- AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

New Horizons reaches Ultima Thule tonight
by Daniel Schultz 31 Dec '18

31 Dec '18

Images of Ultima Thule from the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager on New Horizons are being posted at: http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/soc/UltimaThule-Encounter They don't look like much today, but we expect to see much better images in less than 24 hours. The entire mission results are at http://www.pluto.jhuapl.edu and the PBS program NOVA will do a special show about the Ultima Thule encounter on Wednesday evening on your local Public Broadcasting station (in the USA at least). Dan Schultz N8FGV

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2018-12-31 19:30 UTC
by aj9n＠aol.com 31 Dec '18

31 Dec '18

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2018-12-31 19:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Pembroke Junior Senior High School, Corfu, NY, telebridge via LU8YY (***) The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS (***) The scheduled astronaut is David St-Jacques KG5FYI Contact is go for: Tue 2019-01-08 15:28:49 UTC 32 deg (***) ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The ARISS-US program’s education proposal window open Oct. 1 - Nov. 30, 2018 has now closed. The next window should go open in the spring of 2019. The ARISS webpage is at http://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. 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, click here. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Keigo Komuro, JA1KAB, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) ****************************************************************************** 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 http://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? 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 **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 135 Francesco IKØWGF with 132 Gaston ON4WF with 123 Sergey RV3DR with 108 **************************************************************************** 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. 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 2018-12-31 19:30 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. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1285. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1228. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 47. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. http://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: http://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS **************************************************************************** The successful school list has been updated as of 2018-12-14 18:00 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correction .rtf Listing of ARISS related magazine articles as of 2006-07-10 03:30 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ARISS_magazine_articles.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** Exp. 58 on orbit Oleg Konenenko David St-Jacques KG5FYI Anne McClain **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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Commercial omni satellite antennas?
by Ken M 31 Dec '18

31 Dec '18

Hello all, Does anyone know of commercial sources of any of the following omnidirectional satellite antennas suitable for amateur use? - QHA - Turnstile - Lindenblad There are many plans for constructing such antennas, but I haven’t found any commercial varieties through common Amateur sources (other than M2 which makes egg beaters). Thanks & 73! Ken VA7KBM Sent from my iPad

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APRS digipeaters in space?
by skristof＠etczone.com 30 Dec '18

30 Dec '18

With the ISS digipeater down and NO-84 and NO-44 only slightly operational, are there any other birds that can do APRS digipeating on 145.825? What ever happened with BHUTAN-1 and MAYA-1? Weren't they supposed to be APRS digipeater capable? Steve AI9IN

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Tracking Grids
by Chris Pohlad-Thomas 30 Dec '18

30 Dec '18

Is there a good site to keep track of your grids attained for satellite work? Chris Pohlad-Thomas KC1E

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Re: [amsat-bb] Tracking Grids
by Rolf Krogstad 30 Dec '18

30 Dec '18

> Logbook of the World is great for this. Set up a VUCC Award and upload > tour QSOs. You can see worked vs confirmed. And it is easy to apply for > the VUCC award. > > Rolf NR0T > > On Sat, Dec 29, 2018, 12:19 PM Chris Pohlad-Thomas < > chrispohladthomas(a)gmail.com wrote: > >> Is there a good site to keep track of your grids attained for satellite >> work? >> >> Chris Pohlad-Thomas >> KC1E >> _______________________________________________ >> 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: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb >> >

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flex 6000
by Nick Pugh 30 Dec '18

30 Dec '18

Has anyone used a flex 6xxx radio to decode the 9k6 kbs sats? nick Cell 337 258 2527 Helping UL become a world Class Engineering and Educational School Disagree I Learn

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WD9EWK from DM22/DM32 line on Monday (31 December 2018)
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 30 Dec '18

30 Dec '18

Hi! On Monday (31 December 2018), I will make a quick road trip out to the DM22/DM32 grid boundary in Yuma County, Arizona. I am planning to work the AO-91 and AO-92 passes from a spot north of the I-8 freeway about 25 miles east of Yuma. After those passes, I'll head back to Phoenix and (hopefully) avoid the New Year's Eve craziness on the roads. While driving, I should be visible using APRS as WD9EWK-9: http://aprs.fi/WD9EWK-9 Except while driving, I will use my @WD9EWK Twitter account to post updates while I am out there. If you don't have a Twitter account, you can still see these updates using a web browser at: http://twitter.com/WD9EWK I will upload my DM22/DM32 log to Logbook of the World after I return home. If you would like a DM22/DM32 QSL card to confirm a contact, please e-mail me directly with the QSO details. If you are in my log, I will send a card. No need to send me a QSL card or SASE. Thanks, and 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK or http://twitter.com/WD9EWK

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new DStar sat?
by Ted Krempa 30 Dec '18

30 Dec '18

Hello, Anyone have info on a new DStar sat launched a few days ago? Is it usable, etc.? and how? 73, Ted K7TRK

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ANS-364 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins
by Paul Stoetzer 29 Dec '18

29 Dec '18

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-364 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information 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://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 dot org. In this edition: * AMSAT CW Activity Day January 1, 2019 In Memory Of W3XO * Soyuz Flight Deploys Amateur Radio Satellites * In-Orbit Test (IOT) of Es’hail-2 AMSAT P4-A transponders * Changes to the AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for December 27, 2018 * Ham Talk Live Podcast Featuring KO4MA * Multiple Flight Projects Selected by International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory * AMSAT Awards Update * Upcoming Satellite Operations * Satellite Shorts from All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-364.01 ANS-364 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 364.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. December 30, 2018 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-364.01 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT relies on your donations to Keep Amateur Radio in Space Please consider a one-time or recurring donation today at https://www.amsat.org/donate/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT CW Activity Day January 1, 2019 In Memory Of W3XO You are cordially invited to participate in AMSAT's third annual CW Activity Day. It will be held from 0001 to 2400 UTC on January 1,2019. This year's event is being held in memory of AMSAT past president Bill Tynan, W3XO. Bill operated primarily SSB, but would always come back to my CW call. Bill's experience reminds us that one need not be a CW specialist to enjoy the mode. CW Activity Day rules are very simple: there aren't any. Just operate CW through any amateur radio satellite. Straight keys and "bugs" are encouraged, but not required. The important thing is to get on the air and have fun, as Bill did. [ANS thanks Ray Soifer, W2RS for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Soyuz Flight Deploys Amateur Radio Satellites The Soyuz flight on December 27th carrying a pair of Kanopus V remote sensing satellites also deployed two German Orbital Systems D-Star ONE satellites: D-Star ONE - Sparrow and D-Star ONE - iSat. Beacons have been successfully received. These satellites carry a D-STAR parrot repeater that will be available for use by amateur radio operators. The uplink is 437.325 MHz and the downlink is 435.525 MHz. The flight also deployed the UWE-4 1U CubeSat carrying an electric propulsion experiment and a 70cm 9k6 AX.25 digipeater. The uplink and downlink frequency is 437.375 MHz. The digipeater will be active after the Launch and Early Operations Phase (LEOP) More information on the launch and other payloads deployed can be found at http://russianspaceweb.com/kanopus-v5-v6.html [ANS thanks Russian Space Web, German Orbital Systems and the IARU for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- In-Orbit Test (IOT) of Es’hail-2 AMSAT P4-A transponders AMSAT-DL notes that the In-Orbit testing (IOT) of the P4-A ham radio transponders on Es’hail-2 have started. In a statement regarding the status of the transponders for amateur radio use AMSAT-DL said, "However: Please be reminded, that under no circumstances uplink attempts should be done! Like everyone, we are very excited by the received signals so far and we do appreciate any monitoring and receiving reports from the amateur radio community. We are happy to see how much interest and enthusiasm this satellite already created in our community." And continuing, "Any unsolicited transmissions will delay the commis- sioning and maybe even worse, might influence our good relation with Es’hailSat during this project. When a new satellite is launched, a number of tests are performed to verify that the stress loads imposed by the launch have not affected the on-board systems. An RF in-orbit test (IOT) is conducted to verify the performance of communication payloads. These operations are typic- ally performed by the manufacturer of the satellite, in this case by MELCO engineers. These operations also include both AMSAT P4-A trans- ponders on-board Es’hail-2. Such acceptance tests are part of the commercial contract and usually consists of Power, Frequency and other measurements like: Gain transfer, EIRP, In-Band and Out-Band response, receive & transmit antenna cross-polarization isolation, antenna gain, Gain-to-temperature ratio (G/T), Gain adjustments, TWT settings, Spacecraft spurious signal search, intermodulation, LO and beacon frequency stability and much more… When all IOT tests are successful performed, the satellite will be moved to it’s final position at 26°E and handed-over to it’s owner Es’hailSat. Please understand that AMSAT-DL is not authorized to give any details of the above operations in advance. [ANS thanks AMSAT-DL for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Changes to the AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for December 27, 2018 The identification of the 64 satellites launched by SpaceX SSO-A mission on December 3, 2018 continues. As noted last week, the consensus is that the spacing between unidentified satellites is STILL not to a point where positive identification is possible. In the past, two weeks after launch has been the time when distance between cubesats increases enough to identify most individual sat- ellites. But, this time, we must wait for more separation. There are no major changes to the previous AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution (Thursday, December 20, 2018) for the IDENTIFIED SSO-A launch objects at this time except for the following comments: (1) There is a disagreement between this week's TLE distribution (Thursday, December 27, 2018) and the Space-Track data of the same date. Space-Track shows PWSat 2 as OBJECT 43814, but detailed doppler analysis suggests that PWSat 2 is object 43775 or 43779. Hopefully this will be resolved in the coming week. In the mean time, all three objects 43775, 43779, and 43814 are included in this week's distribution with PWSat 2 shown as CAT ID 43775. (2) Space-Track has decided that OBJECT 43769 is now FLOCK 3S 1 (a commercial satellite). OBJECT 43769 was the object that we had used last week for AO 95. So, we are now going to use OBJECT 43771 for AO-95. OBJECT 43771 is the other object we think may be AO-95. Remember these objects are still too close together so we must wait for more separation. Patience! (3) Also we are still awaiting greater separation for JO 97 (ex JY1Sat). JO-97 is shown as OBJECT 43803 but may be 43801. The downlink is 145.839085 MHz. (4) The following objects have been identified as non-amateur radio satellites and have been removed from this week's distribution: EXCITE - CAT ID 43758 (identified by Space-Track, non-amateur) KAZSTSAT - CAT ID 43783 (identified by Space-Track, non-amateur) FLOCK 3S 3 - NORAD CAT ID 43788 (identified by Space-Track, non- amateur) FLOCK 3S 2 - NORAD CAT ID 43821 (identified by Space-Track, non- amateur) Thanks to Nico Janssen, PA0DLO, and Alan Biddle, WA4SCA, for this week's update details. [ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD for the above information.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Ham Talk Live Podcast Featuring KO4MA If you missed the Ham Talk Live show featuring Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, on December 27 you can play back a recording of this episode at: https://www.spreaker.com/show/ham-talk-live then select Episode 146 - Making the Most of Satellite Time 27 Dec Drew and Neil discussed getting the most out of satellite time. They talked about what to say, when to say it, and other etiquette and protocol issues so that you can make the most of your satellite operation! Ham Talk Live is also available as a podcast on nearly all podcast sites: Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, SoundCloud, and iHeart Podcasts; and it's also available on YouTube. [ANS thanks Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, and Ham Talk Live for the above information] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ For a limited time, new and renewing AMSAT members will receive a free digital copy of "Getting Started with Amateur Satellites" Join or renew your AMSAT membership today at https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-membership/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Multiple Flight Projects Selected by International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory The International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory today announced multiple flight projects stemming from a variety of scientific and educational concepts that are in development to launch to the orbiting national laboratory. Each of the investigations selected for the ISS National Lab will benefit life on Earth by exploiting unique advantages of research in space. These projects represent a diverse mixture of scientific objectives and interests from commercial partners, academic investigations, and education initiatives to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers. Below is an overview of recently selected investigations by the ISS National Lab: Blast Off! Story Time From Space: Engaging Young Learners in STEM and Literacy Twin Cities Public Broadcasting Service PI: Rita Karl and Patricia Tribe Blast Off! is a multiplatform initiative dedicated to engaging young learners (ages 2-8) in reading and hands-on science. Twin Cities PBS and Story Time From Space are developing Blast Off! as a pilot project for PBS. This program has the potential to reach millions of viewers, providing information on living and working in space and on microgravity's effects on science. This project is being done in partnership with the Story Time From Space educational program. [ANS thanks Spaceref.com for this information.] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT and ARISS are currently supporting a FundRazr campaign to raise $150,000 for critical radio infrastructure upgrades on ISS. The upgrades are necessary to enable students to continue to talk to astronauts in space via Amateur Radio. We have reached a great milestone with $16,695 raised or about 10% towards our goal. This would not have been possible without your outstanding generosity!! For more information and to DONATE TODAY visit: https://fundrazr.com/arissnextgen?ref=ab_e7Htwa_ab_47IcJ9 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT Awards Update Here we are, the last half of 2018, in fact the end of 2018, I have been posting all the Rover Awards on my Twitter account and tagging @AMSAT. I will include all the Rover Awards here for those that do not have Twitter. What will you be doing for AMSAT's 50th Anniversary in 2019. Stay tuned for some operating awards we have for you, AMSAT Members and Non-AMSAT Members. ------ AMSAT Satellite Communicators Award for making their first satellite QSO Mike Lozano, KI7WIB Harry Mueller, W1HMM Kirk Miller, W0KM Dennis Madarang, KD2QET Colbie Dison, KN4NIM Nathan Binder, BSA Troop 738 Jeffrey Howell, KO9P Alex Van Patten, KC3LPC Martin Gibson, VK2GIB Tom Zimmerman, W9TTY Michael Barry, KN4CFD Billy Penley, KN4MKB Bentley Skibell, WM1K Rich Olson, W9TIT Tom Snowden, KI7SNW ------ AMSAT Communications Achievement Award Brad Brooks, WF7T, #585 Brennan Price, N4QX, #586 Michael Lozano, KI7WIB, #587 ------ AMSAT South Africa Satellite Communications Achievement Award Brad Brooks, WF7T, #US209 Brennan Price, N4QX, #US210 ------ AMSAT Robert W. Barbee Jr., W4AMI Award Charles Reiche, N3CRT, #96 ------ AMSAT Rover Award (New for 2018) Rover Call ===== ======== 028 K4FTP 029 KB2YSI 030 N3CRT 031 N2WLS 032 K2MTS 033 AI6DO 034 KD8RTT 035 AD7DB 036 AB5SS 037 W9TWJ 038 WN9Q 039 KM6NJL 040 KM4LAO To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org and click on Services then Awards. [ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO, AMSAT Director of Contests and Awards for the above information] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming Satellite Operations + Oahu (BL01, BL11) – December 28 to January 1, 2019 Gabe, AL6D willbe heading to Oahu, Hawaii, at the end of the year. Plan is to operate from BL01 and BL10, linears and FM. Trip is dependent on availability of cockpit jumpseat, so subject to cancel- lation. Keep an eye on the @AL6D_Alaska Twitter for further updates https://twitter.com/AL6D_Alaska + Azores (HM58) – December 30 to January 2, 2019 Pedro, CU2ZG, will spend the long New Year’s weekend in HM58. Pedro will operate holiday style on FM and linears. Skeds are accepted and preferred, but keep in mind that being a family trip availability constrains might occur. Confirmations via LoTW using plain CU2ZG will be uploaded the following week, and any direct QSL will get a proper reply. Updates posted on Twitter and publicly viewable at https://twitter.com/pdsousa. + Point Pelee National Park, Canada (EN81) – January 1, 2019 Ron, AD0DX, and Mike, W8LID plan to active Point Pelee National Park on New Year’s Day to kick of the Canadian National Parks on the Air (CNPOTA) event. Keep an eye on their Twitter accounts for further updates: https://twitter.com/ad0dx and https://twitter.com/w8lid + Central California (CM95, CM96, DM05, DM06) – January 5, 2019 Ron, AD0DX will activate the CM95, CM96, DM05, DM06 grid corner on January 5th. Keep an eye on the @ad0dx Twitter feed for more updates https://twitter.com/ad0dx + Central California (CM95, CM96, DM05, DM06) – January 12, 2019 David, AD7DB, will be in the area of Kettleman City CA near a conver- gence of four grids, operating on FM satellites. Grids (maybe grid- lines) will depend on the satellite passes. Operation expected from 1700 UTC through 2300 UTC. Updates will be on Twitter as the time approaches: https://twitter.com/ad7db + Quartzfest Arizona (DM23) – January 19-27, 2019 John, N7JY, will be operating FM satellites on a holiday schedule. He may also visit some adjoining grids. There will likely be other hams operating from the event, located a few miles south of Quartzsite AZ. QSL via LOTW, or you can send your card with SASE + Las Vegas NV and Northwest AZ (DM25, DM26, DM36) – January 20-22, 2019 David, AD7DB, will be in Las Vegas at DM25/26 line, operating on FM satellites on a holiday schedule. In addition, weather permitting, sometime on Monday 01/21/19 he will make a side trip to Beaver Dam AZ to activate from DM36aw. Updates will be on Twitter as the time approaches: https://twitter.com/ad7db [ANS Thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL, for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts from All Over + PW-Sat2 Sail Deployment PW-Sat2 has deployed its deorbiting sail experiment ahead of schedule. See PWSat2 on Twitter for more information https://twitter.com/PWSat2 (PWSat2 on Twitter) + NJ4Y Worked All States Congratulations to Matt, NJ4Y for earning the ARRL Worked All States - Satellite award #367. Matt tweeted, "This is probably the toughest radio award I've ever worked towards, and one of my favorites. Thanks especially to AC0RA, K8BL, and AL6D for my last 4 states over the past year, Oregon, Mississippi, Alaska, and Hawaii! (NJ4Y via Twitter) + NPR Highlights Cubesats National Public Radio posted an article on December 26th entitled "What's Next for Tiny Satellites." The article may be found at https://tinyurl.com/ANS-364-NPR --------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT office. 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 student rate for a maximum of six post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT office for additional student membership information. Happy New Year and 73, This week's ANS Editor, Paul Stoetzer, N8HM n8hm at amsat dot org

