- AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

5BVUCC Nets Support of
by Les Rayburn 22 Apr '19

22 Apr '19

Just heard back from Mike Ritz, W7VO who is the Director of the Northwestern Division. He’s fully supportive of the proposal to create the new award. Reach out to your ARRL Director today, and let’s see if we can keep the momentum going! 73, Les Rayburn, N1LF Maylene, AL EM63nf AMSAT #38965, ARRL Life Member, CVHS Life Member, SVHF Member

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Re: [amsat-bb] [VHFcontesting] 5 Band VUCC Award
by Alan Larson 22 Apr '19

22 Apr '19

Les and folks, some thoughts on the 5BVUCC idea: >In an effort to stimulate activity on VHF/UHF bands beyond 70 CM, I?d >like to suggest the creation of a Five Band VUCC (5B VUCC) award that >would closely mirror the 5 Band DXCC Award. It seems a worthwhile award for folks to go for, it would provide a further step for folks who have already gotten VUCC. The extra bands would remain easy for operators in the east, and difficult for those in the west. Unfortunately, I don't think it would really provide lasting activity on the bands - nowdays folks would get on with FT8, exchange encoded callsigns and a couple more bits of information, and call it a contact. Then they wourl move on to the next grid or band. Continuing activity, ragchewing, even short "It is good to hear from you again", sort of contacts that don't add additional grids, but do add activity, would not be encouraged, as competitors would be letting their computers search out FT8 signals (random or arranged). Perhaps I am missing something - isn't it possible to get VUCC on several bands as separate VUCC, so one could have it on 6 meters, 2 meters, and so on? If it isn't, it seems that it should be. Then 5BVUCC would just be 5 of these single-band VUCC awards. I would love to see an approach that left operator skill as more important than computer processing power -- the only thing I can think of is mode specific awards. If by operating SSB or CW I were not competing against computers exchanging minimal traces of information, it would not be so disillusioning. Alan

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Cushcraft 416-TB Oscar Satellite Boomer Antenna System
by David Mossor 22 Apr '19

22 Apr '19

Hello All, I picked up a OSCAR antenna system that I have brought back to life. It consist of a 416-TB 70cm antenna, A144-20T 2 meter twist yagi - 144-148 mhz,, 4' boom assembly, Two U-100 alliance rotors for azimuth and elev. control. Everything is to factory specs. and the rotors work smooth. Not sure if I am going to have time for SAT work at this time since I have two tower projects to get done. Can anyone tell me if this is still a viable antenna system and what would something like that be worth today? Planning on taking it to an Upcoming Hamfest to see if anyone is interested. Can send pictures via email. I am good on QRZ. Any information would be greatly appreciated. -- KE8CAD DAVID B. MOSSOR 908 W. MAIN ST. HARRISVILLE, WV 26362

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Upcoming ARISS contact with Dum detí a mládeze Olomouc (House of Children and Youth Olomouc), Olomouc, Czech Republic
by n4csitwo＠bellsouth.net 22 Apr '19

22 Apr '19

An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Dum detí a mládeze Olomouc (House of Children and Youth Olomouc), Olomouc, Czech Republic on 23 Apr. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 19:15 UTC. The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The contact will be direct between OR4ISS and OK2KMX. The contact should be audible over the Czech Republic 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. Story: Dùm dìtí a mládeze Olomouc (eng.: House of Children and Youth, abbr. DDM Olomouc) - a leisure time center which operates in 5 buildings, whereas four are situated in Olomouc. Since April 2001 the DDM is constituted by Olomouc Regional Authority. For the whole public DDM offered both regular clubs and interest groups as well as occasional and stay events. Over 150 interest groups started to work every year, regularly - once, twice or three times a week - attended by 2602 children and youth at the age from 3 to 25 years only during the last school year (2017/2018). These activities were provided by 150 employees, external and voluntary workers. During the summer holidays, DDM Olomouc organized more than 30 summer camps for almost 800 children. In summer furthermore, as during the whole year, DDM Olomouc offers cheap accommodation both right in Olomouc and in Ochoz u Konice both locations are up to 30 km away from Olomouc. Participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. How many solar panels are powering the entire station and do you have any other power sources? 2. What voltage are your instruments using aboard the ISS? 3. What would you tell the people who believe that the Earth is flat? 4. How often do you check the social networks and have you any time to watch Youtube? 5. Did the ASTROBEE's already arrive and do you use them already? 6. How far from the station can you go and can you move outside untethered? 7. How long does it take to get from Earth to the ISS? 8. What does being in a spacesuit feel like and what is outside temperature? 9. How long do the spacesuit's energy and oxygen supplies last? 10. Do you feel any changes to your muscular system during your mission, or is it a bit of a shock after your return back to Earth? 11. Do you need to strap in when you sleep and how do you enjoy sleeping in zero gravity? 12. How often do you eat and do you enjoy the taste of the food? 13. Have you experienced any accidents while on the station, for example, a device failure? 14. How do you fight a fire if it breaks out onboard the ISS? 15. How much waste is generated on the ISS and what are you doing with it? 16. Can you play any computer games and how much free time do you have? 17. What does it feel like to fly a rocket up into space? 18. How much time do you spend exercising each day? 19. How would you deal with a serious injury, for example, hand fracture? 20. How and how often do you communicate with your family? 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): 1. Hidden Oaks Middle School, Prior Lake, MN, direct via N9CHA The ISS callsign is presently scheduled to be NA1SS The scheduled astronaut is David St-Jacques KG5FYI Contact is go for: Wed 2019-04-24 17:46:31 UTC 52 deg 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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[Video] My best satellite demo ever - 18 QSOs
by John Brier 22 Apr '19

