The past 7 days there has been a noticeable increase in activity on most satellite passes over North America due in part to a grid expedition by AC0RA. Wyatt posted his expedition here on the BB a few weeks ago. Over the course of this past week I understand he has made hundreds of contacts.
Some of the grids Wyatt visited have not been activated on the birds in several years. This was evident by the number of people who are leading the ARRL VUCC Satellite standings needing those grids. Fortunately Wyatt put forth an effort that accomodated many working peoples' schedules and whether or not people who needed that grid were in the footprints he worked.
One thing that can be done to encourage such activity is by mentoring new stations. I cringe at the "anti-handheld in the backyard mentality" because those operators are our future. Some of them may take on roles in AMSAT engineering, some may focus on operations (grid trips,) and more importantly some may desire to educate the next generation about satellite and space communications.
Last night I worked a station who told me I was one of his first contacts. We've exchanged a few emails and now he's looking to operate from a rare, neighboring grid square situated a mere 5 miles from his home.
It's been a fun week for many of us chasing these seldom-heard grids. If you have the equipment to operate outside the confines of your shack, I would encourage you to do so. Not only is it an opportunity to refresh your basic skills, it attracts others to do so, and gives a chance for you to activate grid squares absent of any regular satellite operators.
73 Clayton W5PFG
On 3/28/14, Clayton Coleman [email protected] wrote:
The past 7 days there has been a noticeable increase in activity on most satellite passes over North America due in part to a grid expedition by AC0RA. Wyatt posted his expedition here on the BB a few weeks ago. Over the course of this past week I understand he has made hundreds of contacts.
Some of the grids Wyatt visited have not been activated on the birds in several years. This was evident by the number of people who are leading the ARRL VUCC Satellite standings needing those grids. Fortunately Wyatt put forth an effort that accomodated many working peoples' schedules and whether or not people who needed that grid were in the footprints he worked.
One thing that can be done to encourage such activity is by mentoring new stations. I cringe at the "anti-handheld in the backyard mentality" because those operators are our future. Some of them may take on roles in AMSAT engineering, some may focus on operations (grid trips,) and more importantly some may desire to educate the next generation about satellite and space communications.
Last night I worked a station who told me I was one of his first contacts. We've exchanged a few emails and now he's looking to operate from a rare, neighboring grid square situated a mere 5 miles from his home.
It's been a fun week for many of us chasing these seldom-heard grids. If you have the equipment to operate outside the confines of your shack, I would encourage you to do so. Not only is it an opportunity to refresh your basic skills, it attracts others to do so, and gives a chance for you to activate grid squares absent of any regular satellite operators.
<snip>
It looks like I'll be working with a student group at my alma mater designing a cubesat. Perhaps by the time the project's completed, some of the undergrads might be interested in getting their own callsigns.
Now if I could only convince them to include a transponder for us hams....
73s
Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL
Hi Bernhard,
Now if I could only convince them to include a transponder for us hams ...
FUNcube boards and the AMSAT-NA Fox-1 boards include the capability to transmit telemetry data modes and support a voice transponder. Not sure what ITAR issues prevent Fox-1 boards being used in other country's satellites.
The Fox-1 boards supply the avionics radio half of the satellite leaving the students to concentrate on designing their scientific payload. Fox boards have a documented interface for experimenters to use.
FUNcube switches between ham voice/cw modes and full power telemetry. Fox-1 boards would provide the capability to support both voice and low-rate telemetry stream simultaneously or switch to a high speed data link with no voice.
-- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM [email protected] Editor, AMSAT Journal
When Fox-1 is completed, the whole design kit and kaboodle will be published to shed the ITAR shroud (as we have done with what has been developed as we go along, in the AMSAT-NA Space Symposium Proceedings) and anyone who wants to build one can use it or adapt it (hopefully keeping the ham transponder!) for their CubeSat RF design and fly it in/from/for another country with their experiments. The idea being as JoAnne said, the radio part is proven and provides a platform so they can concentrate on their experiments and build a CubeSat that handily just happens to contain a transponder for hams during, or when they are done with, their experiments. Of course if ITAR restrictions are eased or removed, then AMSAT-NA could collaborate with other countries as well and incorporate their experiments as we are doing with our U.S. partners now.
Jerry N0JY
On 3/28/2014 8:31 PM, JoAnne Maenpaa wrote:
Hi Bernhard,
Now if I could only convince them to include a transponder for us hams ...