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Re: [amsat-bb] Satellite Prediction with Alexa?
by Ciprian Sufitchi 29 Dec '18

29 Dec '18

I know there was somebody who started a project to get Alexa satellite predictions using the REST API provided by n2yo.com: https://www.n2yo.com/api/ 73 de Chip N2YO -----Original Message----- From: Daniel Holmes <danielh(a)holmesonics.com> Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2018 3:19 PM To: Amsat <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Satellitye Prediction with Alexa? I can’t find it right now, but I remember seeing on thingiverse a three tier LED stand controlled by a raspberry pi that tracked satellites. Don’t remember the software but I’ll keep looking. Dan -- Sent from my iPhone. Please pardon any mispelings or errors. _______________________________________________ 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: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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uplink freq. hops
by James Brown 29 Dec '18

29 Dec '18

Using SATPC32 with FT817 downlink and ic 9700 uplink. When I set the uplink to track the downlink it changes and moves up in a few seconds. How do I set and lock it in to track? Jim

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AMSAT Awards Update
by Bruce 29 Dec '18

29 Dec '18

Here we are, the last half of 2018, in fact the end of 2018, I have been posting all the Rover Awards on my Twitter account and tagging @AMSAT. I will include all the Rover Awards here for those that do not have Twitter. What will you be doing for AMSAT's 50th Anniversary in 2019. Stay tuned for some operating awards we have for you, AMSAT Members and Non-AMSAT Members. AMSAT Satellite Communicators Award for making their first satellite QSO Mike Lozano, KI7WIB Harry Mueller, W1HMM Kirk Miller, W0KM Dennis Madarang, KD2QET Colbie Dison, KN4NIM Nathan Binder, BSA Troop 738 Jeffrey Howell, KO9P Alex Van Patten, KC3LPC Martin Gibson, VK2GIB Tom Zimmerman, W9TTY Michael Barry, KN4CFD Billy Penley, KN4MKB Bentley Skibell, WM1K Rich Olson, W9TIT Tom Snowden, KI7SNW ------ AMSAT Communications Achievement Award Brad Brooks, WF7T, #585 Brennan Price, N4QX, #586 Michael Lozano, KI7WIB, #587 ------ AMSAT South Africa Satellite Communications Achievement Award Brad Brooks, WF7T, #US209 Brennan Price, N4QX, #US210 ------ AMSAT Robert W. Barbee Jr., W4AMI Award Charles Reiche, N3CRT, #96 ------ AMSAT Rover Award (New for 2018) Rover Call ===== ======== 028 K4FTP 029 KB2YSI 030 N3CRT 031 N2WLS 032 K2MTS 033 AI6DO 034 KD8RTT 035 AD7DB 036 AB5SS 037 W9TWJ 038 WN9Q 039 KM6NJL 040 KM4LAO 73...bruce To see all the awards visit http://www.amsat.org and click on Services the Awards Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards ARRL Awards Field Checker (WAS, 5BWAS, VUCC), VE Houston AMSAT Net - Wed 0200z on Echolink - Conference *AMSAT* Also streaming MP3 at http://www.amsatnet.com Podcast at http://www.amsatnet.com/podcast.xml or iTunes _______________________________________________ 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: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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CM79
by Anthony Wiese 29 Dec '18

29 Dec '18

Anthony, KG6LHW will be activating CM79 on California's Lost Coast this Sunday 12/30. Will be using the FM birds. Will also be hovering around 14.270 and 7.270. Carl, KM6LIQ will assist with social media and cluster relays via the Shelter Cove Repeater. The Facebook group ARRL International Grid Chase 2018 will be the main link for our status.Happy Hunting,AnthonyKG6LHW

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decoding 9k6 sats
by Nick Pugh 29 Dec '18

29 Dec '18

Has anybody used the Flex 6000 sat to decode the 9k6 kbs sats? nick Cell 337 258 2527 Helping UL become a world Class Engineering and Educational School Disagree I Learn

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WD9EWK from DM52/DM53 line, tomorrow (29 December)
by Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) 28 Dec '18

28 Dec '18

Hi! Weather permitting - mainly, as long as the roads through the mountains east of Phoenix aren't closed or covered with snow - I will make a drive out to the DM52/DM53 grid line in southeastern Arizona for at least the AO-91 and AO-92 passes tomorrow (Saturday, 29 December 2018). While driving out there, I should be visible using APRS as WD9EWK-9: http://aprs.fi/WD9EWK-9 Except while driving, I will use my @WD9EWK Twitter account to post updates while I am out there. If you don't have a Twitter account, you can still see these updates using a web browser at: http://twitter.com/WD9EWK I will upload my DM52/DM53 log to Logbook of the World after I return home. If you would like a DM52/DM53 QSL card to confirm a contact, please e-mail me directly with the QSO details. If you are in my log, I will send a card. No need to send me a QSL card or SASE. Thanks, and 73! Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK or http://twitter.com/WD9EWK

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Re: [amsat-bb] Roving to FM07, FM08 and other grids
by Ruth Willet 28 Dec '18

28 Dec '18

Good morning, I am planning to be on the 1754z AO91 pass this afternoon. It looks like I’ll be operating from FM07 in Virginia. 73, Ruth KM4LAO Sent from my iPhone > On Dec 27, 2018, at 11:52 AM, Ruth Willet <ruthwillet(a)icloud.com> wrote: > > Good morning, > > I am planning to be on the 1754z AO91 pass this afternoon. It looks like I’ll be operating from FM07 in Virginia. > > 73, > Ruth > KM4LAO > > Sent from my iPhone > >> On Dec 26, 2018, at 8:54 PM, Ruth Willet via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> wrote: >> >> Good evening satellite operators, >> >> I am traveling with my family tomorrow and Friday, December 27th and 28th, and am bringing my satellite gear to do a few passes along the way. I will be passing through EM97, FM07, FM08, and FM17 in Virginia. FM07 and FM08 seem to be the most needed, so my primary goal is to work some passes from those grids. I will also try to do a pass or two from FM17 and EM97. I upload all of my satellite QSOs to LOTW, and enjoy confirming by QSL cards as well. :) >> >> This is primarily a family trip, so when I'm on satellite passes depends on what the rest of my family is doing. As a result, I don't know specifically what passes I will be on. However, I am planning to do a couple of midday passes both days and an evening pass or two as time allows. I will be on FM passes for sure, but hope to get on the linear birds as well depending on timing. >> >> Here’s a rough schedule with my guess at passes. Tomorrow, December 27th, I hope to make the 1753z AO91 pass from either FM07 or FM17. I may be able to get on a late night pass from FM17 as well tomorrow evening. Friday, December 28th, I plan on a midday pass or two from FM07, FM08, or the gridline if I can get to a good spot in time. I'm hoping to be on a few more passes from FM07/FM08/EM97 on the way home that evening. >> >> I will do my best to post here once I know a specific pass I’ll be on from a particular grid. I hope I can help you confirm some needed grids! >> >> 73, >> Ruth >> KM4LAO >> _______________________________________________ >> 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: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb >

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Newbie Question
by Chris Pohlad-Thomas 28 Dec '18

28 Dec '18

Is it acceptable, when trying to get any QSO on a pass, to call your callsign and your grid? -- Chris Pohlad-Thomas KC1E

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Thanks for first US satellite QSOs
by Jeff Boyd 27 Dec '18

