- AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

SSB-Electronic SP200 preamp
by Joseph Trombino, Jr 20 Jun '20

20 Jun '20

Howdy Gang. Putting my meager satellite station back up and need an SSB-Electronic SP200 preamp. Unit must be in very good condition and working FB. Photos and phone number required, as I was just scammed by seller about this preamp. Many thanks for any assistance. 73, Joe W2KJ

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Re: [amsat-bb] CAMSAT CAS-6 Status
by Red Willoughby 20 Jun '20

20 Jun '20

I heard CAS-6, but it required a couple of seconds of transmitting for the transponder to turn on. Then it would only stay on for a couple of seconds. It sounded like AO-7 getting knocked out by too much RX signal strength. I reduced power real low and that seemed to help, but there were others on the transponder who may not have been experimenting with power levels. I will have another pass in an hour or so. Thanks for the new bird! Red KC4LE

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CAS-6 - AMSAT-NA Interim Update TLE
by Ray Hoad 20 Jun '20

20 Jun '20

CAS-6 V/UHF antenna has been deployed today. Equipment issues still remain, but here is the latest TLE set. See Alan Kung AMSAT-BB message of Jun 20, 2020 at about 10:16 entitled "CAMSAT CAS-6 Status for details. CAS-6 1 44881U 19093C 20172.43294612 -.00001345 00000-0 -16484-3 0 9991 2 44881 97.9577 248.4654 0015737 31.3898 328.8253 14.81406070 27134 Ray Hoad WA5QGD AMSAT-NA Orbital Elements Manager

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Fwd: APRS Op needed at Mt Greylock and Mt Washington (amsat)
by Robert Bruninga 20 Jun '20

20 Jun '20

For the annual Appalachian GOlden Packet Event on 18 July (manning 15 mountains from Maine to Georgia), we have two holes in the 15 Hop packet link. Anyone in those area want to join the fun for about 4 hours (plus travel times)? All you need is a kenwood APRS radio that will digipeat (and probably a good bandpass filter). ---------- Forwarded message --------- Subject: Re: [atgp] Upcoming Event: AT Golden Packet 2020 - Sat, 07/18/2020 Hello ATGP Folks: >From a look at the latest 2020 ATGP spread sheet, linked on Bob's ATGP web site, ( http://aprs.org/at-golden-packet.html ) two observations: 1. Greylock-11 has been removed and so is not man'ed !?! 2. Mt Washington-13 is not man'ed yet !?! This apparently leaves Mt Equinox-12 isolated, without (from past experience) the ability to reach Mt St Joe's or Mt Katahdin to the north, or Sams Point to the south. Thanks, -- Jeff Marden/N1JCM Equnox-12 _._,_._,_

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Re: [amsat-bb] Satellite Users on Macs (Douglas B Tabor)
by Bob 20 Jun '20

20 Jun '20

I have used MacDoppler for the past 9 months. It installed easily and works quite well. The Doppler correction is excellent. I use a Yaesu G-5500 az-el rotator and the Yaesu serial interface unit. Highly recommended Sent from my iPad

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HEO Satellite
by Pgprendergast 20 Jun '20

20 Jun '20

I’ve enjoyed AO10 tremendously. I have zero interest in a GEO satellite. I liked the challenge of an elliptical orbit and the long chats I could have. The LEO satellites are a bit boring. A two second exchange of grid squares yuck. I’d be happy to contribute to a HEO satellite or a shared commercial amateur payload as a life member of AMSAT I’m interested in it succeeding but I lose interest in these LEO cube says quickly. I echo the concerns that AMSAT is not lobbying Space X or Virgin for support. Please stop saying if your TSgt interested join us.... why should I need to your already in the leadership role responsible for just such activities. Please help us I understand why this isn’t already happening???? Peter W2PP Sent from my iPhone

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GeoSat OSCAR-2024 Positive comments, no whining....(Was need HEO..please..)
by Joe Leikhim 20 Jun '20

20 Jun '20

Thank you! "Thank you for the positive thread. Open Research Institute received news today about an additional $15,000 grant. This will help pay for work on GEO/HEO/Lunar payload transmit chain. This brings the Phase 1 fundraising total to $65,000. All of the work product is donated without charge to the general public. This means primarily AMSAT and ARISS/AREx. ORI has started on Phase 2 fundraising. The goal is $400,000 and will finance multiple end-to-end engineering models. Phase 3 is space-rated hardware. Phase 4 is any costs related to any launch. There is a path forward. Yes it's hard, but it's not impossible. Besides, things worth doing are rarely easy! -Michelle W5NYV" -- Joe Leikhim Leikhim and Associates Communications Consultants Oviedo, Florida JLeikhim(a)Leikhim.com 407-982-0446 WWW.LEIKHIM.COM

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GeoSat OSCAR-2024 Positive comments, no whining....(Was need HEO..please..)
by Daniel Schultz 20 Jun '20

20 Jun '20

"I would rather motivate the folks I vote for! They have far better credentials than I!" The only credential you need to work for AMSAT is a willingness to work your ass off. The board members and other volunteers already have much more motivation than the people who shout their suggestions from the sidelines but don't want to roll up their sleeves and get to work. "Commercial entities gaining recognition by providing in-kind services. Elon Musk SpaceX, etc." I get a weird sort of chuckle from the people who think the only reason we haven't gotten a free launch from Space-X is because we haven't offered Elon a free AMSAT tee shirt. It sort of reminds me of a six year old child who makes an obvious suggestion and smiles as if he was the first person in the history of the world to think of it. Elon already has about as much recognition as he will ever need, and he is busy launching astronauts to the ISS and putting 30,000 satellites in orbit so everybody can access Facebook. (by my calculation, with 58 satellites per launch it will only take 517 Falcon launches to populate a 30,000 piece constellation). We need to come up with a compelling answer to the rest of the world when they ask "why do you need to use your ham radio when you could just use a cellphone or the internet to communicate?" Dan Schultz N8FGV I really should refrain from making postings at 2:00am but sometimes I just can't help it.

