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ email to: ariss(a)iaru-r3.org, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) https://www.jarl.org/ ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) https://srr.ru/ ****************************************************************************** ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts. ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance. Feel free to send your reports to aj9n(a)amsat.org or aj9n(a)aol.com. Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8Ø MHz. ******************************************************************************* All ARISS contacts are made via the Kenwood radio unless otherwise noted. ******************************************************************************* Several of you have sent me emails asking about the RAC ARISS website and not being able to get in. That has now been changed to https://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do? How about receiving DATV from the ISS? Please note that the HamTV system has been brought back to earth for troubleshooting. Please monitor ARISS-EU or ARISS-ON for the very latest news on the troubleshooting efforts. If interested, then please go to the ARISS-EU website for complete details. Look for the buttons indicating Ham Video. http://www.ariss-eu.org/ If you need some assistance, ARISS mentor Kerry N6IZW, might be able to provide some insight. Contact Kerry at kbanke(a)sbcglobal.net The HamTV webpage: https://www.amsat-on.be/hamtv-summary/ **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: Francesco IKØWGF with 140 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 138 Sergey RV3DR with 133 Gaston ON4WF with 123 **************************************************************************** The webpages listed below were all reviewed for accuracy. Out of date webpages were removed, and new ones have been added. If there are additional ARISS websites I need to know about, please let me know. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1389. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1322. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 48. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ QSL information may be found at: https://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correcti… Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** Exp. 62 now on orbit Chris Cassidy KF5KDR Anatoli Ivanishin Ivan Vagner SpaceX-Demo2 now on orbit Welcome aboard! Bob Behnken KE5GGX Doug Hurley **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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FoxTelem changed?
by Roy Dean 11 Jun '20

11 Jun '20

> > Nothing has changed in my station. Is something different with the DUV > signals of the satellites, or with the program, or some screwy Windows > update, or something else that I'm missing? Anyone else seeing the same? This is typical (at least for me). I've been running a dedicated FoxTelem station (FCDP+ and a Raspberry Pi, 3/4 wave ground plane attic antenna) for a couple of years and I've noticed that I can go for weeks only getting about 20 to 50 frames a day, the all of a sudden I'll average 200 frames a day for a couple of weeks. The running average seems to be about 50 frames a day. Of course, there could also be a recent issue with one of the satellites or your station.... who knows. Just giving you another data point. --Roy K3RLD

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Pre amps
by Albert Ozias 11 Jun '20

11 Jun '20

I have used an AG-25 and an AG-35 mask mounted pre-amps which are no longer used being my station was down sized. If anyone has interest in acquiring both for moderate consideration contact me at alozias(a)live.com or N7EQF(a)amsat.org.

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HF and Satellite antennas on one mast?
by Rich Gopstein 11 Jun '20

11 Jun '20

I'm considering putting up a tower to get my satellite antennas off the ground. As long as I'm doing that, I'm considering putting a small HF beam up there too (maybe the 2 or 3 element SteppIR?). Has anyone done that? Do you put the HF antenna below the AZ/EL setup? How much room would I leave between them? BTW - I have the larger M2 satellite antennas, not the LEO-pack, so the antennas are mounted near the middle of the booms, not at the ends. I imagine I'd split the G-5500 into separate AZ and EL rotators, placing the AZ rotator in the tower. Thoughts? Thanks. Rich, KD2CQ

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AMSAT Member Portal Huge Success!
by Robert Bankston 11 Jun '20

11 Jun '20

It’s been 41 days since I first launched AMSAT’s new, online Member Total. In that short time, 1,060 members have logged in, and we added 254 new and previously expired members to our ranks. A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into transitioning our old dBase4 database into our new online Member Portal. It has been a humbling experience to see everything come together and the expanded services we can now offer our Members. While my original plan was to spend the first couple of months getting our members signed up, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, took the initiative to collect, capture and upload all of The AMSAT Journals, dating back to 2014, to make them accessible to our members. In addition, Paul also made added AMSAT’s latest Amateur Satellite Frequency Guide as a member only benefit. This was a huge effort and added a lot of value for our members. Be sure to thank Paul for making it happen. To all of the members who have already signed up on the new AMSAT Member Portal and those who I have exchanged emails with, I thank you. I hope the level of our service lives up to your expectations. For those who have not signed up, what are you waiting for? It’s a fairly simple process and only takes a few minutes of your time. It is important that each and every member log in and MAKE SURE YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION IS UP TO DATE. While you’re there, take a moment to download the current satellite frequency guide, the stroll on over to The AMSAT Journal Archive. If you not a member, there is no better time to join. Visit launch.amsat.org 73, Robert Bankston, KE4AL Vice-President, User Services Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT)

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ANS-162 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - 38th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting Moving to Virtual Event
by Paul Stoetzer 10 Jun '20

10 Jun '20

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN ANS-162 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including 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. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * 38th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting Moving to Virtual Event SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-162.01 ANS-162 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin AMSAT News Service Bulletin 162.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE June 10, 2020 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-162.01 38th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting Moving to Virtual Event The 38th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting in- person event scheduled to be held in Bloomington, Minnesota has been canceled. The event will be shifted to a virtual, online platform. This comes after a decision made between AMSAT's Senior Leadership and Board of Directors in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. While AMSAT recognizes the national challenges related to recent events in Minneapolis, they have no bearing on the Symposium decision whatsoever. We anticipate holding 2021's Annual Space Symposium at the previously announced 2020 venue. The in-person event was scheduled to occur Friday, October 16th - Sunday, October 18th. As the 2020 virtual event plans are developed, they will be announced via the usual AMSAT channels. [ANS thanks the AMSAT Office 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 addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. 73 and Remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space, This week's ANS Contributing Editor, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM n8hm at amsat dot org

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Yasme Foundation Awards Grant to Open Research Institute
by Michelle Thompson 10 Jun '20

10 Jun '20

Good news! https://openresearch.institute/2020/06/10/yasme-foundation-generously-award… Yasme Foundation Generously Awards a $30,000 Grant to Support the Open Research Institute (ORI) Amateur Radio Satellite Service Research and Development Program ORI, a 501(c)(3) dedicated to open source research and development in amateur radio, has been awarded a $30,000 grant from the Yasme Foundation. This grant completes the Phase 1 fundraising campaign and allows ORI’s communications prototype work for geosynchronous and interplanetary amateur radio satellites to proceed. Combined with the ARRL Foundation’s recent maximum grant of $3,000, the $14,000 in proceeds from ORI’s successful Trans-Ionospheric electronic badge fundraiser, and many deeply appreciated individual donations, a total of $51,490 was raised for Phase 1 of the Digital Multiplex Transponder research and development program. A project that will directly and immediately benefit from this work includes the Amateur Radio Exploration (AREx) project, brought to you by Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS). AREx is devoted to designing and building amateur radio equipment for the Lunar Orbiting Platform Gateway project. This lunar orbiting station will have open source broadband microwave amateur equipment and affordable open source ground stations. AREx is not limited to Gateway, as there are many other opportunities under consideration that can re-use all of the work. All work completed by ORI is made available to the general public at no cost. The Yasme Foundation is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation organized to support scientific and educational projects related to amateur radio, including DXing (long distance communication) and the introduction and promotion of amateur radio in developing countries. Yasme supports various projects relating to amateur radio, with an emphasis on developing amateur radio in emerging countries and encouraging youth participation in amateur radio. The Yasme Foundation makes supporting grants to individuals and organizations providing or creating useful services for the amateur radio community. Regardless of originality or novelty, Yasme supports these programs in order to further the development of amateur radio around the world. The global perspective and commitment to authentic, accessible, and sustainable amateur radio training and experience puts Yasme Foundation into the rare category of organizations that provide true and broad public benefit. Find out more about the Yasme Foundation here: https://www.yasme.org/ ARISS is the home for AREx. ARISS can be found on the web at https://www.ariss.org/ JAMSAT supports AREx and has partnered with ORI to work on the Gateway Ground Station, which also directly benefits from this grant. JAMSAT can be found on the web at https://www.jamsat.or.jp Open Research Institute supports AREx and open source amateur radio research & development, primarily microwave. Find ORI on the web at https://openresearch.institute

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AO-92 in mode L/v at 0319utc for 24 hours 10 June 20
by Mark Hammond 10 Jun '20

10 Jun '20

Happy L-band! -- Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]

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FUNcube Data Warehouse Testing
by David Johnson 09 Jun '20

09 Jun '20

Hi, I am doing some testing to correct a problem with recovering fitter messages from FC1. If you could spare data from a pass or two to point to the test server, I should appreciate it. Change the URL in the dashboard to: http://data.g4dpz.me.uk and then change it back to http://data.amsat-uk.org when you have sent some data. I will move the scores across to the main site afterwards. Many thanks 73 Dave, G4DPZ

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-06-09 01:00 UTC
by aj9n＠aol.com 08 Jun '20

08 Jun '20

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-06-09 01:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: I.E.S. Pedro de Valdivia, Villanueva de la Serena, Spain, Multi-point telebridge via ON4ISS (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Chris Cassidy KF5KDR Contact is go for: Tue 2020-06-16 12:25:27 UTC 84 deg ######################################################################################################################################## ARISS would like to announce that Tony VK5ZAI has received a special award (also thanks to ARISS mentor and telebridge operator Shane VK4KHZ for letting us know): (***) Congratulations to Tony Hutchison VK5ZAI in being recognised and awarded the Order of Australia medal (AM) in the June 8th Queens Birthday honours list. (***) Well done Tony! Mr James Anthony HUTCHISON Kingston SE SA 5275 For significant service to amateur radio, particularly to satellite and space communication. For those that don't know what Tony has done, here a few stats. He has mentored 65 ARISS schools and been the telebridge station for 58 ARISS contacts. Plus he was very involved with SAREX. For even more info on Tony, check out these webpages (there are many more): http://www.electric-web.org/amateur_index.htm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chcgLwFy1v0 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-06/nasa-considers-amateur-radio-buff-pa… The actual announcement can be found on page 7 of 28 at: https://www.gg.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-06/QB2020%20Gazette%20-%20O%… ######################################################################################################################################## A multi-point telebridge contact means that each student will be on the telebridge from their own home. ************************************************* Looking for some stay at home activities related to science and for when you are not playing on your radio? Check out these links: >From ARISS Vice Chair Oliver Amend DG6BCE: ESA Astronauts to offer inspiration during isolation in #SpaceConnectsUs https://www.esa.int/Newsroom/Astronauts_to_offer_inspiration_during_isolati… Celestron, the telescope, microscope, and sports optics folks, now has something called #STEMINYOURBACKYARD that you can find on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. By the way, I don't work for Celestron or have any business dealings with them and this is just something I saw. Apparently there are 10 free STEM activities covering Astronomy, Nature and Wildlife, and The Microscopic World. Check out: https://www.celestron.com/blogs/news/discover-stem-in-your-backyard NASA has a STEM page with fun activities to do at home. Check out https://www.nasa.gov/stem ************************************************* ARISS is very aware of the impact that COVID-19 is having on schools and the public in general. As such, we may have last minute cancellations or postponements of school contacts. As always, I will try to provide everyone with near-real-time updates. The following schools have now been postponed or cancelled due to COVID-19: Postponed: No additional schools Cancelled: No additional schools The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Watch for future COVID-19 related announcements here also. Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) Note, all times are approximate. It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time. All dates and times listed follow International Standard ISO 8601 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS The complete schedule page has been updated as of 2020-06-09 01:00 UTC. (***) Here you will find a listing of all scheduled school contacts, and questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt The successful school list has been updated as of 2020-05-17 11:30 UTC. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. Message to US Educators ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The Proposal Window of February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 has now closed. For future proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Webinars, go to www.ariss.org. Please direct any questions to ariss.us.education(a)gmail.com. About ARISS: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the ISS National Lab and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. ******************************************************************************** ARISS Contact Applications (Europe, Africa and the Middle East) Schools and Youth organizations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East interested in setting up an ARISS radio contact with an astronaut on board the International Space Station are invited to submit an application from September to October and from February to April. Please refer to details and the application form at www.ariss-eu.org/school-contacts. Applications should be addressed by email to: school.selection.manager(a)ariss-eu.org ARISS Contact Applications (Canada, Central and South America, Asia and Australia and Russia) Organizations outside the United States can apply for an ARISS contact by filling out an application. Please direct questions to the appropriate regional representative listed below. If your country is not specifically listed, send your questions to the nearest ARISS Region listed. If you are unsure which address to use, please send your question to the ARISS-Canada representative; they will forward your question to the appropriate coordinator. For the application, go to: https://www.ariss.org/ariss-application.html. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD email to: ve3tbd(a)gmail.com ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ email to: ariss(a)iaru-r3.org, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) https://www.jarl.org/ ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) https://srr.ru/ ****************************************************************************** ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts. ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance. Feel free to send your reports to aj9n(a)amsat.org or aj9n(a)aol.com. Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8Ø MHz. ******************************************************************************* All ARISS contacts are made via the Kenwood radio unless otherwise noted. ******************************************************************************* Several of you have sent me emails asking about the RAC ARISS website and not being able to get in. That has now been changed to https://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do? How about receiving DATV from the ISS? Please note that the HamTV system has been brought back to earth for troubleshooting. Please monitor ARISS-EU or ARISS-ON for the very latest news on the troubleshooting efforts. If interested, then please go to the ARISS-EU website for complete details. Look for the buttons indicating Ham Video. http://www.ariss-eu.org/ If you need some assistance, ARISS mentor Kerry N6IZW, might be able to provide some insight. Contact Kerry at kbanke(a)sbcglobal.net The HamTV webpage: https://www.amsat-on.be/hamtv-summary/ **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: Francesco IKØWGF with 140 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 138 Sergey RV3DR with 133 Gaston ON4WF with 123 **************************************************************************** The webpages listed below were all reviewed for accuracy. Out of date webpages were removed, and new ones have been added. If there are additional ARISS websites I need to know about, please let me know. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1389. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1322. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 48. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ QSL information may be found at: https://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correcti… Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** Exp. 62 now on orbit Chris Cassidy KF5KDR Anatoli Ivanishin Ivan Vagner SpaceX-Demo2 now on orbit Welcome aboard! Bob Behnken KE5GGX Doug Hurley **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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Rant about Mentoring new Satellite Operators
by Jeff Moore 08 Jun '20