27 Dec '18

I'm normally operating from Japan (PM85) but am in grid FM19 in MD over the Christmas holidays. Armed with a new TH-D72a I made my first contacts in the US on SO50 last night with AD0DX/VE3 and KN4NL. Thanks to both! I will try to be on all FM birds through Jan 4 from this grid. Hope to get plenty more. Forgive me if I accidentally step on any toes... -- J. Boyd JR2TTS/NI3B

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Roving to FM07, FM08 and other grids
by Ruth Willet 26 Dec '18

26 Dec '18

Good evening satellite operators, I am traveling with my family tomorrow and Friday, December 27th and 28th, and am bringing my satellite gear to do a few passes along the way. I will be passing through EM97, FM07, FM08, and FM17 in Virginia. FM07 and FM08 seem to be the most needed, so my primary goal is to work some passes from those grids. I will also try to do a pass or two from FM17 and EM97. I upload all of my satellite QSOs to LOTW, and enjoy confirming by QSL cards as well. :) This is primarily a family trip, so when I'm on satellite passes depends on what the rest of my family is doing. As a result, I don't know specifically what passes I will be on. However, I am planning to do a couple of midday passes both days and an evening pass or two as time allows. I will be on FM passes for sure, but hope to get on the linear birds as well depending on timing. Here’s a rough schedule with my guess at passes. Tomorrow, December 27th, I hope to make the 1753z AO91 pass from either FM07 or FM17. I may be able to get on a late night pass from FM17 as well tomorrow evening. Friday, December 28th, I plan on a midday pass or two from FM07, FM08, or the gridline if I can get to a good spot in time. I'm hoping to be on a few more passes from FM07/FM08/EM97 on the way home that evening. I will do my best to post here once I know a specific pass I’ll be on from a particular grid. I hope I can help you confirm some needed grids! 73, Ruth KM4LAO

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DK3WN software
by Graham 26 Dec '18

26 Dec '18

Season's best wishes all. I have been trying to get some of DK3WN's software running and have an issue I have yet been able to resolve. Behavior is the same on two different computers, one a laptop with Win10 32 bit and the other a desktop with Win7 64 bit. The problem software is agw_online_kiss_plus. I have registered (as administrator) the require ocx's as provided by DK3WN on his website and have installed vb run time libraries sp6 also as provided on his website. the agw_onlinekiss.ini file is configured correctly (as far as I can tell). I have a small tle file (with two element sets) and satellite names do not have any spaces. The problem encountered is that when I attempt to run agw_online_kiss_plus.exe I get a "Run time error '53' file not found" No file name for the "file not found" is given. When I search for that error code i.e. 53 online I get references to a file called solver32.dll which is related to EXCEL. I do not have Microsoft Office (i.e. word, excel, etc) installed. Any suggestions? cheers, Graham ve3gtc near ottawa canada

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Re: [amsat-bb] Icom IC-9700 in January 2019
by kevino z 26 Dec '18

26 Dec '18

Couldn’t you use a virtual comm port ? I use one with AC Log, FLdigi and my Elecraft. In fact, Win4Ksuite makes use of them as well. ----- The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.

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Satellite protocol
by skristof＠etczone.com 26 Dec '18

26 Dec '18

Just a friendly reminder to beginners on the FM satellites (maybe you just got a new radio for Christmas), that there is an established protocol for calling on the FM birds and "CQ satellite" isn't it. I strongly urge anyone new to the satellites to check out this pdf of best practices for the FM satellites: https://www.amsat.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/FM-Satellites-Be… If you are "CQing" on an FM bird you are taking up time that could be going into actual QSOs. Thank you! Steve AI9IN

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Flex Radio and FUNCube Dashboard
by Wendy and Terry Osborne 26 Dec '18

26 Dec '18

For anyone else who is having trouble with this, I thought I would have another look at the FUNCube Dashboard. Latest version is 1.0.1044.1. Under "File>Settings" there is an "Audio" Tab. Selecting Cable Output VB-Audio Virtual works for me. You can get the Flex Radio output to appear in that box (DAX Audio RX1?). 73 and Merry Christmas, Terry Osborne ZL2BAC

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Christmas 1968: Apollo 8
by B J 25 Dec '18

25 Dec '18

On December 24, 1968, Apollo 8 with Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders reached and went into orbit around the moon, becoming the first to do so. The next day, the Service Propulsion System was fired, enabling them to start their return trip. The mission was made possible by the work of someone who was born on December 25, 1642. His name was Isaac Newton, the greatest scientist that ever lived. If I recall correctly, the crew gave Sir Isaac credit as it was his laws of motion and gravitation that allowed Apollo 8 to go from the earth to the moon and then return. Aside from being the first time that men reached the moon, Apollo 8 is likely best remembered for this: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap181224.html Thank you, gentlemen and thank you, Sir Isaac. I was a teenager in junior high school when it happened. It was a grand time to be alive. 73s, Merry Christmas, Frohes Weihnachtsfest, and joyeux Noel Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL

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Re: [amsat-bb] Christmas 1968: Apollo 8
by B J 25 Dec '18

25 Dec '18

On 12/25/18, saguaroastro <saguaroastro(a)cox.net> wrote: > And here is an interesting video about the taking of this most iconic photo: > > > https://youtu.be/dE-vOscpiNc Thanks for the URL. That Apollo 8 photo actually wasn't the first earthrise that was seen. During the Lunar Orbiter program, one of the spacecraft took a rather fuzzy and indistinct picture of that same view. The lack of detail led to some people thinking that it was a hoax. A few years ago, some amateur enthusiasts decided to take some of the Lunar Orbiter data tapes and reprocess them with up-to-date equipment and filtering methods. The result was that the first earthrise picture turned out to be almost as good as what the astronauts took with their Hasselblad cameras or what more recent lunar spacecraft observed. One unexpected benefit of doing that was that it provided valuable data for lunar scientists. It gave them a basis by which to compare more recent views of lunar terrain and seeing what might have changed since the late 1960s. 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL

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Re: [amsat-bb] Christmas 1968: Apollo 8
by B J 25 Dec '18

25 Dec '18

On 12/25/18, Frank G <wa2ndv(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Thank you for the article. This pic has been my qsl card since the 70's... <snip> I've got that picture as the desktop background on one of my computers. 73s Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL

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Happy Holidays
by KA9QJG 25 Dec '18

25 Dec '18

Love to wish all our Members and their Family and Friends a Wonderful Merry Christmas and Healthy Happy New Year , No matter what your Religion , Race or anything else We are all loved in our own ways .And all our Prayers and Thoughts are with our Military away from home and our first responders working and protecting us all .. I got an E-Mail from a Military Friend I thought I would also share, it Read Do not Pray for what We want , Be Thankful for what we have many others have much less .. How True , Don KA9QJG

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Icom IC-9700 in January 2019
by John Brier 24 Dec '18

24 Dec '18

The Icom IC-9700 will be released in January 2019 in Japan for 188,000 yen ($1,657 USD). "Delivery times may vary, depending on the country or region." "The IC-9700 is the perfect side-by-side companion to the IC-7300 HF radio. They are the same size and have almost identical ergonomics. Using the IC-9700 and IC-7300 creates an ideal, compact radio station covering the HF, 144, 430 and 1200 MHz bands." https://qrznow.com/ic-9700-new-release/ Who is getting one? :-) 73, John Brier KG4AKV

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FT-847 for sale
by Stefan Wagener 24 Dec '18

24 Dec '18

Please see the ad on QRZ.com. 73 and Merry Christmas, Stefan VE4NSA

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Re: [amsat-bb] Noise, distortion and fading on AO-92 L/v downlink
by Ronald G. Parsons 24 Dec '18

24 Dec '18

Although not from L/v, here is a link to a screen shot of the AO-92 U/v downlink fading. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DamiFLH6pi4IJxk3zU2gMz5za0oFCGxg/view?usp=… The time scale of the downlink waterfall is on the right in minutes. At TCA, around 5 min, the fades fill in but toward the end of the pass, 0 to 3 min, the fades are rapid, about three per min. This does not happen with all sats, so I don’t think it is a local effect at my station. Spinning of the sat? Ron W5RKN

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Re: [amsat-bb] Noise, distortion and fading on AO-92 L/v downlink
by Ronald G. Parsons 24 Dec '18

24 Dec '18

To my ear, the L/v downlink just “sounds” more distorted and noisier than the U/v downlink. Perhaps something is coming in the L port or is internally generated. The downlink path in my radio is identical in L/v and U/v. The rapid fading last weekend was very noticeable at lower elevations and was close to a 30 sec period. At higher elevations, it was not noticeable. I’ll try to remember to screen capture the downlink waterfall next weekend. Ron W5RKN

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Re: [amsat-bb] Noise, distortion and fading on AO-92 L/v downlink
by Ronald G. Parsons 24 Dec '18

24 Dec '18

Paul, Those are good thoughts. The “radar” noise is distinct and was not my concern. Ron W5RKN

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2018-12-24 15:00 UTC
by aj9n＠aol.com 24 Dec '18

24 Dec '18

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2018-12-24 15:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Next contact is expected to be scheduled sometime during the week of 2019-01-07. (***) ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The ARISS-US program’s education proposal window open Oct. 1 - Nov. 30, 2018 has now closed. The next window should go open in the spring of 2019. The ARISS webpage is at http://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. 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, click here. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Keigo Komuro, JA1KAB, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) ****************************************************************************** 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 http://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? 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 **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 135 Francesco IKØWGF with 132 Gaston ON4WF with 123 Sergey RV3DR with 108 **************************************************************************** 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. 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 2018-12-24 15:00 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. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1285. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1228. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 47. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. http://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: http://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS **************************************************************************** The successful school list has been updated as of 2018-12-14 18:00 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correction .rtf Listing of ARISS related magazine articles as of 2006-07-10 03:30 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ARISS_magazine_articles.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** Exp. 58 on orbit Oleg Konenenko David St-Jacques KG5FYI Anne McClain **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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Re: [amsat-bb] Noise, distortion and fading on AO-92 L/v downlink
by Paul Stoetzer 24 Dec '18

24 Dec '18

I was not on this particular pass, but I have heard these noises before and do believe it to be L band radar interference. 73, Paul, N8HM On Mon, Dec 24, 2018 at 08:03 Mark L. Hammond <marklhammond(a)gmail.com> wrote: > FWIW, I was on the pass with Ron. I'll confirm his observations, although > I can't explain them ;) On some of the uplinks (but not all!) it sounded > like the 70cm "radar" noise, sort of. Jeff KB2M even commented the same. > > Anyhow, we'll have more opportunities with future L/v sessions on AO-92 > and can see if it happens again... > > Mark N8MH > > At 11:18 PM 12/23/2018 -0600, Jerry Buxton wrote: > >Hi Ron, The downlink is the same radio as the U/v, so from that > perspective there is no particular reason that the L/v transmit signal > would be different. The L/v uplink passes through a downconverter with an > output of the same U frequency as the U/v uplink, directly into the > receiver. If there was any distortion to the L/v signal it would likely > occur in the downconverter path, but I haven't heard any other reports of > problems. The first thing that comes to mind for rapid fading is satellite > spin, I do not have any telemetry in front of me but if you check that out > on FoxTelem or the website to see if it is spinning faster than last week, > that might be a contributor. Noise then, if the satellite downconverter is > working correctly, is probably on the uplink signals and may be greater > than normal with the rapid fading. Jerry Buxton, NÃ˜JY On 12/23/2018 19:46, > Ronald G. Parsons wrote: > Last night AO-92 L/v downlink seemed at times > unusually noisy and distorted with rapid fading. Other I talked to on other > sats and one ham in ZL land also mentioned it. I have not noticed this on > AO-92 U/v, at least to this extent. My imagination or fact? > > Ron W5RKN > > _______________________________________________ > 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: > http://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: > http://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: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb >

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Es'hail-2 active?
by Andy Brian 24 Dec '18

24 Dec '18

Hi, is the Es'hail-2 active now? I heard something on 10.489GHz last night. BR Andy

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Noise, distortion and fading on AO-92 L/v downlink
by Ronald G. Parsons 24 Dec '18

24 Dec '18

Last night AO-92 L/v downlink seemed at times unusually noisy and distorted with rapid fading. Other I talked to on other sats and one ham in ZL land also mentioned it. I have not noticed this on AO-92 U/v, at least to this extent. My imagination or fact? Ron W5RKN

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Antennas For Sale
by Roger - W7TZ 23 Dec '18

23 Dec '18

Homebrew- 145mhz 10el CP yagi, 435mhz 24el CP yagi. Fiberglass booms. EZNEC models available. Asking $175 for the pair, pickup only. 73, Roger W7TZ CN83ia Grid Busters w7tz.webs.com

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Amsat.org Telemetry Server Down
by Chris Thompson 23 Dec '18

