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Roving to FM07, FM08 and other grids
by Ruth Willet 27 Dec '18

27 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 27 Dec '18

27 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 26 Dec '18

26 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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