FUNcube boards and the AMSAT-NA Fox-1 boards include the capability to transmit telemetry data modes and support a voice transponder. Not sure what ITAR issues prevent Fox-1 boards being used in other country's satellites.
The Fox-1 boards supply the avionics radio half of the satellite leaving the students to concentrate on designing their scientific payload. Fox boards have a documented interface for experimenters to use.
FUNcube switches between ham voice/cw modes and full power telemetry. Fox-1 boards would provide the capability to support both voice and low-rate telemetry stream simultaneously or switch to a high speed data link with no voice.
-- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM [email protected] Editor, AMSAT Journal
Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
On 3/29/14, Jerry Buxton [email protected] wrote:
When Fox-1 is completed, the whole design kit and kaboodle will be published to shed the ITAR shroud (as we have done with what has been developed as we go along, in the AMSAT-NA Space Symposium Proceedings) and anyone who wants to build one can use it or adapt it (hopefully keeping the ham transponder!) for their CubeSat RF design and fly it in/from/for another country with their experiments. The idea being as JoAnne said, the radio part is proven and provides a platform so they can concentrate on their experiments and build a CubeSat that handily just happens to contain a transponder for hams during, or when they are done with, their experiments. Of course if ITAR restrictions are eased or removed, then AMSAT-NA could collaborate with other countries as well and incorporate their experiments as we are doing with our U.S. partners now.
<snip>
Thanks. I'll pass this on to the group.
73s
Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL
When Fox-1 is completed, the whole design kit and kaboodle will be published to shed the ITAR shroud (as we have done with what has been developed as we go along, in the AMSAT-NA Space Symposium Proceedings) and anyone who wants to build one can use it or adapt it (hopefully keeping the ham transponder!) for their CubeSat RF design and fly it in/from/for another country with their experiments. The idea being as JoAnne said, the radio part is proven and provides a platform so they can concentrate on their experiments and build a CubeSat that handily just happens to contain a transponder for hams during, or when they are done with, their experiments. Of course if ITAR restrictions are eased or removed, then AMSAT-NA could collaborate with other countries as well and incorporate their experiments as we are doing with our U.S. partners now.
Jerry N0JY
On 3/28/2014 8:31 PM, JoAnne Maenpaa wrote:
Hi Bernhard,
Now if I could only convince them to include a transponder for us hams ...
FUNcube boards and the AMSAT-NA Fox-1 boards include the capability to transmit telemetry data modes and support a voice transponder. Not sure what ITAR issues prevent Fox-1 boards being used in other country's satellites.
The Fox-1 boards supply the avionics radio half of the satellite leaving the students to concentrate on designing their scientific payload. Fox boards have a documented interface for experimenters to use.
FUNcube switches between ham voice/cw modes and full power telemetry. Fox-1 boards would provide the capability to support both voice and low-rate telemetry stream simultaneously or switch to a high speed data link with no voice.
-- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM [email protected] Editor, AMSAT Journal
Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
On 3/29/14, n0jy [email protected] wrote:
When Fox-1 is completed, the whole design kit and kaboodle will be published to shed the ITAR shroud (as we have done with what has been developed as we go along, in the AMSAT-NA Space Symposium Proceedings) and anyone who wants to build one can use it or adapt it (hopefully keeping the ham transponder!) for their CubeSat RF design and fly it in/from/for another country with their experiments. The idea being as JoAnne said, the radio part is proven and provides a platform so they can concentrate on their experiments and build a CubeSat that handily just happens to contain a transponder for hams during, or when they are done with, their experiments. Of course if ITAR restrictions are eased or removed, then AMSAT-NA could collaborate with other countries as well and incorporate their experiments as we are doing with our U.S. partners now.
<snip>
Thanks. I'll pass this onto the group. I figure that it might get much more support from the ham community if it had something for us. The satellite will be using some of the spectrum that's been allocated for amateur use, after all.