23 Dec '18

Service will resume once we work out why we have run out of inodes. Telemetry will queue upstream and be sent once the server is up again. Happy Holidays all, 73 Chris G0KLA / AC2CZ -- Chris E. Thompson chrisethompson(a)gmail.com g0kla(a)arrl.net

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Flex 6600 and 1k2 BPSK decoding
by Ross Biggar 23 Dec '18

23 Dec '18

I have been very successfully downloading and decoding quite a number of satellites using 4k8 and 9k6 GMSK and FSK. But for some reason I cannot decode the 1k2 bpsk from any satellite. Can someone please enlighten me as to what software you used to decode the telemetry, it would need to have been decoded on a Flexradio, not an RTL sdr using different software. Thanks Ross ZL1WN

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ANS-357 AMSAT Weekly News Bulletin
by Frank Karnauskas 23 Dec '18

23 Dec '18

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-357 The AMSAT News Service bulletins are a free, weekly news and information 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://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 dot org. In this edition: * AO-85 Update as of December 19, 2018 * Changes to the AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for December 20, 2018 * UWE-4 Satellite Ready to Launch * New Amateur Radio Packet Gear Awaits Unpacking, Installation on Space Station * Successful "AMSAT on the Queen Mary" Operation * AMSAT CW Activity Day January 1, 2019 In Memory Of W3XO * ELaNa-XIX Successfully Launched * AMSAT Awards * Upcoming Satellite Operations * ARISS News * Satellite Shorts from All Over SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-357.01 ANS-357 AMSAT News Service Weekly Bulletins AMSAT News Service Bulletin 357.01 >From AMSAT HQ KENSINGTON, MD. December 23, 2018 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-357.01 AO-85 Update as of 12/19/2018 Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, Vice-President Operations published the following on AO-85's status as of December 19, 2018: "As you probably know, AO-85 has had issues recently with the batteries dropping precariously low during eclipse. We think it's likely the batteries suffered degradation due to heat during previous periods of no eclipses. This has made it difficult to keep the satellite available for use without endangering the batteries. Today the nominally 3.6v pack was down to 2.8v at the end of the eclipse. That is dangerously low. "In an effort to extend the useable life of the satellite, this evening we turned both the IHU and the transmitter off. This ceases all transmissions, including the beacons every two minutes in both sunlit and eclipsed parts of the orbit. We will periodically turn the satellite back on for an orbit or two, in order to gather telemetry. If all goes as planned, we will turn the repeater back on during the next period of no eclipses beginning around January 24th. "In the meantime, it is important to leave AO-85 tracked in your FoxTelem setups, in order for us to gather telemetry and keep tabs on the situation. If you do happen to hear a Veronica beacon, or either the normal repeater or the COR/no telemetry repeater, please let the list know, or send me an email or message directly. "We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we try to make the most of the situation. Please consider supporting the AMSAT GOLF project with your membership, and one-time or recurring donations at: https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-membership/ or https://www.amsat.org/donate/" [ANS thanks Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Changes to the AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution for December 20, 2018 The identification of the 64 satellites launched by SpaceX SSO-A mission on December 3, 2018 continues. The consensus is that the spacing between unidentified satellites is growing to a point where positive identification may now be possible. In the past, two weeks after launch has been the time when distance between CubeSats increases enough to identify most individual satellites. We will see. There are no major changes to the previous AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution (Monday, December 17, 2018) for the IDENTIFIED SSO-A launch objects at this time except for the following comments: (1) There is a disagreement between this week's TLE distribution (Thursday, December 20, 2018) and the Space-Track data of the same date. Space-Track shows PWSat 2 as OBJECT 43814, but detailed Doppler analysis suggests that PWSat 2 is object 43775 or 43779. Hopefully this will be resolved in the next week. In the meantime, all three objects 43775, 43779, and 43814 are included in this week's distribution with PWSat 2 shown as CAT ID 43775. (2) The following satellites still await greater separation: - AO 95 (ex Fox 1Cliff) is shown as OBJECT 43769 but may be 43771; - JO 97 (ex JY1Sat) is shown as OBJECT 43803 but may be 43801, downlink 145.839085 MHz. (3) The following objects have been identified as non-amateur radio satellites and have been removed from this week's distribution: - ICEYE-X2 1 - CAT ID 43761 (identified by Space-Track, non-amateur) - STPSAT-5 - CAT ID 43762 (identified by Space-Track, non-amateur) - CORVUS BC4 - NORAD CAT ID 43767 (identified by Space-Track, non-amateur) - NEXTSAT-1 - NORAD CAT ID 43811 (identified by Space-Track, non-amateur) - GLOBAL-2 - NORAD CAT ID 43812 (identified by Space-Track, non-amateur) Finally, the following satellites have been added to this week's TLE distribution: - Reaktor Hello World is NORAD CAT ID 43743 (Downlink: 437.77527) - CHOMPTT is NORAD CAT ID 43855 (Downlink: 437.55895) AMSAT thanks to Nico Janssen, PA0DLO, and Alan Biddle, WA4SCA, two very diligent "telemetry fans" and to everyone else for their patience in this process. [ANS thanks Ray Hoad, WA5QGD for the above information.] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ For a limited time, new and renewing AMSAT members will receive a free digital copy of "Getting Started with Amateur Satellites" Join or renew your AMSAT membership today at https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-membership/ +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ UWE-4 Satellite Ready to Launch The University of Wuerzburg's UWE-4 1U CubeSat is ready for launch on December 27, 2018 at 02:07:18 UTC on Soyuz-2 from Russia's Vostochny Launch Site. The UWE-4 mission will demonstrate and characterize to enable attitude and orbit control using an electric propulsion system. Uplink: 437.385 MHz (when amateur digipeater is enabled) Downlink: 437.385 MHz 9K6 FSK AX.25 science data and digipeater Callsign: DP0UWH UWE-4 beacons are transmitted periodically every 60s. The beacon definition is provided in a file available at: tinyurl.com/ANS-357-UWE-4-Beacon Data recordings can also be forwarded to: uwe4(a)informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de After the scientific mission has been completed, a digipeater service on board the satellite will be activated, which is open to all radio amateurs. This service will not be active right after launch in order to avoid large radio interference at the satellite during payload operations. More information is available at: https://amsat-uk.org/2018/12/20/uwe-4-satellite/ or tinyurl.com/ANS-357-UWE-4-Satellite A live stream of the Soyuz Launch with UWE-4 CubeSat on board will be available online on December 27, 2018 at 02:06 GMT at: Livestream: http://www.russian.space/306/ Livestream: http://online.roscosmos.ru/ [ANS thanks the University of Wuerzburg, AMSAT-UK, and the IARU for the above information] -------------------------------------------------------------------- New Amateur Radio Packet Gear Awaits Unpacking, Installation on Space Station New Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) packet equipment awaits unpacking and installation on board the station after arriving in November as part of the cargo transported via a Russian 71P Progress resupply vehicle. The new packet module for NA1SS will replace the current packet gear, which has been intermittent over the past year. "With the arrival of Progress complete, the crew has to find free time to unpack Progress, uninstall the intermittent module, and then set up and test the replacement packet module," explained Dan Barstow, KA1ARD, senior education manager of the ISS National Laboratory (CASIS), an ARISS sponsor. The ISS packet system was reported to have gone down in July 2017, although it unexpectedly came back to life the following summer. At the time of the failure, NASA ISS Ham Radio Project Engineer Kenneth Ransom, N5VHO, said the revived system would fill the gap until the replacement packet module was launched and installed. The packet system operates on 145.825 MHz. ARISS hardware team members on the ground were able to locate a functional duplicate of the ISS packet module that has been in use on the ISS for 17 years. ARISS said the subsequent installation will depend on the crew's busy schedule. In an email to ARISS and other groups CASIS supports, Barstow pointed out that ARISS is an official back-up system for astronauts to talk with Mission Control in the unlikely failure of the station's primary communication systems. Barstow said that in 2017, hams relayed nearly 89,000 packet messages via the ISS - an average of 243 every day. The statistic so intrigued and amazed Barstow that he decided to get his Amateur Radio license and gear to join in the activity. [ANS thanks the ARRL for the above information.] +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ AMSAT and ARISS are currently supporting a FundRazr campaign to raise $150,000 for critical radio infrastructure upgrades on ISS. The upgrades are necessary to enable students to continue to talk to astronauts in space via Amateur Radio. We have reached a great milestone with $15,895 raised or about 10% towards our goal. This would not have been possible without your outstanding generosity!! For more information and to DONATE TODAY visit: https://fundrazr.com/arissnextgen?ref=ab_e7Htwa_ab_47IcJ9 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Successful "AMSAT on the Queen Mary" Operation Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK filed the following report after a day of satellite operation board the Queen Mary anchored in Long Beach, California: "After a few months of planning, the "AMSAT on the Queen Mary" event on December 15, 2018 was a success. Many months of planning led to the day-long satellite activity on the Verandah Deck of the Queen Mary, where the ship's club call sign W6RO was heard on several different satellites (AO-7, AO-91, AO-92, FalconSat-3, FO-29, ISS, and SO-50) during the day. There were two operators for the satellite activity - Endaf Buckley, N6UTC, and Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK. The Associated Radio Amateurs of Long Beach, the club that operates the W6RO station, was represented by David Akins N6HHR, the W6RO Wireless Room Manager. "The W6RO club station has its own Wireless Room near the bow of the Queen Mary. Unfortunately, a deck in that area was being used for a small ice rink, so the satellite operation had to take place at the other end of the ship. Not a big deal, as the Verandah Deck is a large open area. This was the first satellite operation by W6RO in almost 3 years, and the first time W6RO was used on the ship from a location other than the Wireless Room. "The satellite activity was like a Field Day station, working with portable equipment (HTs, FT-817s, and handheld antennas). Being on a ship which is part museum and part hotel, there were tours passing by during the day, along with others who were curious about our event. There were flyers on a table, along with 3D-printed models of CubeSat satellites including a model of the AO-91 satellite. "After the 8-hour event, 50 QSOs were logged with stations across North America, and the log sheets were given to David N6HHR so they could be filed with the rest of the W6RO logs. The Associated Radio Amateurs of Long Beach will be happy to answer QSL requests with a QSL card. The QSL procedure is listed on W6RO's QRZ.com entry, with one exception - the QSO number referenced on the QRZ.com entry is not required for satellite QSOs made during "AMSAT on the Queen Mary. "Some thank-you's are in order, starting with Endaf Buckley N6UTC. Endaf started talking with the Associated Radio Amateurs of Long Beach about the possibility of having an amateur satellite event on the Queen Mary a few months ago. The W6RO Wireless Room Manager, David Akins N6HHR, worked with the Queen Mary management to get the approvals needed for this event to take place on the ship. Without their hard work this event wouldn't have taken place. We also had additional help from ARALB member Ron Frank N3HI during the day." [ANS thanks Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT CW Activity Day January 1, 2019 In Memory Of W3XO You are cordially invited to participate in AMSAT's third annual CW Activity Day. It will be held from 0001 to 2400 UTC on January 1,2019. This year's event is being held in memory of AMSAT past president Bill Tynan, W3XO. Bill operated primarily SSB, but would always come back to my CW call. Bill's experience reminds us that one need not be a CW specialist to enjoy the mode. CW Activity Day rules are very simple: there aren't any. Just operate CW through any amateur radio satellite. Straight keys and "bugs" are encouraged, but not required. The important thing is to get on the air and have fun, as Bill did. [ANS thanks Ray Soifer, W2RS for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- ELaNa-XIX Successfully Launched Rocket Lab launched its Electron rocket December 16, 2018 at 06:33 UTC with a host of CubeSats for NASA's Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) program. The Electron rocket injected the CubeSats into a 500 km circular orbit at an inclination of 85 degrees. Liftoff occurred from Rocket Lab's private Launch Complex 1 (LC-1) on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand. Of the 13 Cubesats launched, 10 were sponsored by NASA or educational institutions from the United States: - ALBUS - NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH - CeREs - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD - CHOMPTT - University of Florida, Gainesville, FL - CubeSail - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL - DaVinci - North Idaho STEM Charter Academy, Rathdrum, Idaho - ISX - SRI International/ California Polytechnic University, Menlo Park, CA - NMTSat - New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM - RSat - United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD - Shields-1 - NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA - STF-1 - West Virginia University / NASA IV&V, Morgantown, WV A narrated video of the launch can be viewed at youtube.com/watch?v=F7Kr3664hJs [ANS thanks Terry Osborne, ZL2BAC and Spaceflight.com for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- AMSAT Awards + Congratulations to Ruth Willet, KM4LAO for earning AMSAT Rover Award #040 [ANS thanks Bruce Paige, KK5DO for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming Satellite Operations + Oahu (BL01, BL11) - December 28 to January 1, 2019 Gabe, AL6D will be heading to Oahu, Hawaii, at the end of the year. Plan is to operate from BL01 and BL10, linears and FM. Trip is dependent on availability of cockpit jump seat, so subject to cancellation. Keep an eye on the @AL6D_Alaska Twitter for further updates at https://twitter.com/AL6D_Alaska + Azores (HM58) - December 30 to January 2, 2019 Pedro, CU2ZG, will spend the long New Year's weekend in HM58. Pedro will operate holiday style on FM and linears. Skeds are accepted and preferred, but keep in mind that being a family trip availability constrains might occur. Confirmations via LoTW using plain CU2ZG will be uploaded the following week, and any direct QSL will get a proper reply. Updates posted on Twitter and publicly viewable at https://twitter.com/pdsousa. + Point Pelee National Park, Canada (EN81) - January 1, 2019 Ron, AD0DX, and Mike, W8LID plan to active Point Pelee National Park on New Year's Day to kick of the Canadian National Parks on the Air (CNPOTA) event. Keep an eye on their Twitter accounts for further updates at https://twitter.com/ad0dx and https://twitter.com/w8lid + Central California (CM95, CM96, DM05, DM06) - January 5, 2019 Ron, AD0DX will activate the CM95, CM96, DM05, DM06 grid corner on January 5th. Keep an eye on the @ad0dx Twitter feed for more updates at https://twitter.com/ad0dx + Central California (CM95, CM96, DM05, DM06) - January 12, 2019 David, AD7DB, will be in the area of Kettleman City CA near a convergence of four grids, operating on FM satellites. Grids (maybe gridlines) will depend on the satellite passes. Operation expected from 1700 UTC through 2300 UTC. Updates will be on Twitter as the time approaches at https://twitter.com/ad7db + Quartzfest Arizona (DM23) - January 19-27, 2019 John, N7JY, will be operating FM satellites on a holiday schedule. He may also visit some adjoining grids. There will likely be other hams operating from the event, located a few miles south of Quartzsite AZ. QSL via LOTW, or you can send your card with SASE. [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- ARISS News + ARISS Contacts for 2018 Concluded The next ARISS contact is expected to be during the week of January 14th, 2019. [ANS thanks ARISS for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- Satellite Shorts from All Over +AMSAT Office Closed for the Holidays The AMSAT Office will be closed from 20:00 UTC December 21, 2018 until January 4, 2019. Voice mail and email will not be checked. Orders placed, will be processed when the office reopens. [ANS thanks Martha Saragovitz for the above information.] + AO-95 Trivia: Who is "Veronica"? While circling the earth, a female voice, referred to as "Veronica" announces that AO-95 is in Safe Mode. The message repeats every two minutes. As for the voice you're hearing deliver it, that's a young woman named Veronica who is the daughter of Tony Monteiro, AA2TX. Tony had been AMSAT's vice president of engineering and an unwavering advocate for the FOX series of satellites. Tony became a Silent Key in 2014 but now it is his daughter who is spreading the word that another satellite is making its way across the sky. [ANS thanks Amateur Radio Newsline for the above information.] + WD9EWK Wins the December QST Cover Plaque Award The winning article for the December 2018 QST Cover Plaque award was "Making Digital Contacts Through the ISS" by Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK. The QST Cover Plaque Award, given to the author or authors of the most popular article in each issue, is determined by a vote of ARRL members on the QST Cover Plaque Poll web page. [ANS thanks the ARRL for the above information.] + Satellite Field Operations Photos Wanted Frank Garofalo, WA2NDV is hosting a forum at Ham Radio University to help those who may be interested in getting involved with satellite communications. While putting his presentation together he thought it might be nice to see what fellow sat ops are using to work the sats. He'll be discussing various rigs/antenna/rotator/ tracking systems and has stock photos but he thinks it would be fun to see what others are running in the real world. If you care to share some photos please send them to Frank at wa2ndv(a)gmail.com and use HRU PIC in the subject line. Photo credits will be given if you like. Ham Radio University is a completely voluntary function, there are no vendors or swap meet. It's all about education and fellowship. More information is available at: http://hamradiouniversity.org/ [ANS thanks the Frank Garofalo, WA2NDV for the above information.] + Keith Baker, KB1SK Interviewed on QSO Today Eric, 4Z1UG interviews the eloquent and informative Keith Baker, KB1SF on a little bit of history, a little bit of AMSAT behind the scenes and a little bit of future opportunities of Amateur Radio space operations. You can listen to the 1-hour interview at: tinyurl.com/ybe3j2tj [Editor's Note: This is a concise, no-frill interview full of interesting information.] [ANS thanks Eric, 4Z1UG for the above information.] + AMSAT-DL & Qatar Television Showcase Es'hailSat AMSAT Deutschland is at Es'hailSat, the Qatar Satellite Company at Doha, Qatar. A must see for all Es'hail-2 / AMSAT P4-A fans, Qatar Television produced a beautifully made documentation about Es'hail-1 & Es'hail-2 launch campaigns. In the second half you can see the Es'hail-2 satellite which includes the history making first geostationary amateur radio transponders. Even if you don't understand the language, just enjoy the pictures and try to spot the antennas for the AMSAT transponder. Watch it at: tinyurl.com/ANS-357-EshailSat-Video [ANS thanks AMSAT-DL for the above information.] + Interactive Grid Square Map Available Robert Bankston, KE4AL originally published his 488-Grid Square Map in March 2018. It has become a popular way for amateur radio satellite operators to keep track of grid squares they have worked or confirmed. Now, Chris Tabor, K7TAB has transformed the original map (requiring manual input, Excel coloring book) into a more sophisticated, semi- automated GridMaster tracking tool. More information on the new and improved Gridmaster Map and the free download is available at: ke4al.wordpress.com/2018/06/29/new-and-improved-gridmaster-map/ [ANS thanks Robert Bankston, KE4AL for the above information.] + Dramatic power reduction on 23cm Proposed for Belgium Radio Hams The Belgium regulator BIPT has proposed cutting to just 20 watts the permitted power level for the Amateur and Amateur-Satellite allocations in 1260-1300 MHz which is to be used by the Galileo GNSS / GPS constellation. More information at: tinyurl.com/ANS357-Belgium-23CM [ANS thanks AMSAT-UK for the above information.] + View a Cubesat Launch from Inside the ISS Check out what CubeSat deployment from the ISS Kibo module looks like. This short but interesting video can be viewed at: twitter.com/i/web/status/1075695199685369856 [ANS thanks the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs for the above information.] + KNACKSAT Makes Headlines in Thailand KNACKSAT, an acronym for KMUTNB Academic Challenge of Knowledge Satellite, was one of 64 satellites launched on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket SSO mission on December 3, 2018. It received positive news coverage from the Bangkok Post. Read the article at: tinyurl.com/ANS-357-KNACKSAT [ANS thanks AMSAT for the above information.] + ESA Kids Website Updated The ESA Education office is proud to launch the new and improved ESA Kids website, the online home of Paxi, the ESA Education mascot. With the new design and organization, ESA Kids is the one-stop shop for all space-related information, resources, multimedia, and activities for children. The ESA Kids platform has a new look and feel that enables users easier access to space-inspired Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) content geared toward primary- school aged children (5-12 years) in English, German, Dutch, Spanish, French, and Italian. More information at: http://www.esa.int/Education/New_and_improved_ESA_Kids_website or https://www.esa.int/kids/en/home [ANS thanks the European Space Agency for the above information.] -------------------------------------------------------------------- /EX In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club. Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits. Application forms are available from the AMSAT office. 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 student rate for a maximum of six post-secondary years in this status. Contact Martha at the AMSAT office for additional student membership information. Happy Holidays Around the World and 73, This week's ANS Editor, Frank Karnauskas, N1UW n1uw at amsat dot org 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 member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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Iss Aprs
by ve7jmn 22 Dec '18

