- AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

CW on the Birds--QRP
by Wes Baden 20 Feb '20

20 Feb '20

I've been a CW op since 1957, though I am a relative newbie on satellites (6 weeks now). Hasan has helped me realize how little uplink power is needed for successful contacts. (Translation = I was using too much power the first week or so.) Part of the problem was inexperience. Another factor, however, was my shiny new Icom 9700, which controls output with a knob and "percentage" indications. What does 10% output mean, actually? I hooked up my Bird wattmeter to find out. On 2M, percentages corresponded pretty much with output. 5% = 4W, 50% = 48W. But on 70 cm, percentages do not correspond, given less reduced output to begin with. Here, for instance, 5% = 2W. Also, realize that you're still putting out power at 0%! 900mW on 2M, it turns out to be, 100 mW or so on 70 cm. The latter explains why I've made contacts with power supposedly cranked all the way down to zero. I operate U/V, by the way. I calculate that I have 9 dB gain with my Cushcraft A449-6S, 33 feet of LMR 400, and three lossy UHF connectors. This means, on uplink on 70 cm, 0% = 800 mW ERP, 3% = 8W, 5% = 16W, 7% = 24W, 10% = 48W, and 20% = 80W. Bottom line is that I have no trouble making Mode B contacts with the knob on the 9700 set at somewhere between 0% and 7%, and usually at the lower end of that range. Hopefully this information is of help to other CW ops, especially new ones with 9700s. Keep a hand on or near that power output knob, reducing power when not needed and especially when your waterfall is looking as strong as the beacon waterfall. Other ops in the bandpass will appreciate this courtesy. Wes NA1ME

1 0

NEMO-1 Buoy Report
by Amsat Argentina 20 Feb '20

20 Feb '20

On January 30th at noon, AMSAT ARGENTINA launched the NEMO-1 buoy into the Atlantic sea, callsign LU7AA. It was transported 70 km east of Mar del Plata by the fisherman's ship 'Porteño', from Sandokan. The buoy, which emits in WSPR mode at 14095.6 KHz and FM VHF in APRS mode, navigated drifting free for 12 days traveling about 1100 kilometers, until on February 11th it was sighted and taken out of the water by the tuna vessel 'Juan Pablo II'. The captain of the ship, Rinaldi Yaco, considered that the buoy was sailing semi-sunk and decided to rescue it, informing Amsat Argentina of that event. The NEMO-1 then traveled eight more days aboard the tuna vessel, continuing its mission of data capture and broadcasting, until on Feb-19 it arrived at the port of Mar del Plata, where colleagues from the Mar del Plata Radio Club picked it up and kept in custody. A group of AMSAT-LU is traveling to recover NEMO-1. The buoy will be reconditioned and a new launch is planned. It will be tried to take it, on this occasion, to more than 200 km offshore, so that it will continue to navigate freely, reaffirming the commitment and contribution of radio amateurs to QRPp propagation research also helping navigation and the community. AMSAT ARGENTINA especially thanks the Captains and crews of the 'Porteño', the 'Juan Pablo II' ships and the Mar del Plata RClub in the persons of its Secretary, Jose Luis Hermida (LU9DHJ) and Jorge Garelli (LU5EOR) for the help provided and to the more than 100 'travelers' in NEMO-1, who supported this project helping to carry it out. http://amsat.org.ar?f=ce Adventure photos: http://amsat.org.ar?f=buoy 73, LU7AA, AMSAT Argentina http://amsat.org.ar https://facebook.com/AMSAT.LU

1 0

My 2 Cents on L/V
by Brad Smith 20 Feb '20

20 Feb '20

<It's always the same people anyway. Generally those are the same people whospend all day everyday beside their radio so it doesn't matter what dayit's on. Weekends are where new people with their dual band rig decide togive the birds a try typically, keeping U/v gives them more chances to makea first QSO.> We satellite hams are a small proportion of the ham community. Some satellite hams have to work during the week, but have time after work to work satellites. Only a small portion of the satellite hams work 92 in L/V, which is why the same people are heard. The weekends have rovers who give new grid squares to us grid square collectors. My vote is to leave L/V on Wednesdays, to leave the two main birds open on weekends for ALL hams to enjoy, no matter if they have a permanent base station with a 9700 or an Arrow/Elk antenna and an HT. I am ready to try L/V, with my Alinco HT and a Yaesu HT and my handheld antenna. But I need winter to go away in Wisconsin before I try it, for obvious reasons. Brad KC9UQR

1 0

Google Summer of Code 2020 Application - announcement
by Michelle Thompson 20 Feb '20

20 Feb '20

Today is the day for Google Summer of Code "Accepted Organizations", and I got the extremely kindly written rejection notice for Open Research Institute's application a few minutes ago. There are a *lot* more organizations applying than spots, this was our first year, and we will 100% try again. Also, there are also designated "umbrella" groups that we can potentially move underneath and still participate. I'm going to reach out and see if we can't get that rolling! If you know of one that would be a good match, let me know. This is the first year applying, and it resulted in the creation of a much more publicly accessible list of project content than we had with the task board on GitHub. So, we are going to fully use this list and tackle all the jobs! The content will go straight over the The Ham Calling, a new site designed specifically for connecting high-tech ham work with high-tech hams! Here's the current lineup: https://openresearch.institute/google-summer-of-code-2020/ I'm writing up an article for the Journal as well. What other projects do you think should be added? This list best serves as a "base" of potential work to advance the radio arts in the community. Thank you very much to those that volunteered to be mentors! Several of you volunteered to be mentors for the first time, ever. That is a big step and greatly appreciated. In several cases, hams contacted me with anxiety over being "technical enough" to mentor students. Yes, some of these projects are complex, but mentorship is much much more than being able to answer a student's technical questions. Being supported while taking risks, learning about amateur satellite operation, learning about the amateur "code", and how to fail and start over or roll back to what most recently worked - these are foundational things. Encouragement and steady support are, in the long run, of greater value than being able to substitute in for a Wikipedia article on FEC. Next year, assuming things continue to improve, TAPR, AMSAT, and ARRL will all apply to be mentoring organizations along with ORI and GNU Radio and others. Amateur radio is uniquely qualified to serve a meaningful and significant role in open source technical advancement, and I cannot wait to see the future results. -Michelle W5NYV