08 Jun '20

We already have "certifications" - they're called licenses - we don't need any more! Education is great and needed - lose the certifications, they are unneeded and unwanted!!! This is a hobby first and foremost! It ceases being a hobby when you have to get certified to do anything in addition to getting licensed! Jeff Moore -- KE7ACY On Mon, Jun 8, 2020 at 4:19 PM Greg D via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> wrote: > Hi Mike, > > Good points. Let me offer an expanded view on the situation, and a > thought on perhaps a way forward. > > I think part of the issue is that the hobby we call "amateur radio" has > continued to expand in multiple directions (which is an incredibly good > thing), yet the structure of the formal education and support (think > license preparation and testing) has either not changed or has shrunk > (elimination of Morse code). We have a 1-dimensional solution to a > 2-dimensional problem. We fortunately have a pretty strong tradition of > Elmering, and with the technology of the Internet, many ways to deliver > it beyond the traditional radio club, but that's perhaps a bit too > unstructured for many. As a result, they either give up, sit there > paralyzed and bewildered, or just stay within a narrow comfort zone. > > To be fair, that narrow comfort zone might be all some ever want to do > with the hobby, and that's fine. But my expectation is that there are > many more who would pursue various areas if there was a little more > support (structure) in getting there. Even the awareness that such > disciplines and modes exist is pretty random. > > My thought... Many of the lanes of interest have industry or a > significant nexus of organizational backing (Satellite communications, > emergency services, QRP operating, Digital Voice, even Morse Code). > Would it work if these organizations created study guides and a formal > certification process by which licensed operators could get additional > recognition, which they could attach to their signature / call sign / > etc. Think "CCNP" for network engineering , "PMP" for project > management, or the "Salad Bar" that honors a military uniform. > > While it could get to be a little "snobbish" if taken too far, the > visibility and formality of such a series of certifications might create > the second dimension in advancement that our licensing structure > currently lacks. In doing so, it could provide the framework to build > on the tradition of Elmering that is at the core of our hobby, and > answer your challenge of how to mentor new satellite operators. > > Just a thought. > > Greg KO6TH > > > > Michael Walker via AMSAT-BB wrote: > > Let me chime in on this as this strikes a nerve with me, a d if I offend > > you, my apologies but I think it needs to be said as a new user. > > > > I work in the retail industry for Ham Radio (most know what I do). > > > > I talk to customers all day long and they come from all walks of life and > > all education levels. Most new hams do not have the technical > background > > they some of us have and they need some very basic information and > > mentoring to get over the hump. This is a confusing hobby for new hams. > > AMSAT has not been good at helping out very new users. They want to have > > fun and actually communicate as well they do want to understand. > > > > Some learn well from reading. Some from Videos and some from 1 on 1 > > coaching on the phone so they can ask questions. > > > > I will be the first to admit that getting started with SATpc32 for a new > > operator is difficult. I spent a few weeks at it and nothing phases me > in > > technology and integration. This is why I did the intro video on > YouTube > > on how to navigate the GUI that I have received LOTS of emails on and how > > it get them out of 1st gear. Oh, and I searched YouTube before I did the > > video and everything I saw assumed you knew how to drive SATpc32. So, I > > do the video and all I get is slammed by AMSAT members for assuming I did > > not having a licensed copy. What a friendly bunch. > > > > I was about a day from selling a new IC-9700, rotators, ERC controller > and > > antennas. Why would I want to be part of a group that didn't really want > > to help. No wonder the hobby is dying. > > > > Don't get me wrong, it is an amazing piece of software and it does what > it > > does amazingly. My rant is not about 955 ROUNDSTONE DR > > GALT, CA 95632the software it is about those that > > don't like the simple questions. > > > > Yes, it is a technical hobby but hams new to this part of the hobby do > not > > understand the terms and how it affects the operation of trying to make a > > QSO. > > > > Updating for a new satellite is not easily understood and despite all the > > instructions that people tossed at me, none worked to get RS44 functional > > when it came out. And, yes, I read the manual. A LOT. The manual > expects > > you to be a seasoned and educated Satellite operator. > > > > For those that spend some one on one time, I think you in advance for all > > your mentoring as I am sure many have benefitted from your contributions. > > > > For those that say "RTFM" consider where you started and who helped you > to > > get out of 1st gear. RTFM doesn't work for everyone. In fact, it has > > the opposite effect by scaring new members/operators away. > > > > *** Remember, there is no stupid question. *** > > > > Mike va3mw > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. > Opinions expressed > > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of > AMSAT-NA. > > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite > program! > > Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions > expressed > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of > AMSAT-NA. > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! > Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb >

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SSB Electronics USA distributor
by Rafael Pena 08 Jun '20

08 Jun '20

HRO does not have them all in stock....place yourself on the waiting list for the ones not in stock....I did. Rafael / NN3RP Message: 8 Date: Mon, 8 Jun 2020 16:20:36 -0400 From: "Joseph Trombino, Jr" <w2kj(a)bellsouth.net> To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] SSB Electronics USA distributor Message-ID: <B4B4D0CF-B90E-47CE-8D73-C565DCA630A9(a)bellsouth.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Howdy Gang. Getting back into the satellites after a long hiatus (since the demise of AO40) and wonder if there is a current distributor for SSB Electronics VHF/UHF preamps. Appreciate and info. 73, Joe W2KJ ------------------------------ Message: 9 Date: Mon, 8 Jun 2020 16:25:47 -0400 From: Dave Webb KB1PVH <kb1pvh(a)gmail.com> To: "Joseph Trombino, Jr" <w2kj(a)bellsouth.net> Cc: AMSAT -BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] SSB Electronics USA distributor Message-ID: <CAEMY9Fe-VkhCaMhYgs5U9brTFzBiKvkY8=WQjRzraea5Vj9s7g(a)mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" HRO sells them. Dave-KB1PVH Sent from my Galaxy S9

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Re: [amsat-bb] Satellite Hiatus--Doppler.SQF
by Erich Eichmann 08 Jun '20

08 Jun '20

Hello, I have added the following hints to the FAQs file http://www.dk1tb.de/FAQ_e.htm (sect. 5s at the end of the file): s. Use of different Kepler data files with different satellite names The various Kepler data files (source files) often use different names for the same satellite. This is e.g. the case with some of those contained in the AMSAT file nasa.all on the one hand and the Celestrak files (amateur.txt, cubesat.txt etc.) on the other. This can lead to a satellite or its frequencies not being displayed when the source file is changed although the file contains data for the relevant satellite. A solution to the problem is an entry for the satellite in the auxiliary file AmsatNames.txt. The file already contains a list with the identifiers (catalog numbers) of the satellites important for radio amateurs and the assigned satellite names and instructions on how to make the entry. The names from a source file, e.g. nasa.all, or even self-made ones can be used as names. They should of course be as memorable as possible (that's why the 5-digit identifier itself is not suitable as a name, although that would be possible). With the option 'Use Amsat Names if Available' the program then uses the assigned name with all source files, regardless of a different name in the source file. It is displayed in SatPC32 and can be used in all data files that require a satellite name such as Doppler.SQF, Prior.SQF, SubTone.SQF or Squint.SQF. This means that all source files containing data for the satellite can be used.

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SSB Electronics USA distributor
by Joseph Trombino, Jr 08 Jun '20

08 Jun '20

Howdy Gang. Getting back into the satellites after a long hiatus (since the demise of AO40) and wonder if there is a current distributor for SSB Electronics VHF/UHF preamps. Appreciate and info. 73, Joe W2KJ

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-06-08 18:30 UTC
by aj9n＠aol.com 08 Jun '20

08 Jun '20

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-06-08 18:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: ######################################################################################################################################## ARISS would like to announce that Tony VK5ZAI has received a special award (also thanks to ARISS mentor and telebridge operator Shane VK4KHZ for letting us know): (***) Congratulations to Tony Hutchison VK5ZAI in being recognised and awarded the Order of Australia medal (AM) in the June 8th Queens Birthday honours list. (***) Well done Tony! Mr James Anthony HUTCHISON Kingston SE SA 5275 For significant service to amateur radio, particularly to satellite and space communication. For those that don't know what Tony has done, here a few stats. He has mentored 65 ARISS schools and been the telebridge station for 58 ARISS contacts. Plus he was very involved with SAREX. For even more info on Tony, check out these webpages (there are many more): http://www.electric-web.org/amateur_index.htm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chcgLwFy1v0 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-06/nasa-considers-amateur-radio-buff-pa… The actual announcement can be found on page 7 of 28 at: https://www.gg.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-06/QB2020%20Gazette%20-%20O%… ######################################################################################################################################## A multi-point telebridge contact means that each student will be on the telebridge from their own home. ************************************************* Looking for some stay at home activities related to science and for when you are not playing on your radio? Check out these links: >From ARISS Vice Chair Oliver Amend DG6BCE: ESA Astronauts to offer inspiration during isolation in #SpaceConnectsUs https://www.esa.int/Newsroom/Astronauts_to_offer_inspiration_during_isolati… Celestron, the telescope, microscope, and sports optics folks, now has something called #STEMINYOURBACKYARD that you can find on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. By the way, I don't work for Celestron or have any business dealings with them and this is just something I saw. Apparently there are 10 free STEM activities covering Astronomy, Nature and Wildlife, and The Microscopic World. Check out: https://www.celestron.com/blogs/news/discover-stem-in-your-backyard NASA has a STEM page with fun activities to do at home. Check out https://www.nasa.gov/stem ************************************************* ARISS is very aware of the impact that COVID-19 is having on schools and the public in general. As such, we may have last minute cancellations or postponements of school contacts. As always, I will try to provide everyone with near-real-time updates. The following schools have now been postponed or cancelled due to COVID-19: Postponed: No additional schools Cancelled: No additional schools The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Watch for future COVID-19 related announcements here also. Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) Note, all times are approximate. It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time. All dates and times listed follow International Standard ISO 8601 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS The complete schedule page has been updated as of 2020-06-08 18:30 UTC. (***) Here you will find a listing of all scheduled school contacts, and questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt The successful school list has been updated as of 2020-05-17 11:30 UTC. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. Message to US Educators ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The Proposal Window of February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 has now closed. For future proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Webinars, go to www.ariss.org. Please direct any questions to ariss.us.education(a)gmail.com. About ARISS: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the ISS National Lab and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. ******************************************************************************** ARISS Contact Applications (Europe, Africa and the Middle East) Schools and Youth organizations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East interested in setting up an ARISS radio contact with an astronaut on board the International Space Station are invited to submit an application from September to October and from February to April. Please refer to details and the application form at www.ariss-eu.org/school-contacts. Applications should be addressed by email to: school.selection.manager(a)ariss-eu.org ARISS Contact Applications (Canada, Central and South America, Asia and Australia and Russia) Organizations outside the United States can apply for an ARISS contact by filling out an application. Please direct questions to the appropriate regional representative listed below. If your country is not specifically listed, send your questions to the nearest ARISS Region listed. If you are unsure which address to use, please send your question to the ARISS-Canada representative; they will forward your question to the appropriate coordinator. For the application, go to: https://www.ariss.org/ariss-application.html. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD email to: ve3tbd(a)gmail.com ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ email to: ariss(a)iaru-r3.org, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) https://www.jarl.org/ ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) https://srr.ru/ ****************************************************************************** ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts. ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance. Feel free to send your reports to aj9n(a)amsat.org or aj9n(a)aol.com. Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8Ø MHz. ******************************************************************************* All ARISS contacts are made via the Kenwood radio unless otherwise noted. ******************************************************************************* Several of you have sent me emails asking about the RAC ARISS website and not being able to get in. That has now been changed to https://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do? How about receiving DATV from the ISS? Please note that the HamTV system has been brought back to earth for troubleshooting. Please monitor ARISS-EU or ARISS-ON for the very latest news on the troubleshooting efforts. If interested, then please go to the ARISS-EU website for complete details. Look for the buttons indicating Ham Video. http://www.ariss-eu.org/ If you need some assistance, ARISS mentor Kerry N6IZW, might be able to provide some insight. Contact Kerry at kbanke(a)sbcglobal.net The HamTV webpage: https://www.amsat-on.be/hamtv-summary/ **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: Francesco IKØWGF with 140 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 138 Sergey RV3DR with 133 Gaston ON4WF with 123 **************************************************************************** The webpages listed below were all reviewed for accuracy. Out of date webpages were removed, and new ones have been added. If there are additional ARISS websites I need to know about, please let me know. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1389. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1322. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 48. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ QSL information may be found at: https://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correcti… Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** Exp. 62 now on orbit Chris Cassidy KF5KDR Anatoli Ivanishin Ivan Vagner SpaceX-Demo2 now on orbit Welcome aboard! Bob Behnken KE5GGX Doug Hurley **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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TEST
by Joseph Trombino, Jr 08 Jun '20

08 Jun '20

TEST 73, Joe W2KJ

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Antenna Location
by satop 08 Jun '20

08 Jun '20

Rich, my last location was worse than yours I believe. I lived in an large city two story home with 9' ceilings and a large peak roof, think 1903 style. There was a three story home on the east side and a three story church on the west. Three very large oak trees in the front and very poor aim points to the north. I mounted my tripod on a one story wood shed on the north end of the home. I had about a 60' run of hardline to the shack and used high gain yagi antennas for vhf/uhf. This setup worked fantasy and always was amazing to me. I even pre purchased a Super-Amp SP-7000 for UHF but never found that I needed it. Use some antennas with some gain and I'll bet you'll be just fine mounting on the garage or lower build. Gary/N8AYY Sent with [ProtonMail](https://protonmail.com) Secure Email.

