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Re: RX only satellite?
by G0MRF＠aol.com 07 Feb '07

07 Feb '07

Weird idea number 2. You mention "no transmitters" But thinking out of the box a little....If you carried forward your idea of the Laser beacons from your earlier project, then it may be possible to "transmit" something after all. - How about one of the new Hi power LEDs? 5 Watts to 20W are available now. Just run it at whatever power suits the power budget. Have the onbard RX activate the LED for a limited period on receipt of a command. Two simple methods of data transfer come to mind. 1) Switch the LED on and off at an audio rate with a 1:1 square wave. Then turn that signal on and off with a CW generated message. Simple but effective. We know that works over 150 miles from recent reports from Australia. Receive using software from weaksignals.com 2) Much nicer. - Switch the LED on / off at some spot frequency between 12 - 20kHz. But arrange for the waveform to be pulse width modulated. Easy ! One comparator and a rectangular wave at 20kHz. - Audio on the other input. You can send anything generated at audio including PSK31 speech, JT65, Domino, etc. I imagine the sat will be attached to the ISS. Tracking is easy too. Pick a night or early morning when a visible pass will occur. Track the ISS while it is in sunlight then when it reaches the terminator, activate the LED transmitter. Your tracking should be spot on and the signal can be received with very modest equipment. The receiver on the ground is a magnifying glass lens about 4 - 6inches across. - Or a small telescope. A BPW34 Pin photodiode followed by a low pass filter to remove the 20kHz. What comes out is audio. - That can be fed to a computer soundcard. 73 David

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RX only satellite?
by Robert Bruninga 07 Feb '07

07 Feb '07

There may be a Satellite opportunity for a ham radio RX only payload. No TX allowed. Any ideas? It will be recoverd one year later. All I can come up with is a satellite band moniitor that scans the satellte bands and makes a one year survey of QRM and stores it in flash. That is, recording frequency and signal strength and position for a year. Problem is, I cannot figure out how we could use the data to tell the good guys from the bad guys so it wouldn't tell us much I don't think? Any other ideas for a RX only space application? Of educational interest? Anyone interesetd in developing the band monitor payload? Bob, WB4APR

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AMSAT-UK Colloquium 2007 - Call for Papers
by David Johnson 07 Feb '07

07 Feb '07

This is the first call for speakers for the 22nd Amsat-UK Colloquium which will be held at Surrey University, Guildford, Surrey, U.K., from Friday 20 July to Sunday 22 July 2007. Amsat-UK invite speakers, about amateur radio space and associated activities, for this event. They are also invited to submit papers for the "Proceedings" document which will be published at the same time but printed papers are not mandatory. We normally prefer authors to present talks themselves rather than having someone else give them in the authors' absence. We also welcome "unpresented" papers for the Proceedings document. Offers of talks should be submitted as soon as possible; the final date for full documents to be received is mid-June 2007 in order that the "Proceedings" document be available to participants. Submissions should be sent *ONLY* to G4DPZ, via the following routes: e-mail: dave at g4dpz.me.uk Terrestrial mail: QTHR www.qrz.com AMSAT-UK also invite anyone with requests for Program Topics to submit them as soon as possible to G4DPZ. Invitations for any papers on specific subjects will be included in the future call. Likewise if anyone knows of a good speaker, please send contact and other information to G4DPZ. Additionally, Amsat-UK will be running sessions specifically for beginners to amateur satellite operating on the Friday and Saturday afternoons. Details of the colloquium can be found at: http://www.uk.amsat.org 73 Dave, G4DPZ

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AMSAT Groups Make Donation to Facilitate Completion of P3E
by Trevor 07 Feb '07

07 Feb '07

See http://www.uk.amsat.org/ 73 Trevor M5AKA ___________________________________________________________ The all-new Yahoo! Mail goes wherever you go - free your email address from your Internet provider. http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html

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RX only satellite?
by James Duffey 07 Feb '07

07 Feb '07

It would be interesting to look at the NCDXCC HF beacons from space to get an idea of ionospheric absorption. These have predictable times and variable predictable power levels, so path losses can be easily calculated. Monitoring the 10M frequency at 28.200 might provide useful information for future Mode A applications. With beacons all around the world, broadcasting every 3 minutes at known power levels, a 28.2 MHz receiver could provide a wealth of information. The beacons ID themselves, so data analysis should be easy; all that would be required is some sort of time tagging. I suspect that the satellite would never be out of range of a beacon. How much data storage is available? I need to calculate how much data you would need to obtain. It would be interesting to launch these satellites at various points in the solar cycle. - Duffey KK6MC/5

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RAFT in Packet-Voice mode
by Robert Bruninga 06 Feb '07