1 0

Re: [amsat-bb] AO92 L/V mode??
by Fernando Ramirez 20 Feb '20

20 Feb '20

> Hi Perry! > > AO-92 was kept in U/V mode in order to allow operators more opportunities > to work N6O/mm from rare grid DM02. The operation will last only one day. > > The decision was announced over the AMSAT Twitter and Facebook accounts. I > don't recall or can't find if it was posted on the -BB. Might be a good > idea for next time. > > 73 > Fernando KF7R > > On Sun, Sep 22, 2019, 12:52 AM Perry Yantis via AMSAT-BB < > amsat-bb(a)amsat.org> wrote: > >> I stayed up late tonight to work AO92 L/V mode only to find that it was >> still in L/V mode.Then I got on EO88 a few minutes later and was told that >> L/V mode would be on Wednesday this week.It would be nice it this >> information was posted on the BBS BEFORE the weekend gets here.Also why the >> change anyway????? >> Perry WB8OTH >> >> py41(a)att.net >> sent from my Apple Macbook Pro >> _______________________________________________ >> Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available >> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. >> Opinions expressed >> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of >> AMSAT-NA. >> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! >> Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb >> >

15 19

AO92 L/V mode??
by Perry Yantis 20 Feb '20

20 Feb '20

I stayed up late tonight to work AO92 L/V mode only to find that it was still in L/V mode.Then I got on EO88 a few minutes later and was told that L/V mode would be on Wednesday this week.It would be nice it this information was posted on the BBS BEFORE the weekend gets here.Also why the change anyway????? Perry WB8OTH py41(a)att.net sent from my Apple Macbook Pro

2 1

Re: [amsat-bb] Curious -- Frequency of SO-50 downlink at the bird?
by Roy Dean 20 Feb '20

20 Feb '20

> > Just wondering if anyone has measured the frequency of the SO-50 downlink > at the bird recently? I've noted it appears to be a bit lower than I would > expect, about > 436.793.5. The frequency wobble I saw over the pass was due to my step > size in the Doppler correction. Obviously well within the capture range > for 435.795 FM, but mostly curious. 73, Bob, WB4SON https://network.satnogs.org/observations/1725800/ Looks like your observation is spot on. SatNogs is tracking it at 436.793 - and it actually looks like (from the waterfall), that that half kHz may be there, too. --Roy K3RLD

2 1

Re: [amsat-bb] AO92 L/V mode??
by Ronald Parsons 20 Feb '20

20 Feb '20

I'd like to suggest another factor. The early passes on Wednesday UTC have been moving slowly later in time. Last night's passes were after "my bedtime." So I was able to participate only on this morning's two passes. Perhaps someone could look at the passes for, say, the next six months, to choose a UTC day where the passes would be more balanced in "normal" awake times. Another question: Are we restricted to a UTC day for the L/v operation? Ron W5RKN

1 0

SO 50 - 19:47 UTC Pass.
by Rick Wyrwas 20 Feb '20

20 Feb '20

For the station Grid EM77 that contacted me in this bird, could you please advise your call sign I am breaking in a Kenwood TH D 72 and had ear phones on with no recorder hooked up as yet. Trying to figure that out. So if any one does have me on that pass on a recording please advise. Would be appreciated Thanks Rick WA9JBQ -- Rick Wyrwas

1 0

GNU Radio Conference - Tickets and Call for Papers open!
by Michelle Thompson 19 Feb '20

19 Feb '20

Dear friends and fans of GNU Radio, used by spacecraft and ground station developers from AMSAT to Z! GNU Radio Conference celebrates and showcases the substantial and remarkable progress of the world’s best open source digital signal processing framework for software-defined radios. In addition to presenting GNU Radio’s vibrant theoretical and practical presence in academia, industry, the military, and among amateurs and hobbyists, GNU Radio Conference 2020 will have a very special focus. Speed, latency, delay, and timing! Enjoy our racing theme throughout the conference, featured in our contests and a high-octane Thursday night dinner. Papers and presentations on theme will be recognized at the conference with an award. But wait, there’s more! We’ll be co-located and coordinated with TAPR DCC. It’s the weekend immediately preceding GRCon20. Find out more at: https://tapr.org/?page_id=68 Please join us September 14-18, 2020 at the Charlotte Airport Hotel for the best technical conference of the year. Hotel address is 2800 Coliseum Centre Drive, Charlotte, North Carolina, 28217, USA. Registration and an online and mobile-friendly schedule will be posted at the conference web site: https://www.gnuradio.org/grcon/grcon20/ We invite developers and users from the GNU Radio Community to present your projects, presentations, papers, posters, and problems at GNU Radio Conference 2020. Submit your talks, demos, and code! Please share this Call for All with anyone you think needs to read it. To submit your content for the conference, visit our dedicated conference submission site at: https://pretalx.gnuradio.org/grcon20/cfp First round closes 17 April 2020. If accepted, your content will be immediately scheduled. Notifications go out 26 June 2020. Final round closes 1 September 2019. Space permitting. Submissions received between 18 April 2020 and 1 September 2020 are accepted and notifications sent out on a rolling basis. If you have questions or need assistance with submitting then please write grcon(a)gnuradio.org

1 0