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Satellite Hiatus--Doppler.SQF
by Les Rayburn 07 Jun '20

07 Jun '20

So I cut and pasted the new Doppler.SQF file from JE9PEL / Mineo Wakita site. Restarted, but none of the satellites will track frequency. I assume this is due to a difference in the naming conventions in the Kep file. I use “NASA ALL” for my keps. Not certain which version Mineo uses for his. Hate to complain about software when the proceeds are going to support AMSAT (much appreciated). But why does this have to be so difficult? It really should be as easy as “update Keps” and everything syncs. Two pet peeves- - The lack of standardization in how satellites are named. And then they change names. This causes confusion and incompatibility with software, tracking apps, etc. Why not settle on a standard and stick to it? -The lack of modern GUI and user-friendly software for the amateur satellite community. If someone suggests open-source nonsense, my head might explode. Happy to pay handsomely for anyone who codes something to make this all easier. When I find another few hours with nothing to do, I’ll try to edit the Doppler.SQF file to match, troubleshoot until it works, etc. Thanks anyway. Probably won’t see me back on the birds this weekend. My hobby time is too limited. 73, Les Rayburn, N1LF Maylene, AL EM63nf AMSAT #38965, ARRL Life Member, CVHS Life Member, SVHF Member

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TEST
by Joseph Trombino, Jr 07 Jun '20

07 Jun '20

TEST Testing to verify if account is still working. 73, Joe W2KJ

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Re: [amsat-bb] Satellite Hiatus--Doppler.SQF
by Mike Diehl 07 Jun '20

07 Jun '20

Ok, you can’t just send some TLE’s along with the SQF. TLE’s are dynamic, some more than others, but still dynamic. One boost of ISS and what you had yesterday is invalid today. You might have paid for SatPC32 but the author gets nothing from it as far as I’m aware. From my understanding the proceeds are a donation to AMSAT. Could there be an interface for adding transponder details rather than using a CSV file? Sure. Are people just lazy for not taking a few moments to figure out how to add a line? Absolutely! I’ve never used the program for tracking and tuning, it’s not my interest. I did open the manual, figured out what each filed is and then worked up some simple PHP (something I also don’t use) and made a page for the AMSAT site for generating new lines. You can find it here https://www.amsat.org/doppler-sqf-line-generator/ Seriously, this is a tech based hobby. We’re using spacecraft to communicate with each other. It’s incredibly depressing to see so many people stumped by a simple text file. That or they’re just too lazy to spend a minute to figure it out. I also don’t want to hear “I don’t have that much time to devote to the hobby” as posted earlier. It literally takes longer to write a post complaining than it does to read the 1 or 2 pages in the manual that describe how to use it. Don’t like the program? Don’t use it and find something else. Install GPredict and use that. Don’t like certain features or feel something is missing? It’s open source, take the time to help with development. Plenty of people are devoting their time for everyone’s benefit with no monetary gain yet there’s always complaints or a refusal to just open the manual, it really isn’t that hard. 73, Mike Diehl W8LID/VE6LID > On Jun 7, 2020, at 15:13, KD2NFC, Joe Puma via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> wrote: >

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PacsatGround Software
by wb7qxu＠juno.com 07 Jun '20

07 Jun '20

Anyone use this software PacsatGround with a KANTRONICS KPC-9612+ if so please contact Mike wb7qxu(a)juno.com. I am not able to get this software to talk to my TNC. ____________________________________________________________ Sponsored by https://www.newser.com/?utm_source=part&utm_medium=uol&utm_campaign=rss_tag… 2 Buffalo Police Officers Are Charged With Assault http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/5edbca0817f894a077452st04duc1 Zuckerberg: It's Time I Take a Fresh Look at Things http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/5edbca08329454a077452st04duc2 Ivanka Trump Isn't Happy After Getting 'Cancelled' http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/5edbca084dc634a077452st04duc3

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Re: [amsat-bb] Doppler.SQF
by ei7m-wkt＠asahi-net.or.jp 06 Jun '20

06 Jun '20

OK, I will improve my SQF file. Wait a minute.

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ANS-159 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Paul Stoetzer 06 Jun '20

06 Jun '20

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-159 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and commun- icating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * Newly Revised 2020 Digital Edition of “Getting Started with Amateur Satellites” Now Available * Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Team in the United States Creates a New Organization: ARISS-USA * AMSAT President's Statement on Creation of ARISS-USA * Back Issues of The AMSAT Journal Available to AMSAT Members * AO-73 Now in Full-Time Transponder Mode * VUCC Awards-Endorsements for June 2020 * KG5FYJ Assigned to Upcoming ISS Mission * A New Way to Obtain GP Data (aka TLEs) * Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events * Upcoming Satellite Operations * Satellite Shorts from All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-159.01 ANS-159 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 159.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE June 7, 2020 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-159.01 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the AMSAT office is closed until further notice. For details, please visit https://www.amsat.org/amsat-office-closed-until-further-notice/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Newly Revised 2020 Digital Edition of “Getting Started with Amateur Satellites” Now Available The 2020 edition of AMSAT's "Getting Started with Amateur Satellites" is now available on the AMSAT store. A perennial favorite, Getting Started is updated every year with the latest amateur satellite information, and is the premier primer of satellite operation. This definitive reference is written for the new satellite operator, but includes discussions for the experienced operator who wishes to review the features of amateur satellite communications. The new operator will be introduced to the basic concepts and terminology unique to this mode. Additionally, there are many practical tips and tricks to ensure making contacts, and to sound like an experienced satellite operator in the process. The book is presented in DRM-free PDF format, in full color, and covers all aspects of making your first contacts on a ham radio satellite. Joining the cover art for the first time this year is a depiction of the next generation of AMSAT satellites - AMSAT's GOLF series of 3U CubeSats. The digital download is available for $15 at https://tinyurl.com/2020GettingStarted [ANS thanks the AMSAT Office for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Team in the United States Creates a New Organization: ARISS-USA In late May, the USA team of the ARISS International working group became an incorporated non-profit entity in the state of Maryland, officially becoming ARISS-USA. This move allows ARISS-USA to work as an independent organization, soliciting grants and donations. They will continue promoting amateur radio and STEAM—science, technology, engineering, arts, and math within educational organizations and inspire, engage and educate our next generation of space enthusiasts. ARISS-USA will maintain its collaborative work with ARISS International as well as with US sponsors, partners, and interest groups. The main goal of ARISS-USA remains as connecting educational groups with opportunities to interact with astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS). ARISS-USA will expand its human spaceflight opportunities with the space agencies, beyond low Earth orbit, starting with lunar opportunities including the Lunar Gateway. ARISS-USA will continue to review and accept proposals for ISS contacts and expand its other educational opportunities to increase interest in space sciences and radio communications. Becoming an independent organization has been discussed for quite some time. ARISS-USA lead Frank Bauer, KA3HDO said “The scope and reach of what ARISS accomplishes each year has grown significantly since its humble beginnings in 1996. Our working group status made it cumbersome to establish partnerships, sign agreements and solicit grants. These can only be done as an established organization.” Bauer further elaborated, “The ARISS-USA team remains deeply indebted to our working group partners—ARRL and AMSAT, who enabled the birth of ARISS—and our steadfast sponsors, NASA Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) and the ISS National Lab (INL).” ARISS-USA aims to keep earning high regards from all these partners and sponsors. While ARISS-USA is now an incorporated non-profit entity, we are in the process of applying for tax exemption as a Section 501(c)(3) charitable, scientific or educational organization. Until that status is approved by the USA Internal Revenue Service, donations made directly to ARISS-USA will not be tax deductible for taxpayers in the USA. Those wanting to make a tax deductible donation for the benefit of ARISS-USA can, in the meantime, continue to make donations to ARISS sponsor AMSAT-NA through the ARISS website at: www.ariss.org. As ARISS-USA begins a new era as a human spaceflight amateur radio organization, it acknowledges those who were so instrumental in the formation of human spaceflight amateur radio. These include Vic Clark, W4KFC and Dave Sumner, K1ZZ from the ARRL; Bill Tynan, W3XO and Tom Clark, W3IO from AMSAT; Roy Neal, K6DUE a major guide for SAREX and ARISS; and NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, W5LFL. Also remembered is Pam Mountjoy, NASA education, who had the vision to develop the ARISS working group as a single amateur radio focus into the space agencies. All of these giants’ shoulders are what ARISS-USA rests upon. [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT President's Statement on Creation of ARISS-USA Announced June 5, 2020, ARISS-USA has been formed as a non-profit corporation to operate independently of The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT). Since the formation of Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) in the mid-1990s, AMSAT has been a consistent supplier of technical expertise, funding, and operational logistics. AMSAT will work with ARISS-USA to ensure a smooth transition for operations and funding. Over the years, as the scope and activity of ARISS grew, AMSAT continued its financial backing in times of need, providing hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund projects and operations. Many of AMSAT’s members are an integral part of the ARISS team. The human spaceflight element of AMSAT’s vision has been realized through these contributions. I offer my best wishes to ARISS-USA for a successful future. 73, Clayton W5PFG AMSAT President [ANS thanks Clayton Coleman, W5PFG, AMSAT President, for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Back Issues of The AMSAT Journal Available to AMSAT Members All issues of The AMSAT Journal dating back to 2014 are now available to AMSAT members on AMSAT's new membership portal. The 1969-2013 archive will be added at a later date. Stay tuned for additional member benefits coming soon. If you're a current AMSAT member, get logged on today. If you are not yet a member, consider joining today. https://launch.amsat.org/ [ANS thanks Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, AMSAT Executive Vice President, and Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT Vice President - User Services for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT's GOLF Program is about getting back to higher orbits, and it all begins with GOLF-TEE – a technology demonstrator for deployable solar panels, propulsion, and attitude control. Come along for the ride. The journey will be worth it! https://tinyurl.com/ANS-GOLF +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AO-73 Now in Full-Time Transponder Mode After some eight months in continuous sunlight, AO-73 (FUNcube-1) has now started to see some eclipses during each orbit. The telemetry received has shown that the spacecraft continued to function perfectly during this period and the on board temperatures did not reach excessively high levels. After this became clear, our next concern was the battery. Having been kept fully charged for this period, would it actually hold a charge and do its job when in eclipse? After three weeks of increasing eclipse periods we can now see that indeed the Li battery appears to be ok and the bus voltage has not yet dropped below 8.1 volts. So today we have changed the operating mode from high power telemetry educational mode to continuous amateur mode with the transponder ON. The telemetry continues to be available, albeit at low power. We will, of course, continue to carefully monitor the data but are planning to leave the spacecraft in this mode for at least the next week. Please enjoy using it! [ANS thanks Graham Shirville, G3VZV, of the FUNcube Team, and AMSAT-UK for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Purchase AMSAT Gear on our Zazzle storefront. 25% of the purchase price of each product goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ VUCC Awards-Endorsements for June 2020 Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period May 1, 2020 through June 1, 2020. Congratulations to all those who made the list this month! CALL May June W5CBF 564 657 K9UO 565 575 KI7UNJ New 510 WA9JBQ 250 275 W4DTA 240 261 W4ZXT 202 252 KE0WPA 152 200 W5CBF(EM21) 179 184 DL4ZAB 172 178 KE4BKL 101 125 N4BAF 100 118 AA0CW New 105 N5EKO New 102 W8EH New 101 W8EH New 100 KN4GQB New 100 KX9X New 100 W9TTY New 100 If you find errors or omissions. please contact me off-list at <mycall>@<mycall>.com and I'll revise the announcement. This list was developed by comparing the ARRL .pdf listings for the two months. It's a visual comparison so omissions are possible. Apologies if your call was not mentioned. Thanks to all those who are roving to grids that are rarely on the birds. They are doing most of the work! [ANS thanks Ron Parsons, W5RKN, for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- KG5FYJ Assigned to Upcoming ISS Mission NASA has assigned astronaut Kate Rubins, KG5FYJ, to a six-month mis- sion to the International Space Station as a flight engineer and member of the Expedition 63/64 crew. Rubins, along with cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, are scheduled to launch Oct. 14 on the Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakh- stan. Among some of the hundreds of experiments ongoing during her mission, Rubins will conduct research using the Cold Atom Lab to study the use of laser-cooled atoms for future quantum sensors, and will work on a cardiovascular experiment that builds on an investigation she completed during her previous mission. NASA selected Rubins as an astronaut in 2009, she was licensed as a Technician class amateur in 2015, and she completed her first space- flight in 2016 as an Expedition 48/49 crew member. She launched July 6, 2016, and spent 115 days in space, during which she conducted two space- walks totaling 12 hours and 46 minutes before her return to Earth Oct. 29, 2016. During her stay on the space station, Rubins helped advance i mportant science and research and became the first person to sequence DNA in space. Born in Farmington, Connecticut, and raised in Napa, California, Rubins received a Bachelor of Science degree in molecular biology from the University of California, San Diego, in 1999 and a doctorate in cancer biology in 2005 from Stanford University School of Medicine’s Depart- ment of Biochemistry and Department of Microbiology and Immunology in Palo Alto, California. Before joining NASA, Rubins worked as a fellow/ principal investigator at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Re- search in Cambridge and headed 14 researchers studying viral diseases that primarily affect Central and West Africa. [ANS thanks NASA for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows, and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ A New Way to Obtain GP Data (aka TLEs) The US government has provided GP or general perturbations orbital data to the rest of the world since the 1970s. These data are produced by fitting observations from the US Space Surveillance Network (SSN) to produce Brouwer mean elements using the SGP4 or Simplified General Perturbations 4 orbit propagator. Many of you are familiar with this data in the form of TLEs or Two- Line Element Sets. TLEs were designed to provide the minimum data necessary to propagate the orbit of a resident space object (RSO) at a time when both bandwidth for transmission or digital storage were extremely limited. In fact, at the time, transmission might be via fax, hard copy (postal delivery), or even read over the phone and storage was handled using punch cards or magnetic tape. While this format has served us well for many decades, it has not been without its share of problems. For example, the choice of a two-digit year caused many problems approaching Y2K—problems that were side- stepped by redefining what those two digits represented—but that Y2K problem persists fully 20 years into the 21st century. And now we are approaching another milestone where we will no longer be able to catalog all the objects we track within the 5-digit catalog number limitation of the TLE format. One of the key drivers forcing us to consider tracking more than 100,000 objects is the activation of the Space Fence on Kwajalein Atoll. The Space Fence reached initial operational capability (IOC) on 2020 Mar 27 and is expected to track far more than the ~26,000 objects currently tracked by the SSN—perhaps by as much as an order of magnitude. And we are expecting to see public availability of data from the Space Fence starting some time this summer (2020). The 18th Space Control Squadron (18 SPCS) has already transitioned internally to using 9- digit catalog numbers in support of these changes and we expect 18 SPCS to release data from the Space Fence using 9-digit catalog numbers. For the complete article, please see: https://celestrak.com/NORAD/documentation/gp-data-formats.php [ANS thanks Dr. T.S. Kelso of CelsTrak for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events Want to see AMSAT in action or learn more about amateur radio in space? AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meetings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events. Due to COVID-19, many hamfest and events around the United States have been canceled or postponed. While we make every effort to ensure the information contained below is correct, there may be some that we missed. We wish all of you safekeeping and hope to be at a hamfest near you soon. The following events scheduled to have an AMSAT presence have been CANCELED: June 12-13, 2020, Ham-Com, Plano, TX [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT Vice President - User Services, for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur radio package, including two-way communication capability, to be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit. Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Upcoming Satellite Operations Quick Hits: EN55: @KC9KKA Currently planning the somewhat elusive EN67 on June 12 for a couple passes and some POTA. EM98, EM98 and EM97: @NoTEL_0738, I will be in West Virginia from June 10-13. I will be in EM88/98 and possibly EM97. FM sats only. I will probably activate a couple different grids going to WV on June 9 and returning home on June 14 (no set plans). W6KSR (@W6KSR) He’s goin’ fishin’ end of this week in DM06. Be up there June 4th through 7th, working Panther Martin lures and FM satellites exclusively. CN81: Friday 6/5. @WB7VUF will be on AO91 and AO92 from 18:07 to 19:48 and may try SO50 FN54 and Maybe the FN44/54 line: KQ2RP/1 from June 6th to the 12th, Holiday style, listen for him on the FM birds. Hey you guys from the EU: @N4DCW be in EM56 June 5-7 with a semi- decent N-E horizon from his sister-in-law’s house. He will be on RS-44 and AO-7 looking for y’all. Major Roves: AD0DX is heading out again! Check out his QRZ page for details! Friday, June 12th: DM77, DM76 and DM75 Saturday, June 13th: DM65, DM75 Sunday, June 14th: DM66,DM67,DM76 and DM77 Corner DN98, 97, 96 & EN08,07,06,17,18,27 and 28: @AD0HJ North Dakota Mega Rove Part II: Another trip out to North Dakota between June 10th and June 14th to rove the grids I missed there (blue grids) two weeks ago. Look for a simplified pass schedule to be posted early next week. Ron (@AD0DX) and Doug (@N6UA) are making another run at the elusive DL88 in Big Bend National Park, TX. As we know they tried this grid back in March, and due to the mud couldn’t get to the grid, so never ones to quit, off they go again. Today the tentative date is Monday, July 6th, 2020. They will be using the K5Z call sign. More information is available at the K5Z QRZ Page. Please submit any additions or corrections to Ke0pbr (at) gmail.com [ANS thanks Paul Overn, KE0PBR, for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + FoxTelem / Fox-in-a-Box Tips: 1) Use a short USB extension cord to physically isolate your SDR dongle from the computer/Pi. There will be less mechanical stress, and a better electrical connection, which will give fewer errors. 2) If you use an RTL-SDR dongle (not really supported, but mostly works), don't turn on DUV and High Speed at the same time. You will get an error when the decoder starts. Note especially if you have it set up to start when the satellite comes over the horizon. [ANS thanks Chris Thompson, G0KLA/AC2CZ, AMSAT FoxTelem Developer, and Burns Fisher, WB1FJ, AMSAT Flight Software, for this information] + The Harbin Institute of Technology released a short cartoon video entitled "Longjiang-2: Journey to the Moon" about LO-94, the world's smallest spacecraft which entered lunar orbit independently. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGi1aACPA4A&feature=youtu.be [ANS thanks the Harbin Institute of Technology for this information] + Kylee Shirbroun, KE0WPA, posted a short portion of the science fair video she made about amateur radio satellites. It can be found at https://twitter.com/kylee_ke0wpa/status/1267867729320534016 [ANS thanks Kylee Shirbroun, KE0WPA, for this information] + Mineo Wakita, JE9PEL, maintains a Doppler.sqf file for using active amateur satellites in SatPC32. It can be found at: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/Doppler.sqf + The AMSAT Folding at home team continues to climb the rankings. Now in the top 1,200 of all teams at the time of this writing, the team has grown to 44 members with 77 active CPUs within the past 50 days and includes ten members in the top 100,000 of all users. Alex Free, N7AGF, is our top contributor with over 92,000,000 points credited to AMSAT's team. For more information about the Folding at home project and how you can contribute to scientific research, including the fight against COVID-19, see https://foldingathome.org/. AMSAT's team number is 69710: https://stats.foldingathome.org/team/69710 --------------------------------------------------------------------- /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 addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73 and remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space, This week's ANS Editor, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM n8hm at amsat dot org