73s
Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL
Indeed, if the ham community gets involved because of the transponder, that is where the slow speed telemetry comes down and they then have a worldwide network collecting it for them! :-)
Jerry
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of B J Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2014 12:34 AM To: n0jy Cc: [email protected] Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: N American Satellite Activity UP
On 3/29/14, n0jy [email protected] wrote:
When Fox-1 is completed, the whole design kit and kaboodle will be published to shed the ITAR shroud (as we have done with what has been developed as we go along, in the AMSAT-NA Space Symposium Proceedings) and anyone who wants to build one can use it or adapt it (hopefully keeping the ham transponder!) for their CubeSat RF design and fly it in/from/for another country with their experiments. The idea being as JoAnne said, the radio part is proven and provides a platform so they can concentrate on their experiments and build a CubeSat that handily just happens to contain a transponder for hams during, or when they are done with, their experiments. Of course if ITAR restrictions are eased or removed, then AMSAT-NA could collaborate with other countries as well and incorporate their experiments as we are doing with our U.S. partners now.
<snip>
Thanks. I'll pass this onto the group. I figure that it might get much more support from the ham community if it had something for us. The satellite will be using some of the spectrum that's been allocated for amateur use, after all.
73s
Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
A small correction to JoAnnes Email: FUNcube boards are also able to run both TLM and voice. Thats actually what it is always doing in transponder mode. only the TLM is brought down 9dBs to allow for the transponder power. This 9dB number is also settable in the on board software, so it need not be 9dB. However, this seems to be a reasonable number, as well equipped stations can still copy the TLM easily, and on quiet RF environments, so does an arrow + FT817 or FUNcube dongle.
FUNcube boards are now in three more missions, of which two are scheduled for launch this year.
Thanks JoAnne for pointing out the existence of these boards, and lets hope some more CubeSat teams decide to use FOX or FUNcube boards. This seems to be the best way for the community to make the best use out of CubeSats for amateur radio.
Regarding the world wide collection of telemetry: point at http://warehouse.funcube.org.uk and have them play ;) Or have the students download and analyze ARISSat-1 telemetry at http://www.arissattlm.org/
Another statistic: The Delfi-C3 telemetry collection database now contains 2016683 frames and has 375 signed up radio amateurs submitting data, and many more on the guest account.
Our community really has a lot to offer to CubeSat teams!
Wouter PA3WEG FUNcube-1 transceiver designer
On Sat, Mar 29, 2014 at 6:46 AM, Jerry Buxton [email protected] wrote:
Indeed, if the ham community gets involved because of the transponder, that is where the slow speed telemetry comes down and they then have a worldwide network collecting it for them! :-)
Jerry
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of B J Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2014 12:34 AM To: n0jy Cc: [email protected] Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: N American Satellite Activity UP
On 3/29/14, n0jy [email protected] wrote:
When Fox-1 is completed, the whole design kit and kaboodle will be published to shed the ITAR shroud (as we have done with what has been developed as we go along, in the AMSAT-NA Space Symposium Proceedings) and anyone who wants to build one can use it or adapt it (hopefully keeping the ham transponder!) for their CubeSat RF design and fly it in/from/for another country with their experiments. The idea being as JoAnne said, the radio part is proven and provides a platform so they can concentrate on their experiments and build a CubeSat that handily just happens to contain a transponder for hams during, or when they are done with, their experiments. Of course if ITAR restrictions are eased or removed, then AMSAT-NA could collaborate with other countries as well and incorporate their experiments as we are doing with our U.S. partners now.
<snip>
Thanks. I'll pass this onto the group. I figure that it might get much more support from the ham community if it had something for us. The satellite will be using some of the spectrum that's been allocated for amateur use, after all.
73s
Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Hi Folks
As as 10:29 UTC, FUNcube is now in permanent amateur mode (low power beacon, plus transponder on). Planning to switch back to normal mode at approx 20:00 UTC today.
73s Jim G3WGM
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jerry Buxton Sent: 29 March 2014 05:46 To: 'B J' Cc: [email protected] Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: N American Satellite Activity UP
Indeed, if the ham community gets involved because of the transponder, that is where the slow speed telemetry comes down and they then have a worldwide network collecting it for them! :-)
Jerry
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of B J Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2014 12:34 AM To: n0jy Cc: [email protected] Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: N American Satellite Activity UP
On 3/29/14, n0jy [email protected] wrote:
When Fox-1 is completed, the whole design kit and kaboodle will be published to shed the ITAR shroud (as we have done with what has been developed as we go along, in the AMSAT-NA Space Symposium
Proceedings)
and anyone who wants to build one can use it or adapt it (hopefully keeping the ham transponder!) for their CubeSat RF design and fly it in/from/for another country with their experiments. The idea being
as
JoAnne said, the radio part is proven and provides a platform so they can concentrate on their experiments and build a CubeSat that handily just happens to contain a transponder for hams during, or when they are done with, their experiments. Of course if ITAR restrictions are eased or removed, then AMSAT-NA could collaborate with other countries as well and incorporate their experiments as we are doing with our U.S. partners now.