22 Dec '18

I heard nothing on the last pass of ISS, are they changing out equipment? Jim Ve7jmn Sent from Samsung tablet

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AMSAT-UK data warehouse(s)
by skristof＠etczone.com 22 Dec '18

22 Dec '18

What is the latest on the updates of the AMSAT-UK data warehouses? Right now, I have EO-88 and JO-97 going to http://data.amsat-uk.org [1] and I have AO-73 going to http://data.funcube.org.uk [2] . Is that correct or should all the data be going to the warehouse I've listed first? Steve AI9IN Links: ------ [1] http://data.amsat-uk.org [2] http://data.funcude.org.uk

2 1

Adding an SDR Receiver to home station--Hardware Questions
by Les Rayburn 22 Dec '18

22 Dec '18

I’m currently using an Icon IC-910H for satellite work at my home station. I’d like to substitute an SDR receiver for the downlink side of things, but am struggling to figure out the best way to handle the hardware side of things. If you look in my signature file, you’ll see that I’ve used SDR receivers for a number of years and very comfortable with them. But I do have concerned about antennas, feed lines, pre-amps, etc. Right now, there are a nearly equal number of V/U and U/V birds, so switching cables isn’t trivial. My current configuration uses 1/2” hardline coming out of the IC-910H, running first to SWR meters, then out to antenna mounted SSB Electronics pre-amps, then finally to fixed elevation Yagis. Lots of Google searches have revealed the hardware configurations of many operators, but almost always for portable operations. I’m curious how other operators have tackled this with their home stations. Any advice appreciated! 73, Les Rayburn, N1LF 121 Mayfair Park Maylene, AL 35114 EM63nf Member WTFDA, IRCA, NRC. Former CPC Chairman for NRC & IRCA. Elad FDM-S2 SDR, AirSpy SDR2, SDRPlay RSP-2 Pro, Sony XDR-F1HD [XDR Guy Modified], Dennon TU-1500RD, Sangean HDT-1X, Ray Dees RDS Decoders, Korner 9.2 Antenna, FM-6 Antenna, Kitz Technologies KT-501 Pre-amps, Quantum Phaser, Wellbrook ALA1530 Loop, Wellbrook Flag, Clifton Labs Active Whip. “Nothing but blues and Elvis, and somebody else’s favorite song…”

2 1

Fox telemetry software question
by Ron VE8RT 22 Dec '18

22 Dec '18

I have the telemetry software up and running on my Mint (latest version 19) Linux machine. It only provides tracking for AO-85, and I read the note on the first pages of the manual about tracking other satellites about the file names. I'll take another look at the manual tomorrow, but I would like to have the tracking info on the screen for the other satellites listed. The .tle file I did find was named Fox1.tle (as I recall), I added others under AO-XX.tle where AO-XX is the name listed on the GUI control panel, but apparently it isn't recognized as there is no change. No doubt there is a quick fix. Another question, would the occassional telemetry upload to amsat from my QTH grid square DP22 be of any use? The receivers at the moment are a FT-726R, or an Icom R-7000 using the recorder audio output. When I get the software sorted out for an SDRPlay 1A I may use that instead. 63 Ron VE8RT DP22 -- Ron VE8RT <ve8rt(a)yknwt.ca>

6 11

QSO Today with Keith Baker, KB1SF - Repeater on the moon?
by DM5TU - sTef 22 Dec '18

22 Dec '18

Here for all of you the new episode of the QSO TODAY Podcast by 4Z1UG - Eric Guth. Today he is in QSO with Keith Baker, KB1SF talking about a Repeater on the moon? https://tinyurl.com/ybe3j2tj <https://tinyurl.com/ybe3j2tj> 73s de DM5TU - sTef +++++++++++++++++++++++++ In all of the years that I have been in ham radio, I have not paid much attention to satellites, the "Oscars" launched into space by AMSAT. Amateur radio is now such a big tent, full of brightly shining distractions, that satellites to me is just another. My QSO Today with Keith Baker, KB1SF, may have changed my interest and my knowledge of the space based side of amateur radio. Did you know that AMSAT has launched 95 satellites into space since 1961. That is almost a new launch every 9 months for almost 60 years! Keith is the former president of AMSAT, and now its treasurer. He says that AMSAT is an equal opportunity exploiter, and I think a great occupation for a retired engineer. AMSAT has big plans as you will hear in this QSO, including perhaps a spacecraft that lands on the moon. However, there are some temperature issues that must be overcome in order for a moon based repeater to survive. I have every confidence that a licensed ham radio operator will make this major contribution to AMSAT so we will have that EME repeater at some point in our near future. Thanks for listening. 73, Eric, 4Z1UG +++++++++++++++++++++++++ … -.- DM5TU / VY1QRP - DL-QRP-AG *GM* - GQRP #8769 - CalQRP #034 - NAP #1607

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LO-70 Demod Settings
by Vincenzo Mone 22 Dec '18

22 Dec '18

Hi folks, I am getting no success to download the Photos from the bird. I can pass on the bird in voice mode as I can hear my own voice In the PC speakers from the Funcube Dongle Pro Plus, but if I try sending The request file to the bird without any CTSS Tone I do not get anything On the monitor of my PC.I am not quite sure that I have done all the settings correctly in the Demod or maybe I need more settings for the Photos way. Is there somebody so kind to give me an hand in the correct settings maybe off the mail list? Any help will be really appreciated 73 de Enzo IK8OZV EasyLog 5 BetaTester EasyLog PDA BetaTester WinBollet BetaTester D.C.I. CheckPoint Regione Campania Skype: ik8ozv8520 ********************************* ****** GSM +39 328 7110193 ****** ***** SMS +39 328 7110193 ***** *********************************