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Doppler.sqf
by Bob 06 Jun '20

06 Jun '20

If I have to manually update the doppler text files what is the purpose of the Update Keps button in SatPC ? Bob

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Re: [amsat-bb] Doppler.SQF
by ei7m-wkt＠asahi-net.or.jp 06 Jun '20

06 Jun '20

Please let me know if I make a miss_typo. JE9PEL / Mineo Wakita

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Active Satellites Doppler .SQF File
by Les Rayburn 06 Jun '20

06 Jun '20

The link to Mineo’s updated Doppler.SQF file is a great resource. Thanks also to Mark for sharing it. I frequently take long breaks from the hobby when work demands, and getting active on satellites again after a hiatus is always a challenge. This helps a lot. I’m most active on voice satellites, linear birds and FM. Which satellites are the most active currently to look for contacts? 73, Les Rayburn, N1LF Maylene, AL EM63nf AMSAT #38965, ARRL Life Member, CVHS Life Member, SVHF Member

2 1

Doppler.SQF
by David Worboys 06 Jun '20

06 Jun '20

Morning all, Would anyone be kind enough to send me a copy of their up to date Doppler.SQF file for SatPC32 ? I have a funny feeling that I am more than likely to “fat-finger” the manual input of the satellites that are not already loaded and would like to avoid that headache if at all possible! Many thanks David KG4ZLB

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Re: [amsat-bb] Skewplane antennas
by gw1fky＠aol.com 06 Jun '20

06 Jun '20

Hi,Regarding the posts on the subject of "Skewplane Antennas" - Some interesting reading and details may be found on the following web site : www.vk6ysf.com/skew_planar_wheel_antenna.htmYou might also like to follow up the many studies and publications available in respect of the uses for aircraft, satellites and of course rovers on interplanetary missions.Ken EatonGW1FKY

1 0

Next Rocket Lab launch
by Wendy and Terry Osborne 06 Jun '20

06 Jun '20

Hi Folks, The next Rocket Lab launch window starts next Thursday 11th June at 04:43 UTC. See: https://www.rocketlabusa.com/missions/next-mission/ Since it's winter there may be some delays. For updates, check the twitter feed: https://twitter.com/rocketlab The launch should be streamed from the www.rocketlabusa.com web site from about 04:30 UTC. Since New Zealand is now at Covid19 level 2 and possibly level 1 by the launch date, people can travel to the launch site with few restrictions. 73, Terry Osborne ZL2BAC

1 0

Alpha Spid Rotator
by Dave 05 Jun '20

05 Jun '20

Is anyone using an Alpha Spid az/el rotor? If so how do you like it? Would you recommend it over the Yaesu's and are there any issues using it with SatPC32? Thanks, Dave N2OA

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Re: [amsat-bb] Skew Planar or Cloverleaf Antennas
by Zach Metzinger 05 Jun '20

05 Jun '20

On 06/05/20 14:19, Mike Diehl via AMSAT-BB wrote: > Trying to grasp how these would be especially advantageous to portable satellite ops. Actually, I’m trying to grasp how omni antennas would be advantageous for satellite ops in any form outside of telemetry collection where you don’t want to have additional wear on a rotor you use for making contacts. Easier to set up for the newbie, who may not want to put up a rotator right off the bat. Sure, performance suffers without directional gain, but life is a series of tradeoffs. I have two 2m antennas which aren't movable and have little/no directional gain (copper pipe J-pole and copper pipe folded horizontal dipole). Both can easily hear the FM and linear sats, even after 50' of RG-8X. However, based on the elevation plot, I'm not too sure that this antenna would be useful. They have gain below the horizon that would better be used above 0 degrees. Hard to hear a satellite through miles and miles of dirt. :-) Or, perhaps I'm interpreting Figure 1 wrong on [1]. --- Zach N0ZGO [1] http://www.ve3byt.com/SkewPlanarAntenna/

1 0

Skew Planar or Cloverleaf Antennas
by Les Rayburn 05 Jun '20

05 Jun '20

Are there any commercially available skew planar or “cloverleaf” antennas available for 2 Meters/432? These have become commonplace for drone operations at 2.4 and 5.8 GHz because they offer circular polarization. This makes control of the aircraft more reliable as it moves through space with changing antenna orientation. Previously, omnidirectional antennas similar to our “rubber ducks” were the norm. Skew planar antennas seem to offer a good option for satellite operations, especially portable. But availability is always an issue. 73, Les Rayburn, N1LF Maylene, AL EM63nf AMSAT #38965, ARRL Life Member, CVHS Life Member, SVHF Member

4 4

PASS includes SATNOGS
by Amsat Argentina 05 Jun '20

05 Jun '20

SATNOGS (SATellite Network Operated Ground Stations) https://satnogs.org/ is a global network of automatic stations monitoring multiple satellites, making their audio and data captures available via the Internet. The PASS application http://amsat.org.ar/pass for satellite tracking, now facilitates access to Satnogs for the satellite selected by clicking on the graph that indicates azimuth and elevation. This allows check if a satellite is active and if there are SATNOGs stations in your area, you can recover audio and data from previous QSOs. We will like to deeply appreciate the Open Source Libre Space Foundation and the thousands of SATNOG asociated stations that devote their equipment and time to help and grow amateur satellite community. 73, LU7AA, AMSAT Argentina

1 0

Board election
by Robert McGwier 05 Jun '20

05 Jun '20

AMSAT friends: This has been eventful year for all of us. I am no exception. I've retired on May 9 as Chief Scientist of Virginia Tech's Hume Center for National Security and Technology. I am now adjunct professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. I've been active in AMSAT for decades and am a life member. I've been a director multiple times and an officer multiple times. In retirement I intend becoming heavily involved in amateur radio activities in general but specifically in AMSAT activities. I am grateful for all I've learned and done in AMSAT. I founded http://www.hawkeye360.com and my experience in AMSAT was a vital part of the foundation of my Hawkeye activities. I would like to return to the board and help steward the organization from the board. Brennan has already received a nomination for me and now I ask for your support. 73s. Bob N4HY

1 0

Need cable crimping tool
by EDWARD KROME 04 Jun '20

04 Jun '20

Hi, All: The ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) group of AMSAT is in process of building new power supplies for the ARISS project. This long-running STEM project facilitates contacts between astronauts on board the ISS and students around the world. The first of these new power supplies was launched to ISS on March 6. Only 9 more to go! Part of the project involves RF hookups to diplexers to several antennas currently on ISS. For these, we have to supply NASA-speced cable assemblies. We have cable and Huber+Suhner N connectors, but do not have the crimping tools required to mate the cables and connectors. These tools are available new from either Huber+Suhner or Daniels Manufacturing but are extremely expensive. So I am fishing... does anyone have or know where we might find one of the following connector crimping sets that we could either borrow, rent or buy? The connectors (special N crimp) are Huber Suhner 11_N-50-4-63/133_NE, item # 22652069, for cable S16 (SX_04172_B-60). We can buy these connectors from Mouser, no problem. The crimping tool is the problem: H+S kit 76Z-0-0-51 insert set for small tool 76_Z-0-4-51 and small installation tool 75_Z-0-0-50. The alternative (but not interchangeable) tool kit is Daniels Manufacturing DMC1525 (in this kit, we only need the Y1682 die set and HX4 crimp tool). Does anyone know where we might be able to get the use of one of these sets? Thanks! Ed Krome K9EK ARISS Mechanical Engineering

