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GNURadio conference live stream
by Rich Gopstein 26 Sep '22

26 Sep '22

If anyone is interested, you can watch the live stream of the GNU Radio conference on youtube. They request free registration, but it's not required. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jJWfsGeZvE

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Fwd: [FOXTELEM] 3rd Quarter FalconSAT-3 Chicken Little report
by Burns Fisher (AMSAT) 25 Sep '22

25 Sep '22

Looks like March or April is the current predicted demise of Falconsat. 73, Burns Fisher, WB1FJ *AMSAT(R) Engineering -- Flight Software* ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Alan <wa4sca(a)gmail.com> Date: Sun, Sep 25, 2022 at 5:12 PM Subject: [FOXTELEM] 3rd Quarter FalconSAT-3 Chicken Little report To: Fox Telemetry Analysis <foxtelem(a)amsatfox.org> As of today, 25 September 2022, this is the current predicted lifetime from the NASA DAS program: The calculated reentry date continues to move somewhat earlier, with the current expectation in early April 2023. 73, Alan ----------------------------------- The prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present — and is gravely to be regarded. President Dwight D. Eisenhower ----------------------------------------------- FOXTELEM mailing list -- foxtelem(a)amsatfox.org View archives of this mailing list at https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to foxtelem-leave(a)amsatfox.org Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at https://mailman.amsat.org

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CAUTION Pacsat and Gmail Spam
by Burns Fisher (AMSAT) 24 Sep '22

24 Sep '22

If you are using gmail, check your spam folder to see if there are any pacsat messages there. I found that there were several in mine. I've added a filter to ensure that they are not put in spam. (Hopefully this is one of the lucky messages that gets through!) 73, Burns Fisher, WB1FJ *AMSAT(R) Engineering -- Flight Software*

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Re: Falconsat-3
by Burns Fisher (AMSAT) 24 Sep '22

24 Sep '22

Thanks, Bob. I have seen Mark saying he was turning on FalconSat, but it may have been on the bulletin board and not twitter. I'm not sure I saw anything from Corey about modulation. Was it a private message? 73, Burns Fisher, WB1FJ *AMSAT(R) Engineering -- Flight Software* On Sat, Sep 24, 2022 at 2:22 PM Bob Stricklin via pacsat <pacsat(a)amsat.org> wrote: > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Bob Stricklin <bstrick(a)n5brg.com> > To: James McCullers <wa4cwi(a)bellsouth.net> > Cc: "pacsat(a)amsat.org" <pacsat(a)amsat.org> > Bcc: > Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2022 18:21:54 +0000 > Subject: [pacsat] Re: Falconsat-3 > > I sent emails to some of the folks watching for Falconsat-3 and got this > nice feedback from Christy Hunter which is interesting to our efforts; > > > hi Bob, Falconsat-3 is on its final life. Probably will decay in the next > couple of months. its fuel storage has been spent and so aiming is not > working such that its batteries run low. Mark, N8MH is the control > operator and tries to turn it on and posts that action on the AMSAT twitter > page. but I see he last did this on the Sept 22. he sometimes lets it stay > off so that the batteries can charge. > also need to update keps often on this sat, I use celstrak.org. since its > orbit is decaying. > it uses the 9600bd packet and was fun while it was active. but not sure > when or if it will be active again. > too bad, I hope someone comes up with another one. > 73 Christy KB6LTY > > I just looked at twitter and don’t see anything from Mark. > > Corey’s comments were good on modulation. We may need to think more about > data rates and modulation. Reading some of the old posting reminds me about > the difficulties of getting much data through the earlier > Satellites. In the early days everything was done on bulletin boards even > AMSAT development. That is until some of us got on the DARPA mail feed. We > were also working with VITA and there really was a goal of feeding > information to remote areas in Africa. At 1220 baud we were not going to > move much information but it was a big step forward at the time. People may > expect more today. > > Bob > > > > > On Sep 24, 2022, at 8:51 AM, James McCullers <wa4cwi(a)bellsouth.net> wrote: > > According to Mark L. Hammond (N8MH) by the way of Rich, Falconsat-3 has to > be switched on for use and that last only a short period of time which > would explain the lack of reports and interest. > I believe someone said it only had a few months to live. > Hopefully Bill and I can get set up for packet and make a contact or two > before dies. > Hands on experience would be beneficial. > > I’ve been studying the Pacsat links of AC2CZ’s site as well as his ground > station code. > You are correct. Some of the terminology and assumptions reflect a bygone > era. > > While cleaning out a storage closet a year or so ago I threw away an > original 8 inch IBM floppy from about 1975. > It truly flopped! > > Jim McCullers > WA4CWI > > > > All, > > Here is an interesting Pacat link maintained by Chris Thompson AC2CZ. You > will see copies of some of the original papers by Harold Price and Jeff > Ward and others. It's a trip back though history. > Harold mentions the IBM PC and I can remember I had a S100 system at this > time with 8 inch floppies. > > https://g0kla.com/pacsat/ > > Looking at the AMSAT activity tracker I see Falconsat-3 has no heard > reports in a while and a few people are looking. > > > Bob N5BRG > ----------------------------------------------- > pacsat mailing list -- pacsat(a)amsat.org > View archives of this mailing list at > https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to pacsat-leave(a)amsat.org > Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at > https://mailman.amsat.org > > > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Bob Stricklin via pacsat <pacsat(a)amsat.org> > To: James McCullers <wa4cwi(a)bellsouth.net> > Cc: "pacsat(a)amsat.org" <pacsat(a)amsat.org> > Bcc: > Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2022 18:21:54 +0000 > Subject: [pacsat] Re: Falconsat-3 > ----------------------------------------------- > pacsat mailing list -- pacsat(a)amsat.org > View archives of this mailing list at > https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to pacsat-leave(a)amsat.org > Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at > https://mailman.amsat.org >