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2018-12-22 03:30 UTC
by aj9n＠aol.com 22 Dec '18

22 Dec '18

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2018-12-22 03:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Next contact is expected to be scheduled sometime during the week of 2019-01-14. Exp. 56 back on earth. (***) Congratulations to all on a job well done! (***) Serena Aunon-Chancellor KG5TMT Alexander Gerst KF5ONO Sergei Propopev ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The ARISS-US program’s education proposal window open Oct. 1 - Nov. 30, 2018 has now closed. The next window should go open in the spring of 2019. The ARISS webpage is at http://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. 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, click here. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Keigo Komuro, JA1KAB, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) ****************************************************************************** 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 http://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? 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 **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 135 Francesco IKØWGF with 132 Gaston ON4WF with 123 Sergey RV3DR with 108 **************************************************************************** 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. 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 2018-12-22 03:30 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. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1285. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1228. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 47. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. http://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: http://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS **************************************************************************** The successful school list has been updated as of 2018-12-14 18:00 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correction .rtf Listing of ARISS related magazine articles as of 2006-07-10 03:30 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ARISS_magazine_articles.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** Exp. 56 back on earth. (***) Congratulations to all on a job well done! (***) Serena Aunon-Chancellor KG5TMT Alexander Gerst KF5ONO Sergei Propopev Exp. 58 on orbit Oleg Konenenko David St-Jacques KG5FYI Anne McClain **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

1 0

Cheap rotator setup
by Eli Caul 21 Dec '18

21 Dec '18

Hi folks - In my ongoing effort to figure out how to use the SSB satellites, I duplicated this setup over the weekend: http://k3rrr.com/cheap-computer-controlled-tv-rotor-for-amsat-satellites-an… I bought a list of materials based on the photograph, and it didn't occur to me that the PVC parts pictured put the antennas at approximately 45 degrees and not the recommended 15 degrees. Has anyone done this setup? If so, how did you assemble it so that the antennas ended up at the recommended angle? There were a couple of higher angle passes yesterday (one was at 50 degrees) but so far I haven't been able to 'loop' the satellite. I'm using a Yaesu FT-991A for uplink and an Airspy SDR on the downlink. Advice appreciated. So far I've gotten some excellent advice from AMSAT members and I really appreciate the groups level of expertise and patience with my fundamental questions. 73 de KK6ZHZ, - Eli Caul Director of Customer Care Sonic 707-237-6201 Direct 707-521-0131 Faxline

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Office Closed
by Martha 21 Dec '18

21 Dec '18

The AMSAT Office will be closed from 3:00PM today - Friday, January 4th. I will not be checking voice mail or email. Any orders placed, will be processed after I return. HAPPY NEW YEAR -- 73- Martha

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FW: Doppler file
by Ted Krempa 20 Dec '18

20 Dec '18

Hello, can anyone else answer my question below.....(Joanne must be busy) Thanks, Ted K7TRK -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ted Krempa Sent: Monday, December 17, 2018 3:49 PM To: 'JoAnne Maenpaa'; 'Dave' Cc: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Dobbler file Good stuff, Joanne...thanks One thing, though, that I have never understood, however: Does SatPC32 properly update keps and the sqf data when the 'update' option is used in the program? Or do we need to keep updating manually. I can understand with a new sat, manually trying to find the right data, but after the sats are rolling along for a few weeks the normal sites that identify keps usually have that data current. Thanks for any input 73, Ted K7TRK -----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of JoAnne Maenpaa Sent: Monday, December 17, 2018 5:54 AM To: 'Dave' Cc: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Dobbler file Perhaps these messages from the amsat-bb from a few weeks ago might offer a starting point? https://www.amsat.org/pipermail/amsat-bb/2018-October/069839.html https://www.amsat.org/pipermail/amsat-bb/2018-November/070451.html -- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm(a)amsat.org > -----Original Message----- > From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dave > Sent: Monday, December 17, 2018 7:40 AM > To: James McIrvin > Cc: amsat-bb(a)amsat.org > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Dobbler file > > I’m not sure if you received a private response but I have a similar issue. > I tried to use SatPC32 the other day and found many of the satellite > frequencies were not correct. I’m going to have manually edit a bunch of > them unless I can find someone with a good set of files. > > Dave > N2OA _______________________________________________ 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: http://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: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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AO-85 update
by Andrew Glasbrenner 19 Dec '18

19 Dec '18

All, As you probably know, AO-85 has had issues recently with the batteries dropping precariously low during eclipse. We think it's likely the batteries suffered degradation due to heat during previous periods of no eclipses. This has made it difficult to keep the satellite available for use without endangering the batteries. Today the nominally 3.6v pack was down to 2.8v at the end of the eclipse. That is dangerously low. In an effort to extend the useable life of the satellite, this evening we turned both the IHU and the transmitter off. This ceases all transmissions, including the beacons every two minutes in both sunlit and eclipsed parts of the orbit. We will periodically turn the satellite back on for an orbit or two, in order to gather telemetry. If all goes as planned, we will turn the repeater back on during the next period of no eclipses beginning around January 24th. In the meantime, it is important to leave AO-85 tracked in your FoxTelem setups, in order for us to gather telemetry and keep tabs on the situation. If you do happen to hear a Veronica beacon, or either the normal repeater or the COR/no telemetry repeater, please let the list know, or send me an email or message directly. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we try to make the most of the situation. Please consider supporting the AMSAT GOLF project with your membership, and one-time or recurring donations at https://www.amsat.org/product-category/amsat-membership/ or https://www.amsat.org/donate/ 73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT VP Operations

2 1

Yaesu G-5500 Control Interface
by Carlos Cardon 19 Dec '18

19 Dec '18

I have used the EA4TX USB controller for a couple of years with excellent results! Early on, I discovered a bug in the firmware. Pablo had it corrected and an update to me within less than an hour, absolutely amazing! Not a single issue since then. Highly recommended. Carlos W7QL

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sdr receiver
by James Brown 19 Dec '18

19 Dec '18

I am thinking of upgrading the station by removing the ft817 as downlink receiver and going to SDR receiver. Looking for best data to get started and choice of SDR unit to use. Open to hearing pro and con! Also interested in raspberry pi plus SDR to do the job. I have no experience with raspberry but appears to becoming popular. Can SATpc 32 control a sdr as it would any transceiver? Jim

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controller for g5500
by James Brown 19 Dec '18

19 Dec '18

What choices are there for G5500 rotator control via USB? Recently tried ERC M but it failed and support is poor! Jim

7 6

Sell
by WCP 19 Dec '18

19 Dec '18

Before I list on Ebay: FT736R with 1.2 GHz, 220MHz,UHF and VHF MC2 UHF 436CP30 , VHF 2MCP14, 1.2GHz Direct System 24454 antenna G5500 with fiberglass boom LVB tracker KJ6KO 1.2GHz 70 Watt Amp with Power supply Would like to sell as one. Contact Off list KA9ERV(a)arrl.net Would be local pickup in Northern Indiana

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New wiki page on Yaesu G-5500 rotator controller computer interfaces
by John Brier 19 Dec '18

19 Dec '18

Since this question comes up frequently I made a page with a list of interfaces. It's a first draft and more info could be added. If you want to edit the wiki create an account on wikidot and let me know you username/email address and I'll add you as an editor. http://sats.wikidot.com/what-yaesu-g-5550-rotor-computer-interfaces-are-the… 73, John Brier KG4AKV

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Re: [amsat-bb] controller for g5500
by aj9n＠aol.com 19 Dec '18

19 Dec '18

You could use the Labjack U12 and piggyback. The piggyback will need to be built; there is a schematic in the SatPC32 files. The piggyback would cost maybe $15 and the U12 about $150. 73,Charlie AJ9NOne of the ARISS mentors In a message dated 2018-12-19 12:39:57 Eastern Standard Time, jimki6wj(a)sbcglobal.net writes: What choices are there for G5500 rotator control via USB? Recently tried ERC M but it failed and support is poor! Jim_______________________________________________Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum availableto all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressedare 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: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

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Cheap rotator setup
by Eli Caul 19 Dec '18

19 Dec '18

Hi folks - In my ongoing effort to figure out how to use the SSB satellites, I duplicated this setup over the weekend: http://k3rrr.com/cheap-computer-controlled-tv-rotor-for-amsat-satellites-an… I bought a list of materials based on the photograph, and it didn’t occur to me that the PVC parts pictured put the antennas at approximately 45 degrees and not the recommended 15 degrees. Has anyone done this setup? If so, how did you assemble it so that the antennas ended up at the recommended angle? There were a couple of higher angle passes yesterday (one was at 50 degrees) but so far I haven’t been able to 'loop' the satellite. I'm using a Yaesu FT-991A for uplink and an Airspy SDR on the downlink. Advice appreciated. So far I've gotten some excellent advice from AMSAT members and I really appreciate the groups level of expertise and patience with my fundamental questions. 73 de KK6ZHZ, - Eli Caul Director of Customer Care Sonic 707-237-6201 Direct 707-521-0131 Faxline - Eli Caul Director of Customer Care Sonic 707-237-6201 Direct 707-521-0131 Faxline

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Re: [amsat-bb] AO-95 Rx problem
by Mac A. Cody 19 Dec '18

19 Dec '18

Interesting! Didn't know that data was available on line. Is there a more detailed presentation of the data in, say, a spreadsheet for a greater period of time than what is presented? This would be very helpful in performing any detailed analysis. Is all of the telemetry presented on the web page? All data would be valuable in trying to make any correlations. Where in the receive chain is the RSSI measured? Has an attempt been made yet to transmit a strong signal (modulated or unmodulated) during an overhead pass to try to 'nudge the needle' on the RSSI meter? Perhaps successively stronger transmissions could be made to see at what power level any change occurs in the RSSI without applying too much power. I recall someone mentioning approaching an EME operator to attempt transmitting at AO-95 with significantly more power than normal. Why does the 'Battery I32C' indicate 'FAIL' (although I see that this is the same for the other FOX satellites)? 73, Mac Cody / AE5PH On 12/17/18 1:02 PM, H. Stephen Nipper wrote: > Mac, you can look at the data coming down from the satellite and maybe > answer some of the questions that you asked. To my untrained eye it > appears that the solar panels are all working. I am sure that the > team understands that data and what it means more than me. > > http://www.amsat.org/tlm/health.php?id=3&port= > > So if you look at RSSI line you can see the receiver. Click on it. > It's flat line. > http://www.amsat.org/tlm/graph.php?sat=3&field=RSSI&raw=conv&reset=0&uptime… > > On Mon, Dec 17, 2018 at 10:30 AM Mac A. Cody <maccody(a)att.net > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > I'm sure that this is being considered, but I'll extend the > thought anyway: > If there has been a collision that may have damaged or sheared off the > RX antenna, could other damage have occurred that might be > identifiable > via telemetry? What I'm thinking of is possible damage to one or more > solar cells. Would damage, perhaps resulting is reduced current flow > or voltage levels, be discernible through the telemetry? Are > there other > items of the surface of AO-95 that, if damaged, might reveal that > damage > through telemetry. > > Thanks to all the volunteers that have worked so hard to make the FOX > series an outstanding success! > > 73, > > Mac Cody / AE5PH > > > On 12/16/18 10:48 PM, Jerry Buxton wrote: > > Hi Francis, > > > > That is one thing we are looking into, handily I am well > acquainted with > > the ExseedSat team lead and since we were in the deployer next > to each > > other and performing the integration together we have discussed the > > possibility that we got to be too close friends somehow and are > still > > that way or perhaps remained too close even to the point of antenna > > deploy and perhaps interfered with each other's deploy. TLE > indicated > > separation is perhaps the only way to guesstimate that though. > If it > > gives us something to maybe model or relate to past missions, we > might > > be able to infer that a possible cause was that we may have been > close > > for a while up to and including our antenna deploy times and > something > > may have happened as a result of that. It would at least > provide one > > possible path to follow in looking for causes and maybe (and I mean > > MAYBE) a solution. > > Keep on watching for clues, thanks! > > > > Jerry Buxton, NØJY > > > > On 12/16/2018 15:30, Francis Geraci wrote: > >> First off, I do not want to "2nd guess" the Engineering team. > >> > >> JUst read the "post" that AO-95 was still very close to another > "object". > >> > >> I just was wondering, if AO-95 is TOO close to another > "object", maybe > >> "object" is "blocking" the RX antenna, or did RX antenna get > "knocked" off ? > >> > >> Opinions ? Everybody has them. HiHi > >> > >> Francis - W1FXX > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org <mailto:[email protected]>. > 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: > http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb > >> > >> > > _______________________________________________ > > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org <mailto:[email protected]>. > 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: > http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org <mailto:[email protected]>. 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: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb > > > > -- > Stephen Nipper > Boise, Idaho > N7DJX > >