<snip>
Thanks. I'll pass this onto the group. I figure that it might get much more support from the ham community if it had something for us. The satellite will be using some of the spectrum that's been allocated for amateur use, after all.
73s
Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Hi Folks
At 19:56 UTC, I commanded FUNcube back into 'auto eclipse mode', ie it will be on low power beacon + transponder when in eclipse, and full power beacon/no transponder when in sunlight
73s
Jim G3WGM
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jim Heck Sent: 29 March 2014 11:16 To: [email protected] Subject: [amsat-bb] FUNcube/AO-73 Mode change
Hi Folks
As as 10:29 UTC, FUNcube is now in permanent amateur mode (low power beacon, plus transponder on). Planning to switch back to normal mode at approx 20:00 UTC today.
73s Jim G3WGM
On 3/29/14, JoAnne Maenpaa [email protected] wrote:
Hi Bernhard,
Now if I could only convince them to include a transponder for us hams ...
FUNcube boards and the AMSAT-NA Fox-1 boards include the capability to transmit telemetry data modes and support a voice transponder. Not sure what ITAR issues prevent Fox-1 boards being used in other country's satellites.
The Fox-1 boards supply the avionics radio half of the satellite leaving the students to concentrate on designing their scientific payload. Fox boards have a documented interface for experimenters to use.
FUNcube switches between ham voice/cw modes and full power telemetry. Fox-1 boards would provide the capability to support both voice and low-rate telemetry stream simultaneously or switch to a high speed data link with no voice.
<snip>
Thanks. The bird's still in the planning stage right now so the group might be able to change the design.
Is there any way of finding out more about this?
73s
Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL
On 03/28/2014 12:20 PM, Clayton Coleman wrote:
I cringe at the "anti-handheld in the backyard mentality" because those operators are our future.
A single-band CW Tx with a crystal oscillator and a simple, single-conversion Rx may be a perfect way to encourage newcomers to the world of HF. Especially as it shows that a large investment is not necessary to get started. But it would be WRONG to mislead prospective hams into believing that such a setup is the be-all and end-all of operating HF. They should be made to understand that considerable sophistication is possible when operating HF and sophisticated equipment available to suit.
Similarly, a "handheld in the backyard" method of operating via satellite works. It has the beauty of being (comparatively) easy to set up as a demo, and promises success for the newcomer on a limited budget. But it is WRONG to suggest that this is the peak of sophistication in ham satellite operation, and that old-timers as well as newcomers should be satisfied with having to drape their equipment around their neck and run out into the backyard, rain or shine, every time they want to operate.
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with handhelds in the back yard. I'm saying that as far as I'm concerned, I'm not interested. I took the training wheels off my bike a long time ago, and I wear long trousers now.
(Actually, I wear shorts almost exclusively. But hopefully you get my point.)
Been down this road before. I have nothing against operators who want to work satellites with an HT and a handheld antenna. I tried it and don't see the attraction once the novelty wears off but hey, to each their own. Said it before and I'll say it again, I think we do ourselves a huge disservice by constantly trying to convince people just how "easy" it is to work the sats. Some of us were drawn to this branch of the hobby because of the challenge, not because of how "easy" it was. Operators who don't back down from a challenge are our future..... or they should be. 73, Michael, W4HIJ On 3/29/2014 12:16 AM, Gus wrote:
On 03/28/2014 12:20 PM, Clayton Coleman wrote:
I cringe at the "anti-handheld in the backyard mentality" because those operators are our future.
A single-band CW Tx with a crystal oscillator and a simple, single-conversion Rx may be a perfect way to encourage newcomers to the world of HF. Especially as it shows that a large investment is not necessary to get started. But it would be WRONG to mislead prospective hams into believing that such a setup is the be-all and end-all of operating HF. They should be made to understand that considerable sophistication is possible when operating HF and sophisticated equipment available to suit.
Similarly, a "handheld in the backyard" method of operating via satellite works. It has the beauty of being (comparatively) easy to set up as a demo, and promises success for the newcomer on a limited budget. But it is WRONG to suggest that this is the peak of sophistication in ham satellite operation, and that old-timers as well as newcomers should be satisfied with having to drape their equipment around their neck and run out into the backyard, rain or shine, every time they want to operate.