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Falconsat-3
by James McCullers 24 Sep '22

24 Sep '22

According to Mark L. Hammond (N8MH) by the way of Rich, Falconsat-3 has to be switched on for use and that last only a short period of time which would explain the lack of reports and interest. I believe someone said it only had a few months to live. Hopefully Bill and I can get set up for packet and make a contact or two before dies. Hands on experience would be beneficial. I've been studying the Pacsat links of AC2CZ's site as well as his ground station code. You are correct. Some of the terminology and assumptions reflect a bygone era. While cleaning out a storage closet a year or so ago I threw away an original 8 inch IBM floppy from about 1975. It truly flopped! Jim McCullers WA4CWI All, Here is an interesting Pacat link maintained by Chris Thompson AC2CZ. You will see copies of some of the original papers by Harold Price and Jeff Ward and others. It's a trip back though history. Harold mentions the IBM PC and I can remember I had a S100 system at this time with 8 inch floppies. https://g0kla.com/pacsat/ Looking at the AMSAT activity tracker I see Falconsat-3 has no heard reports in a while and a few people are looking. Bob N5BRG

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Pacsat Link
by Bob Stricklin 23 Sep '22

23 Sep '22

All, Here is an interesting Pacat link maintained by Chris Thompson AC2CZ. You will see copies of some of the original papers by Harold Price and Jeff Ward and others. It's a trip back though history. Harold mentions the IBM PC and I can remember I had a S100 system at this time with 8 inch floppies. https://g0kla.com/pacsat/ Looking at the AMSAT activity tracker I see Falconsat-3 has no heard reports in a while and a few people are looking. Bob N5BRG

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Power for RTIHU
by Burns Fisher (AMSAT) 23 Sep '22

23 Sep '22

Someone asked last night about how much power the RT-IHU (as seen in the picture) drew. I said something like 300ma. I worked on it today and was able to determine more accurately that the answer is about 200ma (198 really). I did that by turning on my whole board stack and then sending an uplink command to power down the RT-IHU and taking the difference in power use. That includes both AX5043s powered, with one receiving, but the other not transmitting. As to the speed, the oscillator crystal is 16MHz, with an internal PLL bringing it up to 160MHz, which as I read it is the max supported on the TMS570LS0914 processor on that board. It has 1Megabyte of flash program memory and 128KB of RAM (both have ECC). It also has 64KB of data EEPROM with ECC (but we have made a point not to write to flash/prom in orbit just in case it wiped the flash program memory). And finally, the MRAM is Everspin MR25H40, which is 4megabits, that is 512Kbytes. That appears to be the largest available with this model line, although they are introducing a new model line that goes up to 64megabits. I don't know anything about compatibility, although they claim to use SPI interfaces as well. 73, Burns Fisher, WB1FJ *AMSAT(R) Engineering -- Flight Software*

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Fwd: 9600 baud on IC-9700?
by Rich Gopstein 23 Sep '22