22 Apr '19

https://youtu.be/QWtdyT4PYMw A few days before my satellite demo at the Raleigh Amateur Radio Society hamfest (RARSfest), I put the word out to satellite operators on mailing lists, Facebooks, Twitters, and even good old fashioned web forums, and boy did they come calling! Without a doubt, I have never made so many QSOs (contacts) on one satellite pass. What a great demo. Thanks to all the hams that contacted me: 01- HP2VX - Virgilo- Panama 02 - 9Y4D - Christopher - Trinidad and Tobago 03 - N3JNX - Joseph - Pennsylvania 04- W5PFG - Clayton - Texas 05 - WH6ETF - Brandon - Florida 06 - NA1SA - Loon - Pennsylvania 07 - N4DCW - Michael - Kentucky 08 - W5RRR - Johnson Space Center - operated by John AB5SS 09 - W5CBF - Hector - Louisiana 10 - NS3L - Steve - Pennsylvania 11 - KJ4EU - Jerald - Kentucky 12 - K3RRR - Robert - Maryland 13 - K9KFX - Dru - Indiana 14 - AB1OC - Fred - New Hampshire 15 - VE2OTA - Donald - Quebec Canada 16 - N9LQ - Joel - Illonois 17 - K3RLD - Roy - Pennsylvania 18 - KE2QI - Robert - New York This was on the 2019-04-20 - 1719 UTC - AO-91 pass. Equipment: Alaskan Arrow antenna with two of three boom sections assembled. Kenwood TM-V71A Bioenno 12V 9aH LiFePO4 You can see my FM mobile radio body support system here: https://spacecomms.wordpress.com/mobile-radio-body-support/ RARSfest: https://www.rarsfest.org/ Sponsored by Nordic PC, M2 Antenna Systems, Arrow Antenna, and Dog Park Software. https://nordicpc.com https://m2inc.com https://dogparksoftware.com http://arrowantennas.com Vertical video ;-) courtesy Jelmer Tiete @jelmt, also the thumbnail is from him. Thanks Jelmer! 73, John Brier KG4AKV

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AISAT Downlink Issues -- Expected Behavior
by KE6BLR Robert 21 Apr '19