2 1

Antenna mounting recommendations?
by Rich Gopstein 04 Jun '20

04 Jun '20

I have a pair of M2 CP antennas and a Yaesu G5500 rotator that I'd like to put up. There are lots of tall trees on the property pretty close to the house, so I really need to go up to clear the trees. On our first house, I had a tripod on the roof, so I'm familiar with what that takes. Now that I'm aging a bit, I was wondering what the alternatives might be since I'm not that excited about climbing on the roof (though if that's the best solution, I'll do it). Here are two pictures of the house (the arrows indicate the approximate location of the shack). https://photos.app.goo.gl/bRxtXM1uoXWgJgtZ7 Thanks for any suggestions! Rich, KD2CQ

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FM signals heard on RS-44
by Mark Johns, K0JM 04 Jun '20

04 Jun '20

There was an FM QSO taking place on about 145.95 just now (about 14:45z) that was coming through the RS-44 downlink at about 435.655. The bird was up toward the Pole, so New England would have been in the footprint, as well as Canada and some northern states to the west. No callsigns heard, but it sounded like amateurs and English was being spoken. -- Mark D. Johns, KØJM AMSAT Ambassador & News Service Editor Brooklyn Park, MN USA EN35hd ----------------------------------------------- "Heaven goes by favor; if it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in." ---Mark Twain

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-06-03 22:00 UTC
by aj9n＠aol.com 03 Jun '20

03 Jun '20

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2020-06-03 22:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: SpaceX-Demo2 now on orbit (***) Welcome aboard! Bob Behnken KE5GGX Doug Hurley A multi-point telebridge contact means that each student will be on the telebridge from their own home. ************************************************* Looking for some stay at home activities related to science and for when you are not playing on your radio? Check out these links: >From ARISS Vice Chair Oliver Amend DG6BCE: ESA Astronauts to offer inspiration during isolation in #SpaceConnectsUs https://www.esa.int/Newsroom/Astronauts_to_offer_inspiration_during_isolati… Celestron, the telescope, microscope, and sports optics folks, now has something called #STEMINYOURBACKYARD that you can find on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. By the way, I don't work for Celestron or have any business dealings with them and this is just something I saw. Apparently there are 10 free STEM activities covering Astronomy, Nature and Wildlife, and The Microscopic World. Check out: https://www.celestron.com/blogs/news/discover-stem-in-your-backyard NASA has a STEM page with fun activities to do at home. Check out https://www.nasa.gov/stem ************************************************* ARISS is very aware of the impact that COVID-19 is having on schools and the public in general. As such, we may have last minute cancellations or postponements of school contacts. As always, I will try to provide everyone with near-real-time updates. The following schools have now been postponed or cancelled due to COVID-19: Postponed: No additional schools Cancelled: No additional schools The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Watch for future COVID-19 related announcements here also. Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) Note, all times are approximate. It is recommended that you do your own orbital prediction or start listening about 10 minutes before the listed time. All dates and times listed follow International Standard ISO 8601 date and time format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS The complete schedule page has been updated as of 2020-06-03 22:00 UTC. (***) Here you will find a listing of all scheduled school contacts, and questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions for any contact that may be streamed live. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt The successful school list has been updated as of 2020-05-17 11:30 UTC. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. The main page for Applying to Host a Scheduled Contact may be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The ARISS webpage is at https://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. Message to US Educators ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The Proposal Window of February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020 has now closed. For future proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, and dates and times of Information Webinars, go to www.ariss.org. Please direct any questions to ariss.us.education(a)gmail.com. About ARISS: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the ISS National Lab and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org. ******************************************************************************** ARISS Contact Applications (Europe, Africa and the Middle East) Schools and Youth organizations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East interested in setting up an ARISS radio contact with an astronaut on board the International Space Station are invited to submit an application from September to October and from February to April. Please refer to details and the application form at www.ariss-eu.org/school-contacts. Applications should be addressed by email to: school.selection.manager(a)ariss-eu.org ARISS Contact Applications (Canada, Central and South America, Asia and Australia and Russia) Organizations outside the United States can apply for an ARISS contact by filling out an application. Please direct questions to the appropriate regional representative listed below. If your country is not specifically listed, send your questions to the nearest ARISS Region listed. If you are unsure which address to use, please send your question to the ARISS-Canada representative; they will forward your question to the appropriate coordinator. For the application, go to: https://www.ariss.org/ariss-application.html. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD email to: ve3tbd(a)gmail.com ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ email to: ariss(a)iaru-r3.org, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) https://www.jarl.org/ ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) https://srr.ru/ ****************************************************************************** ARISS is always glad to receive listener reports for the above contacts. ARISS thanks everyone in advance for their assistance. Feel free to send your reports to aj9n(a)amsat.org or aj9n(a)aol.com. Listen for the ISS on the downlink of 145.8Ø MHz. ******************************************************************************* All ARISS contacts are made via the Kenwood radio unless otherwise noted. ******************************************************************************* Several of you have sent me emails asking about the RAC ARISS website and not being able to get in. That has now been changed to https://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. **************************************************************************** Looking for something new to do? How about receiving DATV from the ISS? Please note that the HamTV system has been brought back to earth for troubleshooting. Please monitor ARISS-EU or ARISS-ON for the very latest news on the troubleshooting efforts. If interested, then please go to the ARISS-EU website for complete details. Look for the buttons indicating Ham Video. http://www.ariss-eu.org/ If you need some assistance, ARISS mentor Kerry N6IZW, might be able to provide some insight. Contact Kerry at kbanke(a)sbcglobal.net The HamTV webpage: https://www.amsat-on.be/hamtv-summary/ **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: Francesco IKØWGF with 140 Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 138 Sergey RV3DR with 133 Gaston ON4WF with 123 **************************************************************************** The webpages listed below were all reviewed for accuracy. Out of date webpages were removed, and new ones have been added. If there are additional ARISS websites I need to know about, please let me know. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1389. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1322. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 48. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf Please feel free to contact me if more detailed statistics are needed. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The following US states and entities have never had an ARISS contact: South Dakota, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas Islands, and the Virgin Islands. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ QSL information may be found at: https://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS **************************************************************************** Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC https://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correcti… Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** Exp. 62 now on orbit Chris Cassidy KF5KDR Anatoli Ivanishin Ivan Vagner SpaceX-Demo2 now on orbit (***) Welcome aboard! Bob Behnken KE5GGX Doug Hurley **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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Dino is the Man!
by Rafael Pena 03 Jun '20

03 Jun '20

David and all: I would also like to commend Dino for being honest / kind / unselfish / experienced on the subject of G-5500. Dino has helped me immensely to get my controller back in business. He, like with you, spent an enormous amount of time assisting me. He recommended me to purchased additional op amps (they cost but a few cents) and I have use a few here and there. He also suggested, highly recommended, the use of IC sockets so that the OpAmp can be made plug and play. It seems as though the controller's OpAmp are pretty susceptible to RF and mother nature. I ended up placing a trailer's 6 connector set 12" long between each EL/AZ cables at the controller for easy quick disconnect. Watch out for your HF station power as RF might get into the G-5500 controller as well. Recently, I had issues with the controller's AZ needle doing the jumping jack. Dino to the rescue!!! He pin pointed to several areas to test for finding the solution which I took. But it ended up being water inside the AZ cable at the rotator connector (some how my sealing of it, from recent work, was not too good). Replacing the cable and connector took care of business. I hope you can get your system in place soon. G-5500 is one of the most affordable, easy to fix, system out there for satellites. PS: Dino is not for hire :) Rafael / NN3RP *********************************************************************** Message: 4 Date: Tue, 2 Jun 2020 20:03:08 -0400 From: David Worboys <kg4zlb(a)icloud.com> To: AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] G5500 issue Message-ID: <EAFEED68-BF61-41DE-B757-493BFE32A76A(a)icloud.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Evening all!, Further to my original posting I just wanted to take time to thank profusely everyone who contacted me with help but specifically I would like to mention Dino (VE7XDT) who patiently helped me diagnose the problem by way of a huge amount of emails back and forth and me prodding at wires with a new multimeter bought especially for this. His ultimate diagnosis of failed op amps in the box was confirmed by Yaesu after another hour on the phone performing the same tests to answer their questions. A quality company, they took their time to ensure that I was totally aware of the issues. Unfortunately the same can't be said about HRO in Atlanta (where I purchased the rotator two weeks ago plus a hell of a lot of other equipment). The implied irritation level that permeated down the phone line was palpable; i asked them to send me a new one today, take a hold on my credit card for the full value and I would send them back the defunct one using their packaging and then they could release my credit card hold. Keep a good customer happy ? No chance. He actually tried to sell me a new complete G5500 and would then give me store credit once i sent everything back - I am not taking down the equipment and sending it all back and then have to put everything back up again. So the controller is now on its way to Atlanta and the Store Manager said that he had no stock of the controller on its own but could take out the controller from the complete kit and send that - somehow I doubt that will happen and this will drag on and on. Sorry to rant, I just hate bad customer service. Anyway, thanks everyone again - I look forward to working some of you on the satellites It's about 11 years since the last time I was active but HRO may drag that out even further. I hope not. 73?s David KG4ZLB

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Re: [amsat-bb] Terrible Repeater QRM on AO-92
by Ted Krempa 02 Jun '20

02 Jun '20

Hi Andrew, any update on this issue? Thanks and 73 Ted, K7TRK -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Andrew Glasbrenner via AMSAT-BB Sent: Thursday, May 21, 2020 5:51 PM To: 'Roy Dean' Cc: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Terrible Repeater QRM on AO-92 at 15:40z Roy, Thanks for the audio. In the weeks since this QRM came to light, with the help of recordings from users, we have found the club whose repeater audio is being retransmitted over AO-92. I do not believe this to be intentional. Despite the coincidence of frequencies involved, I also do not believe it to be a third harmonic. The audio is too clear, the signal is too strong, and repeaters have too much filtering for that to be happening. I reached out to the board of directors and the repeater trustees, sent links to the audio including callsigns and their net ID. I explained that based on experience that this was likely someone crossbanding into their repeater with a poor choice of UHF frequency, and we could use their help in finding the QRM source, and my goal was to educate and remove it, not point fingers and place blame. The responses ranged from virtual shrugs, to claims of atmospheric conditions, to "there must be something wrong on the satellite end." A few suggested going to the repeater site and listening on UHF while the repeater is active, which is a pretty good idea. Supposedly they would make announcements about it on their nets. I haven't given up on getting the club to help us find the QRM, but we may need some more convincing. I'll send the new recordings and ask again. Meanwhile, Is there anyone in the Gloucester, MA area that would like to do a little foxhunting for AMSAT? 73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT VP Operations -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb-bounces(a)amsat.org> On Behalf Of Roy Dean via AMSAT-BB Sent: Thursday, May 21, 2020 12:12 PM To: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Terrible Repeater QRM on AO-92 at 15:40z > > Yes, terrible QRM during this pass. Have recording as well but no call > signs from repeater chatter. Cal / N3CAL https://youtu.be/4439iHT4vtM --Roy K3RLD _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

2 1

G5500 issue
by David Worboys 02 Jun '20

02 Jun '20

Evening all!, Further to my original posting I just wanted to take time to thank profusely everyone who contacted me with help but specifically I would like to mention Dino (VE7XDT) who patiently helped me diagnose the problem by way of a huge amount of emails back and forth and me prodding at wires with a new multimeter bought especially for this. His ultimate diagnosis of failed op amps in the box was confirmed by Yaesu after another hour on the phone performing the same tests to answer their questions. A quality company, they took their time to ensure that I was totally aware of the issues. Unfortunately the same can't be said about HRO in Atlanta (where I purchased the rotator two weeks ago plus a hell of a lot of other equipment). The implied irritation level that permeated down the phone line was palpable; i asked them to send me a new one today, take a hold on my credit card for the full value and I would send them back the defunct one using their packaging and then they could release my credit card hold. Keep a good customer happy ? No chance. He actually tried to sell me a new complete G5500 and would then give me store credit once i sent everything back - I am not taking down the equipment and sending it all back and then have to put everything back up again. So the controller is now on its way to Atlanta and the Store Manager said that he had no stock of the controller on its own but could take out the controller from the complete kit and send that - somehow I doubt that will happen and this will drag on and on. Sorry to rant, I just hate bad customer service. Anyway, thanks everyone again - I look forward to working some of you on the satellites It's about 11 years since the last time I was active but HRO may drag that out even further. I hope not. 73’s David KG4ZLB

1 0

Re: [amsat-bb] Source for Affordable bias-Tees?
by MICHAEL WILLIAMS 02 Jun '20

02 Jun '20

Check out: EME168-2-70 KIT at minikits.com.au. You can by it as a kit of assembled. The dollar exchange rate is real good. GL, Mike (K9QHO)

1 0

Hack-a-Sat Call for Participation
by Michelle Thompson 02 Jun '20

02 Jun '20

Greetings all! I've put out the call for participation for the Hack-a-Sat competition in the past, and would like to bring you all up to date on the developments and opportunities that have developed since. The website is here: https://www.hackasat.com/ Hack-a-Sat is an activity that was scheduled to happen at the in-person DEFCON event. As of today, yes, it's true. DEFCON has been cancelled. Those of you that have volunteered at Ham Radio Village in the past are familiar with the event. For those of you that are not, it's a long-running hacking and cybersecurity event that has enthusiastically adopted everything RF and amateur radio. The United States Air Force, in conjunction with the Defense Digital Service, organized this year’s Space Security Challenge, called Hack-A-Sat. This challenge asks hackers from around the world to focus their skills and creativity on solving cybersecurity challenges on space systems. This competition is going to be held! It's now a virtual event. Security in the amateur radio sense of the word is fundamentally different from commercial and military applications. We have an advantage here, mainly due to the enormous leverage we have due to our context being completely different from what the Air Force and commercial interests assume. This is, essentially, a diversity advantage. If you want to participate on an experienced Capture The Flag (CTF) team, then I am here to extend an invitation. Anyone that reads through the rules and can afford to spend some time during the event is invited to apply to join Vaporsec. This is a team that has a majority of information security professionals. There are some satellite industry people, some amateur involvement, and I'd like to make sure that anyone interested in competing from AMSAT-BB gets a chance to join a competitive team. The benefits to amateur radio are primarily technical, with policy and security a close second. The Air Force has some agendas here in terms of improving satellite security. Exposure to the challenges alone is a an excellent opportunity to learn more about modern satellite technology... and what a significant player in space wants to find out more about. Don't assume that that the challenges in the competition are going to be "too hard". What is trivial for one viewpoint is unsolvable for another. I'll be writing about the event and what we learned when it is over, so this sort of knowledge will not be secret. However, there is no replacement for participation, and you could very well have the practical knowledge, gained from operating real satellites, that wins the competition. As you can see from the website, there is some real money involved and opportunities for technical writing. Let me know at w5nyv(a)arrl.net if you would like to talk more about joining a CTF team for this really neat and unique event. Know someone that you think should participate? Please forward to them. -Michelle W5NYV