23 Sep '22

Some interesting info on falconsat, pacsat, and the IC-9700. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Mark L. Hammond <marklhammond(a)gmail.com> Date: Fri, Sep 23, 2022 at 9:31 AM Subject: Re: 9600 baud on IC-9700? To: Rich Gopstein <rich(a)ourowndomain.com>, Andrew Glasbrenner < glasbrenner(a)mindspring.com> Hi Rich, I am delighted to learn about the interest and possibility of a pacsat board! Just coordinate with me and the laws of physics (satellite orbits..) and I can certainly try to turn ON Falconsat-3 for you all. It just won't stay on for more than an orbit or two. Ideally, you all should record some of the data downlink so you can run it at will in the shack and on the bench. In fact, years ago we built an AMSAT digital archive that had recordings of AO-51, which is the same thing...just a thought. I did many modem tests/optimizations using recorded files over the years. If possible, the satellite OS and PBBS really need to be burned into memory onboard the bird, since the uploading of the files needed to run the PBBS take several passes at 9600 baud... Maybe 2 copies, in case one gets bad. Anyhow, Drew KO5MA and I have a lot experience with running AO-51 and Falconsat-3 over the years. Oh, and of course AO-16/17/18/19... The IC-97000 needs to have its FM-D mode act and perform exactly like the FM-D mode in the IC-9100. That gives us audio in and out that supports 9600 baud that be used with TNCs--hardware or software. It's stupid that they dropped 9600 support. In the end, it COULD be as simple as a firmware update for end users. Evidently, they are never going to write the code. Many of us have begged and tried to lobby for it. Here to help as needed! Copying Drew.... 73, Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] AMSAT Director and Command Station On Fri, Sep 23, 2022 at 7:19 AM Rich Gopstein <rich(a)ourowndomain.com> wrote: > There's a new AMSAT project to look at building a "pacsat" board which > will have a 9600 baud downlink. As an exercise, we were going to try > receiving Falconsat transmissions since it uses the same encoding that is > being proposed for the pacsat board. > > There are at least a couple of us who have 9700s and we weren't sure if we > be able to receive at 9600 baud. > > Just out of curiosity, what do you mean by Icom making the 9700 work "the > right way"? > > > > On Fri, Sep 23, 2022, 6:56 AM Mark L. Hammond <marklhammond(a)gmail.com> > wrote: > >> Hi Rich, >> >> Yes, it works on receive. Shame on Icom for making it work "the right >> way"....and not allowing TX at 9700 at all. >> >> It's pretty straightforward. Put the 9700 in FM mode; set the USB audio >> from AF to IF; then point your software decoding program to the 9700 >> soundcard. Pretty much all there is to it...I did this with FoxTLM to copy >> DUV telemetry on the Fox birds, too. Same idea...broadband receive to >> software. Another trick--since it's "only a soundcard" you can run >> multiple decoding software at the same time on the receiver.. >> >> What's your plan for 9600 on the 9700? >> >> Mark L. Hammond [N8MH] >> AMSAT Director and Command Station >> >> >> >> On Thu, Sep 22, 2022 at 10:59 PM Rich Gopstein <rich(a)ourowndomain.com> >> wrote: >> >>> Mark, >>> >>> Burns mentioned that you have successfully received 9600 baud >>> transmissions using an IC-9700? >>> >>> Are the details available somewhere? >>> >>> Thanks. >>> >>> Rich, KD2CQ >>> >>> >>>

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FalconSat-3 Description
by James McCullers 22 Sep '22

22 Sep '22

https://www.amsat.org/getting-started-with-amateur-satellites-falconsat-3/ 58 degrees north/south

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Thoughts about the FoxPac
by Burns Fisher (AMSAT) 22 Sep '22

22 Sep '22

I've been reading some of the documents and since there are a lot of references to Pacsat generically, I'm using "FoxPac" here to mean specifically the design that we are talking about on this mailing list. As I was reading the documentation, one thing stood out to me: There are lots of assumptions, and appropriately so, that the data rate and format is 9600 bps GMSK. One problem with this speed/format is that it is not supported by the most popular satellite radio these days, the ICOM 9700. Heaven knows why ICOM did not choose to support it, but they seem not to be doing anything about it. My thoughts below may be partly selfish since the 9700 is MY radio, but on the other hand, it IS very popular. One workaround: According to Mark Hammond, N8MH, the 9700 CAN be used for 9600 baud reception (by collecting the IQ (essentially IF) output) and decoding it in software. Thus the big problem is the uplink. Bill's initial design calls for 4 uplink receivers and one downlink transmitter. Suppose that the uplink receivers were designed to switch baud rates on command. We could set it by default to have (say) two receiving at 1200 bps and two at 9600 (or some other number). Alternatively, choose certain days when there were 1200 baud receivers operating. Another alternative: This is not a workaround so much as an offshoot project: Design a simple 9600 baud uplink transmitter. There already exists software and hardware for a AX5043 Raspberry Pi shield. We would "only" need to produce more shields (I believe Jonathan has that design), design a power amp for the output of the 5043, and design and write the software on the Pi. TBD whether the Pi software would do the doppler calculations, or whether it would accept commands from a traditional satellite tracking program (the latter certainly seems easier). I just wanted to send these ideas out for people to think about. It's up to Bill whether this is anything to talk about tonight or not. Maybe it is too soon anyway. 73, Burns Fisher, WB1FJ *AMSAT(R) Engineering -- Flight Software*

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