06 Feb '07

Henk, PA3GUO, reports that he has just -enabled- RAFT VOICE mode. Enabled, this means that any station may TURN ON voice mode over his country with a single CONNECT RAFT packet. The voice synthesizer will remain on for 90 seconds. Only the CONNECT packet is required of that station. After his connect packet brings up RAFT, then he can fore a disconnect so he can try an APRS MESSAGE to TALK. Once the VOICE synthesizer is on, then anyone can send a UI APRS formatted MESSAGE to the callsign of "TALK" and RAFT will speak it (if it decodes it)... RAFT is very weak and hard to hear except on HIGH overhead passes, even with beams. Please do NOT attempt to turn on RAFT or to send TALK messages if you cannot hear it. You may be QRMing other stations. Thanks Bob Bruninga, WB4APR US Naval Academy Satellite Lab

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Re: RX only satellite?
by G0MRF＠aol.com 06 Feb '07

06 Feb '07

In a message dated 06/02/2007 17:47:35 GMT Standard Time, bruninga(a)usna.edu writes: There may be a Satellite opportunity for a ham radio RX only payload. No TX allowed. Any ideas? It will be recoverd one year later. Hi Bob. I guess this is attached to the ISS so no oportunity to have attitude control. OK, Long time in orbit so lots of data. How about one or more of the cheap USB memory sticks for storage? 1GB+ is small and cheap these days. To interface the USB to the real world you can use an interface chip with PIC microcontroller. I'm sure that would normally be a wholelot of design all by itself, except you can buy the USB intefaced to a PIC16F877 off the shelf for about $50 limited driver software included _http://www.dlpdesign.com/usb/dlp-2232pbv15.pdf_ (http://www.dlpdesign.com/usb/dlp-2232pbv15.pdf) That gives you 16 I/O lines and some A-D conversion to play with. As for payloads? Well spectrum monitoring is good but GPS data to give the location would be an advantage so you know where you are. Bands to monitor. 2.4 is the most controversial, but the proposed uplink band of 5.6G would give valuable insight for future projects. Or, one of the new power to voltage converters from Analog Devices. Monitoring the radar fence output or other High radar signals could be interesting. Or camera that can take pics on your command. - I can almost see the picture of your QTH on the wall of your office. Taken on a clear day when you know the lens is pointing in the right direction. 73 David G0MRF www.sseti.net

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Re: Florida Newspaper Story
by Luc Leblanc 06 Feb '07

06 Feb '07

On 6 Feb 2007 at 18:08, Trevor wrote: > I am correct in thinking the astronaut mentioned in this story is KC5ZTB ? > > > > > 73 Trevor M5AKA > WARNING the following is OFF topics eg: Don't read it if you dislike off topics matters. >From QRZ.com KC5ZTB Lookups: 1346 LISA M NOWAK 17123 PARSLEY HAWTHORNE CT HOUSTON TX 77059 USA A married mother of three, Nowak told police that she was "involved in a relationship with," Bill Oefelein, another NASA astronaut, which she categorized as "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship," according to the charging affidavit. Oefelein, who piloted the most recent shuttle flight in December, could not be reached Monday night at home in Houston. She found out Oefelein was involved with Shipman and planned a trip to Orlando to talk to Shipman about their relationships with Oefelein, reports show. She also told police the BB gun "was going to be used to entice Ms. Shipman to talk with her." To be read in the next edition of the National Enquirer... Love Is In The Air John Paul Young Love is in the air Everywhere I look around Love is in the air Every sight and every sound And I don't know if I'm being foolish Don't know if I'm being wise But it's something that I must believe in... You see the human factor strike again could be a side effect of the arrow day (February 16!) Is anyone can explain me what this mean? "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship," Luc Leblanc VE2DWE Skype VE2DWE www.qsl.net/ve2dwe WAC BASIC CW PHONE SATELLITE

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AO-51 status
by Bill Goff 06 Feb '07

06 Feb '07

I've been interested attempting to work thru this satellite for several days beginning 1/31 without much luck. One each occasion I've not heard the beacon at all nor heard any other qso's. I've used the amsat path predictions and online tracking so I'm sure I'm listening at the correct times. I'm using a colinear vertical about 20' up at the QTH, so I think I've got enough antenna to at least hear the satellite. Does anyone here know it the software update is still in process? Is the satellite not in operation now? Bill KI6DJ

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Re: Florida Newspaper Story
by Alan P. Biddle 06 Feb '07

06 Feb '07

It would appear that her opportunities to operate may be somewhat restricted in the future. Also, it is coming up for renewal in April. Alan WA4SCA

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