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Source for affordable bias-tees?
by k0ekl＠frontier.com 02 Jun '20

02 Jun '20

I'm purchased 2m and 432 preamps for my satellite antenna system and both will require external bias-tees for power. Looking around on both US and UK/EU websites I've found bias-tees that cost almost as much or more than the preamps did. The inexpensive devices I've found are receive-only and meant for SRD users. Does anyone know of a source of bias-tees that cost less than $100.00 each, have decent specs on 2m and 432 and can withstand a transmit power of 50 or 100 watts. (Yes, I know I don't need to run 50 or 100 watts for satellite work but I don't want devices that will fail the first time I accidentally transmit "QRO". Thanks

4 3

Yaesu FT847
by alex weimer 01 Jun '20

01 Jun '20

Thank You !! The FT847 is no longer available.. Decided to keep it !!! 73 JACK KC7MG

1 0

Kantronics KPC-9612+ and Icom 910h
by wb7qxu＠juno.com 01 Jun '20

01 Jun '20

I want to be able to work Falconsat-3. It is a store and forward. I have a Icom 910h. To use 9600bd I have a Kantronics KPC-9612+ Has anyone used this to do 9600bd pacsats? Or Has anyone used Icom 910h to Signalink using the two data ports in the back which are for 9600bd? 73s Mike ____________________________________________________________ Sponsored by https://www.newser.com/?utm_source=part&utm_medium=uol&utm_campaign=rss_tag… Twitter Suspends Police Union Account Over De Blasio Post http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/5ed55cdd916955cdd4a01st02duc1 Obama Has Message for Violent Protesters http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/5ed55cddac3f05cdd4a01st02duc2 Trump to Governors: 'Most of You Are Weak' http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/5ed55cddc6cb35cdd4a01st02duc3

3 3

GMSK modems
by Chris Busch 01 Jun '20

01 Jun '20

Just wondering what SW (or HW) modems others are using for GMSK encoded data. I am currently using UZ7HO SoundModem, but interested in alternatives. Thanks in advance for any suggestions. 73 Chris K4CKB

1 0

Spammer subscribed to amsat-bb
by Zach Metzinger 01 Jun '20

01 Jun '20

Hello all, Every time I send an email to amsat-bb(a)amsat.org, I'm getting a spam email reply from erikakatos2(a)yahoo.com trying to bait me to into going to another website. Looks like it did come from a yahoo.com email server: > Received: from sonic301-32.consmr.mail.ne1.yahoo.com (sonic301-32.consmr.mail.ne1.yahoo.com [66.163.184.201]) > (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 (128/128 bits)) > (No client certificate requested) > by pb-mx9.pobox.com (Postfix) with ESMTPS > for <zmetzing(a)pobox.com>; Mon, 1 Jun 2020 17:02:28 -0400 (EDT) > (envelope-from erikakatos2(a)yahoo.com) (pobox is my email provider, of course) Could AMSAT IT check the subscription list and see what's going on? Thanks, --- Zach N0ZGO

2 1

Yaesu FT847
by alex weimer 01 Jun '20

01 Jun '20

I am going to eventually buy a Icom IC9700 so am putting my Yaesu FT847 up for sale. I thought I would list it here and also on QRZ.COM. Excellent shape and a great full duplex satellite radio. If anyone is interested please contact me via email for further details Thanks JACK KC7MG

1 0

2019 Back Issues of The AMSAT Journal on launch.amsat.org
by Robert Bankston 01 Jun '20

01 Jun '20

AMSAT's new online member portal, launch.amsat.org, is up and running. All AMSAT members must log in and update their contact information to ensure continued, uniterrupted service. Full instructions for getting logged in are in the March/April issue of The AMSAT Journal, available for free download on amsat.org and launch.amsat.org. There is also separate instructions on each site. Those interested in joining AMSAT can create an account, using the Join link on launch.amsat.org IMPORTANT UPDATE: AMSAT's Member Portal not only puts you in charge of your member account but gives you exclusive access to member-only content. Want to read back issues of The AMSAT Journal, in full color? We just posted all 2019 issues, plus the first two issues of 2020. We will continue to work on uploading prior years, so check back often. Log in today! Robert, KE4AL AMSAT Member Services Because YOU deserve the best!

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ANS-153 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin - Newly Revised 2020 Digital Edition of “Getting Started with Amateur Satellites” Now Available
by Paul Stoetzer 01 Jun '20

01 Jun '20

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE SPECIAL BULLETIN ANS-153 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including 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. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor at amsat.org. You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * Newly Revised 2020 Digital Edition of “Getting Started with Amateur Satellites” Now Available SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-153.01 ANS-153 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin AMSAT News Service Bulletin 153.01 From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE June 1, 2020 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-153.01 Newly Revised 2020 Digital Edition of “Getting Started with Amateur Satellites” Now Available The 2020 edition of AMSAT's "Getting Started with Amateur Satellites" is now available on the AMSAT store. A perennial favorite, Getting Started is updated every year with the latest amateur satellite infor- mation, and is the premier primer of satellite operation. This definitive reference is written for the new satellite operator, but includes discussions for the experienced operator who wishes to review the features of amateur satellite communications. The new operator will be introduced to the basic concepts and terminology unique to this mode. Additionally, there are many practical tips and tricks to ensure making contacts, and to sound like an experienced satellite operator in the process. The book is presented in DRM-free PDF format, in full color, and covers all aspects of making your first contacts on a ham radio satellite. Joining the cover art for the first time this year is a depiction of the next generation of AMSAT satellites - AMSAT's GOLF series of 3U CubeSats. The digital download is available for $15 at https://tinyurl.com/2020GettingStarted [ANS thanks the AMSAT Office 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 addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. 73 and Remember to help Keep Amateur Radio in Space, This week's ANS Contributing Editor, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM n8hm at amsat dot org

2 1

AO73 /FUNcube-1 is no longer in full sunlight!
by Graham Shirville 01 Jun '20

01 Jun '20

After some eight months in continuous sunlight, FUNcube-1 has now started to see some eclipses during each orbit. The telemetry received has shown that the spacecraft continued to function perfectly during this period and the on board temperatures did not reach excessively high levels. After this became clear, our next concern was the battery. Having been kept fully charged for this period, would it actually hold a charge and do its job when in eclipse? After three weeks of increasing eclipse periods we can now see that indeed the Li battery appears to be ok and the bus voltage has not yet dropped below 8.1 volts. So today we have changed the operating mode from high power telemetry educational mode to continuous amateur mode withe the transponder ON. The telemetry continues to be available, albeit at low power. We will , of course, continue to carefully monitor the data but are planning to leave the spacecraft in this mode for at least the next week. Please enjoy using it! 73Graham G3VZV

2 1

G5500 control box issue
by David Worboys 01 Jun '20

01 Jun '20

Good morning, Although I will be talking to Yaesu tomorrow, I wondered if anyone had experienced this (and possibly now has a reason/solution to the problem) I have a brand new G5500 and most of yesterday was spent putting up the mast, rotators and antennas etc. The control box worked perfectly for a while but then decided to not indicate where the antennas are pointing to AT ALL! The rotators are working perfectly but the needles are stuck at zero. The only action they have seen is in the set up and calibration process, there is not even a radio attached to the system at this point - I didn't get that far before the box stopped working. As I said, I will of course be getting this resolved as quickly as possible with Yaesu and the place I ordered it from but I would be interested if anyone had had the same thing happen. Many thanks David KG4ZLB

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VUCC Awards-Endorsements for June 2020
by Ronald Parsons 01 Jun '20

01 Jun '20

Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period May 1, 2020 through June 1, 2020. Congratulations to all those who made the list this month! CALL May June W5CBF 564 657 K9UO 565 575 KI7UNJ New 510 WA9JBQ 250 275 W4DTA 240 261 W4ZXT 202 252 KE0WPA 152 200 W5CBF(EM21) 179 184 DL4ZAB 172 178 KE4BKL 101 125 N4BAF 100 118 AA0CW New 105 N5EKO New 102 W8EH New 101 W8EH New 100 KN4GQB New 100 KX9X New 100 W9TTY New 100 If you find errors or omissions. please contact me off-list at <mycall>@<mycall>.com and I'll revise the announcement. This list was developed by comparing the ARRL .pdf listings for the two months. It's a visual comparison so omissions are possible. Apologies if your call was not mentioned. Thanks to all those who are roving to grids that are rarely on the birds. They are doing most of the work! Ron W5RKN

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VUCC Awards-Endorsements for June 2020
by Ronald Parsons 01 Jun '20

01 Jun '20

Here are the endorsements and new VUCC Satellite Awards issued by the ARRL for the period May 1, 2020 through June 1, 2020. Congratulations to all those who made the list this month! CALL May June W5CBF 564 657 K9UO 565 575 KI7UNJ New 510 WA9JBQ 250 275 W4DTA 240 261 W4ZXT 202 252 KE0WPA 152 200 W5CBF(EM21) 179 184 DL4ZAB 172 178 KE4BKL 101 125 N4BAF 100 118 AA0CW New 105 N5EKO New 102 W8EH New 101 W8EH New 100 KN4GQB New 100 KX9X New 100 W9TTY New 100 If you find errors or omissions. please contact me off-list at <mycall>@<mycall>.com and I'll revise the announcement. This list was developed by comparing the ARRL .pdf listings for the two months. It's a visual comparison so omissions are possible. Apologies if your call was not mentioned. Thanks to all those who are roving to grids that are rarely on the birds. They are doing most of the work! Ron W5RKN

1 0

Best trx for SATs
by ec3dr＠yahoo.es 01 Jun '20

01 Jun '20

Hello everyone Probably asked this question several times, but I am thinking of improving the equipment for satellites, I currently use an IC910 but I was not convinced by its handling, ago I used an IC820 and I was happier than with the IC910. I am considering change with a TS2000 or looking for the old TS711 & 811, I discard the new 7600 for their high cost ... Which one can work better in terms of benefits? Thanks!!! 73 de EC3DR

4 3

SHF-Elektronik Mini-70 problem
by Hans BX2ABT 31 May '20

31 May '20

My SHF-Elektronik Mini-70 is not switching on with 12 Volts applied. Took it apart, but can't see anything wrong. Before I dive into my pile of documentation to find the schematics (if I still have it), has anyone had a similar problem and how did you resolve it. Cheers, Hans BX2ABT.com

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ANS-152 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Mark Johns, K0JM 30 May '20