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with handhelds in the back yard. I'm saying that as far as I'm concerned, I'm not interested. I took the training wheels off my bike a long time ago, and I wear long trousers now.
(Actually, I wear shorts almost exclusively. But hopefully you get my point.)
I'll just add in that I have only ever operated a satellite by handheld antenna and an HT. I've received SSB sats on stationary antennas but never worked them. I don't have the infrastructure to do so nor have I had the time to set something up. I just graduated college and moved 3,000 miles across the US to Los Angeles (South Bay area) where very few people own their homes and like me rent. I really can't install and antenna and feedline and everything must be portable. One day I'll get a semi portable station together but until then I enjoy helping others get onto the birds (AMSAT Engineering) and hearing other people have fun working them. Same story for my involvement in K2GXT at RIT. I hardly ever operated in college but spent a majority of my time helping others learn the ropes in ham radio, making sure they had access to the equipment they needed, and transferred any experience I had to them. This makes me content to know that my efforts let other people have fun.
On that note, since LA is a pit of RF noise (especially HF at night!) I've toyed with the idea that once my college loans are paid off (that... will take a while) to team up with some other hams I know and purchase some cheap land in the middle of nowhere (like Mojave Desert area) with access to power and internet then set-up a remote station to operate HF/satellites. It would be a neat project and probably make my HOA president much happier :D.
Just my $0.02 and story
Bryce KB1LQC
On Sat, Mar 29, 2014 at 3:21 PM, Michael [email protected] wrote:
Been down this road before. I have nothing against operators who want to work satellites with an HT and a handheld antenna. I tried it and don't see the attraction once the novelty wears off but hey, to each their own. Said it before and I'll say it again, I think we do ourselves a huge disservice by constantly trying to convince people just how "easy" it is to work the sats. Some of us were drawn to this branch of the hobby because of the challenge, not because of how "easy" it was. Operators who don't back down from a challenge are our future..... or they should be. 73, Michael, W4HIJ
On 3/29/2014 12:16 AM, Gus wrote:
On 03/28/2014 12:20 PM, Clayton Coleman wrote:
I cringe at the "anti-handheld in the backyard mentality" because those operators are our future.
A single-band CW Tx with a crystal oscillator and a simple, single-conversion Rx may be a perfect way to encourage newcomers to the world of HF. Especially as it shows that a large investment is not necessary to get started. But it would be WRONG to mislead prospective hams into believing that such a setup is the be-all and end-all of operating HF. They should be made to understand that considerable sophistication is possible when operating HF and sophisticated equipment available to suit.
Similarly, a "handheld in the backyard" method of operating via satellite works. It has the beauty of being (comparatively) easy to set up as a demo, and promises success for the newcomer on a limited budget. But it is WRONG to suggest that this is the peak of sophistication in ham satellite operation, and that old-timers as well as newcomers should be satisfied with having to drape their equipment around their neck and run out into the backyard, rain or shine, every time they want to operate.
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with handhelds in the back yard. I'm saying that as far as I'm concerned, I'm not interested. I took the training wheels off my bike a long time ago, and I wear long trousers now.
(Actually, I wear shorts almost exclusively. But hopefully you get my point.)
Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
On 3/29/14, Michael [email protected] wrote:
Been down this road before. I have nothing against operators who want to work satellites with an HT and a handheld antenna. I tried it and don't see the attraction once the novelty wears off but hey, to each their own. Said it before and I'll say it again, I think we do ourselves a huge disservice by constantly trying to convince people just how "easy" it is to work the sats. Some of us were drawn to this branch of the hobby because of the challenge, not because of how "easy" it was. Operators who don't back down from a challenge are our future..... or they should be.
<snip>
But we need operators first.
As work on the student cubesat project I'll be involved with progresses, I plan on setting up my station on campus and showing what happens during a satellite contact. Perhaps someone might be sufficiently impressed that they want to get their own callsign.
73s
Bernhard VA6BMJ @ DO33FL
participants (11)
-
B J -
Bryce Salmi -
Clayton Coleman -
Gus -
Jerry Buxton -
Jerry Buxton -
Jim Heck -
JoAnne Maenpaa -
Michael -
n0jy
-
Wouter Weggelaar