3 3

Exoplanet Science Strategy
by Arthur Feller, W4ART 18 Dec '18

18 Dec '18

Free from the National Institutes of Science: Download Free PDF <https://nap.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=eaea39b6442dc4e0d08e6aa4a&id=…> 73, art….. Arlington VA To thrive in life, you need three bones: a wish bone, a back bone, and a funny bone. - Reba McEntire http://afeller.us <http://afeller.us/>

1 0

Do not read
by F6GLJ 18 Dec '18

18 Dec '18

Test, do not read 73 Qro de Michel F6GLJ https://www.qrz.com/db/F6GLJ

2 1

A0-73
by Cor van Heiningen 18 Dec '18

18 Dec '18

Have the last days qso s made via AO-73 sat the rx goes from s 9 to 0 sometimes with a lot of QRM. I think the sat turned around its axis faster than a few months ago. Many stations have problems with QSO S via this sat. 73 PE1NIL

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Re: [amsat-bb] East Cost Roving Trip Complete
by Roy Dean 18 Dec '18

18 Dec '18

Robert, Huge "Thank You!" from me, as your grid line activation has pushed me to 101 unique grid squares! --Roy K3RLD > My East Coast Roving Trip - Part Deux is now complete. All logs uploaded > to LoTW. If you did not get a confirmation. please email me directly. If > you need a QSL card, my QSL information is on QRZ. Total count was 179 QSOs > and 13 grids activated (EM91|EM92, FM02, FM03|FM13, FM04|FM14, EM84|EM94, > EM75|EM85, and EM76|EM86), across 4 states. Thanks to all for an exciting > roving trip. 73, Robert Bankston, KE4AL > AMSAT-NA VP of User Services

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East Cost Roving Trip Complete
by Robert Bankston 17 Dec '18

17 Dec '18

My East Coast Roving Trip - Part Deux is now complete. All logs uploaded to LoTW. If you did not get a confirmation. please email me directly. If you need a QSL card, my QSL information is on QRZ. Total count was 179 QSOs and 13 grids activated (EM91|EM92, FM02, FM03|FM13, FM04|FM14, EM84|EM94, EM75|EM85, and EM76|EM86), across 4 states. Thanks to all for an exciting roving trip. 73, Robert Bankston, KE4AL AMSAT-NA VP of User Services Twitter: @KE4ALabama Website: KE4AL.wordpress.com

2 1

AO-85
by Ross Biggar 17 Dec '18

17 Dec '18

I see that AO-85 has been back in safe mode for a few days, after a day with the transponder on. Is it going to be left in safe mode or will the transponder be turned back on again.? Regards Ross ZL1WN

4 3

Dobbler file
by James McIrvin 17 Dec '18

17 Dec '18

I am new to sat work. I have been working on setting up my station for sat work. However I have been having issues with the tracking software, that being that it does not seem to have all of the birds loaded that are current and I don't have a list of the active birds. I have tried to edit the file and find that is not working well either. I am just wondering if there is a good source to find a current file so that I can add it or copy and paste what is needed for the current information. The program is Satpc32 registered, so once in it should be good to go. LOL I am trying to get things worked out so that I may have the correct info for tuning my radio and let the software work with the radio to help tune the rig for doppler effect some, however if I don't have the frequency and modes correct for them in the file it makes all this work useless. Just trying to get some help somewhere so that I may try to work some of you folks here on list. I am one of those areas that there are not many to work either. Location is: Maine Grid is: FN53 Any good help would be useful. Thank you in advance. Jim N1IPA

5 6

CHOMPTT identified
by Nico Janssen 17 Dec '18

17 Dec '18

Doppler measurements show that CHOMPTT is object 43855, 2018-104G. Downlink: 437.55895 MHz. 73, Nico PA0DLO

1 1

test
by F6GLJ 17 Dec '18

17 Dec '18

73 Qro de Michel F6GLJ https://www.qrz.com/db/F6GLJ

1 0

test
by F6GLJ 17 Dec '18

17 Dec '18

73 Qro de Michel F6GLJ https://www.qrz.com/db/F6GLJ

1 0

Kenwood ts2000 Tracking
by James McIrvin 17 Dec '18

17 Dec '18

Another question for a new setup. I have had this TS2000 for many years and just getting things setup for a new station. I have been trying to get it working so it will track with the birds. The computer and the radio do talk to each other, however they don't seem to keep syn very well. Has anyone else had similar issues? If so what was the fix? Now the other question is also, should I be looking at a different radio for better responses and general operation of these modes for the birds and the software. I have had this radio for many years and have update the firmware to the lastest that was listed on the Kenwood website as of this last week. Getting that done took a little bit, had to get a old windows 7 box setup along enough to upload the firmware. So all in all is this a normal tracking issue with the Kenwood and Icom or just with the Kenwood? Thank you for you help. Jim N1IPA

3 3

AO92 L/V mode??
by Perry Yantis 17 Dec '18

17 Dec '18

I see that AO92 was not switched into L/V mode last night again!!Has there been a schedule change or what.If there is a change can't it be posted on the BB so all will know ahead of time. Perry WB8OTH py41(a)att.net sent from my Apple Macbook Pro

5 4

AO-95 Rx problem
by Francis Geraci 17 Dec '18

17 Dec '18

First off, I do not want to "2nd guess" the Engineering team. JUst read the "post" that AO-95 was still very close to another "object". I just was wondering, if AO-95 is TOO close to another "object", maybe "object" is "blocking" the RX antenna, or did RX antenna get "knocked" off ? Opinions ? Everybody has them. HiHi Francis - W1FXX

4 3

CHOMPTT
by Roland Zurmely 17 Dec '18

17 Dec '18

Perfect Doppler correction for CHOMPTT with object 2018-104-G Norad 4385573 de Roland PY4ZBZ

1 0

Re: [amsat-bb] AO-95 Rx problem
by Mark L. Hammond 16 Dec '18

16 Dec '18

EVERYTHING is hard to fix in orbit ;) Mark N8MH At 03:44 PM 12/16/2018 -0600, Mike Thompson wrote: >When I heard about the troubles, that's kind of the first thing I was >thinking too, maybe the antenna broke off. >Hope that isn't the case though, because that's awful hard to fix while in >orbit. > >On Sun, Dec 16, 2018 at 3:31 PM Francis Geraci <fgeraci14(a)gmail.com> wrote: > >> First off, I do not want to "2nd guess" the Engineering team. >> >> JUst read the "post" that AO-95 was still very close to another "object". >> >> I just was wondering, if AO-95 is TOO close to another "object", maybe >> "object" is "blocking" the RX antenna, or did RX antenna get "knocked" off >> ? >> >> Opinions ? Everybody has them. HiHi >> >> Francis - W1FXX >> _______________________________________________ >> 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: http://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: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

2 1

Does anyone know N7NNP?
by johnv＠frontier.com 16 Dec '18

16 Dec '18

I sent a QSL card to Kim Merrill N7NNP but it was return with "unable to forward". There is no email address in the FCC database or QRZ.com 73 and thank you JohnN7AME

1 0

AO-73
by Perry Yantis 16 Dec '18

16 Dec '18

I saw on the Satellite status page that AO73 is back on so I got on it this morning and saw the signals were strong.The problem is no one else was on.So I just wanted to remind all that AO73 is on again so lets use it. Perry WB8OTH py41(a)att.net sent from my Apple Macbook Pro

2 1

ElaNa 19 Launch Sucessful
by Wendy and Terry Osborne 16 Dec '18

16 Dec '18

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7Kr3664hJs For replay. 73, Terry Osborne ZL2BAC

1 0

Rocket Lab Launch
by Wendy and Terry Osborne 16 Dec '18

16 Dec '18

Launch time is no earlier than 06:16 UTC today. See: https://twitter.com/RocketLab/status/1074090160436867073 73, Terry Osborne ZL2BAC

1 0

Antenna separation on crossboom
by Bob Hammond 15 Dec '18

15 Dec '18

I'm putting the following antennas on an 8-foot fiberglass crossboom: M2 2MCP8A, 143-148 MHz C{ Gulf Alpha 70cm 8x8 CP WiMo Helix 23 I'm not sure how to calculate the proper spacing on the crossboom. I assume the 2m antenna should go on one end and the 70cm antenna on the opposite end. Can I mount the 23cm helical antenna very near the rotator without harm since it has the solid reflector behind the helix? Bob W7OTJ (was WL7CQX)

6 9

AO-73 TLM Signal Changed?
by Hasan al-Basri 15 Dec '18

15 Dec '18

I've been decoding/uploading AO-73 TLM for a few months. The signal has always had a charactertic "look": (Using the SDR, so each signal has a specific and easily identified 'signature' Small center hump, with two large horns spiking every couple seconds. Very distinctive. Today, I see the signal now has a 100% duty cycle spike dead center on top of the small hump. I don't recall every seeing it before. Am I hallucinating...again? EO-88 and JO-97 have identical signatures, but I don't recall them having the center spike, either. The last two passes here, b4 sunrise the signal was waaaay weak. Much weaker than normal, even for this time of day. I thought it might relate to AO-73 being in eclipse...and decodes were terrible, again, compared to normal for me. After > 18,000 uploaded frames from me, one would think I couldn't have missed that center spike all these months...but ... Has something changed? 1044 software doesn't look like it has been updated. 73, N0AN Hasan

3 4

SSO-A launch objects identified
by Nico Janssen 15 Dec '18

15 Dec '18

With nearly all TLE sets for the SSO-A launch published, and many separations increased to more suitable values, it is time to draw some conclusions. The following IDs are (almost) certain: Unknown sat: obj 43768, downlink 436.73018 MHz; MOVE-II: obj 43780, downlink 145.94993 MHz; SNUSat 2: obj 43782; ITASat 1: obj 43786, downlink 145.85999 MHz; Unknown sat: obj 43787, downlink 435.5003 MHz; EAGLET 1: obj 43790, downlink 435.20015 MHz; ESEO: obj 43792, downlink 437.004 MHz; CSIM: obj 43793; RANGE-A: obj 43798, downlink 437.146 MHz; Suomi 100: obj 43804; Al-Farabi 2: obj 43805, downlink 436.50017 MHz; MinXSS 2: obj 43807. The following IDs are not certain, because the separation between the objects is still too small: AO 95 (ex Fox 1Cliff): either obj 43769 or obj 43771; PWSat 2: either obj 43775 or obj 43779 (or maybe obj 43776); JO 97 (ex JY1Sat): either obj 43803 or obj 43801, downlink 145.839085 MHz. 73, Nico PA0DLO

1 0

FUNcube Operations
by Brian 14 Dec '18

14 Dec '18

Hi all, Just to report that FUNcube 1 is now in transponder mode for the rest of the holiday period. Enjoy! 73s Brian Hardy G4BIP

1 0

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2018-12-14 18:00 UTC
by aj9n＠aol.com 14 Dec '18

14 Dec '18

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2018-12-14 18:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Kenilworth School and Sixth Form, Kenilworth, United Kingdom, direct via GB4KHS The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Serena Aunon-Chancellor KG5TMT Contact was successful: Fri 2018-12-14 12:55:54 UTC 70 deg (***) Watch for live stream at: https://live.ariss.org/ Next contact is expected to be scheduled sometime during the week of 2019-01-14. (***) ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The ARISS-US program’s education proposal window open Oct. 1 - Nov. 30, 2018 has now closed. The next window should go open in the spring of 2019. The ARISS webpage is at http://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. 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, click here. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Keigo Komuro, JA1KAB, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) ****************************************************************************** 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 http://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? 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 **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 135 Francesco IKØWGF with 132 Gaston ON4WF with 123 Sergey RV3DR with 108 **************************************************************************** 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. 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 2018-12-14 18:00 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. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1285. (***) Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1228. (***) Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 47. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. http://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: http://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS **************************************************************************** The successful school list has been updated as of 2018-12-14 18:00 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correction .rtf Listing of ARISS related magazine articles as of 2006-07-10 03:30 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ARISS_magazine_articles.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** Exp. 56 on orbit Serena Aunon-Chancellor KG5TMT Alexander Gerst KF5ONO Sergei Propopev Exp. 58 on orbit Oleg Konenenko David St-Jacques KG5FYI Anne McClain **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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JY1SAT and ESEO Update
by M5AKA 14 Dec '18

14 Dec '18

Post launch updates on the JY1SAT and ESEO missions https://amsat-uk.org/2018/12/14/update-jy1sat-and-eseo-missions/ Knacksat team request telemetry reports https://amsat-uk.org/2018/12/07/knacksat-team-request-telemetry-reports/ Trevor M5AKA---- AMSAT-UK http://amsat-uk.org/ Twitter https://twitter.com/AmsatUK Facebook https://facebook.com/AmsatUK YouTube https://youtube.com/AmsatUK ---- | | Virus-free. www.avg.com |