30 May '20

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-152 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and infor- mation service of AMSAT, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS publishes news related to Amateur Radio in Space including reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and commun- icating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites. The news feed on http://www.amsat.org publishes news of Amateur Radio in Space as soon as our volunteers can post it. Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to: ans-editor(a)amsat.org You can sign up for free e-mail delivery of the AMSAT News Service Bulletins via the ANS List; to join this list see: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/ans In this edition: * Temporary Rule Waivers Announced for 2020 ARRL Field Day * IARU-R2 Workshop Videos Available * Digital Mode Experiments Conducted on Linear Satellites * SpaceX Launches Successfully Toward ISS * Moonbounce Contact via FT8 Could be a First * Mid-Altitude Balloon Race Planned for June 1 * ARISS News * Upcoming Satellite Operations * Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events * Satellite Shorts From All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-152.01 ANS-152 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 152.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. DATE 2020 May 31 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-152.01 Temporary Rule Waivers Announced for 2020 ARRL/AMSAT Field Days ARRL Programs and Services Committee (PSC) has adopted two temporary rule waivers for the 2020 ARRL Field Day to adjust for Covid-19 re- strictions. An AMSAT parallel event is held at the same time, and the rules for that have been adjusted, as well. ARRL Field Day is one of the biggest events on the amateur radio cal- endar, with over 36,000 participants in 2019, including entries from 3,113 radio clubs and emergency operations centers. In most years, Field Day is also the largest annual demonstration of ham radio, be- cause many radio clubs organize their participation in public places such as parks and schools. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many radio clubs have made decisions to cancel their group participation in ARRL Field Day this year due to public health recommendations and/or requirements, or to significantly modify their participation for safe social distancing practices. The temporary rule waivers allow greater flexibility in recognizing the value of individual and club participation regardless of entry class. The waivers may be found at: https://bit.ly/3de5AJt The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) promotes its own ver- sion of Field Day for operation via the amateur satellites, held con- currently with the ARRL event. The rules for the AMSAT Field Day may be found at: https://www.amsat.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020fd.pdf This will mean that there will be another group of certificates for AMSAT Field Day: The top three stations operating from home with com- mercial power. The problem is with those operating from home attaching their scores to a club. Because AMSAT only allows one satellite station to be oper- ating at a time, if you are going to attach your satellite contact to a club, only ONE home station can attach per club. This will keep the playing field rather equal as there are areas where there is only one satellite op around and other areas where there are dozens of satellite ops. It would be unfair for an area with a dozen satellite ops to pool all their home contacts towards one club. Even if satellite operators took turns operating in shifts, it would make it very difficult to score entries correctly. That is why AMSAT has chosen to allow only one satellite home station could be attached to a single club. CLUB NAME MUST BE IDENTIFIED IN THE ENTRY. There will also be no duplicate certificates. If you are attaching your score to a club, then it goes towards club rankings and not home rankings. Nothing needs to be changed on the submission form. If you are operating 1D and the name of your attached club is included, the club score will be calculated appropriately. This is new and uncharted waters and hope everyone enjoys AMSAT Field Day. A much larger number of entries is anticipated with this change, so patience is appreciated. (ANS thanks ARRL and Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director Contests and Awardsfor the above information) +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the AMSAT office is closed until further notice. For details, please visit https://www.amsat.org/amsat-office-closed-until-further-notice/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ IARU-R2 Workshop Videos Available IARU Region 2 (IARU-R2) is hosting workshops covering different facets of amateur radio. Last Wednesday (27 May) was the "Satellite Communica- tions 101" workshop. Due to technical glitches, this workshop was not available in real time, but the video of Wednesday's presentation is now available on YouTube. The direct link to the video of last Wednes- day's workshop is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f61uwo5Qy6A One week earlier, on 20 May, Matias LU9CBL and Guillermo OA4/XQ3SA hosted the Spanish-language version of this workshop, titled "Comunicaciones por Satelite 101". The video of their presentation is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69D1dJEfGDc IARU-R2 plans more workshops covering other topics, in English and Spanish. Information on upcoming workshops is available at: https://www.iaru-r2.org/en/news-and-events/workshops/ Videos of past workshops are available from the IARU-R2 Workshops channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnG2Srz0bsKmTbF2r3YNneQ [ANS thanks Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK/VA7EWK, for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Looking for the perfect Father’s Day gift? AMSAT t-shirts are currently 40% off with promo code BESTDADGIFTS. Other items are 15% off. 25% of the purchase price of each product goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Digital Mode Experiments Conducted on Linear Satellites [EDITOR'S NOTE: Be aware that the experiments described below utilize very narrow AFSK modulation with fairly advanced computer control for Doppler correction and frequency stabilization. They do NOT involve use of narrowband FM signals such as those used for terrestrial APRS or dedicated APRS satellites. So please, NEVER transmit FM on the uplink to a linear satellite. ALSO, in should be emphasized that power levels must be kept very low, as all the WSJT modes are 100% duty cycle.] Recently a group of regular satellite-using amateurs conducted experi- ments with FT-8 and FT-4 on a variety of linear satellites. Alan (WA6DNR), Carlos (W7QL), Dave (W0DHB) and Ron (W5RKN) were involved and made many satisfactory QSOs. The primary results and observations from these tests are: • Digital modes can successfully be employed on the linear birds while not interfering with concurrent users by operating close to the bottom end of the passband, using the lowest power practicable and using very narrow signals. • We avoided the satellites known to be power-sensitive, FO-29 and AO-7. Testing was conducted with CAS-4A, CAS-4B, RS-44, XW-2A, XW-2B, XW-2C and XW-2F. • FT-4 was the most robust signal format, compared to FT-8. Other of Joe Taylor’s digital signal modes should be investigated. • The rate of change of Doppler just before and after TCA is high on the lower-orbit satellites and must have compensation. 200 Milli- second Doppler updates allowed 100% copy of FT-4 transmissions throughout several passes of different linear satellites. This can be accomplished in SatPC32 by setting the “SSB/CW Interval” in the CAT menu to zero and checking the 5X box. Note that this setting is not retained when SatPC32 is shut down. • Very little power is needed for QSOs throughout the duration of the pass, from AOS to LOS. W7QL set IC-9700 power to “zero” (roughly 500 milli-Watts, with over 3 dB cable/connector loss to a Leo-Pack anten- na pair) and copied every packet on several satellites. • FT-4 is very tolerant of voice signals which might drop on top of an ongoing FT-4 QSO. However, an FT-4 signal dropping in the middle of an SSB QSO would be quite annoying to the SSB operators. • According to Joe Taylor, the occupied bandwidth of an FT-4 signal is 90 Hz. So theoretically over 200 such signals could be present on a 20 KHz channel. Obviously that will not, and should not happen. But a dozen closely spaced FT-4 QSOs at the bottom of the band, each run- ning very low power should hardly be noticeable to current voice and CW traffic. We invite other Satellite operators to join us in this expanded utili- zation of the linear satellite resources available to us. We recommend using FT-4 AT VERY LOW POWER, in the bottom few KHz of the downlink frequency range, with appropriate Doppler compensation, as described above. We hope to have a digital QSO with you sometime soon on the linear birds. [ANS thanks Carlos Cardon, W7QL, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- SpaceX Launches Successfully Toward ISS NASA astronauts Bob Behnken, KE5GGX, and Doug Hurley boarded a Crew Dragon spacecraft on top of a Falcon 9 rocket once again on Saturday, May 30. At 19:22 UTC they were successfully launched on their way to the International Space Station. This was the first launch of astro- nauts from U.S. territory since the final Space Shuttle flight in 2011 and the first launch of humans by a private contractor, SpaceX. The first attempt for the launch, on Wednesday, May 27, scrubbed due to stormy weather near the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Crew Dra- gon spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the ISS about 19 hours after liftoff. [ANS thanks Spaceflight Now for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Want to fly the colors on your own grid expedition? Get your AMSAT car flag and other neat stuff from our Zazzle store! 25% of the purchase price of each product goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space https://www.zazzle.com/amsat_gear +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Moonbounce Contact via FT8 Could be a First FT8 codeveloper Joe Taylor, K1JT, has reported what is possibly the first FT8 contact via moonbouce (Earth-Moon-Earth or EME) on May 21 be- tween Paul Andrews, W2HRO, in New York, and Peter Gouweleeuw, PA2V, in Netherlands. The contact was made possible using the currently avail- able beta-release candidate of WSJT-X, version 2.2-rc1. "Why might you want to use FT8 instead of 'Old Reliable JT65' for EME QSOs?" Taylor asked in a subsequent Moon-Net post. "FT8 is about 4 dB less sensitive than JT65, but with 15-second T/R [transmit/receive] sequences it's four times faster, and it doesn't use Deep Search," he said, answering his own question. The FT8 protocol included in the beta version of WSJT-X has an optional user setting to work around the 2.5-second path delay. "For terrestrial use, the FT8 decoder searches over the range -2.5 to +2.4 seconds for clock offset DT between transmitting and receiving stations," Taylor explained. "DT" represents the difference between the transmission time and actual time. "When 'Decode after EME delay' is checked on the WSJT-X 'Settings' screen, the accessible DT range becomes -0.5 to +4.4 seconds. Just right for EME." As Taylor explained in his post, FT8 uses 8-GFSK modulation with tones separated by 6.25 Hz. At the time of the contact, the expected Doppler spread on the W2HRO - PA2V EME path was 8 Hz, which would cause some additional loss in sensitivity. Despite the path losses, however, copy between W2HRO and PA2V was "solid in both directions," Taylor said. Taylor said that when he was active in EME contests on 144 MHz, he was always frustrated that, even with reasonably strong signals, the max- imum JT65 contact rate is about 12 per hour. "With FT8, you can do 40 per hour, as long as workable stations are available," he said. As for using FT8 for EME contacts on 1296 MHz, Taylor said it "might sometimes work, but Doppler spread will probably make standard FT8 a problem." Given sufficient interest, however, he said the WSJT-X devel- opment team could design an FT8B or FT8C with wider tone spacing. He encouraged the use of FT8 for moonbounce on 144, 432, and 1296 MHz and asked users to report their results to the development team. "A 'slow FT8' mode is indeed a sensitivity winner on suitable propaga- tion paths," he said in a later Moon-Net post. "We are busy implement- ing such a mode, but with particular emphasis on its use on the LF and MF bands." Taylor said FT8 has the operational advantage of putting all users in one (or a few) narrow spectral slices on each band. "So, it's easy to find QSO partners without skeds or chat rooms," he said. "Everything is done over the air, with no 'side channels' needed." Taylor also remarked in response to posts from those who, like him, "love CW." "I agree it's a thrill to hear your own lunar echo, and to make CW EME QSOs," he said. "Sometimes I pine for the bygone world of commercial sailing ships, which happen to be very much a part of my family's his- tory," Taylor concluded. "But I know that technologies evolve, and the world does not stand still." [ANS thanks ARRL News for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Need new satellite antennas? Purchase Arrows, Alaskan Arrows, and M2 LEO-Packs from the AMSAT Store. When you purchase through AMSAT, a portion of the proceeds goes towards Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. https://amsat.org/product-category/hardware/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Mid-Altitude Balloon Race Planned for June 1 Three Space Station Explorer teams will participate in anexciting dis- tance learning—social distanced balloon race to beheld during the Pan- demic. ARISS educator, Joanne Michaelis, KM6BWB, is a science coach at the Wiseburn Unified School District in Los Angeles, California where she leads her students in several balloon launch attempts from the Los Angeles area each year. With this year different because of the pan- demic, Joanne wanted to “shake things up a bit” and give students world-wide, a unique distance learning treat while keeping all safe during the pandemic. So Joanne challenged Ted Tagami, KK6UUQ, from Magnitude.io to a mid-altitude cross-continent balloon race and Ted accepted the challenge! Ted plans to launch his balloon from Oakland, California. ISS Above in- ventor, Liam Kennedy, KN6EQU, from Pasadena, California, got “wind” of the idea and he asked to participate, too. All three organizations: ARISS, Magnitude.io and ISS Above are ISS National Lab Space Station Explorer (SSE) partners that work to inspire, engage, and educate stu- dents in Science Technology Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) topics and to pursue STEAM careers. The three SSE teams plan tolaunch their balloons simultaneously on June 1. The winner will be the first one to cross the“Finish Line”—the Eastern Time zone. Launch time is planned for 15:00 UTC (11:00 EDT, 10:00 CDT, 9:00 MDT, or 8:00 PDT. A live video feed of the launch is planned to start approximately 5 minutes prior to the event. Once the balloons are airborne, students can track each balloon’s loca- tion, altitude, and temperature via amateur radio APRS (Automatic Pac- ket Reporting System) which is fed automatically to the aprs.fi web site. Educators and parents around the globe can excite at-home youth withthis initiative. Students can tally and track the states each bal- loon travels through and plot altitude versus temperature, etc. Also, by researching weather patterns, students can make assumptions from their own data. This could include speed variations due to weather. They also can predict each balloon’s flight path and when they might cross the finish line! For more information on theballoon launch, lesson plans, and the live- stream video link (when thelivestream URL is available), please go to: https://www.ariss.org/mid-altitude-balloon-race.html Enjoy the Race! May the best ballooner win!! [ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team men- tors for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News Amateurs and others around the world may listen in on contacts between amateurs operating in schools and allowing students to interact with astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The downlink frequency on which to listen is 145.800 MHz worldwide. ARISS is very aware of the impact that COVID-19 is having on schools and the public in general. As such, we may have last minute cancella- tions or postponements of school contacts. As always, ARISS will try to provide everyone with near-real-time updates at the ARISS webpage: https://www.ariss.org/ [ANS thanks Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, one of the ARISS operation team men- tors for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT, along with our ARISS partners, is developing an amateur radio package, including two-way communication capability, to be carried on-board Gateway in lunar orbit. Support AMSAT's projects today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Upcoming Satellite Operations W8LR: (@W8LR) May 30 and May 31 he will attempt to activate a dual grids contact. The grid line will be EM79/EM89. Hey you guys from the EU: @N4DCW will be in EM56 June 5-7 with a semi- decent N-E horizon from his sister-in-law’s house. He will be on RS-44 and AO-7 looking for y’all. AD0DX: (@AD0DX) DM77 and maybe DM76 on Saturday May 30. An interesting email from ND9M/KH2: I’m finishing up my current tour on a U.S. merchant marine ship cur- rently anchored at Guam. I’ve been QRV from the anchorage which is at Apra Harbor. We’ll be taking a one-night run on June 2-3 to give the engines a chance to stretch their muscles. I expect to be QRV on sever- al passes on the evening of June 2 when we should be in QK13 for a few hours. Once we return to “the hook,” I’ll start packing up for my trip back to the States that weekend and should be doing some roving in the eastern states (MD, PA, VA, MD) once I get my body re-adjusted to the the 14-hour time change. Major Roves: Ron (@AD0DX) and Doug (@N6UA) are making another run at the elusive DL88 in Big Bend National Park, TX. As we know they tried this grid back in March, and due to the mud couldn’t get to the grid, so never ones to quit, off they go again. Today the tentative date is Sunday May 31, 2020. They will be using the K5Z call sign. More information is available at the K5Z QRZ Page. FP, ST. PIERRE & MIQUELON (Rescheduled). Eric, KV1J, will once again be operating from the Island of Miquelon (NA-032, DIFO FP-002 WLOTA 1417, Grid GN17) as FP/KV1J between September 22nd and October 6th. This oper- ation was originally scheduled for July, but was postponed due to trav- el restrictions. It will be Eric’s 14th trip to the island. Activity will be on 160-10 meters, including 60m , using CW, SSB, RTTY, FT8/FT4 (but primarily SSB, RTTY and FT8/FT4) and the SSB/FM satellites. He will generally be on the highest frequency band that is open (favoring 60/12/10/6m). He will be active in the CQWW DX RTTY Contest (September 26-27). ADDED NOTE: Eric will usually try to be on as many Satellite passes as he can when the WX is good, generally favoring the XW-2x, AO-7, RS-44, CA-4x, and possibly the FM birds. Weekends may be limited since he will be concentrating on the low(er) bands and contests. QSL via KV1J, direct or by the Bureau. Also eQSL and LoTW. For more details and updates, check out his Web page at: http://www.kv1j.com/fp/July20.html Please submit any additions or corrections to Ke0pbr (at) gmail.com [ANS thanks Paul Overnfor, KE0PBR, AMSAT rover page manager, for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Hamfests, Conventions, Maker Faires, and Other Events Want to see AMSAT in action or learn more about amateur radio in space? AMSAT Ambassadors provide presentations, demonstrate communicating through amateur satellites, and host information tables at club meet- ings, hamfests, conventions, maker faires, and other events. Due to COVID-19, many hamfest and events around the United States have been cancelled or postponed. While we make every effort to ensure the information contained below is correct, there may be some that we missed. We wish all of you safekeeping and hope to be at a hamfest near you soon. Current schedule: No scheduled events The following events scheduled to have an AMSAT presence have been CANCELED: June 12-13, 2020, Ham-Com, Plano, TX A copy of the AMSAT hamfest brochure is available for download from: https://bit.ly/2ygVFmV This color brochure is designed to be printed double-sided and folded into a tri-fold handout. To include your upcoming AMSAT presentation and/or demonstration, please send an email to ambassadors (at) amsat (dot) org. [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, AMSAT VP-User Services for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts From All Over + @Virgin_Orbit tweeted on May 25 that its initial test flight of the LauncherOne rocket was "a major step forward," even though the craft did not achieve orbit as intended. In a follow-up tweet the next day, Virgin added "We said the main product of this flight would be data, and wow, did we get a lot of it! After diving into our early anal- yses, we wanted to share more about the flight — including both the many things that went well and what we know about the areas where we’ll need to improve." (ANS thanks @Virgin_Orbit on Twitter for the above information) + Planning to build some space hardware in your basement during your Covid-19 quaranteen? Better get your handbook! A newly revised ver- sion of the NASA Systems Engineering Handbook can be downloaded at: https://www.nasa.gov/connect/ebooks/nasa-systems-engineering-handbook (ANS thanks The Orbital Index for the above information) + Russia plans to build a new space station because the current Inter- national Space Station will last only another decade at most, the head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos said in an interview pub- lished on Monday. "It's still unclear whether it (the new station) will be international or national," Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin said in comments to the Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda. (ANS thanks n2yo.com for the above information) + Michael Wyrick, N3UC, has announced that AO-27 is now running on a schedule that places the FM repeater on for 8 minutes per orbit: 4 minutes ascending pass and 4 minutes descending pass. (ANS thanks Stephen DeVience, N8URE, 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 addi- tional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office. Primary and secondary school students are eligible for membership at one-half the standard yearly rate. Post-secondary school students enrolled in at least half time status shall be eligible for the stu- dent rate for a maximum of 6 post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT Office for additional student membership information. 73 and Remember to help keep amateur radio in space, This week's ANS Editor, Mark D. Johns, K0JM k0jm at amsat dot org