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Re: [amsat-bb] GeoSat OSCAR-2024 Positive comments, no, whining....(Was need HEO..please..)
by Joe Leikhim 20 Jun '20

20 Jun '20

Paul; I fully understand that the transponder is commercial item, which I point out in the thread. Though there is contention from others that the transponders or TWT's are not "spares". I really don't know. The point is, it was done, it works, it is a success and therefore it can be done again. There can be no objection that it is not proven design. Why the negativity that it is not an "amateur (built?) payload? Maybe the next GEO amateur satellite can shoehorn some custom experiment? I anticipated that my words "baby steps" might rankle some. But that indeed is how this return to HEO is being described. Nothing wrong with that, but why not do both? I am trying to blast through this mindset that we cannot do this or that because of debris mitigation, ITAR, money, politics etc. AO-40 was the last big effort in 16 years. There has been really no project approaching the capabilities of AO-40 or any of the P3. AO-40 was audacious and impressive. I got to see it in the clean room in Orlando. it was huge. It was a super car in the world of amateur satellites. It was exciting, I sent a few bucks toward the project, don't tell my wife. For some of us a cubesat is just not enough. On 6/20/2020 12:20 AM, Paul Stoetzer wrote: > Joe, > > It’s important to note that QO-100 is not an amateur payload at all. > The two transponders in amateur use are on-orbit commercial spares > modified to tune to amateur frequencies. And, of course, there’s the > risk that the spares may be needed for commercial service some day. > > The issue is that to get an American company to do this, you need > millions of dollars up front and then probably millions of dollars a > year to support it. It’s been looked into multiple times over the > years and no one is willing to just give that away or even quote a > price that’s remotely reasonable. > > I do take issue with your choice of words in describing GOLF-TEE as > “baby steps.” GOLF is a project that AMSAT has committed a large > amount of money and man-hours to. It is a very significant project and > will lead us back to HEO. Our engineering team is doing tremendous > work and deserves the full support and encouragement of the amateur > community. Sadly, I feel that support is often lacking and, frankly, > our volunteers deserve better than that. > > If you want a HEO, support AMSAT and GOLF in any way that you can. > AMSAT is 100% committed and I am personally 100% committed to making > this happen for the community. > > 73, > > Paul Stoetzer, N8HM > Executive Vice President > AMSAT > > On Sat, Jun 20, 2020 at 00:01 Joe Leikhim via AMSAT-BB > <amsat-bb(a)amsat.org <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > Robert; > > AMSAT has been in HEO before and can get there again. > > The idea of my proposal is to piggy back on a willing commercial > satellite. The owner of that satellite would be handling the > necessary > regulatory issues/problems. This idea has been proposed before but > convincing a commercial satellite owner to attach unproven payload > has > always been an negative argument. No longer, because OSCAR-100 is > proven > hardware and it should be considered. > > Meanwhile GOLF-TEE can continue to take baby steps. > > Looking for ideas to promote this idea. Be positive. > > > -- > Joe Leikhim > > > Leikhim and Associates > > Communications Consultants > > Oviedo, Florida > > JLeikhim(a)Leikhim.com > > 407-982-0446 > > WWW.LEIKHIM.COM <http://WWW.LEIKHIM.COM> > > _______________________________________________ > 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: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb > > > <http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_cam…> > Virus-free. www.avg.com > <http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_cam…> > > > <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> -- Joe Leikhim Leikhim and Associates Communications Consultants Oviedo, Florida JLeikhim(a)Leikhim.com 407-982-0446 WWW.LEIKHIM.COM

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GEO sats
by Joe Leikhim 20 Jun '20

20 Jun '20

Michael; I have no particular interest in EMCOMM, but is silly to think that LEO satellites have much value for that. A GEO would in fact be useful for EMCOMM. I have built an earth station, worked all sorts of satellites AO-10, AO-13, etc. negotiating Doppler etc. In my station had no automatic positioning of the rotors. It was up to me to point to the correct AZ EL. I only more recently got controllers and really it was for the challenge of making them work. So I was pretty busy when there was a pass. But then, those satellites had an apogee where they appeared to stand still and the band would open up for a long time. It was bliss. I never did get to work AO-40. I did have the pleasure of hearing its engineering beacon full quieting on a tiny Standard C508 inside my car on a road trip. Lets be honest, none of that work putting an earth station together is as challenging as putting together AO-40 or any of the predecessor satellites. But those days and those folks are gone. AMSAT in my opinion is in a rut of negative thinking. I have seen the same cycle of projects for years since AO-40. There are a ton of reasons why we cannot do something which is why I want that thread to be a positive one. -- Joe Leikhim Leikhim and Associates Communications Consultants Oviedo, Florida JLeikhim(a)Leikhim.com 407-982-0446 WWW.LEIKHIM.COM

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