21 Apr '19

As a followup to the earlier thread, I wrote a simple Python script that provides the actual behavior side-by-side the expected behavior. Notice this contains only 22 bytes in the Digipath compared to 29 bytes in the actual Digipath. This is due to removing the extra blank field at the end of the actual Digipath. 1: byteAsInt: 0, byteAsChar: , byteAsBits: 0b0, byteAsIntFixed: 0, byteAsCharFixed: , byteAsBitsFixed: 0b0 2: byteAsInt: 134, byteAsChar: C, byteAsBits: 0b10000110, byteAsIntFixed: 134, byteAsCharFixed: C, byteAsBitsFixed: 0b10000110 3: byteAsInt: 162, byteAsChar: Q, byteAsBits: 0b10100010, byteAsIntFixed: 162, byteAsCharFixed: Q, byteAsBitsFixed: 0b10100010 4: byteAsInt: 64, byteAsChar: , byteAsBits: 0b1000000, byteAsIntFixed: 64, byteAsCharFixed: , byteAsBitsFixed: 0b1000000 5: byteAsInt: 64, byteAsChar: , byteAsBits: 0b1000000, byteAsIntFixed: 64, byteAsCharFixed: , byteAsBitsFixed: 0b1000000 6: byteAsInt: 64, byteAsChar: , byteAsBits: 0b1000000, byteAsIntFixed: 64, byteAsCharFixed: , byteAsBitsFixed: 0b1000000 7: byteAsInt: 64, byteAsChar: , byteAsBits: 0b1000000, byteAsIntFixed: 64, byteAsCharFixed: , byteAsBitsFixed: 0b1000000 8: byteAsInt: 96, byteAsChar: 0, byteAsBits: 0b1100000, byteAsIntFixed: 0, byteAsCharFixed: 0, byteAsBitsFixed: 0b0 9: byteAsInt: 150, byteAsChar: K, byteAsBits: 0b10010110, byteAsIntFixed: 150, byteAsCharFixed: K, byteAsBitsFixed: 0b10010110 10: byteAsInt: 104, byteAsChar: 4, byteAsBits: 0b1101000, byteAsIntFixed: 104, byteAsCharFixed: 4, byteAsBitsFixed: 0b1101000 11: byteAsInt: 150, byteAsChar: K, byteAsBits: 0b10010110, byteAsIntFixed: 150, byteAsCharFixed: K, byteAsBitsFixed: 0b10010110 12: byteAsInt: 136, byteAsChar: D, byteAsBits: 0b10001000, byteAsIntFixed: 136, byteAsCharFixed: D, byteAsBitsFixed: 0b10001000 13: byteAsInt: 164, byteAsChar: R, byteAsBits: 0b10100100, byteAsIntFixed: 164, byteAsCharFixed: R, byteAsBitsFixed: 0b10100100 14: byteAsInt: 64, byteAsChar: , byteAsBits: 0b1000000, byteAsIntFixed: 64, byteAsCharFixed: , byteAsBitsFixed: 0b1000000 15: byteAsInt: 108, byteAsChar: 6, byteAsBits: 0b1101100, byteAsIntFixed: 12, byteAsCharFixed: 6, byteAsBitsFixed: 0b1100 16: byteAsInt: 130, byteAsChar: A, byteAsBits: 0b10000010, byteAsIntFixed: 130, byteAsCharFixed: A, byteAsBitsFixed: 0b10000010 17: byteAsInt: 146, byteAsChar: I, byteAsBits: 0b10010010, byteAsIntFixed: 146, byteAsCharFixed: I, byteAsBitsFixed: 0b10010010 18: byteAsInt: 166, byteAsChar: S, byteAsBits: 0b10100110, byteAsIntFixed: 166, byteAsCharFixed: S, byteAsBitsFixed: 0b10100110 19: byteAsInt: 130, byteAsChar: A, byteAsBits: 0b10000010, byteAsIntFixed: 130, byteAsCharFixed: A, byteAsBitsFixed: 0b10000010 20: byteAsInt: 168, byteAsChar: T, byteAsBits: 0b10101000, byteAsIntFixed: 168, byteAsCharFixed: T, byteAsBitsFixed: 0b10101000 21: byteAsInt: 84, byteAsChar: *, byteAsBits: 0b1010100, byteAsIntFixed: 64, byteAsCharFixed: , byteAsBitsFixed: 0b1000000 22: byteAsInt: 96, byteAsChar: 0, byteAsBits: 0b1100000, byteAsIntFixed: 129, byteAsCharFixed: 0, byteAsBitsFixed: 0b10000001 robertmachale@Roberts-MacBook-Pro-484 ~/Documents/SCC/AISAT-EXPLAIN $ Notice bytes 8, 15, and 22 should be treated as SubFields where the SSID occupies 4 bits rather than a fill ASCII single digit number. Notice byte 21 should be a space because byte 22 in bit position 7 contains the Digipeated "H" bit. Byte 22 in bit position 0 should contain the "Dnd of Digipath" bit. Let me know your feedback and how I can help. 73s Robert

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Hawaii APRS Satellite Operations?
by Matt Hornsby 21 Apr '19