1 0

space x frequency
by andy thomas 30 May '20

30 May '20

Hi got a very short tx just above 401.5 Mhz on my sdr console with an RSP1A and a Wimo 70cm helix pointing "Up" , received just about 9 and half minutes after liftoff. At the time, rocket coming overhead from West/Ireland. Does anybody know the precise timeline for radio transmisisons amd also frequencies? Am happy to send a copy of my screendump on request. Of course it may be a coincidence. 73 de andy g0sfj

1 0

Video of IARU-R2 "Satellite Communications 101" workshop on 27 May
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 30 May '20

30 May '20

Hi! As I previously mentioned on this list, IARU Region 2 (IARU-R2) is hosting workshops covering different facets of amateur radio. Last Wednesday (27 May) was the "Satellite Communications 101" workshop I presented. Due to technical glitches, this workshop was not available in real time via YouTube, but the video of Wednesday's presentation is now available on YouTube. The direct link to the video of last Wednesday's workshop is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f61uwo5Qy6A One week earlier, on 20 May, Matias LU9CBL and Guillermo OA4/XQ3SA hosted the Spanish-language version of this workshop, titled "Comunicaciones por Satelite 101". The video of their presentation is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69D1dJEfGDc IARU-R2 plans more workshops covering other topics, in English and Spanish. Information on upcoming workshops is available at: https://www.iaru-r2.org/en/news-and-events/workshops/ Videos of past workshops are available from the IARU-R2 Workshops channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnG2Srz0bsKmTbF2r3YNneQ Thanks to IARU-R2 for inviting me to be the presenter for Wednesday's workshop! 73. Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK or http://twitter.com/WD9EWK

1 0

Excellent QSO with AO-27
by Brian Wilkins KO4AQF 29 May '20

29 May '20

Just performed my first QSO on AO-27 with N5BO. Heard also CO8TW who also sounded excellent. I found it easier to work than SO-50. I did not hear (apologize for incorrect terminology), a carrier so I attempted to transmit while in TCA. N5BO came back when I transmitted. I do not know if I happened to hit the timer just right but it worked. From 0-30, heard nothing until I could hear myself immediately upon TX in full duplex. This was performed using a TH-D72A and Arrow II. I wouldn’t have been successful up to this point if it wasn’t for the AMSAT community at large. Thank you again for resurrecting this bird! Brian KO4AQF -- Brian Wilkins KO4AQF

1 0

Updated Field Day Rules
by Bruce 29 May '20

29 May '20

I had mentioned in the AMSAT Field Day rules that we follow the ARRL rules to the most part except when it has to do with satellite operation. The ARRL has just updated the Field Day rules for this year and we will make accommodations as they have. Class 1D stations will now we allowed to contact other Class 1D stations. These are home stations operating on commercial power. This will mean that there will be another group of certificates for Field Day.... the top three stations operating from home with commercial power. The problem I see with those operating from home attaching their scores to a club is that we only allow one satellite station to be operating at a time. If you are going to attach your satellite contact to a club, I will have to have the name of the club and only ONE home station can attach per club. This will keep the playing field rather equal as there are areas where there is only one satellite op around and other areas where there are dozens of satellite ops. It would be unfair for an area with a dozen satellite ops to pool all their home contacts towards one club. I understand that one satellite op might work from noon to 2PM and another satellite op at their home could take over and work from 2PM to 4PM and yet another take over and work another shift, etc. This would make it very difficult for me to score. That is why I chose only one satellite home station could be attached to a single club. There will also be no duplicate certificates. If you are attaching your score to a club, then it goes towards club rankings and not home rankings. Nothing needs to be changed on the submission form, I will see if you are operating 1D and I will see the name of your attached club if any. This is new and uncharted waters and hope everyone enjoys AMSAT Field Day. I suspect that this year with the rule change there will be way more than the normal 20 submissions. Below is the release from the ARRL. 73...bruce With one month to go before 2020 ARRL Field Day, June 27 – 28, the ARRL Programs and Services Committee (PSC) has adopted two temporary rule waivers for the event: 1) For Field Day 2020 only, Class D stations may work all other Field Day stations, including other Class D stations, for points. Field Day rule 4.6 defines Class D stations as “Home stations,” including stations operating from permanent or licensed station locations using commercial power. Class D stations ordinarily may only count contacts made with Class A, B, C, E, and F Field Day stations, but the temporary rule waiver for 2020 allows Class D stations to count contacts with other Class D stations for QSO credit. 2) In addition, for 2020 only, an aggregate club score will be published, which will be the sum of all individual entries indicating a specific club (similar to the aggregate score totals used in ARRL affiliated club competitions). Ordinarily, club names are only published in the results for Class A and Class F entries, but the temporary rule waiver for 2020 allows participants from any Class to optionally include a single club name with their submitted results following Field Day. For example, if Podunk Hollow Radio Club members Becky, W1BXY, and Hiram, W1AW, both participate in 2020 Field Day — Hiram from his Class D home station, and Becky from her Class C mobile station — both can include the radio club’s name when reporting their individual results. The published results listing will include individual scores for Hiram and Becky, plus a combined score for all entries identified as Podunk Hollow Radio Club. The temporary rule waivers were adopted by the PSC on May 27, 2020. ARRL Field Day is one of the biggest events on the amateur radio calendar, with over 36,000 participants in 2019, including entries from 3,113 radio clubs and emergency operations centers. In most years, Field Day is also the largest annual demonstration of ham radio, because many radio clubs organize their participation in public places such as parks and schools. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many radio clubs have made decisions to cancel their group participation in ARRL Field Day this year due to public health recommendations and/or requirements, or to significantly modify their participation for safe social distancing practices. The temporary rule waivers allow greater flexibility in recognizing the value of individual and club participation regardless of entry class. ARRL is contacting logging program developers about the temporary rule waivers so developers can release updated versions of their software prior to Field Day weekend. Participants are reminded that the preferred method of submitting entries after Field Day is via the web applet. The ARRL Field Day rules include instructions for submitting entries after the event. Entries must be submitted or postmarked by Tuesday, July 28, 2020. -- Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards AMSAT Board Member 2016-2020 ARRL Awards Field Checker (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0100z on Echolink - Conference *AMSAT* Also live streaming MP3 athttp://www.amsatnet.com Podcast athttp://www.amsatnet.com/podcast.xml or iTunes Latest satellite news on the ARRL Audio News http://www.arrl.org AMSAT on Twitterhttp://www.twitter.com/amsat

1 0

Amsat Fox Telemetry Server is paused
by Chris Thompson 29 May '20

29 May '20

I paused the Telemetry server earlier today while the IT team work out what is causing amsat.org to have difficulties. Telemetry will queue in FoxTelem and be uploaded when it comes back online. Email me with an questions. 73 Chris g0kla / ac2cz -- Chris E. Thompson chrisethompson(a)gmail.com g0kla(a)arrl.net

1 1

AMSAT website down?
by Zach Metzinger 28 May '20

28 May '20

Hello all, I'm not able to get to amsat.org at the moment. Is anyone else having the same problem? Thanks, --- Zach N0ZGO

5 6

AO-92
by BeetleJerald Oliver 28 May '20

28 May '20

Is AO-92 still in L Band mode today? Jerry

1 0

Roving is starting up again!
by Paul Overn 28 May '20

28 May '20

Check out the AMSAT Roving page for the most up to date roving announcements! We got: DN74/75, 84 on May 27-29 DN01 / 02 5/28 EM79/89 on 5/30 + 5/31 DN31 5/28 Some MM action coming up on 6/2 And a little rover to DL88. Check out the details here: https://www.amsat.org/satellite-info/upcoming-satellite-operations/ Don't forget to send me your updates at KE0PBR at gmail dot com. Thanks! -- KE0PBR Paul Overn AMSAT Ambassador Twitter: @KE0PBR Website: KE0PBR.Wordpress.com

1 0

RS-44 Satpc32 doppler
by Michael A. Foster 28 May '20

28 May '20

Any body got the Doppler.Sqf file for RS-44? TNX, Michael – n8iup

4 3

ARISS News Release (ANR) No. 20-05
by David Jordan 27 May '20

27 May '20

ARISS News Release No. 20-05 Dave Jordan, AA4KN ARISS PR aa4kn(a)amsat.org FORIMMEDIATE RELEASE Coming Soon!! Mid-Altitude Balloon Race Planned for June 1 Three Space Station Explorer teams participate in anexciting distance learning—social distanced balloon race to beheld during Pandemic May27, 2020—ARISS educator, Joanne Michaelis an amateur radio operator with callsign KM6BWB. Joanne is also a science coach at theWiseburn Unified School District in Los Angeles, California where she leads herstudents in several balloon launch attempts from the Los Angeles area eachyear. With this year different becauseof the pandemic, Joanne wanted to “shake things up a bit” and give students,world-wide, a unique distance learning treat while keeping all safe during thepandemic. So Joanne challenged TedTagami, KK6UUQ, from Magnitude.io to a mid-altitude cross-continent balloonrace and Ted accepted the challenge! Tedplans to launch his balloon from Oakland, California. ISS Above inventor, Liam Kennedy, KN6EQU,from Pasadena, California, got “wind” of the idea and he asked to participate,too. All three organizations: ARISS,Magnitude.io and ISS Above are ISS National Lab Space Station Explorer (SSE)partners that work to inspire, engage, and educate students in ScienceTechnology Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) topics and to pursue STEAMcareers. The three SSE teams plan tolaunch their balloons simultaneously on June 1st. The winner will be the first one to cross the“Finish Line”—the Eastern Time zone. Launch time is planned for 15:00 UTC/11:00 EDT/10:00 CDT/9:00 MDT/8:00PDT. A live video feed of the launch isplanned to start approximately 5 minutes prior to the event. Once the balloons areairborne, students can track each balloon’s location, altitude, and temperaturevia amateur radio APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System) which is fedautomatically to the aprs.fi web site. Educators and parents around the globe can excite at-home youth withthis initiative. Students can tally and track the states each balloon travelsthrough and plot altitude versus temperature, etc. Also, by researching weatherpatterns, students can make assumptions from their own data. This could include speed variations due toweather. They also can predict eachballoon’s flight path and when they might cross the finish line! For more information on theballoon launch, lesson plans, and the livestream video link (when thelivestream URL is available), please go to: https://www.ariss.org/mid-altitude-balloon-race.html Enjoy the Race! May the best ballooner win!! About ARISS: Amateur Radio on the InternationalSpace Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radiosocieties and the space agencies that support the International Space Station(ISS). In the United States, sponsorsare the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio RelayLeague (ARRL), the ISS National Lab and National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration ofscience, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics topics byorganizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard theISS and students. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators,parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateurradio. For more information, see www.ariss.org MediaContact: DaveJordan, AA4KN ARISSPR Likeus on Facebook Followus on Twitter

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