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FUNcube 1 - operational status
by Brian 14 Dec '18

14 Dec '18

Hi all, Just to report that FUNcube 1 is now in transponder mode for the rest of the holiday period. Enjoy! 73s Brian Hardy G4BIP

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Upcoming ARISS contact with Kenilworth School and Sixth Form, Kenilworth, United Kingdom
by n4csitwo＠bellsouth.net 14 Dec '18

14 Dec '18

An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Kenilworth School and Sixth Form, Kenilworth, United Kingdom on 14 Dec. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 12:55 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be direct between OR4ISS and GB4KSN. The contact should be audible over the United Kingdom and adjacent areas. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English. Watch for live stream at: https://live.ariss.org/ Kenilworth School and Sixth Form is located in the historic town of Kenilworth in Warwickshire England, we are effectively in the dead centre of England. The school is made up of 1880 students and just over 200 teaching and support staff. We are a true comprehensive school meaning that we do not select students on their academic abilities when starting school and teach students with a range of academic abilities. This being said, we are the top performing non selective school in the whole of Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull based on last year's GCSE results and have been judged as an Outstanding school by Ofsted and have recently been awarded World Class School status. The school has a successful and very popular Space, Rocket and Robotics extra-curricular club run by Mr Harwood - Suther. Students have taken part in many activities such as building their own Galilean telescopes, rocket cars and taking part in a number of robotic competitions organised by VEX, as well as taking part in regular stargazing events. We have also been extremely lucky to have hosted samples of moon rock for our students to look at on two occasions. The school has also been awarded the Space Education Quality Mark (Silver) as well as the Teen Tech Award Centre for Innovation (Silver). Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. What surprised you the most when you entered space? 2. Do you believe there is some form of living extra-terrestrial intelligent lifeforms beyond earth, not just bacteria and fossils? 3. During your training would you be able to describe your hardest moment and your most enjoyable experience from your training? 4. How do you find the food in space compared to when you are back on earth? 5. When you were a child did you always know you wanted to be an astronaut and fly to space? 6. Where would you prefer to live, on board The ISS or Earth? 7. What kind of plant life can be grown on the ISS as there is no oxygen or CO2 in space? 8. Why do liquids when poured out in space, always form round blobs? 9. From information that I have read, male astronauts say that "space" smells very metallic. Is it any different for female astronauts in space? 10. How will it be possible to live on Mars and plant trees, flowers, and create an earth like environment? 11. If you are in space, how does the zero gravity make you taller? 12. Is the sunrise brighter than on earth? 13. I am interested about Europa which orbits Jupiter. If life was found on Europa, what are the biological protocols to protect indigenous life and samples on or from other worlds? 14. How long did it take to get used to life on the space station? 15. What is the daily day to day routine in regards to personal hygiene? 16. This is your first visit to the to the International Space Station. What are your thoughts on another opportunity and perhaps take part in a spacewalk? 17. Does it feel like you're moving when you're on the ISS or do you just feel as though you are floating in the emptiness of space? 18. What do you think will change in space stations in the future decade? 19. What's your favourite thing to do in space? 20. When you come back to earth do you see the earth differently than you did before you left? 21. What is the strangest thing you have seen in space? PLEASE CHECK THE FOLLOWING FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ARISS UPDATES: Visit ARISS on Facebook. We can be found at Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS). To receive our Twitter updates, follow @ARISS_status Next planned event(s): TBD 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 Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or informal education venues. With the help of experienced amateur radio volunteers, ISS crews speak directly with large audiences in a variety of public forums. Before and during these radio contacts, students, teachers, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org, www.amsat.org, and www.arrl.org. Thank you & 73, David - AA4KN --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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AO-85
by Andrew Glasbrenner 14 Dec '18

14 Dec '18

AO-85 is back in transponder mode and open for use with a few conditions. Please do not use the satellite while in eclipse. If the footprint of the satellite does not touch any part of the ground that is in daylight, the satellite is in eclipse. This will give us a little extra battery life, and extend the satellite's usable life. Please also do not "kerchunk" the satellite while in eclipse. I know this has been done to increase the number of telemetry packets received, but it is no longer acceptable. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. 73, Drew KO4MA AMSAT VP Operations

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Pictures for my presentation
by Frank G 13 Dec '18

13 Dec '18

Hello all, I am hosting a forum at Ham Radio University http://hamradiouniversity.org/ to help those who may be interested in getting involved with satellite communications. While putting my presentation together I thought it might be nice to see what fellow sat ops are using to work the sats. I’ll be discussing various rigs/antenna/rotator/tracking systems and have stock photos but I thought it would be fun to see what others are running in the real world. If you care to share some photos please send them to me at wa2ndv(a)gmail.com Please use HRU PIC in the subject line. Photo credits will be given if you like. Ham Radio University is a completely voluntary function, there are no vendors or swap meet. Its all about education and fellowship. Thank you all for the courtesy of your time. 73 Frank WA2NDV

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Operating Question
by Chris Pohlad-Thomas 13 Dec '18

13 Dec '18

To this point I have only ever listened to the satellites using the RemoteHams station and the long wire that's in place there. I am hoping soon to pick up an Arrow so I can start not only listening but interacting as well. I wanted to ask about a setup I am thinking of to see if everyone thinks it would work. I have a VX-7R right now that I plan to use for TX connected into the Arrow. I know it's not full duplex, but I was thinking about using my BC246T scanner for the RX side with some headphones plugged in. Does this seem like a viable option? -- Chris Pohlad-Thomas K <http://about.me/chrispt>C1E

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Rocket Lab Launch delayed until Sunday
by Wendy and Terry Osborne 13 Dec '18

13 Dec '18

Hi Launch Watchers, Launch now delayed until Sunday due to bad weather. Quote from their twitter feed: “With a worsening weather system on the way, Rocket Lab is now targeting no earlier than 0400 UTC, Sunday 16 December for the #ELaNa19 launch on Electron. We'll let the weather clear completely to give us a solid green window.” UTC: 04:00 - 08:00, 16 Dec NZDT: 17:00 - 21:00, 16 Dec PST: 20:00 - 00:00, 15/16 Dec EST: 23:00 - 03:00, 15/16 Dec It will be streamed here: www.rocketlabusa.com/live-stream 73, Terry Osborne ZL2BAC

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Norm Mc Sweyn N3YKF SK
by John Papay 13 Dec '18

13 Dec '18

Norm, N3YKF, became a Silent Key on 12December2018 after a long battle with a rare form of cancer. He underwent many operations and treatments, spending months in and out of the hospital. Norm was an experimenter and satellite dxpeditioner. He was constantly working on his "portable" setup which included az/el rotors and CP antennas. He operated from Peru, Guyana, Suriname, San Andres Island, Tobago Island and other rare places. I remember that he took cavities on his second trip to Peru to fight the RF pollution there. Norm would often post on the amsat-bb in response to requests for help with antenna and rotor problems. He spent most of his time working on his portable setup rather than operating. He will be missed. John K8YSE

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EAGLET-1 Cubesat on SSO-A launch
by Nico Janssen 13 Dec '18

13 Dec '18

One of the many Cubesats launched on the recent SSO-A mission was the Italian 3U Cubesat EAGLET-1. This satellite transmits telemetry on 435.200 MHz and it is to relay AIS signals emitted by ships from one of two VHF frequencies to 435.800 MHz. As far as I can see these frequencies have not been coordinated by the IARU. The operations of this satellite have nothing to do with amateur radio. It is a commercial satellite, so an experimental license also does not apply. For details see: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3378&context=sma… After this satellite a constellation of 20 similar satellites is planned. Can/should we do something about this? 73, Nico PA0DLO

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Your AO-95 Support
by Jerry Buxton 13 Dec '18

13 Dec '18

Last night on our weekly GOLF-TEE meeting, the Engineering Team was expressing their appreciation for all of the appreciation you have expressed here on amsat-bb. On behalf of all of the volunteers who make up AMSAT Engineering, I would like to thank you all for supporting us. Your understanding of the risks involved and continued support through words and also by just getting on the birds and having fun, or capturing telemetry to help us monitor, troubleshoot, and make the next satellites better, is most gratifying! -- Jerry Buxton, NØJY Vice President - Engineering Radio Amateur Satellite Corp. (AMSAT)

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AO-7
by Meeko Kittika 13 Dec '18

13 Dec '18

Hi Whats the current operational status of AO-7? I ask because I'm returning to amateur radio after a lapse of about *cough*30 plus years! AO-7 is like sn old friend i remember and wkuld love to try working sometime soon for old times sake. I understand its only operational when not eclipsed, but wondering about prefered mode/power etc and frankly does anyone else still use the old dear anymore? Many thanks in advance Meeko M0FVD

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Rocket Lab Launch scrubbed for today
by Wendy and Terry Osborne 13 Dec '18

13 Dec '18

Hi Launch Watchers, Looks like thunder storms are coming to the Launch site. >From Rocket Lab Twitter feed: The weather is deteriorating over Launch Complex 1, so we're standing down from today's #ELaNa19 launch. Tomorrow's weather is similar, but we'll continue to assess and then establish a new target T-0 date/time. 73, Terry Osborne ZL2BAC

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HM58 Rover
by Pedro Dutra Sousa 12 Dec '18

12 Dec '18

Hello to all, Like these past years I’ll be in HM58 for the Holidays. This time it will not be Christmas but New Year’s long weekend (at least for me). At the end of the Yaesu FT-817 and 857 duo there will be an Alaskan Arrow, which means FM and SSB are both possible. Expected days are December 30 through January 2. Confirmations via LoTW using plain CU2ZG will be uploaded the following week, and any direct QSL will get a proper reply. Skeds are accepted and preferred, but keep in mind that being a family trip availability constrains might occur. 73 de CU2ZG Pedro -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2018-12-12 23:30 UTC
by aj9n＠aol.com 12 Dec '18

12 Dec '18

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2018-12-12 23:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Kenilworth School and Sixth Form, Kenilworth, United Kingdom, direct via GB4KHS The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be OR4ISS The scheduled astronaut is Serena Aunon-Chancellor KG5TMT Contact is go for: Fri 2018-12-14 12:55:54 UTC 70 deg (***) Watch for live stream at: https://live.ariss.org/ (***) ARISS Contact Applications (United States) The ARISS-US program’s education proposal window open Oct. 1 - Nov. 30, 2018 has now closed. The next window should go open in the spring of 2019. The ARISS webpage is at http://www.ariss.org/ Note that there are links to other ARISS websites from this site. 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, click here. ARISS-Canada and the Americas, except USA: Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD ARISS-Japan, Asia, Pacific and Australia: Keigo Komuro, JA1KAB, Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) ARISS-Russia: Soyuz Radioljubitelei Rossii (SRR) ****************************************************************************** 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 http://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? 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 **************************************************************************** ARISS congratulations the following mentors who have now mentored over 100 schools: Satoshi 7M3TJZ with 135 Francesco IKØWGF with 132 Gaston ON4WF with 123 Sergey RV3DR with 108 **************************************************************************** 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. 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 2018-12-12 23:30 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. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.rtf http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school events is 1284. Each school counts as 1 event. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 1227. Each contact may have multiple schools sharing the same time slot. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 47. A complete year by year breakdown of the contacts may be found in the file. http://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: http://www.ariss.org/qsl-cards.html ISS callsigns: DPØISS, IRØISS, NA1SS, OR4ISS, RSØISS **************************************************************************** The successful school list has been updated as of 2018-12-11 02:30 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correction .rtf Listing of ARISS related magazine articles as of 2006-07-10 03:30 UTC. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ARISS_magazine_articles.rtf Check out the Zoho reports of the ARISS contacts https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?DBID=412218000000020415 **************************************************************************** Exp. 56 on orbit Serena Aunon-Chancellor KG5TMT Alexander Gerst KF5ONO Sergei Propopev Exp. 58 on orbit Oleg Konenenko David St-Jacques KG5FYI Anne McClain **************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors

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new JY1SAT / Jordan-OSCAR 97 TLEs
by Wouter Weggelaar 12 Dec '18

12 Dec '18

Hi All, New TLEs have been released by CSpOC, and currently we are looking at object 2018-099AV / 43801 for JY1Sat. Very close are also objects AX and AY, but the coming passes will show which one may produce a good fit. *note* the objects have not yet been assigned, so AV is still our best estimate. More observations are needed to confirm or amend. 73 Wouter PA3WEG

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AO-95
by Fred Castello 12 Dec '18

12 Dec '18

I am just curious why we are not discussing the apparent failure of the receiver of AO-95. Do we know anything more about the issue? Thanks all, Fred – KF4FC

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