21 Apr '19

Hi Bob, I’m on Oahu this week and will see if I can get any aprs packets to one of the birds. Anecdotally I don’t see much terrestrial APRS activity in the times I’ve visited this island, so I’m skeptical that there will be many igates listening on 145.825. 73, Matt KS9O

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AISAT Downlink Issues -- Defined
by KE6BLR Robert 21 Apr '19

21 Apr '19

Hello Satellite APRS Operators, I am new to this SIG. And, this is my first post. So, I hope it arrives as intended. As you know, AISAT became available recently for Satellite APRS. One of the nice things about having an APRS Digipeater mounted to the Stage 4 Rocket platform is this equipment inherits solar panels, batteries, and antennas. Unfortunately, the design team was given only 6 days to build and deliver the satellite. Apparently, end to end testing of the Digipeater was not possible. So, I believe they deserve a lot of slack. Now, there are many (4ish) quirks in the downlink. NOTE: the AISAT uplink appears nominal. To explain the downlink issue we need to examine a sample packet. For this we can thank K4KDR for transmitting the packet and KG4PID for receiving the packet. If I remember this correctly, KG4PID is running PI-TNC and APRX while K4KDR is running Direwolf and UISS. The main thing to note here is that displaying packets may require more flexible software. Sample packet from the APRX error log via KG4PID: 2019-04-11 02:06:38.961 ax25_to_tnc2(KG4PID-14,len=112) rejected the message: 00 86 a2 40 40 40 40 60|96 68 96 88 a4 40 6c 82|92 a6 82 a8 54 60 40 40|40 40 40 40 61 03 f0 3a|43 51 2d 30 20 20 20 20|20 3a 3d 33 37 34 37 2e|36 36 4e 2f 30 37 37 33|36 2e 36 37 57 60 64 65|20 4b 34 4b 44 52 20 73|63 6f 74 74 32 33 31 39|32 40 67 6d 61 69 6c 2e|63 6f 6d 20 56 69 72 67|69 6e 69 61 20 20 46 4d|31 37 65 73 7b 31 39 35| = .CQ 0|K4KDR 6A|ISAT*0 | a..:|CQ-0 | :=3747.|66N/0773|6.67W`de| K4KDR s|cott2319|2(a)gmail.|com Virg|inia FM|17es{195| This same packet after byte by byte parsing with a simple Python script on my Mac laptop: @@@ robertmachale@ucrwpa-2-1-10-25-34-138 ~/Documents/SCC/AISAT-EXPLAIN $ python explainAisat.py Space Communcator Club Las Flores, California 92688 http://www.spaceCommunicator.club/igates/ 1: byteAsHex: 00, byteAsText: 0, byteAsAScii: 0, byteAsChar: , endOfDigipath: 0 1: SSID: 0, Digipeated: 0 2: byteAsHex: 86, byteAsText: 134, byteAsAScii: 67, byteAsChar: C, endOfDigipath: 0 3: byteAsHex: a2, byteAsText: 162, byteAsAScii: 81, byteAsChar: Q, endOfDigipath: 0 4: byteAsHex: 40, byteAsText: 64, byteAsAScii: 32, byteAsChar: , endOfDigipath: 0 5: byteAsHex: 40, byteAsText: 64, byteAsAScii: 32, byteAsChar: , endOfDigipath: 0 6: byteAsHex: 40, byteAsText: 64, byteAsAScii: 32, byteAsChar: , endOfDigipath: 0 7: byteAsHex: 40, byteAsText: 64, byteAsAScii: 32, byteAsChar: , endOfDigipath: 0 8: byteAsHex: 60, byteAsText: 96, byteAsAScii: 48, byteAsChar: 0, endOfDigipath: 0 8: SSID: 0, Digipeated: 0 9: byteAsHex: 96, byteAsText: 150, byteAsAScii: 75, byteAsChar: K, endOfDigipath: 0 10: byteAsHex: 68, byteAsText: 104, byteAsAScii: 52, byteAsChar: 4, endOfDigipath: 0 11: byteAsHex: 96, byteAsText: 150, byteAsAScii: 75, byteAsChar: K, endOfDigipath: 0 12: byteAsHex: 88, byteAsText: 136, byteAsAScii: 68, byteAsChar: D, endOfDigipath: 0 13: byteAsHex: a4, byteAsText: 164, byteAsAScii: 82, byteAsChar: R, endOfDigipath: 0 14: byteAsHex: 40, byteAsText: 64, byteAsAScii: 32, byteAsChar: , endOfDigipath: 0 15: byteAsHex: 6c, byteAsText: 108, byteAsAScii: 54, byteAsChar: 6, endOfDigipath: 0 15: SSID: 12, Digipeated: 0 16: byteAsHex: 82, byteAsText: 130, byteAsAScii: 65, byteAsChar: A, endOfDigipath: 0 17: byteAsHex: 92, byteAsText: 146, byteAsAScii: 73, byteAsChar: I, endOfDigipath: 0 18: byteAsHex: a6, byteAsText: 166, byteAsAScii: 83, byteAsChar: S, endOfDigipath: 0 19: byteAsHex: 82, byteAsText: 130, byteAsAScii: 65, byteAsChar: A, endOfDigipath: 0 20: byteAsHex: a8, byteAsText: 168, byteAsAScii: 84, byteAsChar: T, endOfDigipath: 0 21: byteAsHex: 54, byteAsText: 84, byteAsAScii: 42, byteAsChar: *, endOfDigipath: 0 22: byteAsHex: 60, byteAsText: 96, byteAsAScii: 48, byteAsChar: 0, endOfDigipath: 0 22: SSID: 0, Digipeated: 0 23: byteAsHex: 40, byteAsText: 64, byteAsAScii: 32, byteAsChar: , endOfDigipath: 0 24: byteAsHex: 40, byteAsText: 64, byteAsAScii: 32, byteAsChar: , endOfDigipath: 0 25: byteAsHex: 40, byteAsText: 64, byteAsAScii: 32, byteAsChar: , endOfDigipath: 0 26: byteAsHex: 40, byteAsText: 64, byteAsAScii: 32, byteAsChar: , endOfDigipath: 0 27: byteAsHex: 40, byteAsText: 64, byteAsAScii: 32, byteAsChar: , endOfDigipath: 0 28: byteAsHex: 40, byteAsText: 64, byteAsAScii: 32, byteAsChar: , endOfDigipath: 0 29: byteAsHex: 61, byteAsText: 97, byteAsAScii: 48, byteAsChar: 0, endOfDigipath: 1 29: SSID: 0, Digipeated: 0 robertmachale@ucrwpa-2-1-10-25-34-138 ~/Documents/SCC/AISAT-EXPLAIN $ @@@ Notice 3 issues with the Digipath: 1) SSIDs arrive as ASCII rather than 4 bits in the AX.25 subfield 2) The Digipeated flag arrives as * rather than 1 bit in the AX.25 subfield 3) One extra (blank) callsign field exists at the end of the Digipath Although the Kenwood will pickup the packet we may need to tap into the TNC raw output to decipher the packet manually. I can only imagine the Kenwood display will reject the packets as malformed. So, this leaves us with APRSDroid, UISS, and custom APRS software for displaying packets received. Feel free to follow APRS packets from AISAT on our iGate report: http://www.spaceCommunicator.club/igates/ Also, you will find a note on this AISAT issue including helpful screen shots here: http://www.spaceCommunicator.club Let me know your feedback and how I can help. Happy Easter + Passover + Holiday! 73s Robert MacHale KE6BLR (949) 371-6319 robert.machale(a)yahoo.com

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Re: [amsat-bb] AISAT-1 no showing on PCSAT.FINDU.COM
by Roy Dean 21 Apr '19

21 Apr '19

Has anybody that has successfully decoded a packet from Aisat been using a Kenwood aprs-ready transceiver with a built in TNC (such as a D700, D710, D7, D72, or D74)? I just attempted to work a 20 degree pass, and the packets were very strong (full "s meter" - D710 doesn't actually have an S meter), full quieting - however the radio couldn't decode any of the packets. Even using the "packet monitor" function yielded nothing. I know people have had success using pc software based systems, but haven't heard any first hand accounts of using a Kenwood TNC. --Roy K3RLD

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OrigamiSat-1 5.84 GHz tests
by Mike Seguin 21 Apr '19

21 Apr '19

OrigamiSat-1's 5.84 GHz downlink will be tested over Japan over the next month according to their schedule posted on Twitter. I wish them success and look forward to trying to detect the 5.84 GHz downlink over the eastern US in the future. Twitter @OrigamiSat1 -- 73, Mike, N1JEZ "A closed mouth gathers no feet"

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